Music

Despite quick-spreading rumors circulating the internet Thursday night that Georgia YouTuber and self-proclaimed “relationship guru” Kevin Samuels died, as of early Friday morning, the Fulton County Medical Examiner has yet to confirm the news.

As detailed in an incident report provided by the Atlanta Police Department to ABC News, at approximately 6:04 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, authorities responded to a call regarding a person injured at an apartment on E Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta. Upon arriving at the home, an officer observed the fire department administering CPR to a Black male, who was unresponsive on the floor of his apartment.

The officer then met with a woman who identified the male as Kevin Samuels.

According to the incident report, currently categorized as “Miscellaneous Non-crime,” the woman stated that she met Samuels the evening prior and spent the night with him. Upon Samuels’ complaint of chest pain, the woman attempted to help him but he fell on top of her, after which she called 911. The woman also said she requested the 911 operator to contact the front desk for a defibrillator to help keep Samuels responsive until hospital staff arrived.

Samuels was later transported to Piedmont Hospital for care.

A Monday evening press release from Chief Medical Examiner Karen E. Sullivan states in full, “The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office can neither confirm nor deny the reported death of Kevin Samuels. If further information becomes available, an updated press release will be issued.”

Samuels is known as a popular social influencer who often went viral due to his controversial relationship advice and remarks. Many people strongly disagreed with his dating opinions — often times aimed at Black women — including his most recent proclamation that, “If you have made it to 35 years old and you’re unmarried, you are a leftover woman.”

ABC News has reached out for confirmation of Samuels’ condition and will update this story as more information becomes available.

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Jack Harlow‘s dropped his new album Come Home the Kids Miss You, and along with it, the video for his latest hit, “First Class.” 

The clip for the Fergie-sampling track stars “Girl from Rio” singer Anitta as a mysterious woman who spies on Jack with a telescope as he exits a building, and then gets on a motorcycle and rides into the night down a road painted with letters spelling out “Glamorous” — the name of the Fergie song in question.

In the clip, which switches from black-and-white to color, we see Jack in the studio, in the club, on a runway with a helicopter, and on what looks like the same nighttime road Anitta is driving on.  It ends with him opening the trunk of a car, only to see a beam of light pour out and shoot up to the sky, which could be a nod to the 1984 cult classic Repo Man.

As previously reported, Come Home the Kids Miss You features Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, Drake and Lil Wayne. There’s also a song called “Dua Lipa,” in which Jack raps, “I catch a groove like Dua Lipa/I’m tryna do more with her than do a feature.”

Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 about the album, Jack explains its theme is all about bringing a piece of his glamorous life back to his home in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I take these experiences where I’m flying through the Hollywood Hills or I’m on a private jet to Miami…I experience stuff no one from my city is getting to experience,” he explains. “And I take that home and go, ‘Let me tell you about it.’”

The full interview drops Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on Jack’s YouTube channel.

(Video features uncensored profanity.)

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Isiah Lee, the man Los Angeles authorities say tackled comedian Dave Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, won’t face felony assault charges.

The Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced on Thursday that Lee, 23, will face four misdemeanor charges for the alleged attack: battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorized access to the stage area during a performance, and commission of an act that delays the event or interferes with the performer.”

At issue was the fact that Lee didn’t have the knife in his possession in his hands when he allegedly rushed and tackled Chappelle. The pistol-shaped knife that was reportedly found on Lee’s person was apparently in the bag he was carrying; had it been in his hand, he would have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, a felony — and the incident could have proved lethal for Chappelle.

In a video announcing the charges, Feuer said, “this alleged attack must have consequences,” adding, what “should have been an evening of laughter,” was interrupted by Lee’s actions, which Feuer said would be “vigorously” prosecuted.

Lee is being held on $30,000 bail.

Chappelle’s show continued after the incident. A rep for the comic issued a statement Wednesday saying in part, “The performances by Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl were epic and record-breaking and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.”

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The second Sunday in May is upon us, so may the gifting and receiving of beautiful bouquets, heartfelt greetings cards, fancy dinners and quality time commence. In preparation of Mother’s Day this weekend, a few Black women chatted with ABC Audio about their special plans.

Fantasia is the perfect queen to her king, Kendall Taylor, and while the entrepreneur/businessman didn’t want to spoil any surprises he has planned for his wife, he says the mother of three will be showered with lots of love and appreciation.

