An account by a former employee of the security team hired by Ms. Spears’s father created the most detailed portrait yet of the singer’s life under 13 years of conservatorship.
Tag Archives: Pop and Rock Music
‘Controlling Britney Spears’ Reveals New Details of Her Life Under Conservatorship
A new documentary by The New York Times features interviews with key insiders and people with firsthand information about how the conservatorship controlled the pop star’s life.
Barbara Campbell Cooke, 85, Widow of the Slain Sam Cooke, Is Dead
They were teenage sweethearts, but their marriage turned tragic, and when she married the protégé singer Bobby Womack, the publicity was intense and the boos were loud.
Britney Spears: End Conservatorship, but Remove My Father First
The singer’s lawyer requested the installation of a temporary conservator, citing her need to negotiate a prenuptial agreement and ongoing “anguish and harm.”
Sarah Dash, the ‘Glue’ of the Vocal Trio Labelle, Is Dead at 76
She brought her church-rooted soprano and high harmonies to the rock and funk powerhouse best known for the No. 1 hit “Lady Marmalade.”
The 18-Year Wait for New Wrens Music Is Over. Sort Of.
The New Jersey indie rockers promised a final album. Their day jobs and families have expanded, but the band’s two creative forces kept writing — separately.
Fall Brings a Bounty of New Albums. Watch for These 3.
A long-running indie band (Parquet Courts), a star-in-waiting (Remi Wolf) and a producer stepping into the spotlight (Illuminati Hotties) are ones to watch this season, our critic says.
Fall Preview: The Thrill is Back. So Is the Anxiety.
This new cultural season promised the most triumphant of returns, but the vagaries of the virus have ushered in nervousness, too.
Britney Spears Announces Engagement to Longtime Boyfriend Sam Asghari
In the wake of recent developments in the battle over her conservatorship, the singer announced plans to wed for the third time.
Carl Bean, Gay Singer Who Turned to Preaching, Dies at 77
After recording “I Was Born This Way,” a club favorite, he entered the ministry and founded a church for the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
Overlooked No More: Sinn Sisamouth, ‘King’ of Cambodian Pop Music
He and his singing partner, Ros Serey Sothea, drew from a wide range of Western and local influences. They disappeared after the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975.
J Balvin Attempts to Reintroduce Himself on ‘Jose’
The Colombian star skips innovation and presents an impressionistic inventory of the sounds that established him as a global force on his sixth studio album.
Anarchy, and $$$, in the Vintage Punk Clothing Market
Sid Vicious would never believe how much his old clothes are worth, and the lengths to which counterfeiters will go to fake them.
Lindsey Buckingham Has Survived It All
After a heart attack and (another) feud with Stevie Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac guitarist returns with a new solo album.
Britney Spears’s Father Files to End Her Conservatorship
In a new petition, lawyers for James P. Spears wrote that if the singer “believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
The Secret to Yebba’s Debut Album? A Big Voice and Lots of Time.
The 26-year-old singer and songwriter endured a family tragedy on the journey between tasting viral success and assembling a complete artistic vision with Mark Ronson.
Signature Moves With Sean Bankhead
The choreographer behind many of the biggest music videos of the year is a pop star’s secret weapon.
Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’: How 88rising Crafted an Evocative Soundtrack
The Asian arts collective worked closely with the director Destin Daniel Cretton to put its imprint on the anticipated movie.
The Beach Boys ‘Feel Flows’ Boxed Set Explores the Band’s Reinvention
“Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions, 1969-1971” explores a time of experimentation and reinvention for the band.
When the Parking Lot Is Its Own Strange Trip
Outside Dead & Company shows, a tradition started by the Grateful Dead lives on, vivid uniforms and all.
Lorde Steals Her Sunshine Back
How successful is a sunny new phase of her career, and what does it mean to choose to move away from the expectations of superstardom?
Inge Ginsberg, Holocaust Survivor With a Heavy Metal Coda, Dies at 99
Her rich life, spanning three continents and 11 decades, entailed wartime espionage, volumes of poetry, songwriting and a late-career turn as a rock band’s frontwoman.
Halsey Connects Past and Future in ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’
On “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,” the 26-year-old musician enlists a longtime role model and takes one step back from confessionals.
Kacey Musgraves’s Expanding Universe
After two wry country albums and a Grammy-sweeping breakthrough, pop stardom is calling for Kacey Musgraves. Will she answer?
The Uniform Cool of Charlie Watts
With his Savile Row suits, custom shirts and jazzman’s assurance, the Rolling Stones drummer staged his own quiet rebellion.
