Producer Rick Rubin thinks Paul McCartney doesn’t get enough credit when it comes to his bass playing. In fact, in a new interview he claims Sir Paul is the best bass player out there.
“I thought about how everything I’ve seen, Beatles-related, is either about the songwriting or Beatlemania,” Rubin said in an interview with MOJO, according to NME. “Paul McCartney the bass player, or Paul McCartney the musician, because he plays everything – that’s a little story told.” He adds, “You just think of him as Beatle Paul, yet in my opinion, he is the best of all bass players, he’s number one.”
Rubin, who worked with McCartney on the 2021 Hulu mini series McCartney 3, 2, 1, adds that he also admires McCartney’s simple songwriting style.
“What blew my mind was when he sat at the piano and he started showing me how to write a song. He was saying, ‘See, you could [do] it like this,'” Rubin says, “and what he was showing me was the simplest thing, but then he starts moving his fingers around slightly, and all of a sudden it evolves into ‘Hey Jude’ or ‘Let It Be.’”
He notes, “He’s using this technique that any child could do, then it morphs into one of the greatest songs of all time!”
On Friday, the movie To Leslie became the talk of Hollywood, for all the wrong reasons. While the Motion Picture Academy didn’t mention the film or its star, Andrea Riseborough, many suspected her surprise nomination in the Best Actress category is what prompted the Academy to conduct a “review” of this year’s nomination campaigns.
At issue are the rules the Oscars have for lobbying voters for nominations. Generally, it’s done in pricey ad campaigns, which, truth told, many bristle at anyway. But when the low-budget To Leslie, which only made around $27,000 in theaters, scored a nom, eyebrows were raised.
Instead of the traditional ads, Variety reports Private Parts actress Mary McCormack, the wife of To Leslie‘s director, Michael Morris, reached out to her celebrity friends in a grassroots campaign to tout the film. That resulted in praises on social media from the likes of Edward Norton and other stars.
Violating the lobbying rules could result in an actor’s nomination being rescinded, but many voters who spoke to Variety anonymously don’t think that’s going to happen. “Was her campaign aggressive? Absolutely,” said one of Riseborough. “She wanted it, but they all do. Meryl [Streep] does, and Cate [Blanchett] does … The Academy won’t punish her. They can’t, or they have to punish all of us.”
Another opined, “Nothing will happen … If they let Will Smith keep his Oscar, taking [her nomination] away would be unimaginably stupid on their part.”
Christina Ricci also sounded off on the controversy. In a now-deleted Instagram post quoted by Deadline, Ricci called it elitist, suggesting Riseborough’s “brilliant” performance will be “tainted” by it.
“So it’s only the films and actors that can afford the campaigns that deserve recognition?” she asked. “Feels elitist and exclusive and frankly very backward to me,” she said in part.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Dolly Parton continues to share bits of information on her upcoming rock album, which is due out in the late spring/early fall. She tells USA Today it will feature 28 tracks, with a mix of covers and originals. She’s also revealed a bit more on who will be joining her on what songs.
Among the originals on the album will be a song called “What Has Rock ‘n Roll Ever Done For Me” with Stevie Nicks, which Dolly describes as “a cute little song.” There’s also an unnamed original with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
She’s also rerecorded the Dolly classic “My Blue Tears” with Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon.
“I was so excited because I could just hear his voice on it. He has that beautiful high voice and it’s an Irish-sounding love song with bagpipes,” she says. “It’s a love song about when a fella goes off to war and leaves his sweetheart behind and she cries her lonely blue tears and he’s on the other side crying his lonely blue tears. It’s a big range that Simon will be great at.”
In addition to the already announced “Let It Be” cover with Paul McCartney, Dolly will be covering the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Long As I Can See the Light” with John Fogerty and Journey’s “Open Arms” with Steve Perry. She’s still hoping to get Annie Lennox and Cher on a cover of the Eurythmics‘ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
Dolly’s also trying to get Mick Jagger to join her, joking that if it doesn’t happen, “I’ll kick his bony a** when I see him!”
Michael Jackson‘s life story will be hitting the big screen and his nephew Jaafar Jackson will help tell it.
