Smallwood died at the age of 77 from complications of kidney failure on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

He was the angelic-looking choirboy who won the nation's hearts with his 1985 version of Walking In The Air from the animated film The Snowman.

Richard Smallwood, the legendary gospel composer and worship leader whose music shaped generations of churchgoing Black folks — and crossed into mainstream culture through voices like Whitney Houston ...

Looking back at the year in music, it was very much a “Golden” age. But, demon hunting aside, did it also count as golden with a small G? As we dived through our favorite music of 2025 to consider ...

Year-end season is normally all about positivity—publications pick their favorite albums and songs from the previous 12 months, and then we all argue over placements and omissions. “Where’s __?” is an ...

EDITOR’S NOTE: We wrote this back in 2021, but with Christmas upon us again we felt like it was the perfect time to update it. There's nothing that brings the world together more than sharing opinions ...

Another song list! This one is a personal favorite of mine, because it means I get to spend a lot of time with artists I like covering other artist’s songs. Last December, Paste crowned Merce Lemon’s ...

Rock has evolved heavily over the years. Much of that evolution is down to how the guitar is used in any particular era. The guitar playing of the ’50s was far different than that of the ’90s. Using ...

To make a list is immediately to begin second-guessing it. This year that’s especially true below the Top 10, in my list of 20 runner-up albums, for which I had double that many candidates I could ...

Welcome to the sound of public radio in 2025. Our list of the best 125 songs of the year was curated by more than 60 writers and DJs across the NPR Music Network, and runs the gamut of sounds, scenes ...

Following their list of the Top 100 Albums of 2025, Rolling Stone have unveiled their Top Songs of the Year. Many of the picks carry over from the album list, but there are also a bunch of artists who ...