Jimmie Allen and Dierks Bentley will be repping country music in Pickled, a CBS sports-comedy special benefiting the Comic Relief US’ initiatives to address homelessness.
According to ABC News, the event, hosted by Stephen Colbert, will revolve around a celebrity pickleball tournament. Stars from every corner of the industry will play: Jimmie and Dierks will be knocking paddles with the likes of Tig Notaro, Max Greenfield, Will Ferrell, Kelly Rowland and Daniel Dae Kim.
In addition to his hosting duties, Stephen will deliver a national anthem duet with Kenny Loggins to kick off the event.
It’s not a huge surprise that Dierks and Jimmie are signing on for the challenge: While neither have professed to be avid pickleball players, they’re both active guys who enjoy trying new sports. Dierks often posts photos and videos of himself biking, especially while he’s out in Colorado. Meanwhile, Jimmie is an avid bowler who even hosted his own tournament this year and has plans to join the Professional Bowlers Association in 2023.
Picked will air live on CBS on November 17 at 9 p.m. ET.
The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach has announced a new album with his band The Arcs.
The group’s sophomore album is titled Electrophonic Chronic and is due out January 27. You can listen to the first single, “Keep on Dreamin’,” now via digital outlets.
Electrophonic Chronic will arrive eight years after The Arcs’ 2015 debut album, Yours, Dreamily, and five years after the 2018 death of band member Richard Swift. A press release notes that the album was “largely recorded” with Swift prior to his passing.
Auerbach is currently on tour with The Black Keys in support of their new album, Dropout Boogie, which was released in May. The outing concludes October 18 in Dallas.
Here’s the Electrophonic Chronic track list:
“Keep on Dreamin'”
“Eyez”
“Heaven Is a Place”
“Califone Interlude”
“River”
“Sunshine”
“A Man Will Do Wrong”
“Behind the Eyes”
“Backstage Mess”
“Sporting Girls Interlude”
“Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
“Only One for Me”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John and The Rolling Stones are among the veteran artists who will compete for honors at the 2022 American Music Awards.
The Chili Peppers have received nominations for three awards — Favorite Rock Artist, Favorite Rock Song for “Black Summer” and Favorite Rock Album for Unlimited Love.
Elton is nominated for Collaboration of the Year for his Dua Lipa duet “Cold Heart” and for Favorite Touring Artist, making him the longest-recognized artist in AMA history: He was first nominated back in 1974, at the very first American Music Awards, for Top Pop/Rock Male.
The Rolling Stones are also in the running for the Favorite Touring Artist prize.
Leading all nominees this year is Latin superstar Bad Bunny, with a total of eight.
Fan voting is open now at VoteAMAs.com and via Twitter in nearly all the award categories.
The American Music Awards air Sunday, November 20, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Kevin Hart is mourning the loss of his father, Henry Robert Witherspoon. The comedian shared news of Witherspoon’s death with a series of tribute posts on Instagram Thursday.
“RIP to one of the realest & rawest to ever do it…Love you dad. Gone but never forgotten….Give mom a hug for me….y’all did good man,” he wrote, sharing a slideshow of images of his father with his family over the years.
“Thank you for everything,” he added. “I’m a better father because of you 😢💪🏾🙏🏾 We will all make you proud….”
Hart’s tribute continued in a follow-up post in which he shared another image of him and his dad. “RIP spoon …..😢🙏🏾,” he captioned the special memory.
The 43-year-old comedian lost his mother, Nancy Hart, to cancer in 2007. In an interview for Oprah’s Masterclass at the time,he opened up about the tough loss and how he planned to keep her energy alive by way of his father and older brother, Robert.
“All that energy went to my dad and to my brother. This is our little family,” Hart said. “If we don’t try to make this last name mean something, then we have nothing that’s going to live on. My last name means something now, but it’s because we made it mean something.”
Måneskin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters are among the nominees for the 2022 American Music Awards.
