Fans of late rapper Coolio flocked to streaming services after his death last month, resulting in an extreme surge of his music catalog at over 264%.
According to data by Luminate, Billboardreports the rapper’s songs registered 19.6 million U.S. on-demand streams in the week of his death, September 28 – October 4.
Coolio’s biggest hit “Gangsta’s Paradise” re-entered the charts at #16 on Hot R&B/Hip Hop and #11 on Hot Rap Songs. The popular song gained the most traction on streaming with close to 15 million, an increase of 195%.
Upon its release in 1995, “Gangsta’s Paradise” sat at the top of the Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, won Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 38th annual show.
Appearing on the soundtrack to the film Dangerous Minds, the song’s accompanying music video includes Michelle Pfeiffer, who also starred in the film. Upon news of Coolio’s death, the actress paid tribute to the rapper with a heartfelt message on social media.
“Heartbroken to hear of the passing of the gifted artist @coolio,” she wrote. “He won a Grammy for his brilliant song on the soundtrack — which I think was the reason our film saw so much success.”
Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died September 28 at age 59.
(NEW YORK) — Influenza cases are rising in the United States as the country prepares for a potentially severe season.
During the week ending Oct. 1 — the latest date for which data is available — there were 969 cases of influenza A and 52 cases of influenza B reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is a 303.75% increase from the 240 influenza A cases and a 79.3% increase from the 29 influenza B cases reported the week ending Aug. 6, the data shows.
What’s more, over the same period, the percent positivity rate has risen from 0.49% to 2.5%.
Outpatient visits for influenza-like illnesses have particularly risen for children ages 4 and younger to more than 120,000 during the week ending Oct. 1, a 25.5% spike from the roughly 95,600 visits for this age group that were seen the week ending Aug. 6.
The CDC has previously warned the U.S. may see a harsh flu season after few to no cases were reported over the last two years.
Similar trends are being seen on statewide level.
In New York, 596 cases of influenza were confirmed the week ending Oct. 1, according to the state’s Department of Health. This is nearly four times higher than the 150 that were confirmed the same time last year.
Additionally, in Texas, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed 422 cases of influenza A and B during the week ending Oct. 1. During the same week last year, no cases were confirmed.
Another sign of the potentially severe season comes after Australia experienced its worst flu season in five years.
According to the country’s National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, more than 30,000 cases were being per week during the season’s height in June.
Comparatively, at the height of Australia’s flu season in 2017, there were 25,000 cases being reported every week.
Researchers and modelers often look to the southern hemisphere, which experiences its flu season first — typically from May to October — to predict how the season will look in the U.S.
Last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged Americans ages 6 months and up to get a flu shot by the end of October.
“Over the past two years, we’ve seen some worrisome drops in flu vaccination coverage, especially in some groups of people who are at the highest risk of developing serious flu illness,” she said during a press conference.
Earlier this year, the CDC published a report about the drop in flu vaccination uptake. Some reasons given include confusions that COVID-19 vaccines also protect against the flu, people making fewer visits to vaccine providers during the pandemic and fewer flu vaccination clinics open compared to years prior.
Lady Gaga has yet to be officially cast as Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux, but she’s already received a stamp of approval from Margot Robbie, who plays the DC villain in the Suicide Squad franchise.
Speaking to MTV News, Margot talked about Gaga potentially taking on the mantle in the upcoming Joker sequel. “It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning is all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters the way, like, Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor,” she expressed.
“I feel like in not so many cases are there female characters,” Margot continued. One example she provided is the case of Queen Elizabeth I, but Margot noted how shallow the pool for actresses really is. She didn’t focus on the negative and instead revealed how thrilled she is to have moved the needle.
“It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing and I think she’ll do something incredible with it,” the actress said.
Gaga confirmed in August she has been cast in the Joker sequel but declined to reveal which character she’ll play. “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Gaga announced on Instagram, sharing a brief teaser of the upcoming thriller.
The video, set to a red backdrop, features Gaga’s all black silhouette — except for a little red heart on her right eye — dancing to Fred Astaire‘s “Cheek to Cheek.” The heart’s placement is in the same spot on Robbie’s movie interpretation of Quinn.
Joker: Folie à Deux laughs its way into theaters on October 4, 2024.
(WASHINGTON) — The trial of a Russian national accused of lying to federal investigators about information he contributed to the so-called Steele dossier is set to begin this week, marking a major test for the special counsel investigating the origins of the FBI probe of former President Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia.
Igor Danchenko, a Washington-based think tank analyst, was hired by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele in 2016 to collect information compiled in his now-infamous “dossier,” which included explosive and unproven claims about the former president. In a November 2021 indictment, prosecutors accused Danchenko of misleading FBI agents about his sources of information. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty.
