Joe Strummer in 1999; Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images
This Sunday, August 21, would’ve been the 70th birthday of the late Joe Strummer, frontman of the hugely influential British punk band The Clash.
Strummer, who was born John Mellor, joined the group that became The Clash in 1976 after playing in a pub rock band The 101’ers.
Known for his gruff vocals and intense performance style, Strummer co-wrote nearly all The Clash’s original songs, usually with the group’s lead guitarist and second singer Mick Jones. The band was initially best known for their fast, hard-charging songs that featured left-leaning political and social themes, although the group also embraced reggae.
The Clash later experimented with hip hop, funk, and other musical genres.
The band enjoyed immediate commercial success in the U.K., but it wasn’t until their third album, the 1979 double-LP London Calling, that the group began garnering major attention in the U.S.
The album peaked at #27 on the Billboard 200 and featured the memorable title track, as well as the Jones-sung “Train in Vain,” which reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Clash’s fifth album, 1982’s Combat Rock, was their commercial high point, peaking at #7 on the Billboard 200 and featuring the #8 Hot 100 hit “Rock the Casbah.”
After The Clash broke up in 1986, Strummer released various of solo projects. He also contributed songs to a number of movie soundtracks, and composed the score to the 1987 film Walker. Joe also acted in several films, including 1989’s Mystery Train.
Strummer’s recorded his last few albums with The Mescaleros, a group that combined various musical influences.
Strummer died in December 2002 of a heart attack cause by an undiagnosed heart defect. He was 50.
Joe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Clash in 2003.
Mark Hoppus is returning to performing live following his battle with cancer.
The Blink-182 bassist/vocalist joined the up-and-coming rock outfit Beauty School Dropout for a performance of their song “Almost Famous.” Hoppus also guests on the studio version of the track, which is out now.
You can watch footage of the onstage collaboration posted to BSD’s Instagram Story.
Hoppus shared that he’d been diagnosed with cancer in June 2021. After a few months of chemotherapy treatment, he was declared “cancer free” in September 2021.
Hoppus technically played his first post-cancer performance during his Blink bandmate Travis Barker‘s Halloween streaming concert last October. However, the Beauty School Dropout show marked his first live and in-person performance since his diagnosis.
Beauty School Dropout, by the way, is signed to Hoppus’ new Verswire project, a “venture capital music startup” that also features Fall Out Boy‘s Pete Wentz as strategic adviser. In addition to collaborating with them on “Almost Famous,” Hoppus also appears in the video for the BSD song “Assassin,” as does Wentz.
Drake‘s music is in high demand, as he’s been named the most-searched artist on Shazam. According to Variety, songs from the rapper’s discography have been Shazamed over 350 million times, with his most popular track being 2016’s “One Dance.” The single hit 17 million Shazams.
Drake’s feat was mentioned as Shazam released a list of its most searched artists and songs to celebrate its 20th birthday. The platform — which identifies songs based on a short sample played through a device’s microphone — also highlighted other notable artists and tracks that made Shazam history in the last two decades.
“Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton, for example, is the most searched song in the hip-hop/rap category. The top R&B/Soul song is “All of Me” by John Legend.
Lil Wayne and Eminem have also cemented their names in Shazam history. The former was the first artist to hit both 1 million and 10 million Shazams, while Em’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” was the first song to reach 1,000 Shazams.
Panic! at the Disco‘s new album, Viva Las Vengeance, has arrived, and Brendon Urie is celebrating with a new video for the track “Sad Clown.”
The clip stars Urie as a character named The Duke, who finds himself in an 18th century-styled dance party. It also features the return of the character Maggie, played by Leah Adler, who previously showed up in the videos for the Viva Las Vengeance cuts “Middle of a Breakup” and “Don’t Let The Light Go Out.”
You can watch the “Sad Clown” video streaming now on YouTube.
Panic! will launch a U.S. tour in support of Viva Las Vengeance September 8 in Austin, Texas. You can also catch Urie and company perform on the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, airing next Sunday, August 28.
Madonna released Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones, a massive compilation of all 50 of her #1 hits on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, today. But the Queen of Pop says she finds today’s dance hits “confusing.”
