Jackie Shane in Sept. 1967. Courtesy of Numero Group hide caption
R&B;/Soul NPR Music stories that feature R&B and soul music.
Ruth Brown's music laid the foundation for generations of artists who would come after her Paul Bergen/Redferns hide caption
Sweet Pea Atkinson's first solo album in 35 years, Get What You Deserve, is out now. Mathieu Bitton/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
'I'm Old As Dirt But I Can Still Sing': Sweet Pea Atkinson On 'Get What You Deserve'
Devon Gilfillian Lindsey Patkos/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
World Cafe Nashville: Devon Gilfillian
Bootsy Collins' World Wide Funk is out Oct. 27. Michael Weintrob/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
First Listen: Bootsy Collins, 'World Wide Funk'
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings will release their final studio album, Soul of a Woman, on Nov. 17. Jacob Blickenstaff/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Sherman Holmes on Mountain Stage Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption
Sherman Holmes On Mountain Stage
Charles Bradley at the 2017 XPoNential Music Festival Joe Del Tufo | deltufophotography.com/WXPN hide caption
Charles Bradley On World Cafe
"Oblivion is kind of like nirvana, where you become nothing and you don't have to suffer over and over again," Jhené Aiko says. "You're free to just be nothing." Courtesy of the artist/Def Jam hide caption
Charles Bradley performing on July 16, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bradley passed away on Sept. 23, 2017 at the age of 68. Timothy Hiatt/WireImage hide caption
The real TLC (from left to right, Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins, Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes and Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas) in the early '90s. Tim Roney/Getty Images hide caption
Turning The Tables: Women Of The '90s
Jamila Woods sings "HEAVN" at PUBLIC ARTS in downtown Manhattan. Nickolai Hammar/NPR hide caption
Jordan Lee interviews Jamila Woods at Radio Milwaukee. Radio Milwaukee hide caption
From Church Choirs To Performance Poetry: How Jamila Woods Found Her Voice
Listen to the songs that make television so great. shaunl/iStock hide caption
Demo Taped works his way out of the blues by returning to his gospel roots on "Insecure." Savana Ogburn hide caption
Whitney Houston (shown here performing in 1994) starred in the movie Waiting To Exhale, and contributed several songs to its breathtaking, beloved soundtrack. Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Joan Baez performing at the the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963. She sang "We Shall Overcome" and "Oh Freedom." Express Newspapers/Getty Images hide caption