Music

Lady Gaga‘s dog walker Ryan Fischer — who was shot last year while attempting to fight off several men who stole two of Gaga’s French bulldogs — has reacted to the news that the man accused of shooting him, James Jackson, was mistakenly released from custody early this week and is currently at large.

As previously reported, Jackson was released due to a “clerical error,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. In a statement Friday afternoon, the Department said, “Our office indicted Mr. Jackson on Tuesday to speed up the legal process. He was arraigned on the indictment under a new case number. Mr. Jackson was subsequently released from custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”

The statement continued, “We are unsure as to why they did so. However our office is working with the Sheriff’s Department to take Mr. Jackson back into custody. If anyone has information, please reach out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”

In a statement to ABC News, Fischer said of this development, “While I’m deeply concerned at the events that led to [Jackson’s] release, I’m confident law enforcement will rectify the error.”

He added, “I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time.”

After Fischer was shot, he was hospitalized and underwent surgery; reportedly, he still has trouble breathing due to the damage to his lung.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Fans are waiting patiently for the Jonas Brothers to release new music and, on Friday, they received word from the bros themselves that the won’t have to wait much longer.

Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the trio spoke about their plans for the future, leading Joe Jonas to tease that they’re crafting new music.  “We’re back in the studio, we’re writing, recording and getting that process started, and finding inspiration everywhere,” he remarked while crossing his fingers. “So we’re ready to get it out there for the world — hopefully by the end of this year. We’ll see!”

The JoBros didn’t disclose when exactly the new music will drop.

The brothers haven’t released a new album since 2019’s Happiness Begins, but they’ve released on-off singles, the last being “Who’s In Your Head?”, which came out last September. 

The JoBros also teased their upcoming Vegas residency, with Nick Jonas marveling they haven’t “played a show since October of last year, so we’re obviously very excited to get back on stage.”   Nick added the residency was set to take place “pre-COVID,” so they had to push back the exciting venture back by two years.

“This is a long time overdue for us to bring an exciting show to our fans,” he hinted.  

Kevin Jonas also jumped in, teasing that they might bring on some “special guests” during their residency, leading a wide-eyed Kelly to jokingly threaten, “Don’t invite me — mama will show up!”

The JoBros will be taking over Park MGM for a five-night residency from June 3 through June 11.  Tickets are available to purchase on Ticketmaster. 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

From fresh tracks by lyrical legends to intros by rising hip hop stars, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the latest music:

—Fivio Foreign, Bible — The NY drill rapper dropped his highly anticipated debut album and it boasts a star-studded line up of guests like Ne-Yo, A$AP Rocky, Alicia Keys and more.

—42 Dugg & EST Gee, Last Ones Left — Detroit meets Michigan, yet again. The two rappers have teamed up for their first full project but they’ve delivered hits together in the past, like “Members Only” and “Rose Gold.”

—Lil Baby, “In a Minute” — He’s fresh off his first Grammy win for Ye‘s “Hurricane,” and the new track is just one of the two singles the Atlanta rapper just dropped, marking his first solo projects this year. 

—Bia ft. J. Cole, “London” — Cole is a legend in the rap game but after collaborating with newcomer Bia, he told her that he was “grateful” to have worked alongside her on the new track. 

—Jack Harlow, “First Class” — The new single is one on the upcoming second studio album from the Kentucky rapper. The catchy new track features a sample of Fergie‘s “Glamorous.”

—Jim Jones, Lil Wayne & DJ Khaled ft. ‎Migos & Juelz Santana, “We Set the Trends Remix” — As if the original needed anymore fixing, Jimmy called on his friend Santana and rap legend Wayne for a remix.

Hits in Heavy Rotation

—Andy Stokes — “I Don’t Give A Damn“

—Eric Roberson — “Lessons“

—Normani — “Fair“

—Kodak Black — “Usain Boo“

Artist on the Rise

—Connie Diiamond is a 27-year-old rapper on the rise from the Bronx, NY. She’s said to have started rapping at the age of 14 and recently gained traction due to her catchy, New York flow and her thoughtful lyrics.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Olivia Rodrigo is currently on her sold-out SOUR world tour — so what does she do between stops?  A new TikTok featuring the Grammy winner explains just that.

