Rapper Baby Keem performs onstage during day three of Rolling Loud Miami 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium on July 24, 2022, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images)
The 2026 lineup for Outside Lands festival has been announced, and Baby Keem, Mariah the Scientist and Clipse are a few of the stars representing the genres of hip-hop and R&B.
GloRilla, Durand Bernarr and Destin Conrad have also been tapped to perform. Charli XCX, Rüfüs Du Sol and The Strokes are this year’s headliners.
The festival is slated to take place Aug. 7 to 9 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, where it returns for an eighth year. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, following a few presales.
The Song Suffragettes will give Carly Pearce their Yellow Rose of Inspiration Award March 30 at their 12th Anniversary Show.
Carly will deliver an intimate performance and participate in a question and answer session as well.
There’ll also be two writers’ rounds that night at The Listening Room, with Elizabeth Nichols, Belle Frantz, Abby Anderson, Chanel Yates, Abbie Callahan, Nanseera, Ashley Anne, Abbey Rowe and Alison Nichols all set to play.
Since its beginning in 2014, more than 500 female singer/songwriters have participated in Nashville’s only weekly all-female singer/songwriter showcase.
Paul McCartney performs at The O2 Arena on December 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jo Hale/Redferns)
Paul McCartney was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1999, but it turns out he was expecting it to happen a lot earlier.
Vanity Fairjust published a 2015 interview with McCartney that was conducted for a biography about Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and in it McCartney reveals Wenner, who co-founded the Rock Hall, went back on a promise regarding his solo induction.
McCartney explained that when John Lennon was inducted into the Rock Hall as a solo artist in 1994, Wenner asked him to handle the induction, and while he agreed, it got him thinking about himself.
“Then I put the phone down. I thought, Well, what about me? I’m not inducted. Now John’s going to go in,” McCartney said. “The thing about John Lennon and McCartney was we were always equal. But, of course, once John got murdered, he became the martyr—the Buddy Holly, the James Dean character—because of the atrocity.”
McCartney said he eventually called Wenner and said, “Well, wait a minute. What about me? Maybe I’ll do John, and then maybe I should go in.”
McCartney said Wenner told him they couldn’t do that, with McCartney noting, “In all my dealings with him, it’s never up to Jann. It’s up to these other people down the corridor somewhere. He happens to have ‘owner-editor’ on his door, but they’re responsible for things?”
McCartney says Wenner eventually told him his solo induction would happen the next year.
“I said, ‘Okay.’ And I bought the deal,” McCartney said. “Next year came around … Crickets.”
McCartney noted, “Eventually I did creep in there, and my daughter Stella wore a T-shirt [that said] ‘About f***** time.”
According to the article, Wenner claimed to not remember making the deal with McCartney.
Both McCartney and Lennon were inducted as members of The Beatles in 1988.
Traffic moves along midtown Manhattan on Feb. 19, 2025, in New York. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge ruled that Manhattan’s congestion pricing program can continue and the Trump administration does not have the authority to kill the program, which is the first of its kind in the nation.
In a 149-page ruling, Judge Lewis Liman said the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke approval for the program was unlawful, handing a victory to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority following a monthslong legal battle.
“It is difficult to imagine more arbitrary and capricious decision-making than that at issue here,” Liman wrote.
The congestion pricing program went into effect last year in an effort to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours and to raise funds for the city’s public transit system. Passenger vehicles are charged $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours.
The extra per-ride surcharge is 75 cents for taxis and black car services, and $1.50 for Ubers and Lyfts. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses will be charged $14.40, while large trucks and tour buses must pay $21.60.
The Trump administration moved to reverse approval of the program last year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress” under the Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program, calling it “backwards and unfair.”
New York lawmakers pushed back against the decision and challenged the federal government in court.
The federal judge reaffirmed an order from last May upholding the program, but stopped short of completely barring the Trump administration from challenging the program again.
“[Trump] is obviously free to continue to make public statements as well as to ask the Secretary of Transportation to look into whether there are lawful means to end the [Central Business District Tolling Program]. And, as to the Secretary’s statements, he has a right to continue to fight his case and to take an appeal of this Court’s orders,” Liman said.
