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Russell Dickerson wonders how pop success, JoBros collab could ‘Happen to Me’

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Russell Dickerson is best known as a country star, but he’s had a few songs cross over to the pop charts, including “I Remember,” his collaboration with Cheat Codes. Now, he’s got his biggest pop hit yet with “Happen to Me,” thanks to it going viral on TikTok. Russell says he’s not sure why, but he’s just riding the wave.

“I don’t know, bro. I’m just, I always just want to do big things … We’re just following the song, really. Like, it’s just kind of taken off by itself,” he says. “And it started in country, yes. I just made a stupid dance on TikTok and now … I get tagged in it all the time, which is amazing.”

He shares that he’s “got a version with the Jonas Brothers now,” noting, “It’s wild.”

Russell released the new studio version of the song with JoBros on Oct. 31. The collab came about when Russell appeared onstage with the brothers in Detroit in August.

“They asked me to be one of their special guests. You know, they have a special guest every night. They’ve had everybody, I mean, so many people, so … [I’m] honored to be that,” Russell tells ABC Audio. “And I brought a girl on my team, Daniella, she grew up with them.”

“And I was like, “Yo, what if while we’re there, we just float the idea of a feature on ‘Happen To Me?'” he continues. “And so she kinda, she was dropping a couple [hints], I was [too] … and they were just like, they were all about it. ‘Cause like, [the song] was — it still is — just, like, going.”

“So, why would they not just hop on?” Russell asks. “It’s like a free ride to the top for them!”

Dwayne Johnson to receive Entertainment Icon Award at 2026 ABFF Honors

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Dwayne Johnson has been crowned the Entertainment Icon by the American Black Film Festival. He’ll receive the award at the eighth annual ABFF Honors in recognition of his success in television, film and live entertainment.

“Dwayne Johnson is the very definition of an entertainment icon,” said Jeff Friday and Nicole Friday, the CEO and president of Nice Crowd, formerly known as ABFF Ventures. “From his trailblazing career in sports entertainment to his extraordinary success in film and television, he has become one of the most influential and beloved figures in global culture.”

“His journey embodies the power of perseverance, authenticity, and charisma — values that reflect the spirit of ABFF,” they continued in their press statement. “We are thrilled to honor him with this year’s Entertainment Icon Award and to celebrate his incredible contributions to the world of entertainment.”

Dwayne joins honorees Jennifer Hudson, who will receive the Renaissance Award; Damson Idris, winner of the Horizon Award; Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who is set to receive the Evolution Award; and the creative team behind Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners, who will receive a special tribute.

The ABFF Honors will take place Feb. 16 at the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, with KevOnStage on hosting duties.

Basket bass: Green Day’s Mike Dirnt announces new signature Epiphone

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Green Day‘s Mike Dirnt has announced a new signature bass with Epiphone.

The Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3 is inspired by Dirnt’s original Gibson bass, which he started playing while touring Green Day’s 1990 debut album, 39/Smooth.

“This bass sounds every bit as good as my original,” Dirnt says of his signature Grabber G-3. “I can honestly say that, if not way better, because I just toured them for over two years and they performed like magic.”

Dirnt demos the Grabber G-3 while playing along to Green Day’s “Longview” in a Epiphone video on YouTube.

For more info, visit Epiphone.com.

Green Day’s most recent album is 2024’s Saviors. They also released a 25th anniversary reissue of their 2000 album, Warning, on Friday.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

The 59th CMA Awards are Lainey Wilson’s Super Bowl

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

On Wednesday night Lainey Wilson will follow in the footsteps of Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire, becoming one of the only female country stars to host the CMA Awards solo.

It’s a role she’s been studying for since her childhood in Louisiana.

“I remember being a little girl and just sitting in front of the TV waiting for the CMA Awards to come on,” Lainey says. “It was like [the] Super Bowl at my house. It was just like the event of the year. We wanted to see what everybody was wearing, what they were singing, who won what. And we were just cheering for everybody, because we were cheering for the genre.”

