A new figure may be joining the Ghost universe, and a pretty significant one at that.
The Swedish metallers have shared a new video building on the band’s ever-expanding mythology, which teases that “Jesus is coming.”
The clip begins with frontman Tobias Forge in character as Papa Emeritus IV when he sees someone rolling a glass coffin down a hallway. The character Sister Imperator then informs Papa that the coffin is “brand new,” perhaps implying that the reign of Emeritus IV, much like the Papas before him, is coming to an end.
She then adds, “Remember, Jesus is coming!”
For the uninitiated, the lore of Ghost is essentially a heavy metal parody of the Catholic Church. With each album cycle, Ghost creates a new character to be the band’s lead singer, with Papa Emeritus IV doing the honors for 2022’s Impera.
Meanwhile, Ghost recently announced a U.S. summer tour, which kicks off in August.
Lainey Wilson‘s cover of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is out now, the latest preview of Stoned Cold Country, which will arrive in full on March 17.
Subtitled A 60th Anniversary Tribute to The Rolling Stones, the album was produced by Robert Deaton, the man behind ABC’s annual CMA Awards, CMA Fest and CMA Country Christmas specials.
“The Rolling Stones are global music icons,” Lainey says. “To have the opportunity to record one of their tracks was an incredible honor for me. I had so much fun recording this track and I’m so grateful that I got to bring my bell bottom country flare to one of their greatest hits.”
Here’s the full track listing for Stoned Cold Country:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” — Ashley McBryde
“Honky Tonk Women” — Brooks & Dunn
“Dead Flowers” — Maren Morris
“It’s Only Rock N’ Roll (But I Like It)” — Brothers Osborne & The War and Treaty
“Miss You” — Jimmie Allen
“Tumbling Dice” — Elle King
“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” — Marcus King
“Wild Horses” — Little Big Town
“Paint It Black” — Zac Brown Band
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — Lainey Wilson
“Sympathy for the Devil” — Elvie Shane
“Angie” — Steve Earle
“Gimme Shelter” — Eric Church
“Shine a Light” — Koe Wetzel
A compilation album of duets featuring the late Olivia Newton-John singing with artists like Mariah Carey, Michael McDonald, John Travolta, Jon Secada and Barry Gibb will be released later this year.
The 17-track album, Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection, is due May 5 and includes some duets that have never been released on CD or vinyl. The first release from the album features Olivia singing with Dolly Parton on a version of Dolly’s classic “Jolene,” recorded shortly before her death.
In the video for the song, Dolly says Olivia is one of her “favorites of all time” and that they stayed close after first meeting in 1974. Olivia, meanwhile, says that she’s always wanted to sing with Dolly.
“I cannot wait to hear that album and Olivia may you rest in peace. You left a spot that one else will ever fill,” Dolly says in a statement.
While a track listing for the album hasn’t been released yet, ABC Audio can confirm that the duet with Mariah Carey is a version of “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” taken from a TV special Mariah did in 1998 in Olivia’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
Olivia’s daughter, singer Chloe Lattanzi, is also featured on the album. Chloe appeared on NBC’s Today show Friday and revealed her mom’s last words to her. “Right before she lost her ability to speak, she was making jokes,” Chloe shared. “The last words she could say to me was, ‘My sunshine.'”
Chloe noted that the outpouring of support she’s received from Olivia’s fans “has been a life raft” and “has felt like a big hug from the universe.”
Some of the most iconic characters brought to life by now-92-year-old Oscar winner Clint Eastwood are being celebrated by the high-end manufacturer Sideshow Collectibles.
The company shared a behind-the-scenes peek of the legendary actor and director consulting on the artists’ work, as they meticulously recreated his characters from his classic films including Dirty Harry, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and Pale Rider.
In the video, the company shows the creation of so-called Premium Format statues of Clint’s The Man With No Name and “Dirty” Harry Callahan, as well as Eastwood interacting with the artists, who are shown recreating by hand the characters’ costumes and environments in painstaking detail — from the leather and wool of his iconic Western heroes to the fabric of Harry’s suit.
Eastwood is shown getting a kick out of seeing his face recreated in doll form, asking an artist if he can keep the head of one of the casts. “It’s exciting because it’s new to me,” Eastwood enthuses of the process. “When you see the amount of work and effort, and the thought that has gone into it, I’m amazed that it’s as accurate as it is.”
The artists in the video explain it’s not a matter of copying Eastwood’s face, but of bringing out the “nuances and personality” of each character.
Sideshow’s Anna Van Slee notes, “What we created — with him — has to do justice to those characters the global fan community holds in such high regard.”
