Pete Townshend drops first solo single in 29 years, “Can’t Outrun The Truth”

Polydor

He’s been teasing it for weeks, and now The Who’s Pete Townshend has finally released his brand new solo single, “Can’t Outrun The Truth.” The new tune was composed and produced by his wife, Rachel Fuller, under her nom de plume, Charlie Pepper

Rachel previously shared that the song was inspired by the feelings of isolation many were dealing with during the beginning of the pandemic: “I really started to think about how unbelievably difficult this period of time was going to be for so many people.”

“Can’t Outrun The Truth,” which features cover art from renowned artist Damien Hirst, is Townshend’s first solo single in 29 years. He’s also released a video for the track, which is his first solo video in 40 years.

A portion of each “Can’t Outrun The Truth” download will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Yellowcard expands 20th anniversary ‘Ocean Avenue’ tour

Capitol Records

Yellowcard has added more shows to the band’s upcoming tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ocean Avenue.

The outing now includes eight more shows, wrapping up August 18 in Portland, Maine. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 31, at 10 a.m. local time, with various presales throughout the week.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit YellowcardBand.com.

Yellowcard’s tour launches in July. It follows the group’s reunion show at last year’s Riot Fest, which marked their first live performance since breaking up in 2017.

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In This Moment releases new song “I Would Die for You” for ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ soundtrack

Lakeshore Records

In This Moment has released a new song called “I Would Die for You.”

The track was recorded for the new movie John Wick: Chapter 4. Both the film and its soundtrack are out now.

“I Would Die for You” follows in the footsteps of Jerry Cantrell‘s “A Job to Do” and Bush‘s “Bullet Holes,” which were featured in the second and third John Wick movies, respectively. The scores for all four films were composed by Tyler Bates, who used to play guitar in Marilyn Manson‘s band.

In This Moment’s most recent album is 2020’s Mother. Last year, they put out an EP called Blood 1983, featuring rerecorded versions of songs off the group’s 2012 album, Blood, in honor of its 10th anniversary.

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Jay-Z’s real-time net worth, according to ‘Forbes’

Peacock

Ever wonder how much Jay-Z is worth? According to Forbes, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur has a real-time net worth of $2.5 billion. 

The publication reports Hov, who was named hip-hop’s first billionaire in 2019, makes millions from D’Usse and his Armand de Brignac champagne, with assets including Roc Nation and a fine art collection. His Marcy Venture Partners project also earned him $85 million in 2019. 

Jay’s current net worth makes him #1,209 on Forbes‘ list of the World’s Real Time Billionaires. The $2.5 billion estimation, if correct, marks a significant increase over his $1.4 billion net worth last year. This may be the result of his decision to sell his 50% stake in D’Usse to Bacardi for a reported $750 million.

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Mae Whitman says this former co-star convinced her to tackle new musical series ‘Up Here’

Hulu

The new series Up Here, out Friday on Hulu, follows a couple working through their anxieties in late ‘90s New York City. Mae Whitman stars as a writer who can’t get out of her own head, and she tells ABC Audio that even though she’s wanted to do a musical for a while, the thought of it also scared her.

“I’m at that point now where I’ve been lucky enough to do so many different things that it’s exciting to me to do something I haven’t done and that really terrifies me,” Whitman says. “This is genuinely the most terrifying thing I could ever possibly imagine. And I was like, well, if I’m scared of it, I should probably make myself try at least.”

Whitman says it was her Parenthood co-star Lauren Graham who convinced her to do the show.

“She slapped me around for three hours at a sushi restaurant, and basically forced me to go and was there for me every step along the way. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to do this without her,” Whitman said. “There were times where I was like, W.W.L.D. – what would Lauren do?”

Carlos Valdes stars as the other half of the show’s main romance, and says he found inspiration in the tone and execution of the FX series Fosse/Verdon.

Whitman, however, found her inspiration on the stage. She moved to New York to film Up Here and was able to catch the Tony Award-winning A Strange Loop before it left Broadway.

“I cried, I laughed, I screamed. It was incredible,” Whitman says. “The story is this person grappling with these insecurities in his head. And I was kind of like, ‘Wow, this is totally kismet. I can draw a lot of inspiration from this.’”

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Mom shares warning after son’s legs amputated following strep, influenza A infections

Courtesy of Michele Stevenson

(NEW YORK) — A Michigan mom is warning other parents to pay attention to their kids and take action if they seem unwell after her son developed strep A and influenza A infections in late December and had to get a double amputation earlier this month.

