Ella Langley performs on ABC’s ‘CMA Fest presented by SoFi’ (Disney/Connie Chornuk)
Ella Langley’s hit “Choosin’ Texas” has been #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and has now broken a record set by Taylor Swift — but that may not be the most interesting thing about it.
“Choosin’ Texas” now holds the record for the most weeks ever spent at #1 on the Hot 100 by a song that was also #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. The previous record was three, which Taylor held with 2012’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
Now, for the interesting part. Ella co-wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with country superstar Miranda Lambert during a writers retreat. While there, she asked Miranda about something a mutual friend once told her: that Miranda used to own a kangaroo.
“As a fellow animal lover, I had so many questions about that,” Ella told ABC Audio. So after they’d written a song together, Ella said, “I was like, ‘Why don’t you tell me about that kangaroo?’ And she tells me the whole story.”
“At the end of the story, she got pulled over with the kangaroo in the passenger seat. [The] kangaroo got her out of a ticket, [it] really did,” Ella noted.
After Miranda mentioned that she had Texas plates on her car at the time, Ella said, “I was like, ‘Well, he’s probably like, “She’s from Texas, I can tell.”‘”
“And just literally that right there, the melody kind of just fell out,” she continued. “I went, ‘She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way he’s two-stepping ’round the room.’ Just like that.”
“And she’s like, ‘She’s from Texas, like the one he went with!’ And, I mean, [within] 30, 45 minutes that song was written.”
She laughs, “People are like, ‘Where do you get your inspiration from?’ I’m like, ‘Baby, it comes from everywhere and anywhere.'”
Cover of The Black Crowes’ ‘A Pound of Feathers’ (Silver Arrow Records)
The Black Crowes are giving fans some insight into the music that inspired their recently released album, A Pound of Feathers.
The band has released a new Spotify playlist, Feathers and Lead, which they describe on Instagram as “The songs that shaped A Pound of Feathers.”
They add that the playlist highlights the “records that inspired the writing, the feel and the freedom behind this chapter from The Black Crowes.”
The playlist includes such songs as “I’m Not Talking” by The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck on lead guitar; “Popcorn” by Ike & Tina Turner; “Evil” by Howlin’ Wolf; “Knocking ‘Em Down (In the City)” by Iggy Pop; “Girl I Love You” by Eddie Floyd; “Elephant Man” by Bo Diddley; and “I Bet You” by Funkadelic.
A Pound of Feathers, the 10th studio album from The Black Crowes, is the follow-up to their 2023 release, Happiness Bastards, which was their first album of new material since 2009.
The Black Crowes will kick off The Southern Hospitality tour, with country rock band Whiskey Myers, on May 17 in Austin, Texas. Before that they will tour Australia and Japan.
Jason Bateman as Clark and David Harbour as Floyd in ‘DTF St. Louis.’ (Tina Rowden/HBO)
(SPOILER ALERT) We’re over halfway through HBO’s miniseries DTF St. Louis, and the twists don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
By the end of episode 4, which aired Sunday on HBO, Floyd (David Harbour) has passed his physical, and his best friend Clark (Jason Bateman) and wife, Carol (Linda Cardellini), have successfully gotten him life insurance.
One of the key parts of this episode is the bromance between Clark and Floyd. Despite Clark having an affair with Carol, the show takes great pains to show that the men genuinely care for each other. In fact, Clark says that he loves Floyd. Are we to take this as just friendship, or perhaps something more? Bateman told ABC Audio this is a question that will be answered throughout the rest of the season.
“He’s in a place in his life where he’s open to anything and everything that will provide him a more fulsome life. Something that just feels a little bit more involved than what he’s been in,” Bateman said. “It’s a dangerous place for anyone to be in if you don’t have the skills to recognize bad coming.”
Bateman continued, saying that Clark is “very trusting and he’s open and he is very desperate, and those are the ingredients for a compelling show.”
