Blackmore’s Night, the group featuring ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and his wife, Candice Night, is giving fans another taste of the upcoming 25th anniversary celebration of their debut album, Shadow of the Moon.
The band just released a new anniversary remix of “Greensleeves,” their interpretation of a song that originally comes from the 16th century, to digital services. They also shared a lyric video for the track.
The remixed 25th anniversary edition of Shadow of the Moon, which was converted to HD audio from the original recording, is due out March 10, with the album’s iconic artwork refreshed for the new release. It includes two previously unreleased acoustic versions of “Spirit of the Sea” and “Shadow of the Moon,” recorded by Blackmore and Night in 2022.
But that’s not all. The limited black vinyl LPs of the anniversary release will include two “golden tickets,” with the fans who find them getting an original and signed Fender Ritchie Blackmore Olympic White Stratocaster guitar.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Most artists have been influenced by others who came before them. In Drake‘s case, Fabolous had a major influence on his career.
Taking to his Instagram Story Sunday, Drake shared a throwback picture of Fab alongside a note that revealed that he “Wouldn’t be anywhere without” the Brooklyn rapper. “Was really just taking in how much you influenced everything for me,” Drake’s note continued.
He followed up with an old photo of Fabolous in an Orlando Magic jersey and a photo of Fab’s cover on a 2005 Smack DVD magazine, saying he “wouldn’t be sh**” without 112‘s debut album and its hit song “Cupid.”
Drake and Fabolous appeared on The-Dream‘s “Throw It in the Bag (Remix)” in 2009 and the remix to Chris Brown‘s “Deuces” in 2010, years before Drake appeared to shade Fab in a 2014 interview.
Per XXL, Rolling Stone asked Drake about Kanye West’s lyrics on Yeezus, and he said, “There were some real questionable bars on there, like that ‘Swaghili’ line? Come on, man. Even Fabolous wouldn’t say some sh** like that.” Drake denied commenting on Ye’s album, calling the press evil.
Fab later revealed that Drake had apologized for the entire situation.
“I spoke to Drake a little while after … he was disgusted by how [the] press will kinda instigate a story — make it seem worse than it was for the sake of being story,” Fab explained to MTV News.
“He apologized that I was even brought into that whole mess,” he continued. “It’s over, it’s under the bridge. I got a lot of respect for what Drake does and he’s expressed to me personally, so we move on from there.”
In 2018, Drake recreated one of Fab’s throwback looks for his 2000s-themed birthday party.
(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) — University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles was among two suspects arrested and charged with capital murder on Sunday in connection with a deadly shooting near the campus, authorities said.
Both the University of Alabama and its athletics department confirmed in separate statements that Miles, a 21-year-old student-athlete who played forward for the Crimson Tide, “has been removed from campus” and “is no longer a member of the Alabama men’s basketball team” in light of the charge against him.
“The University of Alabama’s utmost priority is the safety and well-being of the campus community. We are grieved by the incident that occurred near campus last night and extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends,” the University of Alabama said in a statement Sunday. “We are grateful for the quick and thorough response of law enforcement and emergency response teams, and we will continue to fully support the ongoing investigation. We were made aware of the recent charge against student-athlete Darius Miles; he has been removed from campus and is no longer a member of the Alabama men’s basketball team.”
“First and foremost, we extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the victim from last night’s incident,” University of Alabama Athletics said in a statement Sunday. “We were made aware of the recent charge against student-athlete Darius Miles, and he is no longer a member of the Alabama men’s basketball team. Athletics, in conjunction with the University, is fully cooperating with this investigation.”
The charge stems from a fatal shooting that occurred near the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa early Sunday, according to a press release from the Tuscaloosa Police Department. Officers from both the Tuscaloosa Police Department and the University of Alabama Police Department were dispatched to the Walk of Champions at Bryant-Denny Stadium at approximately 1:45 a.m. local time, after a car had stopped there for help upon seeing a police-marked vehicle.
Inside the car, officers found a male driver who was apparently unharmed and a woman who had been shot dead. The driver told police that, while traveling in the area of Grace Street and University Boulevard, their vehicle had been shot into and he had returned fire in self-defense, possibly striking a suspect. He continued to drive until stopping for help at the Walk of Champions, police said.
Police identified the deceased victim as Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, of Birmingham, who was not affiliated with the University of Alabama.
After speaking with multiple witnesses and reviewing surveillance video, investigators identified a pair of suspects: Miles, who is from Washington, D.C., and Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Maryland’s Charles County, who is not affiliated with the University of Alabama. Investigators located and interviewed both suspects, one of whom was found to have indeed been struck by gunfire and had a non-life-threatening wound, according to police.
Police subsequently arrested the two suspects and charged them with capital murder. Investigators believe the deadly shooting was a result of a minor argument between the victims and the suspects after encountering each other, police said.
Both Miles and Davis were booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond, according to police and online jail records.
Miles, who was in his third year with the Crimson Tide, played sparingly in six games this season. He had not played since a Dec. 20 game against Jackson State. However, Miles played in 30 games last season and started three, while averaging 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Alabama is currently 15-2 and ranked No. 4 in the country.