Teaming with singer Conan Gray, who made a surprise appearance during her Thursday night show, the “drivers license” singer recreated a now-viral line from the 2008 movie Twilight.  The hilarious video was taken at Vancouver’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Olivia and Conan dramatically recreate the scene where Rob Pattinson‘s Edward Cullen reveals to Kristen Stewart‘s Bella Swan that he’s a vampire.

Wearing a crop top and maxi skirt, Olivia twirls around before pretending to scream the line, “As if you can outrun me!”  The scene changes to a sped-up clip of her laughing as she half-heartedly runs around the arena in her elevated combat boots — all to the movie’s whooshing sound effects.

Then Conan jumps forward and lip-syncs “As if you can fight me off” before he charges toward a poster of Olivia’s face and pretends to pummel at it, again set to the movie’s dramatic sound effects.

The video was on its way to amassing three million likes as of Friday afternoon and has been viewed more than eight million times since it was posted earlier Friday.

Olivia previously revealed she’s a fan of the Twilight saga.  In 2020, she created an original song from Bella’s perspective, and also announced on Twitter around the same time, “My favorite album is the twilight soundtrack and nobody can change my mind.”

While performing in Vancouver, Olivia and Conan jumped on stage together to perform Katy Perry‘s hit “The One That Got Away,” according to videos taken by fans.  Olivia is next set to play in Salt Lake City’s UCCU Center on Saturday.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Måneskin is teasing a new song while expressing support for Ukraine as it continues to fight Russia’s invasion.

In an Instagram post, the Italian rockers share a minute-long clip of the track, which seems to take on a darker tone than past Måneskin tunes like “Beggin'” and “MAMMAMIA.”

“How are you sleeping at night/how do you close both your eyes/living with all of those lives/on your hands?” frontman Damiano David asks in the lyrics.

The clip is accompanied by a caption expressing support for Global Citizen’s Stand Up for Ukraine campaign, which calls on “governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals to donate to humanitarian efforts for Ukraine and refugees from conflicts worldwide, such as Yemen, South Sudan, and Afghanistan.”

“Refugees in Ukraine and around the world need urgent humanitarian aid,” Måneskin writes. “We’re using our voice to demand action, and you can, too.”

For more info on how you can help, visit ForUkraine.com.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Unsurprisingly, Harry Styles‘ new single “As It Was” has scored a huge debut on the singles chart in his native U.K.

“As It Was” debuts at number one on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart with the biggest opening week of any single in 2022 to day. It sold 94,000 copies in its first week and racked up 10.5 million streams — that’s more U.K. streams than any other 2022 song has earned in its first week.

“As It Was” is Harry’s second number-one single back home, following “Sign of the Times,” which was released five years ago this week.

As MusicWeek notes, Harry is now the One Direction member with the most U.K. number ones, and the most U.K. solo hits: He’s had 12, while Zayn Malik has had 11. Niall Horan and Liam Payne have each had eight hits, while Louis Tomlinson‘s had four.

“As It Was” is from Harry’s upcoming third solo album, Harry’s House. We won’t know where the song will land chart-wise in the U.S. for a few days.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Don’t count Sam Smith among the artists who become upset when a song of theirs flops.  In fact, the “Stay with Me” singer is grateful for the experience.

“I think having a few absolute stinkers in there is wonderful… Because you’ve got to dare greatly right?” Sam tells Spotify.

Noting their 2014 song “Money On My Mind,” the British singer revealed, “I’m really happy that I shot for the sky with some songs.”

Sam believes more artists should adopt this mindset, explaining, “There’s so much music snobbery out there.” They add, “Every single person has made a bad song. That is a fact,” which means artists should turn that disappointment into a learning opportunity to become even better.

The “Latch” singer also hinted against taking oneself seriously in the music industry because, according to them, “Absolutely no one knows what they’re doing.”  

“Even the biggest writers in the world, who have written so many hits, they can pretend like they do, but they don’t know. They don’t know the magic,” they attested. 

Sam reflected on their bigger hits and said the best advice they have about finding success is, “Keep your ears open at all times.”

“With writing music in the room with people, you just need to lean into the thing you’re good at,” they continued. “Some people are led by lyrics, but I’m definitely always led by a melody. When I’m in the room… I just sing and sing and sing until someone says, ‘That makes me feel good.'”

Another piece of advice is: “Never lower your standards.”

Said Sam, “You know what you need. And if you don’t know what you need, you need to ask yourself what you need. And then do not stop until you get that.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.