Crazy Horse is making music on their own. The group, known for being NeilYoung’s backing band, is set to release their own album next month.
All Roads Lead Home, from Crazy Horse members Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot and Nils Lofgren, was recorded during the pandemic, which meant the band couldn’t be together. Instead each member recorded three original songs with other musicians in a variety of locations. The first single released from the record is the Lofgren track “You Will Never Know.”
The album also includes one contribution from Young, a live solo version of the tune “Song of the Seasons,” which originally appeared on the album Barn with Crazy Horse.
All Roads Lead Home will be released March 31 on vinyl and CD, and will be available on hi-res audio at Neil Young Archives. It is available for preorder now.
Here is the track list for All Roads Lead Home:
“Rain” (Billy Talbot)
“You Will Never Know” (Nils Lofgren)
“It’s Magical” (Ralph Molina)
“Song Of the Seasons” (Neil Young)
“Cherish” (Billy Talbot)
“Fill My Cup” (Nils Lofgren)
“Look Through The Eyes Of Your Heart” (Ralph Molina)
“The Hunter” (Billy Talbot)
“Go With Me” (Nils Lofgren)
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Seelbach/U.S. Navy
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Navy has ended operations to recover part of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier this month over the ocean off the South Carolina coast, the U.S. Northern Command said Friday.
“Recovery operations concluded Feb. 16 off the coast of South Carolina, after U.S. Navy assets assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully located and retrieved debris from the high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon shot down Feb. 4, 2023,” it said in a statement.
“Final pieces of debris are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation, as has occurred with the previous surface and subsurface debris recovered,” the statement said. “U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels have departed the area. Air and maritime safety perimeters have been lifted.”
(NEW YORK) — Emily Dickt, a mom of two from Indiana, said she was “hit hard” after learning that a mother in Massachusetts had been charged with killing her three kids.
“It really got me thinking about my own mental health and things that I had struggled with since having kids,” Dickt told ABC News. “From what I’ve seen, it scared a lot of us [mothers].'”
The Massachusetts mom, Lindsay Clancy, appeared in court last week via Zoom from her hospital bed to face charges that she strangled her three young children to death. In addition to two counts of murder, Clancy is also charged with three counts of strangulation and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, court documents show.
On the day of the incident, Jan. 24, police received a 911 call just after 6 p.m. ET from a man who said his wife had attempted suicide by jumping out of a window at their house.
First responders subsequently found three young children, a 5-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a 7-month-old boy, inside the home “unconscious with obvious signs of severe trauma,” Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said last month.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In court on Feb. 7, a judge ordered her to remain hospitalized until medically cleared to move to a rehabilitation facility.
Clancy is scheduled to appear in court next on May 2, for a probable cause hearing.
Dickt, whose daughters are ages 4 and 2, said that while all the details of Clancy’s case are not publicly known, she felt compelled to share a video on TikTok about Clancy to let other moms know they are not alone if they are struggling postpartum.
Dickt’s video said, in part, “We live in a society that is so quick to judge. When in reality it could be any of us.”
“When I shared that post, it like came flooding in with just so many other people sharing their stories and what they struggled with,” she told ABC News. “People just feel alone, like they’re the only ones that are dealing with it, and that’s a scary feeling.”
Dickt was not alone in taking to social media to talk about Clancy’s case and share her own mental health struggles as a mom.
“I am lucky to be alive today thanks to daily medication but its an uphill battle every day,” another mom, Bex Spencer, shared on TikTok. “My heart is broken for this family.”
Erica Moreno, a mom of two, shared on TikTok that reading about Clancy brought her back to the time she was six months postpartum and struggling with postpartum depression, anxiety and rage.
“Scared. Out of my mind. Thinking my daughter would be better if I weren’t there,” she wrote, later adding, “I somehow survived.”
Putting a spotlight on different types of postpartum struggles
In Clancy’s first court appearance on Feb. 7, prosecutors alleged that she planned the killings, saying she showed no signs of “distress or trouble” earlier in the day and that she searched the time it would take to drive to and from a restaurant in an adjacent town and called the restaurant to place a pick-up order before asking her husband, Patrick, to drive to get the meal.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague said Clancy, a 32-year-old nurse, was evaluated by a psychiatrist in late December and was told she, “did not have postpartum depression and she had no symptoms of postpartum depression.” Sprague said Clancy wrote in her journal about having suicidal thoughts and, in one instance, thoughts of harming her children prior to checking herself into a mental health facility on Jan. 1, according to ABC affiliate WCVB-TV.
“She did not write or voice those thoughts after a stay at the hospital,” Sprague said of Clancy, whom she said was discharged from the facility on Jan. 5.
Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, argued that the killings “were not planned by any means” and were a product of mental illness.
Reddington also said in court that Clancy had been heavily medicated as she suffered from postpartum depression “as well as a possibility of postpartum psychosis that is pretty much ignored,” according to WCVB-TV.
Prosecutors said Clancy called her husband from her hospital bed and told him she killed their children “because she heard a voice and had ‘a moment of psychosis,'” though he told prosecutors his wife had never mentioned hearing voices.
The public spotlight on Clancy’s case has highlighted an important distinction between postpartum psychosis and the more common postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression — a depression that occurs after having a baby — affects as many as 1 in 8 women who give birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Postpartum psychosis is rare and causes delusions or hallucinations that can prompt suicidal or homicidal action, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Among the court documents submitted by Clancy’s lawyer so far are nearly 40 letters from friends and co-workers that describe Clancy as a caring and loving mom and nurse.
One former coworker of Clancy’s said in her letter that she had suffered from postpartum depression herself, writing, “I could of [sic] been Lindsay. Any one of us could have been.”
Another letter was signed by over 80 moms who identified themselves as the “mothers of Foxboro, Mansfield, North Attleboro, MA.”
“Lindsay will have to live with the aftermath of her postpartum depression and that is a sentence that we would not wish on any grieving mother. None of us can even begin to imagine what she is feeling, nor do we want to,” they wrote in the letter. “As mothers, we know Lindsay was not in a healthy space to carry out the acts she is accused of and we will stand by her in her darkest hour as we wish any other mother would do for us if we found ourselves struggling too.”
Alicia Murray, a licensed mental health therapist in Syracuse, New York, said she has no connection to Clancy or the case but felt compelled to speak about it on TikTok after hearing from her patients, many of whom are mothers.
“In the first week or so after [Clancy’s story] hit the news, women were coming to therapy saying, ‘It could have been me,'” Murray told ABC News. “I think women that have gone through their own postpartum experiences and have felt that like, intense, out-of-body, like really intense emotions and experiences, they sit down with me, and they’re like, ‘I get it. It totally could have been me.'”
Murray said that as both a mom and a mental health practitioner, she also chose to speak out in hopes of erasing the stigma that exists around postpartum struggles.
She noted that on her TikTok post, while many moms shared their own stories, other comments sought to negatively portray the mental health struggles of mothers.
“It breaks my heart that other moms are reading those comments,” Murray said. “It’s very uncomfortable to hear women talk about thoughts of hurting their baby and thoughts of something happening to their baby, and I get it, when we’re uncomfortable sometimes we act with anger or shame or try to deflect the conversation, but that’s not OK to do.”
She continued, “The moms who are sharing their stories, I think, are so incredible, and people should listen, because they’ve been through it firsthand.”
‘There’s a ton of stigma and misunderstanding’
Katayune Kaeni, a licensed psychologist board chair of Postpartum Support International, told ABC News the organization, a support network for postpartum moms, has seen a “big jump” in inquiries amid Clancy’s case.
“What ends up happening is that a lot of people who are dealing with postpartum depression get so worried that what has happened to Lindsay is going to happen to them because people don’t have adequate information to understand what is going on,” Kaeni told ABC News. “And so rightly so, it’s really upsetting and anxiety-provoking for people.”
Kaeni, who has no affiliation with Clancy or her case, said in addition to offering a helpline and support groups for new moms so they know they are not alone, much of the work Postpartum Support International does focuses on educating people about mental health, both during and after pregnancy.
“There’s a ton of stigma and misunderstanding around all perinatal mental issues,” she said. “When people don’t understand what it is, it’s much easier to make assumptions about the person who’s suffering, and that’s what happens oftentimes.”
Postpartum psychosis “is a true medical emergency,” Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News’ chief medical correspondent and a board-certified OBGYN, said earlier this month.
“This is mental illness,” she added.
Ashton noted that in her 22-year career as a practicing OB-GYN, she has not personally encountered a case of postpartum psychosis, which she said appears “more acutely” than postpartum depression, meaning symptoms can progress quickly and are more severe.
“It can present with signs and symptoms like confusion, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, obsessive thoughts and then of course, tragically, attempts to harm one’s self or baby,” Ashton said, referring to postpartum psychosis. “This is a completely different entity than postpartum depression.”
Symptoms of postpartum depression include withdrawing from loved ones, crying more than usual, feeling worried or overly anxious, feeling anger, doubting your ability to take care of your baby and thinking about harming yourself or your baby, according to the CDC. The symptoms may last for weeks or months after giving birth, and are more intense and longer lasting than the “baby blues” that women may experience after giving birth.
