Aaron Frazer, “Introducing...” (Dead Oceans/Easy Eye Sound)

This year is going to be fine. How can we be so sure? It's starting with the release of Aaron Frazer’s debut solo album. One spin...

NEW YORK (AP) — Grammy-nominated gifted lyricist Rapsody has written “maybe 15 verses this year to reflect the times” — as she put it — about the Black experience. So when Disney asked the rapper...

Here's a collection of holiday albums reviewed by The Associated Press.

_________

Ne-Yo, “Another Kind of Christmas” (Motown/Compound Entertainment)

Michael Kiwanuka, "Kiwanuka" (Interscope Records)

Advice about letting your personality flourish, overcoming self-doubt, trusting your instincts and gaining the confidence to do your best...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Motown Records founder Berry Gordy looked out at the audience at a 60th anniversary tribute to his groundbreaking record label and saw his dream of making music for "all people"...

DETROIT (AP) — Clothing worn by singer Marvin Gaye will go on display at the Motown Museum in Detroit as part of the music label's 60th anniversary celebration.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stevie Wonder jammed with his harmonica, John Legend crooned while playing the piano and Ciara pranced onstage dressed like Rick James on Tuesday night at Motown Records' 60th anniversary concert.

Wonder closed out the all-star lineup performing more than a half-dozen songs at the "Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration" at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The tribute hosted by Smokey Robinson and Cedric the Entertainer will air April 21 on CBS.

DETROIT (AP) — Pieces of Motown's origin story that haven't been seen by the public will go on display in Detroit as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebration.

The Motown Museum says it will display several items, including documents that show label founder Berry Gordy Jr.'s repayment of the $800 family loan that helped launch the company with a recording in 1959.

DETROIT (AP) — Michelle Obama surprised a group of Detroit college students on Tuesday afternoon, walking into the Motown Museum as the young men of color took part in a roundtable discussion on education.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — At heart, Ernie Barnes the professional football player was always Ernie Barnes the artist.

His teammates on the San Diego Chargers nicknamed him "Big Rembrandt" because he was always scribbling on pieces of paper.

NEW YORK (AP) — A part owner of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" is suing Ed Sheeran for $100 million after getting blocked from a similar lawsuit brought by other copyright owners.

Both lawsuits say the British songwriter copied parts of the soul classic for his Grammy-winning hit "Thinking Out Loud."

A lawyer for Structured Asset Sales said the new lawsuit's Thursday filing was necessary because a judge refused to let the company join a 2016 lawsuit by the family of a co-writer of Gaye's song.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a copyright infringement verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over the 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines," agreeing with lower courts that it illegally copied from Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up."

The Isley Brothers & Santana, "Power of Peace" (Sony Legacy)

Ronald and Ernie Isley team up with Carlos Santana on the vigorous "Power of Peace," putting their stamp on mostly spiritually inclined songs from the likes of Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Bacharach & David and Swamp Dogg.

RED BANK, N.J. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has surprised concert-goers in New Jersey with a performance during the encore of a Steven Van Zandt show.

Count Basie Theatre executive Jon Vena said Monday the crowd "erupted" when Van Zandt introduced Springsteen during the Saturday show as "a friend who's out of work."

Springsteen emerged on stage during the encore and played four songs, including "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get a Witness."

DETROIT (AP) — Motown songwriter Sylvia Moy, the storied recording studio's first female producer who penned or collaborated on several hits, including Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" and Marvin Gaye's "It Takes Two," has died in suburban Detroit. She was 78.

Moy died Saturday at a hospital in Dearborn from complications from pneumonia, her brother, Melvin Moy, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — What do Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk," Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" and the Chainsmokers' "Closer" have in common?

Yes, they dominated the charts, sold millions of singles and achieved international success in the last two years. But all three smashes also extended writing credit to older songs after they were compared to earlier hits.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Composer Hans Zimmer, crooner R. Kelly and members of such bands as the Go-Go's, the Black Crowes, Linkin Park and Three 6 Mafia are supporting Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and T.I. in their appeal in the ongoing legal dispute over the hit song "Blurred Lines."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorneys for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams on Wednesday asked an appellate court to overturn a copyright infringement verdict against them over the 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines."

An opening brief filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal contends the case should never have gone to trial and the verdict should be overturned, or a new trial ordered.

NEW YORK (AP) — The family of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" is suing Ed Sheeran, claiming the British singer-songwriter's hit, "Thinking Out Loud," sounds too much like the soul classic.

The lawsuit filed by the family of Ed Townsend claims Sheeran copied the "heart" of "Let's Get It On" and repeated it continuously throughout "Thinking Out Loud." It says Sheeran continued to perform the song even after he was notified of the copyright infringement claim...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The rowdy revelry of the Teen Choice Awards momentarily took on a somber tone Sunday when Jessica Alba, Ne-Yo and a group of teenagers called for an end to gun violence.

The actress was joined on stage at the fan-favorite ceremony by a group of teens related to shooting victims in such places as San Bernardino, California; Newtown, Connecticut; and Orlando, Florida.

Alba and singer Ne-Yo, who performed Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," asked the...

NEW YORK (AP) — Motown. The single word instantly conjures memories and snatches of songs from the many gold records and superstars who came out of that Detroit label — Diana Ross, the Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Four Tops, to name a few.

Now "Motown: The Musical" has returned to Broadway for a rafter-rattling version of the iconic record label's tumultuous history, told from the perspective of founder Berry Gordy,...