Fiona Apple

I was a teenage Napster obsessive – and illegal downloading changed my music taste for good

The P2P giant was shut down 20 years ago this week. But the omnivorous mindset it encouraged in a generation resonates in the very best of today’s genre-smashing pop

Emma Garland

30, Aug, 2022 @1:44 PM

Who will – and should – win the 2021 Grammy awards?

Beyoncé is looking to convert her nine nominations while Billie Eilish could repeat her success last year – but there’s strong competition from Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift, and an all-female rock lineup

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

10, Mar, 2021 @11:00 AM

'All that mattered was survival': the songs that got us through 2020

Mariah with butterflies, Bronski Beat in the Peak District, Snoop Dogg on a food delivery ad … our writers reveal the tracks that made 2020 bearable

Guardian music

31, Dec, 2020 @10:00 AM

Kitty Empire's best music of 2020

Our critic’s picks, from righteous old-school hip-hop via euphoric retro pop to classic American songwriting

Kitty Empire

27, Dec, 2020 @8:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020: the full list

Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @8:07 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020, No 1: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters

The reclusive artist’s fifth album seemed to resonate with people’s desire to escape lockdown. But Apple’s bracing vision of justice and compassion proposed a different kind of freedom

Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

Fiona Apple on the album of the year, Grammys hypocrisy and how #MeToo helped her get sober

Over two interviews and more text messages, our artist of the year unpacks her album Fetch the Bolt Cutters – and explains how she finally found compassion for herself after trauma and bullying

Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

The 20 best songs of 2020

Our writers considered hundreds of contenders – and here are their picks of the year. Listen to all 390 tracks they voted for on our playlist

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

30, Nov, 2020 @6:00 AM

The Guardian view on lockdown creativity: a freedom for female musicians? | Editorial

Editorial: For some the domestic space has offered artistic liberation at odds with the home’s reputation as a place of constraint for women

Editorial

02, Aug, 2020 @5:25 PM

On my radar: Lisa Taddeo's cultural highlights

The American author on rewatching Revolutionary Road, Connecticut’s finest sushi restaurant – and the joy of jigsaws

Kadish Morris

23, May, 2020 @2:00 PM

The best albums of 2020 so far

There’s shaken-up pop from Rina Sawayama, searching rap by J Hus and Jay Electronica, and invention everywhere from KeiyaA’s soul to Beatrice Dillon’s electronics

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

11, May, 2020 @5:00 AM