Overall, the program was the “product of a democratic process” and cannot be arbitrarily revoked, Liman said.
“The [Value Pricing Pilot Program] was passed by Congress. The [Traffic Mobility Act] was passed by democratically elected legislators and signed by a Governor elected by the people of New York. The [Value Pricing Pilot Program] Agreement was authorized by a Secretary nominated by a duly elected President and confirmed by the Senate. The democratic process worked,” the judge wrote.
The program applies for Manhattan south of 60th Street, except for the FDR Drive, the West Side Highway and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel.
Metallica Life Burns Faster at Sphere artwork. (Courtesy of Live Nation)
Metallica has announced the exact dates for the six newly added shows to the band’s upcoming Life Burns Faster residency at the high-tech Sphere venue in Las Vegas.
The updated schedule now includes performances on Oct. 8 and 10, Nov. 5 and 7, and Jan. 28 and 30, 2027. Presales for members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT.
Those shows join the previously announced dates taking place Oct. 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 22 and 24, and 29 and 31. Each pair of performances takes place on a Thursday and a Saturday, with no repeated songs between the Thursday set and its corresponding Saturday concert.
Presales for the initially announced shows are ongoing, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
Cast of ‘Tyler Perry’s Where There’s Smoke’ begins production in Atlanta (Courtesy of Netflix)
Step aside Chicago Fire and 9-1-1, there’s a new firefighter drama series on the way. Netflix has announced Tyler Perry’s Where There’s Smoke, his latest project as part of his going partnership with the streamer.
Where There’s Smoke will follow the personal and professional lives of a group of firefighters in 16 hourlong episodes, all of which Perry wrote, directed and produced. Helping to bring the story to life are stars Tyler Lepley, Da’Vinci, Mike Merrill, Eltony Williams, Brittany S. Hall, Brock O’Hurn and Karen Obilom, who have all worked on previous Tyler Perry projects, as well as real-life fire captain Joe Hunter, Mariah Goodie, Jordan Rodriguez and Judi Moon.
Angi Bones and Tony Strickland of Tyler Perry Studios also lend their hand, serving as producers for Where There’s Smoke, which has officially kicked off production in Atlanta.
In the meantime, part 2 of the second season of Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black is set to make its premiere on March 19.
Julian Casablancas of The Strokes performs during the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on October 04, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Amy E. Price/FilmMagic)
The Strokes are headlining the 2026 Outside Lands festival, taking place Aug. 7-9 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
The bill also includes Turnstile, The xx, Djo, Empire of the Sun, Geese, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Wet Leg, Lucy Dacus, The Temper Trap and Not for Radio, among may others.
Presales begin Tuesday at noon PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday at noon PT.
Megan Moroney and Ella Langley are currently making history as the first women ever to top the all-genre Billboard 200 and Hot 100 at the same time.
It has happened before, however — just never with two female artists.
The first time was April 30, 1977, when the Eagles’ Hotel California reigned atop the album tally and Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights” topped the song chart.
To find the next three instances, you have to fast forward all the way to the next century.
In July 2023, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was #1, just as Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” reached the pinnacle of the song tally. A little more than a year later in August 2024, Post Malone and Shaboozey picked up the baton with F-1 Trillion and “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
The fourth instance would come a couple months later, with Shaboozey’s song still hanging on at #1, and Jelly Roll’s Beautifully Broken topping the album ranking.
Next up, we’ll all be watching to see if Megan’s Cloud 9 and Ella’s “Choosin’ Texas” can hang on to their titles for another week.
Elton John and David Furnish attend the press conference during Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 33rd Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 2, 2025 in West Hollywood. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)
Elton John: He’s not just like us. We’ve got our family photos framed on a shelf, but he’s got hisfamily photo hanging in one of London’s most famous museums.
A portrait of Elton, his husband David Furnish, their sons Elijah Furnish-John, 13, and Zachary Furnish-John, 15, plus their two Labrador Retrievers, Joseph and Jacob, has been unveiled at London’s National Portrait Gallery. The portrait was taken by photographer Catherine Opie, who has a new exhibit opening at the museum.
