Music

Bruno Mars is a 25-year-old singer, songwriter and producer who's worked on hit singles for numerous hip-hop and soul artists. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Mars' new album, Doo-Wops and Hooligans, is "an impressive, varied and intense experience."

The Dwight Twilley Band scored its biggest hit, "I'm on Fire," in 1975, and then struggled for years to achieve stardom that never arrived. Now the band's lead singer, Twilley, is back. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his new album Green Blimp, which also features vocals by Susan Cowsill.

A jazz pianist and bandleader, Iyer is one of the most critically acclaimed musicians of the past decade. He also has a masters in physics. Here, he explains why he decided to switch to a full-time career as a jazz musician, and describes what influenced his latest album, Solo.

In the Oct. 18 issue of The New Yorker, historian Sean Wilentz argues that the rhetoric expressed by both Glenn Beck and the Tea Party is nothing new -- and is rooted in an extremist ideology that has been around since the Cold War.

From the late 1950s up until her last stage appearance in 1990, Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland was one of the world's most admired and celebrated opera stars. She died Sunday at age 83. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz looks back at the life and work of the singer known as "La Stupenda."

Solomon Burke, the Grammy Award-winning singer who wrote the hit track "Everyone Needs Somebody to Love," died Sunday at 70. Fresh Air remembers the "King of Rock and Soul" with excerpts from a 1986 interview.

The Australian singer recently made her American debut with her third album, As Day Follows Night. It's a cycle of songs about a love triangle, and it's performed, as Blasko says, in the direct manner of early Carole King. Milo Miles explains how Blasko escapes irony and sentimentality to refresh a well-worn subject.

Justin Timberlake rocketed to stardom as a teen heartthrob in the band 'N Sync. He has gone on to be a successful solo artist — and expanded his career into both comedic and dramatic roles on-screen. He discusses his long career in showbiz, his SNL digital shorts and his transition to film.

In 1951, Williams was one of the biggest stars in country music. He was also a pitchman for Mother's Best flour and farm feed, a company that sponsored a daily 15-minute radio show. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Williams' performances on the show, which were just released on a 15-disc set called The Complete Mother's Best Recordings... Plus!

Joost Buis' tunes are clean and true, and still let weird details nibble at the edges on Zooming. That sort of despoiling playfulness typifies a lot of Hollands improvised music: Just because you're serious doesn't mean you have to be serious all the time.

The acclaimed music-video director transitioned to the big screen with One Hour Photo, a dark psychological drama starring Robin Williams. Now Romanek has tackled Never Let Me Go, the futuristic thriller based on Kazoo Ishiguro's novel.

Soprano Benita valente has retired from singing, though at 75, she's still remarkably active behind the scenes as an educator, organizer and fundraiser. She may not be the world's most famous singer, but a selection of her recordings leads off a new series on Bridge Records called Great Singers of the 20th Century. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz agrees with the title.

Plant's new solo album is called Band of Joy. That's the name of a group he was in back in 1967, before Led Zeppelin, with drummer John Bonham. Rock critic Ken Tucker says that if the album title suggests nostalgia for older musical styles, there's nothing musty about the results.

Skaggs became a mainstream country music star in the 1980s, but in recent years, he's become more interested in performing in a traditional bluegrass style. Ken Tucker says the tracks on Skaggs' album Mosaic "don't just fit together -- they lock into place with a firmness."

A couple of years back, the two-time Oscar nominee announced he was giving up acting to become a rapper. David Edelstein reviews Casey Affleck's film I'm Still Here, which tracks Phoenix's transformation -- and says there may be a real madness in Phoenix's method performance.

Perry has released what is commonly considered the pop hit of the summer, a song called "California Gurls." Perry has a new album, Teenage Dream, which rock critic Ken Tucker says is just one part of what he calls "the Katy Perry art project."

One of American popular music's great enigmas, says critic Ed Ward, is what would have happened to Patsy Cline's career if it had lasted longer. She was poised to revolutionize the role of the solo female singer, as well as Nashville's place in the music business, when she was killed in a plane crash. Decca has just released her complete recordings on an album called Sweet Dreams.

Stuart has been playing country music professionally since his early teens. From the mid-1980s to the early '90s, he had a lot of mainstream country-music success. But in recent years, Stuart has migrated toward an old-fashioned sound. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his latest album, Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions.

As a composer, Coleman has been heavily influenced by James Brown's funk. You wouldn't mistake Coleman's band Five Elements for J.B.'s, but like the Godfather of Soul, he goes in for fast, jittery beats on Harvesting Semblances and Affinities.

Lincoln, the jazz legend who transformed herself from a supper-club singer into a powerful voice in the civil-rights movement, died Saturday. She was 80. Fresh Air revisits two interviews with the respected performer, actress and songwriter.

Portions of this interview were originally broadcast on March 25, 1986, and June 16, 1996.