Rolling Stone January 2019

“I was a nobody from nowhere who knew nothing and set out to do something.”—MICHAEL CAINE WHEN ALL THE VOTES from the 2018 midterm elections were finally counted, and despite Donald Trump’s blustering claims to the contrary, the results marked a huge victory for progressive Democrats and, more broadly, a rejection of Trump’s divisive and dangerous tactics. Nearly half of all eligible voters turned out in November, the most for a non-presidential election since 1914. Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives received more than 60.5 million votes. (By contrast, Donald Trump received 63 million votes in 2016 even though turnout for presidential elections usually far eclipse midterm voting.) If Democrats can sustain this support, Trump will be loudly rejected in 2020. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about…

“It’s about time a celebrity like Shawn spoke out and said how damaging it can be when fans fervently project their theories onto you.”—Flamingan, via the Internet Shawn Mendes Gets Real For our December cover, the 20-year-old hitmaking machine Shawn Mendes got candid with senior music editor Patrick Doyle when they met up in Europe. Mendes opened up about everything from his struggle with anxiety to his sexuality and his taste for weed [“Confessions of a Neurotic Pop Idol,” RS 1322]. There was an outpouring of commentary, and not just from die-hard Mendes fans, when the story went live. The profile even made it onto the Washington’s Post’s list of “Most Revealing Celebrity Interviews of 2018.” Expressing her sympathy for the pop star, Lisa McLoughlin tweeted, “It’s hard enough navigating your teenage…

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE’S preshow routine begins early in the day and lasts right up until showtime. “I treat it a lot like an athlete would because it’s a very physical show – and I ain’t getting any younger!” he says with a laugh. Moments before taking the stage at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, Timberlake and his dancers and band gathered for their nightly prayer and chant, which changes in each city. JT then danced hard through a marathon of hits on a stage that slopes through the arena floor, bringing him close to the audience. “It’s one thing to say, ‘I see you down there singing and dancing your hearts out,’ but it’s a whole other vibe to get down there with them,” says Timberlake, who has come…

BAD BUNNY knows how to make an entrance. When he shows up at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas for Rolling Stone’s Latin Grammys preparty in November, he’s wearing rainbow-flecked board shorts, flip-flops and lime-green shades. The Puerto Rican star, 24, proceeds to steal the dance floor with his raver moves. The next night, he steals the whole awards show with the nu-metal fury of “Soy Peor” and the electro-psych bliss of “Estamos Bien.” It’s just another week for one of the hottest acts in Latin pop, whose music scored 7 billion YouTube views last year, and who flew from Vegas to Miami two days before the awards to perform his hit Drake duet “Mia” at an arena. (He says he’s been helping the Canadian rapper practice his Spanish: “He knows…

IN JANUARY 1972, Aretha Franklin returned to her church roots, recording a gospel album over two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles. Amazing Grace, the resulting double LP, went on to sell 2 million copies and become a landmark in Franklin’s career. Bassist Chuck Rainey noticed a camera crew scurrying around during the shows, but wasn’t sure why it was there. “We weren’t told anything,” he says. “We were just musicians all-in with her. You [assume] they’re doing something for posterity.” In fact, director Sydney Pollack had been hired to shoot the performances for a feature film, but the footage was never released — until now. Nearly 50 years and many legal and technical issues later, Amazing Grace, an entrancing 90-minute documentary on the making…

IT’S NOT LOST on Keith Richards how remarkable and improbable it is for the Rolling Stones, after 57 years as a band, to be preparing for yet another U.S. stadium tour. “I really can’t put words on it,” says the guitarist, 75. “It’s amazing. I never expected to get around to Louis Armstrong status, you know?” Even as peers like Paul Simon and Elton John say goodbye to the road, the Stones are ramping up. The latest leg of their No Filter Tour kicks off April 20th at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Between then and the final show in Chicago, on June 25th, they’ll play 14 cities, with audiences totaling close to 1 million people. “[America] is really our first hunting grounds,” Richards says, recalling how the group first toured the…