The Black Keys‘ Patrick Carney has shared a statement paying tribute to late Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green.
In an Instagram post, Carney calls Green one of his favorite drummers ever, adding that he was “lucky enough to become friends with him.”
“The most profound influence on my drumming is from [Green],” Carney notes. “I remember listening to Modest Mouse before I really even played drums and thinking if I played drums I would play like him.”
Carney continues, “[Green] was loved by all that met him and he touched all his friends deeply and profoundly. Thank you for everything Jeremiah.”
Green, a co-founding member of Modest Mouse, died New Year’s Eve, shortly after it was revealed over Christmas that he’d been diagnosed with cancer. He was 45.
The Weeknd rang in 2023 with some unexpected news: He now has the most-streamed song ever on Spotify.
On New Year’s Eve, The Weeknd replied to a tweet informing him that Spotify’s Daily Global Chart had been updated to show that “Blinding Lights” had overtaken Ed Sheeran‘s “The Shape of You,” long the title holder. Surpassing Sheeran by 918,000 streams, “Blinding Lights” officially became Spotify’s most-streamed song that night.
Weeknd responded, “FOR NEW YEARS ???” followed by three emojis with party hats and noisemakers.
He followed that up with a post on his socials reading, “happy new years to blinding lights. the most streamed song of all time tonight @Spotify.” On Instagram, he posted a montage of photos and videos of himself performing the song at various times and places, including at the Super Bowl.
At last check, the song had been streamed on Spotify 3.335 billion times; “Shape of You” had been streamed 3.332 billion times.
Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour will continue this year in the United Kingdom, Europe and Latin America.
(NEW YORK) — Disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges in Manhattan on Tuesday and was tentatively scheduled to stand trial Oct. 2.
Bankman-Fried, instantly recognizable by his mop of unkempt hair, appeared before Judge Lewis Kaplan in a dark suit and tie. His mother sat behind him in the spectator benches.
The former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Mark Cohen, entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.
“He pleads not guilty to all counts,” Cohen said.
Bankman-Fried has been charged with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. Federal prosecutors have alleged Bankman-Fried orchestrated one of the “biggest financial frauds in American history” by steering billions in FTX customer and investor money and funneling it to his privately controlled hedge fund Alameda Research.
Other funds were used to buy lavish real estate and to make tens of millions in political donations, court records said.
The number of victims of the FTX fraud could exceed 1 million, a prosecutor said during Tuesday’s hearing.
“FTX was the second-largest crypto exchange,” the prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, said.
Before his arrest last month, Bankman-Fried insisted in numerous interviews, including one with ABC News, that he did not know about any improper use of funds from customers of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
Bankman-Fried has been free on bond and subject to electronic monitoring while living at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. The judge added a condition of release that prevents Bankman-Fried from accessing or transferring assets from FTX or Alameda Research.
Reflecting the complexity of the case, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday they were bringing additional resources to bear in an attempt to track down stolen billions that disappeared from FTX.
Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he lived in a multimillion-dollar mansion, on Dec. 21.
Two of his former colleagues, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors
“We prepared certain quarterly balance sheets that concealed the extent of Alameda’s borrowing and the billions of dollars in loans that Alameda had made to FTX executives and to related parties. I also understood that FTX had not disclosed to FTX’s equity investors that Alameda could borrow a potentially unlimited amount from FTX, thereby putting customer assets at risk,” Ellison said during her closed-door plea hearing last month, according to a transcript obtained by ABC News.
Ellison, former CEO of Alameda and girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to seven counts. Wang, co-founder of FTX with Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to to four counts.
It hasn’t even been in theaters for a month, but Avatar: The Way of Water already has 2022’s highest grossing film in its sights.
James Cameron‘s sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time splashed past the $1.44 billion mark worldwide after strong performances over the New Year’s holiday weekend. By comparison, Maverick, which was released in May 2022, has inched toward the $1.89 billion mark by this point.
In short, like its Na’vi characters’ are, The Way of Water‘s legs are long: The film that came out the week of December 16 ended up jumping to #2 of 2022’s Top 10 ranking worldwide before the year’s end, and its strong performance over the holiday reveals there are no signs of it stopping, particularly overseas. As some prognosticators predicted, the film could overtake Maverick in short order, earning in weeks what took the highest-grossing Tom Cruise movie months to generate.
The late Nat King Cole has set a new chart record. The legendary crooner’s classic holiday tune “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” lands at nine on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, giving him the record for the longest break between Top 10 hits.
The new Top 10 single comes 59 years, six months and one week after his last Top 10 hit, 1963’s “Those Lazy Days of Summer.” That breaks The Ronettes’ record for the longest time between Top 10 hits, which they set last year with “Sleigh Ride,” which hit the Top 10 after a break of 58 years and two months.
