The music of Lynyrd Skynyrd will be celebrated with an all-star tribute performance at Sunday’s CMT Music Awards.
The segment will feature a who’s who of guitarists, including Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons and Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes. The performance will also feature Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers and country star Cody Johnson on vocals, along with the Rolling Stones’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band members Ethan Pilzer on bass and Rich Redmond on drums.
Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes are also on board to provide harmonies, filling in for Skynyrd’s backup singers, The Honkettes.
So far there’s no word on what songs they will be performing, but the segment will serve as a tribute to founding member Gary Rossington, who passed away earlier this month, as well as the 50th anniversary of the band’s debut album.
And all this will be happening in front of current Lynyrd Skynyrd members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlock, who will be in attendance at the show, as will Rossington’s widow, Dale Krantz Rossington.
The 2023 CMT Music Awards air Sunday, April 2, on CBS live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
(NEW YORK) — Months after the Food and Drug Administration first indicated that there was a shortage of ADHD drugs, suppliers are warning that those shortfalls could continue throughout the year — a source of frustration amid increased demand and diagnoses.
Amphetamine mixed salts, commonly referred to by the brand name Adderall, is a stimulant medication that can treat ADHD. It requires a prescription and as a controlled substance, supply is strictly monitored, and distribution is limited.
According to the FDA, Adderall is no longer in shortage, but generic versions are still impacted.
The FDA told ABC News that the shortage started with a delay from a manufacturer, which has since resolved, and is now demand-driven.
A CDC report released Thursday estimates that prescription fills for stimulant drugs — which are primarily used to treat ADHD — grew by more than 11% among adults ages 25-44 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notable increases were also seen for adolescent females, as prescriptions increased more than 8% for those ages 10-14, and over 15% for those ages 15-19.
Suppliers are echoing demand issues, with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, a division of Novartis, telling ABC News they expect the product to remain in tight supply for the entirety of 2023.
“At this time we are meeting current customer orders but have not been able to fill increased demand due to the initial quota in 2023 given to us by the DEA… We submitted our requests to the DEA for an increase in volume in 2023, but have not been granted our full request,” Leslie Pott, vice president of corporate affairs at Sandoz told ABC News.
Each year, the DEA sets a limit for the amount of active ingredient in controlled substances that can be produced by manufacturers.
Teva, the largest manufacturer of generic and brand name Adderall in the U.S, told ABC News that while the company is not currently experiencing manufacturing issues or shortages, “they are still seeing unprecedented demand which may cause intermittent delays for some pharmacies or patients.”
Alvogen and Teva have reported to the FDA that demand increases are behind the shortages, while Epic Pharma and US Pharma Windlas (a new manufacturer) have reported a shortage of the active ingredient.
Aurobindo Pharma and SpecGX are predicting supply issues through April 2023, according to the shortage database.
Dr. Anish Dube, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Children, Adolescents and their Families told ABC News that there may be an increase in diagnoses due to increased awareness.
“I think there’s been a lot more awareness and knowledge and folks are getting assessed more frequently for ADHD and this could be a cause for increased diagnosis and treatment,” says Dube.
While people of all ages are affected by the shortage, school-age children and families are especially feeling the constraints.
Millions of US children rely on the medication. The latest estimates suggest that roughly 10% of US children ages 3-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Center for Disease Control and Protection, and these numbers may have increased since 2019.
“Especially for children who are in school, or that are still doing any kind of virtual options, having to be in front of the screen for extended stretches of time, it can be particularly challenging for them to be sitting still or to be stationary for extended periods,” says Dube.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends medication, in combination with parent training in behavior management and behavioral classroom interventions for those in a classroom setting for children and adolescents ages 6-18 with an ADHD diagnosis.
Parents who are struggling to obtain their child’s medication and feel they’ve exhausted all options, should call their pharmacist or doctor to discuss a plan.
“It’s important that parents have a contingency plan with their prescribing physician… At least temporarily, you might be looking at other treatment options to help the young person to manage those symptoms,” says Dube.
The FDA says they recognize the potential impact that increased demand of certain products may have on health care providers and patients, and are working to alleviate constraints.
“The FDA is working closely with numerous manufacturers, agencies, and others in the supply chain to understand, mitigate and prevent or reduce the impact of intermittent or increased demand of certain products,” an agency spokesperson told ABC News.
Photographs taken by Paul McCartney during the height of Beatlemania will be the subject of a new exhibit at London’s National Portrait Gallery, as previously reported, and now the gallery is giving fans a peek at what they can expect.
The Portrait Gallery has shared some new photos from the exhibit on Instagram, including a self-portrait of McCartney, one of Paul with John Lennon, a photo of a smiling Ringo Starr and another of George Harrison being handed a drink by a girl in a yellow bikini.
“Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them,” McCartney shares. “Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn’t take them any differently today.”
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Stormis set to run from June 28 to October 1 and feature more than 250 never-before-seen photographs taken by McCartney. The portraits that will be on display are from McCartney’s own archive and were taken between December 1963 and February 1964, giving fans an insight into his point of view as The Beatles were becoming international superstars.
