The best Christmas playlist, according to the pros
From cosy classics to Christmas with Captain Kirk, we’ve chosen tunes for your holiday playlist, with a little help from three professionals
Bob Dylan
Council to run the rule over Portobello house revival as Hugh Wallace deviates from the plan
Plus: Michael H Burke not sweating it over Ailesbury Road house price, Politico takes aim at ‘Europa Experience’ centres, and Fontaines DC are doing just nicely
Poet Grace Wilentz: ‘Ireland has been very generous to me. There’s an abundance of fresh air and bookstores and intellectual stimulation’
The New York-born poet on having resilience foisted upon her as a teenager when both of her parents died
Joan Baez: Do I ever hear from Bob Dylan? ‘Not a word’
Looking young and powerful at 83, Baez is still engaged in politics, but has recently revealed a dark secret
Blues guitarist Dom Martin: ‘There was a lot of judgment about the drink and the drugs, from people who didn’t know my dad’
The Antrim man’s playing has prompted comparisons with Rory Gallagher
Why are so many old rockers still touring? ‘It doesn’t matter how much money they have. Musicians live for the next gig’
David Hepworth, author of Hope I Get Old Before I Die, on why rock stars never retire
Music books: From the melancholy of Abba to the dance-floor riot of Ash
Tony Clayton-Lea on publications about Abba, Greenwich Village, Fleetwood Mac, 1990s indie, John Grant, Dolly Parton and Britpop
Barry McCormack: Painting Devils – Dublin songwriter’s eighth album is a hoot from start to finish
Former member of Jubilee All-Stars delivers insightful, witty lyrics with the mischief of Dylan and the rhythm of John Cooper Clarke
The Movie Quiz: What is the name of Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic?
Plus: What is Timothée Chalamet’s upcoming Bob Dylan biopic called?
Nightmare concerts: Nicki Minaj put on one of Ireland’s most disappointing gigs. Here are nine more disasters
Including gigs by Garth Brooks, Guns N’ Roses, Lauryn Hill, Swedish House Mafia and Barbra Streisand
Françoise Hardy: French singer for whom fame was a ‘gilded prison’
From the start, there was something that set her apart: a wistfulness, a sentimental self-reflection, a poise
Suzi Ronson: ‘David Bowie called me, sobbing, the day after Mick died ... He hadn’t done anything to help’
Suzanne Fussey was a young hairdresser when she met David Bowie. It turned into a rock’n’roll life on the road – and marriage to his guitarist Mick Ronson
Andy White: Good Luck I Hope You Make It – Poetic reflections on a world gone stark raving mad
The Northern Irish singer-songwriter goes back to his roots for this intriguing mix of mongrel folk and spoken word
Rock of ages: The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Debbie Harry and 12 other classic acts still going strong
As Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood release their new album, we pick our favourite over-75s in music
Nobel Prize in Literature 2023: Norwegian author Jon Fosse wins
The author wins greatest prize in world literature ‘for his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable’
The Music Quiz: Which song by Lou Reed has soul legend Al Green recently covered?
Plus: On Bob Dylan’s 2006 album, Modern Times, which US R&B singer/songwriter does he namecheck in a song?
The Music Quiz: Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon stars DiCaprio, De Niro and which country singer
Plus: Taylor Swift is the first living artist to have four albums in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time since which US recording artist?
Rufus Wainwright in Dublin review: A great gig ascends to the sublime
Birthday bliss wins out over jet lag as singer performs covers drawn from his beguiling recent collection of folk standards
Joseph O’Connor: Paul Simon knows the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip sliding away
Rite & Reason: All the emotional tones of the original psalms are in his music
The Music Quiz: Which Westlife song was used by the CIA as part of its torture program in Afghanistan?
Plus: Who is the British female solo act with the most entries in the UK Singles Chart?
Bob Dylan: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): A mindblowing comeback
In 1997, Dylan emerged from a creative lowpoint to produce one of his greatest works, and this boxset revisits these ‘profound and poetic’ songs
Dreaming Walls: A missed opportunity to portray the legendary Chelsea Hotel
Documentary about a long-term home for many famous artists is dreamy but short on historical context
Bob Dylan’s Bloody Sunday tribute: ‘What really got to me was that he named every one of the victims’
In Derry, a newly unearthed tribute from the singer’s Theme Time Radio Hour has been played to surviving families for the first time
The Movie Quiz: What was the last Star Trek film with a number in its title?
Plus: How many MCU movies feature ‘Avengers’ in their titles?
Signed, sealed, delivered: the strange history of the mechanical signature
Hugh Linehan: Bob Dylan has been caught out badly, but do we overvalue the supposed authenticity of the signed edition?
‘Error in judgment’: Bob Dylan apologises for using a machine to autograph ‘hand-signed’ books
The musician (81) says an autopen was used to sign some books during pandemic restrictions and due to his vertigo after fans spotted identical signatures
Signed copies of Bob Dylan’s new book were on sale for $600 each. Then fans spotted a problem
Simon & Schuster sold 900 signed copies of the singer’s new essay collection, but superfans and internet sleuths noticed the autograph wasn’t quite right
Declan Kiberd on The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan: Sometimes surprisingly schmaltzy
Also, A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs by Greil Marcus
Bob Dylan at the 3Arena: ‘Not gone yet’ ... At 81, he’s coming alive as a performer again
From behind a piano that looks like it came out of a skip comes that powerful, irresistible voice
Bob Dylan live: Will the songs remain the same?
Dylan has rarely been the same act twice. What should audiences expect when he comes to Dublin?
3Arena firm expects to return to profit this year
Robbie Williams, Bob Dylan, Sigrid and Kendrick Lamar among acts due to perform at Dublin venue
Joseph O’Connor on Crazy Dreams, a lively, likable memoir by Paul Brady
Book review: From the music that shaped him to stardom and brief encounters with Bob Dylan and Bono, Brady tells his extraordinary story in a modest way
Zalatoris hits the front at Southern Hills as McIlroy falters
Northern Irishman slips five shots behind after second round of US PGA
‘If you look like Penn & Teller, you have to have the best magic trick ever seen’
‘Houdini used deception to help people recognise the difference between fraud and reality’
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Election 2024
Full general election coverage including analysis and results for all 43 constituencies
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices