Solana Imani Rowe was born 34 years ago in Maplewood. She goes by the name of SZA and it’s safe to say she had the night of her life at the 2024 Grammy Awards, being nominated nine times and winning four of the coveted statuettes.

They came out in full force to honor Jon Bon Jovi at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 2 as the 2024 Music Cares Person of the Year: Paul McCartney, Desmond Child, Rita Wilson, Nile Rodgers, Nancy Pelosi, Larkin Poe, Wolfgang Van Halen, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and others.

He’s not yet 40 but producer Jack Michael Antonoff—from Bergenfield in Bergen County—has now won nine Grammy Awards including the last three years in a row as “Producer Of The Year Non-Classical.”

On Bruce Springsteen’s Instagram account, he wrote the following upon the passing of his 98-year old mom.

The venerable Nashville institution of the Grand Ole Opry started in 1925 as a radio show. In 1943, the Ryman Auditorium, built in 1892 as a church, started hosting the program until 1974 when Opryland was built. Now, the Ryman hosts artists of all genres. On January 24, Hoboken’s Smithereens took the stage.

For the 50th anniversary of The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, the Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music will present a symposium on February 10 at 1:00 p.m. celebrating the famous club. Entitled “Spotlighting 50 Legendary Years of Music Memories,” the day-long event will include panel discussions and interviews to “explore the history of the club through the eyes of those who helped to shape its success,” according to the Archives Director Eileen Chapman.

They loved him in Boston! Guitarist-Composer-Educator Dave Stryker blew the roof off Sculler’s in Boston recently with his high-powered groove quartet featuring Walter Smith III on tenor sax, Jared Gold on organ and McClenty Hunter on drums. The addition of Smith gave his acclaimed organ trio new vitality and added muscle to an already solid unit.

Singer-Songwriter-Drummer-Guitarist-Producer-Arranger-Author Paul Collins—raised in Old Tappan and Leonia in Bergen County—will have his Jem Records debut, ‘Stand Back & Take A Good Look,’ out February 16.

In the video for their new single, “Outside,” there’s a map of New Jersey on the wall behind their stage. Kanak hits a hard-driving groove on the song, a tale of alienation, made more profound by its lyrical honesty. “I think a lot of people feel like they don’t fit in and that has always been true for me. I have never felt like I belong.” So says front-man singer-songwriter Tom Kanach. It’s the first single from their upcoming ‘On The Outside’ EP, due March 22 via Pop Clique Music/The Orchard.

To kick off its 2024 season, the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove will host ‘Kabaret Kaput’ April 5, 6 and 7 as presented by the Asbury Park Theater Company. Directed by the eccentric and eclectic soul/pop singer-songwriter-bandleader Remember Jones (Anthony D’Amato, also from Asbury Park), it stars Ellen Foley and Robert I. Rubinsky. He was on Broadway in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Hair.’

Jessica Springsteen took home the Silver Medal in Team Jumping for the United States Equestrian Team (USET) in the last Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo. This year’s events will take place in Paris at the Gardens of the Palace of Versailles. The United States Equestrian Team hosted a sold-out benefit at Five Rings Farm in Wellington Florida last Friday, January 19, to “raise critical funds to support the U.S. equestrian teams that are headed for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, France,” according to a USET press release.

Bassist-Composer-Arranger-Educator-Author Rufus Reid, 79, of Teaneck in Bergen County, is the bassist on a new album called ‘Being’ by pianist-composer Chris Rottmayer with Russ Johnson on trumpet/flugelhorn and drummer Matt Endres. It’s a tribute of sorts to pianist Mulgrew Miller [1955-2013] who taught at William Paterson University in Wayne (Passaic County

Rachel Ana Dobken can do it all. She plays multiple instruments, writes rockin’ tunes, sings ‘em in ball-busting style, produces and entertains like nobody’s business. We covered the first two singles from her upcoming ‘Acceptance’ album, due March 8, last year.

Singer-Songwriter-Producer-Rapper-Author Eric Roberson—born in Rahway 50 years ago—has released a beautiful ballad, “Here For You,” ahead of his spring tour which kicks off next month in Pittsburgh on the 10th

Two of Essex County’s most cherished artists—vocalist extraordinaire Bettye LaVette, 77, and bassist-composer-arranger-educator Christian McBride, 51, will join Aloe Blacc, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paula Cole, Rachael Price and Brian Stokes Mitchell in “A Tribute In Song” February 8 on The Betty Wold Johnson Stage, Prudential Hall, within NJ PAC in Newark.

Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City opened in 1937 and was demolished in 1985. It hosted baseball, football, boxing, soccer and an annual drum and bugle corps competition. It also had some pretty damn good concerts, one of which was Pink Floyd on June 18, 1973.

Although now based in the Washington DC area, Brian K. Pagels hails from Freehold. His Virginian duo partner is Stephen Russ and the two of them wear their Bruce/Tom Petty/Warren Zevon influences on their sleeves. The ‘Killing The Bear’ debut album—by Brian K & The Parkway—doesn’t drop until March 29 but you can hear the first single—“Wind The Clock”—here

Yo La Tengo formed in 1984 Hoboken. The band’s eleventh studio album, in 2006, ‘I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass,’ has been out-of-print for the last nine years. Now, via vinyl distributors Bandbox, the 15-track album, is available again in a double-disc pink and red vinyl format.

The subtle and haunting groove of Bruce Springsteen’s “Addicted to Romance” was one of the six songs nominated for a 2024 Golden Globe award in the category of “Best Original Song Motion Picture.”

New Brunswick’s post-hardcore Thursday will have its 2003 ‘War All The Time Live’ album re-released on CD and various vinyl colors by Velocity Records.