Treatment options for postpartum depression will differ based on severity and type of symptoms and may include medication options, psychotherapy or support groups. In 2019, a drug, called Zulresson, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first-ever medication made specifically for women suffering from postpartum depression.
Ashton noted that it is important to seek professional medical help in any case of a woman experiencing mental health struggles after giving birth. If a person is experiencing postpartum psychosis, he or she should seek help at an emergency room.
“Absolutely, intervention is warranted for either,” Ashton said of both postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression. “Medication can be lifesaving.”
Postpartum Support International’s free and confidential helpline is available via call and text at 1-800-944-4PPD (4773). If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are not on your own.
(WASHINGTON) — The battle between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott continued Friday as Scott updated his much-criticized plan — calling for all federal programs to “sunset in five years” unless there’s a vote to renew them — to pointedly exempt Social Security and Medicare.
As he did so, Scott, the former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, name-checked McConnell as well as President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who have used it to attack Republicans.
“All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years, with specific exceptions of Social Security, Medicare, national security, veterans benefits, and other essential services. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again. Note to President Biden, Sen. Schumer, and Sen. McConnell — As you know, this was never intended to apply to Social Security, Medicare, or the US Navy,” Scott’s website was updated to say.
The change in language comes as Scott and McConnell have become increasingly at odds after Scott challenged McConnell for party leadership late last year. His bid to unseat McConnell failed during a closed-door vote of Senate Republicans.
Scott first introduced his plan in February 2022 without the approval of party leadership. At the time, McConnell distanced himself from it, and he’s continued to scorch Scott’s proposal ever since, especially as Democrats — including most recently Biden — have used it to score political points.
McConnell recently came out even more forcefully against Scott’s plan following repeated efforts by the Biden White House to highlight it. McConnell told a Kentucky radio host last week that a proposal to sunset federal legislation after five years — including Social Security – would be “just a bad idea.”
“I think it will be a challenge for him to deal with this in his own reelection in Florida, a state with more elderly people than any state in America,” McConnell said. “It is clearly the Rick Scott plan. It is not the Republican plan. And that’s the view of the speaker of the House as well.”
While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said cuts to Social Security are “off the table,” in the debt limit standoff, it hasn’t stopped Democrats from using Scott’s plan to contrast themselves from Republicans as the debate over raising the debt limit and spending cuts heats up.
Biden highlighted Scott’s plan during his State of the Union Address earlier this month.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” Biden said during the speech. “That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away.”
The comments effectively baited Republicans, who shouted across the chamber that Biden was lying about their intentions, leading Biden to take advantage by concluding, “So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?”
Biden also referenced Scott’s plan in subsequent appearances following the address, holding up brochures and print outs of Scott’s plan at appearances in Wisconsin and Scott’s home state of Florida.
“Look, a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me just say this …. My veto pen [will] make it a nightmare,” he told the union crowd in DeForest, Wisconsin.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Tyre Nichols’ mother vowed to attend every court date for the five former Memphis police officers accused of murder in connection to the traffic stop beating of her son at a press conference Friday as the officers pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance.
“I want each and every one of those police officers to be able to look me in the face. They haven’t done that yet. They couldn’t even do that today,” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, told reporters after the arraignment. “They didn’t even have the courage to look at me in my face after what they did to my son. So they’re gonna see me at every court date.”
Nichols’ parents and their attorney, Ben Crump, were in the courtroom as the five former officers made their brief appearance. None of the former officers spoke.
The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were fired and arrested on charges including second-degree murder following Nichols’ beating during a Jan. 7 traffic stop.
Nichols, 29, was hospitalized and died three days later.
Graphic footage of the traffic stop was released to the public last month and sparked nationwide outrage.
A sixth officer was fired and a seventh has been relieved of duty in the wake of Nichols’ death. More officers could receive administrative discipline and the district attorney said additional charges could be filed.
At Nichols’ funeral, family attorney Crump said that Nichols’ legacy “will be one of equal justice.”
“It will be the blueprint going forward, because we have to remember that in less than 20 days … they were terminated, they were arrested and they were charged,” he said of the officers.
Nichols’ family is now urging Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would mandate accountability for police misconduct, address racial profiling and limit use of force for police officers.
The five former officers are set to return to court on May 1.
(WASHINGTON) — Four U.S. service members were wounded by an explosion during a helicopter raid in northeast Syria on Thursday night. A senior ISIS leader was killed in the mission, officials said.
“The U.S. service members and working dog are receiving treatment in a U.S. medical facility in Iraq,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The ISIS leader killed in the raid was identified as Hamza al-Homsi.
A U.S. official said the four wounded service members are U.S. special operations forces. The extent of their injuries was not released.