Lionsgate, which will release the upcoming film, announced Jaafar will play the legendary singer in the Michael biopic. He is the 26-year-old son of Jermaine Jackson.
Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, approves of the casting decision and said in a statement, “Jaafar embodies my son. It’s so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers.”
Graham King, producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, obtained the rights from Jackson’s estate to make a movie about the late King of Pop, including the rights to all of his music. King reportedly held a global casting call to find the right actor to portray Michael before ultimately settling on Jaafar.
“I met Jaafar over two years ago and was blown away by the way he organically personifies the spirit and personality of Michael,” he said. “It was something so powerful that even after conducting a worldwide search, it was clear that he is the only person to take on this role.”
Director Antoine Fuqua also confirmed the casting on social media and shared a glimpse of Jaafar practicing for his upcoming role. “Proud to announce @jaafarjackson as Michael — the motion picture event that explores the journey of the man who became the King of Pop. Coming soon,” he wrote.
Lionsgate is working with Jackson’s estate on the project. While it is unknown how far the movie will explore the unsavory allegations made against the pop star, the studio said in a statement Michael will “give audiences the never-before-told and in-depth portrayal of the complicated man who became the King of Pop,” and highlight both his life and career.
John Logan will pen the script. A release date has not been announced.
Olivia Newton-John was honored at the G’Day USA Gala last weekend in Los Angeles. Her husband, John Easterling, shared a moving tribute to the legendary singer, who passed away in August at age 73.
“We shared a love and a happiness on an order of magnitude that I didn’t even think was possible,” Easterling shared, as reported by The Mirror. “For the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to share the depth and the passion of her being.” He added, “Every day with Olivia was a bit of magic. Every day with Olivia was supernatural.”
Easterling, who was at the event with Olivia’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, called his wife “the most courageous and compassionate woman that I’ve ever known,” and explained why she chose to use her name to promote cancer research centers in both the U.S. and Australia.
“There’s an old adage that like attracts like, and Olivia knew that her voice and her huge profile of talents were a gift,” he said. “Her legacy continues as a joyful, healing spirit who is continuously focused on moving things, in her words, ‘into the love and the light.’”
Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek are opening up about their upcoming film, Magic Mike’s Last Dance.
In an interview with ABC News’ Janai Norman for Good Morning America, the two stars dished on what it was like working together in some of the film’s steamy scenes and the chemistry they shared on camera.
“There was chemistry,” Hayek said. “You can’t fabricate it — you can’t. The camera decides what couples work and [do] not work.”
“We got really lucky that we just liked each other and, like, kind of just figured out what to do in this scene, because those scenes, yes, they are incredibly sexy, but also they’re very technical,” Tatum added. “And then once you figure it out, kind of let it go and just, like, be with each other.”
This is Tatum’s last time playing Mike Lane in the franchise. The actor starred in the first film 10 years ago alongside Matthew McConaughey, who played a strip club owner named Dallas and a mentor of sorts to Tatum’s titular character.
The series is inspired by Tatum’s experiences as a male stripper in Tampa, Florida, when he was 18 years old.
The first film premiered in 2012; producer/star Tatum said he and the filmmakers on the project didn’t expect the films to become what they are today.
“We didn’t have any intention for these movies to be what they became,” Tatum said. “I just wanted to tell a little, small story of, like, a little, tiny experience of my life. And so I don’t know. I don’t really see it as, like, an ending, I guess really. But I’m definitely not going to be Magic Mike anymore. I can tell that clearly.”
SZA‘s SOS is holding down its spot as the #1 song on the Billboard 200. The album’s officially been atop the chart for seven weeks, the publication reports.
In the week ending January 26, per Luminate, SOS earned 111,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. With another week on top, it continues to make its way into Billboard‘s record-breaking statistics.
To start, SOS is the first album by a woman to spend seven weeks at #1 since Taylor Swift‘s Folklore in 2020. It’s one of three albums to stay atop the chart for at least seven weeks in the last year, joining Bad Bunny‘s Un Verano Sin Ti and the Encanto soundtrack.
It’s the first R&B/hip-hop album to spend its first seven weeks at #1 since Drake‘s Views in 2016, and the first R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or R&B album by any act, to spend its first seven weeks at #1 since Whitney Houston‘s Whitney accomplished the feat in 1987.
