Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan just dropped a new three-track EP, This Is The Song, to help highlight Mental Health Awareness Month.
McKagan says he wrote the EP “in the middle of a panic attack,” sharing, “I couldn’t breathe and couldn’t see straight and lately, I have thankfully found my acoustic guitar as a refuge. If I just hold on to that guitar, play chords, and hum melodies, I can start to climb my way out of that hole.”
“For those of you who have never experienced something like this, count yourselves blessed,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer offers. “To those of you who recognize what I am talking about: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!”
The EP, which is McKagan’s first new solo music in almost four years, has been released to all digital outlets and streaming services. Duff has also shared an official video for the EP’s title track.
Here is the track list for This Is The Song:
“This Is The Song”
“Pass You By”
“It Can’t Come Too Soon”
Next up, McKagan hits the road with Guns N’ Roses on a worldwide tour that kicks off June 1 in Abu Dhabi. It hits the U.S. August 11 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at gunsnroses.com
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for The National Lottery
It’s been a big month for ’80s band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. First, they reunited for the first time in 36 years to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Eurovision contest, and now comes word that their story is coming to the big screen.
Deadline reports that the U.K. studios Working Title and Independent Entertainment are working on a biopic of the band, based on frontman Holly Johnson’s memoir, A Bone In My Flute. The film, titled Relax, is expected to feature the band’s hit songs.
The movie is set to star Callum Scott Howells, best known for his work on the U.K. series It’s A Sin, about the beginnings of the AIDS crisis.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood is best known for hit songs “Relax,” “Two Tribes” and “The Power of Love,” which all appeared on their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome. The band broke up in 1987 and hadn’t performed together until the Eurovision ceremony in their home city of Liverpool, England.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — An Army sergeant convicted of murder in the fatal 2020 shooting of an armed Black Lives Matter protester during a demonstration in Austin, Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeks to grant him a pardon.
Attorneys for 35-year-old Daniel Perry asked a judge to consider giving their client a 10-year sentence for the murder of Garrett Foster, a U.S. Air Force veteran, citing Perry’s lack of criminal history and presenting evidence that he has post-traumatic stress disorder from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
But Travis County, Texas, Criminal Courts Judge Clifford Brown rejected the plea for leniency and sentenced Perry to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors have asked Brown to consider a sentence of at least 25 years.
“This man is a loaded gun, ready to go off at any perceived threat. He’s going to do it again,” Travis County Assistant District Attorney Guillermo Gonzalez told Brown during Tuesday’s hearing.
Brown announced his sentencing after Foster’s mother and sister testified Wednesday morning.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to sit here facing the evil that killed my son, sitting here thinking how surreal it is that this is happening, finally. After three long years, we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Sheila Foster testified.
Anna Mayo, Garrett Foster’s sister, testified that her brother was an U.S. Air Force veteran who comes from a family of military combat veterans, including her father.
“When I look at you, I see a very small man who used his military status as a means to kill,” Mayo testified, speaking directly to Perry, who sat at the defense table wearing black and gray striped jail clothes and with his head bowed down. “I do not see any honorable traits and I see no remorse for what you’ve done. You can’t even look at my family.”
Perry, who was an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant based in Texas at Fort Hood, was working as a driver for a ridesharing company when he drove onto a street crowded with protesters on July 25, 2020, in downtown Austin.
Foster, 28, who was white, was pushing his fiancee Whitney Mitchell’s wheelchair during the Austin protest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis when authorities said protesters surrounded Perry’s ridesharing car. Foster, who was legally wielding an AK-47 rifle in accordance with Texas’ open carry law, was fatally shot when he approached Perry’s vehicle, according to prosecutors.
During the trial, defense attorneys argued that Perry fired at Foster in self-defense, alleging the protester pointed the rifle in his direction. But prosecutors argued that Perry could have avoided the fatal confrontation by simply driving away and witnesses testified at the trial that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry.
After a jury convicted Perry of murder on April 7, Abbott said he was “working as swiftly as Texas law allows” to pardon Perry.
Abbott criticized both the jury’s decision to convict Perry and Travis County District Attorney José Garza for pursuing the case.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said in a statement.
During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors called Mitchell, who lost both her legs to sepsis, to the witness stand and she gave emotional testimony of how difficult her life his become since losing Foster, her primary caregiver.
“It’s hard to sleep in my bed because he’s not there. To have to learn how to do all of that stuff that Garrett was doing for me for a decade, and it’s hard because I have to get comfortable being vulnerable,” Mitchell testified, according to ABC Austin affiliate station KVUE.
