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For many, the name Debbie Gibson evokes memories of dance, pop music, youth, sunlit blond hair and fun. Gibson, who burst onto the national scene in 1987 with her debut, platinum-selling LP, Out of the Blue, has been famous ever since she was 17-years-old. If one were to believe the fairytale Gibson seemed to be living, one might also believe then that Gibson led a life of golden faucets and pillows made of clouds. But like everyone else on earth, Gibson has had her down times too—difficult days and insecure moments that may drag on for what feels like eons. Yet, Gibson works on what she can control. Namely where her energy goes and what perspective she keeps. Those are the pillars upon which her upbeat new single, “One Step Closer,” is built. The track, out today (July 16), harkens both to Gibson’s glory days and portends new ones.

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Chicago-born rapper and actor Common (born Lonnie Lynn) remembers first hearing music at the feet of his babysitters. He was three years old when he started to absorb the songs that would change his life. His babysitters, two sisters from a music-loving family, would play vinyl records from acts like Chaka Khan, The Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire. To this day, Common says, parts of Chicago still feel like they’re living in the 1970s with the familiar fashion and melodies swirling in the air.

A few years later, Common acted in his first school play. He already loved movies and he quickly fell for the stage. But after performing in a modest production, Common says, he didn’t quite get the proper adoration he’d hoped he’d get from the audience. Thus, his momentum for acting slowed. Nevertheless, for Common, whose father was a professional ABA basketball player and whose mother was an influential educator, success in the spotlight was in his DNA. Armed with his passion for music, he began to write lyrics. This, of course, would soon lead him to win three Grammys and an Oscar in 2014.

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There are moments in the new film, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, that are very hard to watch. They’re socially gruesome. But at the center of each is the acclaimed musician (and now actor!), Andra Day, who portrays Holiday in the way any naturally great actor might. She—Day—is lost completely in the roll. Holiday then emerges, bright, brittle voice and all. Cigarette smoke swirl and scary-beautiful eyes. Then, on stage, Day as Holiday becomes the thick, buoyant beam of light that can form only when two other beams merge. That’s when Day’s singing prowess meets her newfound acting talent. Those eyes look up into the camera. Are they Day’s eyes? Holiday’s? And her voice finds you, pulls at your earlobes. You succumb note by note. It’s magic. But it’s also tragic. Holiday’s story is the stuff of tears and tissues. But it’s also much more than that. It’s the stuff of inspiration. Just ask Day.

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Famed horror movie director and score composer John Carpenter says he might be addicted to playing video games. But, for the artist, that’s not necessarily an awful thing. In fact, Carpenter says a great deal of music and inspiration have come from the time he’s spent taking a break from his favorite gaming console. And these video game sessions have of late helped usher in a new phase of Carpenter’s creative career, one for which he is especially grateful.

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Recently, it dawned on the prolific rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, Ayron Jones, that people, even in his home city of Seattle, don’t really know who he is, as a person. In the Pacific Northwest and beyond, Jones’ name is increasingly synonymous with musician and six-string shredder. But who he is, where he comes from, his perspective—those are much less prevalent than the dynamics of his sonic potency. Now, though, Jones is set to change that. The artist, who rose to national popularity in 2020 with Billboard-charting hit singles and an Instagram shout out from the notorious podcaster, Joe Rogan, is set to release his newest LP, Child Of The State, on May 21. The record’s autobiographical debut single, “Take Me Away,” which already boasts about one million YouTube views, serves as a window into Jones’ life, beginning with the very first lyric: The day my fuckin’ mom abandoned me / was the day I learned to lie.

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To call Robert Finley’s life story the basis of a movie is both accurate and overly facile. The musician, now in his sixties, grew up the son of a sharecropper in small Winnsboro, Louisiana. He toted water, milked cows and sweated along with his parents and his seven siblings, barely earning a living and never earning a fair share. As a kid, Finley would go with his family to church (his father was very religious) and he’d sing in the choir while watching the hands of the band members on their guitars.

Finley got his first guitar around 10 years old and he played any chance he could. Later, he joined the military and found himself a bandleader in the barracks. But after leaving the ranks, his creative career never found the proper footing. Finley worked as a carpenter. He eventually lost his sight. He aged. But one day his life changed. Recently, he began working often with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and the Louisiana native will release his second Auerbach-produced rock ‘n’ roll LP, Sharecropper’s Son, on May 21.

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For the Los Angeles-based gospel singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman there is a crucial distinction between faith and religion. Bergman, who has endured almost unimaginable losses in her personal life, has worked diligently to transmute those moments into something she can stand on and believe in. She’s done so with the help of spirituality. Bergman, who lost her mother to brain cancer and her father and stepmother at the hands of a drunk driver, retreated to a monastery to find solace and peace to begin to attempt to sort out her ailing mind. In so doing, Bergman reaffirmed her relationship to her devout faith. As such, figures like Jesus continue to pop up in the breathy, organ-buoyed songs of her new LP, Mercy, due out May 7. But that doesn’t mean Bergman is trying to convert anyone. Instead, her songs are simply an expression of what it’s taken to remain upright in life given all that’s attempted to tear her down.

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Before she played electric guitar like a God, before she became known as one of the best ever to do it, Nancy Wilson played a rented acoustic. She started when she was nine years old. The action had about two inches between the strings and the neck. But she played it with passion and burgeoning prowess. Later, Wilson joined her sister, Ann, in the seminal rock ‘n’ roll band, Heart, and the rest is Hall of Fame history. Now, with multiple time-tested hits to their credit, the sisters have become legends. (And their story is rumored to be put to film in the not-too-too-distant future.)

But there are slices of the proverbial pie that come along with being infamous that aren’t always as appetizing as the peak of a solo on stage. There’s the grueling travel, constant attention and watchful eye of the press. There’s also the simple reality that to “be a member of Heart” means you might not always get to be yourself. While it may not be the worst problem on earth, it is something to navigate concertedly. Over the years, Wilson has done just that. Now though, she is doing something she’s never done: releasing her debut solo LP.

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For London-based musician, Dodie (born Dorothy Miranda Clark), to be an artist today means to be bilingual. But that’s not to say that Dodie is fluent in Spanish or French (though she may well be). What it means is that Dodie, as a producer of her own original songs, must be able to navigate and speak to both the internet and analog interfaces to be successful. Dodie, who grew to prominence online via the social media platform, YouTube, has since crossed over into more traditional, mainstream recognition. But that, of course, doesn’t mean she will abandon her nearly two million YouTube subscribers. It means that she should continue to increase that audience while also acclimating to and growing a new in-person one, which the 25-year-old has been doing diligently for the past few years. On Friday (May 7), Dodie is set to release her new LP, Build A Problem, which will likely win over more fans while also showcasing Dodie’s signature sense for the theatrical.

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It’s rare that a musician has to move away from New Orleans to find her place in music, but such was the case for the now-London-based (via The Big Easy and New York City) soul singer, Acantha Lang. Unlike many big-voiced performers, Lang didn’t grow up in church and/or a particularly musical household. Her older sister would share records like Sade and Anita Baker, but songs, melodies and rhythms weren’t particularly prioritized.

Lang’s career began to click when she left The Crescent City for The Big Apple. Upon landing in New York, Lang says she quickly realized it was “sink or swim,” so to supplement her new music passion, she modeled. But when she found a regular residency at a new club in Harlem, her career began to progress. Today, Lang is poised to premiere her latest single, “Whatever Happened to Our Love,” which showcases her vocal prowess and signals a new record release later in 2021.

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