This is not the first time Morgan’s “Last Night” has achieved a laudable feat. The track is currently a multiweek chart-topper on Billboard’sHot Country Songs and all-genre Hot 100 charts.
Morgan’s latest album, One Thing at a Time, also sits atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 200 chart.
After teasing something with Madonna last week, it’s been revealed that they’re doing something with Brazilian superstar Anitta, as well. In her cover story for Harper’s Bazaar‘s June/July Freedom Issue, Anitta talks about working on her sixth album and adds that she’s working on a new song, which the magazine describes as “a lusty duet,” with Sam.
“Anitta’s energy is amazing,” Sam tells the magazine. “We connected immediately, and it just made the collaboration feel so special that there was genuine friendship there.” Sam also praised Anitta’s “clear vision” when it comes to navigating the music industry.
It’s not clear when either of these collaborations will come out. Last week, Sam seemed to tease that they were going to reveal the Madonna one at their concert in Manchester, but they had to cancel due to vocal issues.
Elton John‘s final show on British soil comes June 25, when he’ll rock the U.K.’s prestigious Glastonbury Festival for the very first time — and he says it won’t be the same show fans have been seeing during his Farewell tour.
Speaking to BBC Radio 2, Elton said it’s the first time he’s been asked to play the gig, noting, “But it’s just come at the right time … this is the most wonderful way to sign off in Great Britain.”
He then teased, “I’ve built a different set list … it’s gonna be much different. I’ve got guests who — I can’t tell you who they are — but it’s gonna be wonderful. I’m really looking forward to it.”
At Elton’s last U.S. show, which took place at Dodger Stadium, he also had special guests —Kiki Dee, Brandi Carlile and Dua Lipa — but presumably, his Glastonbury guests will be different.
Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which started way back in 2018, will finally come to an end in July in Stockholm, Sweden. When asked by BBC Radio 2’s Scott Mills if he thinks he’ll miss it when it’s all over, Elton laughed, “No way! I do not wanna fly anywhere. I don’t wanna go anywhere. I just wanna be still for a few months, thank you.”
Elton says after the tour wraps he’ll take a vacation for a few months, then he has no plans. However, he hasn’t ruled out live performances entirely, though they’ll be “sporadic.”
“I really don’t want to tour again,” Elton, 76, said firmly. “Doing a theater thing for two or three weeks might be appealing, but honestly, that’s in the distant future. I’m not going back to Vegas. If I do anything, it will be here [in England].”
(QUINCY, Ill.) — The murder trial of a former Family Feud contestant accused of killing his wife enters its second week Tuesday in Quincy, a historic city in downstate Illinois that overlooks the Mississippi River.
Adams County prosecutors say Tim Bliefnick, 39, killed his estranged wife Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, in February at her house, located just minutes away from his own. Her body was found shot 14 times, officials said.
In 2020, Tim Bliefnick gained notoriety when he appeared on an episode of Family Feud, telling host Steve Harvey his “biggest mistake” at his wedding was saying “I do” to his wife. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion. Tim Bliefnick faces life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
Dozens of witnesses, including friends and family of the couple and local police officers, testified in Adams County Circuit Court last week over four days. They revealed intimacies of the couple’s troubled relationship, which had fractured during divorce proceedings and involved court orders of protection.
On Friday, Quincy police detective Eric Cowick testified that he reviewed records of phone and laptops owned by the couple. The greatest evidence originated from Tim Bliefnick’s laptop, which included Google searches and website visits for instructions on how to pick locks, open windows from the outside, clean gunshot residue from a smoking gun, open doors with a crowbar and trace shotgun rounds fired from a specific gun.
Tim Bliefnick used an alias on Facebook to purchase a bicycle police found a half-mile from Bliefnick’s home after the murder, Cowick testified. Prosecutors said videos from neighbors show someone riding a bicycle in the area between both homes in the days leading to the killing.
