The Weeknd has been pretty secretive about his upcoming HBO show, The Idol, but we might finally learn more about it in May. The singer is reportedly looking to premiere the show at the Cannes Film Festival.
Variety spoke to a source reportedly close to the singer about the potential debut. The Weeknd has previously attended Cannes and is reportedly hopeful the show will be ready in time to be shown there in the spring.
While Cannes is more of a movie premiere destination, several television shows have also made their mark there, such as Twin Peaks: The Return.
The Idol, starring The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp, is about a self-help guru named Tedros and his cult, and their involvement with a rising pop star named Jocelyn.
Fans have previously been treated to three teasers of the upcoming series, but no premiere date has been announced at this time.
The B-52s and Cyndi Lauper are making their voices heard. The artists are speaking out against all the new laws targeting the LGBTQ community, specifically the trans community and drag artists.
“We, The B-52’s, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States,” The B-52s share on social media, regarding bills banning gender affirming care, as well as drag shows. “We strongly denounce these bills and stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community.”
They add, “It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, we are witnessing such blatant attempts to undermine the rights of individuals based on their gender identity and sexual orientation. These bills not only violate the fundamental human rights of the affected individuals but also perpetuate a toxic culture of hate and intolerance that has no place in our society.”
Lauper also talked about the bills being passed by Republicans, comparing them to the actions of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
“I believe you don’t stop the fight,” she told The Hill. “Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal. This is how Hitler started just weeding everybody out.”
She also noted, “I don’t think it’s a good idea what they’re doing but, you know, you just have to keep fighting for civil rights.” She added, “I guess that’s the way it is in this country. Started out like that, didn’t it?”
U2 released their fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree, which went on to be one of the world’s best-selling albums. It was the Irish rockers’ first number-one album in the U.S. and spent nine weeks in the top spot on the Billboard 200, the longest reign at number one for the band.
The record included future U2 classics “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which remain U2’s only number-one singles in the U.S., as well as “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
The Joshua Tree sold over 25 million copies and won two Grammys, including Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. In 2014, it was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the U.S. National Recording Registry, a distinction that body reserves for sound recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
In 2017, U2 celebrated The Joshua Tree‘s 30th anniversary with a tour of North America, Europe and Latin America, playing the album in order, in its entirety. The tour grossed more than $316 million, making it the highest-grossing tour of the year worldwide. They then added more dates through 2019, bringing in another $390.8 million.
(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — A third person has died in the days after a trampling at a concert over the weekend, police announced Thursday.
Nine people were trampled Sunday at the Rochester, New York, concert, leaving three dead and six others with injuries, according to the Rochester Police Department.
Lt. Nicholas Adams said officers responded at 11:05 p.m. based on initial reports of gunshots fired inside Rochester’s Main Street Armory during a concert.
Officers responding to the incident found multiple injured individuals; however, an investigation later found none of the injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds.
“At this time, there is no evidence to support a shooting having occurred inside the event,” Adams wrote in a statement. “The injuries appear to be as a result of a large crowd pushing towards the exits following accounts of individuals hearing what they believed to be gunshots.”
Three people were transported via ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital after the incident, where a 33-year-old person, identified as Rhondesia Belton, died from her injuries, officials said.
A second person, identified as Brandy Miller, 35, died on Monday, according to the Rochester Police Department, and a third person, identified as Aisha Stephens, 35, died on Wednesday night, police announced Thursday.
An additional six people were transported by private vehicle to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Memphis rappers GloRilla and Finesse2tymes performed at Rochester’s Main Street Armory, which has a capacity of 5,000 attendees, on Sunday night.
At 12:11 a.m., GloRilla tweeted, “I’m just now hearing about what happened wtf 😢😢😢praying everybody is ok 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼.”
The incident follows a deadly 2021 crowd crush incident at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas. Ten concertgoers died following the Nov. 5, 2021, incident and hundreds were injured, which led to multiple lawsuits against Scott.
Bruce and Emma in 2019 – Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Film at Lincoln Center
“I didn’t come to play.”
That was the message on Instagram Wednesday from an admittedly angry Emma Heming Willis, in response to a troll who accused her of using husband Bruce Willis‘ frontotemporal dementia diagnosis for clout.