“She definitely will be honored and reminded by me,” Taylor said, emphasizing the idea that every day should be Mother’s Day. “I always honor her just to let her know– sometimes if the kids don’t say it, sometimes if they don’t always show the appreciation…I remind [her that] I’m proud of you.”

Speaking of kids, Love & Hip Hop alum Amina Buddafly says her favorite way to celebrate is by spending quality time with her two daughters. “I always like to have them around,” she said. “They are the most important thing in my life.”

Reginae Carter, on the other hand, can’t fathom the thought of kids right now, thanks to her “birth control” of a younger sister. She does plan to honor their mother, Toya Johnson, who’s months away from her wedding to fitness guru Robert “Red” Rushing. “I’m probably going to do something to get her a little relaxed, maybe book her a spa day,” Carter said.

Relaxing and resting is also on Gabrielle Dennis‘ Sunday itinerary, since it’ll be “just a normal day” for her and her Jehovah’s Witness mother. She’ll celebrate the other women in her life, by sending “beautiful messages” to those who’ve been moms, and to the women who’ll celebrate their first Mother’s Day this year. 

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Josh Groban — or rather his voice — stars in a new Audible Original series called The Miranda Obsession, based on the true story of a Louisiana woman who, using the alias “Miranda,” made many male celebrities of the ’70s and ’80s fall in love with her, simply by talking to them on the phone. Josh plays Billy Joel, one of the stars Miranda charmed with her calls — and he tells ABC Audio that Billy’s since offered to chat with him about the experience.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan plays Miranda, and she invited Josh to play Billy.  He prepared by listening to old interviews with the Piano Man, but he was concerned about mimicking Billy’s New York accent.

Josh tells ABC Audio, “I said, ‘Rachel, I’m not sure I’ll get it exactly.’ She said, ‘This is going to be kind of a dramatized account. So it doesn’t need to be exact.”

“It was really a blast to do,” Josh says. “And then I then got an email from Billy Joel saying, ‘Hey, if you ever want to talk about the story, let me know.’ So we’re at some point going to get together and chat about it, I hope!”

Josh notes that unlike most men Miranda spoke with — everyone from Richard Gere, Warren Beatty and Eric Clapton to Bob Dylan, Robert De Niro and Johnny Carson — Billy didn’t fall in love with her, because he was already dating both Elle MacPherson and Christie Brinkley.

“The man was certainly not wanting for attention,” Josh laughs. “[But] that’s just how interesting this Miranda was. It was just somebody that really intrigued him. I think he saw a bit of himself in her. They both had kind of a fire and a drive and could talk because it wasn’t romantic…He felt…like there was a freedom there to…just have a great chat with somebody.”

So was this the original catfishing? Well, surprisingly, Miranda wasn’t after money — or anything else.

“Ultimately she didn’t really break any laws, she didn’t steal any money. She didn’t really do anything except say she was somebody she wasn’t,” Josh explains. He admits that every day, fans tell him someone claiming to be him is messaging them and asking for money.

“It is the Wild West out there,” he adds. “And this was really before the Wild West broke loose. And so to be able to do it well, you had to be really good at it.”

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If you were to describe AWOLNATION‘s new, guest-filled covers album, it’d be hard to come up with a better word than “fun.”

The compilation, titled My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me, finds the “Sail” outfit taking on songs including Scorpions‘ “Wind of Change” with Incubus‘ Brandon Boyd and Portgual. the Man and Midnight Oil‘s “Beds Are Burning” with Rise Against, to ABBA‘s “Take a Chance on Me” with Jewel and Madonna‘s “Material Girl” with Hanson‘s Taylor Hanson.

For AWOL frontman Aaron Bruno, trying to create something as fun as possible amid the doldrums of the early COVID-19 pandemic seemed like the best option he had.

“Music is there to help people, it’s supposed to be fun,” Bruno tells ABC Audio. “When it can be lighthearted, that’s a great thing. That was generally the attitude I took to making this whole project.”

Working on My Echo, Bruno shares, was a nice alternative to “looking at negative news all the time and living in a constant state of panic.”

“I was able to kind of lean on the connectivity with these different artists that joined me,” he says. “It was very therapeutic for me.”

Bruno adds that he’s “happy and grateful” for all the guests who “agreed to do this crazy thing” with him. Collaborating with so many different people on a single record was also a unique experience for Bruno, who’s the main driving force behind AWOLNATION.

“It’s like I’m in a band all of the sudden again,” he says. “I haven’t done that in awhile. So that feels good, as well.”

