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This year's best songs come from some of the youngest — and oldest — artists

Fresh Air | By Ken Tucker
Published December 15, 2021 at 10:22 AM PST
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Olivia Rodrigo performs at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 18, 2021.
Mat Hayward

From 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo to 83-year-old Peter Stampfel, critic Ken Tucker says the music he most enjoyed in 2021 was recorded by artists who were either very young or quite old.

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Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker reviews rock, country, hip-hop and pop music for Fresh Air. He is a cultural critic who has been the editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, and a film critic for New York Magazine. His work has won two National Magazine Awards and two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards. He has written book reviews for The New York Times Book Review and other publications.
See stories by Ken Tucker