Rolling Stone February 9, 2017

GRAMMYS AWARD NIGHT We’re profiling the Best New Artist nominees – Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Chance the Rapper, Maren Morris, Anderson. Paak – for a front-row seat at music’s biggest event. POLITICS FIRST 100 DAYS With the Orange One now occupying the White House, we’re analyzing what to expect from President Trump’s first 100 days in office – from policy and appointments to crazy tweets and controversies. SPORTS SUPER BOWL LI Following up on her powerful “Star-Spangled Banner” performance last year, Lady Gaga is headlining the halftime show, and we’ll also have stories on the teams and players set to do battle. MUSIC BLACK SABBATH’S END After nearly 50 years of pioneering heavy metal, the Iron Men are calling it quits. We have a full report from their final show, in Birmingham, England. ‘MUSIC NOW’ PODCAST With the release of his new book,…

Presidential Poise for your interview with Barack Obama [“A Conversation With President Obama,” RS 1276/1277]. I am going to miss him. He gave us eight wonderful years as our cool, calm and collected president. Mark C. Salvaggio, Bakersfield, CA with President Obama. Very sobering. When Obama was first elected, I had never felt prouder to say I was an American. Since Trump was elected, for the first time in my life, I can say I am embarrassed to be an American. Tom Harding, Spokane, WA a gentleman who believes in equality. Let us take a good hard look at him before he leaves office – because our 45th president is the antithesis of all that Obama represents. And my fear is that President Donald Trump will undo as many of Obama’s achievements as possible. JoAnn Lee…

1. Laura Marling “Wild Fire” Marling is a restless folk searcher in the finest Joni Mitchell tradition, and this darkly pretty tune about not buying your own bullshit is one of her best. “Are you getting away with who you’re trying to be?” she sings, at once subtle and stinging. 2. The xx “Say Something Loving” An incredible single from the U.K. trio’s new LP, I See You. They flip a sample from forgotten Seventies soft-rock featherweights the Alessi Brothers into a dubby dreamlike anthem of hard-won romantic hope. 3. Jessi Colter “Psalm 136 Mercy and Loving Kindness” An outlaw country godmother’s tender benediction, gorgeously produced by Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye. 4. Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White “Sunday Morning” U.K. singer-songwriter Flo Morrissey and retro-pop savant White pull off a slick historical sleight of hand, uncovering the Velvet Underground…

The jazz crooner’s new LP, Nobody But Me, features a cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and collaborations with Black Thought and Meghan Trainor. Paul McCartney “My Love” This is one of the most underrated songs of all time. There’s a recording of him doing it in a stadium that, God, may be better than the original. Donny Hathaway “Yesterday” This Beatles cover is so distinct and so different. Donny has such a rich voice, and this is a cool, funky arrangement. Frank Sinatra “Pennies From Heaven” Frank bounces, man. He’s got the swingiest band, and in his prime, full of swagger, he just kills it with his rich, deep voice. Elvis Presley “An American Trilogy” This is fucking awesome, goose-bump-inducing. It’s him completely in his moment with this gorgeous arrangement. You can sense his charisma. Joe Cocker “You Can Leave Your…

L an unclear future. They had cut their highly successful Innocence + Experience Tour short in order to work on their next album, Songs of Experience, which was nearly finished. But they eventually decided that the material they had recorded didn’t properly address the chaos of current events, from the rise of Donald Trump to England’s separation from the European Union. “We realized that we needed to put the album on ice for a minute to really think about it,” says guitarist the Edge. “The world is a different place now, and we needed the opportunity to reconsider everything.” Instead, U2 decided to mark the 30th anniversary of 1987’s The Joshua Tree – the album that catapulted them from arena act into the biggest band in the world, featuring hits like…

Mof the Celebrating David Bowie tour at London’s Brixton Academy on January 8th, guitarist Earl Slick, who played on everything from Diamond Dogs, in 1974, to The Next Day, in 2013, found himself so overcome with emotion he struggled to keep playing. He was backing Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott on “All the Young Dudes” alongside a 20-piece gospel choir, Spiders From Mars keyboardist Mike Garson and many others, but images of Bowie, who would have turned 70 that day, kept flashing through the guitarist’s head. “I was fighting it the whole time,” says Slick. “I was like, ‘Don’t lose it, motherfucker. I know you’ve got dark glasses on, but don’t lose it.’ ” Slick managed to make it through the incredible three-hour show, which was repeated, with a slightly different lineup,…