News archive
February 2026
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105 articles
- February 20
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- “One of the greatest national anthems ever”: How Charlie Puth used jazz harmony to “pull off something pretty spectacular” at the Super Bowl - and send online music theory educators into a frenzy
- MusicRadar deals of the week: Score over $700 off PRS, $200 off Ludwig drums and massive discounts on software and recording gear
- February 19
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- “Those fridges are probably the fourth best musical group to come out of Sheffield”: Supermarket goes viral for the chilled ambient drones of its freezer section
- “Taylor and Travis Kelce have been listening to my music loads together and have requested that I remix Opalite”: Chris Lake said yes to a Taylor Swift remix before he'd even heard the stems, then had to spend two weeks solid producing it in Ableton Live
- Arturia's FX Collection 6 adds an ambient plugin specialising in "novel, emotive textures" and a souped-up H910 Harmonizer
- “The single biggest leap we ever made. That's when we really started making music the way we wanted to”: Brian May reflects on Queen II, as it's confirmed that the 1974 album is about to get a lavish reissue
- “Joe Satriani said, ‘Every time I do an album, I feel like the first song I have to prove that I can play guitar. I wish I could let that go.’ I thought, ‘I know exactly what you mean’”: Paul Gilbert on why it’s so hard to resist the urge to shred
- “I’ll be having fun with this for a long time to come”: UJAM's Voxcraft delivers creative vocal manipulation without the menu-diving
- February 18
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- Billy Idol Should Be Dead: New documentary "digs deep" into star's "emergence as a prototypical punk rocker" and transformation into an MTV superstar
- Could the Line 6 Helix Stadium Floor be a serious rival to the Quad Cortex? An 8” touchscreen, all-new AI-driven modelling tech and the capability to automate your live show gives it a fighting chance
- “Between that and the ABBA hologram show there’s really nothing left of our ideas": Damon Albarn suggests that Gorillaz helped to lay the groundwork for the success of KPop Demon Hunters, and reflects on the "mismatch" that led to Blur's Coachella debacle
- "She was lightyears ahead of her time": Eventide releases reimagined version of Laurie Spiegel's Music Mouse, four decades on from its release
- “These chemicals are not just additives; they may be migrating from the headphones into our body”: Research shows nearly all headphones contain chemicals that are dangerous to human health
- “You can have a great amp but if the speaker sucks it won’t sound good”: Sylosis' Josh Middleton on the most important link in your signal chain – and how a remarkable find from Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood helped him nail Andy Sneap’s tone
- February 17
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- “When I was a child, I had a poster on my wall of BB King playing his signature Lucille… I just wanted to be a part of that world”: Gary Clark Jr channels the King of the Blues for limited edition Gibson Custom Shop collab
- “Every time you put on that bald cap, you know you’re about to have the time of your lives”: Pitbull fans will attempt to break a world record at Hyde Park gig in July
- “I was super flattered to be invited back into The Simpsons universe, and particularly with this grand message of great hope”: Michael Stipe returns to Springfield to sing a rewritten version of one of REM's biggest hits
- “Those first two days we got along like brothers, but then after we did the album thing, it was like, ‘This isn’t happening’”: How the gift of a divisive Rolling Stones album scuppered the chance of a collaboration between Nile Rodgers and John Mayer
- “I brought two speakers, keyboards and a vocal mic, and moved the dining table”: Producer Mike Sabath on starting Raye’s “outrageous” second studio album at an Airbnb in the mountains, and the “crazy” reaction to Where Is My Husband!
