While TikTok can give older songs new life, that’s not the reason Minneapolis native Wyn Starks is seeing his 2020 song “Who I Am” climbing the radio airplay charts now. While it’s had a slow and steady build, Wyn says it’s connecting with people in 2023 because he sang it on America’s Got Talent last year.
“Of course, when you write music, you want it to have an impact, y’know? But I had no idea it would have this kind of impact,” he tells ABC Audio. “And one thing I also didn’t realize is how it would help people through grief.”
When Wyn sang it on AGT, he connected it to the passing of his twin brother.
“It was one of my twin brother’s favorite songs of mine. And so when I sang it on AGT to honor him … I had no idea the new life that it would take on,” Wyn says. “I’m having so many people hit me up, saying how it’s helping them get through … losing a loved one.”
Wyn, who did his first headlining tour last year, says his audience was made up of people who saw him on AGT; people who were already aware of him and his 2021 album, Black Is Gold; and people who’ve simply heard “Who I Am” on the radio.
“Then they go to the AGT audition, so they get to hear more of the story behind it,” he says.
Wyn actually wrote the song about his “journey in becoming … the artist I am, the person I am.” He says fans “who are just coming into theirselves” are finding it helpful, too.
As he says, “To hear those stories … it’s healing for me and then it reminds me why I do this.”
Graham Nash is once again looking back fondly on his musical partnership with the late David Crosby, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 81.
Nash shared a classic photo of him and Crosby recording in the studio, writing, “I’ve been hesitant to share photos of us in the past. People leave such nasty comments sometimes that belittle the complexities of a long-term friendship and musical partnership.”
He adds, “But here is a photo of David and I recording in 1971. There was real magic between us. That much I know.”
And their Crosby, Stills & Nash singing partner Stephen Stills agrees, commenting on the photo, “Magic, indeed.” Nash responded, “You’re such a big part of that magic, Stephen.”
Nash has paid tribute to Crosby several times since his bandmate’s death, previously sharing he was “grateful to have sung with him, played with him, butted heads with him, and for going through so much together,” adding, “It’s his beautiful music that will live forever in all of our hearts. I’m just lucky to have known him.”
Monday’s The Bachelor saw one of Bachelor nation’s legendary bad girls try and force her way into the competition.
Zach changed things up on Monday’s episode, deciding that all 20 remaining women would get to go on a date with him, and offering all of them a chance to either have their first conversation with him, or build on the ones they already had.
The first group date, hosted by “Big Energy” hitmaker Latto, challenged nine of the ladies to channel their “bad b**** energy,” with the help of three of Bachelor Nation’s baddies: Tahzjuan Hawkins, Victoria Fuller, and Courtney Robertson.
The date took an unexpected turn when Tahzjuan crashed the afterparty to ask him if she could add herself to the mix. Zach, caught totally off guard, told her he needed to think about it.
Needless to say, the other women were not pleased when Tahzjuan broke the news to them. Following another private conversation between Zach and the Bachelor season 23 alumna, the ladies were relieved to hear Zach say that he turned down her request. Katherine, the registered nurse from Tampa, Florida got the date rose.
Elsewhere, a one-on-one with Christina Mandrell, a content creator and the niece of country legend Barbara Mandrell, featured a helicopter ride to Zach’s hometown to meet his family, followed by a romantic candlelit dinner where Christina revealed that she had a five-year-old daughter. He admitted that the whole thought of having an instant family was “scary,” she shouldn’t stress over it and offered her the date rose.
Zach kept the second group date simple, with a cocktail party to ensure that he got to talk to all the ladies ahead of the rose ceremony. Jess, a 23-year-old Winter Springs, Florida native, snagged the date rose.
Following the rose ceremony, New York City dancer Cat, Kimberly, a hospitality manager from Los Angeles, and Victoria J., a makeup artist from Fort Worth were sent home.
Here are the 20 women remaining after Monday night’s episode:
Aly, 26, a healthcare strategist from Atlanta, Ga.
Anastasia, 30, a content marketing manager from San Diego, Calif.
Ariel, 28, a marketing executive from New York City, N.Y.
Bailey, 27, an executive recruiter from Nashville, Tenn.
Brianna, 24, an entrepreneur from Jersey City, N.J. Audience-voted First Impression Rose
Brooklyn, 25, a rodeo racer from Stillwater, Okla.
Charity, 26, a child and family therapist from Columbus, Ga.
Christina Mandrell, 26, a content creator from Nashville, Tenn.
Davia, 25, a marketing manager from Charleston, S.C.
Gabriella “Gabi,” 25, an account executive from Pittsford, Vt.
Genevie, 26, a neonatal nurse from Baltimore City, Md.
