NPR listeners share the one song that hit them the hardest this year, and tell us why they laughed, cried, or simply couldn’t ...

In what’s now become a yearly tradition every December, I’m back ranking #1 hits from topical anniversary dates. This winter ...

Tom Petty consistently crossed over to the pop charts in his heyday. These five songs were his biggest American hits.

Walt Aldridge’s name might not be one most modern country music fans know, but they probably should because there’s a good chance they know his songs. Aldridge, a prolific musician, songwriter and ...

A set of previously unreleased live recordings captures the Minneapolis hardcore trio at peak ferocity. It’s a welcome corrective to the tinny production of their studio albums. Save this story Save ...

The foundations of funk were laid down in the mid-1960s, when James Brown began to emphasize the first beat of each measure in his stage-tested and frenzy-inducing R&B songs. Before the decade's end, ...

The 1980s were a big decade for country music. New acts, with new sounds, were emerging, while some artists were still holding onto the traditional country sound. These four songs were all released in ...

ROANOKE, Va. – Forty years ago, on November 4, 1985, a flood devastated the Roanoke Valley. The remnants of Hurricane Juan dumped more than six inches of rain in just 24 hours, causing the Roanoke ...

Yesterday, Billboard deputy editor and Stereogum buddy Andrew Unterberger published a piece with some confusing implications: On last week's Billboard Hot 100, there were no rap songs in the top 40.

Rap has officially dipped out of the top 40 songs on the Billboard charts for the first time in 35 years. Billboard reported today that there are currently no rap songs in the top 40 of the Billboard ...

The highest-ranked rap song is Cardi B's "Safe" at number 44. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. There are no rap songs listed in the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. This has not occurred since 1990, ...

Hip-hop has officially exited the upper echelon of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in more than three decades. The top 40 of the iconic chart currently contains zero rap songs, marking ...