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January 24, 2026

	By Caryn Ganz

“Sussudio.” “Di Doo Dah.” “Prisencolinensinainciusol” (a real “if you know, you know” and I did not know). Lindsay Zoladz took a jaunt through some wondrous bits of lyrical nonsense this week in The Amplifier, celebrating “one of popular music’s most powerful and humbling equalizers" as my spell-check looked on, helpless.

Many of us were jealous when Melena Ryzik returned from a journey through Cyndi Lauper’s wardrobe at a sale on the Lower East Side. (The musician had called her current Upper West Side neighborhood “fashion hell” when Amanda Hess caught up with her, but Lauper didn’t make it downtown this time.)

And Ben Sisario reported a very serious piece about the impact of President Trump’s travel restrictions on international artists plotting performances in the U.S. “It’s completely hopeless now to tour in the U.S.,” Tinariwen’s manager told him. “There’s not really any solution to come back again.”

That is not the most uplifting note to end on, so I will instead point you to the beginning of our Grammy week coverage: Garth Cartwright’s profile of Candi Staton, who at 85 is thrilled to be a nominee once again. The twists and turns of the singer’s story are truly dramatic, and worth experiencing as you listen to the track that had a lot of people Googling “song end of Sex and the City.”

Clemens Bilan/EPA, via Shutterstock 10 Gloriously Nonsensical Songs of Pop Gibberish “Sussudio,” “Di Doo Dah,” “Da Doo Ron Ron” and more. By Lindsay Zoladz

9 Songs We’re Talking About This Week Harry Styles has a new album (and mega-residency at Madison Square Garden) on the way, and Sienna Spiro’s tearful ballad is climbing the Hot 100. By Jon Pareles

Who Needs A.I. Music When We Have Bruno Mars? Our critic Jon Caramanica on the smooth pop sound of Bruno Mars’s new single. By Jon Caramanica, Arjun Srivatsa and Joe Coscarelli

Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times Candi Staton Is a Survivor. At 85, She’s Also a Grammy Nominee. The singer’s journey through gospel, soul, disco and Americana has been plagued by setbacks and struggles, but she has always found the path forward. By Garth Cartwright

Nina Westervelt for The New York Times Cyndi Lauper Cleans Out Her Closet Fans lined up for a chance to buy a piece of the pop star’s wardrobe, even without her at the sale. By Melena Ryzik and Nina Westervelt

Douglas Mason/Getty Images ‘An Unbelievable Mess’: Artists Are Stymied by Trump Travel Bans Musicians, theater groups and others from overseas are facing visa challenges and rising costs, posing a looming crisis for the performing arts sector. By Ben Sisario

How a Pro-Greenland Song Became a Protest Anthem Locals are speaking out against President Trump’s gestures toward annexing the territory, and the song “Greenland Belongs to Greenlanders” has become “a soundtrack of the movement.” By Lisa Abend

TECH

J.D. Biersdorfer Tech Tip How to Deal With That Drawer Full of Old Gadgets This month, resolve to revive or relinquish those old music players and point-and-shoot cameras — and retrieve any files trapped on the devices. By J. D. Biersdorfer

NEWS

Harry Styles Books 30 Dates at the Garden for New Concert Residency The pop star is returning with his fourth solo album on March 6. His Together, Together tour, which will hit seven cities, is scheduled to begin in May. By Ben Sisario

OBITUARIES

Tom Copi/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Ralph Towner, Eclectic Guitarist With the Ensemble Oregon, Dies at 85 A composer and pianist as well, he was a prolific recording artist who integrated jazz, classical and world music traditions in a career that spanned seven decades. By Hank Shteamer

Margarita Bernard James Bernard, a Founding Editor of a Hip-Hop ‘Bible,’ Dies at 58 One of the most influential voices of the seminal magazine The Source, he chronicled rap’s rise and its explosion into the cultural mainstream. By Alex Williams

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