Ed Sheeran says he found his purpose in life after becoming a father

Ed Sheeran says he found his purpose in life after becoming a father
Ed Sheeran says he found his purpose in life after becoming a father
MTV/Getty Images for MTV

Ed Sheeran is a multi-Grammy winning artist who’s toured the world numerous times — but he says that all pales in comparison to being a father to his daughter, Lyra.

Speaking to the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday, the “Shivers” singer said his daughter is now 15-months-old and is “walking, talking… constantly with a bit of bread in her hand.”  As for what words Lyra has already mastered, Ed said she’s saying “dada and mama,” but declined to reveal which one came first.

However, he says being a father has given him a greater purpose in his life — more so than his music career.  Ed says he started music as a hobby, which later became his job and he got swept up in the ebb and flow of making albums and going on tour. 

Although he said he “loved” all of it, he confessed, “I just found that I didn’t really have any purpose outside of that.”  The 30-year-old explained that, whenever he forced himself to step away from his job, “I wasn’t doing anything I enjoyed because I loved doing music.”

Ed says being a father “has given me purpose and something in life that’s actually more important than my job.”

Even more, the “Bad Habits” singer says it’s way harder for him to be away from his daughter than his music, elaborating that even though he won’t be able to physically hold Lyra for another “four days,” it’s been “really, really difficult.”

Ed shares Lyra with his wife, Cherry Seaborn.

Later on the show, he performed his song “Shivers” to the masked-up audience.


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Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, Ava DuVernay make ‘Forbes” “Most Powerful Women”

Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, Ava DuVernay make ‘Forbes” “Most Powerful Women”
Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, Ava DuVernay make ‘Forbes” “Most Powerful Women”
ABC via Getty Images

Once again, Forbes has ranked the most powerful women in the world for the yearand as always, some luminaries from the world of entertainment have made the list. 

Oprah Winfrey came in at #23 on the magazine’s Most Powerful Women list thanks to her $2 billion empire, while Reese Witherspoon made #74 — two slots above Beyonce, in fact — thanks to the Legally Blonde star’s mogul move of selling her Hello Sunshine production company for some $900 million. 

Ava DuVernay also made the list. The writer, producer, and the first African American woman to be nominated in the Best Director category came it at #80. 

Others from the world of entertainment on the Forbes list wield their power from behind the scenes: ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone ranked #31; Dana Walden, the new chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment was #50, and Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios was #54.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Def Leppard, Duran Duran members to perform during virtual David Bowie 75th birthday celebration

Def Leppard, Duran Duran members to perform during virtual David Bowie 75th birthday celebration
Def Leppard, Duran Duran members to perform during virtual David Bowie 75th birthday celebration
Courtesy of Rolling Live Studios

Longtime David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson is organizing a second annual star-studded virtual concert event celebrating the late rock legend on the January 8 anniversary of his birth.

The 2022 edition of the event, dubbed “Mike Garson’s A Bowie Celebration,” will take place on what would have been David’s 75th birthday, and will feature performances by Def Leppard, Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, WALK THE MOON, and actors Gary Oldman and Evan Rachel Wood, among others.

In addition, Ricky Gervais will make a special appearance during the show, part of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Children charity.

Garson will lead a house band featuring musicians who toured and/or recorded with Bowie, including guitarists Earl Slick, Charlie Sexton and Gerry Leonard; drummers Alan Childs and Omar Hakim; sax players Steve Elson and Stan Harrison; and bassist Carmine Rojas.

Other guest singers will include longtime Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey and Rolling Stones backing vocalist Bernard Fowler.

The event will be dedicated to legendary late photographer Mick Rock, and also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson fantasy film, Labyrinth, which starred Bowie as the Goblin King and featured five songs he wrote.

Tickets and ticket bundles for the event are available now at RollingLiveStudios.com/Bowie. Among the special extras included in some of the bundles are a Q&A with band members and an personal piano track recorded by Garson.

The presentation will begin at 9 p.m. ET on January 8 and will be available for 24 hours.

“It’s an honor to be able to continue to share David Bowie’s music with the world,” says Garson in a statement. “I’m excited for everyone to be able to experience this very special show.”

