Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett has obtained a new, legendary guitar dubbed the “rarest of grails.”
The instrument is a factory black 1959 Les Paul Standard and was purchased from the company Carter Vintage Guitars. In an Instagram post showing off his latest axe, Hammett writes, “This is one unique, amazing sounding guitar.”
The guitar originally belonged to a jazz musician named Joseph Arena, who, as Carter Vintage explains, “wanted a black guitar to match his tuxedo.”
“But a Les Paul Custom was out of his price range so he opted to custom order for the [less] expensive Standard but with a black finish,” the story continues. “The guitar was ordered through Sam Ash in Hempstead, New York, and has stayed in the original family until now.”
The guitar is so special that Hammett says his famed Greeny guitar, a ’59 Les Paul once owned by late Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green, is “a little jealous.”
Netflix dropped the first full-length trailer to its Bridgerton prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. In it, viewers see India Amarteifio playing a younger version of Golda Rosheuvel‘s monarch, who is about to step into the thorny world of royalty.
The young Charlotte has a meet-cute with her husband-to-be, the young King George (Corey Mylchreest), as she apparently tries to flee the royal compound. She soon finds living like a queen isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “It is time we are united as a society,” George’s mother, Princess Augusta (Michelle Fairley), informs Charlotte. “You will make lots of babies. As many babies as possible for my son.”
“Your marriage cannot go wrong!” she later admonishes the young royal-to-be.
After a rocky start, the young royals eventually hit it off, but George is hiding secrets from her. “Fight with me. Fight for me!” she urges him.
Rosheuvel is also seen bookending the flashback story, which comes to Netflix on May 4.
Mickey Guyton joined CBS Mornings Thursday, March 23, to share more about Apple TV+’s new country talent competition, MyKind of Country.
The series, which is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kacey Musgraves, will feature contestants from India, South Africa and Mexico, with Mickey, Jimmie Allen and Orville Peck serving as mentors and scouts for the next big country star.
“Country music is universal and there are so many people that love country music outside of America that don’t necessarily have access to it, and this is giving them that opportunity,” Mickey said. “It’s really holding the door open and giving listeners that love country music another version of it.”
Additionally, the “Black Like Me” singer shared what she and her fellow mentors will be looking for.
“We’re definitely looking for tones. We’re looking for the stories,” Mickey noted. “You know, country music is stories about life, and we want to hear that within the artists. We want to hear, you know, a little twang in their voice like what you hear in country music. That’s stuff that we look for, for sure.”
My Kind of Country premieres Friday, March 24, on Apple TV+.
It’s been 50 years since ABBA released their debut album, Ring Ring, and they are ready to celebrate.
On May 19, the Swedish group will reissue Ring Ring on two-LP vinyl, remastered at Abbey Road Studios. In addition there will be a box set of five colored 7-inch singles, with each single also available individually as a 7-inch picture disc.
The five singles are:
“He Is Your Brother” / “Santa Rosa”
“People Need Love” / “Merry-Go-Round”
“Ring Ring” (English) / “She’s My Kind of Girl”
“Ring Ring” (Swedish) / “Åh, vilka tider”
“Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)” / “I Am Just A Girl”
Originally released in Sweden on March 23, 1973, the album was actually credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha& Frida, as they hadn’t yet adopted the name ABBA. It wasn’t released in the U.S. until 1995.
John Allen Carter was arrested on March 22, 2023, in connection with the 2011 death of his then-fiancee Katelyn Markham, in Ohio. — Butler County Sheriff’s Office
(HAMILTON, Ohio) — More than a decade after an Ohio woman disappeared, her then-fiance has been arrested in connection with her death.
John Allen Carter, 35, was arrested Wednesday and booked in the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, where he remained in custody as of Thursday, according to online jail records. It was unclear whether he has an attorney.
He has been charged with two counts of felony murder, according to Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO, which cited the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office. ABC News has reached out to the prosecutor’s office for comment.
Carter was believed to be the last person to see Katelyn Markham alive before she vanished in the summer of 2011. Markham was a 22-year-old college student residing in the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield and was engaged to Carter at the time of her disappearance.
“We all suspected that he had something to do with it,” Markham’s father, Dave, told WCPO on Wednesday.
Carter called 911 to report Markham missing after she stopped responding to his text messages and didn’t show up for work on Aug. 14, 2011, two days before her 23rd birthday. The couple had plans to move to Colorado in November, after Markham was expected to finish her bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
“I went to her house and she was gone without her car, without her purse, without her keys,” Carter told ABC News during an interview in August 2011.
“My gut feeling is that she’s alive and that she’s OK,” he added. “I have to believe she’s alive. I have to believe that I’m going to have her in my arms soon.”
Authorities and volunteers, including Carter, searched for Markham for years. On April 7, 2013, Markham’s remains were found in garbage bag at a dump site along Big Cedar Creek in southeastern Indiana, near the state line with Ohio, about 30 miles west of her home. Markham’s death was ruled a homicide but the cause was unknown, according to WCPO.
