Lewis Capaldi has topped charts all over the world, sold several million copies of his debut album and won a bunch of awards, but he still can’t shake his imposter syndrome — even after Elton John himself sent him an email telling him how great he is.
Rolling Stone reports that in Lewis’ upcoming Netflix documentary Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, the Scottish singer reveals that he told his pal Ed Sheeran that he doesn’t feel like he deserves his success. The next day, he says, Elton John emailed him and ordered him to stop feeling like that.
In the documentary, Lewis reads the email from Elton: “’Dear Lewis, I was talking to Ed yesterday and we were talking about you. He said you were feeling a bit like an imposter. BOLLOCKS!'”
That’s British for “B.S.” by the way.
The email from Elton continued, “You’re totally your own man and your album is still rising all over the world. And it’s your first album. You write beautiful songs that resonate with millions of people. You’re great live and a wonderful singer … You are also very funny and original. I mean this sincerely.”
“Stop it now please, or I’ll come out to [where you live] and bring out the latent homo in you,” Elton concluded, signing the email, “Buckets of love.”
But in the film, the “Someone You Loved” singer admits that Elton’s note didn’t help.
“It’s nice to hear this stuff but I obviously still feel a bit like an imposter,” he says in the film, according to Rolling Stone. “I don’t think it’s ever gonna go away. “
Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now starts streaming April 5 on Netflix.
Shinedown‘s Revolutions Live kicks off Monday in Saginaw, Michigan. For the outing, Brent Smith and company will be bringing an updated version of the show they staged last spring while on the road with The Pretty Reckless and Diamante.
“We didn’t really do a lot of shows with that design, so we’re, like, ‘We spent all this time working on this design, and we didn’t really play that many shows with it, so let’s bring that back,'” Smith tells ABC Audio. “Obviously with a different set list, and just a couple surprises here and there with how we’re gonna interact with the audience and just the experience overall.”
He adds, “But it’s gonna be everything you want it to be.”
Shinedown will be touring in support of their latest album, Planet Zero, featuring the hit title track, as well as the singles “Daylight,” “Dead Don’t Die” and “A Symptom of Being Human.” The record dropped last July, but Smith feels that 2023 will be a “monumental year” for Planet Zero.
“I think that the idea that, ‘Oh, the record came out six months ago, it’s old,’ no,” Smith declares.
“There are so many people that haven’t heard it,” he continues. “There are so many people that don’t know exactly what Planet Zero is, or who Shinedown is.”
In 2023, Smith’s goal is to change that.
“That is our mission, is to play in front of as many people as possible,” he says. “Anybody that wants to know who we are and what we’re about, we welcome them, because we’ve always been like that. Anyone from anywhere at anytime is welcome.”
The Kinks became rock ‘n’ roll superstars with Ray Davies as lead vocalist, but he says that was never really his ambition when he started playing music.
In an interview with The Sun, Ray says he wanted to be just like some of his musical heroes, like Chet Atkins and jazz guitarist Tal Farlow, “and just sit at the side playing guitar and let other people do the hard work.” Ray notes, “I thought there was too much responsibility in being a frontman so I tried to give the job to (brother) Dave (Davies) but he didn’t accept it.”
Ray also says their label “thought I had good diction in the days when manners prevailed,” recalling that they told him, “My dear boy, you should be the singer.”
Ray is promoting The Kinks’ recently released compilation album The Journey – Part 1, which features songs handpicked by him, Dave and Mick Avory. He also talked to the paper about some of their biggest hits, including 1964’s “You Really Got Me,” which he says almost didn’t get released.
“The record company didn’t want us to put it out because they thought it was too aggressive,” he says. “I don’t know what they’d do with it in today’s world.”
The Journey – Part 1 is part of the band’s 60th anniversary celebration. The Journey – Part 2 is expected to come out later this year, along with other events and activities celebrating the anniversary happening throughout 2023 and 2024.
Quinta Brunson and Lil Yachty both made their SNL debuts over the weekend.
The Abbott Elementary creator and star hosted the episode, while the rapper was the night’s musical guest.
In Brunson’s opening monologue, she joked that she wanted to be on SNL back in the day but the audition process seemed long, so instead she “just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys and then was asked to host – so much easier!”
She also paid tribute to teachers, including her mom, who was a Philadelphia school teacher, and played a special video message to her mom from former president Barack Obama.
Lil Yachty took the stage to perform two songs, “the BLACK seminole.” and “drive ME crazy!” off his rock-influenced album Let’s Start Here. Both performances featured singer-songwriter Diana Gordon and a full band.
Backstage at the 2023 CMT Music Awards in Austin, the theme seemed to be both gratitude and disbelief.