In the new issue of Paper magazine, Madonna is asked to compare today’s dance music to her pioneering work in the genre in the ’80s. “I think what’s changed the most is just the songs. Songs have changed. The concept of songwriting,” she replies.
“I’m just, ‘Give me a song. I need a beginning, a middle and an end.’ You know what I mean? I get confused by people’s music,” she adds. “And also, there are just too many artists on songs. I feel chaotic when I listen to them.”
Madonna also points out that with her songs — from “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl” to “Express Yourself” and “Papa Don’t Preach” — she was “very much invested in empowering women too and that was a very big part of the storytelling.”
“While women were making great dance records, I feel like in the early days, while the songs and melodies are really strong and the singers are really good, they weren’t really invested in making women think, ‘Wow, I don’t have to live in a man’s world … I can have my own voice and my own vision,'” she continues. “So that was an important element.”
And while Madonna admits she hates “repeating herself,” she tells Paper she wouldn’t mind reteaming with Nile Rodgers, who produced her breakthrough album, Like a Virgin.
“It would be fun,” she says. “I would love to work with Nile again.” She adds she’d like for them to team up to create “a pop hit with a twist … a new sound.”
Amazon’s fashion competition show Making the Cut returns Friday for its third season, and hosts/judges Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum caught up with ABC Audio about what to expect this time around.
They also spilled some tea about Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe moment at the Met Gala.
The third season was shot with COVID-19 protocols somewhat relaxed compared to those surrounding the second season, but still in effect, Heidi noted. “We still couldn’t travel or, you know, Tim and I couldn’t do all of our fun things together because … we just wanted to get through all of our taping days without anyone testing positive.”
However, Gunn says the protocols “absolutely” inspired the creative process for the third season.
“I love constraints because they … force you to be even more creative. I used to say to my students all the time, ‘There’s nothing that is less inspiring than a blank canvas.'”
Heidi says of the third Making the Cut, “What keeps it new is these amazing people that we find from all over the world, and they bring their flavor from their country … They always keep it new and fresh every season.”
Given the pair are fashion experts — and judges — ABC Audio wanted to get their take on Kim’s wearing, and some say damaging, a vintage Marilyn Monroe dress at the Met Gala.
“We only have four minutes,” Gunn said sarcastically.
Heidi offered, “I can’t believe she bleached her hair, this blond … ouch. I was like, ‘She really did that. She didn’t just wear a wig.’ I mean, apart from the Marilyn Monroe outfit, I was like … the poor hair is suffering so much.”
Gunn was less empathetic. “It was a failed publicity stunt,” he said plainly.
Red Hot Chili Peppers will receive the Global Icon Award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
The honor, which was given to Foo Fighters in 2021, “celebrates an artist or band whose unparalleled career and continued impact and influence has maintained a unique level of global success in music and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the music landscape.”
In addition to being named Global Icons, RHCP will perform at the VMA ceremony, joining a lineup that already includes Måneskin and Panic! at the Disco. The last time the “Californication” outfit performed on the VMAs was all the way back in 2000, when they won the Video Vanguard Award.
The Chili Peppers are also VMA nominees this year. They’re up for the Best Rock prize with their video for “Black Summer.”
The 2022 MTV VMAs take place next Sunday, August 28.
In other Peps news, the band has released a new song called “Tippa My Tongue.” The track is the first single off RHCP’s upcoming album Return of the Dream Canteen, due out October 14.
You can listen to “Tippa My Tongue” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
Return of the Dream Canteen is the second Red Hot Chili Peppers album of 2022, following April’s Unlimited Love.
RHCP’s current U.S. tour continues Friday in Chicago. The headlining outing is scheduled into mid-September.
Here’s the Return of the Dream Canteen track list:
“Tippa My Tongue”
“Peace and Love”
“Reach Out”
“Eddie”
“Fake as Fu@k”
“Bella”
“Roulette”
“My Cigarette”
“Afterlife”
“Shoot Me a Smile”
“Handful”
“The Drummer”
“Bag of Grins”
“La La La La La La La La”
“Copperbelly”
“Carry Me Home”
“In the Snow”
Demi Lovato hits the big 3-0 on Saturday, which is a huge accomplishment: after all, on their new album they literally sing, “I can’t believe I’m not dead.” But after years of struggling with addiction, substance abuse, mental health issues, relationship troubles and more, Demi’s finally in a good place. As they told Apple Music 1‘s Zane Lowe, for them, turning 30 is all about opportunity.