Danchenko’s trial, which begins Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia, is expected to offer special counsel John Durham an opportunity to justify his years-long probe, which Trump and his allies once hoped would uncover a widespread “deep-state” conspiracy within the bureau.
Assigned in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to pursue allegations of misconduct by the FBI and intelligence community in their Russia investigation, dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane,” Durham has secured indictments against only three individuals, one of whom, Michael Sussmann, was acquitted at trial earlier this year.
In another case, former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith admitted to altering a document used in the application process authorizing continued surveillance against a former Trump campaign aide.
Danchenko is the third defendant and the most politically fraught. As Steele’s primary collector, Danchenko was responsible for sharing the salacious claim that Russian officials may have had a videotape of Trump watching prostitutes in a hotel room during a 2013 trip to Moscow. Trump has vehemently denied the claim and no evidence has surfaced to support the allegation.
Prosecutors accused Danchenko of falsely telling the FBI that he never communicated with an unidentified U.S.-based individual “who was a long-time participant in Democratic Party Politics” about any allegations included in the dossier — whereas the indictment says Danchenko had actually sourced one or more of the allegations to that individual.
The indictment also accused Danchenko of lying to the FBI when he suggested that he had spoken with a Belarusian-born businessman named Sergei Millian, who at the time served as president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and had obtained information from Millian that then made its way into the dossier.
“Danchenko stated falsely [to the FBI] that, in or about late July 2016, he received an anonymous phone call from an individual who Danchenko believed to be … then president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce” and obtained information about Trump from that man, the indictment says, referring to Millian but not naming him.
In fact, according to the indictment, “Danchenko never received such a phone call or such information from any person he believed to be [Millian] … rather, Danchenko fabricated these facts regarding [Millian].”
The indictment goes on to claim that Danchenko “never spoke to” Millian at all, which would support Millian’s longstanding contention that he was not the source — knowing or unwitting — of any material in the dossier. Millian has called any suggestions that he was a source “a blatant lie.”
Ahead of his trial, Danchenko and his legal team sought to have their case dismissed and nearly succeeded. Danchenko’s lawyers have insisted that Danchenko presented information to the FBI in accordance with what he believed was true and questioned the framing and interpretation of agents’ questions during interviews with Danchenko.
U.S. Judge Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia ultimately ruled that the trial should move forward but characterized his decision as “an extremely close call.” Last week, Trenga ruled that prosecutors should avoid reference to the most salacious allegations in Steele’s dossier in presenting their case to jurors.
Steele, who has largely remained silent since his dossier became public in January 2017, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview last year that he was “interested to see what [Durham] publishes and what he says about us and others,” but did not fear any personal legal exposure.
“Do you think he’s coming for you?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I don’t think so, no,” Steele replied.
“Are you worried you’ll be indicted?” Stephanopoulos added.
“No,” Steele said.
Durham’s failure to expose allegations of widespread politicization within the FBI has drawn the ire of Trump and his supporters, who at various stages of the probe expressed hope that the special counsel would validate their claims of a “deep state” conspiracy.
“The public is waiting ‘with bated breath’ for the Durham Report, which should reveal corruption at a level never seen before in our country,” Trump wrote in August on Truth Social, his social media platform.
To Trump and his supporters’ apparent chagrin, however, Danchenko’s trial may be one of the final acts of Durham’s tenure as special counsel. The New York Times reported last month that a grand jury empaneled by Durham had expired and that his office hoped to complete a final report by the end of the year.
Jury selection in the sexual assault trial of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein begins Monday in Los Angeles.
The criminal charges are based on the accusations of five women, who have said the former Miramax head attacked them in luxury hotels between 2004 and 2013.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and has said all the encounters were consensual.
All five of Weinstein’s accusers are expected to testify. Also taking the stand are several other women whose accusations are not part of the criminal charges but who will describe Weinstein’s prior bad acts.
One of those prior bad act witnesses, ABC News has confirmed, is California First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Her attorney, Beth Fegan, released a statement to ABC News. “Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” Fegan said. “She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women. Please respect her choice to not discuss this matter outside of the courtroom.”
While he goes on trial in LA, Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York. He has appealed his conviction.
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — The Carolina Panthers on Monday fired head coach Matt Rhule following Sunday night’s 37-15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which dropped Carolina’s record to 1-4 this season.
Rhule’s firing comes less than three years into his seven-year contract with the Panthers.
The 47-year-old leaves the team with a record of 11-27, which includes the five games he coached this season.
