The widely mythologised relationship between 1960s icons Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull has often been characterised by chaos, and it’s easy to see why. Their four-year romance involved excessive substance abuse and cheating, as the pair allowed the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle to tear them apart. But before they broke up in…
Any musician that’s been around for decades is normally going to have to take a close look at their setlist every time they go back onstage. Even though they can play the hits that everybody loves, there will always be a handful of tracks that sound dated in retrospect. While George Michael made sure to keep most…
The tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994 sent shockwaves throughout the music world. As the songwriter behind Nirvana, Cobain provided a voice for the disenfranchised youth of the 1990s, introducing global audiences to the revolutionary sounds of grunge in the process. His death left a gaping hole in the music world, leaving behind a near-flawless…
With and without Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty has carved out an immense back catalogue which stands the test of time. Naturally, Fogerty prefers some over others in his collection, but none are more dear to him than one song, which he labelled as “one of my very favourite songs in the whole wide world”. Fogerty has…
Janis Joplin remains one of rock music’s most powerful vocalists, but beneath the grit of her voice was always a hint of emotional fragility. Influenced by soulful powerhouses like Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith, Joplin bought a worn-down blues sensibility to her music that was often overlooked by her bad-girl persona. A dependence on drugs…
Describing the moment when inspiration strikes is never easy. While many musicians spend countless hours trying to overcome writer’s block, a select few seem to experience it rarely, effortlessly writing music and lyrics that appear to come from nowhere. Fortunately, this was a common trait among The Beatles, as both John Lennon and Paul McCartney aimed to…
Funny story: Bruce Springsteen isn’t called ‘The Boss’ because of the music he makes or the legacy he has cemented for himself within the music industry. It actually all comes from the fact that when he initially started playing gigs with the E Street Band, when the promoter was looking to pay the band, they would point…
No artist imagines what their final moments onstage are going to be like. The idea of the travelling rock band is still one of the greatest lifestyles that most musicians can dream of, so having to think about hanging things up for the final time can get a lot more frightening once you’re faced with…
Heavy metal icon Ronnie James Dio is getting his very own documentary. Dio: Dreamers Never Die will show in cinemas on September 28th and October 2nd only. According to an official synopsis, the career-spanning film traces Dio’s rise to fame, starting from his days as a “1950s doo-wop crooner to his early rock days in Elf and Ritchie Blackmore’s…
Bruce Springsteen transformed his writing style as the 1970s progressed, going from the fantastical street tales of his early albums to a more realistic rendering of his characters. While there’s merit to both approaches, the grounded character studies of albums like Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River allowed for some different facets of his songwriting to enter…