- “His lyrics often began as deeply personal reflections, transformed into anthems in which millions found themselves”: Tributes paid to Billy Steinberg, co-writer of Madonna's Like A Virgin, The Bangles' Eternal Flame, and Cyndi Lauper's True Colors
- “I can’t wait for everyone to hear and see what we’ve created. I hope Eurovision is ready to get synthesized!”: Famed for his crazy musical inventions, the UK’s shock Eurovision 2026 entrant is none other than Look Mum No Computer
- After being sampled by Eminem and Kanye West and seeing 1971 song Bless the Telephone going viral on TikTok, Labi Siffre is returning with Unfinished Business, his first new album this century
- “I can’t play the violin. I bought this crappy, cheap violin, and I’d be in the booth and Charli would walk in like ‘what the...?’”: Charli xcx and Finn Keane on the "nails-on-a-chalkboard" strings behind the Wuthering Heights soundtrack
- “I got to design a guitar that gave me exactly what I was looking for in contrast to my Strats”: How Cory Wong embraced humbuckers to reimagine Ernie Ball Music Man’s iconic bass for a signature electric with “that George Benson sound”
- February 16
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- “One day it was nothing but laughs. We're on stage and Dave's looking at me every night like, 'You're killing it, dude!!!' And then it was just... over": Josh Freese is still puzzled as to why he was fired from Foo Fighters
- Ableton Live co-creator Robert Henke updates a classic Live effect with free M4L device Filter Delays
- “We are seeing free parties rise, mid-tier venues disappear… extraordinary resilience, but resilience is not a policy”: New report into UK electronic music brings mixed news
- Get golden-era guitar tone with $600 off thanks to the awesome Presidents' Day sale on Vintera II guitars over at the official Fender store
- “I think we’re the perfect band for that. We’ve been talking to those guys”: Tool are looking into a 2027 residency at the Las Vegas Sphere
- February 15
- February 14
- February 13
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- Hack your disposable vape into a mini wind synth with this DIY guide
- Behringer clones the Lovetone Ring Stinger, a cult classic ring mod/fuzz pedal heard on Radiohead's Kid A
- “That’s called the lazy musician’s way”: Greg Phillinganes schools Clyde Lawrence on how to play the piano part in Toto’s Rosanna correctly
- “Who do we really support, and what kind of ecosystem do we want for live music in Europe?”: New research shows the vice-like grip four companies have on Europe’s live music
- February 12
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- “Developed with Kirk Hammett’s guidance and built from specifications taken directly from the actual PAF humbuckers on that world-renowned guitar”: Gibson unveils the $449 Custom Shop humbucker set that will make your Les Paul sound like ‘Greeny’
- "His creative contributions were immense, and his presence – both musical and personal – will be deeply missed”: Greg Brown, co-founder of '90s band Cake has died
- “This is the king of synths. It will always be my favourite”: Howard Jones takes you on a tour of the synth he’s owned since 1983 that “sounds like no other”
- “Give your agent a music career”: New AI-only online radio station launches
- Inside Harley Benton’s 2026 mega-drop: Fresh colours and a baritone for the SC Custom III, a metallic makeover for hot-rodded S-styles, all-solid acoustics for under $250 and more
- "Not that Kirk doesn't get enough solos, but Cliff took his solo, which I think is just so cool": Robert Trujillo on the time Metallica mixed up their solos
- "Welcome to the dystopian future we only dreamed about three years ago": Deadmau5 blasts DJ using his AI-generated deepfake to promote music
- A whopping $900 discount on a stunning Gibson Les Paul is the headline act of Guitar Center's early Presidents' Day sale, plus a generous up to 30% off a range of music-making gear
- “Income from streaming simply isn’t enough to sustain most artists and that 99.9% them face a funding gap”: New app launched that could provide grassroots artists with a much-needed revenue stream
- “Thank you for everything, for your friendship, your wit and your generosity of spirit, and of course for the music, forever a true friend and brother”: Pogues drummer Andrew Ranken has died, aged 72
- February 11
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- Harley Benton just dropped an 8-string for southpaw players that has a multi-scale build, high-gain humbuckers – and it offers change from 300 bucks
- “He knew one day someone would come and look through this stuff. They’re not objects for veneration to be kept in a box": Rare footage of Bowie from 1978 to be included in new ‘immersive’ show
- Waldorf Protein hands-on: Four layers, '90s wavetables & MPE in a $399 mini synth
- “The reason everybody knows Eric Clapton’s name is not because he’s a great guitar player”: Billy Corgan says virtuosic guitar solos mean nothing in the social media age – and argues guitar influencers need to make a bigger impact on popular music
- “Every producer bows down to Dilla, whether they like it or not”: How J Dilla and his MPC changed beatmaking forever
- “She’s happy with the sale and has been celebrating by spending time with her kids”: Britney sells her back catalogue for a rumoured $200 million
- Cherry Audio’s SH-MAX takes on a trio of classic Roland monosynths called upon by everyone from Kraftwerk to Tame Impala
- “We weren’t like a normal group that’s ready to take a knock. We couldn’t fight back”: Carl Palmer on how punk killed ELP
