Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts. It has only been a little more than a year since Eric Clapton ...

(KTLA) — Pop culturally, the year tends to wrap up by early December, at least with music. Few artists want to drop anything they care about amid the holiday rush and the domination of holiday music.

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Chris Walter/WireImage Did Eric Clapton ever really know what Cream was? He formed the ...

This year in country music was all about artists discovering ways to innovate old forms and traditions. In some cases, like Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. the Machine and Carter Faith’s stunning debut ...

To make a list is immediately to begin second-guessing it. This year that’s especially true below the Top 10, in my list of 20 runner-up albums, for which I had double that many candidates I could ...

The music world refused to stand still in 2025. This wasn’t a year for playing it safe. Across the globe and all over the stylistic map, music kept mutating in the weirdest, wildest ways. The artists ...

Which artist defined 2025? Spotify is ready to submit its answer. Spotify Wrapped, the much-loved annual personalized music report, revealed the artists – both stateside and globally – who dominated ...

Rosalía made an album invoking the saints, Lily Allen took us on a tragicomic trip through her domestic hell, Lady Gaga found the sweet spot between artpop and arena-ready funk, and Bad Bunny was just ...

I joined Paste in 2023 and, in my tenure as editor, this year’s AOTY list is my favorite by far. The publication has been doling out these rankings since 2002, affixing an “Album of the Year” ribbon ...

Eric Dane is sharing everything about his ALS battle — including the emotional toll that the devastating diagnosis has taken on him. The “Euphoria” actor, 53, gave the latest update on his health ...

The Korean pop outsider Effie and the Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese top our critics’ lists this year. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica Musicians know how to make music, and they ...

So this is the future? Judging by mainstream music in 2025, humankind is not in a particularly creative place. The year’s main storylines included the rise of AI slop and cartoon K-pop. A number of ...