Fred Smith of Television performs at Georgia Theatre on September 10, 2016 in Athens, Georgia. (Chris McKay/Getty Images)
Fred Smith, bassist for the influential band Television, has died at age 77.
“[Smith] was a great running buddy and exactly the guy you wanted around when road life got wearisome,” Television guitarist Jimmy Rip writes in an Instagram post published Friday. “His sense of humor, much like his musical voice, was dry, subtle, to the point, hilarious and always left you wanting a more. Yesterday, he left this world, leaving so many who loved him wanting so much more…of him.”
Smith joined Television in 1975 following the departure of original bassist Richard Hell. He played on all three Television studio albums, including their seminal debut, 1977’s Marquee Moon.
Television’s sound helped shape the alternative scenes to come, particularly 2000s indie bands such as The Strokes and Interpol.
“If you are a lover of melodic bass lines and counterpoint, you could go to school on what Fred created so effortlessly,” Rip writes. “He was a natural — never flashy, always essential — always serving the song in ways that only the greatest musicians can.”
Aside from Television, Smith played in an early incarnation of the band that became Blondie, and on Television frontman Tom Verlaine‘s solo albums.
Verlaine died in 2023 at age 73. According to Rip, he and Smith had “big plans to play Tom’s music live this year.”
“But it just wasn’t meant to be,” Rip writes. “Thankfully, we were able to say goodbye, ‘love you’ were our last words to each other.”
The Format on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Disney/Randy Holmes)
After putting out their first record in 20 years, The Format has now released one more song.
The track is called “The Bar Is Set So Low” and was initially written during the sessions for said comeback album, Boycott Heaven.
“At the time I was listening to a lot of The Proclaimers, and the general idea was to have a song kinda in the same vein as ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ but instead of a stomping love song, I wanted it to be a stomping song about how awful this country treats its immigrants (legal or ‘illegal’),” says frontman Nate Ruess.
The Format is now releasing the song following the shooting and killing of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
“While I always assumed the song would reappear in one way or another, I was hoping it wasn’t gonna be under these type of circumstances,” Ruess says. “But since [multi-instrumentalist] Sam [Means] and I first started floating the idea of bringing The Format back to life, we told ourselves that it was necessary for us to try and do more good with whatever platform we would be given- and while we happen to have a lot of big plans in that regard for the near future- we really want to be able to help right now. Like right at this very moment.”
“The Bar Is Set So Low” is out now on Bandcamp. Proceeds will be donated to Immigrant Rapid Response, Immigrant Defense Network, Advocates for Immigrants Rights and Latino Memphis.
Boycott Heaven was released in January. It includes the single “Holy Roller.”
“Murder Scene” single artwork. (Better Noise Music)
Eva Under Fire has premiered a new single called “Murder Scene.”
“‘Murder Scene’ explores eating disorders, body dysmorphia, self-doubt, and how dreams can become nightmares when the same people who once cheered for you are now criticizing you,” says frontwoman Amanda Lyberg.
You can watch the “Murder Scene” lyric video on YouTube.
“Murder Scene” follows Eva Under Fire’s 2025 single, “Awakening.” The band’s most recent album is their 2022 debut, Love, Drugs & Misery, which spawned the singles “Blow” and “Unstoppable.”
Eva Under Fire will be on tour throughout the year, including a run with Five Finger Death Punch launching in July.
Pringles® Gives Fans a Taste of Love With Once You POP Star Sabrina Carpenter and Her Snack of a Soulmate Pringleleo in its 2026 Big Game Ad (Courtesy Mars, Incorporated)
Many people watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials. Music fans have many to look forward to on Sunday, with a slate of pops set to appear in game-day ads. Here’s a rundown:
Lady Gaga‘s new version of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood theme, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” is featured in an ad for Redfin X Rocket Mortgage.
Benson Boone teams up with Ben Stiller to play a Europop 1980s duo of warring brothers in an ad for Instacart.
Backstreet Boys surprise shoppers in Times Square in their clip for T-Mobile.
Post Malone and pals chase after a beer keg at a wedding in a spot for Bud Light.
EJAE of HUNTR/X stars in an ad for Liquid I.V. water, which features her singing Phil Collins‘ “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” in a bathroom. The teaser features the full three-minute performance.
Charli XCX teams up with her pal and The Moment co-star Rachel Sennott in a teaser for a Poppi probiotic soda ad.
KATSEYE appear in a commercial for State Farm Insurance alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride. The official clip has not yet been released.
Addison Rae makes a brief appearance in an Uber Eats ad, sipping a Diet Pepsi while Matthew McConaughey and Bradley Cooper debate whether football is a sinister plot to get people to consume more food and drinks.