Not only that, “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” first debuted on the Hot 100 on December 12, 1960, making this week’s feat the longest journey to the Top 10, at 62 years and 26 days. Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” previously held that record with 62 years and 18 days, having debuted on the chart in 1958 and reaching the Top 10 in 2020.
Social media users are famous for “fan casting” who they’d love to see in projects, and lately, they can’t get enough of the idea of having Daniel Craig‘s drawly detective Benoit Blanc face off with the Muppets in a Knives Out movie.
One offered, “If Benoit Blanc meets the muppets I desperately need him to treat it like it’s just a normal thing. I don’t wanna hear any ‘my word it appeauhs that I am conversin with some sort of living puppet creatures’ I just want him to be like, ‘Kermit I’ve heard so much about you.'”
That comment was retweeted by another who noted, “I love that we’ve already reached the stage where we are assuming there’s going to be a Muppets Knives Out movie, and are now just discussing the practicalities of it.”
As for the practicality, evidently Craig is game.
In a chat with his co-stars of the new movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Craig said with a laugh the notion is “a really good idea.”
Director Rian Johnson agreed during the video, but later commented on Netflix’s Tudum blog, “It’s a joke that I thought was pretty brilliant, and I ended up really giving [it] some serious thought.”
He adds, “As much as I take the murder mystery genre seriously, I take the genre of a Muppet movie seriously. I think those two things have very different rules. You can either have a Benoit Blanc mystery that has Muppets in it, but they’ll feel out of place. Or you can have a Muppet movie that Benoit Blanc is in, but it’ll feel like a Muppet movie.”
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi shared a special New Year’s message with fans on social media, revealing he is getting ready to work on a new solo record.
In the post, Tony says he’s almost done with a new studio he’s building, sharing, “In another couple of weeks, I think I’ll be ready to go in and start work in there,” adding he’s “really looking forward to writing another album.”
He also notes that Black Sabbath fans can look forward to reissues of all five of their studio albums featuring vocalist Tony Martin in the coming year, with Iommi saying, “I’m looking forward to that, because a lot of people asked about that, which is great.”
Iommi also looked back on the highlights of his year, including playing the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with Ozzy Osbourne and being nominated for a Grammy for his work on Ozzy’s solo album, Patient Number 9.
As for 2023, Iommi notes, “It’s gonna be busy again. But it’s great. And it’s nice to be doing the interviews and talking about what we did and all the rest of stuff.”
Finally he offers, “Happy New Year to you all, and I hope to see you sometime on tour, whether it’s playing or a talks thing. Thanks for all your support over the years. I really appreciate it.”
Fans of the Best Man were treated to Best Man Holiday and, more recently, The Final Chapters miniseries, but it’s unlikely that fans of 8 Mile will get the same. In a brief convo with TMZ, Mekhi Phifer, who played David “Future” Porter, shared his thoughts on filming a follow-up to the 2002 movie.
“Sometimes it’s just best to leave it alone. Once you make it a classic, no reason to fool around with it,” he said. “I think leave the classics alone and it’ll be all good.”
According to Phifer, there was no discussion about a second movie. However, he does believe that “it could be interesting” to see Eminem‘s character, Jimmy, make it as a successful rapper.
“I wouldn’t be in it,” he clarified, “and I’m sure Eminem wouldn’t be in it either.”
TLC‘s Chilli is off the market, Page Six reports. According to the publication, the singer’s currently dating Boy Meets World alum Matthew Lawrence.
The two reportedly made things official ahead of Thanksgiving and have since spent the holidays together in Atlanta, Chilli’s rep told TMZ. The singer introduced Lawrence to her family on Christmas, and the couple danced to A-ha’s “Take on Me” on New Year’s Eve.
The news of their relationship comes after they were spotted together on a Hawaiian beach this summer. Though the image sparked romance rumors, Chilli’s rep insisted that the singer had a show on the island and the two had decided to hang out with a group of friends for a day of fun.
Lawrence was previously married to Dancing with the Stars‘ Cheryl Burke. She filed for divorce in February 2022, citing irreconcilable differences.
It looks like Dua Lipa is taking advantage of her newly acquired Albanian citizenship by building a new home in that country.
A source tells Page Six that Dua is building a “sprawling multi-million-dollar mansion” in Sarande, Albania. The city is on the coast, across the Ionian Sea from the Greek Island of Corfu.
Born in London, Dua is the child of Kosovo Albanian parents. When she was 11, she and her family moved back to Kosovo; she lived there until she moved back to London when she was about 16.
Since she became a global superstar, she’s devoted much of her time to causes in Kosovo and Albania via her Sunny Hill Foundation charity. In recognition of her work, Dua was granted Albanian citizenship by the country’s president in November.
