AT A TIME when Newman’s work feels more relevant than ever, he’s largely been absent. His most recent album came out in 2017, his last score in 2019, and since the Covid-19 pandemic he’s ...

Randy Newman’s ingenious lyricism earned him devoted fans but not mainstream success. His turn to Hollywood would bring wider recognition.

As a boy growing up in Beverly Hills, Calif., Randy Newman received an upright piano for his fifth birthday. It was also around this time that his life started to slide sideways. He suffered from ...