The case went cold for years despite being featured in television shows and a documentary, the efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies and a $100,000 reward for information.
Then, in February, one of Markham’s friends — 35-year-old Jonathan Palmerton — was arrested and charged with felony perjury in connection with her death, WCPO reported. That same day, authorities executed search warrants at Carter’s former home in Fairfield, where his mother lives, as well as at other residences of friends’ relatives. Investigators also excavated the backyards looking for evidence. Carter was not arrested at that time, according to WCPO.
Upon learning about Carter’s arrest on Wednesday, Markham’s father said he felt “relieved.”
“Everybody’s thrilled that this is ending,” he told WCPO. “I think myself and a lot of other people were expecting this and were waiting for this for 12 years.”
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Jessica Hopper contributed to this report.
Not only has Bruce Springsteen been a major influence on the music of countless artists, he’s also apparently a dietary inspiration for one musician in particular.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin reveals in a recent episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friendpodcast that he doesn’t eat dinner anymore because of a conversation he had with The Boss and his wife, E Street Band member Patti Scialfa.
During the podcast, O’Brien asked Martin what he’s learned from having dinner with his musical heroes. Martin replies, “What if I don’t actually have dinner anymore?”
“I stop eating at 4,” Martin shares. “I learned that from having lunch with Bruce Springsteen.”
Said lunch took place at the Springsteen residence after Coldplay played Philadelphia last year.
“I was on a really strict diet, anyway,” Martin recalls. “I was, like, ‘Bruce looks even more in shape than me!’ And Patti says, ‘He’s only eating one meal a day.’ So I was, like, ‘Well, there you go. That’s my next challenge.”
That means Martin will already be done eating by the time Coldplay takes the stage during their ongoing world tour, which hits the U.S. in September. Unless, of course, Jamie Lee Curtisgets her way and Coldplay starts playing shows at noon.
Selena Gomez hit a new Spotify milestone this week.
Her 2019 hit “Lose You to Love Me” officially reached 1 billion streams, Spotify announced on social media Wednesday.
“All the love for @selenagomez,” the streaming service tweeted. “Congratulations for 1 Billion streams on Lose You to Love Me.”
Selena reposted the announcement on her Instagram Story, writing “Grateful,” with a white heart emoji.
According to Billboard, “Lose You to Love Me” is her first solo song to reach the milestone. Three of her collaborations – “It Ain’t Me” with Kygo, “Wolves” with Marshmello and “Taki Taki” with DJ Snake, Ozuna and Cardi B – previously reached 1 billion streams on Spotify.
The full lineup for Milwaukee’s annual Summerfest has just been announced, with over 100 acts booked for the festival, now in its 55th year. This year’s fest will take place over three weekends, June 22 to 24, June 29 to July 1 and July 6 to 8, with bands playing across 12 stages.
James Taylor and Sheryl Crow are set to headline a June 24 show at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, while Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Styx, Cheap Trick, 38 Special, NightRanger, Survivor, Earth Wind & Fire, Smokey Robinson, Wang Chung, Flock of Seagulls, Soul Asylum and more are confirmed for the festival stages.
Tickets for Summerfest are on sale now. A complete lineup and concert schedule can be found at summerfest.com.
If you’ve seen all of Tom Cruise‘s Mission: Impossible movies, your attention to detail will apparently be rewarded by director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie for the seventh installment: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Not only does Henry Czerny return as Eugene Kittridge, the secret agent who pursued Cruise’s apparently rogue Ethan Hunt in the 1996 original film, but McQuarrie just added another familiar face — if you’ve got a pretty stout memory.
The filmmaker posted yet another Easter egg cast addition photo to his Instagram, showing Rolf Saxon, who played William Donloe in the first M:I film.
You’d be forgiven if neither name rings a bell, but Donloe was the poor CIA computer guy whose vault-like office Ethan Hunt dropped into from the ceiling in that memorable scene from the first film. After one of Hunt’s team members dosed Donloe with something to make him puke — repeatedly — he was forced out of his computer vault so Hunt could steal an important file.
If you have an even better memory, you might remember Kittridge keeping the breech quiet, saying of Donloe, “I want him manning a radar tower in Alaska by the end of the day. Just mail him his clothes.”
Apparently, Donloe’s clothes arrived safely.
Starring Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson and Esai Morales, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens July 14.
Rocker Billy Joel married supermodel Christie Brinkley on a yacht in New York’s Hudson River. The two stars met in 1983 in St. Barts, and Brinkley later appeared in Joel’s video for “Uptown Girl” before they eventually wed.
They welcomed their first and only child together, Alexa Ray, that December.
It was the second marriage for both Joel and Brinkley but it didn’t last. They divorced in August 1994, and both went on to marry two more times.
Joel has been married to current wife Alexis Roderick since 2015 and they have two daughters together, Della Rose and Remy Anne.
