If you missed The Killers‘ performance in Los Angeles over the weekend, then you can probably relate to all that jealousy “Mr. Brightside” was feeling.
For the show-closing performance of their signature song, Brandon Flowers and company were joined by two guitar icons: Lindsey Buckingham and Johnny Marr, formerly of Fleetwood Mac and The Smiths, respectively.
Video of the onstage collaboration was posted to YouTube by user James Crutchfield.
Buckingham also joined The Killers for renditions of their song “Caution” and Fleetwood Mac’s “You Can Go Your Own Way.”
Marr, meanwhile, has been opening for The Killers’ current tour as a solo act. Throughout the tour, he’s joined The Killers during their headlining set for a joint performance of a Smiths song.
November 30 marks the 40th anniversary of the best-selling album of all time — Michael Jackson‘s Thriller. An expanded version of the Grammy-winning album arrives November 18, and fans can begin pre-ordering it now.
Back in May, Sony Music first announced Michael Jackson Thriller 40 — a double CD set with a bonus record filled with rare audio recordings and demos that Jackson worked on during the 1982 album’s sessions.
In a new release posted Monday, the record label revealed that they’ll begin unveiling the titles of every bonus track after Labor Day — but only one at a time. The final mystery title will be made known on November 17.
Sony is further treating fans by including 15 rarely heard tracks in an expanded digital release of the Thriller album. These songs were previously granted a limited release.
Furthermore, Sony Music will host pop-up events and other Michael Jackson-centered celebrations across the globe.
Thriller has sold over 70 million copies worldwide and is certified 34-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it the second-best-selling album ever in the U.S. The album dominated the Billboard 200 chart for an impressive 37 weeks.
It also fired up the Billboard Hot 100 with seven top-10 hits, including the chart-topping singles “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” as well as “The Girl Is Mine,” the Paul McCartney duet that peaked at number two.
The album also is credited with breaking the color barrier at MTV with the 1982 music video “Billie Jean.” Prior to the clip, the channel rarely played material from Black artists.
In addition to “Billie Jean,” the John Landis-directed cinematic music video for “Thriller” became the standard by which all music videos were judged.
The Tommy Lee Instagram photo saga took a punny turn during Mötley Crüe‘s concert in Los Angeles over the weekend.
A couple weeks back, the drummer posted a full frontal nude photo of himself that left nothing at all to the imagination on his Instagram. The photo was eventually removed from the social media platform for violating its content guidelines.
At the LA show Saturday, Lee told the audience that he’d gotten “drunk as f***” before posting the photos. He then asked the crowd, “They took them down from Instagram, do you want to see my wiener?”
Cut to Lee rustling around in his pants to pull out what appeared to be a real, live dachshund aka a “wiener dog.”
Lee posted a video of his “wiener” reveal on his Instagram, which, unlike his other posts, is still up.
Mötley Crüe is currently on tour with Def Leppard, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Poison. The outing continues Wednesday in Seattle.
Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans are going their separate ways.
The “Heartfirst” star shared her announcement on her Instagram Stories, telling fans that it was important they hear the difficult news directly from her. “This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth and effort that ultimately has come to an end,” she wrote in her post.
“It’s hard to find the words here…but I feel extremely grateful for the years of marriage to Morgan and hopeful for the next seasons,” Kelsea continued.
Kelsea and Morgan got married in December 2017. Their whirlwind courtship began the year prior, after they met while hosting an awards show in Morgan’s native country of Australia. Since then, they’ve supported each other through their respective country music careers.
Though they’ve given no indication to the outside world that their marriage faced challenges, People reports the pair have already been through one private separation.
“They’ve been working on their marriage for a very long time,” an unnamed source told the magazine. “Prior to this they had separated privately once before and have been in therapy for several years.”
Kelsea, whose Subject to Change album comes out next month, asked fans for their respect and support during a particularly vulnerable time in both her and Morgan’s life.
“With very active schedules coming up, please be mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing and showing up the best we can,” she wrote.
L-R: President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., Frank Del Rio, Katy Perry, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, Harry Sommer and radio host Elvis Duran; Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Norwegian Cruise Line
Katy Perry‘s a mother, an aunt and now, a “fairy godmother” — to a brand new cruise ship.
Katy spent the weekend in Reykjavik, Iceland, christening Norwegian Cruise Lines’ new vessel, the Norwegian Prima. As the official “godmother” of the ship, Katy broke a champagne bottle across its hull, and then performed hits like “Teenage Dream,” “Roar” and “Firework.”
“It was so much fun to sprinkle some fairy godmother dust on Norwegian Prima and send her on her way to sail the high seas,” Katy said in a statement. “I always appreciate a family vacation and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I was happy to wish all the vacationing guests a happy bon voyage!”
Katy posted some behind-the-scenes videos of herself “doing godmother things” on the ship. Wearing a long blue sequinned gown and high heels, she swept the deck, checked some of the uniforms and walked on a treadmill in the ship’s fitness center.