“I just saw something about me getting my ‘five minutes,’ which is great, which means that you’re listening,” she opened the video.
“So, I’m going to take my five minutes and I’m gonna turn it into 10 because I’m always going to advocate for my husband. And while I’m at it, I’m going to raise awareness about FTD and for the caregivers, who are unsung heroes out there.”
“And then, I’m going to turn my grief and my anger and my sadness into something good around something that feels less than,” she said, adding, “So, watch this space because I didn’t come to play.”
The mom of Willis’ daughters Mabel and Evelyn captioned the post, “Just over here turning my 5 mins into 10. I’ve sat around quietly for too long and I’m so ready to be embraced by this solid and loving community my family and I find ourselves in while trying to lift them up in return. Let’s go.”
Among the more than 37,000 likes on the video was a “HELL YES!” from Willis’ daughter Scout, who added to her stepmom, “I am so so proud of you!”
As reported last month, Heming Willis revealed that the Die Hard franchise star’s aphasia had progressed to the “cruel” brain disorder FTD, for which there is no cure.
Earlier this week, Heming Willis asked the paparazzi and others who might happen to see her husband to “give him his space.” She added, “The woo-hooing and the yippee-ki-yays — just don’t do it, OK?”
Ed Sheeran is ready to embark on his next music era and fans won’t have to wait too much longer to hear what it sounds like.
Ed began teasing his new music on Wednesday by posting a melody to his TikTok and sharing some written song lyrics on his Instagram. He combined the two on Thursday morning to announce his next single, which is titled “Eyes Closed.”
The song arrives Friday, March 24.
Ed previewed a clip on his TikTok, which is spliced into three parts. Two videos are of Ed playing the guitar, while a third features him singing.
“I’m dancing with my eyes closed/ Everywhere I look I still see you/ Time is moving so slow/ And I don’t know what else I can do/ So I’ll keep dancing with my eyes closed,” he sings.
Ed also previewed the song on his Instagram, and while he sang the same lyrics, he played the piano instead of the guitar.
His new album, -, pronounced Subtract, is due out May 5.
The Cure is coming back to North America. The band just announced a new set of tour dates, which has them hitting 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada, including three-night stands at New York’s Madison Square Garden and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The Shows of a Lost World Tour, featuring special guests The Twilight Sad, kicks off May 10 in New Orleans, Louisiana, wrapping July 1 in Miami, Florida.
A Ticketmaster Verified Fan presale begins Wednesday, March 15. A complete list of tour dates, plus information on how to sign up for Verified Fan, can be found at thecure.com.
(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order protecting and supporting access to gender-affirming health care for LGBTQ people in the state on Wednesday.
The move comes amid Republican-backed efforts across the country to limit transgender health care for minors and young adults.
“Minnesota strives to be a welcoming and supportive place for LGBTQIA+ community members,” the executive order read. “We uphold the essential values of One Minnesota when all people, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, are safe, celebrated, and able to live lives full of dignity and joy.”
Walz called gender-affirming care a “deeply personal decision” for transgender patients and their families.
Numerous medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that access to gender-affirming care is essential to the health and wellness of gender diverse people.
As states across the country move to ban access to gender-affirming care, this Executive Order delivers the urgent action that our LGBTQ+ Minnesotans deserve. pic.twitter.com/GTSvfFWgfk
Studies have shown that gender-affirming care can be life-saving for transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents, promoting positive mental and physical health and well-being.
States like Tennessee, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota and Florida have passed policies or laws restricting transgender health care. Supporters of these laws believe that gender transitioning is harmful to youth and young adults. Some say patients should wait until they are older to make this kind of health decision.
In Minnesota, several legislative protections for LGBTQ people are in front of lawmakers, including banning conversion therapy and establishing Minnesota as a “Trans Refuge” state.
More than 388 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in 2023 alone, according to the ACLU.
