Drake, Disclosure, St. Vincent, Pharrell, Josh Homme, Dr. Dre, Elton John to Host Apple Music Radio Shows

Front page photo by Pooneh Ghana

Beats 1 is the in-house radio station for Apple Music, which launches June 30. While the station’s main DJs will be Zane Lowe, who was hired away from BBC Radio 1, in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden of Hot 97 in New York, and Julie Adenuga in London, several musicians and other celebrities will also host shows. Amongst those artists will be Drake, Dr. Dre, St. Vincent, Disclosure, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Jaden Smith, Elton John, and Pharrell, as The New York Times reports. 

Elton John’s show will be called “Elton John’s Rocket Hour”. Dr. Dre, who co-founded the Beats company that lends the station its name, will host a show called “The Pharmacy”. 

According to The New York Times, the musicians will “host and plan the shows themselves.” The Times also reports that the idea for Beats 1 came from Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, who said he was inspired by listening to Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show. “I wondered if in today’s world there is still a place for monoculture,” he said. “Can that still exist?”

Lowe’s first interview on Beats 1 will be with Eminem.

While a monthly subscription to Apple Music’s streaming service will cost $9.99, Beats 1 will be free, ad-supported, and available to anyone with an Apple device. 

Apple recently announced it would pay artists during its 90-day free trial. 

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