Rolling Stone October 2018

“Women not only have the right, the power and the ability, but we can show a different kind of leadership that’s compassionate and sincere.”—PAULETTE JORDAN, candidate for Idaho governor WHEN THE SAD NEWS reached us that Aretha Franklin was gravely ill, the first person I called was Mikal Gilmore. The Rolling Stone veteran, who wrote his first piece for the magazine in 1976, is a master at crafting epic, revelatory tributes to the most important artists of our times. Gilmore’s writing, fueled by meticulous research and abiding empathy for his subjects, helps us fathom the complex, often contradictory lives of the artists he encounters: their hidden motivations and hard-won achievements, the difficult places they came from and the new worlds they created. In recent years, Gilmore has paid tribute in these pages to…

“Colbert is a beacon to those who live in the rational world. No matter what, there is still a place for intellect, for logic and for humor.”—Swiss422, via the Internet The Confessions of Colbert In September, the king of late-night starred in our annual TV issue [“The Triumph of Stephen Colbert,” RS 1319]. The host talked about President Donald Trump and opened up about coping with anxiety, and in an exclusive, hilariously geeky behind-the-scenes video, broke down Chance the Rapper’s “Favorite Song” (featuring Childish Gambino). In it, Colbert name-drops everyone from author J.R.R. Tolkien to Victorian-era theatrical duo Gilbert and Sullivan. The Internet loved to watch Colbert embrace his inner nerd. “I did not know Stephen Colbert was a super-geek,” tweeted Will Hoffman. John Panzer took to Twitter to proclaim that he…

When Jason Isbell met his wife, Amanda Shires, she was playing fiddle at a club in Athens, Georgia. At the time, he was a local hero in the boozy country-rock group Drive-By Truckers. “I made him sign a Polaroid,” says Shires. Now, that photo hangs in their home outside Nashville. They haven’t had much downtime here lately; Shires just released an excellent new LP, To the Sunset, and Isbell has carved out a place as one of rock and country’s most vivid storytellers since leaving the Truckers in 2007. Though the first couple of Americana rarely write songs together, they aren’t afraid to critique each other’s work. “We ask each other a lot, ‘Is this too much?’“ says Isbell. “Trust me, you don’t want to hear the lines of mine…

THIS SUMMER, ELLA MAI answered the phone and heard one of her heroes: Stevie Wonder was calling to tell her how much he loves “Boo’d Up,” the R&B sleeper hit that has made her a star this year. He even sang a bit of its suave, catchy hook back to her. “It was insane,” says Mai, 23. It wasn’t the first surreal twist in her career. Mai, who grew up in London, made a brief appearance in 2014 on the British edition of The X Factor — the same reality show that introduced the world to One Direction and Leona Lewis — as a member of a girl group named Arize. When that didn’t pan out, she began posting 15-second covers of pop songs on Instagram. Her version of Fetty Wap’s…

IT LOOKED A LOT like 2006 at Panic! at the Disco’s headlining show at Madison Square Garden in July. Of course, the band’s lineup has changed, and its sound has shifted away from baroque emo pop (Panic! have also cut down the length of song titles by about 60 percent). But the crowd looked exactly the same: teens and preteens in multicolored hair singing along to every line. “Bizarre, right?” says frontman Brendon Urie. “Fourteen years running, and younger kids are coming down to the shows.” These days, Panic! are actually bigger than they were when they broke through as Fall Out Boy’s protégés (Pete Wentz signed them to his label after hearing them on LiveJournal). This summer, their sixth LP, Pray for the Wicked, packed with jubilant, dramatic disco rock, became…

While planning live shows, artists have a new audience to keep in mind: fans at home. Tours by Taylor Swift, Travis Scott and Drake have huge visual moments that photograph well for Instagram, a big promotional tool that designers are increasingly thinking about. “A show no longer starts when the curtain rises,” says Ray Winkler, who designed the On the Run II tour. “It starts when the first person takes a picture.” FROM TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: LARRY BUSACCA/PW18/GETTY IMAGES; ASTRIDA VALIGORSKY; JIM BENNETT/WIREIMAGE; JOE PAPEO/SHUTTERSTOCK; GARY MILLER/GETTY IMAGES; NICHOLAS HUNT/TAS18/GETTY IMAGES; MARK LA SHARK; FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES; TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC…