Music

Volunteering for Habitat For Humanity is a labor of love for Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

The couple has been volunteering for the organization since 2005 when they helped build homes along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Trisha reveals that she loves doing the physical labor of building a home, especially tasks on the job site that involve using a hammering or a nail gun.

“I like the jobs that require tools that are kind of aggressive. They call me the ‘Nail Gun Diva,’” she says. “I’ll do anything, but I like a job that requires hammering or nailing. And I do like that nail gun. It is so fast.”

Trisha says that building in Haiti after the devastating magnitude seven earthquake in 2010 was a sobering experience, so much so it inspired her and Garth to return the following year to see the impact of of their work.

“Habitat is a great reminder to me of how grateful I need to be on a daily basis. I believe the adage, ‘To whom much is given, from him much is expected,’” Trisha shares. “Part of my job in life is to give back, and this is a wonderful way for me to give back.”

Over the years, the country couple has become close friends with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter, who have been working with Habitat For Humanity since 1984. Garth and Trisha are leading a build in Charlotte, N.C. in October 2023 in collaboration with The Carter Work Project.

“At some point you have to stop and just listen. The hammering of these hundreds and hundreds of hammers and you know what they’re doing, they’re building love, man,” Garth says. “And it’s the greatest feeling on the planet.”

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Thomas Rhett has a big anniversary to celebrate: He and his wife, Lauren Akins, got married 10 years ago on Wednesday. 

TR celebrated the big day on social media with a video and photo montage of their years together, including favorite family snaps, throwback shots from their wedding day and clips of their four daughters.

“10 years with my best friend,” he wrote in the caption of his post. “I legit don’t know sometimes if you are a real person or an Angel. I could not have dreamed up a better life if I tried. 10 years and four kids later, I love you more every single day.”

Thomas was just 22, and still in the early stages of forming his country music career, when he married Lauren in 2012. “Everybody was telling us not to … but we just fell in love at such a young age,” TR told People in 2016 about their decision to tie the knot.

Since then, the singer’s marriage and family life have been major components of his career. He’s put out several songs about Lauren, the first and perhaps most famous of which is “Die a Happy Man.”

Lauren’s become a star in her own right, too: In 2020, she put out a memoir called Live in Love: Growing Together Through Life’s Changes, which details their relationship from her perspective.

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Brandy has reportedly been hospitalized following a possible seizure. 

According to TMZ, which cites law enforcement sources, Brandy, 43, is recovering at a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday after suffering what is believed to have been a seizure. 

According to the report, EMS responded to a call from Brandy’s home at noon on October 11. As of Wednesday afternoon, there is no further information on Brandy’s health status or what may have caused the medical incident. Her parents have been by her side in the hospital.

It is believed that Brandy will recover.

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Måneskin has premiered the video for their new single, “The Loneliest.”

The clip begins with the Italian rockers serving as pallbearers at a funeral. Things take a dramatic, possible, supernatural turn as frontman Damiano David starts choking up water and a mysterious piece of paper as the sky opens up with rain and lightning, causing all the attendees to flee the scene.

Toward the end of the clip, the weather clears and David’s bandmates remain to comfort him as he starts walking towards the coffin, which has been replaced by a pool of water. The credits roll as David sinks to the bottom.

You can watch “The Loneliest” video streaming now on YouTube.

The song “The Loneliest” dropped last Friday. It’s the first new, original tune from Måneskin to follow their single “Supermodel,” which was released in May.

Måneskin will launch their first-ever North American headlining tour Halloween night in Seattle.

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Lizzo has a lot to share about her life and, come next month, fans will be reintroduced to the powerhouse singer in an all-new documentary.

“Finally telling my story, My Way,” she said on Instagram as she announced the special, Love, Lizzo, arrives November 24 on HBO Max. The documentary will cover her rise to fame and the hurdles she overcame along the way.

News first broke of Lizzo’s documentary back in May, but its title and release date were not revealed. 

“Growing up I never dreamed I’d get to experience all of the things I’ve accomplished in my life, and I’m just getting started. I’m so excited I get to share and relive my journey with my fans and HBO Max,” she said at the time.

“From Cuz I Love You to my dramatic world tour, losing and gaining love, and creating my new album Special, y’all get to see the amount of time, patience, blood, sweat and tears that went into this process,” she continued. “It takes ten years to become an ‘overnight success,’ and hopefully I can inspire other young creatives to keep going.”