Defensive pass game coordinator Steve Wilks, 53, will step in as the interim coach.
Ashley McBryde is bringing Lindeville to Nashville.
In support of her newly released concept album, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, the singer is hosting a two-night stay at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on February 15 and 16.
The shows will feature Ashley performing songs off the album alongside collaborators including Brothers Osborne,Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack and more.
“Join Ashley and the whole crew for an unforgettable celebration of Lindeville… you won’t want to miss it!” she teases on Instagram. Tickets go on sale October 14.
Lindeville dropped on September 30 and takes place inside the fictional town of Lindeville, TX, named in honor of hit songwriter Dennis Linde, who wrote many character-focused songs.
Last week, Ashley was invited by Garth Brooks to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry.
U2 frontman Bono took part in a Q&A event focusing on his forthcoming memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, on Friday in New York City as part of the 2022 edition of The New Yorker Festival.
According to Billboard, the event, which featured the 62-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in conversation with longtime New Yorker editor David Remnick, began with the singer performing a trio of U2’s songs — “With or Without You,” “City of Blinding Lights” and “Vertigo.”
During the interview, Bono revealed that bassist Adam Clayton had a few critiques regarding the memoir, including that he felt there wasn’t enough about music in the book.
Regarding his bandmate’s complaint, Bono said he told Clayton, “Well, you know, it’s not just a music memoir. I wanted to give people a view that my life as an artist, my life as an activist, my life as a hooligan, my life as a husband, my life as a father … [were] all part of the same creative canvas.”
A major part of Surrender is devoted to Bono’s 40-year marriage to his wife, Ali. Musing about what has been behind the couple’s successful relationship, he said, “Friendship can outpace romantic love, sometimes. And friendship is what myself and Ali have.”
Bono also talked about the significance of the book’s title.
“I still find it hard to surrender to my bandmates,” he noted. “As an older person, it gets even harder to surrender to my wife, to surrender to my maker. I’m a defiant character, but I’m working on that … That’s why I wrote the book.”
Surrender will be released on November 1. Bono will launch a 14-date world book tour the following day in New York.
Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay says self-care is a critical “survival tactic” that needs to be normalized.
Lindsay spoke to ABC Audio ahead of World Mental Health Day and explained why the mentality of “stop feeling sorry for yourself” and “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” is harmful. “That is how I grew up, no fault to my parents… I love that I have those tools and it’s taken me so far,” she began, “But, there’s another side of it.”
Lindsay continued, “It’s the same way that you have to be tough to survive in this world. You have to have self-care, as well, to survive. Otherwise you’re going to crash. You’re not going to be your best self. You’re going to unleash a beast because you’re not taking care of yourself.”
“Isn’t it odd that we’re taught to take care of your body and we’re taught to eat healthy things, to nourish our bodies, but we’re not taught to necessarily nourish ourselves mentally?” she queried. “It’s necessary to keep you going. It’s healthy.”
When Lindsay needs a mental recharge, she says there are “little things that reset me.” One option is taking her dogs for a walk and wearing earbuds without listening to music “so nobody would bother me.” Another tool is sitting still by either taking note of things she’s grateful for, not looking at her phone and opening the windows to listen to “the sound of birds chirping.”
“Self care is a survival tactic,” Lindsay offered. “…I couldn’t have success if I didn’t carve out time to be successful within.”
Lindsay is thrilled the younger generations are embracing self-care and hopes that message continues to spread. She also emphasized the importance of therapy, saying it can help one fully realize “what you need from within.”
(NEW YORK) — Some of the nation’s largest airports have been targeted for cyberattacks Monday by an attacker within the Russian Federation, a senior official briefed confirmed to ABC News.
Importantly, the systems targeted do not handle air traffic control, internal airline communications and coordination, or transportation security.
“It’s an inconvenience,” the source said.
The attacks have resulted in targeted “denial of public access” to public-facing web domains that report airport wait times and congestion.
The attacks were first reported around 3 a.m. ET when the Port Authority notified the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that the LaGuardia Airport system had been hit. LaGuardia has been restored, but other airports around the country have subsequently been targeted.
The websites for Des Moines International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport appeared impacted Monday morning.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported around 10:30 a.m. ET that its site is back up and running and that “at no time were operations at the airport impacted.”
“Early this morning, the FlyLAX.com website was partially disrupted,” LAX said in a statement to ABC News. “The service interruption was limited to portions of the public facing FlyLAX.com website only. No internal airport systems were compromised and there were no operational disruptions.”
Engineers and programmers are actively working to close backdoors that allowed the attacks and shoring up more critical computer infrastructure.
