Kelly Clarkson has big plans for her 41st birthday next week.
She’s planning a one-night-only concert in LA on her special day, Monday, April 24. She’s calling it “Birthday at the Belasco,” because it’s going down at LA’s Belasco Theater. Kelly says it’ll be a “small, intimate show” during which she’ll perform her new album, chemistry, in its entirety.
“I literally take you on, like, a storyteller ride throughout the album,” she explained on Instagram. “I went through a lot to get to this moment, so I just felt like it deserved a ‘moment’ … I just felt like there’s nothing that could really visually tell this story other than me telling it, so I wanted to do something different for this release.”
Tickets for the show go on sale April 17 at 12 p.m. PT via Ticketmaster, but if you can’t make it, Kelly says the show is being filmed for future release.
Old Dominion is slated to release a brand new song, “I Should Have Married You,” on Friday, April 21.
“There must be a lot of people out there that either need to hear this or need to say it,” shares lead singer Matthew Ramsey, who wrote and produced the track with Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung, Brad Tursi and Shane McAnally.
“If you dance hard enough and sing loud enough, maybe the regret will go away! So crank up ‘I Should Have Married You’ this Friday – and thank you for hounding us about this one since we teased it a few months ago!” Matthew adds.
A press release also offered a peek at the song’s retrospective lyrics: “That’s just the way it goes/ I should have seen it through/ I should have let you know/ I should have said I do/ Back when I still had the chance, yeah/ I should have married you.”
Old Dominion’s latest set of music is their Memory Lane (Sampler), which arrived in January. The four-song EP includes the title track, which is number 17 and climbing on the country charts.
The LA County District Attorney’s Office confirms to KABC that the Los Angeles Police Department has presented a case involving actor Armie Hammer and that it is “under review.” It means that the LAPD has wrapped up its investigation, and now the DA’s office will review the case and decide if there is enough evidence to charge Hammer. They can decide to go with a case or not — or they can request more investigation by police.
It’s unclear what case has been presented to the DA. But Hammer has been under investigation for sexual assault since early 2021 involving an alleged rape in 2017. He has denied all accusations.
In January 2021, Hammer’s ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze released unverified DMs that allegedly came from Hammer and claimed the actor harbored fantasies involving cannibalism. In addition, the 22-year-old alleged Hammer was “obsessed” with the idea of “taking a piece of me…and consuming it.”
A second woman, a 24-year-old who goes by the name Effie, also came forward in 2021, claiming she thought the Golden Globe nominee was going to kill her after he allegedly “violently” raped her on April 24, 2017.
Hammer’s attorneys have claimed all of his relationships have been consensual.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
Lil Wayne‘s Welcome to Tha Carter Tour made a stop at New York City’s Apollo Theater Sunday, April 16, where fans were surprised by special guest Cam’ron. The rappers united onstage to perform “Touch It or Not” for the very first time.
“Weezy, I love you! It’s the first time we ever performed this,” Cam said of the 2006 track.
According to Billboard, “Touch It or Not” was one of 40 songs on Wayne’s set list, which included “Mr. Carter,” “Fireman,” “Hustler Musik,” “Lollipop,” “Mrs. Officer” and “I’m Going In.” He ended the show with “A Milli” and played Whitney Houston‘s “I Will Always Love You” as the outro track.
“F****** thank you, man! Every single one of y’all, man,” he said. “I see people with my face on they shirts and s***. I appreciate you!”
“I must let you know three important things about myself,” Wayne continued. “Number one is I know that we all ain’t s*** without the love from above. Number two is I ain’t s*** without you.”
The Welcome to Tha Carter wraps up next month in LA.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson has been immortalized with a brand new statue. Consequence reports that the statue was recently unveiled in Namur, Belgium, the city where Johnson hit the stage with AC/DC for the very first time.
“[Namur is] a very special place for me,” Johnson shared in a video message. “It was the first night I sang with AC/DC, and I was a very nervous boy. So that memory will stay with me forever.” He added, “And now that you’ve built this statue, honestly, I’m not worthy of it. I thank you, and I’ll take it in good grace.”
Johnson, who joined AC/DC after the February 1980 death of BonScott,made his live debut with the band on June 29, 1980, at the Palais Des Expositions in Namur.
The statue, made of Belgian Blue Stone, came to be thanks to three AC/DC fans: Michel Remy, Mike Davister and Georges Boussingault, who started a crowdfunding campaign, with the support of a local radio station. Johnson was not at the unveiling, but has said he plans to visit his statue “in about five, six weeks.”
