Asia is celebrating their reunion album Phoenix with a new reissue. BMG Music has just released a special double vinyl edition of the 2008 studio record, the first time it’s ever been available on vinyl.
Phoenix was released two years after the band’s four original members — John Wetton, CarlPalmer, Geoff Downes and Steve Howe — reunited for a 2006 sold-out world tour.
Phoenix was the first album with all four original members since Wetton’s departure in 1983, and the foursome reconvened for two more records after that, 2010’s Omega and 2012’s XXX, before Howe left to concentrate on his work with Yes.
The Phoenix double vinyl, which is available now, comes with an exclusive CD-sized art card, signed by Palmer and Downes, while supplies last.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for The Drew Barrymore Show
Much has been made of Drew Barrymore‘s so-called “wild child” days, but the now grown-up actress and eponymous hit talk show host confessed to ABC Audio that she had a habit back then not many know about: bingo.
“I used to play with all my friends when I was a teenager. We used to go to this senior center in West Hollywood,” she recalls, smiling.
“And it was a whole crew of us, and it was, like, a total party to us. And we’d be there, like, 8, 9 [p.m] and we had all our blotters, and we would bring our basket of blotters — that’s probably not what they’re called — but they’re like those giant ink stamps in like bottle pen form. So yeah, I’m not new to bingo,” she adds with a laugh.
“We would, like, play bingo and then go party all night,” Drew says.
As a busy mom of two, Drew now can relive her teenage nights — at least the earlier parts — with the mobile game Bingo Blitz, which she says reflects a common theme in the products she endorses: it’s free. “I’m the Pluto [TV] girl, and I’m the Bingo Blitz girl,” she says proudly.
She adds, “I promoted Time magazine for taking down their paywall. I hope people follow suit. And this is an era where we’ve got to find a way to monetize things in a different way and not charge people for that. How do we do things all together in a way that doesn’t charge us and that gives us information or gives us entertainment or gives us gaming?”
She adds, “These are things that actually mean a lot to me and I want to be a part of things like that.”
John Mellencamp doesn’t take kindly to loud concertgoers, at least not on his current Live and In Person tour. In fact, he almost cut his recent concert in Cleveland short because of one rude and loud member of the audience.
According to the Cleveland Scene, signs posted in the Connor Palace lobby read “this show respects theater etiquette,” and at one point Mellencamp even told concertgoers, “I don’t like people screaming from the f***** audience.” But that didn’t stop one attendee.
Mellencamp was saying something that the outlet suggested “could be construed as criticizing the U.S.” when one loud concertgoer screamed at him to “play the f****** music.” Well, Mellencamp didn’t like that.
“Listen, hey, you guys, if these people don’t shut the f*** up I’m just going to leave, OK?” Mellencamp told the crowd. “Because I’m not used to this crap. Look, guys, if I wanted to play in this type of drunken environment, I’d play outside or I’d play in an arena.”
The audience did eventually quiet down and the show went on, with Mellencamp treating the crowd to such classics as “Small Town,” “Pink Houses,” “Jack & Diane” “Hurts So Good” and more.
Mellencamp’s Live and In Person show is set for a second night in Cleveland on Friday, May 26, with shows confirmed through June. A complete schedule can be found at mellencamp.com.
I Prevail has released a new, stripped-down version of “Deep End,” the current single off the band’s 2022 album, True Power.
The updated recording is driven by a piano melody alongside acoustic guitars and a drum pad.
“‘Deep End’ felt special from the day we wrote it,” I Prevail says. “Being one of the most introspective tracks on the record, it became a reflection on an attempt to stop battling certain things about yourself and instead learning to accept them as a part of who you are. There’s a peace to be found in that.”
The group adds, “Overall, this track allowed us to evolve the softer side of our band and we’re incredibly proud of it.”
You can watch the performance video for “Deep End (Stripped)” streaming now on YouTube. The track is also accompanied by a live version of “Deep End” for a London show earlier this year, which is available now via digital outlets.
The original “Deep End” is currently in the top 10 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Morgan Wallen has joined rapper Lil Durk on his song “Stand By Me.”
Featured on Lil Durk’s new album, Almost Healed, the spirited country-trap tune opens with Morgan’s signature vocal delivery, before Lil Durk arrives in the first verse.
