HITS HIGH FIVE: PURSUING HAPPINESS

Before we dig into the week’s HITS High 5, here’s some Fourth of July trivia. It’s the day Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died (1926), Bill Withers was born (1938), Lou Gehrig retired from baseball (1939) and Radio Free Europe made its first broadcast (1950). Have a safe holiday.

Drake’s Scorpion could well be the first album ever to blaze past 1 billion streams U.S. in its first week. The streaming world understands the power of a new Drake release and have aligned accordingly. Now then, is it any good?

In conjunction with our Nashville Spotlight 2018 doorstop…er, special issue, we give you a dedicated HITS List and an in-depth chat with Miranda Lambert.

The Recording Academy upped the number of nominees in the Big 4 categories to eight from five. Our Grammy whisperer notes eight is more than enough.

Michelle Santosuosso explores why XXXTentacion’s death was so shattering for so many people.

One of the best debut albums in rock history is turning 50 and Capitol/UMe is celebrating.