Newcomer Megan Moroney was so overcome she struggled to remember what month it is, after winning Breakthrough Female Video of the Year for her current hit, “Tennessee Orange.” Lainey Wilson was similarly perplexed, after taking home trophies for Collaborative Video of the Year for “wait in the truck” with HARDY, and simultaneously winning Female Video for “Heart Like a Truck,” the very day it climbed to #1 on the country chart.
Jelly Roll was the night’s big winner, declaring he was ready to do some serious partying after grabbing three trophies for his breakthrough hit, “Son of a Sinner.”
Host Kane Brown and wife Katelyn took home the night’s biggest honor, Video of the Year, for their chart-topping first duet, “Thank God.” The superstar said he felt like he was getting to live his own career again, as he gets to share in his significant other’s first success as a recording artist.
The CMT Music Awards, which is country music’s only entirely fan-voted awards show, aired live Sunday night from Austin, Texas, hosted for the third time by Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown.
Ballerini opened the show with an emotional tribute to the victims of the Nashville shooting, which occurred on March 27.
“Tonight’s broadcast is dedicated to the ever growing list of families, friends, survivors, witnesses, and first responders whose lives continue to forever be changed by gun violence,” she said during the speech.
The CMT’s then kicked off with back-to-back performances, starting with Blake Shelton and his hit “No Body,” followed by Tyler Hubbard‘s “Dancin’ in the County,” and Gary Clark Jr., who channeled Stevie Ray Vaughan in a tribute to the legendary Texas six-string player.
Jelly Roll, a first time CMT nominee and winner of all three awards he was nominated for including Male Video of the Year, also hit the stage to perform his song “Need a Favor” and delivered an inspiring message during his acceptance speech.
“I don’t know what you’re going through and I don’t know what you’ve been through but I know you can overcome it,” he said. “I promise you, you can.”
Ballerini made a statement of support for the LGBTQ+ community when she hit the stage with “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” bringing out some stars from the RuPaul’s Drag Race series.
Other performers of the night included Carly Pearce, Alanis Morissette, Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, and Darius Rucker.
Shania Twain was honored with the CMT Equal Play Award, which recognizes an artist who is an advocate for elevating diverse and underrepresented voices in country music, and Kane Brown and his wife Katelyn took home Video of the Year for their song “Thank God.”
Closing out the star-studded night was a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd with Billy Gibbons, Chuck Leavell, Cody Johnson, Paul Rodgers, Slash, and Warren Haynes. LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd also joined in the tribute as honorary “Honkettes.”
The 2023 CMT Music Awards went down in Austin, Texas Sunday night, and while the night celebrated country music’s biggest stars, rock was also well-represented.
The show featured a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and their late guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away last month. The performance, which was introduced by Peter Frampton, featured a trio of guitar greats – Guns N’ Roses’ Slash,ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, and Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes – along with Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers and country star Cody Johnson on vocals, Rolling Stones’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes filling in for Skynyrd’s backup singers, The Honkettes.
The all-star lineup treated the crowd to performances of Skynyrd classics “Simple Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” with current Skynyrd members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke watching on from the audience, along with Rossington’s widow, Dale Krantz Rossington and daughter Dale, and the late Ronnie Van Zant’s widow Judy and his granddaughter.
The show also featured a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan from Gary Clark, Jr., who performed a rousing rendition “The House Is Rockin’.”
And if that wasn’t enough, The Black Crowes also performed on the telecast, joining Darius Rucker for a collaboration on the Crowes’ classic “She Talks to Angels.” Plus, Alanis Morissette teamed with Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Madeline Edwards and Morgan Wade for a performance of her classic “You Oughta Know,” and Wynonna and Ashley McBryde performed a cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
(ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.) — A 21-year-old man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after police found the body of his 2-year-old son in the mouth of an alligator days after the child’s mother was stabbed to death in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The child, Taylen Mosley, was reported missing when authorities found his mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, stabbed to death in her apartment on Thursday, Yolanda Fernandez, a police spokesperson, said in a press release.
St. Petersburg authorities’ investigation led them on Friday to Dell Holmes Park and Lake Maggiore, which lies adjacent to the park. While searching the area, detectives spotted an alligator with an object in its mouth, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said in a press conference. After police fired a round at the alligator, the animal dropped the object, which was later identified as the body of Taylen Mosley, Holloway said. His body was recovered completely intact, and the alligator was killed, the chief said.
“We didn’t want to find him this way,” Holloway said. “But at least we can bring some closure to that family.”
Taylen’s father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, faces two charges of first-degree murder, one for Jeffery, and one for Taylen, according to the chief. Mosley is in the hospital receiving treatment for minor injuries at this time, according to police.
Authorities have not yet determined a cause of death for Taylen.
(NEW YORK) — Several parts of the country will experience extreme weather this week, days after lines of tornadoes killed at least 26 people in several states.