The Italian rockers and the “Californication” outfit are up for the Favorite Rock Artist prize, along with Machine Gun Kelly, Imagine Dragons and The Lumineers. The Foos will compete for Favorite Rock Song with “Love Dies Young,” as will RHCP’s “Black Summer,” ID and JID‘s “Enemy,” Måneskin’s “Beggin'” and Kate Bush‘s resurgent hit “Running Up That Hill.”
In the Favorite Rock Album category, you’ll find RHCP’s Unlimited Love, MGK’s Mainstream Sellout, ID’s Mercury — Act 1, Coldplay‘s Music of the Spheres and Ghost‘s Impera.
Måneskin is also up for New Artist of the Year, alongside GAYLE and Steve Lacy, while the Elvis movie soundtrack, which features the “Supermodel” group’s rendition of “If I Can Dream,” is up for Favorite Soundtrack. That category also includes the Stranger Things season 4 soundtrack, which revitalized both “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets,” as well as the U2-featuring Sing 2 soundtrack.
Other nominees include Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and Elton John for Favorite Touring Artist.
The 2022 AMAs will air November 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. For the full list of nominees and to vote for your favorites, visit TheAMAs.com.
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — The jury has reached a decision in Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s death penalty case.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
Cody Johnson is the most-nominated country artist at the 2022 American Music Awards.
He’s in the running for three trophies at this year’s ceremony, with mentions in the Favorite Country Album, Favorite Country Song and Favorite Male Country Artist categories. If he wins in any of those categories, it’ll mark his first-ever AMAs trophy.
Also repping the country genre are Carrie Underwood and Chris Stapleton, who are up for two awards apiece. Chris is nominated in the Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Song categories, while Carrie is nominated for Favorite Female Country Artist and Favorite Country Album.
Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Walker Hayes are also headed into the big night with two nominations each. All three of them are going head-to-head with Chris and Cody in the Favorite Male Country Artist category. Luke and Walker are also up for Favorite Country Album, while Morgan scored a nod in the Favorite Country Song category.
Other country acts nominated at the 2022 AMAs include Lainey Wilson, Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lady A, Dan + Shay, Dustin Lynch, Jordan Davis and many more.
Taylor Swift earned multiple mentions in country categories and is among the most-nominated artists overall, with a total of six nominations. Beyoncé and Drake each have six AMAs nods, too, but the most-mentioned nominee of the night is Bad Bunny, with a whopping eight nominations.
The American Music Awards air Sunday, November 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Here are the nominees in the country categories:
FAVORITE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST Chris Stapleton Cody Johnson Luke Combs Morgan Wallen Walker Hayes
FAVORITE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST Carrie Underwood Lainey Wilson Maren Morris Miranda Lambert Taylor Swift
FAVORITE COUNTRY DUO OR GROUP Dan + Shay Lady A Old Dominion Parmalee Zac Brown Band
FAVORITE COUNTRY ALBUM Carrie Underwood, Denim & Rhinestones Luke Combs, Growin’ Up Cody Johnson, Human: The Double Album Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) Walker Hayes, Country Stuff: The Album
FAVORITE COUNTRY SONG Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave” Cody Johnson, “‘Til You Can’t” Dustin Lynch ft. MacKenzie Porter, “Thinking ‘Bout You” Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt” Morgan Wallen, “Wasted on You”
(WASHINGTON) — Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7% in 2023 as Americans deal with the highest inflation rates in decades.
The 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than seven million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 30, 2022.
This is the biggest increase since 1981, because this number is based on the 40-year highs the U.S. has seen in inflation.
(NEW YORK) — Pickleball has gone from the country club to one of the fast-growing sports in the world and now another athletic icon has hitched himself to the bandwagon.
Tom Brady announced overnight that he will become a Major League Pickleball owner.
“Look, I’ve been trying to find a way to extend my professional sports career beyond my 40s, even into my 50s, 60s, 70s, as long as I can right?” Brady said in the selfie video post on Instagram. “And I think I got the answer — pickleball.”
He continued, “I’m officially joining the MLP family.”