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Jacqueline Avant memorial fund created; celebration of her life to be held following the holidays

Jacqueline Avant memorial fund created; celebration of her life to be held following the holidays
Jacqueline Avant memorial fund created; celebration of her life to be held following the holidays
Jacqueline and Clarence Avant; Gabriel Olsen/WireImage

The family of the late Jacqueline Avant has established a fund in her name.

The Jacqueline Avant Memorial Fund will benefit one of her favorite charities, the new MLK Children’s Center in South Los Angeles. The family also announced that a special celebration of life for Avant will be held following the holiday season, according to Billboard.

The wife of legendary music executive and recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Clarence Avant, Jacqueline Alberta Avant was a former Ebony Fashion Fair model known for her philanthropy. She served as president of the Neighbors of Watts, a support group for the South Central Community Child Care Center, and as an entertainment chairman of the NOW benefit auction and NOW membership, in addition to serving on the board of directors of the International Student Center at UCLA.

As previously reported, Aariel Maynor, 29, of Los Angeles, the suspect in Avant’s fatal shooting December 1 in her Beverly Hills home, has been charged with murder and other crimes.

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Dua Lipa is “very excited” about her new music, credits fans for the success of “Levitating”

Dua Lipa is “very excited” about her new music, credits fans for the success of “Levitating”
Dua Lipa is “very excited” about her new music, credits fans for the success of “Levitating”
Hugo Comte

Dua Lipa‘s album, Future Nostalgia, and its singles dominated the charts in 2020, and this year, her song “Levitating” spent so many weeks in the upper reaches of the charts that it became the Billboard Hot 100 number-one song of 2021. So how about some new music from the British star? Well, it’s coming.

Dua tells Billboard with a laugh that she’s “maybe potentially actively working on some new music,” but insists that she can reveal “absolutely nothing” about it.  Still, she admits, “I’m really excited. I feel so at home in the studio. There’s nowhere I would rather be.”

“So, during this time that I’ve been at home in London, it’s just been amazing to get in and write and experiment and try new things and it’s just been wonderful,” she continues. “And I’m very excited for new music, yeah.”

As for the success of “Levitating,” Dua notes, “Really, it’s the fans, and everybody that’s just been listening to it — and really just making it their own, so I’m really proud of that. I’ve always wanted my songs to find a home with different people so I’m happy that song did that, for sure.”

Dua’s other hit this year — her collaboration with Elton John, “Cold Heart” — was unexpected, but she thinks it was a success “because it’s just got a lot of love in it, and a lot of soul and spirit.” She adds, “I think sometimes when you hear a song like that, you can tell.”

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Blake Shelton credits his “best fans in the world” for his People’s Choice Awards win

Blake Shelton credits his “best fans in the world” for his People’s Choice Awards win
Blake Shelton credits his “best fans in the world” for his People’s Choice Awards win
ABC

Blake Shelton continued his reign at the People’s Choice Awards on Tuesday night, dominating the country category for a sixth year running.

The singer started that hot streak back in 2016, when he won Favorite Male Country Artist, keeping his hold on that category until the male and female divisions were consolidated in 2018 and continuing to win the Country Artist title through 2021.

This year, Blake also performed on the show, taking the stage for a rendition of his current single, “Come Back as a Country Boy.”

In his acceptance speech, Blake thanked his fans, emphasizing how much it meant to him to take home an award determined by listeners casting their votes. “I swear, the longer I go on the more I realize that all these awards shows, the fan-voted awards are the ones that mean the most to me,” the singer said.

Afterwards, he doubled down on that sentiment on Twitter. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again..best fans in the world!!!” Blake wrote. “This award means so much to me because it came from y’all.”

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The Smashing Pumpkins, Shinedown, Rise Against & more join lineup for 2022 Welcome to Rockville festival

The Smashing Pumpkins, Shinedown, Rise Against & more join lineup for 2022 Welcome to Rockville festival
The Smashing Pumpkins, Shinedown, Rise Against & more join lineup for 2022 Welcome to Rockville festival
Danny Wimmer Presents

The Smashing Pumpkins, Shinedown and Rise Against are among the new additions to the 2022 Welcome to Rockville lineup.

