Pop music writer
Jim Harrington
Jim Harrington is the Bay Area News Group's pop music critic for The Mercury News and the East Bay Times. He began writing about the Bay Area music scene in 1992 and became the full-time pop music critic for the organization's Oakland Tribune in 2006. He is a South Bay native who graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Liberal Studies. He also received an MBA degree from Santa Clara University.
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The Sphere in Las Vegas goes in a different direction with latest booking
Here's how to get tickets for Kenny Chesney, who follows Phish, Dead & Company, U2, Eagles into Sphere in Las Vegas.

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Top 12 Albums of 2024: Is Sabrina Carpenter or Kendrick Lamar at No. 1?
Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, The Cure, Richard Thompson, Phish, Miranda Lambert and so many other artists released great music in 2024.

Here are 10 great new Christmas albums to hear this holiday season
Jennifer Hudson, CeCe Winans, Phil Wickham, Dan + Shay, For King + Country are among our picks of the year's top Christmas albums.

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The 10 best horror films of 2024 (thus far) — get a jump on Halloween
"Longlegs," "A Quiet Place: Day One," "The Substance" are among the fright flicks that make our list of top horror movies of the year.

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Here’s our guide to one of the world’s greatest free music events
Patti Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Molly Tuttle, Mavis Staples among the acts set to appear at the 2024 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco.

Paris Olympics playlist: 8 great French music acts you should hear today
Our picks include Serge Gainsbourg, Gojira, Françoise Hardy, Carla Bruni, Booba and MC Solaar.

Eddie Vedder defends Steve Buscemi during Pearl Jam concert
"I mean, hit me -- don't hit him," Eddie Vedder said.

It’s the last Free Comic Book Day at the place where it was created
Celebrate Free Comic Book Day one more time at Flying Colors Comics store in Concord, which is where Joe Field originally came up with the idea.

Willie Nelson leads unbelievably great concert lineup out on tour
The inaugural Outlaw Music Festival took place in 2016 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Super Bowl music guide: Everything you need to know about the performers
An incredibly diverse group of crooners will entertain football fans during the 58th Super Bowl -- here's a roundup.