Tim Bliefnick’s attorney, Casey Schnack, said the records of websites Bliefnick visited on his phone had no time or date stamp, which made them irrelevant and “only opens the door for speculation.” In her opening argument, she said the case “is dripping with reasonable doubt.”
The defense introduced several friends and co-workers of the couple who collectively painted a picture of Rebecca Bliefnick as a victim of verbal and emotional abuse from her husband. A text from Rebecca shared by Christine Moore, a family friend, revealed she was worried her husband would kill her.
“The thought has gone through my mind that I may need a restraining order … I’m definitely changing the locks as soon as I can. The only way to ensure all three [sons] choose him over me is to eliminate me as the choice,” she wrote.
Despite filing for divorce in 2021, the proceedings dragged on for years because several conditions were contested, according to attorneys who testified last week. The conditions included the location of a handgun owned Tim Bliefnick, custody arrangements involving the children and whether or not Ray Bliefnick, Tim’s father, could be alone with the three sons.
Denny Woodworth, one of Rebecca’s divorce lawyers, said Rebecca filed a temporary restraining order against Ray Bliefnick in August 2021 because she did not want him to have any contact with the couple’s children. Ray Bliefnick, a retired sales consultant in Decatur, Illinois, had purchased a house on the same block as Rebecca. She also filed a petition to have Tim Bliefnick return a handgun to her but his defense attorney revealed he could not find it.
Jerry Timmerwilke, Rebecca’s second divorce attorney, testified that Tim Bliefnick would consider evenly split custody of the children only if Rebecca would undergo a psychological evaluation. He said Tim wanted his father to have unsupervised time with the children.
Testimony from friends showed Rebecca worried Tim would turn violent and Ray Bliefnick would take their children away from her.
“I am scared of his behavior and constant lies … on top of that he has our guns and ammunition,” she texted childhood friend Nicole Bateman.
To Rebecca Spots, a co-worker, she wrote that she feared her father-in-law.
“It has gotten to the point that I hate even going to work for fear he will secretly take off with the kids and I won’t see them for a long time or ever,” she wrote.
Sarah Reilly, Rebecca’s sister, read a text to jurors from Rebecca in which she said “if something ever happens to me, please make sure the number one person of interest is Tim.”
Their final divorce hearing was not yet scheduled “because Becky Bliefnick was murdered,” said Josh Jones, an assistant state’s attorney.
Schnack, however, repeatedly emphasized to jurors that a messy divorce is not grounds for a murder conviction. She also said none of the witnesses reported the texts to law enforcement.
Closing arguments for the trial are expected early next week. Rebecca Bliefnick’s family has launched an online fundraising drive to support the couple’s three sons.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — A verbal confrontation at a gas station has left one man in critical condition with life-threatening injuries after an assailant poured gasoline over him and lit him on fire, police say.
The incident occurred on Sunday at approximately 4:32 p.m. at a Mobile gas station on North 22nd Street in Tampa, Florida, when two men entered into a verbal confrontation, according to a statement published by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
“Earl Hargrove, Jr., 34, bought a small amount of gasoline from the gas station,” authorities said in their statement. “Hargrove then proceeded to pour the gasoline on the victim and lit … him on fire.”
The victim — who currently remains unnamed — was taken to Tampa General Hospital where he was listed in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Hargrove, Jr. is now facing facing charges of aggravated battery great bodily harm and attempted murder in the first degree.
“A verbal argument should never escalate to this level of violence,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “This suspect’s behavior is not only deplorable but will never be tolerated in our community. The suspect, in this case, is currently behind bars while we wait in anticipation for justice to be served.”
Anybody who has additional information on this case is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200.
(NEW YORK) — Aderrien Murry, the 11-year-old boy who was shot by police on May 20 after calling 911, spoke out about the harrowing experience in an exclusive interview with ABC News that is set to air on Good Morning America and GMA3 on Tuesday.
“I came out of the room like this,” Murry said with his hands above his head as he reflected on the incident in an interview with GMA3 co-anchor DeMarco Morgan.
