Voletta Wallace, the mother of the Brooklyn rapper the Notorious B.I.G., whose stewardship of her son’s career and legacy after he was killed in 1997 helped cement him as a hip-hop icon, died on Friday. She was 78. Ms. Wallace had been in hospice care at her residence in Stroudsburg, Penn., according to a news … Read more
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube 3. Ariana Grande: “R.E.M.” Singer Grande, to fans; three letters. Thanks to the commonly used collections of letters that make up both her first name and her nickname (“Ari”), the first-time Oscar nominee Ariana Grande is one of contemporary pop music’s most ubiquitous names on the crossword … Read more
Sleigh Bells, ‘Bunky Pop’ The latest blast from the Sleigh Bells album due in April, “Bunky Becky Birthday Boy,” memorializes Alexis Krauss’s dog, who died in 2023. “Nights are long here without you,” she sings. But the song is manic and upbeat, swerving from electro to power-chorded pop, with eruptions of thrash drumming and tangents … Read more
And that’s when they wake up, rescued by Ben, who instead of being celebrated, finds himself looking down the barrel of a gun. The visions are a clever mix of the really silly — the slap bracelet, for instance — and the genuinely terrifying. That’s a mode that also works when you’re talking about the … Read more
Olga James, an actress and operatic soprano whose career highlights occurred nearly back to back in the mid-1950s — as Harry Belafonte’s jilted girlfriend in the all-Black musical film “Carmen Jones” and as Sammy Davis Jr.’s love interest in the Broadway show “Mr. Wonderful” — died on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles. She was 95. … Read more
Jerry Butler, the graceful singer and songwriter who served as the first leader of the Impressions before launching a long, hit-heavy solo career, died on Thursday at his home in Chicago. He was 85. His death was confirmed by his assistant, who said that Mr. Butler had Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Butler’s resounding baritone voice, though … Read more
‘Blasting’ Stream it on Tubi. Seven years after a jewelry store robbery gone wrong, Gui (Lei Zhong), one of the thieves, has emerged from hiding to demand money from his former partner (Luo Da Hua). A bomb squad officer (Bai Hai Tao), who’s still haunted by that day, wants to put both men in jail, … Read more
A skilled musician can play pretty much anything. But notes on the page of a score are just a starting point. Beyond that, what makes an artist well suited to a specific sound or style? Age? Personality? Experience? These are complicated, elusive questions that loomed over the young pianist Seong-Jin Cho’s recent appearances in New … Read more
Wearing a meadow-green T-shirt that proclaims her an Irish Princess, Grace dances with a white stuffed bunny that is her confidant. The music is Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” waltz, and it’s a clue to how Grace’s life plays out — not the ballet’s storybook ending, just the tragic parts. In this snippet of a scene near … Read more
The New York stage has some notable nostalgia this year: More than a half-dozen performers in significant roles made their Broadway debuts as children. Some were in hits and some were in flops; they experienced joy and (in one case) trauma. A few have appeared onstage with regularity, while others pursued music or film and … Read more