Lenny Kravitz has always been one of the more stylish rockers out there, but early on some friends questioned his style choices.
Discussing a black skirt a former girlfriend made him when he was a teenager, Kravitz tells the latest issue of Highsnobiety, “My friends were like, ‘Your mom’s going to freak.’ We were all nervous.”
But it turns out there was no real need to worry. He says that his mother, The Jeffersons star Roxie Roker, looked him “up and down” and then gave him some advice, sharing, “If you’re gonna wear that skirt, you got to change them shoes.”
He adds, “One thing about my mother, she never judged anybody. She just loved.”
Kravitz discusses how his background, being both Caribbean-American and Jewish-Ukrainian, helped influence his style. He shares, “Growing up between cultures and religions and types of people in my family, by virtue of me being multiracial … I grew up in the middle of all this beauty.”
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some regrets about his style choices. “It happens all the time,” although he says now he has more of a “who cares?” attitude about it.
“You’re not going to grow if everything’s perfect all the time,” he says.
Featuring Lainey Wilson‘s alter ego Darla McFarland, “Herassmeant” is a tongue-in-cheek play on “harassment” and Lainey’s behind.
“Yeah, seems like everybody is talking about harassment these days and the Knights do not tolerate that stuff,” lead singer Doug Douglason (Dierks Bentley) says. “You gotta treat your lady right, tell her how you feel about her, respect her, love on her.”
“My old flame Darla McFarland, who most people will remember from Teazers down in Murfreesboro, was itching to sing on this one,” adds Dough. “She knew she was the inspiration, so how could we say no? Darla is the best damn country singer of the last three decades, in my opinion. Everybody better get down to Tower Records before the CDs are sold out.”
“Nothin’ hits better in country music than authenticity,” shares Darla. “Seeing how I was the inspiration behind this song, I thought I’d help Doug make a good song great.”
This is the first set of new music Hot Country Knights have released after their 2020 debut album, The K Is Silent.
Headed to Nashville with your family this summer? Then be sure to pop by Gaylord Opryland’s SoundWaves.
With its various play structures, lazy and rapid rivers, waterslides and on-site dining options, the upscale indoor and outdoor resort water attraction makes the perfect spot for a family outing.
Non-Tennessee resident seasonal discounts ranging from 15 to 20 percent off are offered on select dates, with Tennessee resident rates ranging from 25 to 40 percent off on select dates, as well.
(WASHINGTON) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday issued a new letter to Congress stating the government won’t begin to run out of money to pay its bills until June 5 — slightly later than the agency’s previous prediction of as soon as June 1.
“Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government’s obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5,” Yellen wrote.
The update buys much-needed time for negotiators to hammer out a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid a disastrous default. The so-called “X-date” has always been fluid, based on daily federal tax revenues and expenditures.
This letter comes as the Treasury Department’s cash reserves are running dangerously low.
New Treasury data shows its cash balance dwindled to just $39 billion at the end of the day yesterday. This is down from roughly $60 billion at the end of last week – and $316 billion at the start of the month.
The Treasury also released data showing it holds roughly $67 billion in “extraordinary measures” it can use.
In her letter, Yellen noted that more than $130 billion of payments are scheduled in the first two days of June, including to Veterans and Social Security and Medicare recipients.
“These payments will leave Treasury with an extremely low level of resources,” she wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Despite hiccups along the way, Rick Ross seems to be pressing on with his annual car show, slated to take place June 3. He recently announced that the event’s winners will be awarded with gold and diamond chains collectively worth over $300,000.
Back in G-Unit‘s heyday, they collaborated with Eminem and reportedly caught a lot flak for it. Speaking to DJ Vlad, member Tony Yayo revealed they were “called house n***** for f****** with” him.
Ludacris says his lyricism doesn’t get the credit it deserves, and he says Jay-Z attributes that to his music videos. “Jay-Z was one of the ones that said, you know, he don’t think I get the lyrical credit that I deserve because of the visuals,” Luda said. He says his biggest music video budget was between half a million and $600,000.
