Jelly Roll‘s “Dead Man Walking” is very much alive on the Billboard charts.
The artist’s breakout single, which combines elements of rock, country and hip hop, has hit number one on the Mainstream Rock Airplay ranking. It’s the first Jelly Roll song to reach the top of any Billboard airplay chart.
Jelly Roll has also achieved the rare chart feat of simultaneously having a number-one hit on Mainstream Rock Airplay and a top-30 entry on the Country Airplay tally, the latter of which he has with his song “Son of a Sinner.” Previous artists who’ve done that include Brantley Gilbert and Zac Brown Band, who reached number one on Mainstream Rock Airplay with their collaborations with Five Finger Death Punch and Chris Cornell, respectively.
In related news, Jelly Roll has announced a headlining show in his hometown of Nashville, taking place December 9 at Bridgestone Arena. Tickets go on sale next Friday, May 20.
You can also catch Jelly Roll open for Shinedown’s tour beginning in September.
Alice Merton has premiered a new song called “Loveback,” a track off her upcoming sophomore album, S.I.D.E.S.
“‘Loveback’ talks about waking up one day and realizing someone has stolen a part of you that you want back.It was the realization that I didn’t ‘need’ anyone to exist,” Merton shares.
“I was never dependent on anyone or anything, even if it at times felt like it,” she adds. “I felt like I was handing out something I was rarely getting back. At some point, I felt like I had forgotten why I’m doing what I’m doing, and felt like I had lost sight of what’s really important to me.”
You can listen to “Loveback” now via digital outlets.
S.I.D.E.S. will be released June 17. It follows Merton’s 2019 debut Mint, which features her breakout single, “No Roots.”
You can catch Merton live opening for Bastille‘s U.S. tour kicking off this weekend.
Judas Priest in 2008, KK Downing on far left; Stefan M. Prager/Redferns
After last week’s announcement that Judas Priest will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hal of Fame in conjunction with receiving the Musical Excellence Award this year, fans immediately began wondering whether former guitarist KK Downing will take part in the ceremony.
Now, in a new interview with Metal Hammer magazine, founding Priest bassist Ian Hill has confirmed that Downing will be in attendance at the event, which is scheduled for November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
“He’s spoken to management and said he will definitely be there,” Hill said. “It should be good.”
Ian also noted that he was disappointed that guitarist Richie Faulkner, who replaced Downing in the legendary metal group, isn’t being inducted into the Rock Hall with the band.
“The rule as I understand it, is whoever has been with the band for 20 years,” Ian noted. “Richie is sadly not being inducted, but really deserves to be as he’s been the driving force in the band for nearly 12 years now.”
It’s not clear whether Downing, who played with Priest from 1970 to 2011, will perform with his old band mates at the ceremony. Meanwhile, Metal Hammer asked Hill if he thought Judas Priest might end up rocking out with fellow 2022 inductee and country icon Dolly Parton during the traditional event-closing jam.
“That’d be a trip wouldn’t it?” Ian mused. “The lady who didn’t want to be inducted and the band who’ve been overlooked for 20 years!”
Hill also gave a little update on the status of Judas Priest’s next studio album.
“It’s sounding great!” he declared. “We’ve got a lot of the parts recorded now, the plan was to get it finished in the seven weeks we’ve got off [before the next tour leg,] but time vanishes so fast.”
America‘s Gerry Beckley has released the title track of his upcoming album Aurora as the latest advance single from the record, which is due out on July 1.
“Aurora,” which kicks off the album, is a love song that, according to Beckley, uses the phenomenon of the colorful lights seen in the sky at daybreak as a metaphor for the significant life event of meeting his wife and relocating to Australia.
The track is available now via digital formats, and you also can check out an official lyric video for the song at the Blue Élan Records label’s YouTube channel.
Aurora is an 11-song collection that Gerry recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic at his two home studios — in Sydney, Australia, and Venice, California.
The album’s tracks include tunes that began as unfinished demos and scratch recordings that date back as far as the early 1970s, as well as brand-new songs written during the past two years.
Prior to “Aurora,” Beckley released two other advance tracks from the album — “Friends Are Hard to Find” and “Tickets to the Past.” Gerry co-wrote the latter tune with his co-founding America band mate Dewey Bunnell, who also sings on the track. “Tickets from the Past” is the first song that Beckley and Bunnell wrote together that isn’t making its debut appearance on an America album.
