In an interview with Consequence’s Kyle Meredith with… podcast, guitarist Stone Gossard shares that the grunge outfit’s next album is “getting close to the finish line.”
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Gossard says. “It’s gonna be a good one.”
The upcoming record continues frontman Eddie Vedder‘s collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, with whom he worked on his 2022 solo album, Earthling. Watt also played in Vedder’s solo live band, and has recently produced records for Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop.
Gossard describes Watt as the “most hardcore Pearl Jam fan you’ll ever meet” who can “play all of our songs, and all of Soundgarden‘s songs back at us — better than we can play them.”
“It’s been such a joy to make a record with [Watt],” Gossard says. “He’s energizing us.”
Pearl Jam’s most recent album is 2020’s Gigaton, which includes the singles “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and “Superblood Wolfmoon.”
With CMA Fest coming up, Priscilla Block is taking ABC Audio on a trip down memory lane to recall her early days as an independent artist dreaming of playing the festival.
While Priscilla’s now part of the official CMA Fest lineup, this wasn’t always the case for the Raleigh, North Carolina, native, who used to employ a little trick to pretend she was part of it.
“I would put the CMA Fest logo on my in-town gigs because no one knew who I really was,” Priscilla admits with a laugh. “So I would put [up] my CMA Fest schedule and I’d be singing at like, Rippy’s or Tootsies. And then I put ‘brought to you by CMA Fest.’ So I was really faking it ’til I made it.”
Although Priscilla was “faking it,” her efforts as a relatively unknown artist in Nashville then perhaps foreshadowed her present-day reality.
“When I actually got to play CMA Fest, when I was invited to play Riverfront and then we did Nissan Stadium last year, I was like, ‘Wow, I manifested this,’ you know? And I actually had the official logo on it,” Priscilla adds.
The “Just About Over You” singer is set to return to the CMA Fest Chevy Riverfront Stage on Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. Afterward, she’ll head over to Fan Fair X for meet-and-greets at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., before performing at Universal Music Group Nashville’s Music Is Universal event at the Skydeck on Broadway at 11 p.m.
For more information on Priscilla’s appearances and for the full CMA Fest schedule, visit cmafest.com.
Pink‘s latest hit is the title track of her Trustfall album and she says to her, it has several meanings.
In nonmusical terms, a trust fall is when someone deliberately falls backward and trusts someone else to catch them. It’s been used as a popular team-building exercise in corporate training. Pink’s song was inspired by that meaning of the term, in addition to a few other things.
“I just feel like, in order to be a human being in this world today, it requires a lot of trust,” Pink told fans at her album release event a few months ago. “It requires trust to get out of bed in the morning, and drop your kids off at school and participate in elections and … all the things.”
“So ‘Trustfall’ is sort of … it’s two things,” she continued. “I feel like we all kinda … feel like we’re falling backwards and we don’t know where the ground is. Y’know, that unsettling feeling when you don’t know when to brace?”
“But it’s also that freedom in falling, and letting go completely,” Pink added. “And just trusting and having faith in the universe that it’s gonna take care of you, and that there’s enough beautiful people around you that will catch you.”
“It’s everything my life is about,” she concluded. “And I know if my kids had the muscles, they would catch me.”
Pink’s Summer Carnival tour kicks off this week in the U.K. It hits the U.S. on July 24.
Michael Cartellone, the current drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, is set to show off his latest art collection in July. The rocker’s work will be on display at the Wentworth Gallery at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Thursday, July 20.
The exhibit includes a piece titled “Ringo,” which is a tribute to The Beatles legend Ringo Starr,depicting his point of view during the band’s rooftop concert, featured in the 1970 film Let It Be.
“Being a drummer myself, I am very familiar with this vantage point, which makes this painting about my favorite drummer, of my favorite band, even more special to me,” Cartellone shares. “I wanted everything to be as authentic as possible,” noting he researched exactly what Ringo’s drums looked like, and watched videos from the Get Back and Let It Be documentaries.
The exhibit will also feature a piece titled “Fifty,” which celebrates Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 50-year career and their debut album, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). As part of the celebration, 50 signed and numbered canvas prints of the commemorative piece will be up for sale, as will the original.
The new exhibit will debut ahead of the kickoff to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour, with ZZ Top, which launches July 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found a lynyrdskynyrd.com.
Bling Empire matriarch Anna Shay has died unexpectedly at the age of 62 from a stroke, her family said in a statement to People.