As for what that means for Clark and Floyd’s relationship, Bateman said, “The Floyd relationship is something that is really fulfilling for him. Where that goes you’ll have to see, but he’s open to any direction.”
Harbour also gave a tease for what fans can expect from the characters in the show’s final episodes.
“There’s a lot of stuff in those last three episodes between me and Clark that is very special. They’re my favorite stuff in the series,” Harbour said. “It’s very complex and dense.”
Bruce Springsteen performs at the Defend Minnesota! benefit concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Minn. on Friday, January 30, 2026. (Photo by Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Bruce Springsteen is set to kick off his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour on March 31 in Minneapolis, but that won’t be his only performance in Minnesota.
The Boss has confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune that he will perform his new protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” at the No Kings rally, which is scheduled for Saturday at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.
“You want to try to meet the moment,” Springsteen told the paper. “The No Kings movement is of great import right now.”
“When you have the opportunity to sing something where the timing is essential and if you have something powerful to sing, it elevates the moment, it elevates your job to another level,” he added. “And I’m always in search of that.”
Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis” on January 28, explaining that he wrote it “in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.” He dedicated it to “the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the two Minneapolis residents who were fatally shot by federal agents.
He previously performed the song live at Rage Against the Machineguitarist Tom Morello’s January 30 protest concert at First Ave, a downtown Minneapolis venue.
Also attending the No Kings rally in St. Paul on Saturday will be Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jane Fonda and singers Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers.
NBA YoungBoy performs during the MASA TOUR at Smoothie King Center on October 19, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
NBA YoungBoy has stepped in to cover the funeral expenses for 10-year-old Kimani Thomas, who was killed in an accidental shooting in Baton Rouge on March 10.
Kimani’s mother, Kiara Young, shared the news on Facebook over the weekend as she expressed her gratitude for the rapper’s gift.
“I know Baton Rouge loves to focus on the negative, but I want to publicly thank NBA YoungBoy and everyone on his team,” she wrote. “As I type this with tears in my eyes, my baby Kimani’s funeral is officially paid for.”
“Just when I thought nothing was getting done, he literally saved the day,” she added.
According to WBRZ, police report that Kimani and her brother were at a Sonic Drive-In waiting for their mother when the 8-year-old boy found a gun in their vehicle and accidentally shot her. Kimani later succumbed to her injuries.
Young also shared that NBA YoungBoy was her daughter’s favorite artist. “I know she’s dancing her tail off, full of joy,” she wrote.
The Oscar-winning actress has shared her review of the new documentary The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel, in an Instagram post. It begins, in all caps, “HOLY S***! THIS IS MIND BLOWING! I AM F****** MOTIVATED!”
The film, which premiered Friday on Netflix, is about the early days of RHCP and specifically focuses on the artistic vision of original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988. It includes interviews with frontman Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea.
“Am stunned at the depth of these friendships, the saving grave of friends connecting through music and the transformation that one person can give another,” Curtis’ post reads. “Also the pain and suffering of addiction, the miracle of recovery and mostly the PUNK FUNK ROCK OF BEING ALIVE!”
Following the doc’s original announcement, the Peppers clarified that the film is not a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary and that they “had nothing to do with it creatively.” The band added that Kiedis and Flea gave interviews for the movie “out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory.”
“We have not yet made a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary,” the statement read. “The central subject of this current Netflix special is Hillel Slovak and we hope it sparks interest in him and his work.”
Toni Braxton (C) performs with dancers during a stop of the New Edition Way tour at T-Mobile Arena on January 30, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Toni Braxton has posted a message in an attempt to un-break the hearts of those who attended the New Edition Way tour stop in Minneapolis Sunday. The singer, who co-headlines the trek with New Edition and Boyz II Men, explained in an Instagram Story on Monday why her set ended abruptly.
“My loves, I am so sorry I wasn’t able to finish the show last night. I had an unexpected personal emergency and had no choice but to step away,” she wrote. “You deserved my everything and I hate that I couldn’t give it to you. I feel your love from here. Thank you for understanding.”
