Winner of five Grammy awards, disco queen had a string of hits in the 1970s, including Love to Love You BabyDonna Summer, a singular vocal stylist whose string of disco hits spawned five Grammy awards and a following that has long outlived the genre,... more info

Britain is celebrating Music is Great week with a DVD of iconic live moments. But why has the campaign ignored the melting pot that makes British music special?Did you know this week is Music is Great week in Britain? You may think it's Music is Grea... more info

Grounded in garage rock and psych, Palma Violets struggle to achieve the epic and intense – but they'll still be hailed as heroesHometown: London.The lineup: Sam Fryer (vocals, guitar), Chilli Jesson (bass, guitar), Pete Mayhew (keyboards), Wil... more info

Adele wins two prizes at songwriting awards, while Harvey's Let England Shake and Sheeran's The A Team are also honouredPJ Harvey and Ed Sheeran threw spikes under the Adele steamroller on Thursday when Let England Shake was named album of the year a... more info

The veteran musician on God, politics, his favourite singer and why weed should be decriminalisedWhat were the songs that made you realise you wanted to be a musician?When I first started out, I sang a lot in church. Amazing Grace was the first song ... more info

To some, my stepfather, Frank Parr, was a jazzman who also played cricket. To others, he was a cricketer who also played jazz. The truth is, Frank, who has died aged 83, was hugely talented at both. Antony Davis, his friend from Wallasey grammar scho... more info

The Temper Trap weigh in on the London riots via the kind of windy cliches that would make Coldplay winceDuring last summer's riots, voices were heard suggesting the ongoing events might perversely be good for music. Violence, disenfranchisement, nih... more info

Rounding up the latest beauty news so you don't have toSpotted, literallySpotted at Chanel's Palace of Versailles cruise show this week - models sporting a rather distinctive facial decoration. From a distance it looked like a standard black dot, but... more info

Twice a week we invite independent music writers and bloggers to tell us about what they do. Today: a culture magazine covering 'everything you need to know'Who are you and what's your blog called?My name is Shaun Mooney, and we're called HOWL (alway... more info

Damon Albarn visits the Guardian studio with a baroque ensemble to perform two songs from his opera Dr DeeBen KapeAndy GallagherMustafa KhaliliLindsay PoultonRichard Sprenger more info