In her long-awaited memoir, Phases, entertainment icon Brandy is opening up about her storied journey from singing in church in rural Mississippi to building a decades-long career in Hollywood as a music artist, songwriter, producer and actress. Kevin Winter/Getty Images/Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

"I always felt like there's this drag aspect to performing a female role," Robyn says. "It was so claustrophobic for me when I was younger but now it feels interesting to play with." Marili Andre hide caption

"I wanted the album to reach people in a real way," Jill Scott says of To Whom This May Concern. Kennedi Carter/Ascend PR Group hide caption

Adam Gopnik, author and staff writer for The New Yorker, joins pianist Lara Downes to explore the story of American music and its immigrant roots. Lara Downes hide caption

Actors gaze up to the sky during JJ'88's "ROOT" in the hip-hop artist and former inmate's documentary and visual album Songs from the Hole. Before the song starts, protagonist and producer James "JJ'88" Jacobs describes meditating on his and others' redemption while incarcerated and in solitary confinement. Courtesy of Netflix hide caption

The sounds of traditional country music "are baked into what feels like home to me," Musgraves says. Her sixth album, Middle of Nowhere, will be released on May 1, 2026. Kelly Christine Sutton hide caption

"I knew I was definitely blessed with a gift. And always like to say the gift wasn't just my gift," Saadiq says. "It was given to me. So I had to do something with that gift." Jon Brown hide caption

On his new album, Ukrainian-born, New York-based pianist and composer Vadim Neselovskyi explores the horror and hope he's felt since Russia's incursion.
Arkady Mitnik hide caption

Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson and pianist / NPR contributor Lara Downes in conversation at Stevenson's Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Ala. Lynne Dobson hide caption

Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane and Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons perform onstage during A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys at Dolby Theatre on Feb. 8, 2023 in Hollywood, California. Amy Sussman/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

Pianist Lara Downes (left) and historian Jill Lepore convene to discuss what America was like just before the founding of the United States. Peter Doran hide caption

Singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams Mark Seliger/Highway 20 Records hide caption

Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves is taking her final bow at the Metropolitan Opera on Jan. 24 after a career spanning more than four decades. Elias Williams for NPR hide caption

Don Was (bottom left) joined the group Wolf Bros in 2018 at the invitation of Bob Weir (center), who was looking for a more intimate format to perform the music he'd co-created with the Grateful Dead. Todd Michalek hide caption

Sudan Archives at Maximum Fun HQ Kevin Ferguson hide caption

Vincent Mason, left, David Jude Jolicoeur and Kelvin Mercer from the band De La Soul perform on day two of the Governors Ball Music Festival on Saturday, June 4, 2016, in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP hide caption

"My mother is quick to point out the idea that meaning is not only derived from the author's intent," woods says. Natalia Vacheishvili hide caption

Lewis Capaldi performs at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, England, on June 27, 2025. Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP hide caption