Love and Rockets‘ comeback tour just got a bit bigger.
The “So Alive” group has added more dates to their upcoming U.S. outing, which marks their first live performances in 15 years. The new shows run from June 5 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to June 17 in San Antonio, Texas.
A presale for tickets begins Wednesday, April 12, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the general on-sale Thursday, April 13, at 10 a.m. ET.
Love and Rockets previously announced a West Coast tour, kicking off in May at the Cruel World festival in Pasadena, California.
UB40 is ready to celebrate their 45th anniversary as a band with a brand new tour.
The UB45 summer tour, featuring special guests Maxi Priest, Inner Circle, Third World and Big Mountain, kicks off July 4 in Camden, New Jersey, with dates confirmed through July 23 in Fresno, California, and more expected to be announced.
The tour will also support the band’s forthcoming album, UB45, which will feature new songs mixed with some of their classic tunes reworked.
“We love playing the U.S., and celebrating our 45th year and having a new album makes our return even more exciting,” guitarist/vocalist Robin Campbell shares.
Lead singer Matt Doyle, who took over for retiring Duncan Campbell in 2021, adds, “Touring the States last year was an absolute dream come true for me, and now I just can’t wait to get back out there. Most of all I can’t wait for the U.S fans to hear some of our new tunes! I think they’re going to love UB45!”
A complete list of tour dates and ticket information can be found at UB40.global.
NBA Youngboy is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming album, Don’t Try This At Home, which he plans to celebrate with an album release party. TMZ reports the rapper, who’s currently under house arrest in Utah, has rented LA’s Elevate Lounge to hold the Branson Cognac-sponsored event.
DJCarisma will be on the 1s and 2s, and the lucky winner of a fan raffle will get to speak to Youngboy via a livestream. His physical absence is due to his house arrest sentence, which followed gun charges he picked up in 2021.
The album release party will take place April 20, followed by the release of the project. The LP comes out Friday, April 21.
(NEW YORK) — The shooting in a Louisville, Kentucky, bank on Monday is the latest workplace-related mass shooting to take place in the United States over the last 60 years, according to gun violence data.
The Violence Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that’s funded by the National Institute of Justice, has found the current or former workplaces of perpetrators were the most common sites for mass shootings, which the organization defines as four or more people killed by a firearm.
“Most of the shooters had been fired,” the organization said.
Between 1966 and 2021, there were 53 workplace shootings carried out throughout the country, according to the Violence Project. This represented more than 30% of the 188 mass shootings recorded during that period, the organization said.
The second most common location for mass shootings was at retail locations, which represented 16.9% of all recorded mass shootings, and the third most common location was restaurants and bars, which represented 13.4% of all recorded mass shootings, according to the Violence Project.
With workplace shootings, the biggest motivator behind the incidents was an employment-related issue, such as a termination, which constituted 70% of the recorded workplace mass shootings, according to the Violence Project’s data.
When it comes to the victims of workplace-related violence, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 392 U.S. workers were workplace homicide victims in 2020. Roughly “30% of workplace homicide victims were performing retail-related tasks such as tending a retail establishment or waiting on customers,” according to the CDC.
The agency also compiled data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found “20,050 workers in the private industry experienced trauma from nonfatal workplace violence in 2020.”
Of those injured in these incidents, 73% were female, and 22% required 31 or more days away from work to recover, according to the CDC.
In the latest edition of Garth Brook‘s Facebook series Inside Studio G, Garth hinted at new music and previewed his upcoming Garth Brooks/Plus ONE Las Vegas residency.
“Been in the studio all week … just creating new stuff, man. Just so excited,” Garth revealed.
The singer, who’s set to host the 2023 ACM Awards with Dolly Parton in May, also talked about his long-awaited Vegas residency.
“We’re in rehearsals. We’re in stage block[ing]. All this stuff [is] starting to happen. The most important thing for us is opening night,” Garth said, before teasing, “We can’t tell you when the 2024 onsale’s coming, but it’s gotta be soon.”
While on the livestream, the “Callin’ Baton Rouge” hitmaker also hinted at more exciting news on the horizon and urged fans to tune in to the April 17 edition of Inside Studio G.
“We still can’t give stuff away like what’s going to happen next Monday, even though it’s that close. So we’re not saying anything about next Monday. But it’s going to look … different,” he shared.