“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke,” her family said in the statement. “Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten.”
Following the devastating news, Shay’s Bling Empire co-stars took to social media to pay tribute to the late star.
Sharing a carousel of pictures of the two together, Kelly Mi Li wrote, “RIP @annashay93 you were truly one of a kind and we will miss you forever.”
Kim Lee shared a clip of a scene they shared on the reality show and captioned it, in part, “I can’t believe I’m writing this right now. Anna, we’re going to miss you… You will forever be missed.”
Christine Chiu, who Shay often butted heads with on the show, also took a moment to pay tribute.
Shay appeared on all three seasons of the Netflix show — described as a real-life Crazy Rich Asians, centered on the lives of wealthy, materialistic East and Southeast Asian Americans, socialites based in the Los Angeles area — since its inaugural season in 2021 and quickly became a fan favorite.
Netflix canceled the show after three seasons, along with its spin-off, Bling Empire: New York, which aired for one season.
(SUNNYVALE, Texas) — Three children remain in critical but stable condition after a “horrific” shooting in suburban Texas that killed one adult and injured four others early Sunday night.
Sunnyvale interim police chief Bill Vegas told reporters the five victims were pulling into an apartment complex when a suspect emerged from a sedan, which police believe was following the family’s car, and shot the five victims while inside the vehicle. Police are still searching for the two suspects in a late-model black sedan, one of whom was the shooter in the attack.
“There was a lot of evil last night,” said Vegas, who described the crime scene on multiple occasions as “horrific.”
At least six bullet holes were found on the left side of the family’s vehicle, which was ambushed around 6 p.m. Sunday, according to Vegas.
Mesquite, Texas, resident Tyesha Merritt, 27, attempted to seek shelter from the shooting in the apartment complex, but died at the scene of the shooting, according to Vegas. Merritt was confirmed as the sister of the adult male victim, police said.
“To walk up on a scene where there have been five people shot, three children, is pretty horrific,” Vegas said.
Three children, between the ages of eight and 10, were injured and are being treated at a local hospital. A male victim, identified as the children’s father, was also injured but has been released from a local hospital, according to police. He is now cooperating with law enforcement, which is struggling to identify the shooting suspects, Vegas said.
“We don’t have a whole lot,” Vegas said about the current state of the investigation.
The mask worn by the shooter has made an identification challenging, according to Vegas. Police now believe the suspects have left the Sunnyvale area, though they likely remain armed and dangerous.
“We do know they are armed,” Vegas said at Sunday’s press conference. “We do know they are capable of shooting, so there is a definite threat.”
Police later clarified in a Facebook post they are “confident that there is no threat to the public,” though the reality of dangerous suspects on the loose persists. Sunnyvale police are now working with law enforcement in Mesquite, where the two suspects are believed to have driven.
Vegas stated he believes there were likely multiple eyewitnesses to the shooting, and law enforcement is calling for the public to come forward with information.
The shooting comes as a shock for the relatively quiet community of Sunnyvale, an affluent suburb in eastern Dallas County, that boasts a population of roughly 8,000 residents with an average household income of $137,656, according to Census data.
“We have our crime, but we don’t normally experience this kind of stuff,” Vegas said.
(WASHINGTON) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to launch his presidential campaign on Tuesday, joining a crowded — and still growing — GOP primary field.
Christie will announce his bid at a town hall-style event in New Hampshire, a key early primary state. The event is being hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics outside Manchester.
He will be joining a field that is currently led by former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Other primary contenders include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are anticipated to launch their own campaigns on Wednesday.
Christie will have significant ground to make up, as early polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight show him in the single digits, badly trailing both Trump and DeSantis.
A Monmouth University poll released last week also showed Christie’s favorability rating among Republican voters deeply underwater, with just 21% viewing him favorably and 47% viewing him unfavorably.
Christie’s campaign, which is expected to feature a sprawling offensive against Trump, marks a full-circle moment for the former governor, who quickly endorsed Trump after dropping out of the 2016 presidential race and largely remained a vocal ally during Trump’s four years in the White House.
However, Christie broke with Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and has remained one of his loudest critics within the GOP, including as a then-ABC News contributor frequently appearing on programs like This Week.
Christie has lamented what he views as a lack of candidates in the GOP field who can adequately attack Trump head-on. He has frequently cited one 2016 debate in which he lambasted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for giving canned answers — barbs that many believe helped sink Rubio’s bid.
