“I asked what the artist’s name was. He said, ‘Meat Loaf.’ I thought he was joking. He said, ‘Just show up at the studio tomorrow…’” Bass journeyman Kasim Sulton on Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren, Joan Jett, the New Cars, and the hand he never got to shake
“When I saw he was the one buying it, it made selling it feel a little better”: Country star surprises seller as he personally shows up to buy Facebook Marketplace find
“We were opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden. I told the guys, ‘I’ll go out there and blow for 60 seconds, then we’ll go into the first tune.’ I hit the first chord and my Marshall blew up”: Richie Sambora on Bon Jovi’s nightmare arena debut
How many keys are there on a piano? – and why are some keyboards bigger than others? Here’s everything you need to know about keyboard sizes but were afraid to ask
“When I heard Anna play, I thought, ‘How the hell is that sound coming out of a 22-year-old’s fingers?’” Alice Cooper’s guitar trio on how a wunderkind from England replaced Nita Strauss – and tackled the Godfather of Shock Rock’s most challenging tracks
“He stopped me after 15 seconds, visibly irritated, before grabbing my hand and filing down my nails to a good angle”: How Angine de Poitrine’s eccentric guitar teacher shaped their oddball sound
“Larry started playing that beat, while Edge was playing something else entirely. Bono said, ‘Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop!’ So we kept playing and he improvised that melody”: How a spontaneous studio jam sparked an unexpected moment of U2 magic
“We always recorded with Michael in the dark – he hated light. The studio was absolutely dark”: Behind the scenes of Michael Jackson’s monster hit
Brian May asked AI to recreate the cover of Queen’s The Game. He wasn’t happy with the results: “So this is the kind of intelligence that will soon be ruling the world??!”
“Our producer worked with Ozzy Osbourne, so I said, ‘What if Ozzy sang on this song?’ But then I said, ‘How about Rob Halford? The Metal God!’ They all went, ‘Nah, that’s a crazy dream’”: When the Judas Priest legend teamed up with Five Finger Death Punch
“I don’t want to say The Beatles cleared it, but somebody at EMI or Apple. So whoever you were that did it, thank you. Thank you, Sir Paul”: Mike D on how the Beastie Boys got away with sampling five Beatles songs on Paul’s Boutique
“We didn’t recognize him immediately – honestly thought it was James McCartney for a minute”: How a vintage guitar store in Malta landed Lewis Capaldi a rare Gibson acoustic
“An effects unit aimed squarely at those who want a fast, powerful way to experiment with sound”: Soma Laboratory Warp review
“Can I state here that I hate the Police?” Ritchie Blackmore says the band helped bring Deep Purple back together