Shania Twain is set to drop an expanded version of her latest album, Queen Of Me, on Friday, April 28.
Titled Queen Of Me: Royal Edition, the collection will include several new tracks, as well as a feature “that happened serendipitously.”
Sharing the news on Twitter, Shania wrote, “You’ve embraced the new album in exactly the way it was intended – pure celebration! QOM:RE includes a couple of rogue tracks that didn’t quite fit the concept but that I wanted to share with you – and a feature that happened serendipitously and gave me smiles for miles!”
Queen Of Me arrived in February and is Shania’s sixth studio album.
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Thursday issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking the deposition of Mark Pomerantz by the House Judiciary Committee less than two hours before it was set to begin.
The subpoena of Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, is part of an investigation into the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump by the Republican-led committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan.
Pomerantz was a special assistant district attorney who resigned in 2022 over Bragg’s unwillingness to pursue a case against Trump. After Pomerantz left Bragg’s office, he wrote a memoir about his experience, telling ABC News in February he felt “strongly you do have to apply the same legal standards to everyone, regardless of your president or pauper.”
District Attorney Alvin Bragg has sought to block the congressional subpoena, but on Wednesday a federal judge had denied his request — marking a win for Jordan, who is leading what he’s claimed is a probe into whether Bragg’s office used federal funds in the investigation of Trump.
Bragg has sued Jordan over the congressional probe, calling it a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” the office.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil on Wednesday declined to enjoin the subpoena for testimony about Trump’s indictment.
“In our federalist system, elected state and federal actors sometimes engage in political dogfights,” Vyskocil said in her ruling on Wednesday. “The Court does not endorse either side’s agenda. The sole question before the Court at this time is whether Bragg has a legal basis to quash a congressional subpoena that was issued with a valid legislative purpose. He does not.”
“It is not the role of the federal judiciary to dictate what legislation Congress may consider or how it should conduct its deliberations in that connection. Mr. Pomerantz must appear for the congressional deposition. No one is above the law,” Vyskocil’s decision said.
A spokesperson for Jordan celebrated the judge’s ruling.
“Today’s decision shows that Congress has the ability to conduct oversight and issue subpoenas to people like Mark Pomeranz, and we look forward to his deposition before the Judiciary Committee,” said spokesman Russell Dye.
Bragg’s office, on the other hand, immediately said it would seek a stay of the judge’s decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the District Court’s decision and are seeking a stay pending appeal,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The appeals court wrote Thursday a three-judge panel will consider Bragg’s appeal of a Wednesday ruling allowing the subpoena to move forward, and that its Thursday order “reflects no judgment regarding the merits of the parties’ respective positions.”
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
There’s a new box office blockbuster in town — and his name is Harry Styles.
Billboard has released an updated list of the Top 10 Tours of All Time according to its Boxscore chart, and Harry is a new entry. The Grammy-winning star’s current trek, Love On Tour, which is still in progress, has earned him $418 million over 138 shows, with another leg of European stadiums left to go.
Love On Tour is now number 10 on the list, edging out the previous placeholder, Madonna‘s Sticky & Sweet tour, which took in $411 million between 2008 and 2009.
Number one on the list is Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which is also still in progress. It set a new record for the highest-grossing tour of all time in January and he’s only extended it since then: the trek, which started in 2018, has taken in $853 million.
That tour has also added to Elton’s overall career tour earnings: With just under $1.9 billion, he’s the highest-grossing solo artist of all time.
Elton’s pal Ed Sheeran is number two on the list with his Divide Tour, which took in $776 million from 2017 to 2019.
Here’s the rest of the list:
3. U2 – U2 360° Tour (2009-11): $736 million
4. Guns N’ Roses – Not in This Lifetime… Tour (2016-19): $584 million
5. The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07): $448 million
6. The Rolling Stones – No Filter Tour (2017-19, 2021): $547 million
7. Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2016-17): $524 million
8. Roger Waters – The Wall Live (2010-13): $459 million
9. AC/DC – Black Ice World Tour (2008-10): $442 million
If your Spidey Sense was tingling, it’s because Disney+ just announced that six Spider-Man movies, including the hit Tom Hardy spinoff Venom, are headed to the streaming service.
Spider-Man: No Way Home unites Tom Holland with previous Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on Disney+ starting in April, when their respective Sony-produced films drop.
Tobey Maguire stars as the web-slinging hero aka Peter Parker in 2002’s Spider-Man, 2004’s Spider-Man 2 and 2007’s Spider-Man 3; Garfield’s first turn was in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man — all four movies will land on April 21.
2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, Holland’s first stand-alone adventure as ol’ Web Head, as well as the hit Spidey-free spinoff Venom from 2018, will debut on May 12.