For Lainey, leading Country Music’s Biggest Night is definitely a pinch-me moment.

“It’s crazy to think that I was ever even invited to attend something like this, much less nominated to win something, and now I’m getting the chance to host it and represent country music,” she reflects. “So I don’t take that lightly.”

“I think that little girl in front of that TV would be awfully proud,” she adds.

Tune in to see Lainey host the 59th annual CMA Awards Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, as she simultaneously competes for six trophies.

The Who announces ‘Tommy: Live at Royal Albert Hall’ global watch party

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

The Who is revisiting their 2017 performance of Tommy at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and they want their fans to join them.

The band has announced a Tommy: Live at Royal Albert Hall global watch party streaming Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. ET on Lounges.tv. Proceeds will benefit Teenage Cancer Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to providing specialized treatment and support for young people with cancer.

The stream will include a Q&A with frontman Roger Daltrey, and fans will have a chance to win prizes by answering questions in the chat. Prizes up for grabs include a five-seater box to a future Teenage Cancer Trust show at Royal Albert Hall, a pair of stalls tickets to one of the future shows and a Tommy poster autographed by Daltrey.

Tickets for the watch party are available now.

The Who performed Tommy at Royal Albert Hall on March 30 and April 1, 2017. While previous performances of Tommy left out a few songs, these shows marked the first time they performed the rock opera in its entirety.

Tommy: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, a recording of the April 1 show, was later released on DVD and Blu-ray, and as a two-CD and three-LP set.

Steve Martin on ‘Only Murders in the Building’ renewal and his chart-topping new album

November 19, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Only Murders in the Building was just renewed for a sixth season on Hulu. Steve Martin, who co-stars with Martin Short and Selena Gomez in the comedy, says that, while he knows the show is good, he’s still surprised it’s lasted this long.

“This is a show that we, you know, diligently created, but having no idea how long it would run,” Martin tells ABC Audio. “And just the idea that we’re starting a sixth season … people say your child grows up fast. A show grows up faster. I can’t even believe we’re on season 6.”

The new season will find the main characters traveling to London, though Martin says the murders will take place in the show’s regular building, The Arconia. How? “We have clever writers,” he laughs.

Martin’s character, Charles, performs magic in season 5, one of Martin’s real-life skills. One of the actor’s other skills is playing the banjo: his latest album, Safe, Sensible and Sane, recently topped the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart. But don’t look for Charles to play in future seasons.

“I avoided that because it’s too identified with me,” he explains, noting he doesn’t think it’s “believable” that Charles would “just have a banjo laying around.”

Martin also wrote all the lyrics and sings one song on Safe, Sensible and Sane, a collaboration with acclaimed banjo player Alison Brown. The other songs are sung by guests like Vince Gill, Jackson Browne, Jason Mraz and the Indigo Girls. For Martin, having Browne sing on “Dear Time” was a reunion — they’ve known each other since the ’60s.

“Jackson Browne was an up-and-coming songwriter, and I was an upcoming writer, comedian, musician. And we sort of worked the same clubs,” he says.

“We always worked The Troubadour, and so when we recorded the video, we went back to The Troubadour … and to see Jackson on the stage, and for me to be on that stage, was full circle.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.

Three Days Grace earns new RIAA certifications with ‘I Hate Everything About You’ & others

November 18, 2025 by WDNY Radio

A whole lot of people love Three Days Grace‘s “I Hate Everything About You.”

The band’s 2003 debut single has officially gone nine-times Platinum, which signifies at least 9 million units certified by the RIAA.

“I Hate Everything About You” is one of 22 3DG songs to receive new RIAA certifications. Others include the eight-times Platinum “Animal I Have Become,” the six-times Platinum “Never Too Late,” and the quadrupole-Platinum “Pain” and “Riot.”

Additionally, five 3DG albums have received new RIAA certifications.

