Huey Lewis is showing his appreciation for Foo Fighters. The singer thanked the band for talking about Huey Lewis& The News’ music during their recent livestream, Preparing For Music Concerts.
Huey’s music came up after Foo guitarist Chris Shifflett started playing a bit of “Workin’ for a Livin’” and the band joined in. Frontman Dave Grohl asks his bandmates whether the tune was on Lewis’ 1983 album, Sports, to which guitarist Pat Smear corrects him that it was on the album before, referring to 1982’s Picture This.
“It was the buildup to Sports, you know what I’m saying?” Smear says. “It was like, ‘Wait! We gotta pay attention to this band.’”
While the interaction wasn’t the big news to come out of the livestream — that was the reveal of new Foo drummer Josh Freese — it still made an impression on Lewis.
“Thank you to the @foofighters for the flattering words about ‘Workin’ For A Livin’,’ ‘Sports,’ and our music in general,” Huey tweeted. “It was an honor to be talked about in your ‘Preparing Music For Concerts’ video. #foofighters #hueylewisandthenews”
Robert Allen Zimmerman, who later changed his name to Bob Dylan, was born in Duluth, Minnesota.
Considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan’s 60-year career is known for such classic songs as “Blowing in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and many, many others.
He got his start singing folk songs, but shocked fans at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he went electric, forgoing his acoustic guitars. This electric sound can be heard on such classic rock albums as 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, as well as 1966’s Blonde on Blonde.
Dylan is the winner of 10 Grammys and eight of his songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall Fame. He’s also an Academy Award and a Golden Globe winner for “Things Have Changed” from the movie Wonder Boys. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997.
Dylan is still making music and touring today. His most recent release is 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. On June 2, the soundtrack to Dylan’s 2021 concert film Shadow Kingdom will be released, with the film itself following on June 6. October 24 brings Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine, a 608-page book giving fans a look at the Bob Dylan Archive, which is housed in Tulsa, OK.
In addition, a Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet is expected to begin filming this summer and Dylan kicks off a European tour on June 3.
After winning American Idol in 2020, Just Sam is back to singing on the subway.
The 24-year-old singer, birth name Samantha Diaz, has been posting videos on Instagram that show her busking on the New York City subway for donations — the same thing she was doing before Idol.
The posts sparked concern from fans, who questioned why Idol hadn’t done more to help her career.
Sam posted a message on her Instagram Story Tuesday that reads, “There’s so much that I want to say, but there’s not much that I’m allowed to say..but I promise that I will say more very soon.”
“For now I will just say thank you so much to everyone who has my back,” she continued. “Thank you so so much to the people who are showing me nothing but love and supporting me.”
Just Sam won the first-ever remote American Idol season during the pandemic.
(NEW YORK) — After news broke that Amanda Gorman’s historic poem “The Hill We Climb” was moved to the middle school section of a Miami-Dade school, the poet slammed efforts to restrict or censor books in schools.
“I’m gutted,” she said in a statement posted to her social media accounts.
She continued, “I wrote The Hill We Climb so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment … Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.”
Documents obtained via a public records request by the activist group Florida Freedom to Read Project found that a complaint by one parent targeted several books concerning Black history — including “The Hill We Climb,” “The ABCs of Black History,” and “Love to Langston.” The School Materials Review Committee recommended these three books be shelved in the middle school section of the media center.
The complaint said the poem “indirectly” contained “hate messages” and believed it could “cause confusion and indoctrinate students.” “Critical race theory” and “indoctrination” were cited as reasons behind the complaints of the other books.
Two books on Cuba were also targeted by the parent, who cited “indoctrination about socialism” in their complaint.
In a statement, Miami-Dade County said Gorman’s poem was not banned or removed from their schools, assuring that the book remains available in the media center as part of the middle grades collection.
The Miami Herald first reported the story.
In 2022, the American Library Association documented a record-breaking number of reported book ban attempts across the country. The organization found 1,269 demands to censor or restrict library materials or resources, the highest total since it began compiling this data more than 20 years ago. More than 2,571 unique titles were targeted, with the majority of the books being written by or about LGBTQ characters or people of color.
Penguin Random House, one of the country’s largest book publishers which also published Gorman’s poem, is part of a lawsuit targeting a separate Florida school district for removing certain books from the shelves of public school libraries.
The lawsuit argues that the school board’s removal and restriction of books that discuss racism and have LGBTQ themes violates the First Amendment.
Florida has been at the center of the clashes in education, as recent legislation has led to restrictions and removals of books across the state.
In the new action, coming-of-age series American Born Chinese, premiering Wednesday on Disney+, Ben Wang stars as Jin Wang, a high school sophomore hoping to start the new school year by playing some soccer and asking out his crush. But his whole world is thrown upside down when a new exchange student shows up, and things start getting weird.
It’s based on a graphic novel by Gene Yang, and Wang tells ABC Audio it’s as if Yang was hiding in the bushes watching him grow up.
