Bryan Reesman is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor who has been a voting member for nearly 15 years. He is the author of 'Bon Jovi: The Story,' co-editor of 'The Art of Metal,' and host of the YouTube show "Side Jams with Bryan Reesman" (https://www.youtube.com/@sidejams).
No fictional band has persevered and prospered like Spinal Tap. For more than four decades, they’ve walked a fine line between fiction and reality so skillfully that people prefer the invented band members playing their satirical songs. You can’t have one without the other. We’ve fully bought into the act, something no one foresaw back in 1984. The evolution of…
For the past five decades, Alice Cooper has flourished as a solo act with his villainous shock rocker persona. Of course, it was the classic band lineup that originally paved the way for that success with a string of memorable hits on albums like Love It To Death and School's Out. And that fire has been rekindled — upon recently…
Halestorm are at the forefront of modern heavy bands keeping an old school spirit alive. The quartet were a standout at last month’s Back To The Beginning concert honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. Raised as rockers on a steady diet of Sabbath, Pat Benatar and Alice Cooper, siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale formed Halestorm during childhood. Halestorm rose through…
Out of the gate, Danish hard rockers Volbeat stood out from the pack. The raucous quartet agilely skirted musical boundaries of metal and rock. Given the upbringing of frontman/guitarist and Volbeat co-founder Michael Poulsen, it couldn’t be any other way. He grew up imbibing the first wave of thrash and death metal during the 1980s, and was also influenced by…
Since their inception in 2016, British band Sleep Token have established themselves as one of the heavy rock world's most unique entities. Driven by the mission to project the message of the deity known as Sleep, whom singer Vessel encountered in his dreams, the group wear masks, cloaks and black body paint to anonymize themselves — emphasizing that it's the…
Singer/songwriter Bryan Ferry perennially embodies the epitome of cool. Best known as the suave, seductive frontman of Roxy Music and a pioneer of art rock, the English performer has built a genre-defying solo career over five decades that fuses glam, pop, jazz, and experimental soundscapes — all delivered with an unmistakable air of elegance and edge. At 79, Ferry is…
Watch highlights from the 2025 GRAMMYs on live.GRAMMY.com. The 2025 GRAMMYs telecast was reimagined to raise funds to support those impacted by the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area. The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched a dedicated campaign to support affected music professionals, and we need your help. Donate now. Canadian metal quartet Spiritbox have become the metal band…
When BABYMETAL burst onto the international music scene with "Gimme Chocolate!!" in 2015, they unleashed a frenetic fusion of perky J-Pop and menacing metal that the world didn't know it needed. Their simultaneously euphonious and brutal sound could have just become a one-hit novelty, but the group — Su-metal (Suzuka Nakamoto), Moametal (Moa Kikuchi), and newest member Momometal (Momoko Okazaki)…
Bon Jovi have officially been in the cultural conversation for five decades — and it looks like we'll never say goodbye. The band's self-titled debut album was unleashed upon the world in 1984, and lead single "Runaway" made some waves. Yet the New Jersey group didn't truly break through until their third album, the 12 million-selling Slippery When Wet. By…
Few music festivals have had the cultural impact of Lollapalooza. Conceived in 1991 as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction by lead singer Perry Farrell, the festival quickly became a traveling showcase for alt-rock and counterculture. Its eclectic lineups, which also included punk, metal, and hip-hop acts, helped define a generation's musical tastes. A new, three-episode documentary, "Lolla: The Story…
In the pantheon of rock guitar gods, Slash ranks high on the list of legends. Many fans have passionately discussed his work — but if you ask him how he views his evolution over the last four decades, he doesn't offer a detailed analysis. "As a person, I live very much in the moment, not too far in the past…
GRAMMY winner Serj Tankian is an accidental rock star. When he was 7 years old, his Armenian family fled the Lebanese Civil War and relocated to L.A. to start life anew. He dealt with some childhood bullying, then because he had a better grasp of English, he became an unintended legal aide to his father when his former business partner…
When a band achieves global success like Nickelback, fans may think they know them. It may be a cliché, but how well does any fan really know their favorite band? That's a question that both serious devotees and detractors will find themselves asking in light of the new documentary, Hate To Love. Directed by The Sound Of Scars director Leigh…
Bruce Dickinson performs heavy metal and flies it through the sky. As the charismatic and energetic singer of Iron Maiden, Dickinson has fronted the band for most of the last 42 years. The philosophical performer has been nicknamed the Air Raid Siren — which is amusing given that he has also been a commercial airline pilot and has flown Maiden’s…
"Weird Al" Yankovic is more than just a novelty — though his catalog is full of wacky oddities. A beloved and iconic figure, Yankovic has earned five GRAMMY Awards for his unique blend of satire and sound. His career as a melodious humorist began with airplay on the "Doctor Demento" radio show in the late 1970s, and he signed with…
One of Canada's biggest rock stars, Bryan Adams has had a massively successful and sonically diverse career that spans 45 years. With one win and 16 GRAMMY nominations under his belt, Adams' prolific output includes numerous chart-topping albums and big-name collaborations. Yet, for a man who has sold over 75 million albums and wants his music to appeal to as…
This past August, Hoobastank's "The Reason" reached the billion-view mark on YouTube. While joining the Billion Views Club is an impressive feat for any artist, it's particularly remarkable for Hoobastank — not only is "The Reason" 20 years old, but it racked up 300 million views this year alone. The title track to the band's second album, "The Reason" is…
Solo albums by famous lead singers can be dicey gambits. They can offer an artist a fresh musical pulpit, or they could divide the group that made them famous. Luckily for Corey Taylor, his solo endeavors haven't interfered with his main metal mission. With CMFT and CMF2 — the latter of which arrives Sept. 15 — Taylor crafted legitimately interesting…
Living Legends is a series that spotlights icons in music still going strong today. This week, GRAMMY.com spoke with members of Duran Duran. The band is currently on tour with Nile Rodgers. One of the biggest bands of the 1980s, Duran Duran captured the decade's exuberant pop ethos and influenced much of its fashion sense. Four decades later, the group…
Originally hailing from the Orange County punk scene, metal chart-toppers Avenged Sevenfold have always pushed their personal and artistic boundaries, embracing new school sensibilities while pulling inspiration from classic bands. Their latest album, Life Is But A Dream… takes all of their influences and penchant for genre-bending songs and blends them into a bold new sonic landscape. The 11-track LP…