America is about to launch a new series of U.S. tour dates that run from a June 3 concert in Albany, New York, through an August 27 show in St. Charles, Illinois. Check out the band’s full schedule at VenturaHighway.com.
You can pre-orderAurora now. Here’s the album’s full track list:
“Aurora”
“I Fall Down”
“Never Know Why”
“Tickets to the Past”
“Way to Go”
“Friends Are Hard to Find”
“Peace of Mind”
“Indy’s Gatho”
“Aerial”
“Superscope”
“Tears”
(NEW YORK) — A 1-year-girl was released from a New York hospital Friday nearly four months after she was shot in the face.
Catherine, whose mother described her as “our beautiful miracle baby,” was initially hospitalized in critical condition at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital following the Jan. 19 shooting in the Bronx.
Since February, she has been hospitalized at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, Westchester County, for extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk, talk and eat. She walked out of the hospital while holding her parents’ hands to cheers from hospital staff and officers from the New York Police Department and the Westchester County Police Department.
“Our journey has been long, but finally, this is the light at the end of the tunnel,” her mother, Miraida Gomez, told reporters while holding Catherine outside the hospital.
“We’re definitely happy, we’re eager to start this new chapter in our life, and just happy that everyone is able to witness a miracle,” she said.
Catherine was struck by a stray bullet days before her first birthday while in a parked car with her mother outside a grocery store, waiting for her father who was inside the store, police said.
A man chasing another man fired two shots, hitting the baby in the face, police said.
Recalling that day, Gomez said she was “numb.”
“I don’t think I could describe my emotions all at once,” she said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the shocking incident “a wake up call.”
“It should be unimaginable that this would happen in our city. But it did,” he said on social media at the time.
“Leaders at every level have abandoned city streets. I won’t,” he said.
Gomez said they weren’t sure what the outcome would be following the shooting.
“It was really gloomy. It felt like there was a dark cloud over us because everything was unknown,” she said.
Due to her injuries, the toddler had developed hemiparesis, a paralysis of her right side that affected her ability to eat, walk or use her right arm, the hospital said.
Today, she is a “super bubbly” toddler who loves to climb and is able to walk, “which is something they told us might not happen,” Gomez said.
“She’s beat all odds against her, gratefully,” Gomez said. “I want to say that her journey has also been miraculous compared to what we were always told, and we’re just happy to share this with everyone.”
Authorities are still looking for the shooter, who police said fled the scene in a gray four-door sedan.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark vowed that the city would not stop looking until the gunman was caught.
“You could continue to go out there and think you’re going to get away with it, but you’re not going to get away with it,” Clark told ABC New York station WABC in the wake of the shooting. “We’re going to find you eventually, because we’re not going to stop looking.”
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Justice Department lawyers and attorneys representing a coalition of GOP-led states were in court on Friday to again trade jabs about whether the Biden administration can lift pandemic-based restrictions at the southern border known as the Title 42 order.
Judge Robert R. Summerhays, a Trump appointee, said he plans to issue his decision later — not immediately — on the legal challenge that would block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 order from ending May 23.
Meanwhile, the temporary restraining order issued by the federal judge to prevent any phase-out of Title 42 will remain in place until he issues that decision and Customs and Border Protection can continue to expel immigrants on Title 42 grounds.
The administration argues that Title 42 is a health care policy meant to deal with the spread of COVID-19, not an immigration control measure, and that it has no choice but to follow the agency’s guidance that the public health order is no longer necessary as of May 23.
At the same time, even many vulnerable border state Democrats warn the administration is making a major mistake, that is has no plan to deal with an expected influx of immigrants and that it will hurt the party politically before the midterm elections.
At the hearing, the GOP coalition argued that the Biden administration failed to consider the impact ending Title 42 would have on the states, pointing to reports coming out of the Department of Homeland Security that they are preparing for further elevated level of undocumented immigrants in the coming weeks.
That could be as many as 18,000 more per day, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The GOP coalition argued their states would be harmed by education and health care costs, new drivers’ licenses and even drug trafficking, going as far as to say that lifting Title 42 would “reduce their ability to provide healthcare to legal residents.”
The evidence of such effects, though, is unconfirmed and untested.
Judge Summerhays at one point questioned the potential increase in criminal justice costs.
