Green Day on ‘Good Morning America.’ (ABC/Paula Lobo) Linda Perry on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Disney/Randy Holmes)
We said, hey, what’s up with this Linda Perry/Billie Joe Armstrong feud?
The 4 Non Blondes frontwoman confirms in an interview with NME that Green Day had approached her to produce the follow-up to their massive 2004 album, American Idiot.
“I had a full calendar and cancelled six months of work to do it,” Perry says. “I met with Billie Joe and we talked for three hours, and he said: ‘I watched the documentary of you talking about Courtney [Love] and you’re so interesting and I was intrigued.'”
“He was having his own meltdown, and I think life was getting to him,” Perry adds of Armstrong. “Like every artist, I think he had got to a point where you feel like I have nothing to say and need help – there’s a therapy aspect to producing too.”
However, when word that she was producing a Green Day album got out, Perry says the band was met with backlash over her past projects working with pop acts like Pink and Christina Aguilera. Instead, the next Green Day record, 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, was produced by Butch Vig.
“Then those guys just stopped calling me,” Perry says. “I would reach out to figure out what was going on. Nobody called. I lost six months of scheduled work. That was f*****-up – all because Billie Joe’s a little p**** and got all this backlash from his fans and didn’t like it.”
She adds, “Not returning my calls was such a p**** move, and I lost a lot of respect for Billie Joe.”
The Alabama Capital Building in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. (Andi Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A three-judge panel in a federal court in Alabama ruled unanimously on Tuesday that state Republicans are still blocked from using their 2023 congressional map, which would have potentially helped Republicans in November.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Paul McCartney during The Beatles’ concert in Milan, Italy, 24th June 1965. (Sergio del Grande / Mondadori via Getty Images); Taylor Swift performs Nov. 1, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
Paul McCartney thinks Taylor Swift’s global fame is similar to the level of superstardom he once experienced with The Beatles — though he wouldn’t presume to give her any advice about it.
While appearing on BBC Radio 2, McCartney was asked how he perceives Taylor’s fame compared to that of his former group, and whether he’d offer advice to her or any other current pop superstars. “Absolutely, yeah,” the Beatles legend responded. “And you do see the parallel, y’know, like the fame and the amount of fame and the worldwide fame that Taylor Swift has and that we had. But I don’t think she needs any advice, [to] tell you the truth!”
“If she asked for it, I definitely would,” McCartney, 83, continued. “Because I’m like the older brother to that generation, y’know. Or, more like the grandad, actually.”
McCartney also shared that he recently met many of today’s female pop stars at a party thrown by his wife, Nancy Shevell, and daughter, designer Stella McCartney, whom he said are “very good at getting cool people to a party.” Guests included Taylor, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.
“I ended up chatting to them all,” he said, adding, “They’re really cool people. They’re very good. So basically to answer your question, I like their voices. If they needed any advice, yeah, I would be happy to give it, but I don’t think they do.”
Rivers Cuomo of Weezer performs during Riot Fest at Douglass Park on September 20, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Jason Squires/WireImage)
Rivers Cuomo apparently used the Memorial Day holiday to revisit his personal archives.
The Weezer frontman took to his YouTube channel over the weekend to upload a collection of seemingly random covers, mostly dated back to 2018 and 2019.
Weezer would go on to release official covers of “Billie Jean” and “Enter Sandman” for their 2019 Teal Album and in 2021 as part of the Metallica Blacklist compilation, respectively.
The Teal Album also includes Weezer’s hit version of Toto’s “Africa,” as well as covers of TLC’s “No Scrubs” and a-ha’s “Take on Me.”
As for original Weezer music, the band just put out a new single called “Shine Again” in April, which marks the first preview of their upcoming new album.
Health workers wearing protective equipment walk outside the General Referral Hospital during the Ebola outbreak response on May 21, 2026 in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Michel Lunanga/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization warned on Tuesday that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda is now spreading faster than responders can contain it and risks becoming “the deadliest on record” without urgent international action.
What is especially alarming, the IRC said, is that the outbreak is no longer limited to remote areas of the DRC’s northeastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the current epidemic.
Cases and contacts are now spreading into larger regional hubs, the IRC warned, including the major city of Goma in the DRC’s eastern province of North Kivu and also Uganda’s capital, Kampala, with fears of much wider transmission.
“The outbreak is spreading faster than the response, with over 900 suspected cases and at least 223 deaths already reported across DRC and Uganda, including in major transport hubs like Goma and Kampala,” the IRC wrote.
