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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
Olivia Rodrigo performs at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 18, 2021.
Mat Hayward
/
Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Olivia Rodrigo performs at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 18, 2021.

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.

Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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