• Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream Speech" and The Opening Acts: Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and More

    Go to any concert, any music festival, and there will be scores of opening acts. They serve to get the crowd warmed up, get the crowd ready to rock with the headliners at the end of the night. This same thing used to happen at political events: Sometimes other political figures aside from the "headliner" would give speeches of their own for the cause and often musicians with sympathizing views would perform as well. This same thing happened at the conclusion of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which culminated in Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" Speech. There was no doubt that King was the "headliner," but he had a heck of an opening set from a series of iconic musicians. Here's a list of the esteemed performers who played at the same podium as Dr. King that did.

  • Rdio Officially Launches Service in India

    Spotify streaming competitor Rdio has officially launched in India as per a statement. Rdio takes a big step with this move to increase its user base by adding the second most-populace country in the world of 1.25 billion people as potential listeners. Rdio boasts a library of more than 32 million songs in 43 languages from global, regional and local labels, and with the move into India will be working hard to recruit local content providers into vast networks.

  • Martin Luther King Speeches Sampled in Popular Music: Gwen Stefani, Andre 3000, Common, Will.i.am and More

    No one was a better narrator or public speaker during the 20th Century than Martin Luther King Jr., and no speech was better than his landmark "I Have A Dream" speech, the work that best sums up the goals and ideals of the Civil Rights leader. Understandably, the hip-hop community and the rest of popular music respects the accomplishments of Dr. King and the impact he's had on the world, in entertainment and otherwise. Check out these six tracks that pay tribute to King as we celebrate martin Luther King Day at Music Times.

  • Laura Marling Switches to Louder Sound: Folk Singer Jokingly Hopes Fans Call Her 'Judas'

    Laura Marling is at the end of her transformation from wunderkind to veteran. The English folk singer recorded her successful 2008 debut "Alas, I Cannot Swim" at 15 and is now set to release her fifth album "Short Movie."The 24-year-old has always had an edge to her style, but she has never wandered far from her brand of acoustic folk. Speaking with "Rolling Stone" recently, Marling revealed that "Short Movie" will be a departure from her previous material.She said Hurricane Sandy was a big influence on her new sound.

  • The Pretenders' Debut Album: 12 Songs Ranked For Its 35th Anniversary

    Today, Jan. 19, marks the 35th anniversary of the Pretenders' classic self-titled debut album, which bridged punk rock to new wave and set the course for many other guitar pop bands to come over the course of the '80s, including the Go-Gos, R.E.M., The Sugarcubes, and many more. In honor of this incredible album, here are its 12 tracks ranked, from weakest to best.

  • Ne-Yo Offers 'One More' with T.I. from 'Non-Fiction' [LISTEN]

    With only eight days until the release of his sixth artist album "Non-Fiction," a new track "One More" featuring ATL rapper T.I. from Ne-Yo's LP has hit the Web. Ne-Yo delivers a slow and seductive R&B tune asking if he can "get one more for the lady" before T.I. comes at us with a sensual verse. What we have seen thus far from the 21-track "Non-Fiction" has been diverse, bringing together elements of hip-hop, pop and R&B, showing off Ne-Yo's time-tested ability as a songwriter.

  • Disclosure, AlunaGeorge Being Sued By Songwriter Claiming They Stole Her Lyrics

    Disclosure are among a group of artists being sued by an unknown East London songwriter who claims to have written lyrics to their songs. Katie Farrah Sopher is seeking £200,000 ($303,351) over claims that the electronic sibling duo took lyrics from a songbook of hers that was stolen by a "violent" ex-boyfriend, Sean Sawyers in 2009, who then passed it along to music industry contacts. The songs in question are Disclosure's "Latch," featuring Sam Smith, "White Noise," and "You and Me" featuring Eliza Dolittle. Sopher is also suing Alungeorge over claims that she wrote lyrics to their hit song "Attracting Flies." Alunageorge's Aluna Francis also sang vocals on Disclosure's aforementioned "White Noise."

  • [REVIEW] Bob Dylan Takes on Frank Sinatra's 'Stay with Me' with Some Elderly Swagger and Grace [LISTEN]

    At first, the concept seemed questionable: Folk legend Bob Dylan recording an entire album of Frank Sinatra covers. Then the lead single "Full Moon and Empty Arms" surfaced, causing some naysayers to second guess their initial judgments. Dylan has followed the tune with "Stay with Me," another sublime cut from the upcoming "Shadows in the Night" LP.Dylan is apparently not just a Sinatra fan — he is also an admirer of the 1963 film "The Cardinal." "Stay with Me" is a pleading love song used as the theme for the movie. Now, we are dealing with two different voices at different points in their careers — Sinatra would have been 49 whereas Dylan is now 73.
View More
Festivals
Popular Now