The xx is reissuing the trio’s 2012 album Coexist in honor of its 10th anniversary.
An expanded digital version of the record, featuring three bonus live recordings, is out now, and a vinyl deluxe edition will be available on January 13.
“We can’t believe it’s been 10 years since we released Coexist,” The xx says.
Coexist is The xx’s second album and gave the group their first top-10 debut on the Billboard 200. They’ve since followed Coexist with 2017’s I See You, which remains the most recent The xx album.
Meanwhile, vocalist/bassist Oliver Sim dropped his debut solo album, Hideous Bastard, in September, while vocalist/guitarist Romy Madley Croft just premiered a new solo single, called “Strong,” last week.
Elton John is one of several artists set to be honored at Variety’s sixth annual Hitmakers celebration, which honors artists who have the 25 most-consumed songs of the past year, according to Luminate.
Elton is being honored alongside Dua Lipa as Hitmakers of the Year thanks to the success of their collaboration “Cold Heart-PNAU Remix,” which combines Elton’s hits “Rocketman,” “Sacrifice” and more. It peaked at seven on the Billboard chart and became Elton’s 28th top-10 hit. The honor also recognizes Elton for his incredible six-decade career, as well as his “mentorship of young artists.”
Also being recognized at the event is Kate Bush’s ’80s single “Running Up That Hill” for Sync of the Year, due to its resurgence on the chart after its use in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. It turned out to be the 12th most consumed song of 2022.
This year’s honorees, which include Imagine Dragons, Selena Gomez and Lizzo, will be celebrated on December 3 with an invitation-only brunch.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Cheryl Burke has announced that she is leaving Dancing with the Stars as a pro at the conclusion of season 31.
Burke shared the news in an Instagram post on Sunday, writing, “This has been one of the absolute hardest decisions of my life & I am also confident that it is the right one.”
Burke called DWTS her “2nd family” and one she has been part of since she was 21. She started on the show in season 2 and won the Mirrorball Trophy her first two seasons. Burke has been a pro for 25 seasons, only skipping five seasons since joining.
“I also know that it is time for me to begin the next phase of my career, although dance will always be a part of me,” she continued. “I am excited about the idea of evolving, about being challenged in new ways, having the ability to expand my commitment to mental health advocacy, focusing on my new found love for podcasting, & I’m ready to face the uncertainty (though it’s scary as sh**) of what the future holds – I do have a few things up my sleeves though, so don’t worry,” adding a winky face emoji.
Burke said her farewell dance, taking place during the November 21 finale for season 31, is “dedicated to all of YOU that have supported me, loved me even if you didn’t know me, & who have been such a huge part of my life, my growth, & my story.”
She added, “Though there aren’t enough words to express my deep gratitude & love to my entire DWTS family I will end with this: thank you for being my rock & foundation for close to two decades during the difficult moments & most of all, thank you for giving ballroom dancing the credit & attention it deserves.”
Danny Kalb, guitarist for the 1960s/1970s band TheBlues Project, passed away Saturday at his nursing home in Brooklyn; he was 80 years old. His brother Jonathan confirmed the news of his death to the New York Timesand revealed that Kalb had been diagnosed with cancer three years ago.
In a 2013 interview with AM New York, Kalb shared that he met Bob Dylan at the University of Wisconsin. After the singer “crashed with me for a few weeks” on his way to New York, Kalb said he “dropped out and followed him.”
He went on to become a fixture in the Greenwich Village music scene and played in the studio with such artists as Judy Collins and Pete Seeger. He contributed two songs to the 1964 anthology, The Blues Project: A Compendium of the Very Best on the Urban Blues Scene, which featured music from eight Greenwich Village regulars.
Kalb embraced the electric guitar and the blues after seeing John Lee Hooker perform at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. He then formed the Blues Project with Steve Katz, Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld and Tommy Flanders, releasing their only studio album, Projections, in 1966. Although they broke up in 1967, they regrouped in various forms up until about 2012. He also released several solo projects, including Livin’ with the Blues in 1995, All Together Now in 2006 and more.
(WASHINGTON) — Fresh off several weeks of celebrations for his family and political party, a jovial President Joe Biden expressed thanks on Monday as he took part in the annual White House tradition of pardoning turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.