Snoop Dogg thinks some luxury designers are jockin’ his style. He told the The Pivot podcast that brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton created clothing with the paisley print he was forced to nix for his now-defunct Snoop Dogg Clothing line.
Snoop also made headlines for offering his support to Tyrese. After the singer claimed he was depressed, Snoop praised him for the vulnerability on his upcoming album, which he says will “help somebody else learn how to live through pain.” “God knows I needed this phone call from my big homie Snoop,” Tyrese wrote next to the audio clip on Instagram.
For many, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and in addition to fun things like the beach and barbecues, lots of people look forward to summer concerts. Well, according to a new StubHub report, some concerts are more popular than others this season.
While Taylor Swift is the top In-Demand Global Artist of the summer based on sales, Bruce SpringsteenandThe E Street Band’s summer tour ranks high up there at #4, thanks to his 31 tour stops, which kick off August 9 and 10 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Metallica also lands in the top 10 at #8.
The ranking was determined by cumulative global ticket sales on StubHub and viagogo for concerts taking place between Memorial Day, May 29, and Labor Day, September 4.
Meanwhile, Dead & Company land at #2 on the Top Group Acts for summer list, with Metallica at #3 and Guns N’ Roses landing at #8.
Elizabeth Olsen has some advice for actors looking to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actress, who portrays Wanda Maximoff and her alter ego Scarlet Witch in the franchise, says that only agreeing to one Marvel project initially can give actors more “creative control.”
“Just give them one,” Olsen said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “That way you have more control over … If you say, ‘Oh my god, this is the most fun I’ve ever had and I love this character so much, I want to do it again,’ you now have more creative control for the next one.”
After, Olsen joked, “Don’t tell [David] Galluzzi that. [He’s] business affairs at Marvel.”
Olsen has appeared as Wanda Maximoff in six films, including Avengers: Endgame, the second-highest-grossing film of all time at the domestic box office. In 2021, she was nominated for an Emmy for playing the character in the critically acclaimed TV series WandaVision.
Though little is known about when Olsen will return to Scarlet Witch next, she told ScreenRant in March that she would be interested in doing something different with the character.
“We can do anything with her now,” Olsen said. “I feel like we’ve done so much. Now, we can really have fun; I feel like there’s a lot more humor to be had with her. She’s often the emotion of the story, and I’m curious to see what we can explore.”
Disney is the parent company of Marvel and ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — The threat to Social Security payments posed by a debt ceiling impasse keeps Linda Stanberry, 76, dwelling on her worst fear: the loss of the home she has lived in for 48 years.
Stanberry, who depends entirely on about $1,800 she receives in federal benefits each month, said she hardly saves anything after expenses like food, utilities, prescription drugs and supplemental insurance for cancer coverage.
The federal government could fail to pay some of its bills as soon as June 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned this week. If that shortfall interrupts Social Security, Stanberry would need emergency cash, she said.
“I would have nothing,” Stanberry, who lives in Southwest Virginia, told ABC News. “There’s no way I could keep my home.”
Stanberry is one of millions of low-income older Americans who rely on Social Security for almost the entirety of their funds. In all, roughly 1 in 7 Americans age 65 or older depend on the federal benefits for 90% or more of their income, Social Security Administration data shows.
If the U.S. fails to make Social Security payments next month, or even delays payments for a few days, low-income older people would face dire circumstances, foregoing basic necessities like food and medical care, experts and advocates told ABC News.
“For older adults living paycheck to paycheck, this debt ceiling process has been absolutely terrifying,” Ramsey Alwin, the president and CEO of nonprofit National Council on Aging, told ABC News. “Losing that check means they wouldn’t be able to put food on the table.”
A failure to make Social Security payments would hit some older Americans by next week.
The federal government is scheduled to make payments on June 1 to enrollees in a supplemental social security program for low-income older people with disabilities. The following day, a batch of Social Security payments totaling $25 billion is scheduled to go out to general recipients, targeting the most vulnerable such as older enrollees.