Stevie: Erika Goldring/WireImage; Billy: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks‘ joint stadium tour gets underway Friday in Inglewood, California. And Billy says you just might hear him singing “Landslide” at the shows, while she sings “Just the Way You Are” — or something along those lines.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times about the pairing, Billy says he and Stevie met about 10 years ago backstage at a Fleetwood Mac show. “We’ve never worked together, even though we both kind of hit at the same time,” he notes. “So this’ll be a completely new thing for me. I’ll probably do one of her songs and she’ll probably do one of mine.”
Asked which Stevie song he’s considering, he says, “That’s up to her.”
Billy traded songs with Elton John when the two toured together years ago, and he says teaming up with another artist, like Stevie, really appeals to him.
“I did very much enjoy touring with Elton John. It was like I joined something. As a solo artist, it’s always ‘me, me, me’ — gets kind of boring,” he admits. “But when I hooked up with Elton, I got to play his material, which was a hell of a lot of fun. I miss that.”
And speaking of Elton, Billy, who’s nine years into his Madison Square Garden residency, in addition to the stadium shows he does each year, says a farewell tour like the kind Elton’s doing isn’t really for him.
“I have a disdain for capitalizing on that: ‘Let me threaten that it’ll be the end, and then I’ll make a lot of money,'” he tells the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve seen bands so many times announce their farewell tours and then they never go away.”
(NEW YORK) — Crystal and Brian Clark are on a mission to save lives after their children were struck and killed by a falling tree during a family camping trip last year.
The Clarks started a billboard campaign to honor their children, 9-year-old Xander and 8-year-old Ziva, who they described as “very loving” and “kindhearted,” and shine a light on the hidden dangers of falling trees.
Their sign includes a photo of Xander and another photo of his sister Ziva, alongside a message that reads: “Check your trees! After storms, heavy rains and windy days. You could save a life! Xander and Ziva Clark killed by a fallen tree 4/23/22.”
“My whole thought of a billboard came a few months after the kids had passed, to where I can share who they were and how great of kids they were, but also spread awareness of something that isn’t ever thought of really by a parent until it actually affects you or a family member,” Crystal Clark told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
“You expect your child to fall out of a tree, not a tree to fall on them,” Brian Clark added. “But apparently, deaths by tree are not as uncommon as we all thought. So to me, that’s why it is important to get the word out.”
The Clarks had gone for a golf cart ride on April 23, 2022, a day Crystal Clark remembered as a sunny one but also marked by strong winds. She said they were driving under a “canopy of trees” at a Cloverdale, Indiana, campground when the unthinkable happened.
“We heard a very loud noise, almost sounded like a plane crashing into the woods,” Crystal Clark said. “Next thing we know, the tree had fallen. It was too late for us to notice it and I shouted, ‘Our babies!’ and Brian and I got off the golf cart and that’s where we saw that they were gone.”
“It was just a sight that you hoped you never had to see,” Brian Clark added.
In the months since their children’s unexpected deaths, the Clarks said they started hearing from other people with similar heartbreaks.
“After we went through our incident with the children, we realized it was more frequent than anybody really ever talked about,” Brian Clark said. “The more we heard from people, the more people that reached out and said, ‘We know what you’re going through.'”
Last Sunday, a mother hiking with her son and his Boy Scout troop in Cupertino, California died after a tree fell on her.
The U.S. Forest Service notes that trees can fall at any time, without warning, and warns people to be alert for trees on windy days or after an ice storm or snowstorm. The agency also said trees with “structural defects” can have a lack of needles, bark or limbs and those with internal rot may have “conks, broken tops, basal scars, numerous downed limbs, ants, or an abundance of woodpecker holes.”
“Look up while on trails, especially when it’s windy,” the Forest Service advises. “Stay out of the forest when there are strong winds that could blow down trees. If you are already in the forest when winds kick up, head to a clearing out of reach of any potential falling trees.”
After hearing of the Clark family’s motivation to turn their heartbreaking tragedy into purposeful action, Lamar Advertising Company decided to sponsor nine additional digital billboards in the central Indiana area, along Interstate 70.
“The digital billboards actually went up last Thursday. It was kind of nice because that was my husband’s birthday. So that was a nice surprise for us,” Crystal Clark said.
Brian Clark said they “greatly appreciate” the company’s support and generosity and hope their important message can help others.
“If you save one more life, that to me, is a good thing,” he said.
