Though he was born in Tacoma and moved to Los Angeles in 1925, Spokane has always been proud to call Bing Crosby one of our own. Crosby moved to Spokane at the age of 3. He enrolled in Webster Grade School in 1908. Two years later, a neighbor, Valentine Hobart, began calling Crosby, born Harry, Bingo after the lead character in the comic "The Bingville Bugle."

After growing up in Spokane and performing regularly at the Clemmer Theatre – now called the Bing Crosby Theater – Bing Crosby and his pal Al Rinker left Spokane in 1925 to try to make it big in Hollywood. By the end of 1930, Crosby’s path was clear: He set out to become a solo artist. History – and the record-buying public – would take it from there.

For the last eight years, Ellen Travolta and her crew of singers, performers and family members have brought Christmas spirit to Coeur d’Alene, and they’re not letting COVID-19 stop them in 2020. “Saving Christmas” opens Nov. 27 and runs through Dec. 30 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

When the Spokane Arena asked local music fans who is on their bucket list in 2018, Bruce Springsteen placed 13th, somehow behind Imagine Dragons. After scanning various concert websites and checking with local music encyclopedia Bob Gallagher, it's apparent that the Boss has yet to perform in Spokane.

For a band made up of three outsiders hailing from different parts of the U.S., it’s uncanny how much Merlock sounds like Spokane. In narrative, atmosphere and tone, there is a consistency to the stoner-doom metal trio’s catalog that feels as indebted to the sonic sludge pioneered by fellow Washington state rockers the Melvins as much as their own devotion to be different.

There is no doubt that Spokane singer-songwriter Liam St. John’s night was made on tonight’s second episode of Season 19 of NBC’s “The Voice.” After performing Marcy Playground’s “Sex & Candy” and pitched by judges and real-life couple Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani afterward to join their team, St. John, 29, chose Stefani.

Jay Condiotti’s year was shaping up to be the perfect time for his total artistic immersion into the Spokane music scene. The New York-raised composer, producer and guitarist had formed a family and been playing live again, and he was about to put his pub-turned-recording studio J Bones Musicland in east Spokane through its paces.

Fortunately for Khalil Islam-Zwart, he had an airport pickup sign when he was meeting Public Enemy's Chuck D at Spokane International Airport in 2003. The hip-hop legend was catching a ride with Islam-Zwart for a speaking gig at Eastern Washington University.

It’s no secret BTS is dynamite on the music charts – and as of Monday, the South Korean boyband has made Billboard history by landing at both No. 1 and No. 2 on the Hot 100. With “Savage Love” beating out “Dynamite” for the top spot, BTS is the first group to achieve such a feat since the Black Eyed Peas.

Shannon Welles was prescient when her peers were foolishly optimistic weeks after the pandemic crushed the live music industry in March. "I believe we will have things figured out in about a week," singer-songwriter Cherie Currie told The Spokesman-Review in April. "There will be a plan by then."

Timing is everything. When Stevie Lynne wrote and recorded the single "We Are the People" in 2016, she opted not to create a video for the unifying anthem at that point. "I didn't feel like the timing was right," Lynne said while calling from her Spokane Valley home. "It was a weird political climate. I decided against it."

Singer and pianist Jim Brickman was looking forward to going on his annual holiday tour across the U.S. at the end of the year, but the coronavirus pandemic had other plans. Instead of cancelling the tour, Brickman is taking the show on the virtual road. "Comfort and Joy at Home" will find Brickman performing a virtual concert.

NEW YORK — Jack White will be the last-minute replacement musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” after country singer Morgan Wallen was dropped for breaking COVID-19 protocols.

Sheryl Stone winced when she gazed at the capacity crowd cramming the Knitting Factory for a sold-out Alter Bridge show in late February. "I looked at this sea of people in the audience, and I just knew that these people were super-spreaders," Stone said.

For podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway, it all changed with Bjork. Hirway had been hosting “Song Exploder” for two years inviting musical artists across genres to each break down the making of a song.

Gonzaga student-led band Jacklando marry laid-back beats with neo-soul pop appointments in “Fugitive (feat. Blake Anthony),” the group’s latest single that stands as one of the most refreshing artistic offerings to emerge from the post-quarantine Spokane scene.

NEW YORK — Jon Bon Jovi has been churning out love songs and arena anthems for nearly 40 years, but his latest release, “2020,” has taken his music to another level. It’s Bon Jovi’s most socially conscious album to date, and the singer-songwriter calls the collection a “moment in time."

Over the next few days, as we memorialize Eddie Van Halen, who died at age 65 on Tuesday from throat cancer, expect countless tributes noting his guitar-playing pyrotechnics, the finger-tapping, blazing speed and jigsaw puzzle of arpeggio chords crafted into perfectly constructed melodies (think "Panama" or "Unchained"). 

Today, the Spokane Symphony celebrates its 75th anniversary. And, although this past year has been less than kind to the symphony, its members continue to draw hope from the countless other trials and tribulations over which they have triumphed during the previous 74.