Curated playlist

Atlantic Records artists

ColdplayColdplay's first release was 500 copies of a self-financed EP. The band later grossed a billion dollars on one tour.
Roddy RicchRoddy Ricch spent eighteen weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2020, more than any other artist that year.
Bruno MarsBruno Mars was five years old when he wet himself on a Honolulu stage in the middle of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." His parents wondered whether they were making a mistake by putting him in front of crowds. He never…
Young ThugYoung Thug was expelled in sixth grade for breaking a teacher's arm.
Aretha FranklinOtis Redding said Aretha Franklin took his song "Respect" away from him. Her version hit number one in 1967.
Led ZeppelinAtlantic Records signed Led Zeppelin without ever seeing them play. The November 1968 deal came with a $143,000 advance.
AC/DCAC/DC is an Australian rock band, and its name began as a label on a household appliance. When Malcolm and Angus Young were hunting for a name, their sister Margaret pointed to a symbol printed on the AC adapter of her sewing machine.…
Little RichardLittle Richard walked away from rock and roll to study theology. A fireball over Sydney in 1957 shook him.
Rick RossRick Ross worked as a prison guard before he became a rap star. He first denied it, then confirmed it.
TimbalandTimbaland taught himself to DJ with his left hand after being shot at 14. A co-worker shot him at a Red Lobster.
John ColtraneA San Francisco congregation once worshipped John Coltrane as God incarnate.
Ed SheeranEd Sheeran bought a thirty-pound guitar two days after hearing Eric Clapton. He was eleven years old.
AaliyahAaliyah signed her first record deal at twelve. By 22 she had three albums and two films behind her.
The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album hit number one sixteen days after he was shot dead. He was twenty-four.
Cat StevensCat Stevens sold more than 100 million records before he walked away from pop music. A 25-year break followed.
Peter GabrielOn the 19th of June 1971, Peter Gabriel took a running jump off a stage and expected the audience to catch him. They moved aside instead. He landed on the floor and broke his ankle, then performed the next several Genesis shows with a…
Mick JaggerMick Jagger was carrying records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters on Platform Two of Dartford railway station on the 17th of October 1961. The man he met there was Keith Richards. The records revealed a shared passion for rhythm and blues,…
Missy ElliottMissy Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced nine tracks on Aaliyah's 1996 album One in a Million.
Sean CombsSean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, which launched the Notorious B.I.G. He was later sentenced to four years in prison.
Jimmy PageJimmy Page was thirteen when a television host asked what he planned to do with his life. His answer had nothing to do with music. The year was 1957, and the programme was All Your Own, a talent show on BBC1 hosted by Huw Wheldon. Page had…
CherCher, the American singer and actress born Cheryl Sarkisian, first reached radio in 1964 with a record that programmers misjudged. The single was “Ringo, I Love You,” produced by Phil Spector and released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.…
SiaSia Kate Isobelle Furler, the Australian singer and songwriter known simply as Sia, has spent much of her fame facing away from the people who made her famous. In March 2021, a laneway in the centre of Adelaide was renamed Sia Furler Lane.…
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson, known to the world as Ray Charles, carried two nicknames that pulled in different directions. Contemporaries called him "The Genius." Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred to be called "Brother Ray." Frank…
Charli XCXCharli XCX once drew about 37,000 RSVPs to a single club set in Brooklyn, and only 400 of those people were allowed inside. The set was called PARTYGIRL, and it took place on the 22nd of February 2024. It was her second Boiler Room set…
Chris MartinChris Martin, the English singer and pianist born on the 2nd of March 1977, composed a three-minute instrumental called "Electric Thunder" when he was 12 years old. In February 2020, a former fellow pupil found it on a cassette tape.…
John WilliamsSteven Spielberg laughed at John Williams's two-note Jaws theme, thinking it was a joke.
Bee GeesA broken record forced the Bee Gees to sing live at a Manchester cinema in 1957.