The U.K. paperThe Telegraph quotes Elton and David as saying, “To have our family photographed by Catherine Opie and on display at the National Portrait Gallery is a huge honour. We are huge admirers of her work, and proud to have her beautiful and poignant images in our collection.”
The photo was taken at the couple’s home in Old Windsor, England. According to the paper, Opie took the portrait three days before Christmas in the library of the house. She’s quoted as saying, “It is truly an honour to photograph Elton, David, Zachary and Elijah. For me, it represents the humanity of what family can be.”
American travelers in the Middle East like Shekinah Lee are speaking out. Lee spoke with ABC News via video. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — American travelers are sharing their stories of being stranded in the Middle East after the joint U.S.-Israel attack against Iran triggered retaliatory strikes, impacting at least 11 countries in the region.
President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Saturday, with strikes targeting military and government sites. Iran has since responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases in Gulf nations and American diplomatic facilities.
Shekinah Lee, who lives in Chicago, told ABC News she and her boyfriend had been traveling in the United Arab Emirates and are now trying to return home.
“I’m anxious, I’m scared, and I’m desperate to get home,” Lee said Tuesday morning.
According to Lee, she hasn’t been able to get any answers from her airline about flights back to the U.S.
“We’re not getting any support from our airline. We’ve been trying to get in contact with them but due to the volume of the situation, they’re not able to field calls, so none of our questions are getting answered,” Lee said.
In a statement Tuesday on social media, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the agency is in touch with thousands of Americans abroad and working to secure flights to help.
“Yes, the State Department is actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ve been in direct contact with nearly 3,000 Americans abroad. American citizens should call [the State Department] for assistance with departure options.”
The State Department also issued instructions for travelers abroad on its own social media account Monday, urging Americans to contact the State Department.
While Lee and her boyfriend wait for a flight out of Dubai, she said they had to stay overnight in their hotel parking garage until they could find further accommodation.
“The parking garage was packed with families from all over the world, just desperate to know what’s going on,” Lee said. “Right now, our priority is getting a flight out of here.”
American citizen Alyssa Ramos is using social media to document her struggles returning to the U.S. Ramos shared on Instagram that she and a group of friends paid $1,200 for a nearly eight-hour journey over the land border from Kuwait City to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, Ramos said in an Instagram story that her plane from Riyadh never left the airport.
“I’ve never been more happy and also more scared to be on a plane,” Ramos wrote in part. “There were attacks here in Riyadh earlier today and they usually strike more at night … please keep sending your positive energy and protective thoughts.”
The State Department is urging Americans to exercise caution worldwide “following the launch of U.S. combat operations in Iran.”
“Americans worldwide and especially in the Middle East should follow the guidance in the latest security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. They may experience travel disruptions due to periodic airspace closures,” the department advised.
For the United Arab Emirates, the State Department has set a level 3 travel advisory, ordered the “departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of government personnel on March 2,” and is advising Americans to reconsider travel to the country “due to the threat of armed conflict and terrorism.”
The State Department has similar warnings for Americans in at least five other Middle Eastern countries.
In Beirut, Lebanon, drone strikes have been continuing in the capital city, according to Samer Bawab, an American citizen living in the city.
“I haven’t been able to sleep very well within the last three days, only a few hours per night,” Bawab told ABC News. “That’s because we’re getting awoken in the middle of the night sometimes by loud explosions and being caught off guard.”
Former Team USA basketball player Destiny Littleton said in an interview that aired Monday on “Good Morning America” that she is in Israel where she plays professionally.
Littleton said she could “hear the interceptor missiles … blow up the missiles coming towards us and that was very scary,” adding, “We’re in survival mode.”
American Kristy Ellmer told ABC News that she and her partner Matt Carwell were in Dubai on vacation when the strikes against Iran began. She said they’re uncertain when they will be able to return home to New Hampshire.
“It was definitely very destabilizing … you could actually feel it and you could hear it,” Ellmer said of the explosions.
The State Department recommends Americans check each country’s Travel Information Page for developing details and entry requirements and enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, for safety updates and information on how to get help in an emergency.
