From boom to backlash: has Taylor Swift lost her touch? – podcast
She’s a global pop star who appears relatable even as her tours alter a country’s economy. Bu her new album has sparked surprisingly fierce criticism. Alexis Petridis and Laura Snapes explain.
Podcast31:48
Dolly Parton addresses health concerns in new video: ‘I ain’t dead yet!’
Country music star shares buoyant video on social media after rumors swirl about her health
Country superstar Zach Bryan criticised by US Homeland Security over Ice lyrics
Dolly Parton ‘going to be just fine’, singer’s sister says as she calls for prayers amid health problems
TV review
Rob Brydon’s Honky Tonk Road Trip review – proof that he doesn’t need Steve Coogan for a fun travelogue
September 2025
Dolly Parton postpones Las Vegas residency, citing ‘health challenges’
Brett James, Grammy-winning songwriter, dies in plane crash
Kieran Hebden and William Tyler: 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s review – Four Tet fries his formative country influences
MTV VMAs 2025 red carpet: Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, Katseye and more – in pictures
Gallery29
August 2025
10 Chaotic Questions
Lucinda Williams: ‘My singing is better now than it was before my stroke’
Cass McCombs: Interior Live Oak review – double album doubles the pleasures of one of indie-rock’s finest
July 2025
Brief letters
Praise indeed for Jimmie Rodgers
From the agencies
Kenya celebrates International Cowboy Day – in pictures
Gallery13
Urban cowboys, harmonica wizards and queer trailblazers: 100 years of the Grand Ole Opry, country music’s greatest institution
The song of the summer is … nothing? Why 2025’s charts are so stale
Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen in Atlanta during Cowboy Carter tour
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Kesha: . (Period) review – a smart, funny return to her hedonistic hot-mess persona
June 2025
Honest playlist
‘I used to impersonate Hannah Montana – I can’t listen to her now!’: Lainey Wilson’s honest playlist
The country star loves the loud guitars of Bob Seger and belts out some Dolly after a few drinks, but which song makes her feel as if she can do anything?
The Long Wave
Saddle up for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour
The Texas native’s flag-waving, bull-riding summer of rodeo marks the latest step in her reclamation of country music’s Black roots
Newsletter
Nashville at 50: Robert Altman’s defining masterpiece of the 1970s
The director’s immersive look at the Nashville music scene remains an audacious narrative experiment that continues to influence film-makers
