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GRAMMY Rewind: 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards

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Amy Winehouse picks up Record and Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist honors as the GRAMMYs turn 50

GRAMMYs/Dec 3, 2014 - 05:06 am

Music's Biggest Night, the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, will air live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

In the weeks leading up to the telecast, we will take a stroll down music memory lane with GRAMMY Rewind, highlighting the "big four" categories — Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist — from past awards shows. In the process, we'll examine the winners and the nominees who just missed taking home a GRAMMY, while also shining a light on the artists' careers and the eras in which the recordings were born.

Join us as we take an abbreviated journey through the trajectory of pop music from the 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1959 to last year's 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Today, the GRAMMY Awards celebrates a golden milestone.


50th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Feb. 10, 2008

Album Of The Year
Winner: Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters
Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Vince Gill, These Days
Kanye West, Graduation
Amy Winehouse, Back To Black

For his intriguing album of instrumental and vocal interpretations of the music of Joni Mitchell, Hancock assembled an all-star cast, including Leonard Cohen, Mitchell herself, Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae (both have said they drew inspiration from Mitchell), and Tina Turner. The album peaked in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and also won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The Foo Fighters picked up a nomination for their sixth studio album, which earned them their third Best Rock Album following 2000's There Is Nothing Left To Lose and 2003's One By One. Gill, the only country artist to make the cut and the finalist with the most GRAMMYs to date with an impressive 20, received a nomination for the thematically arranged 43-song, four-disc set. The album picked up Best Country Album honors this year. West's third studio release topped the Billboard 200 in 2007, earning him two wins for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for the Top 10 hit "Good Life." Winehouse's breakthrough album Back To Black, with the help of GRAMMY-winning producer Mark Ronson, nearly propelled the late British songstress to a sweep of the "big four" categories. Winehouse won an impressive five awards as the GRAMMYs celebrated its milestone 50th birthday. She died at 27 in July 2011.

Record Of The Year
Winner: Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable"
Foo Fighters, "The Pretender"
Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around…Comes Around"

London-native Winehouse won the Record Of The Year category with the resistant "Rehab." The track also earned her Best Female Pop Vocal Performance honors. Beyoncé, who performed a memorable duet with soul legend Tina Turner on the telecast, didn't make the cut here with this No. 1 single but would win big two years later. The Foo Fighters earned their first Record Of The Year nomination and a Best Hard Rock Performance win for the driving "The Pretender." Rihanna's infectious No. 1 hit "Umbrella," her third Top 10 single off 2007's Good Girl Gone Bad, features the dance-pop star collaborating with GRAMMY winner Jay-Z. The track also won the pair a GRAMMY for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Timberlake's No. 1 single "What Goes Around Comes Around" earned him the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance GRAMMY. Timberlake showcased his range in also picking up the Best Dance Recording GRAMMY for "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows." Both tracks appear on his GRAMMY-nominated Album Of The Year, FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Song Of The Year
Winner: Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
Corinne Bailey Rae, "Like A Star"
Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
Plain White T's, "Hey There Delilah"
Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats"

Winehouse picked up another win for Song Of The Year with the self-penned "Rehab." The singer performed the platinum-selling song via satellite from London on the GRAMMY telecast. Fellow neo-soul songstress and England-native Rae, whose participation on Hancock's River: The Joni Letters earned her an Album Of The Year win, received a nomination for the self-penned "Like A Star," marking her second Song Of The Year nomination off her self-titled debut album. (She earned both Record and Song Of The Year nominations the previous year for "Put Your Records On.") Rihanna's collaboration with Jay-Z (who also co-wrote the song) earned a nomination with the help of songwriters Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Terius "The Dream" Nash and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. The trio also helped craft Beyoncé's three-time GRAMMY-winning "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" two years later. Chicago-based pop/punk outfit Plain White T's made a bold GRAMMY debut with a Song Of The Year nod for their viral No. 1 hit "Hey There Delilah," written by frontman Tom Higgenson. The only country artist to make the cut in this category, Underwood received a nod and a win in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category for "Before He Cheats," which was crafted by songwriters Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins. Underwood received her first GRAMMY Award the previous year for Best New Artist.

