Ed Sheeran surprised fans pre-holiday by dropping his new standalone song, “Afterglow.” “We were love drunk waiting on a miracle/Trying to find ourselves in the winter snow, ” Sheeran sings softly as he strums an acoustic guitar. “So alone in love like the world had disappeared/Oh I won’t be silent …

There are 12 songs on Neil Young‘s new box set Archives Volume II: 1972–1976 that have never been released before in any form. One of the most beautiful is “Goodbye Christians on the Shore,” which even die-hard Young fans didn’t know existed until very recently. It’s on disc one (Everybody’s …

Last week, Steven Van Zandt announced a virtual holiday fundraiser to benefit TeachRock, the organization he founded to save music education — providing online music history courses, among other resources, to kids whose classrooms have been robbed of arts programs. Eddie Vedder and Margo Price will perform on December 21st …

So, How Was Your 2020is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December. Christine and the Queens captured the spirit of 2020 shortly before lockdowns went into effect with …

Stephen King has long had his issues with ending his books, which is the downside of writing without outlines and letting the story travel wherever makes sense in the moment. Beginnings, though? Few writers have ever been stronger at them, and few King novels begin better than his 1978 post-apocalyptic …

Twenty years ago, in The Village Voice’s yearly poll of music critics, one of the writers quipped about the future: “So who’s going to be paying $300 a seat for the Backstreet Boys reunion at AOL Hard Rock Cafe in 2020?” As it happens, $300 would have snagged you a …

Disney Plus announced a massive rollout of Star Wars titles, which includes several new series and films. The news was announced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy during the Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day event on Thursday. Notable film entries include the Patty Jenkins-directed Rogue Squadron, which is slated as the …

Taylor Swift‘sEvermore, her “sister” album to this past July’sFolklore, is out now. And while it sticks with the previous album’s folk and indie-inspired sound,Evermore takes a few of its own paths through the woods, exploring everything from cheating country music husbands to dance-pop bliss. Related: 173 of Taylor Swift’s Songs …

Folklore was one of the top albums of the year — but Taylor Swift isn’t done. Swift announced her ninth studio album, and second surprise LP of the year, Evermore on Instagram Thursday morning. “To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs,” she wrote on Instagram after blocking …

Every year for the better part of the past two decades, Patti Smith has spent her birthday, December 30th, celebrating with an intimate live show in what has become a rich and joyful tradition for the punk rock progenitor. While the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has upended any chance for a …