“You know how I do with competition, right? I love that’s it’s become such a popular neighborhood sport. It’s a great way to get out of the house, but I’m coming to win. I’m coming to the dominate the sport,” Brady, 45, said.
Brady’s team will be co-owned with Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters and a cadre of investors.
“Tom and I are very competitive. And, you know, we both come from professional sports. He’s still in it. And so we have that competitive spirit,” Clijsters said in a statement Wednesday. “[I’m] really excited about the team that we were able to combine.”
The seven-time Super Bowl champ and four-time major tennis champion are two of an estimated 4.8 million pickleball players in the U.S. As owners, the pair join a distinguished list of stars including LeBron James, Draymond Green and Kevin Love as well as future Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
“For me, it was was a no-brainer when this investment came in front of me,” Clijsters told ABC News. “It’s a sport that, you know, is fun, that’s exciting, especially when — the four of you are up close to the net and you’re — having good, like good rallies and everything. Like, it’s exciting.”
Brady and Clijsters’ expansion team is expected to be 50% female-owned.
In the announcement about the pair’s plans, MLP also said “the expansion team is a part of a three-pronged growth plan for 2023, which will see 12 teams grow to 16, three events double to six, and player prize money and payouts surpass $2M.”
Former American tennis pro and coach Brad Gilbert weighed in on the hot new racket sport, telling ABC News, “I do see the sport growing because of how much quicker the learning curve is to play.”
“In tennis, sometimes movement is key,” he explained. “In pickleball, there’s not as much court to cover, which is a big thing potentially for older players.”
Speculation abounds regarding when Brady will retire from football. Whenever he does step away, Brady will move to the broadcast booth for a huge deal with Fox. But like many modern star athletes, he has an entrepreneurial streak.
“I do think a lot of these celebrities and athletes are saying, ‘Maybe it doesn’t cost billions of dollars like some of these other things,’ and they they see some potential and possibilities in [owning a pickleball team],” Gilbert said.
The 2022 MLP season concludes this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
(BRISTOL, Conn.) — Two police officers were shot and killed and one is seriously injured after a gunman allegedly ambushed the officers at a Bristol, Connecticut, home, according to sources.
The Bristol police officers were shot while responding to a domestic violence emergency call at a home late Wednesday night, according to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.
According to police sources, the gunman made a fake 911 call for a disturbance at his home then carried out an apparent ambush attack on the officers with an AR-15-style rifle.
The suspect was shot dead at the scene, police said.
The suspect’s brother was also shot and has been hospitalized in unknown condition, according to police.
“Our community has been rocked,” Bristol police chief Brian Gould said at a news conference.
Killed in the gunfire were Bristol police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte, 35, and officer Alex Hamzy, 34, Gould said.
DeMonte is survived by his wife and two children with a third child on the way, the chief said.
DeMonte “was assigned to our patrol division and was a school resource officer,” the chief said. “He was also an advisor for the Bristol police explorer cadet program. Throughout his career he has received several awards, including the Silver Star, officer of the month and co-recipient for Officer of the Year in 2019.”
Hamzy, a Bristol native, is survived by his wife, Gould said.
“Throughout his career, he received numerous letters of commendation and recognition. He was assigned to our central region Emergency Response Team and was also one of our cadet advisors,” Gould said.
The injured officer, 26-year-old Alec Iurato, underwent surgery for a severe gunshot wound and is recovering, Gould said.
“This is a senseless tragedy, and my prayers are with their families, loved ones, and fellow officers. I also ask the residents of Connecticut to keep in their prayers a third officer who was shot and is currently in the hospital with serious injuries,” the governor said in a statement. “This is a devastating reminder of the dangers that police officers face every day to protect our families and neighbors from all kinds of situations. These officers are heroes.”
Lamont ordered flags in Connecticut to be lowered to half-staff.
As of Sept. 27, there have been 49 officers killed in the United States this year — which is lower than the record last year (73), but higher than the complete year totals for 2020 and 2019, according to data from the FBI.
