Chicago and The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle are among the artists set to perform live on A Capitol Fourth, the annual PBS special celebrating Independence Day.
The celebration will air Tuesday, July 4, at 8 p.m. and will feature a telecast of the fireworks live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
The program will be hosted by Alfonso Ribiero and will also feature a tribute to the late Tina Turner by Adrienne Warren, who played Tina in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, along with performances by the cast of the Neil Diamond Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise, Boyz II Men, Babyface, the National Symphony Orchestra and more.
Some years ago, Joseph Fiennes said he was “as shocked” as anyone that he was cast as Michael Jackson in a 2017 made-for-TV anthology movie called Urban Myths.
Now he’s saying sorry.
His section of the film dealt with the likely apocryphal story that MJ, and his besties Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor were grounded due to airspace restrictions after September 11, 2001, and decided to flee New York by car.
The comedy Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon also starred eventual Succession Emmy winner Brian Cox as Brando and Grease‘s Stockard Channing as Taylor.
Backlash to the casting was immediate after a trailer was released, and at the time Fiennes caught heat not just for being in it, but for explaining to Entertainment Tonight that Jackson “definitely had a pigmentation issue … so he was probably closer to my color than his original color.”
Jackson battled vitiligo during his life.
Ultimately, Sky TV caved to the backlash and pulled the film before broadcast.
To Variety,The Mother star now explains, “I think people are absolutely right to be upset. And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely.”
Fiennes added, “And I’m one part of that – there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions. But obviously, if I’m upfront, I have become the voice for other people.”
The Handmaid’s Tale star expressed of the movie, “But you know, it came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call. A bad mistake.”
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson made a surprise appearance over the weekend, joining Sam Fender at one of his two homecoming shows at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England, where the pair treated the crowd to two AC/DC classics.
Loudersound reports that Fender had just brought out his former guitar teacher Phil Martin and told the crowd they planned to play some AC/DC when he added, “We cannot really do AC/DC songs without the one, the only Geordie legend, the singer of AC/DC, Brian Johnson!”
Fan-shot footage on YouTube shows Fender and Johnson, who is from nearby Dunston, England, teaming up for “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long,” much to the crowd’s delight.
Johnson’s appearance was his first live performance since joining Foo Fighters for their Taylor Hawkins tribute at London’s Wembley Stadium last September. Next up, he and AC/DC will be one of the headliners for the Power Trip festival, happening October 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club In Indio, California.
Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt and GaryU.S. Bonds performed for a million protestors at Rally for Nuclear Disarmament in New York’s Central Park.
The gathering was the largest anti-nuclear weapons demonstration in U.S. history.
In 2018, a two-CD set featuring highlights from the rally was released, including performances of Springsteen’s “Promised Land,” Browne’s “Running On Empty,” Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou,” Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and more.
Last fall, Melissa Etheridge presented the autobiographical stage show Melissa Etheridge Off Broadway: My Window – A Journey Through Life. Now, the show is coming to Broadway.
Melissa Etheridge: My Window will officially open at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre on September 28. Previews begin September 14, with tickets on sale now via Telecharge.com.
“I truly love Broadway, and it’s long been a dream of mine to tell my story and share my music there,” says Melissa in a statement. “I never felt more connected to this community and New York audiences than I did after telling my life story off-Broadway last year. The intimacy of the live theatrical stage is like no other, and Circle in the Square is going to be a magical home for my show’s Broadway debut.”
She adds, “It’s a deeply personal experience to be able to tell these stories again, in a fresh and exciting way, and reconnect with my fans and theatergoers.”
The off-Broadway version of the show, written by Melissa and her wife, Linda Wallem-Etheridge, featured the Grammy-winning singer telling her life story, interspersed with performances of her songs. It’s not clear what, if anything, will change in the Broadway version.
The show coincides with the publication of Melissa’s new memoir, Talking to My Angels, which comes out September 5.
If you’re a parent with kids — or know any kids — you’re intimately aware of PAW Patrol, the cartoon starring furry first responders. And no doubt that was what drew some celebrity parents to lend their voices to a big-screen sequel.
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie features the voices of Chris Rock, Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams, Tyler Perry, Yara Shahidi and Taraji P. Henson, as well as younger stars, including black-ish veteran Marsai Martin, Sweet Tooth‘s Christian Convery and Ghostbusters: Afterlife lead Mckenna Grace.
