NPR Music

A K-pop blockbuster lands atop this week's Billboard albums chart, but it's not the one you might be expecting.

For the Sudanese Canadian artist, tenderness is a radical act. Mustafa, along with a choir of Sudanese women, performs heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs about his community.

Earlier this year, Fonda made headlines for delivering a fiery critique of the Trump administration during a SAG-AFTRA award acceptance speech. "This is not the time to go inward," Fonda says.

The biggest song of 2025 is a straightforward ode to marriage, but the charts and algorithms are filled with love songs expressing something messier.

Pop star Sabrina Carpenter tells NPR's Leila Fadel why she describes her new album as a "party for heartbreak," and "a celebration of disappointment."

Host Robin Young spoke with Brian Wilson back in 2002.

Marcus Brown toiled for 10 years before stumbling into indie stardom. On his thrilling new album, he hears music in every hour worked — day jobs included.

Dion, a former teen idol, was deeply influenced by blues and country music. He had his first hit, "I Wonder Why," in 1958, with the doo-wop group The Belmonts. Originally broadcast in 2000.

Toussaint was an important behind-the-scenes figure in New Orleans R&B during the '50s and '60s. He later became known for his own recordings. He died in 2015. Originally broadcast in 1988.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Kelefa Sanneh, a music critic writing for The New Yorker, about his essay "How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge."