Louder: Adele Counters Misery With Virtuosity

Adele, Music’s Comet, Returns With ‘30.’ How Bright Will It Burn?

The British powerhouse’s new album will arrive in a vastly changed music business. But she’s proven to be the exception to almost every rule throughout her 13-year career.

By Ben Sisario

Adele, Dressed for Power

The gown Adele wore for her “One Night Only” concert was fit for a diva, but the white pantsuit she wore for her Oprah interview made an even stronger statement.

By Vanessa Friedman

The Emotional and Financial Business of Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well’

What does the rerecorded song from “Red” say about how power and the past have shaped her career?

The Meters’ Leo Nocentelli Gets a Solo Career, 50 Years Late

In the 1970s, Nocentelli recorded a folk album drastically different from his band’s funk music. Barely anyone heard it — until it ended up at a swap meet.

By Nate Rogers

She Shaped the Sound of ‘Cowboy Bebop,’ Again

Yoko Kanno has become one of Japan’s foremost composers since she created the eclectic score for the anime series “Cowboy Bebop.” She returned for Netflix’s live-action version.

By Leigh-Ann Jackson

The Playlist

Earl Sweatshirt Exhibits His Evolution, and 14 More New Songs

Hear tracks by FKA twigs, Makaya McCraven, Hazel English and others.

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

Remembering the Velvet Underground Through the Mirror of Film

A conversation about how the band was experienced in its time, and how Todd Haynes’s new documentary explores the world that birthed it.

‘Jagged’ Review: The Painful Road to Era-Defining Success

This documentary from Alison Klayman catalogs the odds that Alanis Morissette overcame to make her 1995 hit album “Jagged Little Pill.”

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Overlooked No More: Ruth Polsky, Who Shaped New York’s Music Scene

She booked concerts at influential nightclubs in the 1980s, bringing exposure to up-and-coming artists like the Smiths and New Order.

By Rachel Felder

Dave Frishberg, Writer of Songs Sardonic and Nostalgic, Dies at 88

A gifted jazz pianist and a singer with a limited range but a distinctive voice, he wrote mostly for grown-ups but reached his largest audience on “Schoolhouse Rock!”

By Barry Singer

Maureen Cleave, Pop Journalist and Beatles Confidante, Dies at 87

Ms. Cleave’s interview with John Lennon, in which he said the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” drew worldwide attention.

By Annabelle Williams

Philip Margo of the Tokens, Who Sang of a Snoozing Lion, Dies at 79

His baritone contributed to the 1961 hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” which became one of the most recognizable American pop songs ever.

By Neil Genzlinger

Graeme Edge, Drummer and Co-Founder of the Moody Blues, Dies at 80

Many of their songs incorporated his spoken-word poetry, making them pioneers in the prog-rock movement of the late-1960s and ’70s.

By Clay Risen

Terence Wilson, Key Part of Reggae Band UB40, Dies at 64

As Astro with a popular racially diverse British group, he added rap vocals to hits like “Red Red Wine.”

By Neil Genzlinger

California Today

Does the Songwriter of ‘I Love L.A.’ Actually Love L.A.?

The city’s anthem is unmistakably tongue-in-cheek.

By Soumya Karlamangla

The Charts

Summer Walker Beats Abba’s First Album in Decades to No. 1

The Atlanta R&B singer’s “Still Over It” becomes her first LP to top the Billboard 200, with the equivalent of 166,000 sales in the United States.

By Ben Sisario

Filings Show Continuing Battle Over Britney Spears’s Finances

New court documents reveal a heated exchange between Ms. Spears’s lawyers and the former business manager of her estate.

By Liz Day and Rachel Abrams

9-Year-Old Boy Who Was Injured at Astroworld Festival Dies

Ezra Blount, who had been in a coma, became the 10th, and youngest, person to die from injuries sustained there.

By Giulia Heyward