Music

Sure, getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is nice, but now New Jersey’s own Jon Bon Jovi is getting a real honor: a rest stop named after him on the Garden State Parkway.

The neighboring New Jersey Turnpike has rest stops named after historical New Jerseyites, like Thomas Edison, but the Parkway is going for star power, reports NorthJersey.com.  The rest stop formerly known as — no joke — Cheesequake will now be known as the Jon Bon Jovi Service Area.

Other famed New Jerseyites who are getting the rest stop treatment include Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, Toni Morrison, James Gandolfini, salsa legend Celia Cruz and author Judy Blume.  It’s all part of a campaign by the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which is installing displays about each rest stop’s famous namesake.

But wait, you ask — where’s the Bruce Springsteen Service Area?

“Bruce Springsteen respectfully declined to have a service area named after him,” a New Jersey Hall of Fame spokeswoman told NorthJersey.com. “It should be noted, though, that Bruce has been very supportive of the New Jersey Hall of Fame over the years, and is very much a part of the fabric of the Hall.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Reba McEntire’s 2001 hit, “I’m a Survivor,” shares a message of resilience, with lyrics describing “a single mom who works too hard / Who loves her kids and never stops / With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter / I’m a survivor.”

Those lyrics have become the soundtrack to a hilarious TikTok challenge over the past few days, with app users setting the song over video clips of all the everyday inconveniences and mundane tasks that make them “a survivor.” 

Whether that means throwing out expired milk, enjoying a drive-thru fast food meal even though it only came with a single ketchup packet, or waiting an extra few minutes for dinner at the end of a long work day, no struggle is too small to get the “I’m a Survivor” treatment. And Reba herself got in on the fun.

On her TikTok, the singer shared a short video of herself struggling through the heat to feed her two donkeys, only to find that they don’t appreciate her efforts. At the end, she turns to the camera to sing the title phrase, “I’m a survivor,” along with her song.

“When it’s time to feed your donkeys and they’re not the least bit impressed,” Reba captioned her post, which has amassed more than 12 million views in the days since she posted it. 

“I’m a Survivor” was a top-five country hit for Reba upon its release, and it also became the theme song for Reba, the singer’s own sitcom, which aired on The WB in the mid-2000s.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Saint Motel‘s new album The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is coming to life in a very unique way.

The band will perform the record in its entirety during a streaming concert filmed in Macedonia. They’ll be accompanied by the country’s acclaimed Fames Orchestra and film composer Duke Bojadziev, who had created “film score transitions” for in between the songs on The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

“What an incredible way to perform The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in the most thematically true way possible,” says Saint Motel frontman A/J Jackson. “Live with one of the best orchestras in the world and showcasing not only all the songs but the incredible film score transitions. It’s something truly special.”

The concert will premiere August 18 via the streaming platform Dreamstage. Visit Dreamstage.live for ticket info.

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in June. It combines three different EPs, which spawned the singles “Van Horn,” “Preach” and “It’s All Happening.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Will Smith is channeling Richard Williams, the father tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in the first trailer for King Richard.

Executive-produced by the Williams sisters, the film is based on real-life story of their father Richard, a man undeterred in “raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time.” The feature follows Richard’s journey to take Venus and Serena “from the streets of Compton, California to the global stage as legendary icons.” King Richard also stars Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton as Venus and Serena Williams, as well as Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn and Dylan McDermott. The film hits theaters and HBO Max on November 19.

In other news, a teaser for Lee Daniels‘ upcoming FOX drama, Our Kind of People, has been released. The promo features Yaya DaCosta as Angela Vaughn, a single mother who “risks it all” by moving her family to Martha’s Vineyard in hopes of taking her natural hair-care line to the next level. As previously reported, the series, also starring Morris Chestnut, LeToya Luckett and Lance Gross, is based onLawrence Otis Graham’s critically acclaimed book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class. Our Kind of People premieres on Tuesday, September 21, at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

Finally, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Luke James and Erica Ash are among the stars added to Shudder’s upcoming horror anthology series Horror Noire, Deadline has learned. The anthology, which is said to showcase horror stories from Black directors and screenwriters, will feature six stories presented as a two-hour film. Those stories include Daddy, Bride Before You, Brand of Evil, The Lake, Sundown, and Fugue State.  Horror Noire premieres in October on Shudder.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Now that Katy Perry and Carrie Underwood are doing residencies at Las Vegas’ new Resorts World property, and Celine Dion is staging her comeback residency there, could Adele be far behind?

British tabloid The Sun says Adele is considering doing a residency at the same theater in Resorts World where Celine, Katy, Carrie and Luke Bryan will all be performing in the coming months.  Said residency, a Vegas source told The Sun, would earn the U.K. singer nearly $140,000 a night.

Adele, who hasn’t performed live since 2017, has said in the past that she prefers to perform for smaller crowds, and that instead of traveling around the world, she’d like to stay in one place because of her eight-year-old son Angelo.

The superstar is said to be ready to release new music and, according to The Sun, the rumor is that she plans to launch her comeback with a Vogue feature. The tabloid points to the fact that both Adele and Vogue‘s editor, Edward Enniful, were both in New York City last week.

Of course, nobody in Adele’s camp has confirmed any of these rumors, so stay tuned.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Bryan’s not shying away from the tougher parts of his past in his upcoming new docu-series, Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary.

