It’s our final official episode of the year and we run through our list of the best country albums of 2025 with Rolling Stone contributors Marissa R. Moss and Josh Crutchmer. We also talk about albums we loved that didn’t make the list and look ahead to what we’d most like to see in country in 2026. Plus, we have a very special interview with the artist behind Nashville Now host Joseph Hudak’s favorite all-genre album of the year – singer, songwriter, and guitar hero Brian Dunne. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Marcus King is helping revive guitar-rock in country music, while also working on himself. The South Carolina guitar-slinger joins us in the Nashville Now cabin to talk about getting sober (an Ozzy Osbourne quote inspired him), his new album Darling Blue, and the time he was caught sneaking into a club to give Warren Haynes a demo tape. King also gets candid about the response to his wife Briley King’s cover of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” It’s a conversation of Southern rock, self-awareness, and soul searching. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Joe Budden joins Senior Music Editor Jeff Ihaza for an unfiltered conversation about his evolution from rapper to one of hip-hop’s most influential media voices. As The Joe Budden Podcast enters its tenth year, he opens up about building a network on his own terms, clashing with co-hosts, and walking away from Spotify. Budden also reflects on the pressures of independence and what it takes to stay honest – and relevant – in today’s culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Step into Rolling Stone All Access, where the biggest voices in music and culture tell the stories you won’t hear anywhere else. From the must-hear reporting of Music Now to the pulse of country on Nashville Now and the unfiltered conversations of The Rolling Stone Interview, this new feed pulls back the curtain on the artists and ideas driving the world forward. With new original series and special drops like Voices of the Year on the way, Rolling Stone All Access brings you the moments that matter — straight from the source. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Breland joins us in the Nashville Now cabin for one of the podcast's most honest conversations yet. It's a look behind the curtain at what it means to "play the game" in country music, with the "My Truck" singer and songwriter openly talking about his experience of being Black in Nashville. Breland also teases new music coming in 2026 and shares his candid reaction to one of his collaborators performing a controversial gig. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
30 years after Blues Traveler broke through with "Run-Around" and "Hook," John Popper looks back, and also reveals the story of how he almost died — multiple times — this year. Plus, he explains why he's decidedly not a fan of the harmonica playing of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Alanis Morissette. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the latest episode of Rolling Stone's Voices of the Year, a limited-edition podcast featuring some of the entertainers on our first-ever Voices of the Year list, David Fear talks to Marc Maron about his 16 years hosting his legendary podcast WTF with Marc Maron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the latest episode of Rolling Stone's Voices of the Year, a limited-edition podcast featuring some of the entertainers on our first-ever Voices of the Year list, Julyssa Lopez talks to reggaeton superstar Karol G about making her boldest album yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When the singer-songwriter Todd Snider died in November, he left a gaping hole in the Nashville Americana music scene. We gathered some of those who knew him best, friends and musical collaborators Elizabeth Cook, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Chuck Mead, to share their memories of Todd. In this very special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we remember the charismatic artist that Cook calls “the Pied Piper of East Nashville” and why Snider’s legacy will never be forgotten. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the latest episode of Rolling Stone's Voices of the Year, a limited-edition podcast featuring some of the entertainers on our first-ever Voices of the Year list, Stephen Rodrick talks to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg about making The Studio, their long history in showbiz, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Simon Cowell looks back at the triumphs and tragedies of his whole career, from American Idol to X-Factor, in a deep and honest interview with Rolling Stone Music Now host Brian Hiatt. Cowell also discusses Simon Cowell: The Next Act, his new show on Netflix, which debuts in December. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome back to the Rolling Stone Interview video podcast. This week, Deputy Music Editor Simon Vozick-Levinson sits down with 73-year-old art-pop luminary David Byrne. In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Byrne reflects on the arc of his career – from frontman of Talking Heads to his daring solo explorations – and offers a fresh insight into his new album Who Is the Sky?. He unpacks the motivations behind the record, shares candid thoughts on his creative process, and explains why – despite perpetual speculation – a Talking Heads reunion remains off the table. Byrne also looks back at New York in the seventies, and even teases why stand-up comedy might be his next experiment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The 2025 CMA Awards took Nashville by storm this week, crowning new winners and welcoming fresh faces. In this special bonus episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we break down the good, the bad, and the “what were they thinking?!” Country music journalist Marissa R. Moss joins host Joseph Hudak to heap praise, talk smack, and question if the country music establishment finally got it right. