Chappell Roan performs onstage during Sziget Festival on August 11, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
Chappell Roan had a great 2025, releasing two singles, playing festivals worldwide, doing a series of pop-up shows in the U.S., attending the Met Ball and winning a Grammy. But in a newsletter to fans, she reveals that some of those events were nearly called off.
In the letter, which was posted on Reddit, Chappell writes, “I’m very, very proud of my team for getting me through this year’s touring schedule, it was brutal, even though it was less than half of what I normally do.”
Chappell writes that during those live shows, she “fell in love with quick costume changes and theatrical fashion and wearing even weirder makeup,” but goes on to reveal, “I almost canceled the American portion of the tour because I didn’t feel like I was mentally healthy enough.”
“I’m not sure it was the right move to push through, but I did it anyway,” she continues. “I don’t pat myself on the back for it, I just look back and I’m like, ‘damn why did I do that?’ Ultimately, I’m glad I did because I have such lifelong memorable experiences and it made me happy to perform in my hometown [Kansas City, Missouri], New York and LA.”
Chappell goes on to say that she feels 2026 should be “the year of taking care of myself and others and really engaging in a community that feels real and not online.”
She signed off by thanking fans for “listening to my music, showing up to my shows, wearing my merch, and watching my music videos. I feel very loved.”
Soundgarden at 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
After getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025, Soundgarden is teasing more activity in the coming year.
“2025 was super busy!” the “Black Hole Sun” outfit writes in an Instagram Story. “There’s more to come in 2026!”
We’ll see if that means the release of the final Soundgarden album, which the band had been working on prior to the death of frontman Chris Cornell in 2017. The material has long been in limbo due to a dispute between Soundgarden and the late Cornell’s estate, handled by his widow, Vicky Cornell.
In 2023, Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell announced they’d reached an agreement to allow the release of new music, however, drummer Matt Cameron shared in an interview later that year that plans for the record were still on hold.
The surviving Soundgarden members — Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd — reunited at the Rock Hall induction ceremony in November to perform alongside Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell and Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, as well as guest vocalists Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile. They also reunited with original bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
“Thank you for your continued love and support,” Soundgarden’s post continues. “Thank you for guiding us into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We felt your affection during the induction ceremony and it made us proud.”
Highlights from the ceremony aired during an ABC special Thursday, which is now available to stream on Hulu.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
Will Smith performs live onstage during the ‘Based On A True Story’ Summer Tour at Festhalle Frankfurt on July 18, 2025, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
A former violinist and crew member for Will Smith is suing the actor and rapper, as well as his touring company, for wrongful termination and sexual harassment, claims that Smith’s lawyer is denying.
Brian King Joseph, who toured with Smith in 2025, alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that he was wrongfully terminated and retaliated against after reporting workplace safety hazards.
According to the complaint, Joseph said he reported to Smith and the touring company that someone had “unlawfully” entered his Las Vegas hotel room during the tour and allegedly left a handwritten note, among other items, including wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication bearing another person’s name, an earring and hospital discharge paperwork for someone Joseph did not know.
The note allegedly read, “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,” according to the complaint.
Joseph said he reported the matter to the hotel, a local non-emergency police line and to Smith’s representatives, stating that he was afraid someone was going to return to his hotel room and try to have sex with him.
In the complaint, Joseph said a few days after notifying Smith’s team, he was terminated from his role with the tour and accused of making up the matter; another violinist was hired to replace him on tour.
Joseph also accused Smith in the complaint of allegedly “deliberately grooming and priming [him] for further sexual exploitation,” suggesting “a pattern of predatory behavior.”
Joseph said in the complaint that he experienced PTSD and mental illness because of the termination.
Joseph is seeking a trial and compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and other relief as determined by a jury.
Allen B. Grodsky, an attorney for Smith, pushed back against Joseph’s claims in a statement to ABC News Thursday.
“Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless,” Grodsky stated. “They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light.”
Smith went on a global tour last year to support his Based on a True Story album, which was released in March 2025. Smith’s tour stopped in Las Vegas that same month.
Based on a True Story was Smith’s first full-length album in two decades.
