The Zane Lowe Interview Series

The Story of Classical is your essential nine-part companion guide to classical music. In each of our commentaries, we unlock the mystery and beauty of every musical period—from the Middle Ages to the present day—by chronicling an encounter between vital figures in music history.

Welcome to 100 Best Albums Radio, where we reveal our definitive list of the greatest albums ever made. Assembled with the help of artists and experts, it’s a love letter to the records that have shaped the world we live and listen in. Below you’ll find the official countdown, daily radio episodes with our hosts’ reactions, and stories behind each of the albums. Dive in, (re)discover some classics, and see if your favorite albums made our list.

On his namesake show and New Music Daily, Apple Music 1’s flagship shows, host Zane Lowe brings users unparalleled music knowledge with headline interviews, breaking news, and emerging music from around the globe every day. It’s become the world’s go-to for the best brand-new music, sure, but it’s also popular music’s premier confessional booth: Day after day, Zane—who’s also Apple Music’s global creative director and co-head of artist relations—gets the biggest, most elusive superstars, from Justin Bieber to Taylor Swift to Kanye West, to let their guards down—laughs, tears, and news-making quotes are the norm. “I’m a curious person, I ask questions, and I guess if I'm passionate about something, I'll talk about it and engage people about it. I want to start a conversation and learn,” Zane explains of his approach. “Because the more you share, the more you learn, and vice versa. It’s just a circle that keeps spinning.” Zane earns guests’ trust with a music obsessive’s curiosity and enthusiasm, compassionate questioning, and firsthand music knowledge of life as an artist—he started his music career recording and performing, and continues to write, produce, and record. “The artist side of it, that really drives what I do,” he explains. “I'm not a conventional media-type personality. I’m no good at being a host, really. I'm not a journalist. I don't write, I'm not a writer. What I do is feel and translate.” Check out Zane on The Zane Lowe Show every Monday through Thursday on Apple Music 1 at 9 am LA/12 pm NYC/5 pm LDN and New Music Daily every Friday at 9 am LA, 12 pm NY, and 5 pm LDN.

“Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had have been around a fire,” Nashville star HARDY tells Apple Music. The singer-songwriter brings those conversations to Apple Music Country on his new radio show, The Fire With HARDY. Over the course of several episodes, he invites guests to share stories and musical influences, all while revealing his own personal journey. “I’ve always been intrigued at how people develop their musical tastes,” he says. “Do they credit it to fond memories of their childhood? Did they discover it on their own? I wanna dig into some of my favorite musicians’, songwriters’, and producers’ brains to see what and how music influenced them to become the successful people they are today.”

Every music lover has personal classics that have been forgotten to time. You know the ones—the tracks that take you back to a particular time and place almost as soon as the first notes get played. Whether they were chart-toppers or lost personal favorites, you’ll hear those songs—from all variety of genres—on I Miss Radio. Tune in to Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country to hear the music that left its mark, only on I Miss Radio.

Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig is one of indie’s most thoughtful frontmen, and on TIME CRISIS, he digs into today’s politics and pop culture headlines. Some episodes are serious (he hits the campaign trail with Bernie Sanders, and teaches a masterclass on sampling) and some aren’t (you’ll hear heated debates about Cheetos, Yeezys, and Seinfeld), but each show gets an eclectic soundtrack that spans Drake, David Bowie, Diplo, and Def Leppard. Regular guests include Jonah Hill, Mike D, Alana Haim, and co-host Jake Longstreth, but you never know who could stop by. What you can be sure of: No topic is too high-or-low-brow for Ezra’s hot take.