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AARP Spotify Playlists

Listen to old standbys, discover new favorites. Just for AARP members, playlists curated by legendary musicians including Herb Alpert, Lucinda Williams, Bootsy Collins and more

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Why These Playlists Are Good for Your Brain

The power of music is undeniable. It can change your mood and emotions, it can raise you from your seat and onto the dance floor, it can make even the dullest task an enjoyable one. It can help you sleep and manage stress. And it can even help regulate blood pressure and heart rate. In June 2020, AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health released a report on the connection between music and brain health and recommended that people listen to music, play (or learn to play) music, sing, and dance or exercise to music.

And while the positive effects are plenty, sometimes the absolute breadth of music available leads many of us to stop exploring and rely on our old standbys. And while listening to music that you know and like tends to cause the strongest response in the brain, trying out new music — and finding new favorites — will also engage your brain. It’s win-win.

To help you find new artists you’ll love and to remind you of the ones you haven’t listened to in a long time, we’ve created Members Only Access Spotify playlists, where we bring you a new musician-curated playlist every month — made just for AARP members. These intimate stories dive into the music a musician listens to, and how that made them the artists they are today. Enjoy.


 

 

Ani DiFranco

The indie icon shares her memories of making cross-generational music with folk legend Utah Phillips, and reflects on other incredible artists she's met along the way, including Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, in her folk favorites playlist.

Tom Morello

Three decades into his career — and best known as the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave — Tom Morello is still making socially conscious music, and his AARP playlist highlights songs of rebellion and liberation.

Clint Black

The 59-year-old Grammy winner, who is about to tour with his wife, has curated a playlist for AARP featuring favorites from Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and other country music stars, as well as some of his own timeless hits.

  

Jon Secada

The singer/songwriter's recent Spanish albums —To Beny Moré With Love and Solos — return to his roots, while his playlist for AARP is more of a melting pot that includes hits from Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and The Beatles.

Paul Stanley

After 50 years of performing in platform boots and face paint, the members of Kiss are on their final tour, but Paul Stanley's Soul Station side project has just released its debut album, and his AARP playlist reflects his soft spot for soul.

Melissa Etheridge

An official rock star since 1993 with hits like “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One,” Etheridge offers her 'Crowd-Pleasers' playlist featuring artists like Springsteen, KT Tunstall, Star Ship and Sheryl Crow.

  

Everclear's Art Alexakis

A true rock ’n’ roll survivor who is onstage once again, with fellow ’90s alt-rock darlings Living Colour, Hoobastank and Wheatus, Alexakis shares his story and AARP playlist of eclectic songs, from Stevie Wonder to Led Zeppelin.

Go-Go's Kathy Valentine

Bassist shows off string of accomplishments as the popular '80s band heads to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and her 'Get Up and Go' playlist for AARP features favorite tunes from the Donnas, Rolling Stones, the Clash, Bowie and more

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

Still collaborating after 40 years of writing and producing hits, the legendary duo is poised to release the first album under their own names — Jam and Lewis: Volume 1 — and an exclusive AARP playlist highlights their early influences.

Joan Osborne

While her tenth album, Trouble and Strife, reflects today’s turbulent times, Joan Osborne's food-themed playlist — featuring 'Meat and Potatoes,' 'Vega-tables,' 'Brown Sugar' and other tasty tunes — is more playful.

Bruce Hornsby

Singer-songwriter-keyboardist Bruce Hornsby keeps reinventing himself through musical collaborations, and his playlist honors some of his favorites, crossing the generational divide equally with Bonnie Raitt, Bon Iver and others.

Indigo Girls' Amy Ray

Amy Ray and fellow Indigo Girl Emily Saliers are still at it after 30 years, having released their 16th studio album, Look Long, last year, keeping busy with benefit concerts and other virtual events, and making positive social change.

  

ZZ Top's Billy F. Gibbons

Vocalist-guitarist Billy F. Gibbons shares a playlist of his Texas blues favorites, reminisces about ZZ Top's beginnings and influences, and divulges the secret to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ longevity.

Shelia E.

The dynamic self-taught percussionist Sheila E. — whose talents span a rainbow of musical genres — still strives to innovate and uplift, and her latest album, Iconic, and curated AARP playlist both convey messages of hope. 

José Feliciano

Known as one of the greatest interpreters of popular song and beloved for “Feliz Navidad” — now being celebrated with a star-studded 50th anniversary update — José Feliciano is still recording and connecting with listeners.

  

Herb Alpert

Inspired by watching bullfights in Tijuana, Mexico, Herb Alpert developed the sound of the Tijuana Brass, combining the influence of mariachis with jazz, as heard in The Lonely Bull, the debut single by the Tijuana Brass in 1962. 

Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins — with his star-shaped sunglasses, bright, sparkling outfits and iconic “space bass” guitar — might be known as much for his colorful quotes and relentlessly positive attitude as he is for being a funk legend.  

Randy Travis

Randy Travis is a country star almost out of central casting — authentically homespun, respectful of his elders, his voice steeped in the inflections of his idols, primarily Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and George Jones.

  

Lucinda Williams

In 2001, Time magazine called Lucinda Williams “America’s best songwriter,” and at age 67, with her heralded album, Good Souls Better Angels, which takes on issues of today’s unsettled America, she proves she’s still got grit.

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