“You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco, because that’s the only thing that’s gonna defeat Donald Trump,” Christie said earlier this year.
Still, he insisted he wouldn’t join the race just to take on Trump if he didn’t see a path for himself, saying he’s “not a paid assassin.”
He is also anticipated to campaign heavily in New Hampshire, given the state’s independent streak and history of electing Republicans seen as more centrist — where Christie’s more anti-Trump message may resonate over deep-red states like Iowa and South Carolina, which also hold early nominating contests next year.
(WASHINGTON) — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Monday that he will not run for president — in order to keep the field of Republican candidates less crowded so Donald Trump is less likely to be the party’s nominee in 2024.
Sununu explained his decision in a CNN interview and a Washington Post column.
“The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote, and I will help ensure this does not happen,” he wrote in the Post.
He told CNN’s Dana Bash that he’d been weighing his choice for months. “We’ve taken the last six months to really look at things and where everything is,” he said, “and I’ve made the decision not to run for president for 2024.”
Ultimately, the fourth-term governor felt confident he could be a real contender in the 2024 race but felt it was more important to focus on Trump’s defeat.
“The microphone afforded to the governor of New Hampshire plays a critical role in an early nominating state,” he wrote in the Post. “I plan to endorse, campaign and support the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November 2024.”
By the end of the week, with announcements expected to come from former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, there will be a total of 12 candidates vying for the Republican nomination next year.
Early polls show Trump remains the front-runner in the race, but Sununu said Monday that opposition to him could consolidate if voters had a less fractured field from which to choose.
“I don’t mind who gets into the field. But given where the polls are, every candidate needs to know about when to get out and getting out quickly,” Sununu told Bash. “I can do that calling candidates out saying, ‘Look, you’re in single digits, you have to get out of the race.’”
“I’ll be vocal for folks afraid to take on the president, afraid to understand the party is bigger than ourselves,” he continued. “It’s not just about the vanity. It’s not just to get on the stage and sell books or whatever. It has to be about the party and making sure the ticket up and down is strong.”
“I want more to stand up to help get the base bigger, better and stronger,” he said.
He encouraged candidates to “give a punch, take a punch,” and he wrote in the Post that, rather than fighting over culture war issues, Republicans should emphasize “limited government, individual responsibility and personal freedoms.”
His approach to government remains “give a little, get a lot,” he said Monday.
He wrote bluntly in the Post about what he saw as the risk of Trump being renominated: “Republicans will lose again. Just as we did in 2018, 2020 and 2022.”
Trump has fired back at Sununu, writing on social media this week that Sununu “never lifts a finger to help anybody but himself.” Trump also dismissed a potential Sununu presidential bid as having “ZERO chance.”
Despite being an outspoken Trump critic, the governor previously said he plans to support whomever the 2024 Republican nominee is, telling CNN earlier this year: “I can guarantee they’re better than any of the Democrats.”
In his CNN interview on Monday, Sununu said Trump remained vulnerable to President Joe Biden.
“If Republicans nominate him, then we’re saying a vote for him in the primary is effectively a vote for Joe Biden. I mean that’s ultimately how the math will play out,” he said.
“His messaging doesn’t translate. It does well with a 35% base but loses everybody beyond there,” Sununu said of Trump. “No one is undecided about the former president.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump on Monday opposed an attempt by his former fixer Michael Cohen to dismiss a lawsuit that accused Cohen of breaching his fiduciary duty to Trump “by spreading falsehoods” about his ex-boss.
“Despite Cohen’s arguments to the contrary, the Complaint alleges that Cohen was conferred substantial benefits during his representation of the Plaintiff and utilized such benefits for purposes of obtaining selfish, financial profit at the expense of Plaintiff,” Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Britto, said in a statement.
Trump accused Cohen of “egregious breaches of fiduciary duty and contract” in connection with the publication of books and the production of a podcast that “are intended to be embarrassing or detrimental” to Trump.
Cohen argued that the lawsuit failed to properly state a claim and cast it as an attempt to silence “an important government witness” in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal prosecution of Trump.
Trump’s legal team declined to directly address Cohen’s claim.
“Cohen discusses the rulings in unrelated legal matters, makes references to various news articles designed to taint this Court’s view of the Plaintiff and this case, unnecessarily injects invectives designed to exacerbate this already caustic matter,” Britto said.
