Jon Pardi is known as one of country music’s stoutest neo-traditionalists, bringing elements of fiddle, steel guitar and more into songs with subject matter that’s just as classic.
He’s keeping those traditional country vibes going in his newest album, Mr. Saturday Night,and the singer’s method is still working. The lead single off his new album, “Last Night Lonely,” recently reached the top of the charts on country radio.
But just as gratifying is the validation he gets from the classic country hitmakers who influence his music, Jon says.
“It was always just kind of what I thought country music sounded like,” he explains to Billboard, speaking of the fan fervor over throwback country that emulates the heyday of the ‘90s.
“I’ve toured with people like Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn and you want them to like what you do,” the singer continues. “The coolest thing is just hearing them say, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’ I’m happy that people are more accepting of the more traditional, ‘90s kind of sound.”
Perry Farrell has confirmed that original Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery is back in the band.
“We recorded three songs with [Avery],” Farrell tells NME. “That Jane’s rhythm section is back.”
Farrell’s comments come after the Jane’s Twitter account shared an uncaptioned video of Farrell and Avery jamming together in August.
Avery played with Jane’s from the band’s founding through their first breakup in 1991. He skipped out on reunions in the late ’90s and early 2000s before eventually rejoining Jane’s in 2008, only to leave again two years later. Since then, Chris Chaney has been the Jane’s Addiction bassist.
In addition to Avery, Farrell has also reunited with another former bandmate, Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. LeNoble was not in the lineup for PfP’s comeback show at the Welcome to Rockville festival earlier this year, but later rejoined the band for their summer shows, including a set at Lollapalooza.
“We all took that opportunity to not just kiss and make up, but to do some great work and we sounded really good,” Farrell says. “It’s true what they say about musicians. They get better with age.”
(WASHINGTON) — Gina McCarthy — President Joe Biden’s top climate adviser — will step down from her post on Sept. 16, the White House announced on Friday.
The National Climate Advisor role will then be filled by McCarthy’s deputy, Ali Zaidi, just weeks after the president signed historic climate legislation.
Longtime Democrat John Podesta, who served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, and managed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 White House bid, will oversee the implementation of the climate and energy provisions of Democrats’ recently passed Inflation Reduction Act while also chairing the President’s National Climate Task Force, according to the White House.
“Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on,” Biden said in a statement announcing the administrative moves.
Biden also nodded to his recruitment of Podesta, under the title, “Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation.” While with the Obama administration, Podesta’s focus was on coordinating climate-related policy initiatives.
“His deep roots in climate and clean energy policy and his experience at senior levels of government mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”
After decades of federal inaction to curb climate change, the The Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 billion in investments in climate and clean energy programs– lauded by experts as one of the country’s most important steps to address the issue and potentially decrease energy costs for households nationwide.
“This is an absolute game-changer,” McCarthy said about the IRA’s climate provisions at a recent summit in Lake Tahoe.
McCarthy, 68, led the Environmental Protection Agency for four years during the Obama administration. During her nearly two-year tenure with President Biden, she played an outsized role promoting climate initiatives across federal agencies and moving climate legislation through Congress. Her office helped craft the IRA.
The Washington Post had reported in April that she was mulling the decision to step down from her position, however.
“Yes, she is stepping down,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her Friday briefing. “She, as you know, has been a leader in what we have seen as one of the largest investment in dealing with climate change … She is a — not the first time that she’s been in an administration, and we are very sad to lose her.”
–ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
Kanye West admitted that he’s addicted to porn and has suffered the consequences.
“Pornography destroyed my family,” Ye wrote Thursday in a since-deleted post on Instagram. “I deal with the addiction.”
He also expressed concern about his daughters becoming involved in pornography. “Instagram promotes it. Not gonna let it happen to Northy and Chicago,” the Donda rapper continued.
Ye’s pornography statements were part of a larger rant in which he addressed his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, noting he was going to be the one to decide where his four kids go to school. “I’m the kids father,” he wrote.
He posted a since-deleted screenshot from Kim, where she responded, “Can u please stop.” West replied, “No. We need to talk in person.”
Also mentioned in the rant was Kim’s mother, Kris Jenner. In a since-deleted message addressed to Kylie Jenner‘s former assistant, Victoria Villarroel, Ye wrote, “Don’t let Kris make you do playboy like she made [Kylie] and Kim do.” He then shared another since-deleted screenshot from Kris in which she asked Kim to have him end the public exchange.
“Tell him to please stop mentioning my name,” the screenshot of Jenner’s message read.
After escalating the social media feud, West asked Travis Scott and TristanThompson, the father of Kylie Jenner and Khloe Kardashian‘s children, respectively, to support him, writing, “We in this 2gthr.”
“It’s Time” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Imagine Dragons‘ Night Visions.
The group’s debut album was released on September 4, 2012, making worldwide superstars out of Dan Reynolds and company.
Combining a traditional rock band setup with production elements from hip-hop, pop and electronic music, Night Visions established Imagine Dragons as the “next big thing” of the early 2010s, achieving hit songs “Demons,” “It’s Time” and “Radioactive,” which would go on to become the biggest single.
The song hit the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for a total of 87 weeks, a record that ID would hold for seven years. The mark was eventually beaten in 2021 by The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights.”
“Radioactive” was also nominated for Record of the Year and won Best Rock Performance at the 2014 Grammys, which featured ID’s viral performance with rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Both “Radioactive” and “Demons” are now certified Diamond by the RIAA, while Night Visions is certified seven-times Platinum.
