Rolling Stone

we can work it out

“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.”—JOHN LEWIS THE BEATLES’ “We Can Work It Out” hit Number One the week before the writer of this issue’s cover story, Rob Sheffield, and I were born (in early February 1966). The group was just past the midpoint in its brief but magnificent, tumultuous, world-changing decade of existence, and the song (among my and Rob’s favorites) works as a parable for the challenges the Beatles faced as bandmates and brothers, and the resolve, as Rob says, “to give each other the confidence and courage to fight their way through it. The Beatles shared that faith that if they work together, they could work…

love letters & advice

“Lil Baby is a lyrical genius. His music is relevant and thought-provoking. It’s nice to see a rapper promote positive change from a non-confrontational standpoint.”—Nick Graham, via letter Inside the Rise of Lil Baby Atlanta rapper Lil Baby appeared on our August cover, his first for ROLLING STONE, pictured in his hometown, standing outside the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed by two police officers on June 12th. ROLLING STONE staff writer Charles Holmes spent two days with Baby (whose real name is Dominique Jones), playing dice, visiting Baby’s old West End neighborhood, and sharing wide-ranging conversations on everything from Scooby-Doo quips to conflicting views on what it means to be racist [“Lil Baby’s Uprising,” RS 1342]. Holmes’ candid and at times very personal piece about rap’s biggest new star inspired many…

angel olsen’s fresh start

IN THE FALL of 2018, Angel Olsen left behind her life in Asheville, North Carolina, and traveled across the country to the remotest place she could find. To hear her tell it, there wasn’t much to leave: She’d just gotten out of a five-year relationship, which also spelled the end of several friendships. “That’s the hardest part of a relationship in a small town,” says Olsen, 33. “You realize who your friends are, who can deal with conflict between two people and not be shitty. … It was time for me to be alone for a while.” As painful as the experience was, it left Olsen with a batch of incisive songs about loss, solitude, and emotional crossroads. She took them to Anacortes, Washington, an even smaller town, near Puget Sound,…

tom morello: rage and reinvention

IN 2020 AMERICA, more people are raging against the machine than ever before — and Rage guitarist Tom Morello is no exception, though with his extended family in isolation with him at his Los Angeles house, his current activism is of the stay-at-home variety. He’s already released a new protest song, “Stand Up,” with more to come, and is also looking back, with a new photo book, Whatever It Takes, and an Audible release, Tom Morello at Minetta Lane Theatre. The book chronicles every era of Morello’s career, beginning with his childhood as one of the only black kids in his Illinois town; his time at Harvard; and his funky flop of a first major-label band, Lock Up. From there it traces the birth of Rage Against the Machine, his…

rs recommends

AUDIOBOOK 1. ‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’ Just getting her tell-all autobiography is a dream, but the fact that it’s also coming out on Audible — read by Mariah herself, mixed with musical interludes — is almost too much diva majesty to process. DANCE APP 2. LADP Digital This app from the L.A. Dance Project offers ballet and contemporary classes for dancer types — as well as cardio and strength sessions for those with a little less coordination. MINISERIES 3. ‘The Comey Rule’ If you find ex-FBI Director James Comey detestable, this two-part HBO movie chronicling his brief time serving under 45 may not change your mind. But with Jeff Daniels as Comey, Brendan Gleeson as Trump, and Holly Hunter as Deputy AG Sally Yates, it’s definitely entertaining. DOCUMENTARY 4. ‘Feels Good Man’ The directorial debut from animator Arthur Jones follows…

the stones’ jamaican exile

MICK JAGGER got a call from his label recently with some news: While working on a reissue of the Rolling Stones’ 1973 album Goats Head Soup, the crew found some unreleased tracks. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, no,’” Jagger says. “Unreleased tracks, to me that always means a lot of work. It’s like, ‘Things that you didn’t like and didn’t finish!’” Jagger’s mind changed when he heard the music. “Actually, it’s not bad at all,” he says. Soon, isolating at his home in the European countryside, he wrote new lyrics to “All the Rage,” a rocker he’d started writing 47 years earlier. “You finish [tracks] like you would if you recorded them last week,” says Jagger. “‘Where are my maracas? Surely I must have my maracas around here.’” Goats Head Soup emerged from…