Defense attorneys called forensic psychologist Greg Hupp to testify. Hupp said he believes Perry suffers from PTSD and has personality characteristics consistent with an autism spectrum disorder.
Following the trial, Judge Brown unsealed court records revealing racist messages and anti-protest sentiments Perry posted on social media prior to the shooting. In one of the social media posts, Perry wrote, “Black Lives Matter is racist to white people … It is official I am racist because I do not agree with people acting like monkeys.”
During the two-week trial, the jury did not see or hear Perry’s social media posts.
Two soldiers, Ronald Wilson and Traveon Napper, who served in the Army with Perry were called to the witness stand Tuesday and both testified that Perry, in their opinion, is not a racist. Wilson testified that sharing such social media posts was a way to cope with the daily stress of serving in the military.
Perry’s mother, Rachel Perry, also took the witness stand, testifying her son has shown remorse for the fatal shooting.
“He cried a lot when this happened,” Rachel Perry testified. “His intention was just to protect himself, not to go out and shoot anybody.”
Following the Perry’s conviction, his attorney’s requested a new trial, citing juror misconduct. The defense attorney’s alleged jurors brought outside information into the jury deliberation room concerning self-defense law during their deliberations.
Judge Brown rejected the motion for a new trial. The defense attorney did not immediately say they will appeal the conviction.
They’ve influenced a generation of musicians, and now Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are getting their due.
All episodes of the fuzzy, funky rock group’s new show, The Muppets Mayhem, debut Wednesday on Disney+.
In the show, you’ll learn how the band — Dr. Teeth, Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Lips and of course Animal — has influenced countless acts, from Chris Stapleton to Meatloaf. Indeed, the show’s trailer also features other famous fans, including Mötley Crüe‘s Tommy Lee and Lil Nas X.
Floyd Pepper tells ABC Audio, “You know, I just hope that folks see us for who we is – a bunch of hard rockin’, jam-playin’ groove machines who can’t help but make music that’s going to stick to your head like a, like a hat covered in honey.”
For his part, Animal says the show centers on “music, friendship, and album!” Pepper clarifies, “We finally get to record our first album, in the show, which is pretty awesome.”
In the new series, music executive Nora (Lilly Singh) works with the group to help them navigate the new music industry landscape in hopes of recording an epic first studio album.
Other guest stars slated to appear in the upcoming series include Paula Abdul, Steve Aoki, Sofia Carson, Charlamagne Tha God, deadmau5, Kesha, Morgan Freeman, Ben Schwartz, Ryan Seacrest, Kevin Smith, Zedd, Danny Trejo and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Paul David Hewson, better known as U2 frontman Bono, was born in Dublin, Ireland.
U2 was formed in 1976 after Bono and friend David Evans aka the Edge responded to an advertisement posted on a bulletin board by Larry Mullen Jr. seeking musicians interested in forming a rock band.
U2 released their first album, Boy, in 1980. The follow-up, 1983’s War, propelled them to stardom thanks to hit singles “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Pride (In The Name of Love).”
The band has gone on to release 15 studio albums and won 22 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for 1987’s The Joshua Tree. They’ve sold between 150 million and 170 million records and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 in their first year of eligibility.
In addition to U2, Bono is known for his activism and philanthropy, and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the plight of the people of Africa. In 2004 he launched the One Campaign, with a goal of eliminating extreme poverty and disease in Africa.
In November 2022, Bono released his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. He just wrapped up a series of performances of his one-man show Stories of Surrender — based on that memoir — at New York’s Beacon Theatre.
(NEW YORK) — A missing teenage hiker was rescued from chest-deep snow in Montana’s Glacier National Park after going missing for three days, officials announced Tuesday.
Rescue personnel found 19-year-old Matthew Read at 11 p.m. on Monday. Two Bear Air rescuers saw a thermal heat signature in heavily forested terrain and lowered a rescuer to the location.
Read was found “somewhat responsive” and was extracted by a 175-foot hoist, according to park officials. He was flown out of the park and transferred to an ambulance.
Officials said he is in stable condition.
Read hiked the Huckleberry Lookout trail on Friday, reaching the first saddle, where he encountered a snowfield covering the trail, according to park officials.
Read then slipped into an unnamed drainage on the east side of Huckleberry Mountain, where he descended into chest-deep snow, losing his phone, water bottle and shoes. Read then realized he could not make it back up to the trail and started working down the drainage, according to park officials.
