‘I feel as though I’ve been in chains’: the bittersweet life of lovers rock legend Mari’ Pierre

The British-Guyanese singer topped the reggae chart with 1978’s Walk Away, but despite work with Robert Plant and others, she’s rarely returned to the studio. This interview might change that…

grentperez: the gen Z crooner who started on YouTube at 13 – and now sings to millions

With weapons-grade melisma and sweet bossa nova beats, the 24-year-old from western Sydney has built a career that can be charted over 463 YouTube videos (and counting)

‘I’d been singing the wrong word for 30 years’: Deacon Blue on how they made Dignity

‘It’s become a sort of folk song. It’s played at weddings and funerals. Dundee United play it when we win. I’ve met people who’ve told me, “I was a worker for the council for 20 years” – just like the guy in the song’

Kurt Cobain’s guitar from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged show to go on display in UK

The Martin D-18E, played at renowned performance five months before singer’s suicide, sold for £4.8m in 2020

‘Joni Mitchell’s Blue revolutionised the way I saw music’: Emeli Sandé’s honest playlist

The singer was a young fan of Mariah and pretends she hates one 70s musical classic, but which aquatic power ballad can she genuinely no longer stand?

‘Society SUCKS!’ The fanatical diary of a teen scribbler who threw herself into punk

Don’t live like everyone else! Angela Jaeger met every act going in punk, in New York and London – and had crushes on them all. Now 65, she talks us through her thrill-filled diaries

‘I would never be able to sing a song that a robot wrote’: Lucy Dacus on her new album’s themes of artistry and intimacy

As the indie singer-songwriter and Boygenius star releases her latest, highly personal solo record, she talks of her weariness of AI and digital art, the pressures of being in a public relationship, and her anger and fears in Trump’s US

Usher review – glitzy Vegas-style spectacle is completely preposterous and preposterously entertaining

From rollerskating around the stage wearing a union jack suit to feeding cocktail cherries to women in the audience, Usher wears middle age incredibly well

Perfume Genius: Glory review – full of energy and biting nuance

Consummate chronicler of 21st-century sensuality Mike Hadreas returns to his indie roots on a convivial seventh album stalked by death and desire

One to watch: Jacob Alon

An otherworldly voice and the UK’s favourite antidepressants are unlikely companions in this remarkable Scottish singer-songwriter’s work

Yukimi: For You review – sweet solo debut for Little Dragon singer

Yukimi Nagano’s first record without the Swedish synth-pop band is a light but pleasurable affair

Mumford & Sons: Rushmere review – back to dreary basics

A return to their inglorious past for the British folk rockers comes served with an extra helping of self-indulgence

Dua Lipa wins second copyright case over single Levitating

US judge dismisses claim by two disco songwriters, stating that finding in their favour would ‘completely foreclose’ evolution of song genre

Alison Krauss & Union Station: Arcadia review – a fresh start

The bluegrass star and band reconvene with a new co-vocalist on this slick yet understated set drawing on old-time roots and more recent concerns

Raw, romantic and radical: Joan Baez’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!

With her Diamonds and Rust album turning 50, we rate the standout tracks from the strident American folk singer and political activist