Avenged Sevenfold‘s upcoming album, Life Is But a Dream…, features contributions from the band’s late drummer, The Rev.
As frontman M. Shadows tells Metal Hammer, the song “Mattel” includes a bridge composed by The Rev prior to his death in 2009, while the cut “Beautiful Morning” has lyrics he and guitarist Synyster Gates had written together.
“That’s something him and [Gates] came up with a long time ago: ‘It’s a beautiful morning, it’s a beautiful day, everybody is smiling, in a beautiful way,'” Shadows shares. “That’s when it [the song] gets creepy.”
Shadows adds that he thinks The Rev would be “stoked” about the experimental musical direction of Life is But a Dream… .
“Me and [Gates] know that guy better than anyone,” Shadows says. “He was always the biggest proponent of instigation and trying new things.”
Life Is But a Dream…, the follow-up to 2016’s The Stage, arrives June 2. It includes the lead single “Nobody.”
Yellowcard is set to release new music for the first time in seven years.
The “Ocean Avenue” outfit has announced a new EP called Childhood Eyes, due out July 7. It features guest spots by Dashboard Confessional‘s Chris Carrabba and Pierce the Veil‘s Vic Fuentes.
“We feel like these 5 songs represent the Yellowcard sound that fans know and love in the best possible way,” the group says.
Yellowcard’s last release was their 2016 self-titled album. The group broke up following a final tour in 2017 before eventually getting back together at last year’s Riot Fest.
This summer, Yellowcard will launch a U.S. tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Ocean Avenue album. They’re also playing this year’s When We Were Young Festival in October.
The main trailer for the highly anticipated Barbie film is here.
The new trailer gives fans more of an in-depth look at Barbie’s world — filled with pink cars, pink houses and palm trees.
It opens with Ken (Ryan Gosling) asking if he can come over to Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) house. Barbie says yes and that she’s just having a “giant blowout party with all the Barbies and planned choreography and a bespoke song.”
The trailer then takes off with Barbie and Ken dancing to a new song by Dua Lipa in the background, Barbie driving in her pink convertible, and more scenes in Barbie Land filled with pink beaches and houses.
Things take a turn when Barbie seemingly has an existential crisis, which features a clip of her iconic tip-toe feet falling flat and another clip of Barbie going to the real world.
A synopsis for the film says, “To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.”
The Greta Gerwig-directed film includes a star-studded cast playing different versions of Barbies and Kens.
Ritu Arya, Nicola Coughlan, Ana Cruz Kayne, Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef and Issa Rae are among the Barbies, while Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Simu Liu play Kens.
Earlier this week, the film released the lineup of artists who will be featured on the album. Along with Dua Lipa, fans can expect to hear Ava Max, Charli XCX, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, HAIM, Ryan Gosling and more.
Fans hoping to see ABBA reunite next year are apparently out of luck.
There’s been a lot of speculation that the group would get back together to perform at the 2024 Eurovision Song contest because, not only is it happening in their native Sweden, it’s also the 50th anniversary of when ABBA won Eurovision with their song “Waterloo.”
While that does sound like it would be the perfect time for a reunion, ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have already shut the speculation down.
“I don’t want to,” Andersson tells BBCNewsnight, “and if I don’t want to, the others won’t. It’s the same for all four of us — someone says, ‘no’ — it’s a no.”
Ulvaeus adds, “We can celebrate 50 years of Abba without us being onstage.”
ABBA won Eurovision with their classic song in 1974. Sweden then went on to win the contest an additional six times, with the most recent win coming just this year.
(VALLEY MILLS, Texas) — A Texas family is mourning the loss of a beloved father and the hospitalization of his young son following a lightning strike.
Matthew Boggs was walking his sons Elijah, 11, and Grayson, 6, home after school on May 15, when lightning struck him and Grayson, according to Stephanie Burris, who is Boggs’ first cousin.
Burris told “Good Morning America” that the father and sons were walking together on the family’s driveway in Valley Mills, Texas, after Boggs picked up his sons from the bus stop.
At a separation in the driveway, Elijah veered left, while Grayson and Boggs, 34, veered to the right together, according to Burris.
Burris said family members who were home at the time told her Boggs reached down and grabbed Grayson’s hand after the two had separated from Elijah, and told his son that he loved him.
Just seconds later, the lightning bolt struck, killing Boggs and severely injuring Grayson.
“His last words were, ‘I love you buddy,’ to his son,” Burris said of her cousin.
The local sheriff’s office confirmed the lightning strike in a May 16 Facebook post.
“On arrival, responders located an adult male and a 6 year old child who were not responsive,” the statement read. “Responders determined that the adult male was deceased and the child was unresponsive, but breathing.”
Burris said the lightning strike appeared to come out of nowhere, noting there were few clouds in the sky and Boggs’ mom, who lives next door, was outside mowing the lawn at the time.
