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A biography of DJ/producer Avicii approved by the late DJ’s family will be published in North America on November 16th via Mobius. 'Tim: The Official Biography of Avicii' was written by Swedish journalist Måns Mosesson, who interviewed Avicii’s (born Tim Bergling) family, friends, and colleagues for the book. To better chronicle Avicii’s career, Mosesson also retraced some of Bergling’s global journey, venturing from Stockholm, Sweden, to EDM hotspots like Miami, Ibiza, and Los Angeles. Along with recounting Avicii’s musical career, the book will also delve into his struggles with mental health and addiction. Tap the link in bio to read more. Photo: Amy Sussman/Invision/AP
Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" was released on this day in 1988. The song was understated but gripping, one of the most riveting singles of that year. It established Chapman as one of her era’s leading troubadours. Tap the link in bio to read about the rebirth of Tracy Chapman's hard-luck anthem. Photo: Frans Schellekens/Redferns/Getty Images
If Leslie Jordan’s quarantine dispatches gave people a sense of shared experiences and solidarity through a chaotic and uncertain time, his latest project goes all in on the comforting notion of togetherness. Jordan’s new album 'Company’s Comin’,' recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles during quarantine, features his versions of classic gospel hymns and an all-star guest list, rendered in a way that sounds like a group of friends and family gathering for a loose, Sunday-afternoon living-room singalong. Tap the link in bio to read more about how Leslie Jordan helped us survive quarantine and made a gospel album in the process. Photo: Miller Mobley
Lil Nas X scored his second Number One on the Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs chart with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” earning more than 20,000 downloads and more than 24 million streams. “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” appeared earlier this year in a Super Bowl commercial. Its official release was accompanied by a music video that became an instant sensation — Lil Nas X gives Satan a lap dance before killing him and taking his place — and the release of 666 pairs of “Satan shoes” that made headlines by drawing a suit from Nike, which accused the rapper of trademark infringement. All of this attention helped Lil Nas X knock Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” out of Number One after just a week at the top of the chart. That single, which features Giveon and Daniel Caesar, fell to Number Two. Bieber maintained seven songs on the RS 100. Tap the link in bio for more. Photo: Filip Custic
We lost Kurt Cobain on this day 27 years ago. In a 1994 investigative report, Rolling Stone traced Cobain's final days – from his nearly fatal drug overdose in Rome to the discovery of his body one month later in Seattle. Tap the link in bio to read. Photo: Michel Linssen/Redferns/Getty Images
The return of Sister Kate. Fifty years ago, James Taylor's sister released her debut album, then promptly vanished from the scene. Now, decades after she traded rock stardom for life in a teepee, Kate Taylor is back. Tap the link in bio to read more. Photo: Bonnie Lippel/Courtesy of Liz Witham
Don't try this at home. Last week @ericfuckingandre joined our Twitch stream to take The Florida Man Challenge and @jonthewiggles took a shot of ranch each time Eric guessed correctly. Tap the link in our bio to watch more.