“Turning 30 has been such an eye-opener to me, because it feels like a door that’s opening to a whole new chapter of my life,” Demi told Zane. “And I, through that door, can see things like purpose and what makes me happy.”
So what are those things that will make them happy? Demi explains, “Through that door I see things like taking time off for myself, to work on my spirituality, to travel to places that I want to go to that I’ve never been to.”
And then, the singer says, they’re ready for the biggest step of all.
“Once I do that, [I want to] take time off to start a family, to raise children and [do] things that bring me joy outside of this industry,” they continue. “Because this industry is all that I’ve known since I was a child.”
“It’ll be scary, but … it can be done and it’s rewarding,” they say of balancing music and motherhood. “I’ve seen so many people do it.”
First, though, Demi has a huge tour planned in support of their new album, HOLY F**K. They gave fans a taste of what to expect Friday morning with a performance on ABC’s Good Morning America Summer Concert Series.
Taking to Instagram Thursday, August 18, the drummer revealed that he’s tested positive for COVID-19.
“Covid sucks I’d rather be playing drums,” he wrote next to a photo of him playing with drumsticks.
The news comes just two months after Barker, 46, suffered from a “severe life-threatening” case of pancreatitis. Days after the musician was spotted in a stretcher with wife, Kourtney Kardashian, by his side, he took to Twitter then to explain what happened.
“I went in for an endoscopy Monday feeling great. But After dinner, I developed excruciating pain and have been hospitalized ever since,” Barker said in a July 2 tweet.
“During the endoscopy, I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube,” he continued. “This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis.”
“I am so very very grateful that with intensive treatment I am currently much better,” Barker wrote.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 18, 3:59 PM EDT
Russia reportedly tells Zaporizhzhia plant workers not to go to work Friday
Russia has reportedly told some workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant not to go to work on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials.
In an official Telegram channel, the main director of Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday, “Occupiers announced an unexpected day off on August 19. At the nuclear plant there will only be operational staff. All other employees will be denied entry.”
The official added that representatives of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom also have “temporarily left the territory of the plant.”
This comes as both Ukraine and Russia have warned of a provocation being planned at the plant Friday.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Aug 18, 1:08 PM EDT
Zelenskyy calls on UN to ensure demilitarization of Zaporizhzhya plant
During a meeting in Lviv on Thursday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the U.N. to ensure the demilitarization and “complete liberation” of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from Russian forces, according to a statement from his office.
The two “agreed upon the parameters” of a possible visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, Zelenskyy’s office said.
Russia has claimed a demilitarized zone around the plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would make it more vulnerable.
During their meeting in Lviv, Zelenskyy also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to head to Olenivka, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion late last month.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Aug 18, 12:04 PM EDT
Russia rejects calls to create demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The international calls and proposals for Russia to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine are “unacceptable,” according to Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
“Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable,” Nechayev said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Moscow is expecting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant “in the near future,” according to Nechayev.
The secretary-generals of the U.N. and the IAEA have called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia plant, near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation. However, heavy fighting around the site has fueled fears of a catastrophe, like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine over 36 years ago.
Aug 18, 9:34 AM EDT
Firefighter describes destruction after deadly strikes in Kharkiv
A Ukrainian firefighter who responded to the Russian missile attacks in Kharkiv overnight told ABC News that the scale of the blasts was “one of the biggest” he’s ever seen.
One of the rockets struck a large apartment block on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people and injuring another 16, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“It went through all four floors and hit the ground and almost blew up everything,” the firefighter, Roman Kachanov, told ABC News during an interview on Thursday. “All the buildings around were without windows.”
“There was a dormitory, and the building was almost completely ruined,” he added. “There was a playground that was smashed like a big titan blew it up.”
Kachanov is among the rescue workers searching for survivors amid the smoldering rubble.