Grayson is currently being treated at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple, Texas, where he remains on a ventilator.
“It seems like he’s making very small progress every day, but we don’t know if it’s purposeful,” Burris said. “Until he’s off [the ventilator], we’re not going to know the extent of his deficits.”
The hospital declined to comment on Grayson’s condition, citing patient confidentiality.
Burris has started a GoFundMe account to help support Grayson in his ongoing recovery, as well as Elijah and the boys’ mother Kayla Boggs.
“As we learned more about the extent of Grayson’s injuries, he’s going to need some sort of care for the rest of his life,” Burris said, adding, “There has been such an outpouring of love and support for them. It’s just amazing.”
Burris said the family is focused on Grayson’s recovery and remembering Boggs, whom she described as a devoted dad.
At the time of the lightning strike, Grayson was just three days away from finishing kindergarten, and Boggs was three months shy of his 35th birthday.
“When it came to the boys, they were his world,” Burris said. “They were his little buddies. They loved to wrestle and play video games.”
She continued, “One of Elijah’s favorite things with his dad was when they would go swimming at the pool. They really let loose and would just play for hours and have so much fun in the water.”
Armani White has released the music video for “Silver Tooth,” the latest single from his Road to CASABLANCO EP. The clip follows him and feature A$AP Ferg as they get their teeth checked at a dentist appointment, occasionally zooming in to give fans a close-up of their silver grills.
“Used to have a silvertooth when I was just a pup,” Armani raps on the track, which samples “Take Ya Home” by Bow Wow. Ferg then chimes in with mentions of his Platinum records, diamonds, 24 carat VVs and other bling that he owns.
“Silver Tooth” follows the release of “Goated,” which has over 1 billion views on TikTok, 3 million YouTube views and 18 million Spotify streams, per a press release. He previously performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
As previously teased, Royal Blood has premiered a new single called “Mountains at Midnight.” Not only that, the duo has announced a new album.
The fourth studio effort from Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher is titled Back to the Water Below and arrives September 8.
Back to the Water Below follows Royal Blood’s dance-influenced 2021 record, Typhoons. While “Mountains at Midnight” is more of a return to the band’s pre-Typhoons sound, they hint at more experimentation on the rest of the record.
“We wanted to remind you who we are and what we do before we drag you down the rabbit hole with us,” Royal Blood says.
You can listen to “Mountains at Midnight” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video, which comes with a flashing imagery warning, is streaming now on YouTube.
Here’s the Back to the Water Below track list:
“Mountains at Midnight”
“Shiner in the Dark”
“Pull Me Through”
“The Firing Line”
“Tell Me When It’s Too Late”
“Triggers”
“How Many More Times”
“High Waters”
“There Goes My Cool”
“Waves”
(NEW YORK) — Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon will stand trial in May 2024 for allegedly defrauding donors to the “We Build the Wall” online fundraising campaign, a Manhattan judge said Thursday.
Judge Juan Merchan set a trial date of May 27 of next year — two months after former President Donald Trump is set to stand trial before the same judge for allegedly falsifying business records related to Stormy Daniels’ hush money payment.
As president, Trump pardoned Bannon on his last night in office after Bannon was indicted on federal charges of defrauding donors to the “We Build the Wall” crowdfunding effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The state charges Bannon now faces were brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and allege that Bannon and “We Build the Wall” defrauded 430 Manhattan-based donors out of $33,600. Across New York state, there were more than 11,000 donors defrauded out of more than $730,000, according to the indictment.
Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges in September.
Prosecutors say “We Build the Wall” raised $15 million from donors across the country based on “false pretenses,” citing a pledge organizers made that the group’s president would take no salary. Instead, the campaign’s president, Brian Kolfage, received a salary of $250,000 that was secretly funneled to him by Bannon, prosecutors say.
The indictment quotes Bannon telling donors at a June 24, 2019, fundraising event, “Remember, all the money you give goes to building the wall.”
If convicted, Bannon faces two counts of money laundering, which carry a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison, as well as additional felony counts of conspiracy and scheme to defraud along with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to defraud.
(JACKSON, Miss.) — Three former Jackson Police Department officers were indicted by a grand jury last week on homicide charges in the death of Keith Murriel, a Mississippi man who died in police custody on Dec. 31, 2022.
Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II, announced the charges against former officers Kenya McCarty, Avery Willis and James Land in a press conference on Wednesday.
“All three officers have been indicted for homicide,” Owens said. “The District Attorney’s office would like to acknowledge the brave actions of the entire Jackson Police Department. And we do not think the actions of a few represent the bravery of so many.”
Owens said that McCarty and Willis were each charged with second-degree murder, while Land was charged with manslaughter.