The 3100-passenger Norwegian Prima’s first voyage is to Northern Europe on September 3. She’ll then sail from Port Canaveral, FL and Galveston, TX in 2023 and 2024, respectively. She features the first three-level racetrack at sea, the fastest slides at sea and the first outdoor sculpture garden at sea.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday said its team tasked with identifying potential attorney-client privileged materials that were seized in the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month has already completed its review and is in the process of addressing possible privilege disputes.
In a filing acknowledging receipt of District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order Saturday, which indicated she was leaning towards granting a request from Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to intervene in the ongoing review of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, the department said its filter team already “identified a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.”
As the department has acknowledged in previous filings, that filter team is separate from the team involved in the DOJ’s ongoing criminal investigation.
The Trump legal team, however, has asked for the appointment of a special matter to undertake a review of any materials in the search that could be covered by executive privilege, though it’s unclear how such materials would be identified or what basis there would be to exclude them from the DOJ’s ongoing investigation.
The department also notified Judge Cannon that the DOJ and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are conducting a classification review of materials recovered from Mar-a-Lago as well as a separate intelligence community assessment of any potential risk of national security that would result in disclosure of any of the classified materials.
The DOJ says it expects to file a more detailed response to Trump’s request for a special master by end of day Tuesday, in line with the deadline set Saturday by Judge Cannon. Trump’s attorneys have previously said they were told by the DOJ that they would oppose such an appointment.
A hearing is currently set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in West Palm Beach where Judge Cannon will hear arguments from both sides on the request.
Nyong’o as Nakia in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”/Marvel Studios
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’oposted to Instagram a throwback video of her Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman on Sunday, which was the second year anniversary of his death.
Boseman was 43 when he died on August 28, 2020, following a very private battle with colon cancer.
In the video, Boseman is shown at a movie theater in front of a throng of fans of all ages.
“Chadwick, what are you doing?” Nyong’o asks off-camera as she records Boseman with a Sharpie in hand.
“I’m signing tickets. I signed somebody’s shoes over there,” he said, to laughs.
The actor joked that he didn’t know why he was asked to scribble his name on the Jordans, as he doesn’t even play basketball.
Lupita sweetly asks why he thinks people wanted his signature so much, and Boseman replied, “I have no idea.”
“Keep it real, keep it kind,” Nyong’o captioned the video.
Among the more than 151,000 and counting who “liked” the post were Jurassic World franchise actress and filmmaker Bryce Dallas Howard and Winston Duke, Boseman’s co-star in Black Panther and other Marvel movies.
“generous man,” Duke began. “always sharing [and] helping and giving and loving… ugh… my heart … Ure missed beyond any words my brother… love love!”
He added, “Thanks Lupita for posting our treasure… man oh man!”
Letitia Wright, who played Boseman’s sister Shuri in the Marvel films, responded to Lupita’s post with a string of heart emojis.
Boseman’s character T’Challa was not recast in November’s sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; instead, as the teaser hints, his family and friends are grappling with his death in the MCU — just as their alter-egos are doing in real life.
(NEW YORK) — With the end of summer nearing, and Labor Day around the corner, U.S. health officials are preparing to roll out millions of new COVID-19 boosters as health experts grow concerned over a potential viral resurgence in the fall and winter.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected, as soon as this week, to authorize Pfizer and Moderna’s new bivalent booster shots, which target both the original Wuhan strain that emerged at the onset of the pandemic, as well as the omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, that are currently dominant globally.
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are set to meet on Thursday and Friday, and if both agencies greenlight the new shots, doses could be shipped out in the days to come and administered soon after Labor Day weekend.
Unlike the original vaccines and boosters, these new shots will not go through a lengthy clinical trial process, where thousands of Americans are dosed with the vaccines to test the safety and long-term effectiveness of the vaccines. However, federal health officials stress that these new shots will still be just as safe as the original vaccines because the underlying vaccine platform, mRNA, is the same.
“Real world evidence from the current mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, which have been administered to millions of individuals, show us that the vaccines are safe. As we know from prior experience, strain changes can be made without affecting safety,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf tweeted earlier this week.
“When available, new boosters are expected to help provide greater protection against the currently circulating strains. We encourage all who are eligible to consider a booster,” Califf wrote.
Because the vaccines have already been studied and administered in millions of people, and the new boosters use the same foundation but change the targeted variant, the FDA is not requiring the same process for authorization.
Health experts say that the decision not to use time-consuming clinical trials for each new shot is also a strategic move, in an effort to keep vaccines up to date with the rapidly evolving variants — a process that will likely mimic how the flu vaccine is altered each year.
Across the country, 108 million Americans — or more than half of those eligible to be boosted — have yet to receive their first booster shot, according to data from the CDC.
Although the immunity provided by COVID-19 vaccines continues to wane with time, data published by the CDC shows that COVID-19 booster doses are still offering protection against severe forms of disease and death, particularly among older Americans.