“The votes are in, they’ve been counted, verified. There’s no ballot stuffing, there’s no fowl play,” Biden laughed on the White House South Lawn just before freeing the North Carolina-raised 2022 National Thanksgiving Turkey, Chocolate, and Chip, the alternate, from their imminent futures on dinner plates this Thursday.
“The only ‘red wave’ this season is going to be a German Shepherd, Commander, knocks over the cranberry sauce on our table,” he said, in reference to his family’s dog, who watched over the turkey pardoning tradition from a nearby balcony, while quipping about the recent strides Democrats made during the 2022 midterm election cycle, during which they deflected what many experts anticipated would be sweeping congressional victories for Republicans. Instead, Democrats were able to maintain control of the Senate while hanging onto additional seats in a now GOP-controlled House.
The birds, which weigh 46 and 47 pounds, were raised by National Turkey Federation chairman Ronnie Parker near Monroe, North Carolina. He hosted the birds, along with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, and North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican, among others.
The White House on Saturday celebrated Biden’s first-born grandchild Naomi’s wedding to fellow Washington lawyer Peter Neal, before observing another landmark on Sunday: the president’s 80th birthday.
“It’s a wonderful Thanksgiving tradition here at the White House. There’s a lot to say about it, but it’s chilly outside so I’m gonna keep this short. Nobody likes it when their turkey gets cold,” Biden joked during remarks spanning about 10 minutes while the temperature dipped to the mid-40s.
NTF is celebrating 75 years of this national Thanksgiving tradition, which dates back to 1947 with President Harry Truman in 1947. Unofficially, reports point all the way back to President Abraham Lincoln, who spared a bird from its demise at the urging of his son, Tad.
The turkey duo was a fitting pair for Biden: his favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate chip.
“Of course, chocolate … is my favorite ice cream,” he said, “We could have named them ‘Chips,’ and ‘Science’ but anyway, they’re good names as well,” nodding to another Democrat-led accomplishment from the year, a multibillion-dollar bill to boost domestic computer chip manufacturing and more.
The birds will live out the rest of their lives at North Carolina State University, joining the Wolfpack.
“Now, when we told them they were joining the Wolfpack, they got a little scared, but then we explained it was just a mascot for the school as one of the nation’s best poultry science departments in the country,” Biden said.
With all the fun and frivolity, Biden did have some more serious thoughts to share on the holiday and the reason for the season, celebrating that this year will see families gather more freely than in years past, when the COVID-19 pandemic inhibited the holiday season.
“We can’t forget the reason for Thanksgiving in the first place. The pilgrims taught us it’s pretty important in tough times to come together and thank God to be grateful for what we have. That’s what the Thanksgiving tradition is all about. Being grateful for what we have and grateful for fellow Americans who we may never meet, but who — there you go, they’re grateful,” Biden said, making a pitch for people to get their COVID shots.
“And think about the scientists or researchers, doctors and nurses keeping us safe through the pandemic. Two years ago, we couldn’t even safely have Thanksgiving with the large family gatherings,” the president said.
Biden ended the event with a unifying message for a divided country post-midterm elections:
“Folks. Let’s remember, all political fighting goes on, you read about. Let’s remember one thing. This is the United States of America,” he said. “The United States of America. There’s not a single solitary thing beyond our capacity as a nation, nothing beyond our capacity. If we do it together, united, united.”
Following the event on Monday afternoon, Biden and first lady Jill Biden are headed to the turkeys’ home state, to the Marine Corps Air station in Cherry Point, North Carolina, for a Friendsgiving celebration with troops and their families.
Tuesday marks 25 years since INXS frontman Michael Hutchence died, and now, his sister is expressing her anger over his ex-girlfriend’s failure to reveal the truth about his state of mind at the time of his death.
Hutchence hanged himself in a Sydney hotel room on November 22, 1997, and at the time, his family had no idea he was suicidal. In the 2019 documentary Mystify, however, his ex-girlfriend, supermodel Helena Christensen, revealed he had suffered brain damage as a result of an assault by a taxi driver in Copenhagen. She said he wound up with a crack in his skull, and it caused him to suffer uncontrollable rages, something his sister, Tina Hutchence, wished she had divulged earlier.