The movies were previously unavailable to the Disney-produced platform because they were produced by Sony Pictures. After 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fizzled at the box office, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige brokered a deal with Sony to recast the role with Holland, debut him in Marvel Studios 2016 blockbuster Captain America: Civil War and co-produce Homecoming, as well as the subsequent smashes Spider-Man: Far from Home in 2019 and No Way Home in 2021.
The unique deal allowed the studios to “share” the character between their respective movies, with Holland also appearing as Parker/Spidey in 2017’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Endgame.
As of yet, Far fromHome and No Way Home aren’t available on Disney+.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans passed first-of-its-kind federal legislation on Thursday to ban transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams with women and girls — a political messaging priority for the GOP despite the bill having no chance of passing the Senate and facing a presidential veto threat.
Outside the Capitol, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy lauded the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” after the bill passed by a 219-203 vote along party lines.
“This is a great day for America, and a great day for girls and women, and for fairness in sports,” McCarthy said. “House Republicans pledged before the last election or commitment to American women and girls in sports. Today we kept that,” he added.
The bill would change Title IX’s definition of sex to one “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., introduced the legislation in February after it failed to pass out of committee during the last two sessions of Congress, when Democrats controlled the House.
“House Republicans today passed this bill to protect the safety and fairness that we should have in women’s sports and to make sure that no female athlete is ever forced to compete against a biological male, period,” said House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer as he stood with McCarthy and other GOP leaders.
Inside the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the bill as an example of Republicans “trying to sensationalize an issue that doesn’t really exist in the way that they are falsely portraying.”
“The NCAA already has a policy as it relates to this issue, so does the International Olympic Committee, so does the Track and Field Association, and many high school athletic associations have this issue addressed,” he said. “So what this is about, again, extreme MAGA Republicans doing everything possible to jam their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people.”
Jeffries also warned of the potential consequences the legislation could have on the well-being of transgender children.
“I believe in the fundamental goodness and decency and integrity and respectfulness of the American people. And for me, this is not about politics. This is about being there for all of America’s children, including transgender children, who just want to be able to live and to belong and to make friends,” he said.
The bill is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House has also warned that President Joe Biden would veto the legislation if it made it to his desk.
“As a national ban that does not account for competitiveness or grade level, H.R. 734 targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory,” the White House said in a statement Monday. “Politicians should not dictate a one-size-fits-all requirement that forces coaches to remove kids from their teams.”
Still, the move serves as a messaging bill for House Republicans who are working to highlight LGBTQ issues, as states across the country try to pass similar bills restricting transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
“We kept our promise,” McCarthy said. “Last year we pledged if we had the opportunity to be in the majority we would bring this bill forward. We would stand up fairness. We would stand up for you. We would stand up for Title XI. That’s exactly what we did today.”
Since 2020, at least 21 states have enacted laws or policies that ban transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams with women and girls, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Leon Russell’s classic tune “A Song For You” has just gotten a new official video. The clip, directed by Spencer Ramsay, features footage from the late singer’s archive, including video of him in the studio and onstage.
“A Song For You” is one of the many tunes featured on the recently reissued Russell compilation Signature Songs. The long-out-of-print collection, which includes solo piano and vocal recordings of some of Russell’s classic tunes, was released digitally and on CD, and on vinyl for the first time.
“A Song For You” appeared on Russell’s self-titled debut solo album, which was released in May 1970. The tune has been covered by a variety of artists, including Andy Williams, Ray Charles andthe Carpenters,and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2018.
(BOCA CHICA, Texas) — SpaceX will attempt a second launch of its Starship rocket after the first launch attempt was scrubbed due to a frozen valve in the pressurization system.
The launch will take place at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas — about 20 miles east of Brownsville — with a 62-minute window opening at 9:28 a.m. ET. A live webcast will begin 45 minutes before liftoff.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 20, 11:40 AM EDT
FAA investigating Starship explosion
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the explosion of SpaceX’s Starship that occurred a few minutes after liftoff.
The agency is responsible for protecting Americans during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations.
“An anomaly occurred during the ascent and prior to stage separation resulting in a loss of the vehicle,” the FAA said in a statement. “No injuries or public property damage have been reported.”
“The FAA will oversee the mishap investigation of the Starship/Super Heavy test mission. A return to flight of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. This is standard practice for all mishap investigations.”
SpaceX said the rocket’s boosters did not properly separate following the launch.
-ABC News’ Gina Sunseri
Apr 20, 10:35 AM EDT
Elon Musk says next launch will be in ‘a few months’
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the team in a tweet and said the next launch would be later this year, but didn’t give any specific dates.
“Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!” Musk tweeted. “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”
Musk also shared a video of the Starship rocket right after liftoff.
Apr 20, 10:05 AM EDT
SpaceX congratulates team even after rocket self-destructs
SpaceX congratulated the team behind the Starship rocket launch, even after it was forced to self-destruct when the boosters failed to separate.
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary,” SpaceX tweeted.
“Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship!”
SpaceX said the team will be reviewing the data and working towards its next launch attempt.
Apr 20, 9:46 AM EDT
Starship boosters fail to separate from shuttle, rocket blown up
SpaceX was able to get its Starship rocket off the pad, but all didn’t go as planned.
About three minutes into flight, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” SpaceX tweeted.
Therefore, SpaceX was forced to abort the mission and blow up the rocket, but the team says it’s more of a “success” than they hoped for.
Apr 20, 9:39 AM EDT
Starship launches into space
Starship launched at 9:33 a.m. ET, just five minutes after the launch window opened, on its inaugural flight.
The shuttle is currently the largest spacecraft in the world at about 393 feet and is expected to eventually carry passengers to the moon and Mars in a similar vein to NASA’s Artemis mission.
Starship is designed to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights.
Apr 20, 9:23 AM EDT
What Starship’s journey will look like
For this first flight test, SpaceX said Starship will not attempt a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the booster.
If successful, Starship and its rocket, which is called Super Heavy, will head up to the skies and 33 Raptor engines will ignite simultaneously. About eight minutes after liftoff, Super Heavy will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, the spacecraft will travel about 150 miles — partially around the Earth — and then splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii about 90 minutes after liftoff.
There will be a 62-minute window opening at 9:28 a.m. ET. A live webcast began 45 minutes before liftoff.
Apr 20, 8:45 AM EDT
Starship rocket is being loaded
SpaceX is fueling its Starship rocket — the world’s larger spacecraft — as it attempts a second launch.
The first launch attempt was scrubbed Monday due to a frozen valve in the pressurization system.
“The Starship team is go for prop load; team is keeping an eye on the weather,” SpaceX said in a tweet.
Usher is set to receive an honorary degree at Berklee College of Music’s 2023 commencement ceremony. He’ll receive an honorary Doctor of Music degree at Boston University’s Agganis Arena, where he’ll address the graduating class. He’ll be honored alongside fellow recipients Roberta Flack and kora player Sona Jorbarteh for their contributions to music and philanthropy.
This year’s honorees join a class of past recipients, including Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan, Missy Elliott and John Legend.
Berklee College of Music’s commencement ceremony is on May 13 at 10 a.m. ET.
Vera Farmiga is once again proving her metal bona fides with a cover of Slipknot‘s “Duality.”
The actor, known for her roles in The Conjuring franchise and films including The Departed, put her spin on the 2000s nu metal classic during a recent concert supporting the Rock Academy music school.
Farmiga’s performance certainly stays true to the heavy spirit of the original, complete with a recreation of Shawn “Clown” Crahan‘s signature percussion. You can watch it now via her Instagram page.
You may recall that Farmiga coveredIron Maiden‘s “The Trooper” in support of Rock Academy last year. That performance, which was accompanied by Anthrax‘s Scott Ian on guitar, also honored Farmiga’s Ukrainian roots amid the early months of Russia’s invasion.
Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images
All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see … that you’ve kept the Backstreet Boys going for 30 years?
The record-breaking boy band formed on April 20, 1993, when the last member to join, Brian Littrell, flew to Orlando to join his cousin Kevin Richardson, as well as Nick Carter, AJ McLean and Howie Dorough.Lou Pearlman, who put the group together, dubbed them Backstreet Boys after a popular Orlando teen hangout: Backstreet Market.
In 1994, they signed their first record deal and were on their way to becoming the bestselling boy band of all time, with more than 100 million records sold globally.
BSB is marking the momentous occasion by counting down the “top 30 moments in Backstreet history,” as voted on by their fans, at BSB30.com.
As for why Backstreet has endured, Howie thinks it’s a combination of timing, hard work and staying together, despite challenges like Kevin temporarily leaving the group or AJ going to rehab.
“We hit it at a time where I think the world was ready for a group like us,” Howie told ABC Audio. “We were just coming out of a grunge rock scene … people just needed some good, feel-good music.”
In addition, he noted, they cultivated a “lifelong fan base” through their “grassroots approach.”
“We went around the whole world. We put the time in … we carried the torch. And even when Kevin took a break … we kept on going,” he said. “Lots of people thought that we weren’t even together anymore, not knowing that we were still out there … still providing for our fans.”
“And I think that’s why our fans know that we do this, not only for the enjoyment of ourselves, but for the enjoyment of what we bring to our fans.”