“If tomorrow I lost it all/ And everything that I have was gone/ When there’s nobody else to call/ Would you stand by me? Would you stand by me?” Morgan sings over steady synth-pop beats.
This marks the second time the singers have collaborated on a song, with the first being 2021’s “Broadway Girls.”
Morgan’s hit single “Last Night” is currently sitting at the top of the country charts.
John Fogerty’s concerts usually include him performing his Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Proud Mary,” but the song took on special meaning at his concert in Manchester AO Arena Thursday night.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer took time out of his show to pay tribute to the late Tina Turner, who turned “Proud Mary” into a classic, projecting an image of him, Tina and his two sons on the screen behind him.
“I toured with Tina way back about the year 2000,” he says in fan-shot footage posted on YouTube. “Of course Tina recorded my song ‘Proud Mary’ way back about 1971 and it was a breakthrough song for her, also a signature song.”
He added, “I saw her like every week with that red dress on and Ike (Turner) had girls dancing in the background … she was amazing.”
He then dedicated the song to Tina, noting, “This is the first good song I ever wrote.”
Fogerty previously paid tribute to Turner on his Instagram account and recently shared that same picture, writing, “Beyond her immense talent, she was incredibly kind-hearted and gracious. Her warmth and genuine spirit touched the hearts of everyone she encountered. It was an absolute privilege to know such a kind soul.”
(WASHINGTON) — With potential default just six days away, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrived at the Capitol Friday telling reporters he remained optimistic despite no deal in hand.
McCarthy said negotiators “made progress” overnight but wouldn’t get into specifics of the framework being discussed.
“And I’m gonna work as hard as we can to try to get this done, get more progress today and finish the job,” the speaker told reporters. “I’m a total optimist.”
But when asked if they could reach a deal on Friday, McCarthy’s demurred.
“Look, I’m gonna work as hard as I can. As soon as we get a deal, we’re gonna get a deal but it has to be worthy of the American people,” he said.
President Joe Biden, too, said progress was being made on Thursday.
“I’ve made it clear time and again: Defaulting on our national debt is not an option,” Biden said.
He added the negotiations with McCarthy are “about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about default. It’s about competing visions for America.”
Though once an agreement is reached, significant legislative hurdles remain in getting it passed before June 1 — the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintains the U.S. could start to run out of cash to pay all its bills.
McCarthy is pledging to give House members 72 hours to review the bill before bringing it to the floor for a vote. If it passes, it will go the Senate, where it would take just one lawmaker to delay approval for up to a week.
Also at issue is potential opposition from the wings of both parties. Several progressive Democrats have expressed frustration too much ground may be conceded to Republicans, whole conservative hardliners with the House Freedom Caucus are encouraging McCarthy to “hold the line” on their spending demands.
McCarthy on Friday appeared to defend the negotiations against growing dissatisfaction from the far right of his party.
“You’re talking to people who don’t know what’s in the deal,” he said when asked about the House Freedom Caucus members urging him to stop negotiations altogether.
“So I’m not concerned about anybody making any comments right now about what they think is in or not in. Whenever we come to an agreement, we’ll make sure we will first brief our entire conference,” he added.
ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott has reported negotiators are eyeing a possible deal to raise the debt limit through 2024, increase defense spending and veteran spending for two years while also clawing back unspent COVID-19 funds.
Top Republican negotiator Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana said late Thursday work requirements was a key sticking point.
“We have a lot of hang-ups but that’s one of the bigger issues we’re dealing with,” Graves said.
When asked if they can get a deal by this weekend, Graves said, “We’re not going to stop negotiating. We’re not going to stop. The speaker has made clear this is a priority.”
A new adaptation of Stephen King‘s classic short storyThe Boogeyman opens in theaters Friday.
In the movie, Air‘s Chris Messina plays Will, a therapist father of two grieving the loss of his wife, only to have he and his two daughters haunted by a supernatural menace.
The emotionally shut-down character is worlds away from the ranting, scene stealing sports agent David Falk he played in the sports drama Air — and that was intentional, Messina explains to ABC Audio. “It’s the reason why I wanted to do this in the first place,” he says. “The whole acting thing is, play different folks and be in different genres. So what a gift that I have the opportunity to do two projects back to back that I don’t think those guys would be in the same room.”