Michele Stevenson of Grand Blanc, Michigan, told ABC News’ Good Morning America her son Kaden, 7, started to get sick right before Christmas but she didn’t think it was anything serious. She said he told her he felt tired and she thought he possibly had a stomach bug or a cold and let him rest. But after about four days, Kaden didn’t seem to be getting any better — instead, he seemed to be getting progressively worse.

“I’m thinking maybe he might have the flu just because of the pain he kept talking about. So I’m thinking it might be just body aches or something like that. But by the time I got to him, I couldn’t put his shoes on, I couldn’t put his coat on, he was in that much pain,” Stevenson recalled.

“Something just felt off,” the mom of one said. “So I looked him over. His right leg was swollen. He had a rash all over his body. His eyes look puffy to me and it seemed like that all happened within a short period of time.”

Stevenson said she took Kaden to Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint, but shortly thereafter, doctors told her they needed to transfer Kaden for higher-level care.

“The ER doctor sat down in front of me and gave me the most serious look I’ve ever seen a doctor give me and said, ‘Your son is really sick,'” Stevenson recounted. “By the next day, they were telling us that they were about to transfer us to another hospital that Kaden needed a pediatric orthopedic surgeon … but I knew it was really serious the moment they said, ‘It’s going to be in a matter of minutes.’ They were just waiting on the helicopter to arrive.”

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention renewed their December warning about invasive strep A Wednesday, noting that at least five children in Illinois have reportedly died following infections this year. The season for invasive strep A tends to run between December through April and this type of bacterial infection can be more dangerous because it can impact multiple parts of the body, such as a person’s blood, bones or lungs.

In addition, although the number of influenza cases have been relatively low across the U.S., multiple strains of the influenza A virus have been in circulation, according to data from the CDC.

With her son’s flu and strep infections, Stevenson said she didn’t initially realize how bad it could’ve been.

“I didn’t hear about [strep] really until we got in the hospital and I heard about other kids at the same time had the same thing my son had,” Stevenson said. “One little boy didn’t make it. I’m hearing this family sad and crying and saying goodbye to their son, and my son’s here still fighting for his life. My heart goes out to that family.”

Although Stevenson said it has been an “extremely scary” three months for her and her son, she said she feels grateful for the doctors, nurses and medical professionals who “saved his life” and cared for the young boy.

“[Kaden] said the other little boy that died, he was sad that he died, but he was going to live for him. He was going to be strong for the little boy,” Stevenson said.

“As a mother, as a parent, as a person in general, I don’t want anybody else to have to go through this. This has been horrifying,” she added.

According to Stevenson, Kaden underwent amputations for both of his legs on March 3 and is now looking forward to receiving what he calls his “robot legs” or prosthetic legs.

“He always talks about [how] he misses the old times and he misses when he could walk and how things used to be but he said he’s kind of happy. He likes his new legs,” Stevenson said.

As Kaden starts a new chapter on the road to recovery, Stevenson said she hopes to raise awareness for other parents.

“If your kid has any of those signs of fever, they complain of pain, you see any rashes, just take them to the emergency.” Stevenson said. “Catch it early. That’s the biggest thing. And listen to your kids. They tell you they don’t feel good? Don’t just sweep it under the rug, assuming that it’s a little cold. Get it checked out.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is here … but which of her albums is America’s favorite?

ABC

Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour celebrates every single one of her albums, but which one is America’s favorite?

FiveThirtyEight dissected several polls from YouGov and Morning Consult to figure that out — and found that each poll yielded a different result.

For example, YouGov found most respondents liked Lover, followed by 1989. There was a tie for third between Taylor Swift and Red. Their least favorite picks were folklore and evermore, with 4 percent of the vote. 

The YouGov poll did not include “Taylor’s Version” options.

In comparison, one Morning Consult poll of just adults discovered 1989 and the original version of Fearless were tied as respondents’ top picks, while Taylor Swift finished second and Red, not the “Taylor’s Version,” was third. The least favorite album, with 1 percent of the vote, was folklore.

A different Morning Consult poll that talked to Taylor’s “avid fans” had a different lineup of favorites. In first place was 1989, with 15 percent of the vote, followed by Taylor Swift in second, while the original Fearless, not the “Taylor’s Version,” finished in third place. In last place was evermore, which polled at 3 percent.