SZA’s sophomore project, released back in December, has spent the most consecutive weeks atop the list since the Encanto soundtrack’s eight-week run. It’s the last album by a woman to spend seven consecutive weeks at #1 since Adele’s 25 in 2016. Billboard reports SOS, 25 and Taylor’s Folklore are the only three albums by a woman that have spent seven weeks at #1 in the last two decades.
SOS alsohas the most weeks at #1 for an R&B album by any artist since Usher‘s Confessions in 2004, and the most weeks at #1 for an R&B/hip-hop album or an R&B album by a woman since Mariah Carey‘s Music Box, which nonconsecutively spent eight weeks at #1 between late 1993 and early 1994.
When the Eagles famously sang, “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969,” on “Hotel California,” perhaps they were really talking about Ghost.
The Swedish rockers have announced an upcoming exhibit in Los Angeles dedicated to their “1969 era.” The display, titled Ghost — Reverence & Resurrection, will open at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles on February 1 and will feature “artifacts from the short lived but massively influential 1969 iteration of Ghost.”
Of course, Ghost wasn’t actually active in 1969 — frontman Tobias Forge wasn’t even born until 1981. The group’s “1969 era” is part of the ever-expanding mythology of Ghost, which, as longtime fans know, features a variety of characters and an elaborate backstory.
Ghost previously turned back the clock to 1969 with the lyric video for their TikTok-viral song “Mary on a Cross.”
(NEW YORK) — The World Health Organization said Monday that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency but the pandemic is at a “transition point.”
The agency said its International Health Regulations Emergency Committee met on Friday to analyze data on the state of the pandemic.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus “acknowledges the Committee’s views that the COVID-19 pandemic is probably at a transition point and appreciates the advice of the Committee to navigate this transition carefully and mitigate the potential negative consequences,” the statement read.
According to a transcript of Tedros’ speech at the meeting provided by the WHO, he said there is still a high risk of COVID-19 global transmission, which means the virus is still classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
However, he said the world is in the best position it has been in — due to diagnostics, vaccines and treatments — to beat back COVID.
“As we enter the fourth year of the pandemic, we are certainly in a much better position now than we were a year ago, when the omicron wave was at its peak, and more than 70,000 deaths were being reported to WHO each week,” Tedros said during the meeting, according to a transcript provided by the WHO.
“When you last met in October, the number of weekly reported deaths was near the lowest since the pandemic began — less than 10 thousand a week. However, since the beginning of December, the number of weekly reported deaths globally has been rising,” Tedros continued. “But the global response remains hobbled because in too many countries, these powerful, life-saving tools are still not getting to the populations that need them most – especially older people and health workers.”
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said the WHO’s comments show that the agency recognizes the public health emergency is winding down but that the virus’ threat remains.
“What we have to remember is the pandemic won’t end on a given day,” said Brownstein, an ABC News contributor. “The metrics around cases, hospitalizations and deaths are painting a more optimistic picture and we’re seeing more countries getting out of this acute phase.”
He added that the danger of COVID is still very real, with deaths twice as high from COVID as they are from the flu.
“If you look at data around deaths, we’re still seeing twice as many people dying from COVID than flu every season and flu is only a quarter of a year, and we’re seeing that number,” Brownstein said.
During the WHO meeting, Tedros urged groups at higher risk of severe disease and death — including those who are immunocompromised and elderly — to be fully vaccinated and boosted.
He also encouraged more countries to ramp up testing and use antivirals early on among those who test positive for COVID-19.
You can officially pencil Lainey Wilson into the rulebreaker category.
The “Things a Man Oughta Know” hitmaker will be honored by Billboard with its Rulebreaker Award at the magazine’s annual Women in Music Awards. Quinta Brunson from ABC’s Abbott Elementary will host the March 1 event at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
Lainey will be honored alongside “Big Energy” hitmaker Latto, Latin pop star Becky G, rapper Doechii, reggaeton’s Ivy Queen, pop star Kim Petras, singer/songwriter Lana Del Ray and K-pop group TWICE.
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, with more announcements about performances and the prestigious Billboard Woman of the Year yet to come.