Greer, 24, a medical sales rep from Houston, Texas. — First Impression Rose
Jessica “Jess,” 23, an e-commerce coordinator from Winter Springs, Fla.
Kaitlyn “Kaity,” 27, an ER nurse from Austin, Texas.
Katherine, 26, a registered nurse from Tampa, Fla.
Kylee, 25, a postpartum nurse from Charlotte, N.C.
Mercedes, 24, a nonprofit owner from Bloomfield, Iowa
(NEW YORK) — Kyle Smaine, a U.S. professional skier who was the halfpipe gold medalist in the 2015 world championships, died Sunday in an avalanche in Japan, according to his wife and a fellow skier who was also caught in the snow.
Smaine, 31, was in Nagano over the weekend for a marketing trip for Ikon Pass and Nagano Tourism when the avalanche took place on Mount Hakuba Norikura, according to a blog post by the skiing news site Mountain Gazette.
Pro skier and Mountain Gazette correspondent Adam Ü was also at the resort along with Mountain Gazette photographer Grant Gunderson, who was the photographer on the marketing trip, according to the site.
Ü told the Mountain Gazette that the three of them were going out to ski during the last day of their trip on Sunday.
“We had no camera gear with us. We were going out for fun,” he told the site.
Gunderson went back to the resort when Ü and Smaine went for a second lap and were joined by a group of Austrian skiers.
Ü and Smaine were at the bottom of the mountain and were transitioning their backcountry gear back into uphill mode, when the avalanche started as some of the Austrian skiers were coming down the mountain, according to Ü.
“We heard the crack. We realized it is a big one. We started running and then we got hit,” Ü told Mountain Gazette.
Ü said he was buried 1.5 meters deep for approximately 25 minutes before rescuers came to his aid. Luckily, he said he was left unscathed.
Ü explained that rescuers did find Smaine, but he was unresponsive.
The cold weather and other factors have hampered search and rescue efforts for the 13 people who were caught in the avalanche, according to Nagano authorities.
Later Sunday night, Smaine’s wife Jenna Dramise posted a tribute to her husband on her Instagram page hours after the avalanche.
“I’m so incredibly thankful that I got to marry you and have you in my life. You loved skiing more than anyone I’ve ever met,” she said.
Dramise said she and Smaine married in November and had been together since 2010.
Smaine competed professionally for years in many competitions, including the X Games, and won a gold medal in halfpipe at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2015.
Smaine posted a video to his Instagram page Saturday before the tragic accident showing a first-person video of him skiing in Nagano.
“Unbelievable snow quality, non-stop storms, and really fun terrain that seems to get better the more exploring you do,” he wrote in the Instagram post.
Many pro skiers expressed their remorse for Smaine online following the news of his passing. David Wise dedicated his X Games gold medal win in Men’s Ski SuperPipe Sunday night in Smaine’s memory.
“We all did this for Kyle tonight. It’s a little bit of an emotional day for us. We lost a friend, but I’m glad I can take one home for him,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Orlando 119, Philadelphia 109
Brooklyn 121, LA Lakers 104
Sacramento 118, Minnesota 111 (OT)
Washington 127, San Antonio 106
Golden State 128, Oklahoma City 120
Dallas 111, Detroit 105
Phoenix 114, Toronto 106
Portland 129, Atlanta 125
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Winnipeg 4, St. Louis 2
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Virginia 67, Syracuse 62
Texas 76, Baylor 71
Texas Tech 80, Iowa State 77
Cindy Williams, who played the perky but straitlaced Shirley Feeney on TV’s Happy Days and its spinoff, Laverne & Shirley, has died. She was 75.
In a statement provided to ABC News, her children Emily and Zak said via a spokesperson, “The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed. Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege.”
The statement continued, “She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved…May that laughter continue in everyone, because she would want that. Thank you for loving our Mom, she loved you too.”
While Williams also starred in classic films like George Lucas‘ American Graffiti and Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Conversation, she was best known for her role as Shirley opposite Penny Marshall‘s Laverne. The two characters were introduced on an episode of Happy Days, and were then spun off into their own series, which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983.
The show, which began with the women working as bottle cappers in a Milwaukee brewery in the 1950s and ended with the gang living in Burbank, CA in 1967, was the most-watched TV series in America during its third season. It was nominated for several Golden Globes and an Emmy, and also spun off a short-lived Saturday morning cartoon.
After Laverne & Shirley, Williams appeared in two other sitcoms — Normal Life and Getting By –– and guest-starred on numerous series, from Law & Order: SVU to 8 Simple Rules. She also appeared on Broadway and did national tours of shows like Grease and Deathtrap.
Williams and Marshall reunited onscreen in a 2013 episode of Ariana Grande‘s Nickelodeon sitcom Sam & Cat. In 2015, Williams published her memoir Shirley, I Jest!