(NEW YORK) — The family of American Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia for years, said Monday he feels “abandoned” by the U.S. and that “his resilience is shaken” in the wake of Russia’s arrest of a second American on espionage charges.
In a Friday phone call with his parents, Whelan, a businessman and former U.S. Marine, said “he feels as though the U.S. government has abandoned him,” according to his brother David.
“His struggles have been apparent in his letters and in his phone calls over the years,” David Whelan wrote. “But now, Paul seems rattled like never before, understandably apprehensive that the U.S. government will choose not to bring him home again, now that there is another American wrongfully detained by the Kremlin.”
Last month’s arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has brought renewed calls from U.S. officials for Russia to release Whelan.
Like Whelan, Gershkovich, 31, has been charged with espionage. Whelan, 53, was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Gershkovich is currently being held in pretrial detention. Russian authorities blocked American diplomats from gaining to access to the imprisoned reporter for weeks, but on Monday U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy tweeted that she was finally able to visit him.
The U.S. government has designated both Whelan and Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” allowing additional resources to be applied to their cases.
But the reaction to Gershkovich’s detention has also shown how the backing of a large media organization — the Wall Street Journal — can place more attention on a case — and more pressure on the White House.
“The speed at which Evan’s case has been handled by the administration should be replicated for every case,” Jonathan Franks, the spokesperson for a coalition of families of Americans detained abroad, the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, said last week. “Unfortunately, we have seen firsthand that the reality is, that the speed with which the Government acts is very different for detainees who aren’t famous or journalists.”
In the nearly four years and four months since Whelan was arrested, the U.S. has secured the release of at least two other Americans designated “wrongfully detained”: WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, neither of whom was accused of espionage.
Griner was released in December in a prisoner swap for a Russian arms dealer after being held for nine-and-a-half months. The WNBA had made a significant effort to draw attention to her case and pressure the Biden administration.
Reed had been held for two years and was released in exchange for a Russian drug trafficker. He was freed less than a month after his parents protested outside the White House and secured a meeting with Biden in the process.
Sources within the State Department say that Whelan’s ongoing detention is not for lack of trying on the part of U.S. officials, but the result of Russia’s unwillingness to negotiate and how severely the Kremlin views the espionage charges against him — allegations the U.S. strongly rejects.
In early March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly revealed the U.S. had made a second offer to Russia for Whelan, calling it a “serious proposal” but declining to disclose any additional detail.
Blinken has repeatedly urged Russia to accept the agreement, but Moscow has broadcast little interest and there is no indication that that the administration has made any attempts to enhance the deal.
Whelan’s family has maintained close contact with the State Department and the White House National Security Council over the years since Whelan was first detained in 2018 — primarily through his sister Elizabeth.
But Elizabeth Whelan, he said, is now “going to pause her interactions with the State and National Security staff until they stop wasting her time and come up with something more than thoughts and prayers.”
“It is unfair and unreasonable to put the burden on wrongful detainee families to grab the White House’s attention, to do the creative work, to ensure that the different parts of the government are communicating clearly and working effectively to bring Paul home,” he continued. “There is a literal cost to families to do this advocacy.”
The White House and State Department did not respond when asked for reaction to David Whelan’s statement.
Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — David’s Bridal has filed for bankruptcy and announced massive layoffs just weeks before wedding season.
One of the country’s largest bridal retailers, the company revealed plans to eliminate 9,236 employees across its hundreds of stores.
“They may shut some stores down,” The Stylish Bride founder Julie Sabatino told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “If that happens, you’re probably just going to need to go a little bit further to find a David’s.”
Layoffs have already begun in Pennsylvania and will continue to roll out through Aug. 11 at up to 15 stores in the state.
“Over the last several years, we have taken meaningful strides in our transformation to fulfill the needs of the brides of today and tomorrow,” David’s Bridal CEO James Marcum said in a statement. “We have successfully modernized our marketing and customer interaction processes and driven our retail service levels to best in class.”
He continued, “Nonetheless, our business continues to be challenged by the post-COVID environment and uncertain economic conditions, leading us to take this step to identify a buyer who can continue to operate our business going forward. We are determined to stay focused on our future, because we believe we have an important role in ensuring that every bride, no matter her budget, can have her perfect dress.”
In 2022, weddings hit their highest number in four decades as the result of a pandemic backlog, according to CEO of the Wedding Report Shane McMurray.
However, not as many people are expected to tie the knot this year due to post-pandemic obstacles, such as supply chain issues, that have continued to affect the wedding industry.
“What we’re seeing right now is dresses are taking anywhere between nine and 12 months to be produced, which is a much longer lead time than we were dealing with pre-pandemic,” said Sabatino.