“Conditions on Huckleberry Trail at the upper reaches are winter-like with snow over the trail at higher altitudes,” park officials said in a statement.
The search began after he was reported overdue to park officials on Sunday and expanded into Monday morning when about 30 people with the park rangers, U.S. Border Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and county search dogs looked for Read. His vehicle was located at the Huckleberry Lookout Trailhead on Sunday.
The Huckleberry Lookout trail reopened on Tuesday morning after it had been closed for the search.
(ALLEN, Texas) — Irvin Walker II had just dropped off his wife at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas when a gunman fired shots into his car, hitting him three times.
The dad and husband “got into survival mode,” his attorney, Daryl Washington, told ABC News. “He wanted to live.”
Walker tried to drive away, but he was losing so much blood that he was afraid of bleeding out, Washington said, so he ran to a store for help. But Walker then realized he was at risk in the store, too, because he didn’t know where the gunman was located.
As Walker left the store, he witnessed 20-year-old mall security guard Christian LaCour get shot and killed, Washington said.
“He loves his family, he loves his daughter. … These are the things that was going through his mind, whether he’d ever see his family again,” Washington said.
Walker kept fleeing the mall area until “someone picked him up and put him in the back of a police cruiser” to bring him to safety, Washington said.
The suspect, who died after a confrontation with police, had three weapons on his person and five in his car when he opened fire at the mall on Saturday afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Eight people were killed and seven, including Walker, were injured.
Walker, who’s suffering from physical and mental injuries, has completed one surgery and may need a second, his attorney said.
Among the physical scars are bullet fragments lodged into his skin all over his body, Washington said.
“That’s gonna be with him for the remainder of his life — he won’t be able to do just simple things, [like] going into an airport, without the security alarm going off,” the attorney said.
“There’s no need for a gun with that amount of strength to be on the street,” Washington added.
Authorities said Tuesday that it appears the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, targeted the mall and shot people at random. A motive remains unknown.
ABC News’ Connor Burton contributed to this report.
Artist Frank Kozik, who designed the covers for albums including The Offspring‘s Americana and Queens of the Stone Age‘s self-titled debut, has died. According to Pitchfork, he was 61.
An Instagram post written by Kozik’s wife, Sharon, reads, “We are devastated to inform you that Frank Kozik passed away unexpectedly this past Saturday.”
“Frank was a man larger than himself, an icon in each of the genres he worked in,” the post reads. “He dramatically changed every industry he was a part of. He was a creative force of nature. We are so beyond lucky and honored to have been part of his journey, and he will be missed beyond what words could ever express.”
In addition to his work in graphic arts, Kozik directed the video for Soundgarden‘s “Pretty Noose” and was the creative director for the collectibles company Kidrobot.
(NEW YORK) — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., has been indicted on 13 counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York said Wednesday.
The embattled congressman was taken into custody Wednesday morning on Long Island, New York.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 10, 12:52 PM EDT
Several House Republicans reiterate calls for Santos to resign
About a dozen GOP members of the House had previously called on Santos to resign or be expelled from Congress in the face of allegations against him, and several of them are reiterating that stance today.
In a statement today, fellow New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, said, “The charges against Rep. Santos are extremely serious and deeply disturbing and as I’ve previously said, he simply doesn’t have the trust of his constituents or colleagues. The sooner he leaves, the sooner his district can be represented by someone who isn’t a liar and fraud.”
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters on his way into a conference meeting this morning, “I can’t wait for him to be gone.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Tex., tweeted, “George Santos should be immediately expelled from Congress and a special election initiated at the soonest possible date,” while Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., told reporters, “This has been going on now since we took the majority. Frankly, I would have hoped along the way that Mr. Santos would have done what I believed was the right thing and not force leadership to force his action, but for him to do it on his own.”
The office of Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, says his position remains unchanged from the his Jan. 12 statement which said, in part, “I do not believe George Santos can effectively serve and should resign.”
In other statements released Tuesday night by Santos’ fellow New York Republicans, Rep. Nick LaLota said, “These charges bring us one step closer to never having to talk about this lying loser ever again,” while Rep. Mike Lawler said, “I reiterate my call for George Santos to step down” and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said, “As a retired NYPD Detective, I am confident the justice system will fully reveal Congressman Santos’ long history of deceit, and I once again call on this serial fraudster to resign from office.”
Other GOP House members from New York who have previously called for Santos to step down include Rep. Nick Langworthy and Rep. Brandon Williams.
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., told CNN Tuesday night, “I do believe that if a member of Congress is charged with a federal crime they should resign,” and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told CNN, “We should really hold our own accountable and recruit someone who’s going to be better.”