The IRC said conflict, mass displacement and deep international aid cuts have left health systems far weaker than during the massive 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC, which the World Health Organization said killed at least 2,299 people.
The last time the IRC issued a warning of this scale about Ebola was during the 2018-2020 outbreak, when the organization repeatedly warned that violence, mistrust and weak health systems could allow the virus to spiral into a regional catastrophe.
The IRC is calling for an emergency international funding surge, the appointment of a United Nations emergency coordinator, faster import approvals for medical supplies and equipment, stronger community outreach to rebuild trust, special protection for women and girls – who reportedly make up around two-thirds of suspected cases – and long-term investment in fragile health systems already damaged by war and insecurity.
The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics and which requires different diagnostics than other variants. Case fatality rates for previous Bundibugyo outbreaks have ranged from 30% to 50%, according to the WHO.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record occurred between 2014 and 2016 in West Africa, with more than 28,600 cases reported. The WHO said that outbreak killed at least 11,325 people by June 2016.
WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a Monday briefing that the current Ebola outbreak “will get worse before it gets better.”
“We are facing an extremely serious and difficult outbreak. It will get worse before it gets better,” Tedros said on Monday. “But we know this virus, and we know how to stop it. We have stopped every previous Ebola outbreak, and we will stop this one, too.”
Ghebreyesus said he wanted to echo comments made by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa about overcoming the outbreak with unity.
“The question is just how quickly we can do it, and how many more lives will be lost before we do,” Ghebreyesus added.
Last week, Tedros classified the Ebola outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern – one level below a pandemic in the United Nations agency’s alert system.
The WHO continues to consider the national risk assessment as “very high” while the regional level risk remains “high” and the global risk level remains “low,” Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
The outbreak has led to multiple countries, including the U.S., India, the U.K. and Australia, putting travel restrictions in place.
Entry to the U.S. is restricted for foreign travelers who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.
Meanwhile, U.S. passport holders and U.S. nationals returning to the U.S. from the three countries will be funneled to Dulles Airport in Virginia to be screened for symptoms and interviewed about possible exposure.
Enhanced screening efforts also began at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as of Saturday morning. Efforts at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston will begin late Tuesday.
Lawful permanent residents – green card holders – who have been in any of the three countries in question over the last 21 days are temporarily barred from entering the U.S.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
Neil Young performs at Farm Aid 2024 on Sept. 21, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York. (Gary Miller/Getty Images)
In February, Neil Young canceled his planned 2026 tour dates, but he returned to the stage on May 22 at a benefit concert in his home country of Canada.
AsBillboard reports, Young performed a solo acoustic set at the show in Vancouver, which was held in honor of the 90th birthday of Canadian environment activist David Suzuki. During the surprise set, he treated the crowd to renditions of “Heart of Gold” and “After the Gold Rush.”
The show, which raised money for the David Suzuki Foundation, also featured fellow Canadians Sarah McLachlan and Bruce Cockburn, as well as Jane Fonda and Al Gore.
The performance marked Young’s first live appearance since a benefit concert in October of 2025.
When he canceled his U.K. and Europe tour dates in February, Young explained in a message on his website, “I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time.”
Young’s most recent album is 2025’s Talkin to the Trees, which he recorded with his band the Chrome Hearts. A live album recorded with the Chrome Hearts, As Time Explodes, is due May 29.
Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. (Adobe Stock)
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Voters in Texas go to the polls on Tuesday to decide the Republican nominee in a pivotal Senate race that could decide control of the Senate — and serves as a test of President Donald Trump’s influence.
Also on the ballot are several member-on-member matchups and a candidate, Maureen Galindo, who has already been condemned by top Democrats for her campaign’s controversial comments.
Trump weighs in on Texas Senate race
Trump’s last-minute endorsement in the Texas Senate primary runoff race of Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn has shaken up a race that could become critical for the fight to control the Senate next year.
Cornyn narrowly led the field in March’s primary with 42% of the vote, followed by Paxton’s 40%, to make the runoff over GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt.
This comes after Trump’s endorsement power was proven to prevail in recent primaries — with the president successfully ousting non-endorsed incumbent Republicans this month, including Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.
