Aaliyah, who passed away nearly 22 years ago, is the focus of a new ABC News special. Superstar: Aaliyahwill celebrate the singer’s life and legacy, highlighting her contributions to R&B and her continued influence on “music, fashion and culture decades after her untimely death in an August 2001 plane crash.”
Speaking about the late singer are ex-boyfriend Damon Dash, her uncle and manager Barry Hankerson, recording engineer/producer Jimmy Douglass and ’90s urban wear designer Karl Kani. Those influenced by Aaliyah, including Justine Skye, Sevyn Streeter and will.i.am, also appear in the special.
Superstar: Aaliyah marks the latest episode of ABC News’ Superstar series, which previously shined a light on Whitney Houston, Kobe Bryant, Richard Pryor and others. The hourlong episode, which also details the singer’s marriage to R. Kelly, will air June 14 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC News and will be available on Hulu the following day.
Trivium frontman Matt Heafy unexpectedly found himself in the pit for his band’s concert in Dallas on Wednesday when he jumped into the audience to assist a falling crowd surfer.
“Don’t ever say we don’t love our fans,” Heafy writes in an Instagram post alongside video of the moment. “Absent security in that spot – dude almost broke his neck – and I had to jump down and catch him!”
In the accompanying video, you can see bassist Paolo Gregoletto stop the rest of the band from playing as he calls for the security team to address the situation.
“Our singer’s not gonna be jumping off the stage to catch people tonight,” Gregoletto said, though by that time Heafy was already in the crowd.
The Dallas show was part of Trivium’s co-headlining tour with Beartooth, which wraps June 15 in Seattle.
Albums, posters and T-shirts aren’t the only things artists have to sign sometimes. There are other items like boots, cowboy hats and bandanas, especially if you’re a country singer.
But, those are a far cry from one of the most bizarre things Dierks Bentley recalls autographing: “A baby’s head.”
“Yeah, like a 2-week-old baby. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do it. The woman was like, ‘Please.’ I was like, ‘Alright,'” Dierks recounts. “The head at that point is so vulnerable, transparent, so I’m just hoping they didn’t get any ink in the child’s brain.”
Dierks will be wearing multiple hats at this week’s CMA Fest. On Thursday, June 8, he’ll take the CMA Close Up Stage inside Fan Fair X for an Artist of the Day conversation hosted by Charlie Worsham. On Sunday, June 11, the “Gold” singer will perform his hits and more at Nissan Stadium.
Additionally, Dierks has been tapped to co-host CMA Fest with Lainey Wilson and Elle King. The three-hour television special is slated to air July 19 on ABC.
Britney Spears fans know that her husband, Sam Asghari, likes to call her “my lioness.” So it’s only natural that he’d land a part in Special Ops: Lioness, the new spy series from Yellowstone franchisecreator Taylor Sheridan.
On Thursday, Paramount+ revealed the trailer for the series, which stars Nicole Kidman alongside Morgan Freeman, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Zoe Saldaña and Laysla De Oliveira.
Based on a real-life CIA program, the show follows De Oliveira’s character, Cruz Manuelos, a Marine who’s recruited for the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization.
Kidman plays the program’s supervisor and Saldaña plays Joe, the station chief who leads the female undercover operatives. According to the trailer, the Lioness team “locate[s] the wives and daughters of … high value targets … place[s] an operative close to them, and … kill[s] the target.”
Sam plays a character named Kamal and appears in four episodes. The series starts streaming July 23.
As part of Variety‘s continuing “Actors on Actors” chats, Rogue One veteran and Andor lead — and massive Star Wars fan — Diego Luna flew from the Disney+ show’s London set to Los Angeles just to talk shop with a fellow fan, Star Wars prequel series actor Hayden Christensen.
Apart from their shared love for George Lucas‘ galaxy far, far away, the pair also shared the surprise of being called back in: In Luna’s case, to lead and co-produce Andor after his character, Cassian Andor, perished at the end of Rogue One, and for Christensen, returning to the Star Wars fold after 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith with 2022’s Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Luna revealed that they’d “joke” on the Rogue One set that his doomed team, which successfully stole the Death Star plans before dying, could return. “But … we had to wait for the film to come out to understand that there was room for something like this,” he says of Andor, which is set before Rogue.
Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, expresses, “Star Wars holds a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed getting to go back to being a fan again and just watching these stories like everyone else. But there was a part of me that missed it, too.”
He adds, “So when I got the call, it was a very easy decision. And the fact that it was the Obi-Wan show with Ewan McGregor, who is a good friend of mine, and that I’d get to swing a lightsaber with him again, it was a thrilling invitation.”
Luna says he felt “shock … in a good way” about “the love around this project and this universe,” praising the “connection” fans have with the material.
Fans aren’t the only ones excited about CMA Fest. Artists are, too, especially “Come Back Song” hitmaker Darius Rucker.
“Music Fest is like nothing else. I say all the time that country music is the only genre that could have something like that. It’s truly amazing,” shares Darius. “People are everywhere and they want to be your best friend. It’s always cool and I love coming here.”
One thing that Darius continues to be in awe of? The string of artists who come together to perform for fans from everywhere.
“The thing that always gets me is the show. The fact that you can get that many superstars at one show all playing for free, for the same goal — to entertain those people that are in that stadium that come here for the whole week from all over the world,” Darius notes. “They come here for one week to see country music, and it’s amazing that those artists say on Friday and Saturday night, ‘This is country music, come on out.’ That’s awesome.”
Darius recently played his 14th annual Darius and Friends benefit concert at the Ryman Auditorium. The event, which benefitted St. Jude, featured surprise performances from Jake Owen, Jelly Roll, Hardy, Megan Moroney and Vince Gill.
Jimmy Eat World and Manchester Orchestra launch a co-headlining tour next month, and to celebrate, they’ve released covers of each other’s songs.
“The Middle” rockers put their spin on Man O’s 2021 song “Telepath,” while the “I’ve Got Friends” outfit takes on the Clarity opener “Table for Glasses.”
“Manchester Orchestra is great at sitting you down, spinning your chair around and stopping it to show you are now somewhere else,” says Jimmy’s Jim Adkins. “We knew if we were going to cover an immersive song like ‘Telepath,’ we’d have to commit to ‘stopping the chair’ at bizzaro-Jimmy Eat World universe.”
“It was an absolute honor to trade covers with one of our favorite bands,” adds Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. “We approached our cover with admiration for the original and had a blast exploring all of its spacious corners.”
A new reimagining of the musical version of The Who’s Tommy, featuring a cast of 28, a nine-piece band and brand new staging, is set to open at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre later this month, and demand for tickets has been so great its run has already been extended.
The show is set to begin previews on June 13, with opening night set for June 26. The run has now added eight more performances, which means it will run through July 30.
And fans are getting another behind-the-scenes look at the production, with interviews from the show’s lead, Ali Louis Bourzgui, and choreographer Lorin Latarro.
“I wanted to do something that will never go out of style so I’m trying to stick with a modernism that is classic,” Latarro says about her choreography for the show. Bourzgui adds, “Tommy will forever evolve itself as pop culture evolves. I can’t wait to bring Tommy to Chicago audiences.”
Based on The Who’s 1969 album and 1975 film, the original production of Tommy opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, on July 1, 1992. It opened on Broadway on April 22, 1993, and closed on June 17, 1995. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction for Des McAnuff and Best Original Score for The Who’s Pete Townshend.
Lindsay Lohan is opening up about her life as she prepares for motherhood.
In her cover story for Allure‘s June issue, the actress, who is expecting her first child with husband Bader Shammas, discussed her feelings during her pregnancy, her career aspirations, how she met her now-husband and more.
“I can’t wait to see what the feeling is and what it’s like to just be a mom,” the actress, who announced her pregnancy in March, told the outlet. She added that her life as of late has been filled with “happy tears.”
“That’s just who I am,” she said. “Though now, it’s probably baby emotion. It’s overwhelming in a good way.”
