Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman just celebrated a big day in their family: Their youngest daughter, Faith Margaret, turned 11 years old.
Nicole marked the occasion on social media, where she gave fans a peek at Faith’s birthday cake. Decorated with chocolate frosting and a generous helping of sprinkles, the cake was topped with a multi-colored, fringed banner reading “Happy Birthday.”
Faith is the youngest of two girls that Nicole and Keith share. They’re also parents to 13-year-old Sunday Rose.
“Happy birthday our darling Faith. You are loved beyond measure,” Nicole wrote in her post, signing the caption, “Mumma and Dad.”
While the two stars are relatively private about their family life, their two daughters do get a taste of the spotlight every once in a while. In the spring of 2021, for example, Faith and Sunday appeared on Zoom alongside their parents at the Golden Globe Awards.
Camila Cabello is $4.3 million richer after selling her gorgeous Mediterranean-style villa in Hollywood Hills, California. According to Dirt, the price was escalated by over a quarter-million dollars after a bidding war broke out.
Camila purchased the massive home in April 2019 from Bollywood actor Uday Chopra for a cool $3.4 million. The Grammy nominee then listed the home in November and originally set the selling price at a relatively modest $3.95 million, sparking the bidding war.
In the end, Camila got to live practically every home seller’s dream after watching the bids surge past the initial listing number, with the winning bid a full $350,000 over her asking price — meaning Camila has bagged a profit of nearly $1 million.
Dirt reports that a person from Mainland China scored the keys to Camila’s old castle and will now enjoy the 6,300 square foot home. The villa offers four bedrooms with the master boasting its own fireplace and balcony, plus four bathrooms, a tree-shaded courtyard with an adjacent pool, a Jacuzzi, a gourmet kitchen and a recording studio, among other perks.
Allegations of abuse against Marylin Manson dominated rock music news headlines in 2021.
In February, Manson’s ex-fiancée, Evan RachelWood, who had spoken previously about being sexually and physically abused by an unnamed perpetrator, publicly named the shock rocker, born Brian Warner, as her abuser.
“[Warner] started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,” Wood wrote. “I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
Warner responded with a statement that did not mention Wood’s allegations specifically, only that “recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality.”
Following Wood’s post, more women came forward with accusations of sexual, physical and mental abuse against Warner, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline, and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, all of whom filed lawsuits against him. Through lawyers, Warner has denied the allegations.
Warner has mostly stayed out of the public eye amid the allegations, save for an appearance at a listening event for rapper Kanye West‘s latest album, Donda. Having co-written a song on Album of the Year-nominated Donda, Warner would receive a Grammy should it win the award at next year’s ceremony. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. addressed the controversial nomination in a statement to The Wrap, declaring, “We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record.”
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales on September 6, 1997 was Elton John‘s emotional performance of his rewritten version of “Candle in the Wind,” in which he sang, “Goodbye England’s Rose.” Now, new files released from the British National Archives reveal that the head of Westminster Abbey, where the funeral took place, made a personal plea to Buckingham Palace to have Elton included in the service.
According to the BBC, the files reveal that the Very Rev. Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster at the time, wrote to the Palace and pointed out that having Elton sing at the service would be “imaginative and generous,” and would help the millions of people who felt “personally bereaved” by the Princess’ tragic death.
Carr urged “boldness” and the “inclusion of something of the modern world that the princess represented” in the service. If Elton was a no-go, the files show that the backup plan was to have a saxophone player perform a solo.
In his autobiography ME, Elton writes that a few days after Diana’s death, Richard Branson called him and told him that many people were signing the book of condolence at St. James’s Palace by quoting from the original “Candle in the Wind,” and that radio stations were playing it a lot as well. According to Elton, it was Branson who then asked Elton to rewrite the lyrics and sing it at the funeral, and he surmised that Branson had been contacted by Diana’s family to make the request.
After singing the song at the funeral, Elton went straight into the studio and recorded “Candle in the Wind 1997” as a charity single. It went on to became the best-selling single in both U.K. and U.S. history. But Elton has never performed the song since and says he never will, unless Princes William and Harry ask him to.