And while Trump has praised Cornyn as a “good man,” he made clear that he feels the senator was “not supportive” enough in the past. Cornyn is also backed by the campaign arm of Senate Republicans and many of his Senate colleagues have stood by his side despite the president’s endorsement, citing their belief that Paxton’s past controversies could put this safe Republican seat at risk.
The bitter Republican battle is also the most expensive primary runoff, according to AdImpact, after the race already made history as the most expensive Senate primary election in March. According to AdImpact, $100 million has been spent in the primary and $25 million has been spent for the runoff.
Texas House races
The Houston-area 18th Congressional District is no stranger to showing up to vote — this House seat has seen six elections in the last two years.
The deaths of the last two members to represent the district, Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner, left the district without representation for large swaths of time. Rep. Christian Menefee, the current representative for the district, has only served in office for a few months after winning the seat in a special election.
He faces off against Rep. Al Green, a longtime member of Congress, who represents the neighboring 9th District, which has been redrawn to favor Republicans.
In Dallas, another contentious Democratic primary pits a current member against a former one. Redistricting of nearby districts has drawn top candidates into the primary for the state’s 33rd Congressional District: Rep. Julie Johnson, who currently represents the neighboring Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, and Former Rep. Colin Allred, who left that seat in 2024 to run for Senate.
Texas’ 35th Congressional District features competitive runoffs on both the Republican and Democratic sides. The district was redrawn to favor Republicans, but Democrats hope low approval for Trump and a strong candidate could give them a fighting chance.
Galindo, who came in first in the March Democratic primary for the 35th District with 29% of the vote, has been the subject of major controversy for her campaign’s social media posts. A now-deleted Instagram post from her campaign read that Galindo will turn an ICE detention center “into a prison for American Zionists.” She has previously called for all candidates who take campaign contributions from Israel to be “tried for treason.” While she has not denied the comments, she has added that “putting billionaire Zionists in prison does not mean putting all Jews in internment camps.”
She was condemned by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene, who said Galindo’s “vile language” is “disqualifying and has no place in American Politics.”
The largest financial backer of Galindo’s campaign is a newly created Super PAC called “Lead Left.” Democrats have condemned Lead Left’s involvement in the race and accused Republicans of being behind the PAC — with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and DelBene last week calling on House Republican leaders to stop “propping up” Galindo and “forcefully condemn” her comments.
ABC News has reached out the National Republican Congressional Committee for comment.
Galindo’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. She will face off against former Bexar County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Johnny Garcia.
State Rep. John Lujan and Trump-endorsed Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz are facing off in the Republican runoff for the 118th Congressional District. They received 32% and 26% of the vote in March’s primary, respectively. Victory for Lujan could mark the first Trump-endorsed candidate to lose their primary this cycle.
An emergency hazmat incident at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, has prompted evacuations in the area, May 22, 2026. (KABC)
(LOS ANGELES) — The evacuation zone around a failing chemical tank in Southern California is shrinking after officials said the “worst-case scenario” of a catastrophic explosion has been averted.
About 16,000 people remain under evacuation orders, Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said during a press briefing Monday evening. That’s down from 50,000 in the city of Garden Grove and several surrounding communities at the height of the crisis when officials thought they faced only two options: an explosion or a chemical spill.
“The most catastrophic and worst-case scenario was mitigated and resolved,” Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Interim Chief TJ McGovern said during the evening press briefing.
Officials said earlier Monday the crisis is not fully averted, but if an explosion or leak were to occur, it would be significantly smaller than the initial worst-case scenario.
The tank is located at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
Earlier Monday, local authorities said the temperature was declining within the chemical tank, located at an aerospace facility, eliminating concerns of an explosion, local authorities said on Monday morning.
“We are happy to report that the threat of a BLEVE [Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion] is now off the table,” McGovern said during an update. “That threat has been eliminated.”
Since the temperature inside the tank has decreased, it has allowed the chemical inside to solidify, but it is unclear how much, according to McGovern.
The situation began unfolding on Thursday, a chemical tank filled with toxic chemicals at GKN Aerospace, a manufacturing company that builds engines and landing gear for both commercial and military aircraft, was showing signs of overheating, which could cause it to overheat or spill, officials said.
The 34,000-gallon tank contained methyl methacrylate, an industrial chemical used in plastic manufacturing, according to the OCFA. The chemical is primarily a respiratory irritant. Short-term exposure can cause skin and eye irritation, as well as breathing problems, according to the EPA.