“I’ve seen three bodies on the floor covered by objects,” he said. “We tried to extract them and while we tried, the other wall started to fall and we had to run away as fast as we can.”
Kachanov said another missile hit the city before dawn Thursday, not far from where he and his team were working. He said the blast “was very loud” and “sounded close.”
“Everyone had to lay down,” he recalled. “The team had to split — fire truck had to leave to go to that other fire.”
Aug 17, 5:40 PM EDT
Large apartment block struck in Kharkiv, at least 7 dead
At least seven people are dead and another 13 injured by strikes on a large apartment block in Kharkiv, officials said.
Based on recovered shrapnel, authorities determined an Iskander-M missile system was used in the strike, said Ivan Sokol, Ukraine’s director of the regional Department of Civil Defense.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing at the three-story residential building, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Aug 15, 1:49 PM EDT
Shelling resumes near power plant, both sides claim the other is firing
More shelling was underway Monday in city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control and where the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is located.
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov urged residents to stay inside. He said Russian forces seized another government facility in Enerhodar, a lab where 30 of the employees are refusing to cooperate with the Russian-appointed administration.
Meanwhile, Russia’s semi-official Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire in Enerhodar.
Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom said the plant remained occupied and controlled by Russian forces on Monday. The Ukrainian staff continues to work and make every effort to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, but Energoatom warned that periodic shelling by Russian troops with multiple rocket launchers since last week caused a serious risk to the safe operation of the plant.
Aug 15, 5:53 AM EDT
Griner to appeal Russian conviction, lawyer says
Brittney Griner’s defense team filed an appeal for the verdict by Khimky City Court, according to Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm.
The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court this month.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Aug 14, 4:44 PM EDT
1st UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat set to depart for Africa
The first UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat is set to head for Africa from the near the port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
The MV Brave Commander is loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat that will be shipped to Ethiopia as part of a mission to relieve a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has halted grain exports for months, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov announced at a news conference.
Kubrakov said the UN-chartered ship is scheduled to leave the Pivdenny port near Odesa on Monday.
“When three months ago, during the meeting of the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv the first negotiations on unlocking Ukrainian maritime ports began, we have already seen how critical it is becoming a food situation in the world.” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “This especially applies to the least socially protected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, for whom Ukraine has always been a key importer of agro-production.”
He said Ethiopia is in desperate need of Ukrainian grain.
“This country has been suffering from record drought and armed confrontation for the second year in a row,” Kubrakov said. “Ukrainian grain for them without exaggeration — the matter of life and death.”
He said he hopes the MV Brave Commander will be the first many more grain shipments under the U.N. World Food Program.
Aug 12, 2:28 PM EDT
‘They treat us like captives’: Exiled Zaporizhzhia manager on conditions at plant
An exiled manager at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant told ABC News that the Ukrainian staff is treated “like captives.”
Oleg, who asked to be referred by a pseudonym, said he felt threatened by the Russian soldiers.
“They didn’t say, ‘I’m going to shoot you now,’ but they always carry guns and assault rifles with them,” said Oleg, who managed one of 80 units at the plant but was able to leave last month. “And when an assault rifle or a gun has a cocked trigger, I consider it as a threat.”
Amid reported shelling in the vicinity of the plant, Oleg said he was primarily concerned about its spent fuel containers, “which are in a precarious position, and they are not shielded well.”
Aug 11, 4:43 PM EDT
UN secretary-general calls for all military activities around nuclear power plant to ‘cease immediately’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “calling for all military activities” around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine “to cease immediately,” and for armies not “to target its facilities or surroundings.”
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Energoatom said Russian forces shelled the plant for a third time on Thursday, hitting close to the first power unit. Earlier on Thursday, Energoatom said five rockets struck the area around the commandant’s office, close to where the radioactive material is stored.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed interim governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, issued a statement claiming Ukrainian forces struck the plant, hitting close to an area with radioactive material.
Guterres said he’s appealed to all parties to “exercise common sense” and take any actions that could endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
“Instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster,” he said, adding that he’s “gravely concerned.”
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Thursday to allow for an IAEA mission to visit the plant as soon as possible. He said the situation at the plant is deteriorating rapidly and is “becoming very alarming.”