In late November, Beatles fans were treated to the docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, a joyous, reverent and lengthy look at the January 1969 recording sessions that yielded the band’s final studio album, Let It Be.
Directed by Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson, Get Back was a three-part presentation running for a total of more than seven-and-a-half hours that premiered on the Disney+ network on November 25, 26 and 27.
The series was created from dozens of hours of previously unseen footage shot for what became the film Let It Be. But while the Michael Lindsay-Hogg-directed 1970 movie focused more on the tensions between the band members during the sessions, Get Back offers a more well-rounded look at The Beatles’ relationships as they came together to create that music.
Besides showing the Fab Four working on the songs that eventually appeared on Let It Be, Get Back also captures the group jamming on covers and older Beatles tunes, playing songs that would be featured on Abbey Road and the band mates’ future solo albums — joking, arguing, chatting and more. Some of the jams included the affable and talented soul/R&B keyboardist Billy Preston.
The Beatles: Get Back ends with footage of the entire surprise performance that The Beatles on the roof of their Apple company’s headquarters in London’s Savile Row, which turned to be the last time the band played together in public.
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A month before The Beatles: Get Back debuted, an expanded reissue of Let It Be was released, sending the album back into the top five of the Billboard 200 after it topped the chart back in 1970. A companion The Beatles: Get Back coffee-table book also was released in October.
Meanwhile, surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr both had eventful years.
Sir Paul began 2021 with his latest solo album, McCartney III, debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 after hitting stores at the end of December 2020. In April, an album titled McCartney III Imagined was released, featuring various artists remixing or covering the songs on McCartney III.
In July, the documentary miniseries McCartney 3,2,1 featuring Paul in conversation with producer Rick Rubin, premiered on Hulu. Then in September, McCartney published the illustrated children’s book Grandude’s Green Submarine, a sequel to his 2019 book, Hey Grandude!
In early November, Paul released the book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, which offers a self-portrait of the music icon while profiling 154 songs he’s written throughout his long career. The Lyrics was named Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year, and also was picked by People magazine as one of 2021’s top-10 books. Also in November, McCartney got the good news that McCartney III had received a 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album, while a song from the record, “Find My Way,” scored a nod for Best Rock Song.
As for Ringo, he released two EPs of new songs during 2021 — Zoom In and Change the World — that were packed with guest collaborators, including McCartney, Joe Walsh, Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, Toto‘s Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams, and more.
2021 also saw deluxe reissue of classic solo albums by late Beatles members John Lennon and George Harrison — John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and All Things Must Pass.
It’s been a big year for Walker Hayes, who saw his song, “Fancy Like,” skyrocket his career into superstardom.
But as for New Year’s resolutions, the singer says he’s actually not sure whether he kept the goals he set for the year — or even if he made any resolutions to begin with.
“I was just talking about this with a buddy. I don’t remember my New Year’s resolutions from last year,” the singer admits. “I can’t remember if I made them or not.”
And while 2022 is shaping up to be another big year for Walker career-wise, he hasn’t quite settled on a personal resolution for this New Year’s Eve — but he’s got some ideas. The singer says he might borrow a New Year’s resolution from a friend of his, whose goal was all about spreading love and support to those he cared about.
“I actually got a text from somebody a while back, and they said, ‘Hey, my New Year’s resolution was to text somebody encouragement every day. Everyone in my contacts. I just got to the Ws,’” he recounts. “I might make that my resolution. I think that’s a great idea, to just go through the contacts, A through Z, and hit somebody with some encouragement.”
In the meantime, Walker’s planning to bring joy to a nationwide crowd on New Year’s Eve. He’ll perform from the LA outpost of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. The show airs tonight on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
OneRepublic is one of the many acts performing during the LA party segments on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, airing December 31 on ABC. While he’s happy to be a part of the legendary show’s 50th anniversary telecast, frontman Ryan Tedder admits he usually doesn’t like working on New Year’s Eve.