Many people have also opted to pivot toward changing trends that lean toward second-hand shopping or non-traditional options.
Bride-to-be Jenn Leonard told GMA she found her wedding dress at a consignment shop and saved more than $1,500 off the retail price.
“My buying this dress is actually helping out the previous bride. That is a huge thing,” said Leonard. “You know, I’ve always firmly believed in paying it forward.”
Billy Joel and family in 2019; Myrna M. Suarez/Getty Images
Billy Joel gets the Dad of the Week award: He took his young daughters Della Rose and Remy Anne to see Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour over the weekend.
An Instagram slideshow of Billy, his wife and the girls enjoying the concert in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend is captioned, “Rockin’ into our new ‘era’ thank you @Taylorswift we loved the show!”
One sweet shot shows Billy holding hands with the girls as he walks them into the stadium; in a video, the kids are rocking out in a VIP area and Della is singing all the words to “… Ready for It?”
Another shot looks like the girls dressed to reflect Taylor’s different eras: Della appears to be channeling a folklore/evermore vibe, while Remy’s wearing purple, the official color of Speak Now.
Fans loved the post and are now clamoring for Taylor to appear at one of Billy’s shows and vice versa, or for the two to do a collaboration. Billy has spoken in the past of his admiration for Taylor, telling USA Today, “She knows music and she knows how to write. She’s like that generation’s Beatles.”
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Republican Leader Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor on Monday, nearly six weeks after suffering a concussion and a fractured rib from a fall at a Washington hotel.
The Kentucky senator, who’s 81, has been recovering at home upon release from a rehabilitation facility March 25, following a five-day in the hospital after falling at the Waldorf Astoria while attending a private dinner on March 8.
“It’s good to be back,” McConnell said, before joking, “Suffice to say, this wasn’t the first time being hard-headed has served me very well.”
“We’re truly lucky and blessed to get to serve in this remarkable institution, represent our home states and serve our country. And needless to say, I’m very happy to be back. There’s important business for Congress to tackle,” he said.
Showing no outward signs of injury as a result of the accident, McConnell pivoted back to legislative business, chastising President Joe Biden for not yet returning to the debt ceiling bargaining table with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The lawmaker was welcomed back to the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin on Monday.
McConnell will also likely field questions about his political future at a time when another senior senator, Dianne Feinstein of California, remains at home recovering from shingles.
Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee is something Democrats are attempting to temporarily backfill in order to push forward some of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations despite Republican opposition.
McConnell has made clear he has no intention to leave his role.
“I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said in November, after he faced a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
McConnell’s return will also come with another colleague’s long-awaited return following a medical pause: Freshman Sen. John Fetterman, who two months ago checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression.
The Pennsylvania senator returned to Congress on Monday, clad in gym shorts and a dark hoodie.
“It’s great to be back,” the senator told reporters before turning and walking into the Capitol.
Schumer and Durbin also welcomed Fetterman back to the Senate in their speeches on the floor, applauding their colleague for publicly seeking depression treatment, acting as an example for other Americans struggling with mental illnesses.
“I spoke to him by Zoom several weeks ago, and I was really heartened by his his message. He had the courage to step up and ask for help when he faced depression, to seek professional medical advice, and I can tell by his responses and the tone of his voice, that that decision had already made a difference in his life for the better,” Durbin said on Monday.
“I believe people will be inspired to follow his example and seek help,” he said, a sentiment that Schumer echoed:
“We’re all glad he got the support immediately sending an important message to millions of Americans that asking for and getting help works,” Schumer said.
ABC News’ Trish Turner contributed to this report.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is returning to Congress on Monday, nearly six weeks after suffering a concussion and a fractured rib from a fall at a Washington hotel.
The Kentucky senator, who’s 81, has been recovering at home upon release from a rehabilitation facility on March 25, following a five-day stay in the hospital after falling at the Waldorf Astoria while attending a private dinner on March 8.
“I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday,” McConnell said in a Tweet on Thursday. “We’ve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people.”
McConnell will also likely field questions about his political future at a time when another senior senator, Dianne Feinstein of California, remains at home recovering from shingles.
Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee is something Democrats are attempting to temporarily backfill in order to push forward some of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations despite Republican opposition.
McConnell has made clear he has no intention to leave his role.
“I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said in November, after he faced a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
McConnell’s return will also come with another colleague’s long-awaited return following a medical pause: Freshman Sen. John Fetterman, who two months ago checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression on Feb. 16.
The Pennsylvania senator is expected to return at some point this week, according to his staff.