Lohan has remained tight-lipped on her relationship with Shammas and only subtly revealed the two had married when she referred to him as her husband in a social media post last year. She told Allure they shared an instant connection when they first met.
“I said, ‘You look like someone I know.’ He was like, ‘No, I don’t, who?’ … and then I said to him, ‘I feel like you’re the person I’m going to be with forever,'” she told Allure. “I’d never been able to talk to someone like this.”
Lohan hopes to venture into producing romantic comedies, she told Allure, as it’s a realm she feels she knows “so well.”
She also previously said in an interview with The New York Times that she and Jamie Lee Curtis “are both open” to returning for the Freaky Friday sequel that’s in development from Disney.
She told Allure Curtis has also given her motherhood advice.
LiLo notes, “She was like, ‘You just bring the baby with you and everything will be fine.'”
(NEW YORK) — Wildfire smoke from Canada has clouded much of the Northeast, leaving millions of Americans exposed to unhealthy levels of particulate matter.
Here’s what you need to know on the dangers of wildfire smoke and why it is so toxic to your health.
What is considered a dangerous air quality level?
Air quality is measured by the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index (AQI), which ranges from 0 to 500. A higher level indicates a greater level of pollution and health concern.
Levels under 100 are generally considered safe. Unhealthy levels range from 101 to 300, where more sensitive groups may experience symptoms at lower levels. The EPA provides an interactive map to track air quality in your specific area.
In New York City, levels hit over 400 in some parts this week. A value over 300 is considered hazardous, where everyone is likely to be affected from the poor breathing conditions.
Some hospitals have already seen patients suffering from the poor air.
“We’ve seen a mild increase in the number of patients presenting specifically with what we suspect is related to the environment, which include things like coughs, wheezing, shortness of breath and even headaches,” Dr. Frederick Davis, vice chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, told ABC News.
What are the dangers of inhaling wildfire smoke?
Particulate matter (PM) is made up of tiny pieces of solid or liquid in the air including dust, dirt, soot and smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inhaled particles are typically categorized into two groups: PM10 and PM2.5 – the number representing the size across the particle in micrometers.
These particles are invisible to the human eye. The diameter of a human hair is almost 30 times larger than one of these smaller particles.
While larger particles may irritate your eyes, nose and throat, smaller particles pose an even greater threat. They can seep deep into your lungs or even your blood and cause long-term damage.
“The smaller particles are the dangerous ones. They can cause asthma. They can cause you to have not as good immune responses. You can get more colds, for example, you get more asthma,” Dr. Kari Nadeau, a professor at Harvard in the School of Public Health and chair of the Environmental Health Department, told ABC News.
“If you’re elderly, you can get more strokes and heart attacks. Over time, it can lead to increased cancer,” she added.
In fact, Nadeau estimates an AQI of 150 is equivalent to smoking an estimated seven cigarettes a day for someone spending the majority of their time outdoors.
“We try to do the cigarette equivalent, but most likely the wildfire smoke is much more toxic than a cigarette,” Nadeau said.
Who is most at risk?
Those who have lung diseases like COPD or asthma as well as those suffering from heart disease are at highest risk from wildfire smoke.
Children and older adults are also more likely to be affected.
“Those that are most at risk are those that have underlying chronic pulmonary issues … others include those of the extremes of age so those who are very old, very young, particularly because of underdeveloped lungs or lungs that are older that maybe can’t handle as much of the debris as we’re seeing in the air,” Davis said.
Exposure to wildfire smoke may lead to physical changes during pregnancy and expectant mothers may be at risk of preterm birth or babies with a low-birth weight.
What are the symptoms to look out for?
While those who are more sensitive may be at-risk for severe symptoms, anyone can get sick from wildfire smoke.
Some of the immediate effects include coughing, trouble breathing, a scratchy throat and chest pain, according to the CDC.
Officials are warning residents to stay indoors as much as possible, use a well-fitting N-95 mask when heading outside and try using an air filter at home if available.