- The Beatles-approved J-160E makes its return as Gibson unveils a trio of Original Collection flat-tops celebrating the golden era of acoustic guitar making
- February 10
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- “The legendary sound and feel, now reimagined for your DAW or desktop”: Amp modelling titan Fractal Audio unveils its first guitar plugin suite
- “If we could make this stuff too hot to handle, that’d be great!”: Chris Buck appeals for help to find his stolen Peli cases
- “I cheat, really. I’m not a great technical player at all. Because I was always writing for myself, I could avoid the things I couldn’t play”: Tony Banks says that virtuoso technique was never his priority, but avoiding "lazy" chord progressions was
- Ableton Live 12.4 introduces Link Audio and updates Erosion, Delay and Chorus-Ensemble devices
- "If any of those wet wipes songwriting teams, all 11 of them, want to have it out on the red carpet, I’m there": Noel Gallagher explains why he deserves his Brits Songwriter Of The Year award, despite not releasing any new songs
- “Ah man I’m so ready to go broke. When are these launching?” Billie Joe Armstrong debuts signature ‘Dookie’ Marshall amps during Super Bowl LX show
- “I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin's gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame. 'Oh, you can't do that?' Oh, really?”: Gene Simmons mouths off on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the lack of talent required to make EDM and the state of modern music
- February 9
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- “A breach of his composer agreement”: Jonny Greenwood and Paul Thomas Anderson ask for track to be removed from Melania doc
- “Of course she wants to record that song - it’s the best song written by a human being”: James Taylor explains how he had to tell Carole King that he’d recorded one of her greatest songs without her knowing, and before she’d released her own version
- “Every child deserves to feel they have a place where they belong, and music has this incredible ability to create that sense of connection”: Guy Chambers to help school kids write their own school anthem
- “Forgets his lyrics during his song showing all the MAGA Far Right that he wasn’t even singing. What a complete and utter embarrassment”: Kid Rock lambasted for appearing to mime at ‘All American’ alternative Super Bowl half time show
- Slate + Ash's Primaries / Woods uses woodwind instruments as the raw materials for expressive sound design
- “One day, I said to myself, ‘I really want a song on this album that has a Kenny G solo.' But there was an issue. I don’t know Kenny G... but I had an idea”: How Charlie Puth used manifestation and Melodyne to get a sax legend on his new single
- "It is like saying that my love of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather makes me a mobster”: Campaigners hope to make lyrics and videos inadmissible as evidence
- "Challenging? I couldn't remember the words to the songs”: Foreigner’s Lou Gramm on touring the world a MONTH after brain surgery
- February 7
- February 6
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- Behringer unleashes the BMX, its $459 clone of the Oberheim DMX
- "This is not a contest or a gimmick. It's a genuine search for the right voice, presence and authenticity to carry Skid Row forward": Could YOU be the next Skid Row frontman?
- “I'm like, ‘OK, put the drum machine in.' When I played it, she said, ‘Oh, I like that. I like that.' And she said, 'I want to do a song about the nasty boys’”: How Janet Jackson and Jam & Lewis made Control – with a little help from the Ensoniq Mirage
- “A perverse or healthy attraction to crazy ideas”: Soulwax aka 2manydjs are throwing a rave – at Abbey Road Studios
- MusicRadar deals of the week: Save a colossal $500 off one of my favourite Sterling by Music Man guitars, grab $200 off a super cool D'Angelico, plus all the week's biggest sales on music gear
- Not The Same As It Was: Harry Styles announces special one-off Manchester show with cut-price £20 tickets
- Behringer's "supercharged" Roland Juno-60 clone is now available for pre-order
- February 5
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- “What the heck were you thinking, dude?”: As Alex Honnold reveals just how much Tool he listened to during his free climb of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, the band’s frontman Maynard James Keenan speaks for all of us
- "I think it helps to not have too much music theory. Taking inspiration from different genres and being open-minded is important”: Dimmu Borgir’s Silenoz on playing a guitar inspired by a shark – and why you can be black metal and still love the blues
- "It ended up as the sound palette for a whole new generation": Inventor of FM synthesis John Chowning honoured with Technical Grammy Award
- Can ROLI's new AI Music Coach really match up to a human piano teacher? We get the exclusive first look
- “They were my favourite band growing up. Dave was my hero, and this was his keyboard": How The Repair Shop restored The Stranglers’ vintage keyboard
- February 4
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- “This is probably one of the last years where it's only humans on the red carpet... That agent and robot will be here before 2030”: Will.i.am thinks Grammys will be given to bots by the end of the decade
- “I’m just a piano tuner, man”: Could Leo Woodall’s very particular set of pitch identification and safe-cracking skills make Tuner the audiology thriller we never knew we needed?
