Jerry Butler, a legendary soul singer with the Impressions, died on Feb. 20. He was 85. He had reportedly been battling ...

Ironic, then, that such a shift seems to have been ushered in by a death — not of R&B proper, mind you, but of one of its greatest modern pacesetters: The Weeknd. Since 2011, the persona inhabited by ...

While all death is tragic, there were a handful of losses that left fans stunned. The following is a look back at five deaths ...

Jerry Butler, a legendary soul singer with the Impressions, died on Feb. 20. He was 85. He had reportedly been battling ...

Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editors Jasmine Browley and Brooklyn White investigate the R&B bags secured—and ...

Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, writer Jaelani Turner-Williams addresses claims that today’s R&B is too sexual. R&B’s ...

SZA beat out Coco Jones, Halle, Victoria Monét and Robert Glasper, who were also vying for the category Kevin Winter/Getty SZA got emotional as she took the stage at the 2024 Grammys to accept the ...

The so-called death of R&B has been a topic of conversation for nearly a decade now. The discussion periodically gains steam, somewhat arbitrarily. It’s been the chatter of many Clubhouse rooms as of ...

Host Erykah Badu attends the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards at the Orleans Arena on November 6, 2016 in Las Vegas. The combination of rhythm and blues spurred the development of the culture and genre ...

Many contemporary albums arrive with less than a week’s notice, but Jhene Aiko started to roll-out her new full-length, Chilombo, months ago. She released four different tracks to stoke anticipation, ...