Louder: As New York Reopens, It Looks for Culture to Lead the Way

Can I Go to See This Show? Must I Wear a Mask? It Depends.

Vaccination and mask requirements vary by venue. It’s a weird pandemic summer for the performing arts.

By Matt Stevens

Lil Nas X in the Pop Stratosphere

A conversation about his unconventional path to success, his unconventional methods of maintaining it and his possible futures beyond it.

When Pop Music Trolls Grow Up

New albums from Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator place their makers — children of the internet with a taste for friction — in a new light.

Critic’s Pick

‘Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage’ Review: How a Festival Went Wrong

An HBO documentary examines a music festival that went so far off the rails that it defined an era.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

‘All the Streets Are Silent’ Review: Hip-Hop and Skateboarding Collide

This documentary is a portrait of downtown New York in the late 1980s and early ’90s that revels in nostalgia.

By Isabelia Herrera

My Ten

Jack Antonoff Doesn’t Want to Just Take Up Space

As he prepares to release his third album with Bleachers, the musician and producer explores how his cultural must-haves intersect with his creative impulses.

By Olivia Horn

Biz Markie, Hip-Hop’s ‘Just a Friend’ Clown Prince, Dies at 57

An innovative yet proudly goofy rapper, he had an unlikely crossover hit with a tune that led one critic to call him (favorably) “the father of modern bad singing.”

By Joe Coscarelli

Rick Laird, Bassist at the Forefront of Fusion, Dies at 80

He played with jazz greats and helped make music history with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. But he gave it up in his 40s to become a photographer.

By Giovanni Russonello

Kennedy Center Taps Joni Mitchell and Berry Gordy for Awards

Bette Midler, Lorne Michaels and Justino Díaz will also receive tributes at a ceremony that is expected to look much more like it did before the pandemic.

By Julia Jacobs

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Jazz Masters

Its 2022 class includes the bassist Stanley Clarke, the drummer Billy Hart, the vocalist Cassandra Wilson and the saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr.

By Giovanni Russonello

The Charts

Olivia Rodrigo, Fresh Off White House Visit, Stays No. 1 With ‘Sour’

The 18-year-old singer earned her fourth week atop the Billboard album chart, following a visit with President Biden.

By Joe Coscarelli

New York’s ‘Homecoming’ to Feature a Free Concert in Every Borough

The concerts, which are to run between Aug. 16 to Aug. 21, are being organized to celebrate the city’s reopening and promote tourism.

By Julia Jacobs

Obama and Springsteen to Publish Book Based on Their Spotify Series

Crown is publishing “Renegades: Born in the USA,” a book adaptation of the podcast conversations.

By Alexandra Alter

Bill Ackman drops SPAC deal with Universal Music.

The chief of Pershing Square said the proposed transaction was drawing concerns from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By Michael J. de la Merced

A bipartisan bill seeks to ‘Free Britney’ and others who ask a judge to replace their guardian or conservator.

The Freedom and Right to Emancipate from Exploitation Act, or the FREE Act, was proposed on Tuesday by two members of the House of Representatives.

By Aishvarya Kavi

The Olympics composer resigns after acknowledging that he had bullied classmates with disabilities.

In interviews in the 1990s, Keigo Oyamada, known as Cornelius, talked about taunting children with Down syndrome, stripping classmates naked and otherwise abusing them.

By Motoko Rich