Music

Prince is a brilliant musician, a mesmerizing performer and — according to cultural commentator Touré — a Generation X icon. Touré says Prince played a wise older brother to the latchkey kids of Gen X.

A conversation Here & Now’s Alex Ashlock had with Paul Monti about his son Jared Monti, who was killed in Afghanistan, sparked a song that hit No. 1 on the country charts last month.

In 2011, a Nashville songwriter heard Alex Ashlock’s interview with Paul Monti, who lost his son in Afghanistan. It inspired her to write “I Drive Your Truck.”

At 30, Caroline Shaw is the youngest – and one of only a few women – to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Before last month, she was known primarily as a violinist and singer.

To mark the coming arrival of the cicadas, we speak with David Rothenberg, who makes music out of the cicada buzz.

Hollywood stars from Zach Braff to Whoopi Goldberg are turning to kickstarter to fund their pet projects, upsetting some who say celebrities will overshadow budding entertainers and entrepreneurs.

The Seattle-based band Heart, founded by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. Best known for their hits in the 70s, the sisters are as busy as ever.

The alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants is out with its sixteenth album, “Nanobots,” which marks a return to a style of songwriting they used back in 1992: the super-short song.

When Rob Morsberger was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2011 he vowed to make as much music as possible before his death. He’s kept his promise.

Murry’s debut solo album, “The Graceless Age,” chronicles his upbringing in Mississippi and his downward spiral into addiction and breakdown in California.