“I’d rather party on New Year’s Eve,” he tells ABC Audio. “We’ve turned down probably an offensive amount of, like, valuable New Year’s Eve gigs in various places around the world — from Abu Dhabi to Vegas and someone’s boat.”
“It’s mainly because all of us have families,” he explains. “The one time that we’re all on vacation together, we leave right after Christmas and we’re gone through New Year’s. And so…we end up being a part of the party instead of being the performer at the party, which for me, so far, has worked out.”
But being a part of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve is special for OneRepublic, says Ryan. Not only is the show a tradition, but he’s proud that more than 10 years after their first appearance
“I watched it growing up, we still watch it every year,” he notes. “We leave it on, even if you’re at a party, it’s a thing…it’s like every year you watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. On New Year’s Eve, you watch Dick Clark.”
“So for us, it’s awesome, because first time we did, it was 2007,” Ryan laughs. “So for us, it’s like, ‘Oh, must be doing something right!'” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
OneRepublic plans to release an new EP on New Year’s Eve, followed by new music in January. A European tour is planned for later in the year, but of course, COVID-19 might change those plans.
After a huge breakout year, Måneskin will close out 2021 with a performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022. As the “Beggin'” rockers tell ABC Audio, they were rockin’ to the long-running special while growing up in Italy.
“Yeah of course we knew [about NYRE], it’s really famous,” laughs frontman Damiano David.
David adds that getting asked to play this year’s Rockin’ Eve was “unexpected.”
“We were very surprised when they told us that we were gonna perform,” he says. “We’re really happy to be here and play for the New Year.”
Måneskin’s huge year included winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, and earning a worldwide hit with the viral “Beggin’,” a cover of the Four Seasons song. As for how they plan to top that in 2022, Måneskin will do what they do best.
“I think just play many gigs and make new music,” bassist Victoria De Angelis says of the group’s 2022 hopes. “Then we try to just see what happens and not make too many expectations and just enjoy it day-by-day.”
Drummer Ethan Torchio adds, “Yeah, going with the flow.”
NYRE 2022 premieres December 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Other performers include Avril Lavigne with Travis Barker, and AJR with Daisy the Great.
RIAA-certified multi-Platinum artist Ciara is taking the reins of the LA festivities for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022.
“This is the show you don’t want to miss,” she teases to ABC Audio.
The countdown to 2022 will mark the fifth year that CC has hosted the West Coast portion of the show. So what keeps her coming back?
“I get to do a combination of everything,” the “Level Up” singer explains. “From obviously co-hosting, to performing and enjoying big performances and then ultimately bringing in the new year with the world is pretty special.”
“This is one of those iconic shows,” Ciara goes on. “I remember when I got the chance to perform on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve when I was a little baby coming up and its just been an incredible blessing for things to kind of come full circle and to be able to do this is really pretty amazing. Its just an incredible experience all around.”
As for what to expect from this year’s show, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary, Ciara teased, “You just got to wait and see,” before adding, “It’s gonna be a lot of energy. There’s gonna be that good nostalgic feeling that’s gonna happen at points mixed with some also cool energy, new energy.”
Ciara also shared that viewers can expect “a little something something” from her as well.
“We are gonna make sure this show is jam-packed for you,” she promises. “It’s gonna be non-stop entertainment and just the perfect energy to roll into the new year.”
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve with Ryan Seacrest airs live December 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
It looks like we’ll have new Silversun Pickups music to listen to next year.
In a tweet Tuesday, the “Panic Switch” outfit wrote “‘6’ in 2022,” presumably referring to the band’s sixth studio album. The post also includes a photo of a balloon shaped like the number 6 alongside a bunch of amps and guitars.
Silversun Pickups released their fifth album, Widow’s Weeds, in 2019. It spawned the singles “It Doesn’t Matter Why” and “Don’t Know Yet.”
Last year, SSPU dropped a cover of the ’80s Martika hit “Toy Soldiers.”
