Louder: Dave Grohl, 10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell and One Epic Drum Battle

The Playlist

Billie Eilish’s Kiss-Off, and 14 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Foo Fighters, Valerie June, Chris Stapleton and others.

By Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoladz

Ariana Grande, a Pop Star for the Post-Pop Star Age

A conversation about her unique route to the top of the charts — and what’s next.

Critic’s Notebook

CMA Awards Sum Up Country Music’s Upside-Down Year

In a show featuring a distanced but unmasked audience, Nashville’s big stars celebrated the power of live music.

By Jon Pareles

How George Benson Turned an Early ‘No’ Into a Career of ‘Yes’

The 77-year-old guitarist talks about musicians who shaped him and how he learned to respond to critics as he releases his first live album in 30 years.

By Shannon J. Effinger

Rhiannon Giddens Aims at 1800s America in Her Silkroad Plans

Under its new artistic director, the cross-cultural music organization will start a project devoted to the transcontinental railroad.

By Brian Seibert

My Ten

Riz Ahmed Finds the Beat Between Qawwali and House Music

The actor and rapper, who is shooting the sci-fi thriller “Invasion” with Octavia Spencer, talked about the things that he turned to “at different moments to recalibrate or go back to the well,” he said.

By Kathryn Shattuck

By the Book

How ‘Catcher in the Rye’ Influenced Lenny Kravitz’s Memoir

“It helped me reshuffle things in my head and how I wanted to speak.”

N.F.L. Announces the Weeknd for Its Super Bowl Halftime Show

The hitmaker, who blends R&B and cutting-edge grooves, will perform at a show that may have to bend to pandemic precautions.

By Ken Belson, Katherine Rosman and Ben Sisario

Britney Spears’s Father Remains in Control of Conservatorship, for Now

At a hearing on Tuesday, a lawyer for the pop singer said that Spears was afraid of her father and would not perform while he was charge of her career.

By Joe Coscarelli

With Help From Herb Alpert, Letting the Light In at the Harlem School of the Arts

Dorothy Maynor never sang at the Met, but the school she founded is glowing anew, thanks to the revitalization of its beloved “gathering place.”

By James S. Russell

Irvin Mayfield Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy in New Orleans Fraud Case

The trumpeter and a partner had been accused of diverting library funds to a jazz orchestra they ran, and to themselves.

By Giovanni Russonello

The Charts

Ariana Grande Streams Her Way to a Fifth No. 1 With ‘Positions’

The singer’s latest album opened with nearly 174 million streams, the most by a woman since Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” debuted in July.

By Ben Sisario

Blackpink Cuddled a Baby Panda. Not Cute, the Chinese Internet Said.

The K-pop band was accused of putting the cub at risk after the group posted video of its antics at a South Korean zoo.

By Yan Zhuang