Best New Artist
Winner: Amy Winehouse
Feist
Ledisi
Paramore
Taylor Swift

Winehouse topped off her impressive GRAMMY debut by taking home Best New Artist honors. Nova Scotia-born singer/songwriter Feist added to the geographically diverse field, earning a total of four nominations during her own GRAMMY debut, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her Top 10 hit "1234." New Orleans-native R&B singer Ledisi earned two nods, including Best R&B Album for Lost & Found. She went on to receive a nomination in the same category two years later for Turn Me Loose. Hailing from Franklin, Tenn., Paramore, fronted by singer/songwriter Hayley Williams, released their debut album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005 before the singer turned 18. Swift has since gone on to win four GRAMMY Awards and would set an Album Of The Year record at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards as the youngest winner ever in that category.

Come back to GRAMMY.com tomorrow as we revisit the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Tune in to the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Follow GRAMMY.com for our inside look at GRAMMY news, blogs, photos, videos, and of course nominees. Stay up to the minute with GRAMMY Live. Check out the GRAMMY legacy with GRAMMY Rewind. Keep track of this year's GRAMMY Week events, and explore this year's GRAMMY Fields. Or check out the collaborations at Re:Generation, presented by Hyundai Veloster. And join the conversation at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

GRAMMY Rewind: Beyoncé Strives For Accountability And Change After Winning A GRAMMY For 'Lemonade' In 2017
Beyoncé at the 2017 GRAMMY Awards.

Photo: Dan MacMedan/WireImage

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GRAMMY Rewind: Beyoncé Strives For Accountability And Change After Winning A GRAMMY For 'Lemonade' In 2017

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As Beyoncé accepted the GRAMMY for Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2017, she stressed that it's vital to "learn from the past and recognize our tendencies to repeat our mistakes."

GRAMMYs/Mar 24, 2023 - 04:20 pm

At the height of America's tense political climate, Beyoncé's Lemonade brought confidence to Black women nationwide silenced by misogynoir. It was a celebration of unapologetic femininity and southern culture while also taking back the power in relationships stained by infidelity and generational trauma. As Beyoncé explained in her 2017 GRAMMY acceptance speech, the intention of Lemonade was "to give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness, and our history."

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, we turn back the clock to the evening Beyoncé made her empowering speech after winning Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 59th GRAMMY Awards. Fresh off of her iconic, nine-minute performance of Lemonade's vulnerable deep cuts, "Love Drought" and "Sandcastles," Beyoncé was glowing as she took the stage to accept her golden gramophone.

"Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to beautifully capture the profundity of deep southern culture," Beyoncé proudly praised before acknowledging her husband, kids, and fans.

"It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror... and have no doubt that they're beautiful, intelligent and capable," Beyoncé said. "This is something that I want for every child of every race. And I feel it's vital that we learn from the past and recognize our tendencies to repeat our mistakes."

Press play on the video above to watch the entirety of Beyoncé's thoughtful acceptance speech for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2017 GRAMMY Awards, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

Billy Porter Is Ready To Show Fans His True Musical Side: "You're Not Gonna Want To Stop Listening"

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Has Officially Begun: Here's What Swifties Have To Say About It
Taylor Swift performs on the opening night of The Eras Tour.

Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

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Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Has Officially Begun: Here's What Swifties Have To Say About It

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From a colossal three-hour setlist to more than a dozen costume changes, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is nothing short of sensational. Here's how Swifties are reacting on social media to the GRAMMY winner's massive stadium trek.

GRAMMYs/Mar 20, 2023 - 10:12 pm

It's not every day that a city renames itself after you, but Taylor Swift added this unique honor to her ever-growing list of accolades on March 17, 2023.

The date marks the first leg of Swift's monumental Eras Tour, which kicked off in Glendale, Arizona — or, rather, "Swift City," temporarily renamed in tribute to the 12-time GRAMMY winner's highly-anticipated tour.