Williams’ death leaves Michael McKean, who played the girls’ neighbor Lenny, as the sole remaining main cast member of the beloved sitcom. Marshall died in 2018, while David Lander, who played Lenny’s best friend and roommate Squiggy, died in 2020. Eddie Mekka, who played Shirley’s boyfriend Carmine Ragusa, died in 2021.
Fall Out Boy‘s new album, So Much (for) Stardust, has officially been announced, but that doesn’t mean the mysterious teasers are over.
The “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” outfit hinted at more news coming in a tweet Monday: “Things are looking overcast on the horizon. Check back tomorrow to see if weather conditions improve.” The post also includes an image of a white umbrella against a black background.
As for what exactly that means, fans in the replies have offered a couple theories. One is the return of Fall Out Boy’s fan club, which was called the Overcast Kids, while another is some kind of collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon. Not only does Fall Out Boy’s tweet pointedly use the word “horizon,” but the accompanying image is quite similar to the cover of BMTH’s 2015 album, That’s the Spirit, which also features a white umbrella against a black background.
Adding credence to the Bring Me the Horizon theory is that frontman Oli Sykes received one of the seashells Fall Out Boy sent out in the mail leading up to the So Much (for) Stardust reveal.
Stay tuned Tuesday to see if all is revealed.
Along with whatever is on the “horizon,” Fall Out Boy has been teasing a tour announcement.
So Much (for) Stardust arrives March 24, and includes the singles “Love from the Other Side” and “Heartbreak Feels So Good.”
KISS fans have been wondering when their End of the Road tour will finally end, and now the band’s manager is confirming it will definitely happen this year, although he didn’t reveal a specific date.
The band’s longtime manager, Doc McGhee, said on Podcast Rock City that the last show will “be finalized in the next few days, and we’ll be making an announcement probably in the next 10 days.”
“One thing about KISS, we’ve always been that band that went to places where most bands didn’t go,” he says. “So we play everybody’s town … You name it, we’ve played there. So we always go where the people are anyways.”
McGhee says the pandemic is the main reason the tour is still going on, but adds, “We had to end it at some time, which will be this year.”
As for the future of KISS, and whether it can go on without Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, McGhee noted, “There’s a lot of talk about everything. And nobody knows what’s gonna happen in the future.”
He adds that Simmons and Stanley are definitely “hanging their hats up after the (final) show, which is gonna be very, very difficult and very emotional for them after 50 years of doing this,” especially because “they love it.”
AMC Theatres has announced it is dropping ticket prices to $5 to celebrate diversity on the big screen during Black History Month. From February 3 to March 2, more than 200 AMC locations will screen various films as part of the initiative.
February 3-9 will see the acclaimed historic movie Till starring Danielle Deadwyler playing at AMC theaters; the week of February 10-16 will play the Korean War film Devotion starring Jonathan Majors; February 17-23 will be Oscar winner Viola Davis in The Woman King; and the final week, February 24 to March 2, will be Oscar nominee Angela Bassett and company in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In a press release, Elizabeth Frank, AMC’s executive vice president of worldwide programming and chief content officer, noted the $5 movie offering is part of the company’s “long-standing commitment and track record of inclusive programming and initiatives that highlight diverse, creative talent behind the camera and on the big screen.”
Eddie Murphy currently stars in the well-reviewed comedy You People on Netflix, but if he had his druthers, he’d make another Shrek movie, too.
Murphy voiced the green ogre’s buddy Donkey in four Shrek movies, and Eddie tells eTalk it would take him “two seconds” to say yes to a fifth.
“Oh, I’d absolutely be open,” Murphy said. “If they ever came with another Shrek I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey.”
He also shaded his cartoon co-star’s spinoff, saying, “They’re doing Puss in Boots movies. I was like, ‘They shoulda done a Donkey movie. He’s funnier than Puss in Boots,'” he said with a laugh. “I mean I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funnier than a donkey.”
Murphy continued, “I’d do a Donkey movie, I’d do another Shrek in two seconds.”
He then reached out to DreamWorks Animation directly, saying, “DreamWorks, if you y’all wanna do it, just call me. I’m just sitting and ready to do Donkey.”
In the same interview, Eddie also took issue with Martin Lawrence, who recently toldJimmy Kimmel that his daughter Jasmine is dating Eddie’s son Eric and he’s going to make Eddie pay for the wedding if they get married.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Eddie insisted with a smile about his Life co-star. “That’s not how it goes. Because my daughter just got married, and I had to pay, I really had to pay. And you have to do the same, Martin. Don’t try to switch it up … You paying for the wedding. If it goes down, Martin is paying, and the wedding better be wonderful.”
