December 21 marked the start of Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. On that long, dark night a week ago, the Imagine Peace Tower lit up in Reykjavik, Iceland. An artwork conceived by Yoko Ono in 2007 in memory of her late husband John Lennon, the Imagine Peace Tower beams a huge, intense light into the sky from the start of Winter Solstice until New Year’s Day each year...

Well, hasn’t it been a bloody big year for music? ...After immense discussion, plenty of arguments and a handful of temper tantrums, we here at NME have whittled down 2018’s best releases into a list of 100 essential records. Here, definitively, are NME‘s 100 best albums of 2018...

Killer collabs, outstanding debuts, returning heroes and the rise of the sadbanger – 2018 has been a hell of a year for tracks. Here’s our Top 50...

As a founding member of The Killers, Dave Keuning spent almost two decades of his life as their lead guitarist. Last night, at Dingwalls in Camden, Keuning stepped out for one of just two UK gigs – not as a member of the band with whom he achieved worldwide fame, but as a respected solo artist in his own right...

Confessional songs they certainly are, exemplified by the touching Recovery, with stripped-back piano and stark lyrics, about a broken relationship and addiction.

“London, you’re free to be whoever you want to be and love whoever you want to love,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan, opening Years & Years’ show at the O2 last night via video. This set the tone for an evening which celebrated freedom, individualism and diversity...

Fans of Coleman jumped to conclusions recently when a picture of the star pushing a pram was posted on social media...

ALESSIA Cara’s storming 2016 debut, Know-It-All, put the Toronto teen firmly on the musical map thanks to her standout, soulful interpretation of teenage angst...

"My imagination is just wild" DJ Muggs tells me, as he explains just how he painstakingly assembled the list of his thirteen favourite records.

Rita Ora’s second album, the follow-up to her platinum debut, has been six years in the making thanks largely to legal wrangles with her former label, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation...

Smith – speaking to Membranes frontman John Robb in Sheffield during a tour in 2010 – speaks in the interview about her memoir Just Kids, her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe and the proto-punk scene in New York – as well as her own poetry and music.

Earlier this year, Damon Albarn took to the stage at the Brit Awards to accept the British Group prize for another of his bands, Gorillaz. He has since admitted that he was “refreshed”...

"I think everybody loves things that are bigger than life...I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups"

The Game of Thrones prequel has finally been confirmed by HBO – here’s everything we know so far about its title, release date, cast, plot and rumours…

Somewhere in an attic in Devon, there is a picture of Muse frontman Matt Bellamy enjoying a dignified middle age...

New York native Veronica Vasicka is an expert in musical archaeology, reviving obscure cold wave and 80s electro via her Minimal Wave imprint. Now on debut EP From Here, the producer, DJ and label boss turns to excavating a hidden musical treasure of her own.

In the intimate surroundings of the art deco BBC Radio Theatre, Jo Whiley opened the newest Radio 2 In Concert series by listing the manifold accolades and achievements of Paul Weller, the modfather who recently celebrated his 60th birthday.

A never before heard early interview with Nirvana band members Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic from 1989 is to be released today.

Pop years are like dog years — disappear for more than two and you may as well be gone for ever. Stockholm’s Robin Carlsson is the anomaly. Eight years since she released her last album, Body Talk, the clamour for her return has only grown louder.

Richard Ashcroft’s last solo album, These People, was released in 2016 after a six-year hiatus. It received mixed reviews: while Ashcroft’s ardent political bite won praise, his forgettable melodies did not and the anticipation and excitement of Ashcroft’s return fell largely flat..