The versatile singer/songwriter kicked off her tour playing to more than 69,000 people at State Farm Stadium, breaking the 36-year-old record for the most-attended U.S. concert by a female performer. The record was previously held by Madonna's 1987 performance at Los Angeles' Anaheim Stadium on her MDNA tour.

The tour is the latest example of how Swift continues to one-up herself. After her tenth studio album Midnights smashed records, the Eras Tour emerged as one of the buzziest tours of 2023 (and even sparked a Senate hearing about Ticketmaster). Spanning 52 legs and 22 cities, the tour takes viewers on an odyssey through Swift's vast discography, divided into 10 sections for her 10 studio albums.

Now that the Eras Tour has launched, Swifties who have seen the epic show — and even those who haven't yet — are losing their minds over every detail. Sharing their creative outfits, takes on the setlist, and live reactions to the show's astonishing spectacles, the online Swiftie community is storming social media once again.

“You guys. This is a whole, entire experience,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “This isn't just a concert. This is a FULL experience. I'm not even there and I can tell already. She did this, for ALL her fans. This is incredible.

In honor of Swift's monumental tour launching last week, here are how some Swifties reacted to a few of the biggest moments from the Eras Tour's opening night.

Yes, The Setlist Is Longer Than 'Avengers: Endgame'

Think watching Lord of the Rings or taking the SAT… that's approximately the length of the Eras Tour. Considering Swift's discography, it's no surprise that the setlist is extensive, but fans were still impressed (and shocked) by the whopping three-hour show.

Her massive stadium tour for reputation was just over two hours, and four albums later (or six, if you include Taylor's Version re-releases), Swift needed an extra hour to pack in just a few more of her hits.

"Cruel Summer" Gets Justice As The (Almost) Tour Opener

All Swifties know that "Cruel Summer" should have been a single from Lover, and the popular deep cut is finally getting its deserved attention as the second song in Swift's setlist, after fellow Lover track "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince." Here are some fans reacting to the fever dream high in the quiet of night.

Even Kelsea Ballerini, who was 2,000 miles away on a stage of her own, paused her own performance to ask her audience if "Cruel Summer" had made the setlist.

Swift Assures Fans She Does Indeed Love evermore

Since evermore's late 2020 release, fans have long advocated for Swift to show some extra love to her ninth album. While Swift celebrated the anniversary of its sister album folklore and released the live Folklore: Long Pond Studio Sessions, evermore was alternatively posted on the singer's socials the least, prompting fans to jokingly theorize that she doesn't know evermore exists.

Yet, at the Eras Tour, Swift reassured crowd goers that evermore does in fact hold a special place in her heart.  To fans' delight, Swift performed "'tis the damn season," "willow," "marjorie," "champagne problems" and "'tolerate it," amping up the album's soft whimsy into a stadium-level spectacle.

But… Where's The Love For Speak Now And Self-Titled Debut?

It's impossible to please every Swiftie, but some fans spoke up about the Speak Now and Taylor Swift erasure on Swift's 44-song setlist. "Enchanted" was the only song from either album that made it to the setlist, though it's likely Swift will perform more Speak Now songs as her interchangeable "surprise" songs of each show.

@clairenotdanes listen, im SO HAPPY about the setlist but also why speak now erasure 😭 #taylorswift #speaknow #erastour #setlist #swiftie #swifttok #longlive #haunted #taylorsversion #SeeHerGreatness ♬ You're On Your Own, Kid - Taylor Swift

From "Gorgeous" To Comical: Eras Tour Fashion Stuns

Whether it's a dazzling iridescent custom Versace for Lover or a golden flapper fringe dress for Fearless, Swift's tour fashion never fails to disappoint — and neither does fans'.

While Swift pulled off more than a dozen costume changes on stage, her fans dressed up in outfits inspired by her eras, iconic lyrics, fanbase inside jokes, and more. See some of the top dressing-for-revenge looks below.

