Katie Sharp

Radiohead has long served as rock's modern heroes. Arcade Fire thinks so. Coldplay thinks so. Even Kanye has stepped down from his throne and acknowledged the band's influence. But at the core of Radiohead's music, there's always been a larger and…

It's hard for anyone to ignore Oasis' impact. For legions of 20-somethings, they were an early introduction to rock 'n' roll. They helped bring Britpop stateside. They were wildly successful. They were the minds behind "Wonderwall," arguably one of…

Seven months ago, aspiring soul singer Leon Bridges was washing dishes at a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. On Christmas, six months later, he announced that he'd signed with Columbia Records. The transition was so fast that not much was different…

Taylor Swift may have won 2014, but it's a week into 2015 and she's already been upstaged. Music purists will be happy to hear why: Swift has been ousted by Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars and the return of soul music. It's no small moment. Swift's "Blank…

In the winter of 1959, Berry Gordy started Motown Records off an $800 loan. The company quickly evolved into a defining hit-making factory of the '60s: Seven years later, in 1966 alone, 22 Motown singles reached  Top 20 spots on the Billboard…

It's in years like this, when it seems like the world is coming apart at the seams, that people most need music to bring them together and show them the way forward. And though some feel our music has failed us, nothing could be further from the…

More than 15 billion songs have been identified using Shazam. That's 230 people every second having their ears caught by a tune. In 2013, Lorde was Shazamed 5.6 million times. That's the kind of data that reshapes an industry — the kind that makes…

Disturbing footage leaked late Wednesday night of what appeared to be scenes from a scrapped Marilyn Manson video project. Particularly disturbing is one 27-second rape scene in which Lana Del Rey is sexually assaulted by horror-film director Eli…

This past May, Tupac came back to life. A little way into Wyclef Jean's music video for "April Showers," there's a scene in a morgue. Jean's brother, Sedeck, is performing autopsies on two women. Suddenly, Tupac's body appears on the gurney in…

Last week, T-Pain performed for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series — without Auto-Tune. The video went viral and the Internet fell into a T-Pain tizzy as everyone realized the truth about him: T-Pain can actually sing. In fact, he's always had musical…

From Frank Sinatra to Frank Ocean, David Redfern's photography captures popular music's revolution: the period that carried us from mid-century jazz and swing to today's world of rap and indie rock. Last week, at the age of 78, he died from…

Ten years ago, the Black Eyed Peas were the most promising band in hip-hop. Now, they're a product-placement pop music punchline. What happened? Fergie. And with her, the loss of one of the most promising rap groups we had. Last week, will.i.am and…

Jimmy Fallon's teenage alter-ego, "Sara" (no H!), finds a lot of things aggravating. Reclining in airplane seats, Trapper Keepers, retweets and annoying step-dads named Gary. But the real Fallon isn't finding much to complain about now that he's…

The newly launched BBC Music released one of the most impressive collaborations of all time. The music video, a cover of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows," includes an all-star cast of 27 artists, including Elton John, One Direction, Sam Smith,…

Less than a week ago, a mysterious user named "eastsideband" released "Ellie" on Soundcloud, a two-song cover EP of Chris Brown's "Loyal" and Ed Sheeran's "Don't." A week later, the track has already peaked at No.1 on Hype Machine, the music world's…

Forget Spotify and Pandora — the Internet is too creative and fun a place to waste your time with straight streaming services. It's time to tune in to music sites that go beyond just listening. Because the Internet is big, and the ways we engage…

Fact, 90% of the music we listen to is music we've heard before. Why, when there are hundreds of thousands of songs released each year, do we choose to listen to the same ones over and over? The reason may be rooted in science. "Musical repetition…

Bulletproof Stockings, an all-girl band from Crown Heights in Brooklyn, N.Y., has a band costume, but not like you'd expect. They have sleeves that cover the elbows, shirts that cover the knees and, yes, stockings that cover the legs. It's the kind…

As summer wraps up, it's time to admit that Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX's "Fancy," which broke into Billboard chart history and clung to the No. 1 spot for seven consecutive weeks, is the song of the summer.  But while we were forever languishing in…