ballad

They included "Coat of Many Colors," the soundtrack smash hit "9 to 5" and the iconic ballad "I Will Always Love You," which became an international success for Whitney Houston.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Then comes the sound, clams tossed in hot pans, cleavers pounding roast pork, a Cantonese rock ballad barely rising above the crowd.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

There, she debuted “Después de Ti,” a shoegaze ballad joined by Greg Gonzalez, frontman of the indie-pop band Cigarettes After Sex; the song expressed profound grief after Karol experienced a loved one’s death.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Next up came the second part’s “Say It’s Not You,” George Jones’s plaintive, twangy ballad about a man’s fears that his gal is being unfaithful.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

He looks like a faerie lover stepped out of a ballad, the kind where no good comes to the girl who runs away with him.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

The new Whigs record is a strong collection of material that stands solidly amongst the existing catalog of v2 Whigs albums, with big rockers, piano ballads, and tape loops neatly nestled against guitar feedback.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

There were hair-metal bands that only had power ballads — Firehouse or some band with 17th century French aristocrat hair.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Cold Goodbyes, in particular, is set to the sound of an unsettling synth drone – a world away from the gently-plucked ballads of her earlier work.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The distinctive jazz vocalist teams with the Metropole Orkest and arranger Darcy James Argue on an album of expressively rendered ballads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

For example, most ballads are sung legato, and most marches are played fairly staccato or marcato, whether they are marked that way or not.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones