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Tory Lanez found guilty on all charges in shooting of Megan Thee Stallion

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

A jury in Los Angeles found rapper Tory Lanez guilty on all three charges in the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion on July 12, 2020 in the Hollywood Hills.

“The jury got it right. I am thankful there is justice for Meg,” Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney Alex Spiro told ABC News in a statement after the verdict was announced.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in a statement recognized the “bravery” of Megan, pointing to some of the commentary around the case.

“You showed incredible courage and vulnerability with your testimony despite repeated and grotesque attacks that you did not deserve,” he wrote. “You faced unjust and despicable scrutiny that no woman should ever face and you have been an inspiration to others across LA County and the nation.”

ABC News has reached out to Lanez’s attorneys and a request for comment was not immediately returned. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27 at 8:30 a.m. local time, according to ABC affiliate KABC-TV.

Jury deliberations began Thursday and a verdict was announced Friday afternoon.

Megan, born Megan Pete, shared her account of the incident in an emotional testimony last week and accused Lanez of shooting her following an argument.

Pete testified that on the night of July 12, 2020, she got out of a car following an argument with Lanez and as she walked away, she turned her head and saw him with a gun, according to a reporter with KABC, who was in the courtroom.

“He was holding the gun pointing at me,” she said, according to KABC, and claimed that he said “dance b****” and fired his gun, injuring both her feet.

“I froze…I felt shocked,” she said. “I wasn’t really sure if this was happening…I looked at the ground and saw the blood…everyone was shocked.”

Lanez, bornb Daystar Peterson, was initially charged in October 2020 with one felony count each of assault with a semi-automatic firearm — with the enhancement of “personal use of a firearm” linked to that count — and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.

He was charged earlier this month with an additional felony count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to ABC News.

Lanez, who chose not to take the witness stand during the trial, pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

Is Gorillaz teasing a New Year’s Day announcement?

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Will Gorillaz be ringing in 2023 with some news?

In a mysterious tweet Friday, the virtual band teased, in all caps, “THE RUPTURE IS COMING,” alongside a photo featuring various drawings and references to the Gorillaz mythology.

One corner of the image includes the numbers 01.01.2023, perhaps hinting that some sort of announcement is coming on New Year’s Day.

Gorillaz is already gearing up for a big 2023 with the release of the upcoming album Cracker Island, due out February 24. The record includes guest spots by artists including Beck, Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Thundercat and Bad Bunny.

Meanwhile, Gorillaz recently premiered augmented reality-driven “immersive live performances” of the Cracker Island songs “Skinny Ape” in New York City and London. You can check out official footage of what that looked like in NYC, now streaming on YouTube.

Sia awards $200,000 to ‘Survivor’ finalists she thinks should have won season 43

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Sia awards 0,000 to ‘Survivor’ finalists she thinks should have won season 43

Sia is a major fan of Survivor and, as she does each year, awarded cash prizes to the contestants she wishes had won the $1 million prize.

Every year the singer doles out The Sia Award. Mike Gabler won season 43 of the long-running reality show, but the “Cheap Thrills” singer thinks Jesse Lopez, Ryan Medrano and Owen Knight shouldn’t have gone home empty-handed — so she gave them some cold, hard cash.

Sia awarded Lopez, who finished in fourth place, $100,000 because she was “devastated” that he didn’t win, reports Entertainment Weekly. “I just think you played the most epic, sneaky, wonderful game in the whole world. It was the most epic move I’ve ever seen,” she told Lopez in a video call.

Sia also vowed to do what she can to get Lopez cast as a returning player in the future.

After gifting $50,000 to Knight and Medrano, she explained in a video call how they made an impact on her.

She told third-place finisher Knight she loved his personality and that she knows what it’s like to be the underdog. As for Medrano, Sia praised his decision to avoid any drama and instead help his fellow contestants with whatever they needed.

“You’re a totally beautiful, beautiful person,” she lauded the ninth-place finisher, adding she thinks Medrano is a hero.

Survivor airs on CBS.

Sevendust’s Clint Lowery preps new solo EP, ’Ghostwriter’

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery has announced a new solo EP called Ghostwriter.

In a Facebook post, Lowery shares that the set consists of five songs and is due out in February. More details about the EP will be announced “soon.”

Ghostwriter is Lowery’s second solo EP, following 2020’s Grief & Distance. He also released his debut solo album, God Bless the Renegades, in 2020.

Sevendust’s most recent album is 2020’s Blood & Stone. A deluxe version of the record dropped in 2021.

Def Leppard wishes fans a happy holiday & thanks them for their support

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Def Leppard has shared a special holiday message to fans, posting a video to social media with each member sharing holiday wishes to their followers.

“Wanted to say one thing before the year comes to an end,” Joe Elliott shares. “Thank you for your support throughout the year, waiting for us through COVID. We had a fantastic tour this summer.” He adds, “Thank you for your support over the last 45 years. So to everybody, happy holidays and we’ll see you in 2023.”

Vivian Campbell added, “Thank you all for supporting the band in 2022, coming to the shows. We had an absolutely wonderful summer. So happy holidays, however you celebrate it. Have a great time.”

And the band is promising more to come next year, with Rick Savage noting, “As we approach the end of 2022 just want to say thank you to everybody that came out who saw us on the last tour, there’s many more to come.”

Rick Allen passed along a similar sentiment, sharing that “there’s loads more” shows to come, “so we’re looking forward to seeing people out there.”

The Beatles’ record for the most UK Christmas number ones broken

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Beatles have lost one of their United Kingdom chart records. Up until now the legendary rockers held the record for the most U.K. Christmas number ones on the Official Singles chart with four, but that has now been surpassed by British duo LadBaby.

LadBaby, the husband and wife parody act of Mark and Roxanne Hoyle, earned their fifth Christmas number one this week with “Food Aid,” a reimagining of the 1985 Band Aid Christmas classic, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The Band Aid tune was also a Christmas number one.

In hearing the news of their new number one, LadBaby offered up “a massive apology to The Beatles, and to all The Beatles’ fans.”

LadBaby previously landed Christmas number ones with 2018’s “We Built This City,” 2019’s “I Love Sausage Rolls,” 2020’s “Don’t Stop Me Eatin’” and 2021’s “Sausage Rolls For Everyone,” a collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Elton John. Proceeds from their latest number one will go to two food banks, The Trussell Trust and the Band Aid Trust.

The Beatles had their four Christmas number ones with 1963’s “I Want Hold Your Hand,” 1964’s “I Feel Fine,” 1965’s “Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out” and 1967’s “Hello, Goodbye.”

Duran Duran shares holiday messages to fans

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Duran Duran‘s John Taylor and Simon LeBon are wishing their fans a happy holiday with special messages posted to their Instagram page.

“It’s Christmas time, it’s the holiday season,” Taylor shares in an audio message posted with a picture of him in a snow globe. “I want to wish everybody who’s listening to this just the best of times this year. Whatever it is you want, you get, and I hope we all have a great year together next year.”

Frontman LeBon added his own snow globe message, sharing, “Yeah it’s that time of the year when we’re all very fluffy, we’re a bunch of snowflakes really aren’t we? Yes because, you know, it’s the end of the year, it’s that festive season, it’s all those different festivals, which I call Christmas, because I’m white, middle-aged and male.”

He offers, “I’m just wishing everybody out there a lovely, happy holidays. Merry Christmas.”

Mariah Carey’s co-writer says her version of how her Christmas hit was written is a “tall tale”

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The guy who co-wrote Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” apparently has some issues with the way that she’s described the song’s origins and is sharing his version in a podcast.

Speaking with the podcast Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild, Walter Afanasieff — sometimes called Walter A — discusses his creative collaboration with Mariah, which resulted in hits like “Hero” and “One Sweet Day.” The two also worked together on her 1994 Christmas album, and Walter claims that at some point in the past 10 years, Mariah has changed her story.

He particularly takes issue with how Carey described the song to Billboard in 2017: “This song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.” Walter is calling B.S. on that.

“She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play keyboard or piano,” argues Walter. “She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory … So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale.”

In a recent Amazon documentary, Mariah claims she wrote the melody and all the lyrics on a keyboard in her house, then brought it to Walter in the studio to get the right sound.

Walter disputes this by describing — in minute detail — how he played the music and the chord changes, while Mariah echoed the melody and came up with lyrics, going back and forth “like ping-pong,” he says. And after that, he claims, she would call him at all hours of the night, asking for his opinion on the lyrics.

And while Walter allows that Mariah is a talented and wonderful artist, he says her story just doesn’t add up.

(Walter’s version of how they wrote the song starts at 12:19 into the podcast)

Jon Bon Jovi will defend his “Pink Pong” title on IG Live December 26

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jon Bon Jovi and his son Jesse Bongiovi will face off against each other live on Instagram the day after Christmas to determine which one of them is this year’s “Pink Pong” champion.

Yes, it’s just regular ping-pong, but it’s dubbed “Pink Pong” after the duo’s acclaimed Hampton Water brand of rosé wine. On social media, Hampton Water posted a video of Jesse presenting his father with a wrapped gift that contains the “championship cup,” on which the winner’s initials have been engraved for 2020 and 2021. It appears as though Jon has beaten his son for the last two years.

“Here ya go b*****s! Defending champ!” Jon brags, showing off the trophy.

When Jesse announces that the 2022 match will take place on December 26, Jon whispers, “You don’t scare me.” But Jesse writes in the comments, “It’s so on! Old man’s going down!”

You can watch the father-son rematch Monday, December 26, at 12 p.m. ET on Instagram Live on Hampton Water’s Instagram page.

Jackson Dean’s car broke down right after he found out “Don’t Come Lookin’” was a number-one hit

December 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jackson Dean earned his first chart-topping hit with “Don’t Come Lookin’” — but the very same day he found out the song had gone to number one, he wound up having to ask friends to “Come Lookin’” for him: his car broke down during a road trip.

“The irony of it all is not lost on me,” Jackson told People. “Celebrating a song about getting lost and not coming back, and then immediately having my truck break down and needing someone to come lookin’ for me?”

The singer’s breakdown happened in Kentucky while he was on his way back home from a Thanksgiving trip. Though he was initially frustrated, he quickly remembered to keep perspective.

“I had the No. 1 song in the country, and really, what could I possibly be upset about?” he recalls thinking.

Plus, as he waited around for help to arrive, he accomplished a very important task. “I spent that time making phone calls to all of the people on my team, and thanking them for their hard work and belief in me,” the singer continues.

“Don’t Come Lookin’” comes off of Jackson’s Greenbroke album.

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