Curated playlist
American soft rock musicians
- Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen threw the first acetate of his own album Born to Run into the swimming pool of his hotel in 1975. The record was being mastered while the band toured, and he was furious at what he heard. He briefly considered scrapping…
- Todd RundgrenTodd Rundgren, born on the 22nd of June 1948, once called one of his own albums "my act of tyranny". He said it brought "a complete loss of about half of my audience". He said the episode became the model for the rest of his life. Rundgren…
- Billy JoelWilliam Martin Joel, better known as Billy Joel, left Hicksville High School in 1967 without a diploma. He had missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig at a piano bar, where he earned money to help support his mother…
- Neil DiamondNeil Diamond, born on the 24th of January 1941, once stretched his food budget to just 35 cents a day. Decades later, the American singer-songwriter had sold more than 56.5 million records in the United States alone. That total places him…
- Carole KingCarole King wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that reached the Billboard Hot 100 during the second half of the 20th century. Another 61 of her songs reached the UK charts. From 1962 to 2005, no woman had more success as a songwriter on the UK…
- Carly SimonCarly Simon, an American singer, songwriter and author, recorded a line that strangers still sing back at her: "You're so vain, I bet you think this song is about you." Listeners have argued about the target of that accusation ever since.…
- James TaylorJames Taylor, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist, was the last act on the bill at the Newport Folk Festival on the 20th of July 1969. Thousands of fans had stayed through the rain just to hear him. He got through only 15 minutes.…
- Karen CarpenterKaren Carpenter was pronounced dead at 9:51 on the morning of the 4th of February 1983, at the age of 32. Paramedics had found her unconscious and in cardiac arrest, her heart beating about once every ten seconds. She had spent the 1970s…
- Marc AnthonyMarc Anthony sang at the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citi Field, and the loudest reaction online had nothing to do with his voice. Some viewers wrongly decided the singer was Mexican, and a small social media controversy…
- John MayerAt the 2003 Grammy Awards, the American singer, songwriter and guitarist John Mayer accepted a trophy and made a promise. The prize was for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, won by the song "Your Body Is a Wonderland." His speech included a…
- Paul AnkaPaul Anka, the Canadian singer, songwriter and actor born on the 30th of July 1941, made his career-changing trip to Manhattan in 1956 with $100 from his uncle. He carried a verse he had written and a plan to sing it for a record…