A new trailer shows that a meteor’s crash landing in Adventure City gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The Mighty Pups. However, all is not well, thanks to the prison escape of the Paw Patrol gang’s nemesis, Humdinger (Ron Pardo), who teams up with the “meteor-obsessed mad scientist” Victoria Vance (Henson), who plots to take their new powers.
Bring Me the Horizon has announced the next installment in the band’s Post Human series.
The effort, titled Post Human: NeX GEn, arrives September 15.
Upon first announcing the project in 2020, Bring Me the Horizon had planned to put out four different EPs all under the Post Human title over the year. However, the band’s vision for the endeavor continued to expand since then, with NeX GEn now being only the second installment, following 2020’s Post Human: Survival Horror.
Since Survival Horror — which includes the songs “Teardrops” and “Parasite Eve,” as well as collaborations with Yungblud and Evanescence‘s Amy Lee — BMTH has put out a number of one-off singles, including “DiE4u,” “sTraNgeRs,” “LosT” and “AmEN!”
If you’ve attended one of Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour shows, you know that fans have been making and trading custom friendship bracelets. The new tradition’s inspired by a line in Taylor’s song “You’re On Your Own, Kid”: “So make the friendship bracelets/ Take the moment and taste it.” Well, if your bracelets are on point, Flavor Flav wants to hire you.
The rapper and Public Enemy co-founder was all over social media on Friday, June 9, documenting his attendance at Taylor’s Detroit show Friday night. “THANKX to all my new friends…luv my fellow Swifties,” he tweeted.
Now, Flav is putting out a call for Swifties to make him custom friendship bracelets.
“I wanna hire one of y’all to make me some custom Flavor Flav bracelets to trade for the next Eras Tour stop ya boy hits up…Who can help??” he wrote. “Ya boy wants hundreds of bracelets…maybe thousands…so maybe we hire several of y’all.”
Specifically, Flav wants bracelets in navy and silver, with the words “Flava Flav” and “It’s a clock.” The “It’s a clock” line refers to both Flav’s signature accessory — a huge clock around his neck — and the fact that if you put all of Taylor’s custom vinyl versions of Midnights together, they form a clock.
Hundreds of fans responded with photos of the bracelets they’ve made and offers to help. “Ya boy did NOT expect this big of a response,!!! WOWWW,” Flav responded, noting that he’d DM’d “maybe 200 of y’all so far.”
Flav initially declared his love for Taylor in March, when a photo of them together at an event went viral. At that event, he wore a T-shirt with a lyric from Taylor’s song “Willow”: “I come back stronger than a ’90s trend.”
Seoul City Hall lit in purple; JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images
BTS is celebrating their 10th anniversary, and their home country of South Korea is going all out to mark the occasion.
Billboard reports that on Monday, June 12, skyscrapers, bridges, City Hall and other landmarks in the South Korean capital of Seoul are being lit up in purple, the group’s signature color. Stamps celebrating the anniversary come out on Tuesday, and messages congratulating BTS are displayed on digital screens around the city.
According to Billboard, on Saturday, June 17, group member RM plans to chat with fans live, with the conversation to stream online, followed by fireworks in a park by the Han River. Seoul has planned for the celebrations to continue for two weeks, in hopes of boosting tourism.
BTS is technically on hiatus while two members — Jin and j-hope — fulfill their mandatory military service, with the other members following suit. However, they did release a new song, “Take Two,” on June 9.
If you thought Kelis would clear up those Bill Murray dating rumors, think again.
When a user on Instagram inquired about the status of her relationship with the comedian, whom she had been linked to recently, she playfully addressed the rumors.
In response to the comment posted under Kelis’ June 10 Instagram post, which read, “Ma’am would you care to address these Bill Murray allegations?!? Cuz damn! What he doing with all that?!?,” the “Milkshake” singer replied, saying, “lol no babe, I wouldn’t bother at all.”
Reports that Kelis, 43, and Murray, 72, were romantically linked first surfaced last week by the British tabloid The Sun.
Murray reportedly attended her show at the Mighty Hoopla festival in South London last weekend, and according to the publication, he’s been at the “Bossy” performer’s other recent shows, too.
In March of 2022, Kelis’ husband Mike Mora died at 37 of stomach cancer, and Murray’s estranged second wife Jennifer Butler, whom he divorced in 2008, passed away in January of 2021 at age 54. According to this source, the unlikely couple “bonded” over their respective losses.