Myles Smith and Niall Horan have released their duet “Drive Safe,” which the two artists also co-wrote. The song is about being able to manage obstacles in life with help from the people around you. Myles says, “Collaborations only really matter to me when they come from something real, and working with Niall genuinely did. He’s got this effortless instinct for melody, but beyond that he’s a good friend who very quickly became one of my closest. Our friendship shaped the song, and hopefully you can feel it in every line!”
Ahead of his national anthem performance at the Super Bowl, Charlie Puth released another song from his upcoming album, Whatever’s Clever! The new song,“Cry,” features saxophone playing by Kenny G. Charlie says, “‘Cry’ is about allowing yourself to feel things fully. I grew up watching people I admire carry emotional weight quietly. This song is a reminder that expressing emotion is not weakness — it’s human, and sometimes it’s exactly what helps you grow.”
Tired of hearing EJAE sing “Golden”? She’s got a fresh track for you. The lead voice of HUNTR/X has dropped a mid-tempo song about heartbreak called “Time After Time.” She says the song’s melody was “stuck in my head for years, just like the person I wrote it about.”
In this Feb. 12, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump claps after Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in as Director of National Intelligence by Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — As Democratic lawmakers continue to question why Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been involved in the Justice Department’s criminal probe into the 2020 election, Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday defended Gabbard’s role, saying, “we are inseparable.”
Bondi was asked to explain the shifting and sometimes conflicting accounts given by the DOJ, President Donald Trump and Gabbard herself about who ordered her to be at the Fulton County, Georgia, Elections Hub and Operations Center on Jan. 28 when the FBI raided the office and took ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election.
On Monday, Gabbard had told Congress in a letter that President Donald Trump ordered her to be at the election office and that it was part of her job to ensure U.S. election security against foreign interference.
On Wednesday, Trump said, “I don’t know,” when asked in an NBC News interview why Gabbard was in Georgia.
However, Trump told attendees at a National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday that Gabbard went to Georgia at “Pam’s insistence,” referring to Bondi who was present at the event and added that “Pam wanted her to do it.”
On Friday, Bondi responded to questions about the inconsistent accounts, saying she and Gabbard are “inseparable.”
“We are constantly together,” she said. “We constantly talk, we collaborate as a Cabinet. We’re all extremely close [and] know…what we are doing at all times pretty much.”
Bondi declined to give details of the investigation, but contended Gabbard’s presence at the FBI raid and involvement in the probe would not hinder the investigation.
“Georgia is a very important issue to us,” she said.
“Andrew Bailey was taking the lead down there. He’s Director Patel’s Deputy Director of the FBI,” Bondi later added.
Bondi avoided answering a direct question about whether it was she, as President Trump claimed, who sent Gabbard to Georgia.
“Did you send her down?” a reporter asked.
“She was there. We’re inseparable. That’s all I’ll say,” Bondi replied.
Inseparable though they might be, Bondi was not in Georgia with Gabbard.
An ODNI official told ABC News last week that Gabbard’s presence was requested by the president “and executed under her broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence, foreign malign influence, and cyber security.”
Trump has repeatedly made baseless claims that there was voter fraud in the 2020 election, specifically in Georgia, that contributed to his election loss to Biden. He also has repeated claims, without evidence, that China and other foreign adversaries were involved in the alleged fraud.
Georgia officials audited and certified the results following the election, and numerous lawsuits challenging the election results in the state were rejected by the courts.
Fulton County officials say FBI agents removed 700 boxes containing ballots and other materials associated with the 2020 election after obtaining a search warrant approved by a federal magistrate judge.
Investigators are going ballot by ballot, searching for any irregularities, sources said. Fulton County officials have demanded that those materials be returned.
The investigation has set off a firestorm among Georgia election officials and some Democrats on the Hill who have questioned Gabbard’s authority and Trump’s allegations.
Democrat Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has demanded Gabbard and the administration be more transparent.
In an interview with CNN Thursday, Warner called the shifting explanations about who directed Gabbard to be at the FBI search “almost like Nixon-esque” because “after the Watergate, people [couldn’t] get their stories straight.”
“It begs even the original question, is why in the hell is the president of the United States aware of a search warrant being ordered in Georgia?” Warner said. “So, if he told her to be there, he knew about this beforehand, which, by the way, is exactly the kind of activities that got Richard Nixon in trouble.”
Warner raised concerns that Trump is sowing seeds to interfere in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
“Here’s a guy that was obsessed about losing in 2020, obsessed about losing in Georgia. And I, I believe they may be intending to interfere in our elections in ’26 and ’28,” he said.