The Morning Consult poll included the “Taylor’s Version” of Red and Fearless.

FiveThirtyEight suggests this can be seen as a good lesson about polls, because while each of the three mentioned above asked the same question, they procured different results. This could be boiled down to the age and music tastes of those who responded to the poll.

It also notes that including “Taylor’s Version” in the Morning Consult polls may have further shifted the overall findings.  

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Fall Out Boy’s “Dance, Dance” & “Arms Race” video saga continues with “Hold Me Like a Grudge”

ABC/Randy Holmes

Fall Out Boy has premiered the video for “Hold Me Like a Grudge,” a track off the band’s just-released new album, So Much (for) Stardust.

As previously reported, the clip is a sequel to Fall Out Boy’s “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” video, which itself was a sequel to the “Dance, Dance” visual. It picks up with the concert at the end of “Arms Race,” with bassist Pete Wentz jumping off the stage, only to break his leg.

Of course, this being a Fall Out Boy video, this soon get very ridiculous — Wentz gets a bionic leg and becomes a superhero, and Fall Out Boy goes on hiatus, leading to the other members pursuing similarly offbeat career paths. Eventually, though, the band’s albums start to disappear into dust, Avengers: Infinity War style, and Fall Out Boy must reunite to save the world.

You can watch the “Hold Me Like a Grudge” video streaming now on YouTube.

So Much (for) Stardust is out now. It also includes the singles “Love from the Other Side” and “Heartbreak Feels So Good.”

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day March 24, 1986: Van Halen releases their first album with new lead singer Sammy Hagar

On This Day, March 24, 1986…

Van Halen released their seventh studio album, 5150, which was their first record with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, following the departure of original frontman David Lee Roth.

5150, named after guitarist Eddie Van Halen‘s home studio, is a reference to the California law that allows a mentally disturbed person to be placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold. It went on to become the band’s first number-one album and contained three pop hits: “Dreams,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “Love Walks In.” 

5150 went on to be certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

First female player on an Atlantic League baseball team shares her grand-slam mindset

Courtesy of Kelsie Whitmore

(NEW YORK) — Kelsie Whitmore, 24, considers herself a proud daughter, sister, competitor, athlete and friend. If that wasn’t enough, she just so happens to be the first woman to ever start and pitch for an Atlantic League baseball team, taking the pitcher’s mound for the Staten Island FerryHawks’ 2022 season.

“You know those things in life that you can’t explain and you just know it’s your truth? That’s how playing baseball has always been to me,” Whitmore told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

“I grew up playing all sports, not only baseball. I remember playing catch in the front yard with my younger brother and dad. I played flag football, you name it — I played it,” she continued. “My parents really always encouraged us to be outside and to stay active.”

Whitmore said that growing up, she saw no boundaries between herself and other teammates.

“I just saw whoever was in front of me as a competitor,” she said. “Male or female, ethnicity, color — that didn’t matter.”

“My dad instilled in me the mentality to just suck it up and keep going,” she added. “So that’s exactly what I did.”

Whitmore has been knocking down doors in the male-dominated baseball world since her teenage years: She was the only female player to start for her varsity baseball team at Temecula Valley High School in Southern California.

“You must have short-term goals to be able to reach long-term goals. Many people are so focused on the outcome over the process. I choose the process over the outcome,” she said. “The process is what builds you.”

Though other women have coached and made history in baseball, Whitmore said that much of her journey has left her craving the non-existent camaraderie between her and other female players her age.

“It can be overwhelming at times — so that’s when I stick to the people that know who I really am and want the best for me,” she said.

“No matter how long I have been playing this game, when I step out on that field as the only female, there are always be little nerves — you know all eyes are on you,” Whitmore said. “That’s when I focus on breathing.”

“I can’t control what someone is going to think of me,” she added, “but I can control my heartbeat, how hard I am going to work, how I treat others and the positive self-talk that I feed myself.”

Whitmore urged other women that may have similar dreams as hers to put one foot in front of the other and run with them.

“Big dreams require big sacrifices,” she said.

When asked about what advice she would share with young athletes — or anyone — with big goals, Whitmore shared a glimpse into her winning mentality.

“Before anything that you are going to do in life, learn to find yourself. Look in the mirror and continue to ask yourself difficult questions. Once you have that, you can fearlessly go for anything you want in life, and for me … that’s baseball,” she said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.