Tickets to the McCartney exhibit are available for preorder now.
McCartney is also releasing a book of the photographs, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, on June 13. It is available for preorder now.
(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan group of lawmakers re-introduced legislation Wednesday that would create a no-fly list for passengers fined or convicted for assaulting crew members on board an aircraft.
The Protection from Abusive Passengers Act would direct the Transportation Security Administration to “create and manage a program” that bars such unruly passengers from flying again.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., along with Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said the legislation they introduced is in the interest of everybody on board a flight.
“We must do more to protect employees and the traveling public, and the Protection from Abusive Protections Act does that,” Reed said at a press conference. “Passengers, once they are on board, must follow the rules and not commit acts of violence, or they won’t be permitted on commercial aircraft again.”
The TSA would have the authority to determine how long an unruly passenger is banned from flying based on the severity of their offense, according to Reed’s office.
The legislation marks the latest move by Congress to secure America’s skies amid thousands of reports of unruly passengers each year. In 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration received nearly 2,500 reports of unruly passengers and investigated 831.
While those numbers are down from a pandemic high in early 2021 when the federal mask mandate was in effect, some flight attendants, such as American Airlines flight attendant Pedro Enriquez, say they still face unruly travelers. During a flight from Miami to London in January, a passenger physically assaulted Enriquez amid a disagreement about the flyer’s assigned seat, the flight attendant said at the Wednesday press conference.
“He approached me threateningly, spitting on me while I backed away through the business class cabin until I was trapped in the galley,” Enriquez said of the passenger, adding that after the flight attendant attempted to deescalate, the passenger “spat again in my face and sucker-punched me in the eye.”
The passenger was arrested upon landing, according to Enriquez, who held up a photo to show his injuries.
“It is disappointing to me that a passenger who was arrested for physically assaulting and spitting in a flight attendant’s face can continue to fly on commercial airplanes here in the United States,” Enriquez said.
Cher Taylor, an Orlando-based flight attendant with Frontier Airlines, said a July 2021 incident still haunts her. One white passenger used his fists and racially insensitive language during a dispute about a carry-on bag with a Black passenger, she said.
“Law enforcement didn’t come in time,” Taylor said. “The perpetrator walked off the plane, and nothing happened.”
“I’ve had months of therapy and struggled initially to go back to work,” a visibly distraught Taylor added.
While the legislation has some bipartisan in both chambers of Congress, such reform may face difficulty getting passed. Other legislation concerning unruly passengers was introduced during the last Congress but failed after it was referred to a subcommittee in the House for further consideration.
But lawmakers Wednesday were hopeful this attempt in the 118th Congress could succeed.
“I don’t say this very often, [but] I’m quite optimistic about this getting across the finish line,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is something I anticipate will get broad bipartisan support.”
(NEW YORK) — Embattled crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried now faces an additional criminal charge of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to a superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.
The new charge brings to 13 the total number of counts Bankman-Fried faces, all stemming from alleged corruption in the operations of the crypto companies he founded: FTX and Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to this newest count and four others unsealed in a prior indictment in late February. Bankman-Fried had previously pleaded not guilty to the other eight charges he faces.
“We will be challenging the new charges when motions are filed,” a spokesperson for Bankman-Fried told ABC News.
Bankman-Fried is due back in court June 15.
Bankman-Fried allegedly agreed to pay $40 million in cryptocurrency to foreign officials in China so they would unfreeze certain trading accounts on two of China’s largest crypto exchanges that belonged to Alameda, according to the superseding indictment.
The accounts had been frozen in 2021 by Chinese authorities as part of an investigation of a certain Alameda trading counterparty.
“After the accounts were frozen, Samuel Bankman-Fried, the defendant, and others operating at his direction, considered and tried numerous methods to unfreeze the accounts,” the indictment said. “After months of failed attempts to unfreeze the accounts, Samuel Bankman-Fried, the defendant, discussed with others and ultimately agreed to and directed a multi-million dollar bribe to seek to unfreeze the accounts.”
The alleged bribe payment was carried out in November 2021, at which time the accounts were unfrozen, prosecutors said, and Bankman-Fried resumed trading with the estimated $1 billion that remained in those accounts.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges. He has yet to enter a plea on this newest count and four others unsealed in a previous superseding indictment in late February.
Bankman-Fried has been free on a $250 million personal recognizance bond and under court orders to live with his parents. On Thursday, the judge overseeing the case will consider additional restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s bail after federal prosecutors raised concerns about his internet activities and his contact with current and former FTX employees.
According to a new court filing, Bankman-Fried’s parents have agreed to not allow him to use their phones and laptops and to install monitoring software on those devices that will photograph the device’s user every five minutes.
If the judge agrees, Bankman-Fried will not be allowed to contact current or former FTX and Alameda employees, use Signal or other encrypted messaging apps or use a VPN to access the internet.
He will be given a new laptop configured to allow access only to pre-approved websites, which are necessary for the preparation of the defense or for personal use, and do not pose a risk to the community.
