Steve Knopper

Denver

@billboard editor at large/ex-@rollingstone/"MJ: Genius of #MichaelJackson”/"Appetite for Self-Destruction" (https://t.co/hhvLn9mrZd)/bylines @nytimes, @wsj

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Articles

Why Artists Are Turning to Fans to Help Pay for Healthcare

1 week ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

Jon Dee Graham, the Austin guitarist and songwriter who played in the beloved local punk band True Believers, slipped and fell in 2021, and doctors apparently did not notice a crack in his spine. In early 2024, he had spinal surgery, and a six-month recovery period meant he could not make money from playing gigs. But the procedure didn’t take, and in April, he had another surgery, then developed an infection.
Rodney Brown, Pioneering ‘Funky Broadway’ Drummer, Dead at 78

2 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

Rodney Brown, drummer on 1967’s “Funky Broadway,” a Dyke & the Blazers classic and one of the first hit songs to use the word “funk” in its title, died May 17 of unknown causes in an unknown location. The lifelong Phoenix resident, who’d been the last surviving member of the band’s original lineup, was 78.
Can This Super App Be the ‘Gen-Z Sears Catalog’ for Tickets and Artist Merch?

2 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

To draw his K-pop fan army onto the new OpenWav app, pop singer Kevin Woo schooled his nearly 4.4 million social-media followers on how it works. Then he sold stuff to them: $10,000 worth of hoodies and water bottles and $1,200 worth of tickets to a Los Angeles listening party in March for his single “Deja Vu.” “It’s very refreshing,” says Woo, formerly of hit boy band U-KISS. “It gives me so much freedom to do what I want and not have to stress about ‘Where am I going to get my next paycheck?
How Adoptable Pets at Concert Venues Are ‘Offering Love’ to Touring Artists & Their Crews — and Finding Homes

2 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

While riggers hung massive lights and construction workers assembled the stage on a grueling day before Tyler Childers‘ June 2024 concert at the United Center, three young locals showed up: Cheryl, Larry and Ted. And Cheryl gave Kyle Crownover, Childers’ tour manager, a look. “I was like, ‘I think that’s the one,'” he tells Billboard.
How Taylor Swift’s Masters Battle Changed the Narrative Around Ownership for Artists

3 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

How Taylor Swift’s Masters Battle Changed the Narrative Around Ownership for Artists "Taylor shined a big bright light on it and showed it could be done successfully," says one music lawyer. What's different now?
Connie Francis Says ‘Pretty Little Baby’ Going Viral ‘Gives Me a New Lease on Life’

1 month ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

If not for TikTok, Connie Francis‘ 1962 tinkly organ bop “Pretty Little Baby” may have been forever obscure. It was never a hit, and Francis, reached by phone at her Parkland, Fla., home, barely remembers recording it. “I had to listen to it to identify it,” admits the 87-year-old pop legend, who became the first woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo act in July 1960 with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” one of her three Hot 100 No. 1s.
Bluegrass Boom: How Artists Like Billy Strings Have Helped the Genre Go Mainstream

1 month ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper |Marc Schneider

Susto frontman Justin Osborne did not record bluegrass versions of his previously released indie-rock songs as a play to book more festival dates. But it didn’t hurt. After moving to Asheville, N.C., and becoming inspired by the genre’s rich roots there, the rechristened Susto Stringband’s 2025 album with the local Holler Choir, Volume 1, opened up a lot of opportunities, Osborne says.
How Tariff Chaos Is Throwing the Music Gear Industry Into Turmoil

1 month ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

For years, to make the Canvas Power 15, Walrus Audio has spent $95.32 per unit on parts. So the rainbow-stamped power supply device for multiple guitar pedals has rarely cost customers more than $270, a price consistency that has helped the 14-year-old Oklahoma City company earn $10 million in annual sales and employ 31 guitar players. “We were cruising, and stuff was selling, and we’re like, ‘Man, we’re having a fun year,'” owner Colt Westbrook says.
Inside the Sony Music Team That Leverages Gaming to Build Artists’ Careers

1 month ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

After Sleepy Hallow‘s “2055” went triple platinum four years ago, Sony Music’s gaming-and-music team noticed something about the Jamaican-American rapper’s fans: They were gamers. And not just gamers, but Fortnite players. According to the label’s internal research, Sleepy Hallow fans are 2.5 times more likely to play Fortnite than the national average and twice as likely to play games overall. “It stuck out,” says Alex Ciccimarro, vp of marketing for Sony-owned RCA Records.
Inside the Sony Music Team That Leverages Gaming to Build Artists’ Careers

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Steve Knopper

The viral-turned-radio hit expands to also tackle pop, R&B/hip-hop and even Latin airplay charts. Riding a hot streak that has already established her …