@briannaxrenee SEE U AT NIGHT 2 🫶🏻💕✨ first time at a Taylor concert so excited! #taylorswift #erastour #erastouroutfits #swiftcity #taylornation #glendaletstheerastour #swifttok ♬ ERAS TOUR OUTFIT TRANSITION - paige!

Lucky Fans Caught The Jaw-Dropping, Fearless Dive On Camera

One of the most surprising moments of Eras Tour was most definitely Swift's shocking dive off stage. Stirring a collective gasp from the crowd, the moment served as a transition from her debut era to Midnights.

Between a three-hour show and a flawless swan dive, the Eras Tour begs one question: Is there anything Taylor Swift can't do?

The Taylor Swift Essentials: 13 Songs That Display Her Storytelling Prowess And Genre-Bouncing Genius

GRAMMY Rewind: The Chicks Give A Tear-Filled Speech For Their Industry-Altering Song Of The Year Win In 2007
The Chicks at the 2007 GRAMMYs.

Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images

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GRAMMY Rewind: The Chicks Give A Tear-Filled Speech For Their Industry-Altering Song Of The Year Win In 2007

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The Chicks were full of emotions after winning a golden gramophone for "Not Ready to Make Nice," the song made in response to the criticism they faced in 2003.

GRAMMYs/Mar 17, 2023 - 05:00 pm

Flashback to 2003, the Chicks frontwoman Natalie Maines made her infamous statement advocating for peace against the invasion in Iraq. The seemingly unthreatening comment quickly led to nationwide backlash, including a boycott of the Chicks by country music's fans, radio stations and musicians.

But more importantly, Maines' progressive endorsement prompted a conversation surrounding America's conservative expectations for country artists. Maines' courage to speak out was an inspiration to the next generation of women in country, including Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves, who credit the Chicks for empowering them to publicly claim their liberal beliefs.

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, we fast forward four years after the career-changing controversy to the 2007 GRAMMYs, when the trio won Song of the Year alongside folk singer/songwriter Dan Wilson for "Not Ready to Make Nice," the track made in response to the massive criticism they faced.

"This is overwhelming," said Emily Strayer, holding back tears. "Thank you, Dan, for writing with us … It was very important that you [understood] what we were trying to get across. Thank you for helping us to get all of this out and into a song."

Before heading off the stage, Maines took the time to express appreciation for her bandmates: "For the first time in my life, I'm speechless. Thank you, Martie and Emily, for sticking by me. I told you I'd take it to the GRAMMYs!" Maines joked. (The trio were the big winners that night, also taking home the GRAMMYs for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Country Album.)

Press play on the video above to watch The Chicks' complete acceptance speech for Song of the Year at the 2007 GRAMMY Awards, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

10 College Courses Dedicated To Pop Stars And Music: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny & Hip-Hop

10 College Courses Dedicated To Pop Stars And Music: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny & Hip-Hop
Taylor Swift with her honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from NYU. Multiple higher ed institutions have classes on Swift's career and discography.

Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

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10 College Courses Dedicated To Pop Stars And Music: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny & Hip-Hop

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In honor of Music in Our Schools Month, check out nine college-level music courses that dissect punk and EDM, global hip-hop culture and the discographies and careers of superstar acts like the Beatles and Harry Styles.

GRAMMYs/Mar 17, 2023 - 02:28 pm

There’s never been a better time to be a music-loving college student. 

Beginning in the mid to late aughts, an increasing number of academic institutions have begun offering courses dedicated to major music acts. In the late aughts, rap maverick Jay-Z made headlines after becoming the subject of a Georgetown University course taught by Michael Eric Dyson, a sociologist and best-selling author of Jay-Z: Made in America. In the Sociology of Hip Hop: Jay-Z, students analyzed Hova's life, socio-cultural significance and body of work. 

It's easy to see why students would be attracted to these courses — which fill up quickly and are often one-time-only offerings.  The intertwining of celebrity and sociology present such fertile grounds to explore, and often make for buzzy social media posts that can be a boon to enrollment numbers. For instance, Beyhivers attending the University of Texas at San Antonio were offered the opportunity to study the Black feminism foundations of Beyoncé's Lemonade in 2016. Meanwhile, Rutgers offered a course dedicated to dissecting the spiritual themes and imagery in Bruce Springsteen's catalog. 

Luckily for students clamoring to get a seat in these highly sought-after courses, institutions across the country are constantly launching new seminars and classes about famous pop stars and beloved musical genres. From Bad Bunny to Harry Styles, the following list of popular music courses features a little something for every college-going music fan. 

Bad Bunny's Impact On Media

From his chart-topping hits to his advocacy work, Bad Bunny has made waves on and off stage since rising to fame in 2016. Now graduate students at San Diego State University can explore the global superstar's cultural impact in an upcoming 2023 course.    

"He speaks out about Puerto Rico; he speaks out about the Uvalde shooting victims and uses his platform to raise money and help them," said Dr. Nate Rodriguez, SDSU Associate Professor of Digital Media Studies. "How does he speak out against transphobia? Support the LGBTQ community? How does all of that happen? So yes, it’s very much relevant to journalism and media studies and cultural studies. It’s all of that mixed into one." 

A Deep Dive Into Taylor Swift's Lyrics 

Analyzing Taylor Swift's lyrics is a favorite pastime among Swifties, so it's fitting that her work and its feminist themes have been the focus of a string of university courses over the years. 

In spring 2022, the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University launched an offering focused on the "Anti-Hero" singer's evolution as an entrepreneur, race and female adolescence. The waitlisted course — the first-ever for the institution — drew loads of media attention and Swift received an honorary degree from NYU in 2022. 

In spring 2023, honors students at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas can analyze the 12-time GRAMMY winner's music and career in a seminar titled Culture and Society- Taylor Swift.

Kendrick Lamar's Storytelling & The Power Of Hip-Hop

Since dropping good kid, m.A.A.d. City in 2012, Kendrick Lamar has inspired a slew of academics to develop classes and seminars around his lyrical content and storytelling, including an English class that juxtaposed his work with that of James Baldwin and James Joyce. 

More recently, Concordia University announced that the 16-time GRAMMY winner will be the focus of The Power of Hip Hop, It’s Bigger Than Us, a course examining the lyrical themes of Lamar’s works, such as loyalty, fatherhood, class and racial injustice.

"No artist speaks to this ethos louder and more intricately than King Kunta, the prince of Compton, Kendrick Lamar, 10 years after good kid, m.A.A.d. City dropped," said Yassin "Narcy" Alsalman, the Montreal hip-hop artist and Concordia Professor who developed the class which launches in winter 2023. “He showed us it was okay to work on yourself in front of the world and find yourself internally, that family always comes first, that community and collective missions are central to growth and that sometimes, you have to break free."

EDM Production, Techniques, and Applications

If you dream of hearing your own EDM tracks played at a massive music festival à la Marshmello, Steve Aoki and Skrillex, this all-in-one course at Boston's Berklee College of Music has you covered. Learn about the cultural origins of the various EDM styles — like techno, trance, drum and bass and more — and the techniques that artists use to achieve these sounds. 

In between thought-provoking cultural seminars, students will receive lessons on how to operate the technologies necessary to create their own EDM masterpieces, including synths, digital audio workstations (DAW) and samplers.  

Harry Styles And The Cult Of Celebrity  

While many celebrity-focused courses center around sociology, the Harry’s House singer/songwriter has inspired his own digital history course at Texas State University in San Marcos: Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture. 

Developed by Dr. Louie Dean Valencia during lockdown, the class will cover Styles’ music along with topics like gender, sexual identity and class — but the singer-songwriter’s personal life is off limits. Stylers who are lucky enough to grab a spot in this first-ever university course dedicated to their fave can expect to revisit One Direction’s catalog for homework. 