Ever since Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, Nirvana fans have hypothesized about the music he would have made had he lived. But other than “You Know You’re Right,” the scabrous, throat-shredding meditation on confusion that Nirvana recorded a few months before his suicide, and a few comments he told confidants about potentially collaborating with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe or going completely solo, he mainly left behind question marks. Now an organization has created a “new” Nirvana song using artificial-intelligence software to approximate the singer-guitarist’s songwriting. The guitar riffs vary from quiet, “Come as You Are”–style plucking to raging, 'Bleach' fury à la “Scoff.” And lyrics like, “The sun shines on you but I don’t know how,” and a surprisingly anthemic chorus, “I don’t care/I feel as one, drowned in the sun,” bear evocative, Cobain-esque qualities. But other than the vocals — the work of Nirvana tribute band frontman Eric Hogan — the song’s creators say nearly everything on the song, from the turns of phrase to the reckless guitar performance, is the work of computers. Their intention is to draw attention to the tragedy of Cobain’s death by suicide and how living musicians can get help with depression. The tune, titled “Drowned in the Sun,” is part of Lost Tapes of the 27 Club, a project featuring songs written and mostly performed by machines in the styles of other musicians who died at 27: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse. Each track is the result of AI programs analyzing up to 30 songs by each artist and granularly studying the tracks’ vocal melodies, chord changes, guitar riffs and solos, drum patterns, and lyrics to guess what their “new” compositions would sound like. The project is the work of Over the Bridge, a Toronto organization that helps members of the music industry struggling with mental illness. Tap the link in bio to read more. Photo illustration by Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone. Photographs used in illustration by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images; Agencia el Universal/AP; Michel Linssen/Redferns/Getty Images
Maxwell's 'Urban Hang Suite' turns 25 today. At the time, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a star, but the release of his debut album left him no choice. Twenty-five years later, the singer-songwriter-producer and key collaborators look back on an album that proved R&B tradition could still thrive in a hip-hop world. Tap the link in bio to read. Photo: Saad Amer
In the past three years, Giveon has been on songs with hitmakers Justin Bieber and Drake and was even nominated for a Grammy. Before all of this, he was working in restaurants. “For everyone else, it kind of felt like it was overnight,” says Giveon. “But for me, I put years in.” After being featured on Drake’s “Chicago Freestyle” last February, Giveon has been carving out a loyal fanbase that deems him as next up. His latest project, 'When It’s All Said And Done…Take Time' is a compilation of his first two projects. 'Take Time' was nominated for best R&B album at the Grammys. On both records, Giveon uses his deep tone and cinematic songwriting to create soulful, ageless tunes. Born as Giveon Dezmann Evans, The Long Beach native explains that although his hometown is known for G-funk and gangsta rap, R&B and soul music were the real soundtracks to his home growing up. Tap the link in bio to read more. Photo: @nicokartel
There’s been a running joke these last few months as successive scandals have engulfed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The joke is that each new allegation of personal or professional misconduct seems curiously accompanied by the abrupt announcement of a long-awaited event — almost like an offering to restive New Yorkers who might be tiring of the governor’s antics. Reports that Cuomo’s administration had tried to obscure grim nursing-home death statistics was paired with the news that indoor dining was reopening in New York. (SNL skewered the timing of the decision, the wisdom of which is being called into question now as Covid rates spike across the state). On the heels of multiple accusations of sexual harassment against the governor, came the announcement that Cuomo had made a deal to legalize recreational weed. Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing; he signed the bill into law on March 31st. And, on Monday, hours before a new accuser stepped forward to allege she’d been forcibly kissed by the governor after he toured her flood-damaged home, Cuomo trumpeted the news that vaccine eligibility was opening up to New Yorkers over 30, and would soon expand to those over 16 as well. (New York was, until then, one of the only states left that had not yet announced eligibility dates for the general public.) The precariousness of Andrew Cuomo’s political situation and his apparent willingness to cash in the political bargaining chips he’s got left have created a strange new dynamic in Albany as the deadline to finalize the New York state budget by midnight on Thursday, April 1 looms. Tap the link in bio to read more. Photo: @george_etheredge for Rolling Stone
The New York legislature on Tuesday night passed the Marijuana Legislation and Taxation Act. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it into law on Wednesday morning, making New York the 15th state in the nation to legalize cannabis for recreational use. “I just signed legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis,” Cuomo tweeted. “The bill creates automatic expungement of previous marijuana convictions that would now be legal. This is a historic day. I thank the Leader and Speaker and the tireless advocacy of so many.” So yes, it actually happened. Weed is now legal at the state level and the implications go far beyond providing any ol’ New Yorker with the ability to walk into a store and buy themselves some flower. The regulated cannabis market in the nation’s fourth-most-populous state is expected to be a $4.2 billion industry within five years of taking effect, and, according to Cuomo’s office, create $350 million in annual tax revenue, along with 30,000-60,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, the drug responsible for thousands of low-level possession arrests per year, well over 90 percent of which are of New Yorkers of color, will no longer be criminalized. Tens of thousands of those affected by the War on Drugs — New York law enforcement was making over 50,000 possession arrests a year as recently as 2011 — will have their records expunged. Tap the link in bio for everything else you need to know about the landmark piece of legislation. Photo illustration by Joe Rodriguez // Photo used in illustration by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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