Fans can tune in to Inside Studio G on Garth’s Facebook page.
The 2023 ACM Awards air live on Prime Video May 11 at 8 p.m. ET.
“Who woulda thought: you on a show like this,” Sistine Stallone, one of Sylvester‘s three daughters, asks the Rocky star in a preview to their family reality show, The Family Stallone.
Indeed, the trailer opens introducing Sly as “one of the world’s biggest stars” and invites viewers “to see him as he’s never been seen before: As. A. Family man.” To that end, the big-screen tough guy is seen brushing his cat. “Really?” he asks.
The preview shows the show pivoting between Hollywoodland and family life — at one point, Oscar winner Al Pacino is seen hanging with Sly, along with Stallone’s Rocky IV nemesis Dolph Lundgren, with Pacino busting his friend’s chops, saying of the reality series’ cameras, “I feel as if I’ve just jumped into ‘Stallone World!'”
The show also stars Stallone’s wife, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, and his other daughters, Sophia and Scarlet, as they navigate life with their famous family name. “I know we’re insane. I know we’re crazy, but we love each other so much,” Flavin Stallone gushes.
Sistine jokes of her dad, “It’s quite ironic that this is the last guy who wanted to do a reality show, but when he sees a camera, he’s like, ‘Am I in frame?'”
“That’s the truth,” Sly smiles.
The show starts streaming May 17 exclusively on Paramount+.
(NEW YORK) — An attorney representing Fox News against Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit clashed Tuesday with the judge in the case over how some of the network’s biggest stars can be questioned on the witness stand once the trial gets underway next week.
Dominion’s lawsuit accuses Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories about the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election, in order to combat concerns over ratings and viewer retention.
“The hosts are going to make the argument that they didn’t make the statements,” Fox attorney Dan Webb said during a pre-trial hearing in the case, offering a potential window into how some of Fox’s biggest stars may explain some of their broadcasts that Dominion has said were defamatory.
“If you argue that,” Judge Eric Davis warned, “I will turn to the jury and say [you are] incorrect.”
The disagreement came as a warning to both sides from Judge Davis not to make arguments before the jury that would contradict his previous rulings in the case. Davis, in pre-trial rulings last month, shot down one of Fox’s arguments in the case: that they were simply reporting on claims that were undeniably “newsworthy.” That defense, the judge wrote, “fail[ed] to shield” Fox from liability.
Davis also ruled on falsity, finding that the statements broadcast about Dominion were, in fact, false.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Davis also ruled on motions from each side about what evidence may be admitted or restricted from trial. In one ruling, he restricted Dominion from bringing up evidence regarding Jan. 6, saying that was “for another court at another time.”
Davis reiterated during the hearing it is “crystal clear” that the allegations Fox aired against Dominion were false. He also noted that bringing somebody on the air “does not absolve the publisher,” telling the Fox attorney, “That’s what you have to be careful of.”
“I’m not going to step over this line,” Webb told the judge.
“Well, it looks like you are,” the judge quickly responded.
“Well actually, I’m not,” Webb replied during the tense exchange.
Both sides have suggested they would like Fox hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham to testify live, according to a court filing in the case. Both Dominion and Fox listed those stars, as well as dozens of other names, on their proposed witness lists submitted to the court ahead of trial.
Judge Davis last week said during a hearing that Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and other executives could be compelled to testify in person next month, according to a Dominion spokesperson.
(NEW YORK) — One anonymous bidder has taken being a sneakerhead to a record level.
A pair of Michael Jordan’s game-worn shoes from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals were sold for $2.238 million on Tuesday, the priciest pair of sneakers ever purchased.
The sneakers were sold as part of a lot of sports memorabilia auctioned off Tuesday by Sotheby’s. The Jordan XIIIs were the centerpiece of a two-part auction that also included the shooting shirt Kobe Bryant wore before his 81-point game, Tom Brady’s full uniform from a game in the 2004 Patriots championship season and the jersey Pele wore in his 1975 debut with the New York Cosmos.
The black and red Jordan XIIIs were autographed in silver marker and given to a ball boy after Jordan scored 37 points in a 93-88 win over the Utah Jazz. The Bulls had lost Game 1, but three straight wins starting in Game 2 pushed Chicago to within one game of their third straight title — and Jordan’s sixth overall.