Toni kicked off the New Edition Way tour on Jan. 28.
No further details were released regarding the shortened set, though Toni has been open about her experience living with systemic lupus erythematosus. She had emergency heart surgery in 2022.
A Justin Bieber fan from Mexico has earned a Guinness World Record title for a very specific feat: “most Justin Bieber songs identified from their lyrics in one minute.” The fan, Luisa Fernanda Diazayas Tenorio, named 33 of Justin’s songs in just 60 seconds, beating the previous record of 29.
Madonna is currently in Venice, Italy, filming the new season of the Apple TV series The Studio. She shared a video on Instagram of herself riding in a gondola and lip-syncing to her hit “Like a Virgin,” the video for which was also filmed in Venice. Joining her in the gondola was actress Julia Garner, who is rumored to be playing the Queen of Pop in an upcoming project.
New dad Charlie Puth is set to appear as the next guest on TikTok In The Mix, a new interview show hosted by Jack Coyne. Charlie’s episode premieres live tonight, Monday, at 5:30 p.m. PT on @TikTok.
During a recent appearance on the YouTube series Hot Ones, country superstar Luke Combs shared that he learned a lot about singing by listening to the Backstreet Boys. When the show reposted that clip, the group’s official Instagram account responded, “Thanks for the love, bro!” while members Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough gave Luke their own thanks. Fans then chimed in, calling for the Backstreet Boys to appear on Hot Ones, where celebrities answer a series of questions while eating progressively spicier wings.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge is allowing the release of deposition videos of two former DOGE staffers, ruling that the risk of “embarrassment and reputational harm” is not enough to overcome the public interest in the videos.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on Monday lifted an earlier order requiring a group of nonprofits to remove the videos from the internet after lawyers with the Justice Department argued that the former Department of Government Efficiency staffers faced threats because of the depositions’ release.
While Judge McMahon acknowledged that the former staffers faced threats, she said the DOJ could not prove a “particularized harm” to the former staffers that would overcome the public interest in their official conduct as government employees.
“Here, the testimony in the videos concerns the conduct of public officials acting in their official capacities — a context in which the public interest in transparency and accountability is at its apex,” she wrote.
Judge McMahon concluded that ordering the videos removed would have little impact on the alleged threats because the videos had been already shared hundreds of thousands of times online.
The DOJ, she said, failed to prove that ordering the removal of the videos “would materially reduce the alleged risk of harm or embarrassment.”
“The videos have already been widely disseminated across multiple platforms, including YouTube, X, TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit, where they have been shared, reposted, and viewed by at least hundreds of thousands of users, resulting in near-instantaneous and effectively permanent global distribution,” she said.
“This is a predictable consequence of dissemination in the modern digital environment, where content can be copied, redistributed, and indefinitely preserved beyond the control of any single actor,” wrote the judge.
“This decision validates our position that the publication of the videos, which document a process to destroy knowledge and access to vital public programs, was indeed in the public’s interest,” said Joy Connolly, president of the American Council of Learned Societies, one of the nonprofits that released the videos. “We look forward to continuing the pursuit of justice in reclaiming government support for important humanities research, education, and sustainability initiatives.”
The videos were initially released as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit related to the funding cuts carried out by DOGE as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to trim the size of the federal government. In the videos, two former DOGE staffer. — Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh — were questioned about their push to cut more than $100 million in humanities grants, and acknowledged they used DEI keywords and ChatGPT to identify grants to eliminate.
“You don’t regret that people might have lost important income … to support their lives?” an attorney asked one of the staffers about the grant cancellations.
“No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero,” the staffer said.
“Did you reduce the federal deficit?” the attorney asked.
A mail-in ballot issued by Hudson County, New Jersey, for the 2024 U.S. general election is seen on September 22, 2024, in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared sympathetic to arguments by the Republican National Committee seeking to limit the counting of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked on or before.
