Music

Honkytonk Kenya: Country Music’s Unlikely African Capital

This is Beirut, 11:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Kenya Country Music Art Festival Culture Music

The party is in Kenya, but the vibe is distinctly Americana: a sea of cowboy hats and boots with a soundtrack of whisky-soaked tales about heartbreak and good ol' boys. Kenya has become the unlikely home of a growing country music scene, possibly the biggest in Africa, as testified by the thousands line-dancing in a field in the capital Nairobi at ...

Underwater Serenade: The Surprising Songs of Leopard Seals

This is Beirut, 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Seals Music Science Culture

When male leopard seals dive down into icy Antarctic waters, they sing songs structured like nursery rhymes in performances that can last up to 13 hours, scientists said Thursday. The Australian-led team of researchers compared the complexity of the songs composed by the big blubbery mammals to those of other animals, as well as human musicians ...

Thousands Honor Ozzy Osbourne at UK Hometown Funeral Procession

This is Beirut, 31/07 12:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Tribute Ozzy Osbourne Fans Britain Culture

Thousands lined the streets of the UK city Birmingham on Wednesday to pay an emotional farewell to hometown hero Ozzy Osbourne as the heavy metal hellraiser was laid to rest. Black Sabbath frontman Osbourne, who earned the nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness" and once bit a bat while on stage, died on July 22 at the age of 76. He had been ...

Ziad Is Gone, the Drama Isn’t

Salam El Zaatari, 31/07 10:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Ziad Rahbani Music Fairouz Culture Lebanon

Ziad Rahbani, Lebanon’s most brilliant satirist and musical artist, was finally laid to rest. But instead of a dignified farewell fitting of the man who gave voice to a nation’s contradictions, his funeral devolved into a spectacle, an unintentional parody of the plays he once wrote. Some mocked Dima’s presence, others sneered at Majida’s ...

Pop Memorabilia: Glittery Michael Jackson Sock Fetches $8,822 at French Auction

This is Beirut, 30/07 22:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Music Michael Jackson Auction Legend France Culture

A single glittery sock that late pop superstar Michael Jackson wore during a concert in France in the 1990s sold for more than $8,000 on Wednesday, a French auctioneer said. A technician found the used sock discarded near Jackson's dressing room after the concert in the southern city of Nimes in July 1997, auctioneer Aurore Illy told AFP. The ...

'Panigiria': Folk Festivals Punctuate Greek Summer Life

This is Beirut, 29/07 11:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Festival Greece Culture Art Music Dance

It's midnight in the Aegean Sea, but on the Greek island of Ikaria, in the courtyard of the church of St. Elijah, the revelry is barely getting started. Dozens of dancers and scores of onlookers, including many tourists, are attending the local panigiri, a folk celebration that is an integral part of centuries-old summer traditions in villages ...

AI Bands Signal New Era for Music Business

This is Beirut, 29/07 11:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

AI Music Culture Art Spotify

A rising tide of artificial intelligence (AI) bands is ushering in a new era where work will be scarcer for musicians. Whether it's Velvet Sundown's 1970s-style rock or country music projects Aventhis and The Devil Inside, bands whose members are pure AI creations are seeing more than a million plays on streaming giant Spotify. No major streaming ...

Honkytonk Kenya: Africa’s Home of Country Music

This is Beirut, 28/07 16:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Music Kenya US Culture

The party is in Kenya, but the vibe is distinctly Americana: a sea of cowboy hats and boots with a soundtrack of whisky-soaked tales about heartbreak and good old boys. Kenya has become the unlikely home of a growing country music scene, possibly the biggest in Africa, as testified by the thousands line-dancing in a field in the capital Nairobi ...

Musical Satirist Tom Lehrer, Droll Prophet of Doom, Dead at 97

This is Beirut, 28/07 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tom Lehrer Satirist Music Culture Art Heritage

Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America's favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported Sunday. He was 97. The singer-songwriter died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to The New York ...

The Fearless Genius Is Gone: Ziad Rahbani Carries Lebanon’s Memory Into the Beyond

Marie-Christine Tayah, 26/07 20:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ziad Rahbani Music Heritage Fairuz Culture Lebanon

Born on January 1, 1956, in Lebanon, Ziad Rahbani embodied the rebellious, artistic and restless soul of his nation. Raised in a musical dynasty, he built his own identity note by note, word by word. At only 17, he composed Sa’alouni el-Nass, a politically charged and deeply emotional work that marked the beginning of a prolific, independent ...

Search
Latest news