Brandy NorwoodBrandy Rayana Norwood, known simply as Brandy, once held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks in a row. The song was "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with the singer Monica. It is still counted as the most successful song by a…
Cardi BCardi B reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated the 25th of September 2017, with a song called "Bodak Yellow." No solo female rapper had topped that chart since Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. The woman behind…
Kid RockKid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie in Romeo, Michigan, was 17 when he signed with Jive Records. Years later, his album Devil Without a Cause sold 14 million copies. Both facts belong to one career, and little else about that career is…
Stevie NicksStevie Nicks, born Stephanie Lynn Nicks on the 26th of May 1948, could not pronounce her own name as a toddler. The best she could manage was "tee-dee", and that slip turned into the nickname Stevie. Decades later, Rolling Stone placed her…
Rush (band)Rush, the Canadian rock band, collected CA$25 for its first public concert in September 1968. The stage was a youth centre called the Coff-Inn, tucked into the basement of St. Theodore of Canterbury Anglican Church in Toronto. When the…
ABBAABBA, the Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972, now performs in London as virtual avatars. The concerts run seven times a week in a purpose-built arena that opened in May 2022. By April 2026 attendance had passed 4 million, and…
Tupac ShakurTupac Shakur wrote and recorded the album The Don Killuminati in three days. Mixing took four more.
Ringo StarrRingo Starr's first drum was a cotton bobbin used to tap the cabinets by his hospital bed.
Kelly ClarksonKelly Clarkson's first single debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The following week it rose to number 52. Then it shot to number one, breaking a record for the biggest leap to the top that The Beatles had…
Travis BarkerTravis Barker learned a 20-song setlist in 45 minutes. It was early 1998, he had no time to rehearse with the band, and he played every song flawlessly at the first show. The band was Blink-182, and he was only meant to be a stand-in.…
Phil CollinsPhil Collins is the only artist who performed at both Live Aid concerts on the 13th of July 1985. He crossed between London and Philadelphia by helicopters and a Concorde to do it. Born Philip David Charles Collins, he went on to sell an…
Rod StewartRod Stewart, the British singer with the raspy voice, stood on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on the 31st of December 1994 and sang to 3.5 million people. Nobody paid to get in. That crowd earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of…
3OH!3A Colorado duo recorded its first album in a basement, calling it an in-our-shower mixtape thing.
Rosé (singer)Rosé, born Roseanne Park, did not take her father's idea seriously at first. He suggested she audition for a South Korean record label, and she assumed he was joking. The distance was enormous, and becoming a singer overseas looked close…
Joe WalshJoe Walsh ran for President of the United States in 1980 on a platform of "Free Gas For Everyone." He promised that if he won, "Life's Been Good" would become the new national anthem. He was only 32, three years short of the 35 the office…
Robert PlantRobert Plant, the English singer born on the 20th of August 1948, first rehearsed stardom behind the curtains of his family home at Christmas. He was ten years old, and he was trying to be Elvis. Decades later, on the Denton talk show in…
Lenny KravitzLenny Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, from 1999 to 2002. That run broke the record for wins in the category. It also set a record for consecutive wins in one category by a male…
Bo DiddleyBo Diddley ignored his orders on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1955. Asked for "Sixteen Tons", he played his own hit.
Lupe FiascoLupe Fiasco finished an album in 2010, but his record label refused to release it.
Meat LoafMeat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, and by his own account he was bright red for days afterward. His father took one look at the baby and said he resembled "nine pounds of ground chuck." The father then talked hospital…
Chappell RoanChappell Roan stood in front of a crowd in June 2024 and admitted she was having a hard time that day. Her career, she told them, was going really fast and was hard to keep up with. Then she said the line that frames her whole story: "This…
Alice CooperAlice Cooper summed up his early band with one boast: "We were into fun, sex, death and money when everybody was into peace and love." Alice Cooper is both the name of a rock band that began in Phoenix, Arizona, and the legal name of its…
Lil JonLil Jon, the yelling voice of crunk, later made two albums of guided meditation.