Severe activity on Sunday will include critical fire danger, wind damage and hail in Texas and spring snowfall along higher elevations in the Northeast, forecasts show.
Extreme weather will also be present in the west, with heavy snow expected in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and winter storm warnings in effect for the Cascade mountain range in Oregon and Washington. Locations above 1,500 feet of elevation could see 1 foot to 2 feet of snow throughout into Sunday night.
Gusty winds could become damaging across the southwest Sunday and Monday, with 11 states from Texas to Montana under wind alerts. The dry breeze could feed into the critical fire danger predicted for southern Colorado, eastern New Mexico and western Texas on Sunday and Monday.
A developing storm in the middle of the country on Tuesday could present a severe weather threat for several regions that just experienced deadly tornado activity.
The severe weather threat could affect cities like Chicago, Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City, Missouri, St. Louis, and Little Rock, Arkansas, which is still cleaning up from a deadly EF-3 tornado on Friday.
The predictions for inclement weather come days after deadly tornado activity in several states.
At least 26 people are dead across seven states — and dozens more hospitalized — after the tornado outbreak moved across the U.S. on Friday and Saturday.
The fatalities occurred in Arkansas, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Delaware and Illinois following several catastrophic tornadoes that uprooted homes and collapsed roofs.
On Saturday, 250 storms were reported across the eastern U.S., including 230 wind reports, 18 hail reports, and two reports of tornados — both in Sussex County, Delaware.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday directly urged Russia to free an American journalist who was detained last week on suspicion of espionage — which the White House has called “ridiculous.”
The State Department said Blinken had spoken with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Sunday. However, readouts from each side show how sharply the countries are at odds over Evan Gershkovich, whose arrest adds to the list of high-profile detentions of Americans in Russia — some of which have been used as bargaining chips in protracted and controversial negotiations.
Blinken “conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist … [and] called for his immediate release,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.
Blinken “further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan,” Patel said, referring to a former Marine and corporate security employee imprisoned in Russia for four years on an espionage conviction he also denies.
Russia’s description of Blinken’s call with Lavrov suggests there is likely to be little progress on the matter anytime soon.
Lavrov insisted to Blinken that Gershkovich was “taken red-handed,” Russian officials said, and noted to Blinken “the need to respect the decisions of the Russian authorities.”
“The inadmissibility of officials in Washington and Western media escalating the hype with the clear intention of giving this case a political colouring was emphasised,” Russian officials said.
Rep. Mike Turner, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, said Sunday that the Biden administration should keep pushing.
“Certainly, the Biden administration should continue its efforts to negotiate and to try to get the release of this journalist,” Turner, R-Ohio, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But, overall, people should be very cautious about staying in Russia.”
Turner contended that Russia “is acting as an illegal state at this point” and posed too great a risk to Americans.
“We gave people notice that they should get out of Russia. And, certainly, I would continue to encourage people to do so,” he said.
Gershkovich was initially detained in Ekaterinburg, Russia’s Federal Security Service said Thursday. The intelligence agency has accused Gershkovich of spying and collecting “state secrets.”
He has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted in a case that is marked “top secret.”
A foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, the 31-year-old Gershkovich “fell in love with Russia—its language, the people he chatted with for hours in regional capitals, the punk bands he hung out with at Moscow dive bars,” according to a Journal profile of him published Friday.
The Journal reported then that Gershkovich was detained at Lefortovo prison and had not been able to see an attorney for him hired by the paper, which “vehemently denies the allegations.”
Asked Friday about Gershkovich’s case and his message to Russia, President Joe Biden said: “Let him go.”
But how to handle what some call “hostage taking” can be much trickier to deal with than issuing simple warnings and pleas, experts told ABC News. That’s especially true when political pressure builds at home to free an individual — versus the broader national interest in not giving in to the “leverage” critics say Russia is seeking.
What’s more, the process of bringing back an American detained overseas can take months or even years.
“Given the cases we’ve seen unfold over the past several years, there are certainly reasons to imagine that this will be a case of hostage diplomacy,” Dartmouth College foreign policy fellow Danielle Gilbert said.
She said that “the first thing that I am watching for will be whether or not the State Department gives Evan that designation — whether they designate him as wrongfully detained. And that decision could come tomorrow or it could come months from now.”
It will “likely be several days” before the U.S. will get consular access, Petal, the State Department spokesperson, told reporters on Thursday.
At a separate Thursday briefing, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre declined to characterize Gershkovich’s detention as a hostage situation when asked by ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos.
“I mean, he’s being wrong — he’s being detained and, and we have been very clear, there’s, you know, there’s no reason to believe that those charges are accurate, the espionage are accurate,” she said.
The White House has said it is in contact with the Journal and Gershkovich’s family.
ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford, Alexandra Hutzler, Teresa Mettela and Natalia Shumskaia contributed to this report.