They join the previously announced headliners: Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, KISS and Korn.

Other artists now on the bill include Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, Papa Roach, The Pretty Reckless, Jane’s Addiction, Breaking Benjamin, Megadeth, In This Moment, Seether, Mammoth WVH, Bush, Alice in ChainsJerry Cantrell, The Struts, Spiritbox, Dirty Honey, The Hu, Black Label Society, Down, Bad Wolves, Tetrarch, In Flames, Sevendust, Skillet, Parkway Drive and Nothing More.

Welcome to Rockville 2022 takes place May 19-22 in Daytona Beach, Florida. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit WelcometoRockville.com.

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Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift make Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list

Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift make Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list
Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift make Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

What do RihannaBeyoncé and Taylor Swift have in common?  According to Forbes, they’re some of the most powerful women in the world.

The magazine released its 18th annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list on Wednesday, which celebrates female politicians, entrepreneurs, activists and other movers and shakers from across the globe.

Rihanna is the highest-ranked among the three, at number 68, and is celebrated for her newly minted billionaire status thanks to her Savage x Fenty lingerie line and successful Fenty Beauty, which is among the fastest-growing cosmetics companies in the world. 

Forbes also ranks billionaires from 1 to 10 on a self made score chart, with 1 meaning they inherited all their money and 10 reserved for those who established their wealth entirely on their own.  Rihanna scored a 10.

Forbes ranks Beyoncé at number 76 and highlighted her On The Run II stadium tour, which averaged about $5 million in ticket sales per night and amassed over $250 million overall.  The magazine also took note of her popular Ivy Park collaborations with Adidas, as well as her Homecoming live album and Netflix special that explored her headline-making 2018 performance at Coachella.   She was given a self-made score of eight.

Taylor, who also has a self-made score of eight, is this year’s youngest honoree, landing at number 78.  The outlet commended the 31-year-old’s quest to regain full ownership of her master catalogue by re-recording her old music, which earned her a 10th number-one album on the Billboard charts thanks to Red (Taylor’s Version).  In addition, she was praised for her political activism and for being among the handful of artists to have an album that recently sold over a million copies, which was 2020’s folklore.

 

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Report: Faith Evans files motion to deny Stevie J’s request for spousal assistance

Report: Faith Evans files motion to deny Stevie J’s request for spousal assistance
Report: Faith Evans files motion to deny Stevie J’s request for spousal assistance
Arturo Holmes/Getty Image

One month after Stevie J filed to divorce Faith Evans, the Grammy-winning artist has reportedly asked a judge to deny his request for spousal assistance

Faith is also seeking to retain “all property acquired before marriage, by gifts, inheritance, or ingenuity, and after the date of separation,” according to The Blast. In court documents, Evans states they’ve been officially separated since May 29, 2020, while Stevie J’s filing states the date is October 19, 2021.

In May 2020, Faith was arrested for felony domestic violence for allegedly attacking her husband at their home.

Stevie, birth name Steven Aaron Jordan, filed for divorce on November 8 at Los Angeles County Superior Court. No reason was provided for the separation.

Evans was previously married to The Notorious B.I.G., and they have a son, C.J. Wallace, 25. The “I’ll Be Missing You” singer was also married to Todd Russaw, a record executive, from 1998 to 2011. They share children Ryder Evan, 14, and Joshua, who is 21.

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Sevendust announces deluxe version of ‘Blood & Stone’ album

Sevendust announces deluxe version of ‘Blood & Stone’ album
Sevendust announces deluxe version of ‘Blood & Stone’ album
Credit: Travis Shinn/Chuck Brueckmann

Sevendust has announced a deluxe version of the band’s 2020 album, Blood & Stone.

The expanded set is due out this Friday, December 10. It includes a total of five bonus tracks: a trio of remixes, and a pair of newly recorded songs titled “All I Really Know” and “What You Are.”

You can check out the remix of the album cut “What You’ve Become” done by former Ice Nine Kills member Justin deBlieck streaming now on YouTube.

The original Blood & Stone was released October 2020. It includes the single “Dying to Live,” as well as a cover of the Soundgarden song “The Day I Tried to Live.”

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