ABC News has reached out to attorneys for McCarty and Land but requests for comment were not immediately responded to. Efforts to reach Willis directly for comment were unsuccessful. It is unclear if he has retained an attorney.
Daryl Washington, an attorney representing the family of Murriel, told ABC News in a statement on Thursday that the indictment brings “a level of comfort” to the family.
Family of Brianna Grier, Georgia woman who fell out of moving police vehicle, files wrongful death lawsuit
“It’s been an extremely difficult time for the family, knowing that Keith’s death was totally preventable,” Washington said.
“Although the family would much rather have Keith here with them, there is a level of comfort knowing that the officers have been indicted for the egregious crime they committed last December,” he added. “We know that this is only the first step in a long process, but we are encouraged by the thorough investigation that was conducted and believe the officers will be held fully accountable for their wrongful actions.”
The city of Jackson released body camera footage of the incident on Wednesday that was reviewed by ABC News and shows officers tasing Murriel several times as they try to handcuff him. Murriel can be heard repeatedly urging the officers to stop.
“The hardest thing for the family is hearing Keith telling the officers to stop,” Washington told ABC News on Thursday.
Following Murriel’s death, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation launched a probe into the incident.
ABC News has reached out to the MBI for a copy of the final report, as well as a copy of Murriel’s autopsy.
Jackson City Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who urged the MBI to release the video earlier this year, told reporters that the video is “voluminous” and is made up of footage from various officers’ cameras, as well as camera footage from the surrounding area that captured Murriel’s encounter with police.
“We believe that we have seen actions which are excessive, disheartening and tragic,” Lumumba said.
Members of Murriel’s family, who, according to Washington, have been calling for months on the MBI to release the body camera video, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in April against officers involved in this case.
“We chose not to release the video at that time because we did not want to compromise the ongoing investigation,” Lumumba said.
“We wanted to make it clear while we were releasing this video that we are on the side of justice and want to see justice take place,” he added.
Newly appointed Jackson Police Department Chief Joseph Wade offered his condolences to Murriel’s family during the press conference on Wednesday and pledged to be transparent.
“We strive at the Jackson Police Department to create community trust. When we fail, we create community distrust,” Wade said, urging the community to continue to support the officers who “put their lives on the line every day.”
“We at JPD will continue to be transparent and we will continue to have accountability measures in place – not only from the bottom up, but from the top down as we move forward,” he added.
Former Jackson Police Chief James Davis announced his retirement on Friday and Wade was named interim police chief.
Lumumba publicly disagreed with Davis in February after police released a statement saying that Murriel experienced a “health emergency” that led to his death.
According to a Jackson Police Department news release given to the ABC affiliate, WAPT, in January officers responded at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 31 2022, to a call for service in the 500 block of E. Beasley Road.
“While at the location, officers successfully took an individual into custody who experienced a medical emergency,” JPD said in the release, according to the affiliate. “American Medical Response was summoned to the location to render aid; unfortunately, the individual was pronounced deceased on the scene.”
Asked during the press conference on Wednesday if Davis’ departure had anything to do with the backlash over the incident that led to Murriel’s death, Lumumda said, “no.”
“I shared that, you know I had a different take on it, but that had nothing to do with his decision to retire and my decision to accept his retirement,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — A recent high school graduate from Louisiana is missing after going overboard while on a trip to the Bahamas, school officials said.
Cameron Robbins, who attended University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, was on a trip with a group of students when he went overboard Wednesday night, school officials said.
“As of this interview right now he has not been located,” Kevin George, director of the Laboratory School, told ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ midday Thursday.
The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said Thursday that it is assisting with search efforts for a missing U.S. citizen “believed to have fallen overboard from a sunset cruise near Nassau” on Wednesday.
A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the search is for Robbins.
The incident was reported between 11:30 p.m. and midnight local time Wednesday, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Estrada.
The Coast Guard is providing air assistance in the ongoing search and rescue mission, which is being led by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Estrada said.
The Bahamas vacation was not a school-sanctioned trip but included students from several high schools in the area, including between 10 and 15 students from the Laboratory School, George said.
The school just held its graduation on Sunday.
George described Robbins as a “great kid” and athlete who had been with the school for 13 years, since the start of his education.
“Just one of those kids that you’re so proud of once they cross the stage,” George said.
Students held a prayer circle for Robbins Thursday morning following news that he was reported missing, holding hands outside the Laboratory School, located on the main campus of Louisiana State University.
“It’s a tight-knit family,” George said. “The kids reached out to us wanting to know, could they do a prayer circle. Obviously we agreed. We really appreciated their leadership in this trying time.”
Robbins has a sister who is a junior at the school, according to George, who said he spoke to their father Thursday morning.
“It’s just a really emotional time for us right now,” George said. “Just trying to send up our prayers and give our support.”
“Let’s continue to pray and pray that we find Cameron safe and sound,” he said.