Many justices voiced concerns about a Mississippi law being challenged by the RNC for allowing tabulation of absentee ballots that arrive as late as five days after polls close. “Both sides agree there needs to be a final decision by the voter and receipt [of the ballot] — by somebody — by Election Day,” said Justice Neil Gorsuch. “I think the disagreement is receipt by whom.”
For more than a century, Congress has established the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the day for election of members of the House, Senate, and presidential electors, in specified years.
Republicans argue that the term “election” means both “ballot submission and receipt” by state election officials. Mississippi and several voter advocacy groups defending the state law insist “election” means when voters make their “choice” by marking and submitting their ballots to a mailbox, drop box, or polling place.
“I think if you were looking at the text in isolation — day for the election — your first instinct might be in-person voting on that day, is what that text literally meant,” posited Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who sounded skeptical of the state law.
Thirty states plus D.C. have measures providing a grace period for voters, including military service members overseas, who rely on the Postal Service or other commercial letter carriers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Justice Samuel Alito suggested that allowing each state to set its own policy for late -arriving ballots has created challenges for administering a national election. “We don’t have Election Day anymore. We have election month or we have election months,” he said, skeptically.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett raised the potentially thorny prospect of states allowing voters to recall — or, change — their ballots once mailed. “Would that be illegal?” she asked Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart. He said he was unaware of any instance of that happening.
The court’s three liberal justices were largely united in support of states’ ability to develop their own voting guidelines, pushing back on claims by lawyers for the RNC and Trump administration, which has advocated for “getting rid of mail-in ballots” altogether.
“The Constitution vests the issue of elections in states, unless superseded by Congress,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “If there is a policy he people who should decide this issue is not the courts.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted that, despite decades of precedent of states counting some timely-cast but late-arriving ballots, Congress has never sought to override the laws. “The idea of votes being cast and counted after an election is not new,” she said.
Justice Elena Kagan warned that the Republicans’ rationale for eliminating some mail-in ballots could also implicate early voting. “How are you not taking issue with early voting?” she asked RNC attorney Paul Clement. “You say casting and receipt [of ballots] has to be on Election Day.”
“These things have to be consummated by Election Day,” Clement replied.
“Once we go down this road,” said Kagan, “where are we going to end up?”
Most Americans, 58%, support allowing any voter to cast a ballot by mail, according to a Pew Research Center survey late last year. But there is sharp division among parties, with 83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters favoring mail-voting with 68% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters opposed.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempted to cut federal election funding to states that have mail ballot receipt grace periods, but it has largely been blocked by federal courts for now.
Trump has also been pushing Republicans in Congress to approve the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which would — in part — outlaw voting by mail for anyone without a legitimate excuse, such as military service, illness, or disability, making it impossible to vote in person.
In a nod to Trump and fraud concerns raised by many conservatives, Justice Kavanaugh suggested late-arriving ballots might “open up a risk of what might destabilize election results” — namely, a swing in election outcome as tardy votes are tabulated.
“Is that a real concern?” Kavanaugh asked Stewart. “Does that factor into how we think about how to resolve the scant text and the maybe conflicting or 21 evolving history here?”
“I certainly respect the perception,” replied Stewart, a Republican. “I think one thing notable in this case and I think helpful is that there has not been much of a showing about actual fraud from post-Election Day ballot receipt itself.”
Hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots in the 2024 general election arrived after Election Day but were still legally counted that year across 22 states and territories with a post-election grace period, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commssion.
Data on which party benefitted more from those ballots is not clear, neither is the impact of any possible changes to mail ballot rules following a Court decision.
Voting rights advocates warn that an abrupt change in policy could lead to widespread rejection of ballots that were properly cast by well-intended voters but experienced unintended delivery delays by the Postal Service or other circumstances.
Republicans insist there is ample time to educate the public on timely submission of mail-in ballots ahead of the November vote and that limiting late-arriving ballots could bolster election integrity.
A decision from the high court is expected by the end of June.