A for sale sign is seen in front of a house in a Spring Branch neighborhood in Houston, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates this week fell to their lowest level in 15 months, easing borrowing costs for homebuyers eager for a thaw in the housing market in 2026.
The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.15%, plummeting from a level of 6.89% in May, data from financial services company Freddie Mac showed. Last January, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate exceeded 7%.
Each percentage point decrease in a mortgage rate can save thousands or tens of thousands in additional cost each year, depending on the price of the house, according to lender Rocket Mortgage.
Sam Khater, the chief economist at Freddie Mac, called the drop in mortgage rates an “encouraging sign for potential homebuyers heading into the new year.”
Mortgage rates closely track the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, or the amount paid to a bondholder annually. Bond yields are shaped in part by expectations of the benchmark interest rate set by the Federal Reserve.
The sharp drop in mortgage rates over the latter half of 2025 owed in part to data showing a slowdown in hiring, which heightened expectations that the Fed would slash interest rates in an effort to boost the ailing labor market.
Starting in September, the Fed cut interest rates at three consecutive meetings, bringing the benchmark rate to a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the Fed’s most recent rate cut in December, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested the central bank may be cautious about further rate reductions.
“We’re well positioned to wait and see how the economy evolves,” Powell said.
The housing market is suffering from a phenomenon known as the “lock in” effect, some experts previously told ABC News.
While mortgage rates have fallen, they remain well above the rates enjoyed by most current homeowners, who may be reluctant to put their homes on the market and risk a much higher rate on their next mortgage.
In turn, the market could continue to suffer from a lack of supply, making options limited and prices sticky.
Mixed results in recent economic data have clouded the outlook for the economy — and in turn, interest rates.
A jobs report released two weeks ago showed sluggish hiring and an uptick in the unemployment rate. Unemployment remains low by historical standards but has inched up to its highest level in years.
Days later, a report on gross domestic product defied concerns stoked by the hiring slowdown. The U.S. economy grew at a robust annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter in the government’s initial estimate, marking an acceleration from 3.8% growth recorded in the previous quarter, U.S. Commerce Department data showed.
Futures markets expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts next year, forecasting the first in April and a second in the fall, according to CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
Redfin, a Seattle, Washington-based real estate giant, forecasts average 30-year fixed mortgage rates will remain in the low 6% range for most of 2026.
“Mortgage rates will continue their slow slide but remain high relative to the pandemic era,” Redfin said last month.
“Lingering inflation risk and the likelihood that we’ll avoid a recession will keep the Fed from cutting more than the markets have already priced in. That’s why rates may dip below 6% occasionally, but not for any meaningful period,” Redfin added.
A child receives a standard immunization on September 15, 2025, in Coral Gables, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Children who miss early vaccinations are far more likely to miss the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine by age 2, a new study found.
The findings come as the U.S. recently surpassed 2,000 measles cases for the first time in more than 30 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC data shows that MMR vaccination declined over the last several years, but the authors say that factors linked to delayed or missed vaccination since the COVID-19 pandemic have not been well studied.
For the new study, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, the team looked data from Truevata, an electronic health records database that includes several U.S. health care systems.
Participants included more than 321,000 children who received routine care within the first two months, first year and second year of life between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 30, 2025.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
Most children during the study period received the MMR vaccine on time, with 78.4% doing so.
About 13.9% of children had delayed vaccination, 1% received the MMR vaccine early and 6.7% did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, according to the study.
The strongest predictors for no MMR vaccination was delay in receiving the recommended 2-month and 4-month vaccines, the study noted.
These early vaccines included diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP); Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV); and the inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV).
Nina Masters, lead author of the study and senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told ABC News that it’s not surprising children who miss early vaccines also miss later vaccines, but it highlights that some parents become vaccine hesitant when their children are young.
“This also means the opportunity for intervention to engage parents and provide more education about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines has to happen very early,” she said. “This may be challenging as parents may have yet had the time to forge a strong bond with their child’s pediatrician, but the study highlights the importance of pediatric providers having vaccination discussions and building trust as early as possible with parents.”
Results from the study showed that those who received their 2-month vaccines on time were seven times more likely to get the MMR vaccine.