“It felt like a Taser, like a big punch to the chest,” he added.
The boy’s mother, Nakala Murry, previously told GMA3 in an interview that aired on Thursday that her son was shot in the chest by a police officer who responded to their home in Indianola, Mississippi in the early morning hours of May 20 after her son called 911. Nakala Murry is now calling for the officer to be fired.
Nakala Murry told ABC News that she gave her son, Aderrien, the phone and asked him to call his grandmother, after Murry says she woke up around 4 a.m. on the morning of the incident, heard a knock on the window and saw her ex-boyfriend standing outside.
“I noticed he was kind of irate. And from dealing with him in the past, I know the irate version of him, what it could lead to,” she told GMA3.
ABC News has reached out to the ex-boyfriend but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
According to Nakala Murry, Aderrien first called the police and then he called his grandmother, who also called 911.
She explained that two officers responded to their home in Indianola, and her daughter’s father asked her not to open the door as police tried to break in.
“I heard a shot and I saw my son run out toward where we were,” she said recalling the shooting.
“[Aderrien] fell, bleeding,” Nakala Murry added.
Indianola Mayor Ken Featherstone told ABC News on Wednesday that Indianola police officer Greg Capers fired the shot that hit Aderrien. Capers was suspended Monday, Featherstone said. ABC News’ attempts to reach out to Capers directly were unsuccessful.
ABC News has reached out to the Indianola Police Department but they declined to comment.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), which is investigating the incident, officers responded to a domestic disturbance at the home, and a minor was significantly hurt from an “officer-involved shooting.”
The results of the investigation will be shared with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the agency said.
Asked about the status of the investigation, the Mississippi District Attorney’s Office referred all inquiries to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
“The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office is tasked with reviewing and prosecuting all office- involved shootings. That being the case, we do not have any comment nor involvement in this investigation nor prosecution,” the DA’s office told ABC News.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The final episode of HBO’s Emmy-winning drama Succession scored for the cable network.
The last installment of the show’s fourth season, which debuted on Sunday night, drew 2.9 million viewers across HBO and streaming on Max, according to HBO.
It’s a 68% jump from last season’s finale, a boost that even Logan Roy would get excited about.
The ultimate installment, titled “With Open Eyes,” drew the show’s biggest numbers of the fourth season and raised the average viewership to 8.7 million viewers for all the episodes this season — a bump of 1.5 million viewers — as people watched and re-watched episodes to say goodbye to the show.
(BRYAN, Texas) — Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reported to a Texas prison on Tuesday to begin a more than 11-year sentence for defrauding investors with false claims about her company’s blood-testing technology.
Holmes arrived at the prison in Bryan, Texas, at about 12:30 p.m. central time wearing a tan cardigan and jeans. She was accompanied by her parents and husband, Billy Evans.
Since she was sentenced last fall, Holmes has failed in multiple requests to delay her incarceration as she awaits a ruling on an appeal.
The watershed moment on Tuesday follows a legal saga that turned the former billionaire entrepreneur, who swore her startup could run hundreds of tests on a single drop of blood, into a symbol of excess and deception in Silicon Valley.
A federal judge earlier this month ordered Holmes to report to prison after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied her request to remain free pending an appeal.
Judge Edward Davila, who oversaw the trial of Holmes, allowed her a short postponement of the start of her sentence to May 30 as she made final arrangements, including child care for her two young children.
Holmes will report to Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. The minimum security facility houses other white collar criminals, including reality TV star Jen Shah, from the cast of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former romantic partner of Holmes and president of the now defunct blood testing company, began his nearly 13-year sentence at a prison in San Pedro, California, last month. Balwani, who was second in command to Holmes at Theranos, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in December.
In denying a previous attempt to delay Holmes’ prison sentence, Davila said she had failed to raise a “‘substantial question of law or fact’ that is ‘likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial on all counts.'”
Earlier this month, Holmes and Balwani were ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to those who suffered damage from the company’s fraud.
