The New York Times - Louder: The Morgan Wallen Conundrum

January 21, 2022

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

In early 2021, it seemed like the country singer Morgan Wallen’s big breakout was going to be put on pause: Weeks after the arrival of his second LP, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” he was caught on video using a racial slur. The music industry rebuked him. But Wallen ended the year a superstar. His record was the biggest seller of 2021, beating Olivia Rodrigo, Adele and Drake. As Wallen hits the road in February, “He is simultaneously, depending on the lens, a hero or a scourge,” Jon Caramanica writes, “an upholder of racist hierarchies or someone who works across racial lines, on a rehabilitation tour or just simply on tour, the most dominant musician of 2021 or the most reviled.”

Janis Ian will also be on tour starting next month, celebrating her final album, “The Light at the End of the Line.” Jim Farber caught up with the singer-songwriter, who may not have always gotten credit for tackling difficult subjects in her music. And Jon Pareles profiled Aoife O’Donovan, whose third solo studio album, “Age of Apathy,” is “a set of quietly startling songs that are at once intimate and ambitious, autobiographical and metaphysical.”

And we woke up this morning to news that Meat Loaf had died. Despite what you may have heard, we never seriously referred to him as Mr. Loaf. (We also lost Elza Soares this week, a true boundary-pusher who “sang until the end.”)

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The Morgan Wallen Conundrum

The country superstar had the biggest album of 2021 despite being captured on video using a racial slur. Is he on a redemption tour, or just on tour?

By Jon Caramanica

PLAYLIST & POPCAST

Peyton Fulford for The New York Times

The Playlist

A Knockout Country-Rap Crossover, and 13 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Nilüfer Yanya, Gayle, John Mellencamp and others.

By Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica, Isabelia Herrera and Giovanni Russonello

Ashley Landis/Associated Press

What’s Left for the Weeknd to Conquer?

“Dawn FM” suggests at least one future direction for the pop powerhouse, who’s spent a decade making careful moves.

INTERVIEWS

Eve Edelheit for The New York Times

Janis Ian Lets Her Music Speak Her Mind (One Last Time)

At 70, the singer-songwriter who has always been unafraid of difficult subjects is releasing a final album, “The Light at the End of the Line.”

By Jim Farber

Lawren Simmons for The New York Times

Aoife O’Donovan’s Songs Poured Out When Touring Shut Down

The singer-songwriter’s third solo album, “Age of Apathy,” is filled with personal touchstones and musical surprises.

By Jon Pareles

Taylor Mac’s ‘Fever Dream’: Exploring the Philosophy of the Hang

A new jazz opera reimagines Socrates’ final hours. Expect queer romps, ancient Greek in-jokes and plenty of tulle.

By Jennifer Schuessler

A ‘High Priestess of Satanic Art’? This Organist Can Only Laugh.

For more than a decade, Anna von Hausswolff has been bringing the sound of pipe organs to rock fans. But Roman Catholic extremists have tried to stop her playing shows in churches.

By Alex Marshall

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Meat Loaf, ‘Bat Out of Hell’ Singer and Actor, Dies at 74

Born Marvin Lee Aday, he sold millions of albums, won a Grammy and acted in films including “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Fight Club.”

By Alex Marshall, Ben Sisario and Derrick Bryson Taylor

No, We Didn’t Call Him ‘Mr. Loaf.’ (Mostly.)

After the rock singer Meat Loaf died Thursday, one small question — trivial, really — surfaced again. Did The Times really call him “Mr. Loaf” in its pages?

OBITUARIES

Elza Soares, 91, Who Pushed the Boundaries of Brazilian Music, Dies

She rose from a favela in Rio to samba stardom in the 1960s. But her career was later overshadowed by an affair with a famous soccer player that became a national scandal.

By Michael Astor

Fred Parris, Creator of a Doo-Wop Classic, Is Dead at 85

His “In the Still of the Night” (originally “Nite”), recorded with his group the Five Satins, came to define a sort of dreamy 1950s nostalgia.

By Neil Genzlinger

Ralph Emery, the Dick Clark of Country Music, Dies at 88

For six decades he promoted country performers on radio and television, earning a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

By Bill Friskics-Warren

Rosa Lee Hawkins, Youngest Member of the Dixie Cups, Dies at 76

The singing group’s debut single, “Chapel of Love,” rose to the top of the charts in 1964, displacing the Beatles’ “Love Me Do.”

By Jack Kramer

Dallas Frazier, Who Wrote Hits for Country Stars, Dies at 82

His songs included the novelty number “Alley Oop,” the Oak Ridge Boys’ hit “Elvira” and “Beneath Still Waters” for Emmylou Harris.

By Bill Friskics-Warren

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A New Coalition Amplifies Disability Culture in the Music Industry

RAMPD, an organization of professional disabled musicians, will push for accessibility in the music industry, including adding visible ramps to awards show stages.

By Laura Zornosa

A Ban on 19 Singers in Egypt Tests the Old Guard’s Power

Leaders of a musicians’ licensing group are trying to curb mahraganat, a bold genre wildly popular with young people. It is not clear if they can.

By Mona El-Naggar

Adele postpones her Las Vegas residency because of Covid-related delays.

The shows will be rescheduled, she said, describing herself as “gutted” and “really embarrassed.”

By Joe Coscarelli

Britney Spears Fights Father’s Fee Claim, Alleging Financial Misconduct

Jamie Spears, suspended as his daughter’s conservator, wants her to pay his legal costs. A filing by her lawyer outlined accusations against him.

By Liz Day

Daniel Radcliffe to Play Weird Al Yankovic in New Biopic

The film, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” will begin production next month and will be available for streaming on the Roku Channel.

By Eduardo Medina

Grammy Awards Move to April in Las Vegas

The 64th annual show, originally scheduled for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, was postponed amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. It will now take place on April 3, and be broadcast live by CBS.

By Ben Sisario