“It was like literally, every single panel felt like it was just painted from my life,” he explains. “That terrible haircut that Jin has, that was my haircut … the sad expression on his face and the dumb t-shirts … I’m like, ‘Wow, How did somebody, how was somebody able to so specifically capture what I thought was a very specific and unique experience?'”
Even though the story felt very specific to how Wang grew up, he’s learned that it’s surprisingly universal, sharing that, “At the very center, it’s a story about growing up.”
He adds, “It’s a story about being a teenager, feeling like you don’t fit in, feeling sort of like an underdog, maybe. And that, I think, is a really, really universal message.”
Ultimately, Wang hopes it will feel that way for others who feel alone.
“I was one of the only Asian kids in my town, in my county, in my congressional district and I know for a fact that having this show would have made me feel less lonely about my experiences,” Wang expresses. “So for the kids out there who did have a specific experience like I did, I hope this is useful for them, this show, because I know it would have been for me.”
Oprah Winfrey, who earned an Oscar nomination for 1985’s adaptation Alice Walker‘s 1982 novel The Color Purple, and who produces the forthcoming big screen musical version, can’t sing enough praises of its lead, singer Fantasia Barrino.
Oprah took part in a virtual promotional event with director Blitz Bazawule on Tuesday, and gave the former American Idol winner her flowers, saying she was “so deeply moved” by Fantasia, as quoted by the New York Daily News.
Fantasia plays the adult version of Celie in the Warner Bros. film, and both she and the character share a childhood marred by physical and sexual abuse — as does Winfrey herself.
“She said this movie changed her because it allowed her to forgive,” Oprah explained of Barrino.
“She said … ‘People coming to this movie will be healed…because I was healed…I came from no education. I came from sexual assault as a young girl. I came from domestic abuse and I learned through this movie that not only could I heal, but I could forgive.'”
Winfrey expresses, “So when [Fantasia] sings that anthem, ‘I’m Still Here,’ she is speaking to everybody who’s been told no, everybody who’s been turned down, everybody who’s been turned back, everybody who’s been allowed to believe that they couldn’t make it and then they did.”
The talk show icon gushed about director Bazawule’s film, enthusing, “I could just cry thinking about what [Bazawule] has done with this new iteration,” calling it “a revival of joy.”
The Color Purple also stars Little Mermaid lead Halle Bailey, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Corey Hawkins, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
(WASHINGTON) — Ron DeSantis is expected to enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary race on Wednesday — setting the stage for a long awaited and potentially volatile contest between the Florida governor, who is a rising star in his party, and former President Donald Trump, who has so far dominated most polls in the very early months of the election.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post survey showed that among the six best-known candidates, Trump clinched 51% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents while DeSantis garnered 25%. A majority of those voters said they’d be satisfied with either Trump (75%) or DeSantis (64%) as their presidential nominee.
Those margins are far ahead of other declared candidates, like South Carolinians Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, though still well behind Trump, a former DeSantis ally who grew more critical as DeSantis’ own national ambitions became clearer.
The governor will announce his candidacy during a live, audio-only Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, sources have told ABC News. He is also set to file with the Federal Election Commission this week.
Wednesday’s announcement will mark the climax of months of anticipation about the governor’s plans to seek higher office. He has made trips this year to several key early-voting states, including multiple stops in Iowa and New Hampshire, but ultimately waited until the completion of the Florida legislative session to formally enter the presidential race.
Gearing up to run, DeSantis has argued that it’s time for Republicans to move beyond Trump.
“Two [people] have a chance to get elected president: [Joe] Biden and me, based on all the data in the swing states, which is not great for the former president and probably insurmountable because people aren’t going to change their view of him,” he told donors last week, sources have said.
During the legislative session, DeSantis burnished his conservative bona fides while continuing to stoke the controversial culture war issues that have increasingly been his signature. He signed bills restricting abortion after six weeks, defunding diversity programs at state universities and permitting concealed carry of a firearm without a government-issued permit.
He also targeted Disney’s long-standing self-governing status in Florida after the company opposed the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act forbidding discussion of sexual orientation and gender in some K-12 classrooms, a ban critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”
DeSantis and Disney — which is ABC News’ parent company — have since become embroiled in a legal battle, with DeSantis arguing Disney is trying to “to have their own fiefdom” and Disney accusing DeSantis and other Florida officials of being “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”
Over the past week, the governor has touted his record in front of audiences made up of the kinds of voters who often swing Republican primaries.
In Orlando on Saturday, while delivering a speech at a gala hosted by the Florida Family Policy Council, an anti-abortion group, DeSantis promised “a war on the woke,” vowed to lock up people who “take away or cut off someone’s private parts” — referring to gender confirmation procedures — and railed against critical race theory, parts of which many conservatives argue are being inappropriately taught in K-12 grades.
“We need to restore sanity to our society, we need to restore normalcy to our communities and we need to restore integrity to our institutions,” DeSantis said, to cheers.
A former Navy lawyer-turned-lawmaker, DeSantis first emerged on the national stage during the COVID-19 pandemic when he bucked public health guidance on masks and vaccines, contending that some restrictions could be excessive and unnecessary.