Nine days later, Jordan would play his final game with the Bulls. The pair of Jordan XIII “Breds” up for auction would be the last he would ever wear in a game, according to Sotheby’s.
The ball boy had found Jordan’s lost jacket earlier the previous day and asked for his shoes as thanks — an ask Jordan fulfilled after Game 2, Sotheby’s said. The shoes remain in “immaculate condition” and are the only authenticated complete pair of sneakers worn by Jordan in an NBA Finals game, according to Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s estimated the Jordan XIIIs would sell for $2 million to $4 million.
The Air Jordans beat out the previous record of $1.8 million held by a pair of Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1s. The rapper wore the shoes, which were auctioned off by Sotheby’s in April 2021, during the 50th annual Grammy Awards in 2008.
A pair of Jordan’s Nike Air Ships worn during his rookie season in 1984 were auctioned off for $1.47 million in October 2021. They were the second-most expensive shoes of all-time and the most expensive game-worn shoes until the sale of the Jordan XIIIs.
NLE Choppa‘s new album, Cottonwood 2, comes in a few days, but before its release, he decided to give fans a peek of what’s to come.
The rapper shared the track list on his socials Monday, unveiling features with Lil Wayne, Kevin Gates, Rick Ross, Polo G, G Herbo, Lola Brooke, Queen Naija and more.
The 22-track Cottonwood 2, the second edition to Choppa’s 2019 EP Cottonwood, comes out Friday, April 14. “Ain’t Gonna Answer,” his single with Wayne, is out now.
(FLORIDA) — Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby called transgender people “demons” and “mutants” in a hearing about a bill that would make it a crime to use a bathroom that doesn’t align with the gender assigned at birth.
Transgender people and allies were at the public hearing on Monday to share their stories in opposition to the bill when Barnaby made his comments: “I’m looking at society today and it’s like I’m watching an X-Men movie … it’s like we have mutants living among us on planet Earth,” Barnaby said.
He later went on, “I’m not afraid to address the dysphoria or the dysfunction. The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps will come and parade before us. That’s right – I called you demons and imps who come and parade before us and pretend that you are part of this world.”
Later in the hearing, he apologized for his comments.
“I would like to apologize to the trans community for referring to you as demons,” he said.
Transgender people have long expressed concerns about the harm of anti-transgender sentiment and the influence it could have on the violence and discrimination disproportionately faced by the community.
“Today, parents and children, many of whom traveled hours to share their stories, had to listen to GOP State Representative Barnaby slander the transgender community from the dais,” a statement from local LGBTQ group Equality Florida read. “And Republican leadership in the room refused to put a stop to it.”
It continued, “This hideous bigotry has always been at the root of the wave of anti-LGBTQ hysteria sweeping our state.”
Advocates say transgender people have historically and falsely been categorized as violent or dangerous, which perpetuates anti-transgender sentiment and discrimination.
Transgender people are more than four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violence, according to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
In his comments, Barnaby expressed his lack of understanding about gender dysphoria and language around gender: “To all the folks that are in the audience that consider themselves gender dysphoria, cis – I don’t know what all that means. I really don’t know what all that means.”
The state has seen several bills this year that restrict the LGBTQ community, as well as implementing several other restrictive laws or policies. Several bills currently being considered by the legislature restrict education, programming or curriculum relating to sexual orientation or gender identity in K-12 schools and colleges, as well as limit access to transgender health care for people under 18.
Several state laws and policies already restrict these issues, but several bills aim to expand restrictions.
One bill, SB 254, would allow the state to alter a parent’s custody rights if gender-affirming youth health care is considered for their child.
The group also called on House Speaker Paul Rommel to denounce Barnaby’s words.
Several other lawmakers appeared to express support for the transgender people who spoke at the hearing or distance themselves from Barnaby’s statements.
“I see you, hear you, understand and love you and — definitely still a little bit thrown off from the last comments here and I just really wanna let you all know that that that there are many here that understand and support you,” said Democrat Rep. Kristen Aston Arrington.
Republican Rep. Chase Tramont, who voted in favor of the bill, also spoke against Barnaby’s words.
“I’m also a Christian man and I just want to say to some of the folks in here who share their testimony … You’re not an evil being. I believe that you’re fearfully and wonderfully made. I want you to live your life well,” Tramont said.
