Why Write About Pop Music? ‘I Like When People Disagree About Stuff.’

Kelefa Sanneh hopes to start some arguments with his new book, “Major Labels,” which chronicles the past 50 years of rock, hip-hop, country and other musical genres.

At Britney Spears’s Hearing, This Twitter Feed Scooped the World

With a deft plan, @BritneyLawArmy kept everyone outside the courtroom abreast of developments in a crucial moment in the singer’s conservatorship.

Illuminati Hotties’ Wonderfully Warped Punk-Pop

Sarah Tudzin started this Los Angeles band to show off her production work and find new clients. It turned into an outlet for her razor-sharp reflections on modern life.

A Year in the Life: Who Gets a Master’s Degree in the Beatles?

In Liverpool, England, a postgraduate program aims to turn Beatles fans into serious students of the band’s legacy.

Judge Frees Spears From Father’s Control

The singer will be without James P. Spears’s oversight over her finances for the first time since 2008 after a judge ruled that the “current situation is not tenable.”

Controlling Britney Spears

As a court prepares to rule on the future of the star’s conservatorship, we look at new details about how invasive the arrangement is and why so few people knew the full story.

Sue Thompson, Who Sang of ‘Norman’ and Sad Movies, Dies at 96

She started out a country singer, but she found fame and pop-chart success in the early 1960s with catchy novelty songs, as well as the occasional ballad.

Britney Spears Conservatorship Hearing: What’s at Stake Now?

A judge may take up whether her father should be ousted as her conservator, and whether the arrangement should be ended entirely.

How Lip-Syncing Got Real

Not long ago, lip-syncing was the domain of subversive drag queens, or pop stars that the media saw as talentless. Now it’s how scrappy amateurs get famous.

The Surveillance Apparatus That Surrounded Britney Spears

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

5 Things to Do This Weekend

Our critics and writers have selected noteworthy cultural events to experience virtually and in person in New York City.

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.”

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.

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.

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.