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller, Gabe Ferris, Katherine Faulders and Jay O’Brien
May 10, 11:16 AM EDT
House GOP leadership standing by Santos
House Republican leadership is continuing to stand by Santos following the 13-count indictment. Among the House’s GOP leadership, there have been no calls today for Santos to resign.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says that Santos, “like every American,” will have his “day in court.”
“He will go through his time in trial and let’s find out how the outcome is,” McCarthy said.
The speaker said that Santos “was never put on committee, so he won’t serve on committee.”
Asked if money laundering, wire fraud, and lying to Congress concerns him, McCarthy responded, “It always concerns me.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, during a press conference this morning, said that the charges were serious — but did not call on Santos to resign.
“There’s a presumption of innocence, but the charges are serious,” Scalise said. “He’ll have to go through the legal process.”
-ABC News’ Gabe Ferris, Lauren Peller and Katherine Faulders
May 10, 10:33 AM EDT
Santos misled House about finances, indictment says
In addition to being charged with defrauding campaign donors and falsely applying for unemployment benefits, the indictment alleges that Santos mislead the House of Representatives about his finances, specifically in to two financial disclosure forms he filed as a candidate.
in May 2020, during his first unsuccessful campaign, Santos overstated one source of income while failing to disclose his investment firm salary, the indictment says.
And in September 2022, while running again, Santos again included falsehoods in his financial disclosure forms, according to the indictment.
Santos lied about earning a $750,000 salary and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization, according to the indictment, and falsely claimed to have a checking account that held between $100,000 and $250,000, and a savings account with deposits of between $1 and $5 million.
“These assertions were false. Santos had not received from the Devolder Organization the reported amounts of salary or dividends,” prosecutors said in the indictment.
May 10, 10:17 AM EDT
Santos to be arraigned this afternoon, could face 20 years
Santos was placed under arrest this morning and will be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon.
He was placed under arrest on a 13-count, 19-page indictment that outlines three main schemes.
If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years in prison — though it’s by no means certain he would serve that much time.
May 10, 10:11 AM EDT
Santos defrauded campaign donors, prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors in Central Islip, New York, accuse Santos of engaging in a “scheme to defraud” his campaign donors.
According to the indictment, Santos solicited donations for his run for office “under the false pretense” that those funds would actually be used for politics.
Instead, prosecutors said Santos spent “thousands of dollars of the solicited funds on personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing and credit card payments.”
Santos is also charged with illegally receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic even though “he was employed and was not eligible for unemployment benefits,” the indictment said.
Santos is also charged with lying to the House of Representatives on his financial disclosures. Taken together, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. Santos relied on “repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.”
May 10, 9:59 AM EDT
Santos received unemployment while working: Docs
Among the accusations in the charging documents are allegations that Santos applied for unemployment benefits during the pandemic, falsely claiming to have been unemployed since March 2020, according to prosecutors.
He collected money from then until April 2021, “when Santos was working and receiving a salary on a near-continuous basis and during his unsuccessful run for Congress,” referring to his first run for the job, which he lost. In total, prosecutors say he collected more than $24,000 in benefits.
He was actually being paid a $120,000 salary as regional director of an investment firm at the time, according to prosecutors.
After Lionel Richie performed at King Charles‘ coronation concert over the weekend, some fans took to social media to comment on how youthful the 73-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer looked. While some said he’d likely had some sort of plastic surgery, Lionel says he hasn’t — and he wouldn’t want to, either.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lionel said having work done means you have to take time off to heal and then if you don’t like it, you’re kinda stuck.
“‘[It] locks you in for that year [while you recover] – and after that you can’t go [back] naturally, you’re staying right there … You try and go back to reset, and you can’t,” he said. He added, “And, that s*** goes wrong!”
And the other reason Lionel says plastic surgery isn’t for him? “God might not recognize me, so I want to make sure he knows me,” he joked.
So how does the American Idol judge maintain his youthful appearance? The Daily Mail quotes what Lionel said at the Hollywood Beauty Awards recently.
“Water, sleep, and sweat, not too much red meat. I know it’s real boring. [Sex] will work also and it’s good for your heart.”
And that’s advice he seemingly wants to share with his pal the king. Lionel told the BBC that he and Charles, who’s 74, “have a little joke between us.”
“He says, ‘How do you look the way you look and I look the way I look?’” Lionel revealed. “I said, ‘You come to Hollywood and I can help you.’”