(NEW YORK) — Areas pummeled by last week’s deadly tornado outbreak are likely to see more severe weather in the coming days as a cross-country storm moves east, bringing with it the threat of long-track tornadoes.
As of Thursday morning, 27 states and nearly 30 million people were on alert for heavy snow, strong winds or flooding from California to Wisconsin.
A major storm that battered the West Coast will move into the Heartland on Friday, with a major severe weather outbreak expected.
The storm already brought up to 30 inches of snow to Mammoth Lakes, California, in a 24-hour period. The area has seen more than 700 inches of snow this season — making for its snowiest winter on record. Some flooding, hail and even mudslides were also reported across California from the Bay Area to Los Angeles County.
The storm is forecast to leave California later Thursday and will cross the Rocky Mountains overnight, bringing heavy snow to the area. Wind gusts up to 72 mph from Nevada to Utah are also forecast overnight.
By Friday, the storm is expected to redevelop in the Plains and produce a major severe weather outbreak from Texas to Wisconsin. Nearly 50 million people are on alert Friday for tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail.
The highest threat for strong, long-track tornadoes will be near Memphis, Tennessee, and in Iowa and Illinois, west of Chicago.
In addition to tornadoes, damaging winds and huge hail could be possible in Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; Indianapolis; Nashville, Tennessee; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Severe weather could reach as far south as Rolling Fork and Silver Springs, Mississippi, which were devastated by a deadly tornado outbreak last week.
Elsewhere, to the north, a late-season winter storm is expected from Nebraska to Michigan. A winter storm watch has been issued for areas including Minneapolis. Locally more than a half foot of snow is possible in the Upper Midwest and the northern Great Lakes.
(MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif.) — A series of mega-storms throughout March has brought snow to Mammoth Mountain in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, burying homes, cars and businesses.
Earlier this week, 20.7 inches fell in 24 hours at Mammoth Mountain, surpassing the all-time season snowfall record, according to the UC Berkeley Snow Lab, with more than 700 inches for the season. The previous record, set in the 2010-2011 season was 668 inches.
People were out shoveling snow off roofs and trying to keep roads passable with windy conditions. Wind gusts at the ski resort were reported to be as high as 98 mph.
That will stretch the ski season through at least July at Mammoth Mountain ski resort, which has recorded 870 inches at the base of the Main Lodge.
Another 30 inches fell in the last 24 hours and the forecast is for snow this weekend and early next week.
Vince Gill is set to announce the 2023 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees on Monday, April 3.
The announcement will livestream at 10 a.m. CT on the CMA YouTube Channel.
Vince, who became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, is known for hits like “One More Last Chance,” “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away” and “Go Rest High On That Mountain.”
Metallica‘s played “Master of Puppets” live a whole lot — a total of 1,689 times, to be exact, according to the band’s website. So perhaps it’s understandable that Kirk Hammett isn’t exactly thrilled to keep playing the song’s famed solo.
Speaking with Total Guitar, Hammett shares, “What I’m going to say people are probably gonna hate, but it drives me nuts having to play that f****** guitar solo in ‘Master of Puppets’ every time.”
“People love that guitar solo and they come to see that. That’s fine,” Hammett continues. “For that part of our career, all those solos are locked in. I don’t view them as solos anymore; they’re parts. I’m freaking bored of it, but it’s exciting for people to hear.”
Hammett then clarifies, “I’m not bored of the solo; I just get bored of playing the same thing all the time.”
“I’m inviting all sorts of criticism and opinions but I don’t f****** care,” Hammett says. “It’s like the solo on ‘Fade to Black.’ I play the first eight bars and then I go on a tangent for like 20, 24 bars and then come back in the last four bars and play parts that everyone knows. That’s one of my most favorite parts of playing that song live because I don’t know what the f*** I’m gonna play.”
If Hammett ever wants to take a break from shredding the “Master of Puppets,” surely countless metalheads would offer to take his place, not to mention Stranger Things fans. “Master of Puppets” was memorably featured in the season 4 finale of the Netflix sci-fi series, leading to a chart resurgence for the 1986 track.
Mary J. Blige is on a press run to promote her new children’s book, Mary Can!, but if there’s any story she would like to help bring to life onscreen, it’d be that of Nina Simone.
“I always wanted to play Nina Simone because I wanna learn how to play the piano and I love her songs,” she said during an appearance on The Late Show. “They’re very dark and moody and I can always find a place for that.”
Mary’s been a busy woman, with Power Book II: Ghost out now, an upcoming festival and two new Lifetime shows on the way, but she’s still the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Speaking to Stephen Colbert, she discussed hip-hop’s ability to serve as a form of therapy.
“I think it’s been amazing because hip-hop has given our culture a voice,” Blige said. “It’s given everybody a voice and a place to speak their truth to. From Jay-Z to Nas to Biggie, they’re all speaking their truth through music, from Rakim to KRS-One.”
She continued, “Everybody is speaking what they’ve lived and what they’ve done through their music, and it’s given them some sort of therapy and that’s what hip-hop has done. And I hope it continues to do that, and I hope it stays around for a long time because the new generations are doing the exact same thing.”
