Louder: 13 transcendent Beatles covers by Black musicians
Plus: Britney Spears, Danny L Harle, Jill Scott and more
Louder
February 14, 2026

A new documentary about the close Beatles associate Billy Preston was the spark for this week’s Amplifier newsletter, a tour of tracks on which Black artists reinterpret, revise and reimagine the Fab Four. (It received a robust response — and reader suggestions for tracks Lindsay Zoladz could have included — so keep an eye out for a follow-up.) And Jon Pareles of course is on top of new releases and intriguing songs from around the world: This week, “Posso Até Não Te Da Flores,” which is huge in Brazil and Portugal.

Jon also profiled Danny L Harle, the producer who emerged with the British hyperpop collective PC Music (you may know him from his work with Caroline Polachek), who has extremely interesting things to say about sound, inspiration and collaboration as he releases his first solo LP, which features Polachek and Dua Lipa.

And if you’ve been following the Olympics, don’t miss Tariq Panja’s dispatch from Milan about the struggles figure skaters are having clearing the music for their routines.

A black-and-white photo of a man dressed in a dark overcoat and glasses.

Sam Dearden for The New York Times

Inside Danny L Harle’s Synthetic Universe

On his new solo album, “Cerulean,” the hyperpop producer who’s worked with Dua Lipa and Caroline Polachek explores his own sonic byways.

By Jon Pareles

A bearded man with shoulder-length brown hair sits on a step.

Patrick McCormack

9 Songs We’re Talking About This Week

Sting joins the Argentine pop duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso on a track that recalls the Police, and Noah Kahan breaks into the Top 10 with his latest single.

By Jon Pareles

A pair of figure skaters on the ice.

Figure Skaters Try to Master a New Routine: Copyright Compliance

Some Olympic athletes have found themselves caught up in controversies over musical choices before and during one of the biggest competitions of their careers.

By Tariq Panja

NEWS

Casey Wasserman, wearing a black hoodie, sits in front of a microphone with a white “LA 28” backdrop behind him.

Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Wasserman Will Sell Powerhouse L.A. Agency Amid Epstein Fallout

Casey Wasserman, a Los Angeles entertainment executive and the head of the 2028 Olympic Games, has lost clients since his emails with Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced.

By Shawn Hubler, Ben Sisario and Emmanuel Morgan

Chappell Roan, a woman with cascading red hair wearing a burgundy dress, stands against a backdrop featuring a Grammy trophy and the CBS logo.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Chappell Roan Leaves Wasserman Agency After Founder Appears in Epstein Files

Casey Wasserman, who founded and leads the talent agency bearing his name, exchanged flirtatious emails with Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s.

By Claire Moses

Britney Spears wears a red dress and waves to photographers on a red carpet.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Britney Spears Sells Her Song Catalog

The pop hitmaker, who hasn’t released a new album in 10 years, sold the rights to her music to Primary Wave.

By Ben Sisario

HALFTIME

A boy in a striped shirt holds a Grammy award, standing in front of an older TV set. He is smiling.

The Everyday People Who Made Bad Bunny’s Halftime Authentic

A priest from Sacramento. A bar owner from New York. A taquero from Los Angeles. Puerto Rico came alive at the Super Bowl because of hundreds of non-famous performers.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor

Maria Antonia Cay, wearing a turquoise top and many large sculptural rings, poses next to a pool table inside the Caribbean Social Club.

How Toñita, a Brooklyn Icon, Joined Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl

Maria Antonia Cay, known as Toñita, who runs a social club in New York, had to keep her appearance a secret for nearly two months. The halftime show gave her a star turn at 85.

By Sandra E. Garcia

A man in a dark T-shirt and backward ball cap plays an electric guitar on a sound stage.

Reporter’s Notebook

What Does a Wailing, Electric Take on ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ Mean?

Turning Point USA’s “All-American” halftime opened with a guitar-solo national anthem. It was a striking contrast to Jimi Hendrix’s rendition at Woodstock.

By Ben Sisario

T MAGAZINE

A black and white portrait of Jill Scott and Bisa Butler.

Lelanie Foster

admiration society

Jill Scott and Bisa Butler on Staying the Course

Ahead of the release of Scott’s first new album in over a decade, the musician and the artist discuss time-consuming art and the impulse to teach.

By Niela Orr

OBITUARIES

A black-and-white image of a trumpeter, his eyes closed, blowing into his horn on a bandstand, as the hand of the bass player is visible off to the side.

Overlooked No More: Clifford Brown, Trumpeter Whose Brief Life Left a Lasting Mark

He was one of the most talked-about jazz musicians in the 1950s. After he died in a car accident at 25, his influence grew.

By Peter Keepnews

A man in dark glasses and a red-and-green shirt spreads out his arms as a guitar hands by a strap from his neck.

Ebo Taylor, Musical Innovator of Highlife and Afrobeat, Dies at 90

Borrowing from jazz and African rhythms, he forged a singular style that helped define music in his native Ghana — and West Africa — for a generation.

By Adam Nossiter

A black-and-white photo of two women and three men singing on a stage.

LaMonte McLemore, Founding Singer With the 5th Dimension, Dies at 90

His group notched smooth hippie-era hits like “Up, Up and Away” and “The Age of Aquarius” in embracing a genre-blurring sound they called “champagne soul.”

By Alex Williams

Fred Smith, wearing a suit, holds a guitar.

Fred Smith, Who Left Blondie for the Band Television, Dies at 77

In the ’70s, New York’s bohemia was devoted to hostile yet arty rock. Mr. Smith had two qualities rare in the scene: personal and musical understatement.

By Alex Traub

A man with gray hair plays drums on a stage.

Andrew Ranken, Whose Drumming Powered the Pogues, Dies at 72

Known as “The Clobberer,” he pounded out driving rhythms that fueled the band’s boisterous blend of traditional Irish music, rock and punk.