Love, Lizzo starts streaming November 24 on HBO Max.

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Ingrid Andress is currently on the road as an opening act for Keith Urban’s The Speed of Now World Tour and she’s not taking a minute of the experience for granted.

“I feel honored every day,” she tells Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. “I’m always learning from him.”

There’s a lot to learn from: With decades of experience as a performer, first in his native Australia and then in the U.S., Keith has a massive collection of hits and accolades under his belt — not to mention, he’s one of the best guitarists in the country genre today.

Keith’s a particularly good teacher — and performer — because he never lets his music get stagnant, Ingrid points out.

“I think he’s still relevant because he’s so curious about music,” she continues. “He’s accomplished so much, and yet you’ll find him at a Harry Styles show because he just wants to see what the lights look like and what the sound is, and I’m like, ‘You’re Keith Urban! You’ve already made it.’”

But Keith doesn’t see things that way. “In his mind he’s constantly searching for the next thing,” Ingrid goes on to explain, “which is I think [is] what makes him such a good artist.”

The Speed of Now World Tour will roll on through early November.

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Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, opens up about the night she was fatally shot by Louisville Police on an episode of Red Table Talk. 

Walker, alongside Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer and sister, Ju’Niyah Palmer, re-lives the horrific events of Taylor’s last moments, including his 911 call for help. 

Host Jada Pinkett Smith opens the episode with a brief step-by-step recount of the night, asking viewers to imagine themselves as Walker — a man who went to sleep with his partner but woke up to witness her death.

“Say her name,” Smith says before asking Walker to recall the events of the day.

“The day didn’t begin so tragic,” he said, explaining that he and Breonna went out to eat and were “just enjoying each other’s company.” 

Things then took a turn for the worse. 

“There was a banging on the door. It startled both of us,” Walker said. After a few unanswered calls of “Who is it?” Walker said he grabbed his gun.

“Yeah, I’m a gun owner. And I still have a legal gun license to this day,” he said, adding he let off a shoot after the door bursted open.

“Never in my wildest imagination could I have thought that 30 or however many shots would have been coming back,” Walker said. 

After a conversation with Taylor’s mother, Walker called the police, who were already outside of the apartment. He was then detained. 

Walker said he found out Taylor was dead while watching the news in jail. “The only crime I committed that night was being Black,” he said.

Smith, Walker and Taylor’s relatives were then joined by activist Tamika Mallory, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and attorney Laura Coates, who discussed the wrongdoings in the case, including the “cover up that took place afterwards,” according to Coates.   

At the close of the interview, Smith thanked her guests and Walker “for not giving up.”

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Audioslave‘s video for “Like a Stone” has officially hit one billion views on YouTube.

The clip is the first to hit the milestone from the now-defunct supergroup, which featured late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell alongside Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk. Neither Soundgarden nor Rage has a video with one billion views.

“Like a Stone” was a single off Audioslave’s self-titled 2002 debut album. Its video, which was uploaded to YouTube in 2009, features the band performing together in an otherwise empty room.

Following Cornell’s death in 2017, Morello, Commerford and Wilk performed an instrumental version of “Like a Stone” during shows with their Rage offshoot band, Prophets of Rage.

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The official American Idol Instagram account has acknowledged the death of American Idol season 19 runner-up Willie Spence, who died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a car accident in Tennessee. The singer was 23.

The account posted a tribute to Spence, along with a video of his audition. The caption reads, “We are devastated about the passing of our beloved American Idol family member, Willie Spence. He was a true talent who lit up every room he entered and will be deeply missed. We send our condolences to his loved ones.”

According to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report obtained by ABC News, Spence was driving when his vehicle “left  the roadway” and collided with the back of a tractor trailer, which was stopped on the shoulder of the road.

As previously reported, the tragic news was also confirmed by Katherine McPhee, who’d performed with Spence in season 19 of the show. Chayce Beckham won that season.

McPhee posted a video to her Instagram Story of her and the “sweet” singer together. “Only 23 years old. Life is so unfair and nothing is ever promised,” she captioned, adding, “God rest your soul Willie. It was a pleasure to sing with you and to know you.”

McPhee also posted the last video Spence shared on social media, which incidentally shows him singing in his car on Tuesday. “He posted this right before the accident,” McPhee wrote, adding a sobbing emoji. 

So far, American Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan have yet to react to Spence’s death.

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