(ThyBlackMan.com) Prince Rogers Nelson’s music was always about more than rhythm and hooks—it was about emotion. He could transform love into an anthem, heartbreak into poetry, and desire into a ...

The No. 1 hit from their blockbuster album of 1981 was inspired by a deeply-personal real-life experience.

“Never Say Goodbye” was one of a few hits from Bon Jovi’s 1986 breakthrough record, Slippery When Wet. It’s quite a memorable little power ballad, and it wasn’t even released as a single. Still, it ...

It's fun to mock the barrage of '80s rock ballads that came out of the rock and hair metal scene that decade, but as much as we'd like to pretend that upbeat anthems brought everyone out to the big ...

Emo is a genre which, of course, is known for conveying emotion in its purest form, and while plenty of the scene’s biggest hits — such as “Welcome to the Black Parade,” “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and ...

Rock bands have dished out plenty of ballads that have had people in the audience on their feet, lighters in the air, over the years. But what about country music? There are quite a few beautiful ...

Bruno Mars' new Hot 100 leader 'When I Was Your Man' joins Adele's 2011 smash 'Someone Like You' as the only piano-and-vocal-exclusive No. 1s in the chart's 54-year history. By Gary Trust Amid a boom ...

I am listening to The John Coltrane Quartet's Ballads as I write this piece. I have never considered Coltrane a player of "pretty music." Where Charlie Parker was "just looking for the pretty notes" ...

J.S. Gornael has a BA in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis in Poetry and an MFA in Fiction. He has taken workshops in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction (though mostly the second). Half-cinephile ...

George Miller has gone by a lot of names in his 26 years. He went viral as Filthy Frank, igniting the “Harlem Shake” crazy, landed at No. 70 on the Billboard 200 album chart as comedic rapper Pink Guy ...