Is Dionne Warwick right that the RRHOF should change its name to the Music Hall of Fame since it continues to honor other genres outside of guitar rock? 

Will the petition to remove Kanye West from Coachella make any difference?  

Why did Jowell tell the public that Missy Elliott took 99% of the royalties for the Bad Bunny single “Safaera” that he was featured on because they sampled Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” when she really has 25%? 

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was an unexpected breakthrough moment for the grunge music movement. Kurt Cobain was influenced by alternative rock band the Pixies when he wrote the song that wound up on the band’s 1991 second album Nevermind. Grunge had developed in Seattle and was descended from punk in its anti-establishment sentiment and guitar distortion. Nirvana’s music was filled with torment and their image represented grunge’s unpolished look and dismissal of the glamorous pop star archetype. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” flooded radio and the video that famously shows the band performing at a high school pep rally that progresses into mass confusion, won MTV Video Awards and became one of the most viewed in rock history. Nirvana’s success made them and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” one of the most important contributors to Generation X’s zeitgeist. Nevermind won over music critics and reached platinum status by the end of 1991. 

Nirvana released three studio albums before Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994 which ended the band. In 2022, they are considered the last great American rock band as no other group has been as influential. The BBC celebrated the 30th anniversary of Nevermind in 2021 with the documentary When Nirvana Came To Britain. A 30th-anniversary deluxe edition was released in CD and vinyl form. Nevermind was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002. 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy as the foremother of rock and roll music is being celebrated with a new accessory line and video about her life. Gibson guitar maker and Tharpe’s estate have partnered to create the Sister Rosetta Tharpe Collection. Tharpe’s gospel roots and electric guitar paved the way for Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and the British blues movement of the ’60s. The foundation Tharpe established is rarely attributed back to her and the new Gibson line introduces her to a new world. Before there was Black women guitarists like India.Arie, Tracy Chapman and Odetta, Tharpe was the lone pioneer. The new line has tour jackets, wall pendants, t-shirts and posters. The release of the merchandise coincides with the 61st anniversary of Tharpe’s favorite instrument the 1961 Les Paul SG which has been reissued as a Gibson and an Epiphone.

Gibson artists Celisse and Amythyst Kiah have made a video recreating Tharpe’s songs and they also talk about her influence on music. The collection can be viewed at the Gibson website. 

Why are so many artist catalogs being sold? 

 

Is the February 2022 issue of British Vogue with all Black models on the cover an example of ‘Black Skin Porn?’