He has seemingly relished angering Democrats and hitting back at the mainstream press — a task also carried out online by his staff, who are prone to post on Twitter their correspondence with reporters while calling out what they see as unfair coverage.
DeSantis was born in Jacksonville and spent his childhood in the Tampa suburb of Dunedin. He graduated from Yale University, having played on the baseball team, and Harvard Law School before joining the Navy in 2004.
He first held office in 2013, as a representative for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, serving until 2018.
That year, he won the Republican nomination for governor — after an endorsement from Trump — and narrowly defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum in the general election.
Since DeSantis became governor, Florida, long seen as a purple state, has shifted markedly in favor of Republicans.
He links those conservative victories to his style of leadership, a response to even those critics in his own party — including Trump, who labeled him with a characteristically insulting nickname: “DeSanctimonious.”
“You can call me whatever you want just as long as you also call me a winner, because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida is put a lot of points on the board and really take this state to the next level,” DeSantis said earlier this year.
In November, he won reelection by nearly 20%, the largest margin by a Republican governor in Florida’s history.
He and his wife, Casey, whom he married in 2009, have three children together.
The MTV Video Music Awards have an air date. The ceremony will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Additional details will be announced closer to the show. The VMAs honor the best music videos of the past year with appearances and performances from music’s biggest stars…
Deadline reports What We Do in the Shadows star Matt Berry is in talks to join Jason Momoa in Minecraft, the film adaptation of the titular video game, which is the highest-selling of all time. Plot details, including Berry’s potential role, have not been revealed. The film is set for an April 4, 2025 release…
Original Blues Clues host Steve Burns is returning to his old stomping grounds. Entertainment Weekly reports he will appear in an upcoming episode of Nickelodeon’s popular kids TV show that he co-wrote and directed, titled “The Case of the Missing Thinking Chair.” Burns was the face of Blues Clues from its debut in 1996 through 2002. He was succeeded by Donovan Patton, as Burns’ cousin Joe — who also reprises his role in the episode. They join current star Josh Dela Cruz, who plays Steve’s brother and Joe’s cousin. “The Case of the Missing Thinking Chair” airs Friday, May 26, at 11:30 a.m. ET…
The Voice revealed its season 23 winner — Gina Miles, from Niall Horan‘s team — and said goodbye to coach Blake Shelton after 23 seasons.
A shocked Miles beat out Grace West and NOIVAS from Team Blake, who placed fifth and second, respectively; D.Smooth from Kelly Clarkson’s team, who came in fourth; and Sorelle from Chance the Rapper’s team, who finished third.
However, the night also belonged to Blake, who was honored throughout the show.
Former coach Adam Levine appeared in person to say goodbye to his buddy and longtime co-star, along with many of Shelton’s past contestants, including Dia Frampton, Xenia, Jermaine Paul, Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbery, Swon Brothers, Todd Tilghman, Ian Flanigan, Bryce Leatherwood, Craig Wayne Boyd, RaeLynn and Sundance Head, who performed Green Day‘s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”
Former coaches Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Pharrell Williams, CeeLo Green, Nick Jonas, and John Legend also sent video messages, along with NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn, Olympic track and field champ Jackie Joyner-Kersee and former NFL star Peyton Manning. Dolly Parton also sent best wishes, as well as George Strait, the last of whom said that he hoped to see Blake on the road sometime.
(NEW YORK) — Orcas may be teaching each other to attack boats following a spate of strikes on sailboats off the coast of Europe, some observers say.
Sailors have reported a series of “coordinated” attacks by a group of orcas, including a May 22 strike on a 26-foot vessel sailing off the coast of Cape Spartel, near the Strait of Gibraltar.
“[Six] orcas arrived, 2 adults very big, 4 smaller ones,” sailor JP Derunes wrote in Orca Attack Reports, a Facebook group dedicated to flagging orca activity. “Both rudders destroyed and blocked … Boat to be hauled off later this week.”
That attack followed a nighttime strike on May 4, when a Swiss yacht named Champagne, which was also sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, was attacked by three orcas. They struck its rudder, eventually sinking it, reported Yacht, a German boating news outlet.
At least 15 human-orca incidents were recorded in 2020, the year in which the aggressive encounters are believed to have begun, according to a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science. Many of those attacks included orcas biting or striking the rudders of sailboats.
No casualties appear to have been reported in the attacks.
Scientists said spikes in aggression may have been started by a female orca whom scientists have named “White Gladis.”
White Gladis is believed to have suffered a “critical moment of agony” such as a boat collision, which inflicted trauma on the orca, triggering a behavioral switch that other killer whales have learned to imitate.
The majority of orca-sailor encounters have been harmless.
“In more than 500 interaction events recorded since 2020 there are three sunken ships. We estimate that killer whales only touch one ship our of every hundred that sail through a location,” Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aviero, told Live Science.
According to a study in Biological Conservation, a peer-reviewed journal, “sophisticated learning abilities” have been found to exist in orcas, with imitation found to be particularly significant.