Tina tells The Sun she knows her brother was “happy” with Christensen, but she says, “I did feel angry when I first found out about the assault, as I felt it was her duty to say something to his family,” especially since there were so many terrible rumors surrounding his death, including ones suggesting he died during a sex game.
“She was very close to our parents and could have easily reached out,” Tina says. “My first thought was, ‘He died all those years ago. Why didn’t she say something before now?’” She adds, “I’m sure that if Michael didn’t have that accident in Denmark, he would still be with us today.”
The sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever again reigned atop the box office over this weekend, with a worldwide take that’s closing in on the $550 million mark.
For actress Danai Gurira, who reprises as Dora Milaje leader Okoye, the movie was an emotional rollercoaster, set off, naturally, by the 2020 death of her “brother,” Black Panther lead Chadwick Boseman.
Her loss played into how unmoored Okoye comes to feel in the film, The Walking Dead veteran recently explained at a press event. Wakanda Forever sees the seemingly invincible Okoye not only defeated in combat but stripped of her status as general of the queen’s guard, and banished by Angela Bassett‘s grieving Queen Ramonda.
In the movie’s early action scenes, Okoye goes toe to webbed feet with a group of Talokanil warriors, finding the super-powered undersea dwellers too much for even her. The fight required extensive training, as did the movie’s underwater fight scenes — which earned a laugh from the actress in retrospect.
Gurira admits with a smile, “Well, you know, there are two sides of me. You know, there’s the side that, you know, gets it, and the side that’s like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Really? Do we have to?’ … And then the other side took over and understood that this was actually great. And I’m very thankful for the idea that these characters get to explore so many facets of their humanness.”
She explains, “I think that that is something that is crucial, honestly, with a platform this unprecedented is that we see…the kaleidoscope of their humanness and the world gets to see that because it isn’t very common. You know, we don’t get to see that do that much [in movies].”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(HINGHAM, Mass.) — Multiple people were injured after a car crashed into an Apple store in Hingham, Massachusetts, Monday morning, according to a law enforcement official.
The number of people hurt was not immediately clear.
Axl Rose has posted a statement honoring late Nazareth vocalist Dan McCafferty, who died November 8 at age 76.
Acknowledging the delay in his response to the news, the Guns N’ Roses rocker writes, “Haven’t addressed this…been a tough pill to swallow…Very, very sad to learn of the passing of Dan McCafferty of Nazareth.”
Rose shares that he learned of McCafferty’s death shortly before taking the stage for a GN’R show and admits he was “in a bit of a surreal headspace on stage for several songs.”
“Went on a Nazareth binge for a few days,” Rose writes. “Thanks Dan n’ all of Nazareth for all the music over the years. Their music n’ Dan’s voice will always have a special place in my heart. Rest in peace Dan.”
McCafferty, Nazarath’s original frontman, sang on hits including “Love Hurts” and “Hair of the Dog,” the latter of which Guns N’ Roses memorably covered on their 1993 record “The Spaghetti Incident?”
While Elton John welcomed some notable names to the stage Sunday night for his final North American concert — Dua Lipa, Brandi Carlile and his “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” duet partner Kiki Dee — the star power in the audience was pretty impressive.
Among those who attended the hit-packed show at LA’s Dodger stadium were Elton’s fellow music legends Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Joni Mitchell, as well as Taron Egerton, who portrayed Elton in his biopic Rocketman, and Elton’s good pals Donatella Versace, Neil Patrick Harris and Will & Grace star Eric McCormack.
Also in the house were Jude Law, Angela Bassett and her husband Courtney B. Vance, Miles Teller, Heidi Klum, Christopher Lloyd, Connie Britton, Kirsten Dunst, Jenna Dewan, John Stamos, Sara Gilbert, Lisa Rinna, JoJo Siwa and more.
Another guest was Elton’s longtime friend, tennis legend Billie Jean King,who’s also co-owner of the Dodgers. Over the weekend, she and other Dodger executives presented Elton with a $1 million donation to his AIDS Foundation in honor of the three shows he played at the stadium.
Sunday’s show was Elton’s 103rd in the Los Angeles area since his career began, and the 271st show of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which started way back in 2018. When it finally wraps up in July of 2023, Billboard notes that it’ll likely overtake U2‘s 360 tour to become the second highest-grossing tour in history, and may even overtake Ed Sheeran‘s Divide tour, which holds the all-time record.
