Rolling Stone September 2018

“I thought, ‘There’s a world out there and I’m not part of it. But I might like to be.”—SIA THE FIRST “ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW” to make an impression on me was a wild, combative encounter writer Kurt Loder had with Bob Dylan in 1984. As a Dylan fan hunting for clues to his mysterious, mercurial persona (and an aspiring journalist hunting for clues on how to translate my fandom into a career), I devoured that electric conversation, in which Dylan bizarrely denied (contrary to a string of albums with clear Christian themes, and his own past statements) that he’d ever become born-again; declared that there was no difference between JFK and Nixon (“politics is the instrument of the devil”); and generally let loose in a way he hadn’t in years. From the…

“Church should run for president in 2024. Why doesn’t he throw his baseball cap in the ring? He could be the moderate this country needs.”—Howard Jay Meyer, via e-mail Eric Church Risks It All In our August issue, Nashville renegade Eric Church went where most country stars never go, discussing everything from his disdain for the National Rifle Association to his love of Bernie Sanders [“The Defiant One,” RS 1318]. His beliefs even caught the attention of NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, who called out his comments on the Las Vegas shooting on NRATV: “He’s blaming an organization of millions of members. These are people who are his fans. Or at least were his fans.” Fox commentator Tomi Lahren also joined the conversation, tweeting, “I really like Eric Church and respect his opinion…

Each night before he takes the stage for Springsteen on Broadway, his hit one-man show, Bruce Springsteen looks at some very familiar faces pasted to his dressing-room mirror: the E Street Band crammed into a booth in 1978; the extended Springsteen family in 1961; heroes like Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando. “It’s a whole mood board of his life and his inspirations,” says Danny Clinch, who took this photo. Springsteen recently signed a deal to film Springsteen on Broadway for Netflix, and he isn’t ruling out taking it on the road. “I’m [in New York] until December,” he said recently. After that? “We’ll see. We’ll see.”…

GROWING UP IN a family that relocated often because of her parents’ jobs — from Japan to Turkey, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries — Mitski Miyawaki spent much of her teens lost in a dream. “I was in cars a lot, looking out the window,” Mitski says as she winds through rush-hour gridlock in Los Angeles. “I entertain myself, make up stories in my mind. That’s where probably a lot of mishaps and misunderstandings came about as a teenager.” One of the most insidious of those had to do with her ambition to break into the music industry. Like many adolescent girls, she became obsessed with dieting and exercising. “If I’m beautiful, then I will be discovered and get to sing,” she remembers thinking. Fortunately for today’s…

GUITARIST MIKE MCCREADY remembers the first time his band Pearl Jam toured Europe. It was February 1992, just months after they released their debut, Ten, and they were playing venues that held just a few hundred. “I could finally see places I had only read about or seen on TV,” he says. “I felt we had a big road ahead of us.” Twenty-six years later, that road returned them to Europe this summer for a 15-city tour playing celebratory stadium shows that included surprise guests like Jack White and covers like Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” “I feel gratitude that so many people come to our shows,” says McCready. “It is beyond the wildest dream I could have ever had. I sit here in stunned silence in amazement of our career.”…

1. Robyn “Missing U” The Swedish singer is the queen of weepy dance-floor bangers, and her latest is a dazzlingly overwrought anthem to match her 2010 classic, “Dancing on My Own.” It has us more psyched than ever for a new Robyn LP. 2. DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo “No Brainer” No one will ever accuse DJ Khaled of being too artistically challenging; here he convenes nearly the same lineup from last year’s “I’m the One” to recapture its cork-popping vibe. It works. “No Brainer” is pop-rap escapism of the highest order. 3. Sky Ferreira “Voices Carry” Ferreira crushes a cover of ’Til Tuesday’s Eighties hit, finding new levels of darkness while also honoring the heroic performance of original vocalist Aimee Mann. 4. Eric Church “Desperate Man” On the title track from his new LP (due in…