Music

Keyshia Cole‘s biological mother, Frankie Lons, has passed away at age 61.

According to TMZ, Lons, whose struggle with substance abuse was documented on Cole’s various BET reality series, including Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, reportedly overdosed at her Oakland home on Sunday, the same day she was celebrating her 61st birthday.

Cole’s younger sister, Elite, confirmed the news of her mother’s death in an IG Story. “Worse pain ever….to see my mama in a body bag on her birthday! My heart so f***in broke.”

As you may recall, Cole had a rocky relationship with her biological mother and father, Virgil Hunter. Although the singer was adopted and raised by family friends, she eventually reunited with her biological family once her career hit the mainstream.

It was just early last year that Cole had praised her mother for deciding to check herself into rehab.

“Maybe that’s what’l make THIS Time different,” she’d written in a now-deleted post. “This being what YOU WANTED AND NO ONE ELSE….”

As of March of last year, Frankie had reportedly been sober for 60 days.

Cole has not yet commented on her mother’s passing.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus has gotten some good news from his doctors.

The 49-year-old bassist, who’s been diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, gave an update on his treatment Monday.

“Scans indicate that the chemo is working! I still have months of treatment ahead, but it’s the best possible news,” he wrote on Twitter.

“I’m so grateful and confused and also sick from last week’s chemo,” he continued. “But the poison the doctors pump into me and the kind thoughts and wishes of people around me are destroying this cancer. Just gonna keep fighting…”

During a recent Q&A, Hoppus revealed he’s battling the same form of cancer his mother beat a few years ago.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Ohana Festival, founded by Eddie Vedder in 2015, is scheduled to take place September 24-26, but it’s proven to be so popular that a second weekend has been added.

The Ohana Festival encore weekend will be October 1-2, once again at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, CA. Pearl Jam, which was already headlining one night of the original festival, will headline both nights of the encore, and those will be the band’s only additional concert dates for 2021.  Additionally, Eddie Vedder is headlining one night of the original festival solo.

The acts who’ll perform on the encore weekend include Beck, Brandi Carlile, Sleater-Kinney, White Reaper and NHC — aka Navarro Hawkins Cheney, comprised of Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Cheney, along with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Those three musicians played together under the name Ground Control on the January 8 David Bowie tribute livestream A Bowie Celebration: Just for One Day! Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor joined them on vocals.

Tickets for the encore weekend go on sale Friday, July 23 at 10 a.m. PT at OhanaFest.com.  The first weekend in sold out.

A portion of the proceeds from the festival will benefit the San Onofre Parks Foundation and the Doheny State Beach Foundation.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ohana Fest (@theohanafest)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Darius Rucker’s “Darius and Friends” benefit show will return for its 12th annual celebration this year, after taking place virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As has been the case in previous years, the event will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To date, the yearly show has raised over $2 million to support the cause.

While the show will return to its usual in-person format at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in 2021, it’s taking on a new hybrid model: Fans and supporters will be able to tune in from home if they so choose.

“The incredible work being done at St. Jude really made an impact on me when I had a chance to visit and hear the patients’ stories,” explains Darius, who’s been committed to supporting St. Jude ever since he first toured the Memphis, Tennessee hospital in 2008. “They are some of the bravest people I’ve ever met and being able to support them with this event is always a highlight of my year. I’m so glad we’ll be back to performing in front of a full house at the Ryman for such a great cause!”

As always, Darius will bring a star roster of guest artists to the stage for the show. The “Friends” component of Darius’ “Darius and Friends” show hasn’t yet been revealed, but performers are expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.

The event will take place on August 17. Pre-sales begin on Tuesday, and tickets open up to the general public on Friday. Livestream passes will be available, too. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lil Nas X is pulling out all the stops for his new single, “Industry Baby.” 

On Monday, the hitmaker unveiled a teaser for the new track that takes aim at his dispute with Nike over the controversial Satan Shoes he released in collaboration with design company MSCHF. The shoes, a tie-in to his video for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” were Nike Air Max 97s that were redesigned to feature a pentagram and contain a drop of human blood. 

