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September 23, 2026
STORY · Rock
The Rolling Stones: The 1966 Moment That Changed Everything
The Rolling Stones' 1966 album Aftermath, the band's first entirely self-written record, capped a four-year rise. The journey began with a Dartford railway platform reunion in 1961.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Ani DiFranco: How a 19-Year-Old Built a Folk Empire Alone
Ani DiFranco, born in 1970, built Righteous Babe Records at nineteen and turned independent folk music into a career that reached Broadway.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Pop
Shawn Mendes' Illuminate: 145,000 Copies, Near-Billion Views
Released in 2016, Shawn Mendes' Illuminate debuted atop the Billboard 200. It sold 145,000 first-week US copies, and its lead single approached two billion YouTube views.
3 min read
Cover of “Illuminate” by Shawn Mendes. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Buddy Holly: How 'That'll Be the Day' Took Over the Charts
On September 23, 1957, The Crickets' 'That'll Be the Day' hit number one on the American charts, launching Buddy Holly to stardom.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Metal
Love You Live: The Rolling Stones' 1977 Double Album
A 1977 double album recorded partly at a small Toronto club. Love You Live captured the Rolling Stones across three tours and marked Ronnie Wood's debut on an official live release.
3 min read
Cover of “Love You Live” by The Rolling Stones. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Sound So Split?
The first side belonged to two men who had already handed Tina Turner a career-defining hit; the second was a patchwork of five different producers, among them …
5 min read
Cover of “Break Every Rule” by Tina Turner. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
STORY · Hip-Hop
Diana Oritz: Why Dream's 2000s Hip-Hop Still Matters
Diana Oritz, born on September 23, 1985, anchored Dream, a hip-hop group whose two-decade catalog resists categorization and still rewards deep listening.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Moby's Punk Detour That Nearly Ended His Career
Moby's 1996 punk rock album Animal Rights, released through Mute Records, was a deliberate departure from his electronic sound and nearly ended his career.
4 min read
Cover of “Animal Rights” by Moby. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Neil Young: How the 2006 Americana Honor Defined a Rebel
In September 2006, Neil Young received Artist of the Year at the Americana Honors and Awards, just after releasing the protest album Living With War.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Electronic
How Fatboy Slim Made Big Beat's First Global Statement
Fatboy Slim's 1996 debut album Better Living Through Chemistry carried the confidence of a producer joining a known lineage. Its floppy-disk cover still reads as a compact manifesto.
3 min read
Cover of “Better Living Through Chemistry” by Fatboy Slim. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Jermaine Dupri: Why So So Def Defined the 90s
An Atlanta teenager with a mixing board and a phone line became the engine behind some of the most recognizable hooks of the 90s. Jermaine Dupri was born on Sep…
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Rock
Ani DiFranco Is Her Own Label
Ani DiFranco, born in Buffalo in 1970, built a career on independence by starting her own label at nineteen and releasing over twenty albums on it.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · World
Why Did Juliette Gréco Own Paris After the War?
Juliette Gréco, the French singer and actor who died in 2020, turned a childhood rejection into the voice of postwar Parisian intellectual desire.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Why Demi Lovato's Don't Forget Still Sounds Like 18
Demi Lovato's debut album, recorded in ten and a half days while filming Camp Rock, arrived on September 23, 2008. It turned the Disney star into a Billboard 200 contender.
4 min read
Cover of “Don't Forget” by Demi Lovato. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Bruce Springsteen: The Jersey Boardwalk Dream
Bruce Springsteen, born September 23, 1949, in Long Branch, New Jersey, turned 77 in 2026. He has sold over 140 million records worldwide.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Electronic
Natalie Horler: From Jazz Daughter to Trance Voice
Natalie Horler, born in Bonn in 1981, went from singing in cocktail bars to fronting Cascada, the act that turned trance and house into radio anthems.
4 min read
9EkieraM1, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
September 22, 2026
STORY · Rock
Joan Jett: How a Folk Guitar Lesson Sparked a Rock Rebellion
A folk-guitar teacher's rejection in a Maryland lesson room sent Joan Jett toward a rock rebellion that peaked with I Love Rock 'n Roll in 1982.
4 min read
David Shankbone from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Farm Aid: Why a Dylan aside built a 40-year movement
A throwaway aside by Bob Dylan at Live Aid in 1985 became a four-decade movement. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young turned it into Farm Aid.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Björk Homogenic: Why Volcanoes and Strings Collided
Björk's third studio album Homogenic fused electronic rupture with volcanic stillness. Released September 22, 1997, it was born from a year of stalker terror and personal collapse.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
The Band: How Five Sidemen Invented a New American Sound
In 1969, The Band released their self-titled second album, turning rural American history into an urgent sound. It corrected everything psychedelic rock had become.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Nirvana: The 1990 Show Dave Grohl Watched Before Joining
Dave Grohl watched Nirvana from a crowd of 15,000 on September 22, 1990, days before his audition. The biggest show the band had played became an accidental preview of its future.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
King Crimson: How Discipline Became the 45-Year-Old Rebirth
In 1981, King Crimson returned after seven years of silence with Discipline. The album fused new wave, post-punk, and gamelan rhythms into a sound that redefined the band.
4 min read
Cover of “Discipline” by King Crimson. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Strangeways, Here We Come: The Smiths' Last Record
The Smiths' fourth and final album, Strangeways, Here We Come, arrived on Rough Trade Records in September 1987. It came months after Johnny Marr had already left the band.
4 min read
Cover of “Strangeways, Here We Come” by The Smiths. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Iron Maiden Reissue Their Live Albums in 1998?
Iron Maiden's 1998 reissue A Real Live Dead One combined two 1993 live albums into one package, released alongside the band's remastered discography.
4 min read
Cover of “A Real Live Dead One” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why did The Band record their 1969 album in a pool house?
The Band recorded their untitled 1969 album in a rented pool house in Los Angeles. They were chasing a loose, intimate sound that conventional studios couldn't deliver.
4 min read
Cover of “The Band” by The Band. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why did Queens of the Stone Age's debut almost never happen?
Josh Homme and Alfredo Hernández recorded Queens of the Stone Age's 1998 debut in a California desert room. The road to release nearly collapsed before a label deal landed.
3 min read
Cover of “Queens of the Stone Age” by Queens of the Stone Age. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Gentle Giant: The Power and the Glory at 52
Gentle Giant's 1974 album The Power and the Glory used a die-cut sleeve and a king of spades to frame a concept about corruption and power.
4 min read
Cover of “The Power and the Glory” by Gentle Giant. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Kylie Minogue: How Tension Became Her Most Playful Reboot
Kylie Minogue's Tension, released on 22 September 2023 via BMG and Darenote, became her most playful reboot. It abandoned its initial 1980s concept entirely.
3 min read
Cover of “Tension” by Kylie Minogue. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Other
Why did Irving Berlin hide his birthplace?
Irving Berlin, born Israel Moiseevich Beilin in the Russian Empire, died in New York on September 22, 1989. He spent decades giving conflicting answers about his birthplace.
3 min read
Pach Brothers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Why Ramones bet radio on Road to Ruin and lost
The Ramones' fourth album, Road to Ruin, arrived on September 22, 1978 via Sire Records. It aimed for radio airwaves but landed below expectations on the Billboard 200.
4 min read
Cover of “Road to Ruin” by Ramones. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read