My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me is out today. AWOLNATION will launch a U.S. tour in October.

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Maren Morris only has one special vocal guest on her latest album, Humble Quest, but it’s an important one. Her young son, Hayes, lends his voice to “Hummingbird,” a track that Maren wrote the day she found out she was pregnant.

“He’s like the only little feature on it,” the singer tells ABC Audio. “But yeah, his sweet little voice is eternally marked in this song.”

Hayes was born in March 2020, and since then, he’s given Maren a new perspective on everything. That includes songwriting and touring to her TV guest spots, like an appearance she made on Sesame Street in February 2020, just before he was born, when she sang a song called “Oops! Whoops! Wait, ah Hah!”

“I actually, a couple weeks ago, showed Hayes my episode of Sesame Street that I did,” Maren says, who notes one of Hayes’ favorite Muppet characters, Elmo, sang backup with her.

“He loves Elmo,” says Maren. “But seeing me in the television was very bizarre to him. I don’t think he understood what was going on — like, ‘Oh, you’re here and you’re there.’”

Now that Hayes is getting a little older, though, she hopes that she’ll have more opportunities to do guest spots that have some crossover with his interests. “I hope I can do Sesame Street again and bring Hayes, because he will lose his mind,” Maren says.

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Taylor Swift dropped yet another “Taylor’s Version” re-recording at midnight, this time a song from her 1989 album, “This Love.”

“This love is good / This love is bad / This love is alive / Back from the dead / These hands had to / let it go free / And this love came back to me” sings in the chorus to the pensive ballad.

“This Love” is the second track from her 1989 collection to get the “version” treatment. Taylor released “Wildest Dreams” back in September, leading fans to believe she’s ready to release her newly re-recorded version of the album. However, there’s been no official announcement thus far.

“This Love” will be featured in the upcoming TV series The Summer I Turned Pretty, based off the trilogy of books authored by Jenny Han. It arrives June 17 on Amazon Prime Video.

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Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and Hayley Hubbard — wife to Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard — recently shared some of her favorite gift ideas to People.

Whether it’s a soft pair of slippers, the perfect hydrating face mask or a new seat of yoga gear, Hayley’ got mom covered, and she also shared the item that she’s hoping for for this year’s Mother’s day: A customizable gold necklace with a sun-shaped pendant from EF Collection.

“This is what I’ll be hoping for this Mother’s Day customized with my kids’ initials, because every mom deserves to splurge,” she says. “‘You Are My Sunshine’ is something my husband and I sing to our kids, and it’s what my parents sang to me, so it feels appropriate to wear this sunny timeless reminder around my neck.”

If those gifts don’t suit mom’s personality, why not take cues from Kane Brown’s wife, Katelyn? She just launched her Allen Rose Wine collection, with a rosé named after her oldest daughter, Kingsley, and a Pinot Gris inspired by her youngest daughter, Kodi.

Luke Bryan’s wife, Caroline, also has some special merch sure to make moms everywhere feel special: Her Best Bad Influence apparel line features stylishly distressed “Mama” ball caps and “Best Bad Influence Mom” coffee tumblers.

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In a new installment of Audible’s Words + Music audio series titled Pete Townshend: Somebody Saved Me, The Who‘s Pete Townshend treats listeners to a candid look at his life and music during the period spanning roughly from the 1978 death of Keith Moon to John Entwistle‘s passing in 2002.

The free two-hour presentation, which debuted today at Audible.com, also features new versions of noteworthy Townshend solo songs and Who tunes that Pete recorded especially for the episode.

Townshend tells ABC Audio that he initially turned down what he admits was a lucrative offer to do the Words + Music installment, but after he was informed that the teenage cancer charities he helps support were in need of funds, he changed his mind.

“I’m so glad [I did], because I had such a blast,” Pete says. “You know, it was a tricky period [to revisit], but I loved doing it.”

A main focus of the episode was the early 1980s, a prolific period for Townshend when he released the solo albums Empty Glass and All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, and The Who issued the Face Dances and It’s Hard albums.

The songs Townshend rerecorded for the Words + Music episode all came from those albums, and Pete tells ABC Audio that creating the new versions “was the fun bit for me,” because he loves working in his home studio.

One of the many anecdotes Pete shares in the presentation is how he came up with idea for his solo hit “Let My Love Open the Door” in the middle of a dinner party at his home, and then proceeded to keep his family and guests awake as he worked all night on the tune.

“I knew I had a hit,” Townshend says in justification.

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