“And I think we all have to step up our game, you know, take all of this, and then you add in the president saying he wants to federalize elections and have Republicans take control. This isn’t the way the system works,” Warner added.
You can check out newcomer Carter Faith‘s cover of Addison Rae‘s “Fame Is a Gun” now.
The new album from 49 Winchester, Change of Plans, is set to arrive May 15, featuring “Pardon Me,” which is out now.
“Get to Drinkin’,” the new track from newcomer Zach John King, is out now, ahead of his high-profile 2026 dates with Morgan Wallen, Luke Bryan, Riley Green and others.
Myles Smith and Niall Horan have released their duet “Drive Safe,” which the two artists co-wrote. The song is about being able to manage obstacles in life with help from the people around you. “Collaborations only really matter to me when they come from something real, and working with Niall genuinely did,” Myles said.
Ahead of his national anthem performance at the Super Bowl, Charlie Puth has released another song from his upcoming album, Whatever’s Clever! “Cry” features saxophone playing by Kenny G. Charlie says, “‘Cry’ is about allowing yourself to feel things fully … a reminder that expressing emotion is not weakness — it’s human, and sometimes it’s exactly what helps you grow.”
ZAYN has dropped “Die For Me,” the first single from his upcoming solo album, KONNAKOL. The song comes with an official video, which features ZAYN singing about being betrayed while braving lightning strikes, wind, rain and fire.
Tired of hearing EJAE sing “Golden”? She’s got a fresh track for you. The lead voice of HUNTR/X has dropped a mid-tempo song about heartbreak called “Time After Time.” She says the song’s melody was “stuck in my head for years, just like the person I wrote it about.”
Joji, who scored a hit in 2022 with “Glimpse of Us,” is back with his third album, Piss In the Wind, and a new single, “Hotel California.” He’ll also drop the video for one of the songs on the album, “Last of a Dying Breed,” on Monday.
Charlieonnafriday, who had a hit in 2023 with “Enough,” returns with a new song called “Never Do,” which samples T-Pain‘s 2005 classic “I’m Sprung.” “‘Never Do’ is about being really into someone and how that kind of feeling starts to change your life, your habits, and the way you act,” he says.
Taylor Swift is seen leaving ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ on December 10, 2025 in New York City. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)
Mariah Carey wasn’t the only pop star to pop up at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony: Taylor Swift also appeared, in a video message.
Taylor, wearing a sweatshirt from Polo Ralph Lauren’s official Team USA collection, addressed all the athletes competing in the Games. “I just wanted to say thank you,” she said. “Getting to learn your stories and see everything that you’ve sacrificed and all your determination and hard work and passion and everything that’s gotten you to this point where you’re so excellent at something, it’s just really inspiring.”
She added, “I am very grateful for everything you’ve done to get to this point in your life and grateful that you’ve brought us all along with you on this journey so we get to watch you do this. I just hope that you a wonderful Olympic Games.”
She ended by saying, “Wishing you all the best of luck and a safe journey, and I hope this is an experience that you will cherish for the rest of your life. Bye!”
The Olympic commentators noted that Taylor had played at Milan’s San Spiro Stadium, where the opening ceremony was taking place, twice in 2024 as part of the Eras Tour. They also plugged her new video for “Opalite.”
Lil Jon performs onstage during the 2025 Tacos and Tequila Festival at Sam Houston Race Park on April 12, 2025, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
Police have found a body they believe may be Lil Jon‘s son, Nathan “DJ Young Slade” Smith.
The Milton Police Department said in a statement Friday that the body was found Friday morning by divers with the Cherokee County Fire Department in a pond near Smith’s home in Milton, Georgia.
Authorities said Smith was last seen Tuesday around 6 a.m. ET after leaving his house on foot without a phone. They said at the time he “may be disoriented and in need of assistance.”
Officials are awaiting confirmation from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office. The case remains an open and active investigation, and additional information will be released only after the cause and manner of death are determined and all leads have been reviewed, they said in the statement.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Smith family during this difficult time,” the Police Department said in the statement. “The department respectfully asks the community and members of the media to honor the family’s request for privacy as they grieve and navigate this tragedy.”
Lil Jon also released a statement expressing heartbreak over the loss of his son.
“I’m extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith,” he wrote. “His mother [Nicole Smith] and I are devastated.”
“Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet. He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted – he loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest,” Jon continued, noting he was “a music producer, an artist and engineer, and graduate of NYU.”
“We loved Nathan with all of our hearts and are incredibly proud of him,” he added. “He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together we’re comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him.”
Jon also thanked those who prayed and assisted in the search, including law enforcement and emergency personnel.
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