The “unprecedented” situation caused officials to order about 50,000 people in the vicinity to evacuate in case a leak sent toxic fumes wafting through the neighborhood or caused an explosion could result in a dangerous fireball.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency in Orange County in response to the incident.
Authorities said a crack in the tank, discovered by firefighters late Saturday, relieved some of the pressure within the tank, Covey said.
While officials were confident that the crack wouldn’t lead to any chemical leaks, they continued to monitor air quality in the region.
Any areas outside of the roughly 10-square-mile evacuation zone “are currently considered completely safe and day-to-day activities can continue as normal,” the OCFA said in an update Sunday afternoon.
Within the zone are schools, hospitals, nursing homes, fire and law enforcement stations and critical infrastructure. Multiple roads were also closed in the area.
“We appreciate your support and the patience while we work through this incident together,” Covey said.
In a statement on Monday, GKN noted that its technical specialists worked with OCFA “to assess the storage tank more closely” on Sunday evening.
“The team safely and successfully removed external insulation material from the tank in order to help advance efforts to cool its contents,” the company said.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, the top prosecutor in Garden Grove, has launched a criminal probe into the ongoing chemical tank incident at GKN Aerospace, ordering the company not to destroy or manipulate any records, his office said.
The probe seeks to determine how a major military and commercial aircraft gear manufacturer could have allowed such a toxic failure to occur, according to the district attorney.
“This is an incredibly volatile situation with extraordinary efforts being made by first responders to prevent a potentially catastrophic disaster,” Spitzer said in a statement on Monday.
Spitzer has also established an anonymous tip line and online reporting form, calling on anyone with information to come forward — including current and former employees of the company who might offer insight into the quality control and safety at the site.
“Given the very real risk to human life as a result of this event, it is crucial that anyone who has information about this incident or the industrial operations of GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, Inc. come forward and report it so that it can be thoroughly investigated by law enforcement,” he said.
GKN declined to comment specifically on the district attorney’s investigation, but pointed to its Monday statement.
“We are continuing to work around the clock with the OCFA, the EPA and all relevant federal, state and local agencies to mitigate the ongoing risk of a leak. We remain extremely thankful for their dedication and hard work,” the company said.
“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible.”
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Jaclyn Lee, Alex Stone, Jenna Harrison, Connor Burton and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
Poster for ‘Sofia the First: Royal Magic’ (Disney)
It’s been eight years since the last episode, but just like that — abracadabra — Sofia the First is back. Ariel Winter reprises her role as the voice of Sofia in Sofia the First: Royal Magic.
“There’s so much that’s exciting about being able to be Sofia again. …She is just such an amazing little character. It was amazing in the first place to be able to influence young kids in such a positive way,” she tells ABC Audio, noting she’s grateful for the chance to return. “Sofia’s just such a great character. She’s so kind and empathetic and brave and welcoming to everyone. I feel like that’s just something that we really could use these days.”
This time round, “Sofia’s in a whole new world now than she was before,” as she’s now enrolled in a school for royal magic.
“That comes with all sorts of new adventures. She has discovered that she is the most magical princess in the Ever Realm, which is so cool,” Ariel reveals. “And we’ll get to see more princesses this time. We actually have Moana this season, which is really exciting. There’s just so much new stuff and a lot of new characters.”
She hopes that young viewers watching the show learn “to be kind to everybody…go into every situation glass half full and try to do your best to be good to people and be your best self in as many situations as possible.”
Ariel adds that adults watching with their kids can also enjoy in the series.
“As a grown person watching the show, it’s fun, the world is so fun, the music is so great,” she says, noting they can also learn from Sofia’s top-tier conflict resolution skills.
The first episodes of Sofia the First: Royal Magic are now on Disney+.
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (ABC/Randy Holmes)
With Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial start of summer, Dave Grohl is here to help make sure you’ve got the right tunes to enjoy the sunshine.
The Foo Fighters frontman has contributed to Apple Music’s Summertime Sounds playlist series. Grohl’s mix is titled “Dave Grohl’s Summer Cookout Jams” and is inspired by one of his other passions: barbecuing.
“Any day spent at a barbecue with your friends is, indeed, a lovely day,” Grohl tells Apple Music, quoting the title from an included song, “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers.
The 45-track playlist also includes songs by Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Pretenders, Beastie Boys, Beck and The Breeders.
In addition to barbecuing, Grohl’s summer will include a North American stadium tour with the Foos launching in August. The trek will support the new Foo Fighters album, Your Favorite Toy.
