John Mellencamp, courtesy. Today, the day this column runs, I am old. OK, to be fair, I was old yesterday, too. It can be argued I was born old. But today is my 40th birthday so I’m especially old, in that way only an odometer birthday can drive home. Plus,…

The best albums of 2021 include Bleachers, My Morning Jacket, Ryley Walker, ZHU, Diana Ross, Made Kuti and Femi Kuti, Allison Russell, Chris Pierce, Hand Habits, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney, Weezer, Amy Shark and Heartless Bastards. Welcome back to RIFF’s year-end album roundup! If you’re joining us…

Considered by some to be one of the greatest female vocalists of all time, Diana Ross is back with her 25th studio album, Thank You. As the best-known member of the Supremes in the 1960s, Ross got her start in the world of Motown. The Supremes are still the…

Mary Wilson of The Supremes in 1994. Courtesy: Kingkongphoto/Wikicommons. Mary Wilson, who, along with Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Betty Martin, founded The Supremes in 1961, died suddenly in her home Monday night, her family has announced. Progenitors of “The Motown Sound,” The Supremes went on to become the…

Diana Ross in 1976. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Unless you aren’t reading this on the day it published, in which case heads up, you missed Mother’s Day. This is a weird one for a couple reasons. First, odds are pretty good you can’t actually spend it with your mother.…

Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross. Courtesy: Jiro Schneider. After living a relatively low-key life since their marriage in 2014, Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross have been back in a big way since last fall. She, the former pop starlet, reality TV star and sister of Jessica Simpson; and he,…

SAN FRANCISCO — Saturday felt electric across the Bay Area, if not the entire nation. Thousands upon thousands of socially and politically charged people of all ages marched on cities large and small to make a statement for equality and against tyranny. A few blocks away at the Marines’ Memorial…