Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters are among the artists who’ll be performing at Power to the People Festival, scheduled for Columbia, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion on Oct. 3.
Described as a “non-partisan” “day of peace, love, justice, and music,” the festival is curated by Tom Morello, who’s part of Springsteen’s current Land of Hope and Dreams tour. He announced the festival on stage during Springsteen’s show at Washington, D.C.’s Nationals Park on Wednesday night.
According to the event’s website, it will serve to remind people of the “power everyday human beings have when they come together … to shape our country and our planet on, and beyond, Election Day.”
In addition to Springsteen and Foo Fighters, performers include Morello, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Jack Black, Taylor Momsen, ex-Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, grandson, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Cypress Hill, Killer Mike, The Linda Lindas, Serj Tankian of System of a Down and Dropkick Murphys.
A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will go to VoteRiders, a pro-democracy, pro-voter organization, and HeadCount, which will also be on site to help fans register to vote.
Presales start May 20 at 10 a.m. ET at PowerToThePeopleFest.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public May 30 at 10 a.m. ET.
Texas State Rep. James Talarico, who won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the Texas primary election, speaks to ABC News. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee in the pivotal U.S. Senate race in Texas, appeared on Wednesday to walk back some of his past comments on religion that have become a major line of attack in the race against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
When asked about his comments in 2021 during floor debate in the legislature that “God is non-binary” in an interview on ABC News Live, Talarico replied that “Ken Paxton is clipping my past cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption,” as part of a “playbook” of “distraction and division.”
When pressed on his comments, Talarico replied that they were “meant to be deliberately provocative” and that he believes “you can’t use human categories to define God.” He said that Republicans are seizing on the comments “to try and distract from the corrupt system that Ken Paxton embodies.”
ABC News reached out to Paxton’s campaign for response to Talarico’s comments.
Talarico’s comments along with other statements on transgender rights and immigration were highlighted in Paxton’s first general election ad, which ends with the tagline “Radical Talarico: too low-T for Texas.” “Low-T” is a reference to levels of testosterone that is used to insult men for a lack of masculinity.
Republicans have used transgender rights as a major line of attack, including in the 2024 presidential race. The DNC’s after-action report on the election identified the Trump campaign’s attack ads labeling his opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, as “for they/them” as one of the most effective ads of the cycle.
Democrats think Talarico’s potential to reach beyond the Democratic base and appeal to independents and Republicans disaffected by Paxton’s candidacy could be enough to win the seat and possibly control of the Senate next year.
Paxton faced ethical and personal questions during the primary. He was acquitted in an Republican-driven impeachment trial in 2023. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”
Republican leadership, which had encouraged President Donald Trump to back Paxton’s opponent in the primary, Sen. John Cornyn, as more electable in the general election, have begun to coalesce around Paxton as the Republican nominee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a radio appearance Wednesday that Republicans were going “all-in” on Paxton and attacked Talarico as a “far left liberal.”
The Senate Majority PAC, which backed Cornyn in his primary race, has taken down past press releases and ads attacking Paxton and has issued a statement opposing Talarico without mentioning Paxton by name.
Talarico has made explicit overtures to Trump voters and Cornyn voters, who are necessary to win any statewide election in Texas, saying, “There is a lot of disillusionment among the president’s supporters here in Texas, and I’m extending an open hand to those Trump voters. So that they know they have a place in our campaign.”
While Cornyn has not explicitly endorsed Paxton in the election, he has said that he will “support the Republican ticket.”
Duran Duran with Nile Rodgers (Photo Credit: Stephanie Pistel)
Duran Duran recently dropped the new song “Free to Love,” which is their latest collaboration with Chic’s Nile Rodgers.
Bassist John Taylor tells ABC Audio that Nile’s greatest contribution to the song is “this crazy kind of almost Afro, this guitar riff of his.”
“It’s one of those deceptively simple licks that Nile specializes in,” he says. “We get almost the whole song really just sitting on top of this lick of his.”
