Hits don’t lie! Shakira’s 20 best songs, from World Cup anthems to megastar duets – ranked!

As the Colombian pop supremo prepares to perform at Sunday’s final, we rate her greatest work, including gossipy takedowns and lycanthropic lyrics

Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist review – breakbeats and heartbreak combined by a brilliant British one-off

On the Bradford-born producer’s self-assured second album, drum’n’bass rhythms power up angsty odes with shades of Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash and myriad genres

‘A sublime, breezy confection’: writers on their 2026 songs of the summer

The annual rundown of Guardian writers picking their most played tracks of the season goes from club-ready pop to sunny tech house

Hit Machine review – slick music biz drama strikes too many false notes

Josh Radnor is a music executive whose life is upended by his wayward brother, in a play about masculinity, creativity, appropriation and trauma

Unheard David Bowie songs from 1965 to be released – including ones with Jimmy Page on guitar

Compilation entitled David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings will be released in September, collating material from when he recorded as Davy Jones

James Taylor review – 70s legend’s golden baritone shines best when stripped bare

The AI-style backing videos are terrible and his accomplished band can be overly slick at times, but Taylor’s civility and grace cuts through it all

‘Fun, propulsive, full of queer joy’: readers’ favourite albums of 2026 so far, from Muna to Raye and J Cole

After the Guardian’s music critics chose their best of the half-year, we asked you for your picks – from Brian Jackson and Arlo Parks to Maya Hawke, Flea and more

Gracie Abrams: Daughter from Hell review – bloodless anthems hit like a faceful of icing sugar

Despite their goth-coded attempts at emotional turbulence, the saccharine songs of Abrams’ third album feel adolescent in their melodrama

Is the most popular song played on Australian radio stations the product of generative AI?

Josh Fawaz’s song, a cover of Like a Prayer, has raised questions about how generative AI is being used in music and whether it should be declared

‘We can find renewal despite the bullshit we navigate as Black women’: Kelela on stan armies and speaking up for Gaza

The genre-bending R&B artist’s new album finds fresh focus for her uncompromising vision, blending soul, sex and shoegaze

‘Unchained Melody makes me want to live out my Swayze fantasies’: Gary Jarman’s honest playlist

The Cribs man had a youthful Bee Gees obsession and loves one particular 80s power ballad. But which song does he say is too rude for his funeral?

Casual by Chappell Roan helped me ditch dead-end relationships

After years of one-sided commitment, revisiting her hit song Casual finally gave me a reality check

Lizzo answers her critics: ‘I’m a fat, black, happy girl – they were always going to try to tear me down’

Three years ago, the pop star was riding high after a sellout tour. But then a slew of shocking accusations from her former dancers changed everything. Where does she go from here?

Rapper Pitbull and fans set ‘bald cap’ Guinness World Record at London show

Crowd of more than 22,000 people – and the musician himself – filled Hyde Park with the ‘largest gathering of people wearing bald caps’

‘Take that, Marti Pellow!’ Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In beats Wet Wet Wet’s UK chart record

Duetting pair spend 16th week at No 1, a record for a British artist – but they’ll need 19 weeks to beat Frankie Laine’s all-time record from 1953