He’ll offer candid reflections on some of his family’s darkest days, when tragedy struck the Bryan household in unfathomable ways. In 1996, Luke lost his older brother, Chris, in a car accident. Then, in 2007, his older sister, Kelly, died at home of still-unknown natural causes. 

Finally, in 2014, Kelly’s husband, Lee, died of a heart attack, leaving the couple’s three children parentless. Luke and his wife Caroline ultimately stepped in to help raise the kids, whose ages at the time ranged from 12 to 20. 

Through sharing this side of his story, Luke hopes to provide some hope for viewers who might be going through similar tumult.

“When [people] walk up to me on the street and they’re like, ‘Hey, man, you really inspire us,’ that’s what it’s all about to me,” the singer tells Entertainment Tonight. “…I always believe there’s a lot of people out there going through similar scenarios as me. If we can inspire them and help them dust themselves off, that’s what this thing is really about.” 

Luke adds that he hopes My Dirt Road Diary will paint a clear picture of the good and not-so-good times he’s experienced along the way to success. 

“It’s been quite the story and quite the ride,” Luke says. “…You gotta celebrate the ups, and you gotta really try to work together to get through the downsides.”

All five episodes of Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary will stream for free on August 6 on IMDb TV, which is Amazon’s free streaming service.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dusty Hill, the long-bearded, longtime bassist for beloved Texas blues-rock trio ZZ Top, has died at age 72.

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons and drummer Frank Beard announced Hill’s passing with a message on the band’s official Facebook page.

“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the note reads. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top.’ We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.'”

Hill joined ZZ Top shortly after the group’s formation in 1969. Gibbons sang lead on most of the group’s songs, while Hill usually handled backing vocals, although he occasionally did take over as lead singer for select tunes, including the band’s classic 1975 hit, “Tush.”

Dusty co-wrote many of ZZ Top’s songs, including “Tush” and other enduring classics including “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’, “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” and “Sleeping Bag.”

Hill was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.

The band’s plans for a major 50th anniversary tour in 2020 were sidetracked because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ZZ Top had recently started playing shows again, but the band announced last week that Hill had to return home to Texas “to address a hip issue,” and that the group’s longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis, was filling in for him.

These recent shows marked the first time since Hill had joined ZZ Top that they performed with out him.

ZZ Top’s most recent album, La Futura, was released in 2012, although Gibbons revealed in recent interviews that the band had been working on material for a new record.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After a fan begged him to do something, Billie Eilish‘s brother and musical collaborator FINNEAS called out a post from a Twitter account called “Billie Eilish Updates,” denouncing it as “fake.”

Retweeting the post, the fan asked FINNEAS, “Can you do something right for once and get this account suspended thank u.” The since-deleted post was a mock-up of a People story that quoted Billie as saying, “When I got rich I started balling [sic] my eyes out, I wanted to be poor so I can relate to most of my fans” and “I still want to be broke and poor, it looks really fun and cute.”

FINNEAS responded to the post, which features numerous punctuation errors and misspellings, as “Fake obviously,” adding, “Honestly I just wish they’d label this account satire like the onion or something. I have no problem with a joke as long as people know it’s a joke.”

Earlier this week, FINNEAS tweeted that the same site was “posting relentless lies about billie so if you see that account, report and block Em.”

Fans begged FINNEAS to go further and take legal action, claiming that those who run the account were deliberately trying to ruin Billie’s career.  In just the last few minutes, the account has been taken down.

Prior to that, it was labeled, “Your best source on 7x Grammy Winner, Billie Eilish. NOT Affiliated with anything related to Billie Eilish. Parody Account.”  However, it’s not clear when that description was added to the account.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Celebrity stylist Tameka Raymond Foster wants to clear up any rumors or misconceptions about her marriage to Usher in her upcoming memoir, Here I Stand… in a Beautiful State.

According to HotNewHipHop, the book will feature stories about the former couple’s relationship, Foster’s life growing up in Oakland, California, and stories about her former clients, such as Lauryn Hill,Jay-Z, Timbaland, Aaliyah, Chris Brown and more. The title is a nod to Usher’s 2008 studio album, Here I Stand.

Usher and Tameka were married from 2007 to 2009 and share two sons, Naviyd Ely and Usher V. During their heated custody battle, Tameka suffered the devastating loss of her 11-year-old son, Kile Glover. He passed away in 2012 after a jet ski accident on Lake Lanier in Georgia.

Now, Usher and Tameka co-parent their blended family, along with the singer’s nine-month-old daughter, Sovereign Bo. Usher is also preparing to welcome his second child with his girlfriend, Jennifer Goicoechea.

“Here I stand to finally tell my side of the story,” says Foster in a trailer for the book. “Unfiltered and unapologetic. A story of survival and perseverance. You think you know a story, but you don’t even know the half.”

Here I Stand… in a Beautiful State will be released on September 15. Autographed copies of the book are available for pre-order at TamekaRaymond.com. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by 𝓣𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓴𝓪 (@tamekafoster)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jack White is collecting all of his non-musical endeavors in one online space.

The project, dubbed Jack White Art & Design, showcases everything from the rocker’s industrial and interior design work to photography and film. There’s even a section on furniture and upholstery, which you may recall was White’s job prior to The White Stripes taking off.

You can check out all Jack White Art & Design has to offer at JackWhiteArtandDesign.com. The site also includes a subsection titled “Exhibitions” that states “No shows currently,” suggesting that White may be displaying some of his work on the road at some point.

White’s most recent music release is the 2019 Raconteurs album, Help Us Stranger.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.