
Ben Rogerson
I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.
Latest articles by Ben Rogerson

How Christina Aguilera ended up recording a Linda Perry song that its writer has now reclaimed
By Ben Rogerson published
"Christina, she’s not me, you know? And I’m not Christina"

Baz Luhrmann says that Paul McCartney convinced Austin Butler to sing an Elvis song with him on a train
By Ben Rogerson published
They both had a ticket to ride, presumably (but we don't care)

Can Spotify’s Prompted Playlist feature put you back in the driving seat when it comes to your music listening?
By Ben Rogerson published
Instead of being force fed playlists by the algorithm, you can now try and make it work for you

How Charlie Puth used jazz harmony to “pull off something pretty spectacular” at the Super Bowl
By Ben Rogerson published
“I have the whole arrangement in my head," said Puth in an interview prior to the performance. "I musically know where I’m going with it”

Chris Lake said yes to a Taylor Swift remix before he'd even heard the stems - but then had to make it
By Ben Rogerson published
“I want to nail this so badly," he says in a behind-the-scenes video. "I want this to, like, blow people's socks off, you know?”

How the gift of a divisive Rolling Stones album scuppered the chance of a collaboration between Nile Rodgers and John Mayer
By Ben Rogerson published
Rodgers believes that the 1967 record in question is "the most underrated rock and roll album of all time”

Producer Mike Sabath on starting Raye’s “outrageous” second studio album at an Airbnb
By Ben Rogerson published
“Mark Ronson DM’d me. He was like, ‘Nice.’ And I was like, ‘yeah!’”

Greg Phillinganes schools Clyde Lawrence on how to play the piano part in Toto’s Rosanna correctly
By Ben Rogerson published
The Lawrence member had been tasked with learning the song by ear as quickly as possible

"It will always be my favourite”: Howard Jones takes you on a tour of the synth he’s owned since 1983
By Ben Rogerson published
“The way it spits out those notes is incredible,” he says. “The attack… I just miss that on modern keyboards”

Tony Banks says that virtuoso technique was never his priority, but avoiding "lazy" chord progressions was
By Ben Rogerson published
As for the chances of a Genesis reunion: "don't hold your breath"

James Taylor explains how he had to tell Carole King that he’d recorded one of her greatest songs before she did
By Ben Rogerson published
“I was sure I knew the song already because it was such a classic immediately,” he says. “I literally ran to find my guitar so I could play it”

How Charlie Puth used manifestation and Melodyne to get Kenny G on his new single
By Ben Rogerson published
And in a further twist, they’ve just performed the US National Anthem together at the Super Bowl

How Janet Jackson and Jam & Lewis made Control, the classic album that's just turned 40
By Ben Rogerson published
“We were like, let's make a record like we're making it for a rock and roller or a rap artist. Let's make the beats super hard"

Alex Honnold reveals just how much Tool he listened to during his free climb of the Taipei 101 skyscraper
By Ben Rogerson published
“I just know how long the songs are,” says Honnold. “So it gives you a sense of if you’re going fast or slow”

“I’m just a piano tuner, man”: Could Tuner be the audiology thriller we never knew we needed?
By Ben Rogerson published
A perfect pitch for a movie?

Anderson .Paak on how the death of a music legend inspired Dang!, a 2016 pop-rap masterpiece
By Ben Rogerson published
“He sat with it for like, a couple weeks and sent it back,” he says of Miller’s contribution. “He had his verse. He had put horns on it, and that's when I realised, ‘Oh, he's like, a producer, too. He's a real musician’”

Timothée Chalamet says that he had to self-fund his Bob Dylan musical performances on Saturday Night Live
By Ben Rogerson published
The actor ended up performing three Bob Dylan songs while promoting A Complete Unknown, and says that he "refused to take no for an answer"

Bruno Mars and Rosé deliver a hard rock version of APT at the Grammy Awards
By Ben Rogerson published
The song was inspired by a Korean drinking game

Justin Bieber played an ‘80s Yamaha electric guitar and an Akai MPC Live III in his underwear at the Grammys
By Ben Rogerson published
He kept his socks on for Yukon

The making of Zara Larsson's 2015 hit, Lush Life, and the original version you might never have heard
By Ben Rogerson published
"Looking back now I’m very happy that the change happened,” songwriter Linnea Södahl would later recall

PinkPantheress is so Sincere as she joins MJ Cole on a new version of a UK Garage classic
By Ben Rogerson published
The track was originally made using an Atari ST and Akai MPC3000XL and released back in 1998

Zara Larsson was worried that her remix version of Stateside alongside PinkPantheress was being sidelined
By Ben Rogerson published
Instead, the song is racing up the streaming charts and the video is pulling in the viewers

“Experienced producers might feel uneasy about the focus being put so heavily on AI and the Session Players, but it’s still an instant recommendation”: Apple Logic Pro for Mac 12 and Logic Pro for iPad 3 review
By Ben Rogerson published
The Apple Creator Studio bundle is here, and that means new versions of the company’s classic DAW
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