Celine Dion Can Only Be Herself
The singer’s over-the-top sincerity and expressiveness were once seen as irredeemably uncool. In the new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” they have become her superpowers.
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![Since her emergence as a Québécois child star, something about Celine Dion’s essential nature has remained constant, impervious to both changing trends and scathing critique.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/06/25/multimedia/25celine-notebook-bjqp/25celine-notebook-bjqp-thumbLarge.jpg?auto=webp)
![Since her emergence as a Québécois child star, something about Celine Dion’s essential nature has remained constant, impervious to both changing trends and scathing critique.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/06/25/multimedia/25celine-notebook-bjqp/25celine-notebook-bjqp-threeByTwoMediumAt2X.jpg?auto=webp)
The singer’s over-the-top sincerity and expressiveness were once seen as irredeemably uncool. In the new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” they have become her superpowers.
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The songwriter and guitarist has long been a staple of the Washington, D.C., scene. Teaching guitar to young students helped her realize she has even more to offer.
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After more than seven decades onstage, the gospel and soul great decided last year that it was time to retire. Then she realized she still had work to do.
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Irene Taylor, director of the new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” talks about the decision to include a grueling scene of the pop star in crisis.
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Can a New Leader Make the Boston Symphony Innovative Again?
Chad Smith, the orchestra’s new chief executive, hopes to return the storied ensemble to its groundbreaking roots while moving it forward.
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Discord at the Symphony: Losing a Star, San Francisco Weighs Its Future
The struggles of one of the nation’s finest orchestras show the difficulties facing classical music in the United States.
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Listening Through the Life of George Crumb
In a rarity for contemporary music, the entire catalog of Crumb, who died two years ago, has been recorded and released in 21 volumes.
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DeSantis Vetoes All Arts Grants in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.
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6 Paperbacks to Read This Week
This week's selection includes titles by Gabrielle Zevin, Peace Adzo Medie, Patrick Mackie and more.
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The lawsuits say that Udio and Suno trained their products on reams of copyrighted music.
By Marc Tracy
“The Who’s Tommy,” which has a rock score by Pete Townshend, will end on July 21. A national tour is in the works.
By Michael Paulson
Listen to Lorde tell her side of the story on a surprise remix with Charli XCX and more new songs.
By Lindsay Zoladz
He was the frontman for the rap-rock band Crazy Town, which was most known for the hit song “Butterfly.”
By Sara Ruberg and Hank Sanders
Dion’s voice made her a star. A new documentary on Amazon Prime Video brings her back to Earth, showing her intimate struggles with stiff person syndrome.
By Chris Azzopardi
The singer’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” now has the second-most weeks at No. 1 of any Swift album.
By Joe Coscarelli
The singer, cellist and composer has found inspiration in the city’s flourishing avant-garde. Her new LP, “Sentir Que No Sabes,” wrestles with the idea of progress.
By Carolina Abbott Galvão
The pop songwriter’s sixth album is in some ways her most daring release yet. Improbably, it also yielded her best opening week.
As a journalist, singer, label owner and radio producer, he fostered a community of musicians on the outskirts of Americana.
By Clay Risen
Lorde adds guest vocals to Charli XCX’s “Girl, So Confusing,” a song that muses on the complexities of female friendship, and helps create something revelatory.
By Lindsay Zoladz
Hear tracks by Mavis Staples, Jamie xx featuring Robyn, Rakim and others.
By Jon Pareles and Lindsay Zoladz
Hear a pick from each of the band’s first 10 albums.
By Caryn Ganz
With the Contortions and James White and the Blacks, the songwriter and saxophonist set out to challenge musicians and stir up audiences.
By Jon Pareles
Our critics select 33 standouts from our weekly Playlists — and seven more tracks they had missed.
By Jon Pareles and Lindsay Zoladz
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After unofficially winning a high-profile diss war with Drake, the rapper hosted a Juneteenth concert that celebrated local heroes — and his own sharp-tongued tracks.
By Christopher R. Weingarten and Gabriella Angotti-Jones
The rapper, who was charged with trespassing and disorderly intoxication, later admitted he had been drinking alcohol and stated, “It’s Miami.”
By Ben Sisario
The singer and songwriter who rose from the ’60s British folk-rock scene lost her vocals to a neurological disorder. So she wrote a batch of tracks for others to voice.
By Jim Farber
As the serene Hamptons village is overrun with news vans, the locals eat oysters and engage in some light media criticism.
By Jacob Bernstein
Matt Shultz is a rock ’n’ roll ringmaster known for pushing himself to the brink. After a period of psychosis and an arrest, he had to put his reality back together again.
By Hank Shteamer
Revisiting the event’s memorable set list, 57 years later.
By Lindsay Zoladz
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” is the first new Broadway musical to announce a closing plan following Sunday’s Tony Awards.
By Michael Paulson
The punk rock pioneers chose freedom — and chaos — over major labels. Pulling the plug while things are still working is one final act of rebellion.
By James H. Martin and Max Slobodda
He broke out in 2014 with “Take Me to Church.” Then listeners on TikTok found his passionate, dramatic songs and a new single made its way to No. 1.
By Mark Yarm
Starting in the late 1970s, she scored multiple hit singles, including “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter” and “I Try,” but a pair of strokes in the 2000s ended her career.
By Alex Williams
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The two stars brought down the house with “Empire State of Mind,” their 2009 love song to New York City, which they had recorded earlier on a grand marble staircase outside the auditorium.
By Julia Jacobs and Michael Paulson
Billie Eilish is No. 2, and Charli XCX debuts strong at No. 3.
By Ben Sisario
The gritty, bloody and relentlessly youthful musical features some of the most effectively vivid violence seen on a Broadway stage.
By Michael Paulson
The tenure of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Metropolitan Opera’s music director, can be difficult to assess. That much was evident over two concerts.
By Joshua Barone
Whitney White will direct the first Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s popular musical, which plans to open next spring.
By Michael Paulson
Azahriah, who has rapped about the joy of cannabis, has shot to fame in Hungary. That may explain why he has been applauded by the country’s conservative leader, Viktor Orban.
By Andrew Higgins
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