Cover Story

Bruce Brings It All Back Home

With Working on a Dream — his third great album this decade — a Golden Globe and the Super Bowl halftime show, Bruce Springsteen is hitting another career peak. He invited us into his New Jersey studio to talk about his new music, the first song he ever recorded and life with the E Street band. By David Fricke

Q&A: The E Street Band on Bruce — Their Springsteen
COVER SHOOT: On-the-Set Stories from Photographer Albert Watson
PHOTOS: Vintage Shots of Bruce Springsteen
THE RS COVERS: All 13 Springsteen covers and stories.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Blago's Revenge

How did craven Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich outfox his fellow Democrats on the eve of Barack Obama's historic inauguration — and why did they let him?
By Matt Taibbi

FEATURES

Andy Samberg's Mind Squad

What if Weird Al was funny, dirty and cool? Saturday Night Live's MVP and his two childhood buds branch out with their first album of comedy songs. By Jason Gay

VIDEO: Inside the Lonely Island Dressing Room During The Group's RS Photo Shoot

The Tragicomedy of Artie Lange

Howard Stern's sidekick is a millionaire, a bestselling author, a hopeless drug addict and one of the country's funniest stand-up comedians — a cross between Chris Farley and David Sedaris.
By Vanessa Grigoriadis

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Vanessa Grigoriadis on Her Interview with Artie Lange

The Day the Music Died:
50 Years Later

Back before the days of supergroups and megatours, Buddy Holly barnstormed through the frozen Upper Midwest with Ritchie Valens, Dion, the Big Bopper and others on a tour that ended in a tragedy that still haunts us 50 years later. His friends, family and fellow musicians remember an artist who helped invent rock & roll as we know it today.

SPECIAL REPORT

Marketing a Phony "Miracle" Drug

Zyprexa was created to treat schizophrenia, but it wound up being used on depressed moms and misbehaving kids. How one of the nation's biggest pharmaceutical companies turned a flawed, dangerous pill into a multi-billion-dollar bonanza — and who paid the price. By Ben Wallace-Wells

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Behind the "Miracle" Drug Story: Q&A With Writer Ben Wallace-Wells
FROM THE ARCHIVES: "How America Lost the War on Drugs" from RS 1041, December 13, 2007
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Ben Wallace-Wells on the Writing and Reporting of "How America Lost the War on Drugs"

Rock and Roll

Jam Bands Reunite

The Dead, Phish and the Allman Brothers Band are back together — and they're hitting the road this spring.

INDUSTRY: Digital Album Prices Slashed

INDUSTRY: Bright Spots in a Bad Year

ROCK HALL: The Hall of Fame's Class of '09

GRAMMYS: And the Winner Is... Grammy Faceoff '09

POLITICS: Obama's Secret Record Collection

Q&A

Caleb Followill

Kings of Leon's singer on brawling with his brother and hanging with Bob Dylan

PROFILE

Franz Ferdinand Shake It Up

How James Joyce, synths and a human skeleton helped the Scottish crew craft its dance-floor-rocking new disc. By Austin Scaggs

RECORDS

Springsteen Stretches Out

The rocker channels the romantic sweep and swaggering ambition of Born to Run into his first album of the Obama era.

PLUS: Franz Ferdinand, the Kinks, Andrew Bird, Notorious: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture, Diplo, the Rifles, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, the Bad Plus, the Bird and the Bee, Mark Olson and Gary Louris, Cut Off Your Hands, Johnny Cash, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Trouble Andrew, Nickel Eye, Dierks Bentley, Umphrey's McGee, Heartless Bastards, Bee Gees and Ben Kweller

MOVIES

Life After Death

An authorized biopic about the Notorious B.I.G. finds its rap thunder.

PLUS: Gomorroah, Two Lovers and Coraline

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

The Band on Bruce: The Man They Know A candid look at the legend by the people he calls "my greatest friendships — irreplaceable things": the E Street band.
PLUS: The story behind his latest cover shoot, and a look back at his finest moments with Rolling Stone.
COVER SHOOT: On-the-Set Stories from Photographer Albert Watson
PHOTOS: Vintage Shots of Bruce Springsteen
THE RS COVERS: All 13 Springsteen covers and stories.

Your Ultimate Grammy Guide: From Girl Talk to Nick Jonas, the experts sound off in the pages of RS. Go deeper with more insight, more categories.
PLUS: Make your grammy predictions.

What's So Funny About Artie Lange?: Writer Vanessa Grigoriadis takes us inside the ever-swelling belly of the beast at Howard Stern's side.
PLUS: Behind the scenes of his already infamous RS photo shoot.

Wear a Piece of History: Get a 100 percent cotton T-shirt of an RS Barack Obama cover.

The Road to the Hall: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has named its new class of immortals. Retrace the steps of Run-DMC, metallica and the rest of this year's inductees in stories, photos and essential tracks.

Andy Samberg's New Digital Short: Watch what happens when the SNL star and his Lonely Island cohorts step in front of our cameras.

Remembering the Stooges' Ron Asheton: A look back at the guitarist who shaped the sound of punk to come, with photos and stories from the vault.
PLUS: Classic video of Asheton talking about his early influences, including Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and JFK.
• The Stooges' Guitarist Ron Asheton Found Dead at 60
• The Stooges’ Key Tracks: A Playlist Celebrating the Legacy of Ron Asheton
• Video: Revisiting Ron Asheton’s Influences — Guitarist on Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones and JFK
• Iggy Pop Remembers Stooges’ Ron Asheton In First Interview Since the Guitarist’s Death

Revisiting the Anatomy of a Failure: Before shining a light on the pharmaceutical industry, Ben Wallace-Wells outlined "How America Lost the War on Drugs."

Travers at Sundance: Our critic finds film diamonds in Utah's snow-caked rough.

Breaking Artist: Vivian Girls: Brooklyn's latest buzz band enters our studio for an exclusive performance.

Inauguration 2009: We cover the parties, the processions and the power behind the pagentry.
• Photos: U2, Bruce Springsteen Kick Off Barack Obama's Inaugural Celebration
• Photos: The Inaugural Balls — Beyonce, The Dead, Fall Out Boy and More Rock Barack Obama's Celebrations
• Bruce Springsteen, U2 Prep for Special Visit From Barack Obama at Inaugural Kickoff Concert
• U2, Bruce Springsteen and Eager Nation Kick Off Inaugural Celebration
• Lars Ulrich, Sheryl Crow Honor Rock the Vote at Inaugural Party
• Beastie Boys Pass the Mic for Obama at Raucous D.C. Show
• Beyonce, Sting, Fall Out Boy Rock Inaugural Balls As Obamas Celebrate Historic Day
• Eddie Vedder Joins John Doe and Exene Cervenka’s Knitters to Party for Obama in Seattle
• Watch Arcade Fire’s “Born In The U.S.A.” Cover From the Obama Staff Ball
• Obama Takes Office: The Speeches and Biggest Headlines from President Barack Obama's first week in the White House.