Really nice information, thank yous!

I'm using Bitcoin Core, sent my balance from Cash App and didn't want to mess up now that it is this new address. So that is all you would put into your hardware wallet is just the private key.

Another thing I was thinking was what if you wrote down your private key on paper and that was how you saved it?

Can I get an explanation of how addresses and keys are generated? Specifically:

Does the wallet software interact with the blockchain to create an address?
Is the balance of an address held forever since it can be referenced in the blockchain record?
If I were to create a new address how would that affect my Bitcoin if I lost my original address?
Would a Bitcoin address always produce the same private key?

When I look at the digital signature list for the installation file I used I am seeing "Bitcoin Core Code Signing Association", is that normal? I have v0.21.0