Additional payments are scheduled to go out on June 14, June 21 and June 28, each of which amounts to about $25 billion.
“This could be absolutely disastrous,” Peter Kempner, the legal director at New York City-based Peter Kempner Volunteers of Legal Service, who works closely with older adults in poverty, told ABC News.
Many low-income older people lack savings, leaving them especially vulnerable to a financial shock, he added.
“They live government paycheck to government paycheck,” Kempner said. “They don’t have reserves to float themselves for a couple months in case benefits are suspended because of what’s going on in Washington.”
As a debt default nears, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Friday that he remained confident that negotiators would soon strike a deal.
Negotiators “made progress” overnight, McCarthy said, declining to offer specifics of the potential agreement.
McCarthy is commiting to provide House members 72 hours to review the bill before bringing it to the floor for a vote, leaving little time for a deal to be ratified before a potential cash shortfall on June 1.
Even a delay in Social Security payments of a few days could put low-income older people in an agonizing position of prioritizing their little remaining spending between rent, food and transportation to medical appointments, experts and advocates told ABC News.
“Every single day that goes by makes a difference,” Cindy Cox-Roman, the president and CEO of advocacy group HelpAge USA, told ABC News.
Charles Turner, 74, relies solely on some $1,000 in Social Security that he receives each month, he said.
Since he suffers from a disability that limits his mobility and use of public transportation, Turner depends on rideshare services that cost as much as $25 each way to get to weekly doctor’s appointments and Tai Chi classes at a senior center, he said.
“It would be a challenge to just even go shopping for food and get to physical therapy appointments,” said Turner, who lives in Washington D.C.
Policymakers engaged in debt ceiling negotiations, he added, overlook these direct consequences for older people.
“They don’t see us,” Turner said. “We’re just lost in the lurch.”
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Gabe Ferris, Allison Pecorin and Alexandra Hutzler contributed reporting.
Serving as Jake’s new single on country radio, “On The Boat Again” samples the chorus of Willie Nelson‘s timeless hit, “On the Road Again.”
“On the boat again/ I just can’t wait to get on the boat again/ The life I love is drinking cold beer with my friends/ Yeah, I can’t wait to get on the boat again,” Jake sings on the song, which was penned by Devin Dawson, Kyle Fishman, Rocky Block and Blake Pendergrass, with Willie featured as a co-writer, as well.
On Monday, May 29, Jake will spend Memorial Day on ABC’s Good Morning America to perform “On The Boat Again.”
All four tracks preview Jake’s forthcoming seventh studio album, Loose Cannon, arriving June 23. Presave the album now.
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — A South Korean man faces 10 years in prison after he allegedly opened an emergency exit door while the plane was still in the air preparing to land.
The incident had flyers on Friday asking: How could that happen?
The aircraft landed safely at the Daegu airport, but officials said 12 people were taken to the hospital for respiratory issues.
The Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 was reportedly about 800 feet above the ground when the passenger opened the door.
Witnesses told local media other passengers tried to restrain the passenger.
Dramatic video shows extreme wind blowing passengers in the final moments of the flight.
Opening an aircraft door is impossible while the plane is at cruising altitude or above 10,000 feet due to air pressure.
However, as the plane gets lower, experts say it is possible for a door to open as the pressure outside equalizes with the pressure inside the plane.
“At cruising altitude there is enough pressure inside the cabin that it pushes the door against the hull of the airplane but, as the airplane descends, then the pressure begins to equalize. It is possible at very low altitudes as we’ve seen here for that door to be opened while the aircraft is still in flight,” ABC News contributor and former Marine Col. Steve Ganyard explained.
“The fact that this happened in very low altitude just prior to touch down means that everybody should have been belted in. Nobody was going to get sucked out of the airplane but the person who opened the door certainly was in danger of falling out,” he said.
The Asiana Airlines flight had 194 passengers and six crew members on board.
South Korean transportation officials say they are investigating exactly how the door opened.
Officials have not released a motive, but said the man did not appear to be intoxicated.
The domestic flight was traveling to Daegu from the resort island of Jeju.