"I’ve always wanted to teach a history class that is both fun, but also covers a period that students have lived through and relate to," Dr. Valencia wrote in a Twitter post. "By studying the art, activism, consumerism and fandom around Harry Styles, I think we’ll be able to get to some very relevant contemporary issues. I think it’s so important for young people to see what is important to them reflected in their curriculum." 

Global Hip Hop Culture(s): Hip Hop, Race, and Social Justice from South Central to South Africa

Since its inception, hip-hop has left a lasting mark on the world, influencing language, fashion, storytelling and beyond. At the University of California Los Angeles, students can learn about how the art form has shaped young minds as they analyze the various hip-hop scenes worldwide. 

As part of a mission to establish the university as a leading center for hip-hop studies, UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies launched a hip-hop initiative featuring an artist-in-residence program, digital archives, and a series of postdoctoral fellowships. Chuck D, the founder of the barrier-breaking hip-hop group Public Enemy, was selected as the first artist-in-residence. 

"As we celebrate 50 years of hip-hop music and cultural history, the rigorous study of the culture offers us a wealth of intellectual insight into the massive social and political impact of Black music, Black history and Black people on global culture — from language, dance, visual art and fashion to electoral politics, political activism and more," said associate director H. Samy Alim, who is leading the initiative.

The Music Of The Beatles

With their catchy two-minute pop hits, artsy record covers, headline-making fashions and groundbreaking use of studio tech, the Fab Five are among the most influential acts in music history. It’s no surprise, then, that they are the subjects of courses in a number of colleges and universities. 

Boston’s Berklee College of Music offers The Music of Beatles, which digs into the group’s body of work as well as the music they penned for other acts. Alternatively, if you’re more interested in their post-breakup works, The Solo Careers of the Beatles dives into those efforts. Meanwhile, the University of Southern California takes a look at their music, careers and impact in The Beatles: Their Music and Their Times.

Symbolic Sisters: Amy Winehouse and Erykah Badu

Whether you want to learn about craft, management, building a career, or marketing your work, the Clive Davis Institute at NYU offers an impressive curriculum for musicians and artists. With seminars focusing on the works of Prince, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and J. Dilla, a unique duo stands out: Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse. 

Framing the pair as "symbolic sisters," this two-credit seminar explores and compares how each songstress fused different genres and styles to forge a magnetic sound of their own. Winehouse rose to prominence for her retro spin on the sounds of Motown and Phil Spector and rebellious styling. A decade before "Back to Black" singer hit the mainstream, Badu — who is recognized as one of Winehouse's influences — rose to stardom thanks to her seamless blend of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop and captivating urban-bohemian style, creating a template for singers like SZA and Ari Lennox.

Selena: Music, Media and the Mexican American Experience

From ascending to the top of the male-dominated Tejano genre to helping introduce Latin music to the mainstream, Selena Quintanilla's impact continues to be felt decades after her untimely death. Artists including Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Victoria "La Mala" Ortiz, Becky G and Beyoncé cite the GRAMMY-winning "Queen of Tejano" as an influence. 

Throughout the years, her legacy and cultural impact have been the focus of dozens of college courses. In 2023, Duke University continues this tradition with Selena: Music, Media and the Mexican American Experience. The course will explore the life, career and cultural impact of the beloved Tejano singer.

The Art of Punk: Sound, Aesthetics and Performance

Since emerging in the 1970s, punk rock has been viewed as a divisive, politically charged music genre. Its unique visual style — which can include leather jackets, tattoos, chunky boots and colorful hair — was absorbed into the mainstream in the '90s, where it continues to thrive (to the chagrin of hardcore punks everywhere). Over the decades, dozens of subgenres have cropped up and taken the spotlight  — including riot grrrl and pop-punk — but very few have left the impact of the classic punk sound from the '70s and its anti-establishment themes.

If you're interested in learning more about the genre that inspired bands like Nirvana, check out Stanford University's The Art of Punk seminar, which explores the genre's visual and sonic origins, as well as its evolution and connections to race, class, and gender. 

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