Three Days Grace’s latest record, Alienation, was released in August. It’s the first album from 3DG’s revamped two-singer lineup featuring returning frontman Adam Gontier and longtime vocalist Matt Walst.

Three Days Grace will launch a U.S. tour in support of Alienation in February.

The Neighbourhood to perform on ’Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

November 18, 2025 by WDNY Radio

The Neighbourhood has announced a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The “Sweater Weather” outfit will play the ABC late-night talk show on Nov. 24. You can tune in to watch at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT.

The Neighbourhood just released a new album called (((((ultraSOUND))))), marking their first record in five years. They played their first live show together in four years on Nov. 15 in Los Angeles.

The new album also marks the return of drummer Brandon Fried, who’d been let go from the band in 2022 after María Zardoya of The Marías alleged he’d groped her.

At the time, Fried apologized and called his behavior “inexcusable and intolerable,” adding, “It is evident that I must address my problems with alcohol and substance abuse, which I am now seeking help for.”

The Neighbourhood will launch a full U.S. tour in March.

Music notes: Taylor Swift, sombr, Tate McRae and more

November 18, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Taylor Swift‘s “The Fate of Ophelia” is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the sixth straight week. Meanwhile, sombr has scored his first top 10 hit with “back to friends.” The song first entered the Hot 100 in April, making it, at 33 weeks, the longest climb to the top 10 by a solo male artist’s debut single since Sean Paul‘s “Gimme the Light” in 2002.

Tate McRae will release the video for “Nobody’s Girl” on Friday. It’s one of the five new songs on the deluxe version of her album So Close to What, which will also be coming out on Friday.

Now that the red carpet premieres for Wicked: For Good are over, Ariana Grande posted a special shoutout on her Instagram Story to the people responsible for making sure she looked fabulous at every one, including stylist Law Roach. “My glam family. i love you. thank you for this marvelous ride and for your beautiful work and care and friendship,” she wrote.

Chappell Roan has posted footage on Instagram of her performance of “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” at the Corona Capital Festival in Mexico City on Nov. 15. She had previously written of the experience, “I was quite nervous for mexico city because I wasn’t sure if the crowd would vibe with me because it’s such a rock leaning festival and I was like will ppl still like me if I’m pop? but omg the crowd was so wonderful and I felt so loved and supported!”

White House government shutdown clock kept ticking, days after impasse ended

November 18, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — According to the official White House government shutdown clock, the historic impasse ended on Tuesday.

While the federal government shutdown actually ended a week ago, the White House’s shutdown clock continued to tick on Tuesday until it was pointed out to the White House by ABC News.

The shutdown clock on the White House’s website had reached 48 days despite President Donald Trump signing funding legislation in the Oval Office on Nov. 12 to reopen the government.

The shutdown clock was removed shortly after ABC News asked the White House why the clock was still running. The clock was replaced with a page headlined, “Democrats Shut Down the Government for a Record 43 Days.”

The Trump administration’s shutdown clock was featured on a White House webpage as late as early Tuesday afternoon ET, right above a headline reading, “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.”

The White House did not explain to ABC News why the clock had continued to run and be displayed online until Tuesday.

The federal government shutdown was the longest in U.S. history, officially lasting 43 days.

The impasse between Republicans and Democrats over a spending bill to reopen the government prompted widespread turmoil for thousands of furloughed federal employees and cut off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to millions of Americans.

The shutdown was prolonged by a fight between Democrats and Republicans over the fate of enhanced tax credits for millions of Americans who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Those credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

An extension of the enhanced tax credits was not included in President Trump’s massive spending bill that he signed into law in July.

The tax credits were part of the original ACA legislation passed during the Obama administration and were enhanced in 2021 under the Biden administration to expand eligibility and lower income contribution caps.

To get enough Democrats to vote in favor of the spending bill to reopen the government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to schedule a floor vote in December on extending the ACA tax credits. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly refused to commit to a vote on the ACA subsidies, leaving the issue in limbo.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

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