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Clipse's Pusha T and Malice reunited this year for the first time since 2009 with Let God Sort Em Out, and it ended up as one of the year's best albums. In the first episode of Rolling Stone's Voices of the Year, a limited-edition podcast featuring some of the entertainers on our first-ever Voices of the Year list, Simon-Vozick Levinson sits down with Clipse. The duo talks about their bond as brothers and collaborators, working with their old friend Pharrell Williams, and why they're not close to done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jake Owen is one of the architects of bro country, churning out radio smashes like “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” and “The One That Got Away.” But on his new album of outlaw country songs, he buries his bro persona. In a shockingly emotional interview on Nashville Now, Owen talks about his big musical risk and how he ended up working with producer Shooter Jennings on the new album Dreams to Dream. It’s a vulnerable interview that shows a major country star letting down his guard, and it’s only on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's the 15th anniversary of Kesha's Animal and Cannibal, which brought the world "Tik Tok," among many other hits. With a new deluxe edition of those albums on its way, Kesha joins host Brian Hiatt to look back at that era, discuss her future plans, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hootie and the Blowfish's Darius Rucker, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills and the Black Crowes' Steve Gorman have joined forces in a new supergroup, Howl Owl Howl. They sit down with Rolling Stone Music Now host Brian Hiatt to talk about their new music, look back at their old bands, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the latest episode of The Rolling Stone Interview video podcast, FKA Twigs sits down with Rolling Stone Deputy Music Editor Julyssa Lopez ahead of the release of her highly anticipated fourth studio album, Eusexua Afterglow (out November 14th). In the intimate conversation, the Grammy-nominated British artist opens up about her creative evolution, the spiritual themes behind her Eusexua era, and the lessons she’s learned running her own career. Twigs also shares stories from the set of her new film The Carpenter’s Son with Nicolas Cage, reflects on her early days as a backup dancer for Kylie Minogue, and talks about featuring North West in her new video for “Childlike Things.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kings of Leon may be one of rock’s most global bands, but the group is forever tied to Nashville. This week, lead singer Caleb Followill joins us in the Nashville Now cabin to talk about the Kings’ surprise new EP, what it’s like to work with Zach Bryan, and what he thinks about all of those country covers of the band’s massive hit “Sex on Fire.” (Spoiler alert: Some make him cringe.) Caleb also takes us back in time to a much different Nashville, where he and his brothers tried to shop their songs on Music Row the old-fashioned way: Knocking on doors. Join us on a very royal episode of Nashville Now! Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ink is one of country music’s most fascinating new figures: Born in Germany, raised in Georgia, she’s gone on to write with Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and more. On this week’s episode of Nashville Now, Ink brings her swagger and joyful nature to the cabin to talk about her tremendous new EP Big Buskin’. Ink says she’s “making a permanent mark,” and it’s hard to disagree. We also send our cameras backstage at the Ocean Calling festival to talk to Nelly about his country crossover career that just won’t quit. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jasin Thirteen
the in memoriam segment was so distasteful
Chris ryan
Conspiracies? Show us your sources, why don't you? Fringe huh? Are you claiming the theories he mentioned are absolutely baseless? Syria, the nazi kill list, the U.S. backed coup in Ukraine, the U.S. sabotaging the peace deal ukraine and russia negotiated earlier this year? Are you sure about that? A few other things... Roger Waters wasnt gish-galloping. Either you straight lied or you don't know what gish-galloping really is... smh. Criticizing the israel governments doesnt make someone antisemitic. Your bit about Roger occasionaly saying "the ukraine" instead of "Ukraine," damn, that was weird as fuck, man. You are grasping at straws. Mr. Ball.. you're an unimpressive journalist and a credulous purveyor of state propaganda. Also, you seem to have an exaggerated estimation of your intelligence and critical thinking skills... and youre quite a smug arse as well arent ya?! An arrogant idiot. smh. the worst.
here to avoid people
love blackpink girls 💟
Faranak
Finally the Beatles.
Philly Burbs
cool! Aja