- "An extraordinary ability to elevate each project he works on… his creative influence spans every corner of contemporary culture”: Mark Ronson to receive Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the Brits
- LALAL.AI brings its AI-powered stem separation into your DAW with its first plugin
- “I didn’t want something too radical but I also wanted something heavy metal”: Mark Morton and Gibson unveil a signature Les Paul Modern Quilt that brings the fire with a “flamethrower” bridge humbucker
- “We did that song, I think, the day that David Bowie died… It just kind of flowed”: Anderson .Paak on how the death of a music legend inspired Dang!, the 2016 pop-rap masterpiece that he would eventually record with Mac Miller
- “She’s kept all of her costumes, all of her clothes, all of her instruments": Is Meryl Streep playing Joni Mitchell in Cameron Crowe's upcoming biopic?
- February 3
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- “That whole thing of doing the trades with other players is a really nice thing”: Vernon Reid says he hopes he and Jack White have started a trend for pro guitarists swapping signature models
- “He was distant and uncommunicative… and wore a different wig every day”: Starsailor singer James Walsh on working with Phil Spector
- This free, super-glitchy multi-effects plugin is designed for happy accidents
- “Mars argues that it is immoral for him to be cast aside... I am not unsympathetic to this argument but it is not for me to weigh in on the morality of the band’s decision”: Judge rules Mötley Crüe were within rights to fire Mick Mars
- “It’s a great feeling. I wish we’d had something like this at my school”: Justin Hawkins opens recording studio at Hereford Cathedral School
- “We had nothing to do with it creatively. We hope it sparks interest in him and his work”: Chili Peppers distance themselves from documentary about founder member Hillel Slovak
- “40W of stereo sound with studio-grade tone – packed into a travel-ready design”: Mooer Audio’s flagship Intelligent Amp lets you find guitar tones using AI prompts
- “Lorne Michaels said, ‘Hey, do you want to host SNL?’ I said, ‘Yeah, can I do the music?’ He’s like, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’m not doing it'": Timothée Chalamet says that he had to self-fund his Bob Dylan musical performances on Saturday Night Live
- You’re Working For No-One But Me: New survey reveals Harry Styles is the UK pop’s biggest contributor to the taxman
- February 2
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- APT with a twist: Bruno Mars plays a Gibson Les Paul as he and Rosé deliver a hard rock version of their 2024 hit at the Grammy Awards
- “Another huge win for the video game music scene as a whole”: 8-Bit Big Band pick up their second Grammy for their Super Mario medley
- "Once upon a time I was a kid making beats in his bedroom in Canada and now I'm here": Cirkut takes home Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 2026 Grammy Awards
- “It is clear why creators are concerned. Tech firms train models on copyrighted works without permission”: Four in five musicians are “worried” about AI music
- “We were at a club, and some guy was punching on a girl, and James says, ‘Kill him!’ This guy turns around and looks at the two of us and says, ‘Who’s gonna kill me?’ And James pointed at me…": Dave Mustaine on early days with, and split from, Metallica
- Justin Bieber just gave the most literal ‘stripped-down’ Grammys performance possible, playing an ‘80s Yamaha electric guitar and an Akai MPC Live III in just his underwear
- “The only thing more powerful than hate is love, so please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love”: Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish all win big at 2026 Grammys