Duran Duran and Rodgers go way back, first working together in 1984, when Rodgers remixed “The Reflex,” which became the band’s first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Taylor says back then he was too young to think about how long their relationship may last.
“I just was never thinking that far ahead,” he says. “I knew that I loved Nile’s work, and that there was something very special about Chic and they were very inspirational to Duran Duran, you know, at a very early age.”
“And the first time we met Nile, we just connected,” he adds.
Duran Duran and Rodgers continued to work together over the years, with Rodgers also producing “The Wild Boys” and producing or co-producing several of the band’s albums, including 1986’s Notorious.
“He’s got an extraordinary energy about him,” Taylor says of Rodgers. “We’ve had some big moments together,” adding, “I always feel kind of safe when he’s around.”
Duran Duran will kick off a European tour on June 19 in Denmark. They are also set to headline BST Hyde Park in London on July 5. A complete list of dates can be found at DuranDuran.com.
We now know when season 2 of X-Men ’97 will arrive. The second season of the Emmy-nominated Marvel Animation series will debut to Disney+ on July 1. It will continue the story of the mutant team of X-Men who are divided and thrown across different eras in time as they make their way back home. Disney+ also released the trailer for the new season. The show’s voice cast includes Ross Marquand as Professor X, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, Ray Chase as Cyclops and Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey …
Ted Danson has found his next role. The actor is set to join Elizabeth Banks in the cast of a new Apple TV comedy series. The currently untitled show comes from creators Liz Heldens and Matt Ward. It follows a recently divorced woman named Heidi (Banks) who stumbles into coordinating her father’s (Danson) retirement community sexcapades …
The trailer for Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma has arrived. Fresh off its Cannes Film Festival debut, Mubi has released the trailer for the new movie from director Jane Schoenbrun. It stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson and releases in theaters on Aug. 7 …
If you happen to be going through a tough time, Tyler Hubbard’s new song, “Land,” may just be the bit of encouragement you need.
“When the rug gets pulled on your best made plans/ It’s how you fall and where you land,” he sings on the track.
“Really, it’s about overcoming obstacles in life,” Tyler says of the new song. “It’s about how you handle curveballs, if you will, and hurdles and speed bumps and all the things along the way.”
“And you know, it also talks about celebrating the good things in life and the successes,” he continues, “but it’s really, I think what makes a man is how you handle and how you overcome the hard, difficult seasons of life.”
“Land” is the beginning of Tyler’s next chapter of music, which is coming soon.
He heads out on the road in September with Dan + Shay on The Young Tour.
Wyclef Jean performs at ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025′ (Disney/Christopher Willard)
Wyclef Jean has been teasing the first installment of his Quantum Leap series, Clef Notes, the hip-hop focused chapter of the project. He’s already previewed tracks with Rapsody and G Herbo, but there’s more in store. He tells ABC Audio that Andra Day and Lil Wayne also appear on the album, which pays tribute to the genre that launched his career.
“Starting it with hip-hop is like paying tribute to what made me who I am today. Coming to America from the islands, growing up in a project, you know, started off [with] church music and a jazz major and found myself through hip-hop. If it wasn’t hip-hip I wouldn’t be here, so it’s important,” he explains.
He says the project will first spotlight his lyrical genius before reminding fans of his production style.
“I know y’all haven’t heard me produce in a minute, so this is back to that Wyclef production,” he says. “1996 mixed with 2030, the sonics are crazy. Y’all gonna love it.”
Clef Notes is scheduled to arrive on June 26, marking the first of Quantum Leap, a seven-album series Wyclef will release over the next year, each centered on a genre that’s shaped him as an artist. He hopes listeners take away at least one message from the ambitious project: “never put yourself in a box.”
“When you listen to seven albums or you listen to one album, always remember once somebody starts categorizing y’all and saying, ‘Oh, you’re this, or you’re that, or you’re this,’ no, I am all things. Like, why you trying to belittle me? That’s what I want y’all to get out of that,” he says.
“Mr. October” featuring G Herbo, the lead single off Clef Notes, is due out Friday.