Among people ages 50 years and older, the unvaccinated had a risk of dying from COVID-19 that was 14 times higher than their fully vaccinated and double-boosted peers.
In people ages 50 years and older, vaccinated people with one booster dose had a risk of dying from COVID-19 that was three times higher than those fully vaccinated and double boosted.
More than 61 million people over the age of 50 are eligible to receive their second COVID-19 booster shot, but just a third of people have actually done so. Since second booster doses were authorized in mid-March, a total of 23.1 million Americans have received their second booster.
In May, the CDC announced that it was “strengthening” its recommendation for Americans over the age of 12, who are immunocompromised, and those over the age of 50, to receive their second booster shot.
Younger populations are also benefiting from boosters, data shows.
In June, unvaccinated people ages 12 years and older had a risk of dying from COVID-19 that was eight times higher, compared to people who were fully vaccinated and boosted with their first dose.
In June, Yes launched its “Album Series Tour 2022” with a run of concerts in the U.K. and Ireland, and now, the legendary prog-rock band has announced plans to bring the trek to the U.S. this fall.
The tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of Yes’ classic 1972 studio effort, Close to the Edge, and will feature a full performance of the album, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200.
The 28-date trek, which marks Yes first stateside outing since 2019, kicks off with an October 7-8 stand in Glenside, Pennsylvania and runs through a November 19 show in Westbury, New York. Tickets for the concerts will go on sale to the general public starting this Friday, September 2; check local listings and YesWorld.com for information.
The Close to the Edge shows will feature a full production with a high-def video wall that will offer a presentation including art created by longtime Yes cover artist Roger Dean.
Like the tour of the U.K. and Ireland, the U.S. trek is dedicated to longtime Yes drummer Alan White, who passed away in May. White joined Yes in June 1972, just a few days before the band launched its original tour in support of Close to the Edge, and remained with the group for the rest of his life.
Stepping in for Alan will be his good friend Jay Schellen, who has served as Yes’ second touring drummer for many years.
As previously reported, a special tribute concert for White has been scheduled for October 2 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. The show will feature members of Yes and Alan’s solo group White, as well as special guests. Tickets for the show are on sale now at STGPresents.org.
(NEW YORK) — NASA kicked off Monday its plan to send an unmanned space capsule into the moon’s orbit, marking the initial launch in an ambitious plan to establish a long term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development.
The space capsule, called Artemis 1, will travel for roughly 40 days — reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon, and then 40,000 miles above the moon when orbiting over its dark side — before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
After the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt will occur Sept. 2.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Aug 29, 10:20 AM EDT
VP Harris praises NASA team behind Artemis launch
Vice President Kamala Harris praised the NASA team behind the Artemis I mission after the launch had to be scrubbed Monday due to an engine problem.
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff had been visiting the Kennedy Space Center before the launch was postponed.
The scrubbed launch was “about showing the great work that happens here,” Harris told reporters.
“These exceptional public servants, these exceptional skilled professionals who have the ability to see what is possible and what has never been done before. How exciting is that?” she said.
According to a White House official, Harris and Emhoff will continue with their visit under a revised itinerary.
“She met with astronauts at NASA Operations Support Building II and will proceed to a tour of Artemis II and Artemis III hardware as planned. The Vice President will gaggle following the tour and then depart,” the official said.
Aug 29, 9:40 AM EDT
‘We don’t launch until it’s right,’ says NASA administrator
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson defended the scrubbing of the Artemis I launch, saying the launch shouldn’t take place until the team is sure it’s ready.
“We don’t launch until it’s right,” he said during an interview on NASA TV Monday morning.
“There are certain guidelines. And I think it’s just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” he said.
Nelson said the engineers will continue to “stress” and “test” the rocket to make sure it’s ready by the next attempt, which is Sept. 2.
Earlier in the day, Nelson had welcomed several Biden administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch.
He said the vice president has been briefed and the White House will continue to receive regular updates.
Aug 29, 8:48 AM EDT
NASA scrubs Artemis I launch
NASA announced a few minutes after Artemis I was initially scheduled to lift off that the launch has been scrubbed.
Engineers said the problem came from a liquid hydrogen line that was not chilled enough inside one of the rocket’s four core-stage engines, which needs to occur before they can be ignited.
The next attempt will occur on Sept. 2.
Aug 29, 8:31 AM EDT
Artemis launch delayed due to storms, rocket troubleshooting
Artemis I will likely not be launching at 8:33 a.m. ET as originally planned after NASA ran into several delays in its preparation to send it into space.
The process of tanking, which includes filling the rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was delayed due to some passing storms and lightning in the area, NASA said.
Moreover, a leak was discovered in the hydrogen fuel line, which NASA quickly resolved. The leak concentration was “at an acceptable level,” NASA said.
Engineers also discovered a potential crack in the inner stage flange, which connects two of the rocket’s cylinders.
The countdown clock is currently paused at T-40 and the launch can go as late as 10:33 a.m. ET If that window passes, the next attempt at launch will be Sept. 2.