That said, he admitted it would be funny if the characters swapped places. “That would be a really interesting horror movie,” he says with a laugh, “Yeah. Just screaming at the Boogeyman. Cursing him out.”
Sophie Thatcher from the Emmy-winning Showtime show Yellowjackets plays Sadie, Will’s teen daughter. She explains how she got the spooky movie out of her head after long days on set.
“Music is the escape. Music is the way in. Music is life. Music is everything,” she says. “I had some hard weeks. I brought [both] my sisters plane tickets at different points because I was like, I just need family and I need like somebody that…I can be myself around. And even if we’re silent on our phones for 2 hours, I just need somebody…that can ground me. I think that was the most important thing.”
(WASHINGTON) — What started as a rocky presidential campaign launch marred with technical issues ended with a massive roll-in of cash for the first 24 hours of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
DeSantis raised $8.2 million in his first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, according to sources familiar with the fundraising. The governor’s spokesman, Bryan Griffin, later confirmed the figure to ABC News.
DeSantis’ campaign team aimed to raise $8-10 million in donations during the first 24 hours of the campaign, two sources confirmed to ABC News.
The amount DeSantis raised surpassed the $6.3 million President Joe Biden raised in the first 24 hours of his presidential launch in 2019.
The governor had summoned donors and fundraisers to the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami, Florida, for a two-day event that started on the same day as his campaign launch for president, which included dropping a campaign video announcing his run ahead of DeSantis taking to Twitter Spaces to discuss his run with Twitter CEO and billionaire Elon Musk. The rocky Twitter Spaces rollout did not deter from the excitement and support donors inside the Miami event had for DeSantis’ campaign, with attendees describing the event as “filled with a ton of energy.”
Although the governor and his wife, Casey DeSantis, did not attend the first day of the donor event, the pair appeared on the second day, arriving sometime around noon, according to a source familiar with the governor’s arrival. People who were in attendance said that they thought that the governor was “personable” and “fun.”
Sources who attended the fundraising event told ABC News that the governor and his wife were meeting with donors and jumping on calls to raise money for the campaign.
Even with the large sum of money raised within the first 24 hours of DeSantis’ campaign, other organizations plan to support the governor’s 2024 run.
The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down will use $100 million of its $200 million budget on voter outreach and field operations to support DeSantis’ presidential run financially.
The strong fundraising haul may be a boon to the campaign after its Wednesday launch, which was plagued by technical issues to the point that a link to a new Twitter Space needed to be created.
DeSantis’ next campaign-related event will be next week in Iowa where he’ll hold his campaign kick off.
(NEW YORK) — A South Carolina judge has granted abortion providers’ request to block a newly enacted six-week abortion ban while a legal challenge proceeds, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic confirmed to ABC News.
Planned Parenthood, one of the providers involved in the lawsuit, celebrated the decision on Twitter.
BREAKING NEWS: A South Carolina state court just granted abortion providers’ request to block the newly-enacted ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The ban was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday after passing in the state Senate earlier this week.
The new ban prohibits all abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which generally occurs at six weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. Anyone who violates the ban is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined $10,000, face prison time of up to two years or both.
Physicians or medical providers found guilty of performing illegal abortions will also have their licenses revoked.
The suit challenging the ban was filed by Planned Parenthood and Greenville Women’s Clinic. It claims the ban violates constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection and substantive due process.
“Today the court has granted our patients a welcome reprieve from this dangerous abortion ban. Our doors remain open, and we are here to provide compassionate and judgment-free health care to all South Carolinians. While we have a long fight ahead, we will not stop until our patients are again free to make their own decisions about their bodies and futures,” Jenny Black, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement Friday.
McMaster had signed a previous so-called “heartbeat ban” into law in 2021, but it was struck down by the state’s Supreme Court in January.
Fifteen states have ceased nearly all abortion services since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.
The White House criticized the ban in a statement late Thursday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said South Carolina’s “extreme and dangerous” ban on abortions past six weeks ” will criminalize health care providers and cause delays and denials of health and life-saving care.”
“South Carolina’s ban will cut off access to abortion for women in the state and those across the entire region for whom South Carolina is their closest option for care,” Jean-Pierre said.