Miley Cyrus is probably buying herself flowers and taking herself dancing to celebrate her latest streaming record thanks to her new song, “Flowers.”
The singer’s official Discord channel announced: “17 years into her career, Miley officially hit her largest Spotify streaming debut with ‘Flowers.'”
The song bowed at #3 on the Spotify charts after fans streamed the single 7.7 million times. The song has since risen to the #1 spot and is now her first single to lead the platform’s Daily Top Songs Global chart. The track has amassed roughly 11 million streams.
“Flowers” is also tearing it up across other platforms. The song is currently #1 on Apple Music’s Top 100 charts for both its U.S. tracker and global tracker. The song is also #1 on the iTunes chart.
Not only that, the song became the second-most trending video on YouTube when it debuted. It’s also currently #2 on Pandora’s Top Thumb Hundred chart, which tracks the new releases that get the most thumbs-up.
“Flowers” is the first single off Miley’s forthcoming album, Endless Summer Vacation. The album arrives March 10, and preorders are now live on her official website.
(NEW YORK) — In the wake of the Golden Globes last week, several celebrities said they have tested positive for COVID-19.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Pfeiffer are among the names who revealed they contracted the virus falling the awards show.
In response, the Critics Choice Awards, which was held on Sunday, announced that all attendees would be required to submit a negative COVID-19 test before entering the venue, according to Deadline.
Public health experts said the news of actors and actresses falling ill is not surprising due to the relaxed regulations and people gathering indoors.
“This is sort of a window into what our future holds,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “I mean, this is not unexpected. You have indoor gatherings during a time when a lot of virus is circulating, whether it’s cold or flu, and proximity without masking and especially if there was also no testing requirements.”
He continued, “It’s not surprising that you’re going to have active transmission of viruses, one of the many respiratory viruses that are circulating now.”
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weekly COVID-19 cases have topped 400,000 for the last six weeks, which are figures not seen since late September although the overall number has declined from last week.
Meanwhile, weekly COVID-19 deaths are trending upward with 3,907 reported as of Jan. 11, CDC data shows, although some of this may be due to reporting lags over the holidays.
Additionally, CDC data shows that while flu cases are declining the cumulative hospitalization rate of 54.4 per 100,000 is 1.8 times higher than the highest figure recorded at this point in the year dating back to the 2010-11 season.
It is well known that infected individuals can expel droplets that move throughout an entire indoor space and even linger after a person leaves the area.
What’s more, with lack of ventilation — be it high-efficiency particle arresting filters or open windows — and people gathered closely together with no masks, Brownstein said it’s no wonder people contracted COVID.
“We sort of have to decide collectively, as a society, what we want to do to keep transmission down,” he said. “Obviously, we know mitigation strategies help and then we recognize that we still have a lot of vulnerable people that are succumbing to COVID.”
Brownstein added, “But I think the idea of testing pre-gathering is still a very good idea, so it makes sense that the Critics Choice Awards used that as a tool to help limit the amount of risk of transmission at the event.”
Brownstein said this doesn’t mean that every event will turn into a super-spreader or that it signals trouble for the U.S. Rather, Americans shouldn’t let their guard down.
“As much as people want to assume that we’ve moved on from the pandemic, the pandemic hasn’t yet moved on from us,” he said. “We’re still dealing with events where that super-spreading can occur and there’s a bivalent vaccine out there that can lower your risk of severe illness and help reduce your risk of severe consequences and deaths from this virus.”
(NEW YORK) — A blood test under study may soon be able to help many patients with colon cancer decide whether they need chemotherapy after surgery, or if they can safely skip it.
The results, which oncologists described as promising, were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Currently, many patients with surgically removable colon cancer are automatically given additional chemotherapy, but doctors can’t perfectly predict who will or will not benefit from this. Although the blood test may need to be studied further before it becomes part of standard medical care, oncologists see it as a promising tool that could help many patients safely skip chemotherapy — and its harsh side effects.
“Potentially, worldwide, we’re talking about millions of people,” said Dr. Alok Khorana, director of the gastrointestinal malignancies program at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved with the study. “Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the country, affecting both men and women. Worldwide, it’s also very common and is rising in many countries where in the past, it was not that common.”
The blood test, sometimes called a “liquid biopsy,” detects small fragments of genetic material called circulating tumor DNA (or ctDNA), which are shed by the cancer into the blood stream.
In the recently published study, researchers looked for the presence of this genetic material in more than 1,000 patients who had undergone surgery to remove stage II, III, and IV colon cancer. A positive test suggests there are still residual cancer cells in the body. This study showed that patients with positive tests likely need additional chemotherapy, whereas those with negative tests might be able to safely skip the taxing and toxic treatment.
“What the study showed was that the people who had the liquid biopsy, or ctDNA, being positive after surgery, had an extremely, extremely high chance of recurrence…10 times higher risk compared to people who were ctDNA negative,” said Dr. Suneel Kamath, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic, who was also not involved with the study. “What’s interesting too was that was by far the strongest factor. We use a lot of other factors, like how progressive the tumor is and how many lymph nodes are involved.”
