Who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Rent?

Jonathan Larson wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Rent.

Rent is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème and relocates its story to New York City's Alphabet City during the AIDS crisis. Larson also wrote the musical's book. The show follows a group of artists and friends dealing with love, poverty, illness, and creative ambition.

Rent began previews at the Nederlander Theatre in March 1996 and officially opened on April 29, 1996. Larson died suddenly from an aortic dissection on January 25, 1996, shortly before the musical's first public performance. The production later became a major success and won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The title refers to both housing payments and the broader pressures of survival. It is often confused with Larson's posthumously produced work Tick, Tick... Boom!, which is a different musical.