Joe Jonas attends the world premiere of ‘A Very Jonas Christmas Movie’ at the New York City Center, November 10, 2025 (Disney/Jose Alvarado Jr.)
When they’re not doing music stuff as Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas also act. But just because they’re famous doesn’t mean they get every part they go up for. In the latest episode of the brothers’ podcast, Hey Jonas!, Joe recalls the time he blew an audition for an Emmy-winning Apple TV series.
Explaining why being early doesn’t always work out, Joe told a story about auditioning for The Morning Show; specifically, for the role of a news anchor who’d be a love interest for one of the show’s stars, Jennifer Aniston. Joe showed up early, so they put him in a private room. But that meant that while he was waiting his turn, he could hear all the other actors auditioning “clear as day” and got intimidated.
“These guys were crushing it,” Joe recalled. “I didn’t bring headphones so I’m just like literally sitting in silence, reading the lines … and I go in and I just, like, crash and burn.” It seems he made the mistake of saying he didn’t need a script, then proceeded to forget all his lines.
When Nick asked him if that was his “worst” audition, Joe mentioned that something similar happened when he tried out for the part of Fiyero in the Wicked movies.
“There were, like, incredible theater vocalists I could hear, clear as day,” Joe recalled. He didn’t get that part either.
Nick then shared that he blew an audition when he met with the director, and asked him who was directing the movie. And Kevin Jonas revealed that when they were younger, he was told to his face, “I can clearly tell you don’t have any acting experience.”
Good thing they’ll always have music to fall back on.
Blue October will release a vinyl reissue of their 2006 album Foiled on Friday in honor of its 20th anniversary. The original album spawned the single “Hate Me,” which remains Blue October’s signature song.
Speaking with ABC Audio, frontman Justin Furstenfeld recalls his mindset when he was first writing “Hate Me.”
“My initial hopes for the song was to explain why I kept messing up relationships and choosing drugs and dark ways, sick ways of living over normal, healthy girlfriend relationships,” Furstenfeld says.
The vinyl Foiled reissue includes an acoustic version of “Hate Me,” which puts an even greater emphasis on Furstenfeld’s lyrics about cockroaches and porno in between the song’s anthemic chorus.
In recording the acoustic version, Furstenfeld says he was inspired by late country icon Johnny Cash’s famed cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.”
“It was just all about the words, and sung down and sung really low with just an acoustic and this rumbling voice,” Furstenfeld says.
Furstenfeld adds that country music has long been a part of his life.
“I grew up on a lot of country music, and dark country, like, cocaine cowboy kinda country,” he says. “And my dad loved it.”
Channeling all that into an acoustic recording of “Hate Me” results in a song Furstenfeld describes as “the one you would hear at a bar where you kinda went, ‘OK, maybe I should chill out.'”
Blue October will be performing Foiled in full on a U.S. tour kicking off in October.
Former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm (Photo credit: Krishta Abruzzini)
Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm is currently on tour and tells ABC Audio that getting out on a stage is something he loves to do.
“I get excited about seeing a large audience,” he says, “and then running out there and starting the first song is incredibly exciting.”
The tour follows the March release of Gramm’s new solo album, Released, which is made up of songs the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer recorded in the 1980s that didn’t make it onto his previous solo albums.
On tour, fans can expect a mix of solo singles like “Midnight Blue,” and Foreigner tunes like “Cold As Ice” and “Hot Blooded,” plus songs from the new album.
As for which new songs he’s most excited to perform, Gramm notes, “They’re all special. I mean, we took 2 1/2 years putting a lot of songs together, and picking songs that sounded the best and different from each other.”
And while Gramm still loves to perform, he does admit that at 76 he’s just not up for long tours anymore.
“I don’t have the stamina, and my mind starts to wander,” he says. “I enjoy playing and I enjoy performing to an audience and it’s a lot of fun, but an hour and a half set is taxing to an old bird like me, you know?”
Gramm is set to play Stamford, Connecticut, on Thursday, with the tour wrapping Oct. 8 in Columbia, South Carolina. A complete list of dates can be found at LouGrammOfficial.com.