The team found that the percentage of children who received the MMR vaccine on time changed over the study period, increasing from 75.6% in 2018 to 79.9% in 2021, and then falling to 76.9% in 2024.
This decrease between 2021 and 2024 was associated with an increase in the percentage of children who did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, increasing from 5.3% in 2020 to 7.7% in 2024, according to the study.
Children who were more likely to be unvaccinated for the MMR shot by age 2 were boys, and white and non-Hispanic or Latino, the study found.
Rural residence slightly increased the risk of no MMR vaccination, even among children receiving routine care, according to the study.
The study only included children with regular access to care, so real-world vaccination delays may be worse in the broader U.S. population, the team noted.
The authors added that these results point to increased vaccine hesitancy or unmeasured access challenges, highlighting the importance of timely intervention so children are less likely to delay or miss vaccination.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who was not involved in the study, said the findings have major public health implications because there are questions about whether the U.S. will retain its measles elimination status and increasing vaccination is “the way out of this problem.”
“If you want to live in a society where measles is a problem of the past, where we don’t have to think about it, where schools don’t have to come up with contingency plans, where we don’t have children unnecessarily dying from measles, then that’s a reason to get the vaccine,” he told ABC News.
Adalja added that vaccination doesn’t just protect the individual against infection, but it also has a community benefit.
“The higher the vaccination level is in a given community, the more resilient that community will be to those infectious diseases,” he said. “And if you’re someone that’s immunocompromised, you may want to live in to live in an area that has high vaccination rates because you are at higher risk, and if you’re in a high vaccination area, there’s going to be a lowering of that risk because of the community level immunity that exists in that area.”
Crystal Richards, MD, MS is a pediatric resident doctor at New-York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
It’s time to get things started on the return of the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational TV show ever.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of its original launch in 1976, The Muppet Show returns Feb. 4 for a “special event” on Disney+ and ABC. A new teaser just dropped featuring special guest stars Sabrina Carpenter and Seth Rogen; Rogen is also an executive producer on the show.
In the teaser, Kermit the Frog turns the lights on and takes the stage, saying, “It’s the return of The Muppet Show, back on the very stage where it all started, and then ended, and is maybe starting again depending on how tonight goes.”
After a montage of scenes featuring characters like Rowlf the Dog, Gonzo, the Swedish Chef, and Bunsen and Beaker, we see Sabrina telling Miss Piggy, “You are an icon.” “You’re too sweet,” replies Piggy, before adding, “Go on.”
We then see Sabrina hitting a Muppet, while Seth, standing backstage, tells Fozzy Bear, “It’s always been a dream of mine to be here.” “Ooh,” Fozzy replies. “Got any other dreams?”
The original Muppet Show ran from 1976 to 1981, airing in over 100 countries and featuring musical guests like Elton John, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry and Gladys Knight. All five seasons are available to stream now on Disney+.
Peter Gabriel performs at Little Caesars Arena on September 29, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)
Peter Gabriel is starting the new year with new music.
The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced he’ll release the new album o/i this year, which is the follow up to 2023’s i/o.
Like i/o, Gabriel plans to release a new song from the album with each full moon of the year. The first track, “Been Undone,” is coming on Saturday to coincide with the Wolf Moon. The entire album will be released by the end of the year, along with Dark-Side and Bright-Side mixes, handled by Tchad Blake and Mark “Spike” Stent, respectively.
“I’m delighted to say that tonight, at the full moon, we will be beginning another year of full moon releases under the name oi,” Gabriel wrote on his website. “The songs are a mix of thoughts and feelings.”
He noted, “These are my lumpy bits –i/o: the inside has a new way out and oi: the outside has a new way in. … Some of these songs are going to form part of the brain project that I’ve been exploring for a number of years, and some just make me feel happy. I hope you like them.”
Similar to i/o, the release of each new song will be accompanied by a piece of art. The “Been Undone” piece, Ciclotrama 156 (Palindrome), is from São Paulo–based artist Janaina Mello Landini.
Cover of ‘Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 5’,(Legacy Recordings)
Songs from David Bowie, Michael Jackson and more appear on Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 5, which is now available via digital outlets.
