NPR Music

Ring in the new year with celebratory sounds from around the world.

Which Tiny Desk made an audio engineer question everything? Which one made a producer want to cry? Touch grass? Look back on the year in Tiny Desk, with the people who make them.

NPR Music critics reflect on the lyrics that captured the year's mood, sparked emotions and stayed with them long after the music stopped.

The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.

Perry Archangelo Bamonte, longtime guitarist and keyboardist for the influential goth band The Cure, has died. He was 65. The band announced his death on their official website on Friday.

It's been called a rare moment of drama in liturgical music, and it's showcased in the final verse of "O Come All Ye Faithful," rising up under the lyrics "Word of the Father," leading many to dub it the "Word of the Father Chord."

The word "Gloria" has appeared in many pieces of music over the centuries, and that music is often a part of holiday celebrations.

From Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," yearning is everywhere in Christmas music. But why?

Biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the making of Born to Run as an "existential moment" for Springsteen. Carlin's book is Tonight in Jungleland. Originally broadcast Aug. 7, 2025.