Eddie Van Halen has died aged 65. He will be remembered for his virtuoso playing, particularly his groundbreaking, two-handed, finger-tapping technique.
Articles on Rock music
Displaying 21 - 40 of 65 articles
Joplin’s voice stirs something deep within us. What is it about her that still makes us listen?
Paul Kelly’s former manager draws on hundreds of interviews for his biography of the singer.
A virtuoso guitarist and songwriter, Green’s career was blighted by drug-amplified mental health problems.
Formed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Laibach has offended all points of the political spectrum
Little Richard honed his craft as a teenage drag queen. In everything from his hairstyle to his lyrics, we see the influence of gay contemporaries like Esquerita and Billy Wright.
When a 14-year-old Paul McCartney watched Little Richard in the hit film ‘The Girl Can’t Help It,’ he couldn’t have imagined that the two would one day take the stage together.
Richard Wayne Penniman was one of a handful of pioneers who shaped the original rock and roll sound.
Unbridled ambition and bruised egos created an irreparable fissure.
The story of the album, which was released 40 years ago, is a classic tale of how bands struggle with unchecked egos and competing visions.
As the album celebrates its 50th anniversary, an expert in sound recording details how the band deployed stereo and synthesizers to put a unique artistic stamp on this iconic album.
The history of recorded music has been marked by endless artistic and technological changes. While music labels persist, digital technology has profoundly altered why they exist and how they work.
An Australian Chamber Orchestra concert features works by Jonny Greenwood, Sufjan Stevens and The Nationals’ Bryce Dessner, along with those of modern Polish composers.
An Australian documentary about a group of young Afghanis who form a heavy-metal band highlights rock’s subversive power.
There is a long list of bands that fell apart over artistic differences. But conflict between band members – and even some creative sledging – can be crucial to making better music.
An ethnomusicologist traces the origins of the practice, from early 20th century ‘air conductors’ to Joe Cocker’s air riffing at Woodstock to the rise of international competitions.
Rock artist Nick Cave finds poetry in the darkness - his song “Jubilee Street” is an example.
There are numerous women guitar virtuosos, from Joan Jett to Orianthi to St Vincent. Why are they so conclusively excluded from the rock canon?
For decades, Bangladesh had a very vibrant – and highly political – rock scene. But the genre is struggling to survive the country’s crackdown on dissent and increasing Islamic conservatism.
Born Farrokh Bulsara, Mercury came from a Parsi family that practiced Zoroastrianism, a religion that influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Top contributors
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Reader in Music, Politics and Society, Newcastle University
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PhD Candidate in Popular Music Studies, RMIT University
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Teaches in School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor of History, Tennessee State University
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Professor in Spanish Studies, University of Leeds
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Associate Professor in Guitar, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne
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Associate professor, University of Bradford
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Postdoctoral research fellow, Adelaide University
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Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor, Samford University
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Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University
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Associate Professor in Politics, Rhodes University
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Associate Professor of History, University of South Carolina
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Adjunct Research Fellow, Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative, Western Sydney University