Davila called on them to pay $125 million of that sum to media titan Rupert Murdoch, an investor in Theranos. Other victims in the case included the family of former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and the Walton family, the founders of Walmart. Walgreens and Safeway, which had also struck multimillion dollar deals with Holmes to employ Theranos’ technology, were also included in a set of entities designated as victims deserving of restitution.
In November, Holmes was sentenced to 135 months, or 11 1/4 years, in prison.
Holmes was convicted in January on four counts of investor fraud and conspiracy while at the helm of Theranos.
The verdict followed a four-month trial that detailed Holmes’ trajectory from a Stanford University dropout in 2003 to a star business leader on the cover of Fortune magazine little more than a decade later.
But in October 2015, a bombshell Wall Street Journal report came out, detailing the turmoil within Theranos. As Holmes and her company were hit with official scrutiny, her fortune quickly dwindled. Less than a year later, Forbes downgraded its assessment of Holmes’ net worth from $4.5 billion to $0.
Facing charges of massive fraud from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Holmes agreed to forfeit control of Theranos in 2018.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gina Sunseri and Miles Cohen contributed to this report.
Related Topics
(ATLANTA) — Sick workers were behind a plurality of foodborne illness outbreaks and caterers in the U.S., new federal data shows.
In a report published Tuesday afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at outbreaks across 25 state and local health departments from 2017 to 2019.
They found that among outbreaks where a contributing factor was identified, four in 10 — or 41% — were caused by food contamination from ill or infectious employees.
This included handlers, workers or preparers making either gloved or barehanded contact with food.
“If a food worker stays on the job while sick and does not wash his or her hands carefully after using the toilet, the food worker can spread germs by touching food,’ the CDC writes on its website.
Of managers who were interviewed, 91.7% said their restaurant or establishment had policies requiring food workers to notify their manager when they were ill.
However, “often these policies were missing components intended to reduce foodborne illness risk,” the CDC said.
For example, 66% of managers said they had a written policy about workers notifying superiors regarding illness.
Only 69.5% specifies symptoms that would lead to restricting or excluding ill workers from working. But just 23% said their policy specified the five symptoms of foodborne illness workers needed to report to their manager including vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever and lesions with pus.
The report also found that under half — 43.6% — of managers interview said their establishments provided paid sick leave to any workers.
“Contamination of food by ill food workers is a top contributing factor to foodborne outbreaks in retail food establishments; therefore, identifying gaps in these establishments’ ill worker policies is important to outbreak prevention,” the authors wrote in the report.
“Health departments responsible for ensuring food safety in retail food establishments can use the findings in this report to assess their food safety priorities and guide their outbreak investigations and routine (i.e., preventive) inspections,” they continued.
The report also found that 17.6% was caused by contaminated food that was meant to be consumed raw, undercooked or underprocessed.
Another 10.6% of outbreaks were caused by improper or slow cooling of food and 6.6% were caused by either insufficient time, temperature or both during the cooking or heating process.
What’s more, when it came to what bacteria or viruses led to the outbreaks, norovirus was the most commonly identified cause at 47%.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis, which is an inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract. In fact, it is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, causing 58% of foodborne illnesses each year, according to the CDC.
This was followed by salmonella — a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract of animals — accounting for 18.6% of outbreaks.
The breezy midtempo number, which Lainey co-wrote with Josh Kear and Jordan Schmidt, is the follow-up to her soaring chart-topping hit, “Heart Like a Truck.”
“I’m so excited to announce ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ as my next single,” shares Lainey. “This song embodies what Country music means to me, creating a timeless story that will resonate with people for generations to come. This song is about the crazy, young, nostalgic love we all hope to experience.”
“Watermelon Moonshine” is featured on Lainey’s latest album, Bell Bottom Country, which was named Album of the Year at the 2023 ACM Awards.
On the tour front, Lainey recently concluded her 28-date headlining trek and is readying to join her “wait in the truck” duet partner, HARDY, on his The Mockingbird & The Crow tour this September.