Night Visions also allowed ID to showcase their flair for music videos. The clip for “Radioactive,” for example, starred Lou Diamond Phillips and a pre-breakout Alexandra Daddario in a world of underground puppet fighting. It has over one billion YouTube views, as does the music video for “Demons.”
Imagine Dragons is marking the 10th anniversary of Night Visions with a deluxe reissue, set to be released September 9. The package includes various bonus tracks and unreleased demos from the Night Visions era.
Muse‘s new album, Will of the People, has made United Kingdom chart history.
The latest effort from the British trio has debuted at #1 on their home country’s Official Albums Chart, making it the first record that uses “NFT technology” to achieve that feat.
As previously reported, Muse collaborated with the NFT platform Serenade to create a “digital pressing” of Will of the People that would be eligible to appear on the U.K. Official Albums Chart.
Aside from the NFT history, Will of the People gives Muse their seventh-straight #1 album in the U.K., a streak that dates back to their 2003 record, Absolution.
Muse will play a short run of North American theater dates in October in support of Will of the People. They’re planning a full U.S. arena tour for 2023.
Titled Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall, the album will be released on September 16 and features the band’s 12-song set from their concert at the famous London venue on April 14, 1970.
A video of the “Proud Mary” performance has also debuted on the band’s official YouTube channel and will appear in the upcoming documentary and concert movie Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall.
Travelin’ Band, which is narrated by Jeff Bridges, features previously unseen film of CCR’s entire performance, as well as rare behind-the-scenes clips of the band and archival interviews. The film will premiere internationally on September 16.
“Proud Mary,” which is perhaps Creedence’s most famous song, was the band’s first single to break into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #2 in March of ’69.
Last month, CCR released the performance of their classic song “Fortunate Son” on YouTube.
The group’s live album, which can be preordered now, will be available on CD, cassette, 180-gram vinyl and via various digital formats.
Meanwhile, a super deluxe box set will be released on November 14 that includes a Blu-ray of the Travelin’ Band film, two-LP 45-rpm versions of the live album and a bonus CD containing other music that’s featured in the movie.
Here’s the Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall album’s full track list:
“Born on the Bayou”
“Green River”
“Tombstone Shadow”
“Travelin’ Band”
“Fortunate Son”
“Commotion”
“Midnight Special”
“Bad Moon Rising”
“Proud Mary”
“The Night Time Is the Right Time”
“Good Golly Miss Molly”
“Keep On Chooglin'”
(NEW YORK) — New York City is suing Starbucks over allegations the coffee corporation unlawfully fired a Queens barista who had been involved in unionization efforts, a city agency announced Friday.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of legal disputes over the termination of unionizing Starbucks workers as hundreds of Starbucks stores nationwide have voted to unionize since an initial union victory at a store in Buffalo, New York, last December.
The lawsuit in New York City alleges that Starbucks wrongfully fired worker and union organizer Austin Locke in early July, less than a month after employees at the store where he worked voted to join a union.
Starbucks violated the city’s “just cause” protections, enacted last year, which make it illegal for fast food employers to fire or lay off long-serving workers, or reduce their hours by more than 15 percent, without providing just cause or an economic reason, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, or DCWP, claimed Friday.
In mid-July, the DCWP received a complaint from Locke alleging that Starbucks had illegally fired him, which the agency quickly investigated, a statement from the agency on Friday said.
The records and information Starbucks provided during the investigation did not refute or mitigate the agency’s determination that Starbucks illegally fired him, the DCWP added.
DCWP is seeking an order requiring that Starbucks reinstate Locke and rescind the discipline issued to him, as well as provide back pay and other compensation for lost work, the statement said. Starbucks should also pay civil penalties and comply with the law going forward, the statement said.
“There are now 235 unionized Starbucks around the country,” Locke said in a statement. “Starbucks continues to wrongfully fire pro-union workers nationwide in retaliation for union organizing.”
In response to the lawsuit, a Starbucks spokesperson told ABC News: “We do not comment on pending litigation but we do intend to defend against this alleged violation of the city’s Just Cause law.”
The lawsuit in New York City follows other legal challenges to Starbucks over its treatment of unionizing employees. Last month, a federal judge called for the immediate reinstatement of seven baristas at a store in Memphis, who were terminated in February after talking to a local TV station about their organizing drive.
Federal labor regulators last week filed a complaint that accused Starbucks of illegally discriminating against unionized employees by refusing to provide increases in wages and benefits that the company offered to nonunion workers.
In a response last week, Starbucks said it cannot raise wages and benefits for unionized workers because federal law requires the company to negotiate such terms of employment with the union at stores where workers have opted to join one. “Wages and benefits are mandatory subjects of the collective bargaining process,” Starbucks said in a statement.
In New York City, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a Democrat, applauded the city’s lawsuit on Friday.
“Protecting workers’ rights to organize and unionize is critical, and employers who try to undermine and violate those rights must be held accountable,” she said in a statement.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will be bringing their Oscar-winning scoring skills to two new films.
The Nine Inch Nails duo is providing the soundtracks to the upcoming movies Bones and All and Empire of Light.
Bones and All is directed by Call Me by Your Name filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, while Empire of Light is the latest from American Beauty and Skyfall director Sam Mendes. Both films are premiering at separate film festivals this weekend — Bones and All at the Venice Film Festival and Empire of Light at the Telluride Film Festival — followed by theatrical releases later this year.
Reznor and Ross have previously composed the scores for movies including The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl and Bird Box, as well as the Pixar film Soul alongside Jon Batiste. Both The Social Network and Soul won the Oscar for Best Original Score.
In addition to hearing Reznor and Ross on the big screen, you can see them live on Nine Inch Nails’ tour, which picks up again Friday at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