The collection features 14 songs, including tracks from Volume 1 and Volume 2 of season 5, as well as newly added songs from the series finale, which premiered on New Year’s Eve. Songs featured on the soundtrack include Jackson’s “Rockin’ Robin,” Tiffany‘s “I Think We’re Alone Now” and ABBA‘s “Fernando.”
One of the new additions to the soundtrack is Bowie’s “Heroes,” which was the series finale’s final song, and played over the final credits. It turns out Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington on the show, was the one who suggested it for the series’ send-off.
“Once Joe said that we immediately knew that was the right song to end the show on because it is, in some ways, an anthem for Stranger Things,” says series co-creator Ross Duffer. “To use the original Bowie version just felt right and fitting for the conclusion.”
Other new additions include Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper,” Pixies’“Here Comes Your Man” and Cowboy Junkies’ cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.”
In addition to the streaming release, Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 5 will be released Jan. 30 on CD, vinyl and red cassette. There will also be colored vinyl variants: red smoke, sold exclusively at Amazon; blue smoke, sold exclusively at Target; orange marble, sold exclusively at Walmart; and marble yellow, sold through the Sony Music store.
Here is the track list to Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 5: “Rockin’ Robin” – Michael Jackson “I Think We’re Alone Now” – Tiffany “Fernando” – ABBA “Mr. Sandman” – The Chordettes “Pretty In Pink” – The Psychedelic Furs “Heroes” – David Bowie “The Trooper” – Iron Maiden “Here Comes Your Man” – Pixies “Sh-Boom” – The Chords “Oh Yeah” – Yello “Human Cannonball” – Butthole Surfers “Heart and Soul” – Floyd Cramer “Sweet Jane” – Cowboy Junkies “To Each His Own” (Inspired by the Paramount Picture To Each His Own) – Freddy Martin & His Orchestra
President Donald Trump listens during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on December 28, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said overnight the United States is “locked and loaded” as he warned Iran not to kill peaceful protesters as nationwide unrest unfolds in Tehran.
In a post on his social media platform early Friday morning, Trump vowed that “if Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protestors,” then the U.S. would step in and “rescue” them.
The president did not specify by what means such a “rescue” would occur, but he added that the U.S is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”
The post comes as several people were reportedly killed on Thursday amid protests in Iran.
Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, responded to Trump’s statement with a threat of his own.
“With the stances taken by Israeli officials and Trump, the behind-the-scenes of the matter has become clear. We consider the positions of the protesting merchants separate from those of the destructive elements, and Trump should know that American interference in this internal issue is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests. The American people should know that it was Trump who started the adventurism. They should look after their soldiers,” Larijani posted on X.
Thousands began protesting in Iran on Sunday over the country’s inflation and record-low currency value, but the unrest has expanded over discontent with the Iranian regime.
On Monday, Trump declined to answer whether he would support an overthrow of the Iranian regime, but commented on the country’s “problems” and recognized the public dissatisfaction.
“They’ve got a lot of problems they are in,” Trump said on Monday. “They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust, their economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy.”
Trump on Monday also warned Iran not to rearm itself or rebuild its nuclear program.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” the president said as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.
American rapper Fivio Foreign performs onstage during day 2 of Rolling Loud Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on December 14, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images)
New year, better Fivio Foreign. At least, that’s what the rapper is aiming for.
He announced on New Year’s Eve that he’ll soon be checking himself into a rehabilitation center.
“I wanna let y’all know, with the help of my team, my wife, my family, my probation officer, and the people I’ve been talking to: I’m admitting myself into a rehab center in the next couple of days, for like a week or two,” Fivio said in an Instagram video, where he’s seated at a table alongside his wife and their son.
“I had to pay $10,000 to get into it. You know what I’m saying? I just feel like I’m at a point where, you know, I want to change, I wanna live, and I wanna stop making a lot of dumb decisions and a lot of dumb mistakes that I’ve been making,” Fivio said of his decision.
He then asked his fans for their support as he embarks on what he described as a serious journey, adding, “I got my beautiful lifestyle and I don’t want to lose that for nothing.”
It’s not clear what specifically Fivio will be addressing while in treatment.