Why the Baby on Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ Album Is Suing Now
Spencer Elden, 30, says Nirvana engaged in child pornography when the band used a picture of him naked on the cover of the breakthrough album.
Lorde Opts Out on the Provocatively Subdued ‘Solar Power’
The singer and songwriter trades the sonic dynamism and moodiness of her 2017 album “Melodrama” for sun-soaked self-assurance on an LP that doesn’t always come into focus.
Charlie Watts, the Unlikely Soul of the Rolling Stones
In a band that defined debauched rock ’n’ roll, he was a quiet, dapper jazz fan. But their unusual chemistry defined the rhythm of the Stones, and of rock.
Charlie Watts, Bedrock Drummer for the Rolling Stones, Dies at 80
Mr. Watts, who had no taste for the life of a pop idol, was an unflashy presence with the band and brought to it a swinging style.
Even Billy Joel Mocked ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire.’ I Loved It.
As a 4-year-old, our critic couldn’t get enough of this manic 1989 hit, a crash course in U.S. history. Now the song lives on in parodies and memes.
Don Everly, Older Brother in Groundbreaking Rock Duo, Dies at 84
The Everly Brothers were the most successful rock act to emerge from Nashville in the 1950s, rivaling Elvis Presley for airplay on the radio.
For Aretha Franklin, a Grudge Was a Way to Earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The Queen of Soul was constantly trying to bend the world to her will.
How Aaron Dessner Found His Voice (With an Assist From Taylor Swift)
The “shy” producer and musician from the long-running indie-rock band the National emerges via his own project with Justin Vernon, Big Red Machine.
Saving Pop Punk? That’s Just Their Warm-Up Act.
Meet Me @ the Altar want to be household names — and that’s not a crazy notion.
Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ Stays No. 1
George Harrison’s 1970 triple album “All Things Must Pass” also returns to the Top 10 for the first time in 50 years thanks to a host of reissues.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Team Up Again, and 10 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Lizzo featuring Cardi B, Machine Gun Kelly, Brandee Younger and others.
Britney Spears Judge Denies Motion to Expedite Hearing About Her Father
A judge overseeing the singer’s case ruled that a court date to address removing or suspending James P. Spears as conservator would remain scheduled for September.
Paul Cotton, Mainstay of the Country-Rock Band Poco, Dies at 78
He joined the band for its third album and expanded its emotional and stylistic palette with his sinewy, blues-inflected guitar work and brooding baritone vocals.
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, Rock Journalist, Dies at 75
She took the music seriously at a time when not many writers did. Among her books was a memoir of her life with one of its biggest stars, Jim Morrison.
Shoe Obsession for the Ages: Prince’s Killer Collection of Custom Heels, Now on View
The beautiful ones, they hurt you every time.
Dusty Hill, Long-Bearded Bassist for ZZ Top, Dies at 72
The band, known for its hard-charging, blues-inflected rock, was one of the biggest acts of the 1980s, selling more than 50 million albums.
Testing Britney Spears: Restoring Rights Can Be Rare and Difficult
To get out of conservatorship, the pop star will likely have to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, an uneasy melding of legal standards and mental health criteria.
‘We Intend to Cause Havoc’ Review: Zambia Rock, Rediscovered
This new documentary takes its title from the acronym of WITCH, a once-popular Zambian combo.
Prominent Lawyer in Discussions to Represent Britney Spears
Mathew Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, plans to attend a hearing on Wednesday and make the case that the singer should be permitted to hire him for her conservatorship battle.
Cannes Film Festival: ‘Val,’ ‘The Velvet Underground’ and Famous Jerks
Two documentaries take different approaches to their star subjects. One, about the actor Val Kilmer, prefers to be hands-off. The other, about Lou Reed, welcomes complications.
Jam & Lewis Shaped Pop History. They’re Working on Its Future, Too.
The writing and production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis helped give Janet Jackson and others decades of hits. Now they’re bringing their “newstalgic” sound to their own LP.
Springsteen on Broadway: Showing Us How Many Lives We Contain
Two critics on the show’s return — a turning point in live theater and another stage in the rock star’s lifelong evolution.
Ellen McIlwaine, Slide Guitarist With a Power Voice, Dies at 75
Early in her career she played with Jimi Hendrix. She went on to record several well-regarded albums. But she remained under the radar.
Amber Tamblyn: Britney Spears’s Raw Anger, and Mine
What I know about the toxic combination of money and fame for young women.
Britney Spears’s Courtroom Plea Spurs Questions for Her Lawyer
The singer said she had not known she needed to petition the court to be released from her conservatorship, placing a focus on the court-appointed counsel who has represented her for 13 years.