After the shoes were released, Nike sued MSCHF for trademark infringement. The lawsuit was settled back in April.

The trailer for “Industry Baby” stars Lil Nas X in a one-man show as he pokes fun at the situation. The clip is set inside a courtroom where the rapper plays the defendant, judge, a juror and both the prosecutor and defense lawyers.

“This is about much more than shoes. Mr. Nas X, are you gay?” the prosecutor asks. “What does this have to do with the shoes?” Lil Nas X replies, the judge later sentencing him to five years in prison.

The video ends with a teaser of the track featuring Jack Harlow and produced by Kanye West and Take a Daytrip. “Industry Baby” drops in full on Friday. 

Over the weekend, Lil Nas X posted a jokingly tearful video on Tik Tok writing, “when you have court on Monday over Satan Shoes and might go to jail but your label tells you to keep making Tik Toks.” 

(Video contains uncensored profanity)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Elton John has played his legendary hits countless times, but he admits that he’s gotten a bit rusty since the pandemic forced him off the road.

In a special 300th episode of his long-running Apple Radio show Elton John’s Rocket Hour, Elton interviews singer-songwriter Yola. While discussing the prospect of returning to live concerts, Elton admits, “Last Saturday I had to do a charity show on my own, just me and the piano. I hadn’t sung for over a year. In the afternoon, I was sitting at my piano at home, which I never play, and I was rehearsing songs.”

“I [was thinking], ‘Even though I[‘ve] played these songs thousands of times, if I go there tonight and I f**k this up, I will look so stupid,” he continues. “So I was quiet, we had house guests, and I was trying to be as quiet as a mouse and I was trying to rehearse stuff.”

“I’m thinking, “God, if they could hear me now,'” he laughs. “They’re thinking, ‘How many times has he sung that? Why is he rehearsing?’ [But] if you haven’t done it for a long time, you got to do it, right?”

Elton is set to resume actual live concerts September 1 in Berlin, Germany. The North American leg of his Farewell Tour arrives in the U.S. in January of 2022.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

To help combat the spread of misinformation and cyberbullying, Idris Elba has a simple suggestion: verify every user, not just celebrities.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the actor said the process public figures must go through in order to have a blue checkmark displayed to their name should be expanded to all social media users. 

“People in the public eye get verified on social media, (symbolized by a blue tick), the process of verification requires them to prove their IDENTITY, so everyone knows WHO is speaking,” said Elba, 48. “Social media companies should make this mandatory for all users.”

Elba said the current state of social media is “like boarding a plane and not having to show I.D.”  To further accentuate his point, the Golden Globe winner quickly noted the practice would “never happen” in real life.

“If cowards are being supported by a veil of privacy and secrecy, then social media is not a safe space,” wrote Elba. “It is an aeroplane that allows travelers to wear balaclavas.” 

He signed off his message with, “If cowards want to spout racial rhetoric then say it with your name, not your username.”

The suggestion drew mixed reaction from Elba’s 4.7 million followers.  Some applauded his suggestion to make the internet safer, while others admitted they don’t trust social media companies with their personal information.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Proud papa Nick Cannon showed off the latest additions to his family in a new set of photos with girlfriend Abby De La Rosa and their month-old twins, Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir Cannon.

Abby shared three pictures of her and Nick snuggling with the napping boys — dressed in matching pajamas — on her Instagram page.

“ONE MONTH OLD,” Abby celebrated, including two heart emojis in the simple caption.

Cannon, 40, shares two children each with exes Mariah Carey and former Miss Arizona U.S.A. Brittany Bell. With Carey, Cannon is the father of 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan.  The Drumline star also shares four-year-old Golden with Bell and, last December, the two welcomed a daughter, Powerful Queen.  In addition, he recently welcomed a baby boy named Zen with model Alyssa Scott.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Abby De La Rosa (@hiabbydelarosa)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.