Currently, oncologists use other clues — such as the characteristics of the tumor itself — to help them gauge which patients need additional chemotherapy. But this new study suggests the blood test would be more accurate, Kamath said.
“Even though we’ve been relying on those for many decades, all of those were far, far less predictive of who was going to have their cancer return,” Kamath said.
Still, experts said, more research is needed before this test becomes a standard part of medical care.
“The impact of this individual paper should be taken into the context of other papers that have recently come out and are ongoing…It has a meaningful impact in allowing us to not only identify high-risk patients, but also showing that giving them chemotherapy after the surgery is beneficial,” said Khorana.
A June 2022 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine also showed that ctDNA can be safely used to guide chemotherapy decisions in stage II colon cancer. This study shows that there is also benefit for stage III and stage IV cancers.
And more research studies are ongoing.
“The findings of this study are provocative, but not sufficient to just yet change clinical practice,” Khorana said, “although I foresee that that’s going to happen very, very soon in the near future.”
He added, “I would encourage patients to join those trials because that is the best way to find out…whether drugs work or not, and whether tests work or not.”
LL Cool J‘s claim to mainstream fame was through rap, to which he’s ready to make a return. Taking to social media Saturday, the actor/host announced that he’s working on a new album.
“I’m competing with myself on this new album. Wait til you hear this MF,” he tweeted. “This year B. It’s coming.”
LL has teased an upcoming album a few times over the last few years. In 2014, he revealed that he’d tapped Eminem, T.I., J. Cole andRaekwon for his unreleased G.O.A.T. 2 project. He linked with Dr. Dre shortly before announcing an untitled project in 2016, and in 2020, he told ET that he and Q-Tipwere executive producing his new album.
If LL’s recent tweet is true, the album will be his first full-length project in 10 years, following 2013’s Authentic.
While Hollywood couplings aren’t usually made to last, Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett have been making marriage work for 25 years.
While on the red carpet at Sunday night’s Critics Choice Awards, the pair spoke with People about their relationship. As a metaphor for how they keep things rolling, Vance offered: “It’s like a rock band, The Temptations or The Stones or The Eagles.”
He explains, “Initially it was about, ‘They made it,’ and then ‘What about my individual glory?’… And then going, ‘You know what? We’re better together and stronger together.'”
Vance, 52, added, “To see those groups still doing it 30, 40, 50 years later and making even more money is just, it’s a good feeling, the same thing.”
Of course, love has a lot to do with it, but Bassett, 54, also described as keys: “Talking, communicating and allowing each other to have your own space and then come back together.”
The pair are also each other’s biggest fans. “A lot of times you don’t know that it’ll come back around and I’ve been there … letting her know that, just hang in there,” says Emmy winner Vance.
Hinting at Bassett’s Oscar nomination for 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It? and now her march to what most believe will be her first Oscar, for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, he says, “… when it comes around, people know what happened 30 years ago and it didn’t come around for you … they’ve been waiting for a moment like this to lift you up. So it’ll be even bigger now … they want it more than you want it, if that’s possible.”
Bassett, who won the night’s Best Supporting Actress award for the film, says having someone in your corner “makes the success all the more sweeter.”
(NEW YORK) — Six people were gunned down at a central California home Monday in what the sheriff called a targeted attack.
Among those killed in the “horrific massacre” were a 17-year-old mom and a 6-month-old baby, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux told reporters. Both were shot in the head, he said.
“We do have survivors,” the sheriff said, adding that it’s not yet clear how they survived.
Authorities believe there are at least two suspects at large, Boudreaux said. No arrests have been made.
“We believe that this was a targeted family,” the sheriff said.
“This was very personal,” Boudreaux said. “We also believe that it was a message being sent.”
Authorities “believe there are gang associations involved in this scene, as well as potential narcotics investigations,” Boudreaux said.
One week ago the sheriff’s office conducted narcotics search warrants at the house, he said.
Some victims were found in the house while others were found in the street, Boudreaux said. One man who was found wounded when deputies arrived was later pronounced dead at a hospital, the sheriff said.
Authorities received reports of shots fired just before 4 a.m., the sheriff said. Callers thought there was an active shooter due to the number of rounds, he said.
“I do have more information but I’m not at liberty to discuss at this point,” he said. “We have potential information, which will hopefully lead to potential suspects.”
In addition to being his band name, Mumford & Sons may soon describe Marcus Mumford‘s family.
People has confirmed that Mumford and his wife, Oscar-nominated actor Carey Mulligan, are expecting their third child. The couple, who’ve been married since 2012, share a 7-year-old daughter, Evelyn, and a 5-year-old son, Wilfred.
In addition to expecting a new baby, Mumford is set to return to the stage with Mumford & Sons later this year to play the 2023 New Orleans Jazz Fest. The performance follows the release of Mumford’s debut solo album, (self-titled), last September.
Mulligan, meanwhile, is currently starring in the new movie She Said. Her performance was nominated for a Golden Globe.