“It seems highly speculative … I don’t see how you can make the connection there,” the judge said.
When the federal government’s side picked up on the judge’s skepticism and attempted to run with it to undermine the plaintiff’s case, Summerhays clarified that he was simply “prodding” the state coalition attorneys as he did throughout the hearing.
Undocumented immigrants overall pay roughly $11.74 billion in state and local taxes every year, according to the non-profit, non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That amounts to about 8% of an average immigrant’s income, compared to about 5.4% of those in the top 1%.
Central to the case is whether the government fully considered the potential impact on states and whether the Biden administration acted unlawfully when it did not allow for a months-long notice and comment period prior to the end of Title 42.
The Trump administration initially brought the Title 42 order without such notice and DOJ attorneys argued that required such notice would kneecap the CDC’s authority to act quickly in response to changing emergency situations.
The judge’s order could come any time between now and May 23.
Olivia Rodrigo has been performing Gwen Stefani‘s No Doubt hit “Just a Girl” while on tour, and Gwen finally noticed. “U killed it,” Gwen shared while posting a clip of Olivia’s recent performance to her Instagram story. Olivia responded with a sobbing emoji. Fans are now hoping Gwen will crash one of Olivia’s shows.
Kelly Clarkson got pranked by Melissa Rivers on her daytime talk show. Kelly is not a fan of spiders and was fooled by a contraption that flings a fake arachnid at you. Kelly let out a loud shriek and later told Melissa she’s going to share the video clip with her prankster son, Remington, adding, “He’s gonna love you so much.”
Paula Abdul is joining American Rescue Dog Show as a guest judge, with Leslie Jordan and Yvette Nicole Brown. Varietyreports the show asks rescue dogs to “strut their fluff” to raise money for local animal rescue centers. The show begins airing May 25 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Camila Cabello released the music video for “Hasta Los Dientes,” which features Maria Becerra. Camila wears a frost-blue number, complete with a minty wig and frilled dress, for her colorful music video.
Justin Bieber is not built for the outdoors. He posted an Instagram video of him trying to chop wood like a shirtless lumberjack, and failing. “I’m out of my element,” he captioned the video.
The Zappa Band, a group mostly made up of former members of the late Frank Zappa‘s backing bands, will launch its first-ever headlining tour in June, a series of dates in the Northeast that will follow a trio of concerts in California.
First up for The Zappa Band are California shows on May 22 in Banning, June 3 in Escondido, and June 5 at the famed Los Angeles-area club the Whisky a Go Go.
The U.S. trek kicks off in earnest on June 12 in Homer, New York, and winds down with a June 26 concert in Plymouth, New Hampshire. The 11-date outing also includes a June 16 stop at Sony Hall in New York City.
The Zappa Band lineup includes lead singer/guitarist Ray White, guitarist/keyboardist Mike Keneally, bassist Scott Thunes and keyboardist/sax player Robert Martin, who all performed live and recorded with Frank. Rounding the group are two former members of Dweezil Zappa‘s Zappa Plays Zappa tribute group — guitarist Jamie Kime and drummer Joe “Vaultmeister” Travers, the latter of whom also served as a Zappa archivist.
“A lot of amazing Frank Zappa music played with intensity, humor and love,” says Kenneally with regard to what fans can expect from Zappa Band concerts. “We’ll be enjoying the opportunity to play different material from night to night; we know that often people like to attend multiple shows, and our repertoire is presently large enough to be able to change things up.”
You can check out a list of the group’s confirmed shows at The Zappa Band’s official Facebook page.
Cardi B tried her hand at tennis in her latest Cardi TriesMessenger series. She teamed with her “Wild Side” collaborator, Normani, to see if they have what it takes to be the next Venus and Serena Williams. Cardi, who’s left handed, crashes a children’s tennis lesson and discovers she is not athletically blessed.
AJR was on Jeopardy! Thursday night — kinda. The final Double Jeopardy clue, for $2,000, was, “At the 2021 show, this letter-perfect indie trio gave a smokin’ performance of ‘Bang!'” The answer was “Who is AJR?,” but, as the band revealed on their Instagram story, “No one got it!” They later shared footage of their performance.
Justin Bieber is not built for the outdoors. He posted an Instagram video of him trying to chop wood like a shirtless lumberjack, and failing. “I’m out of my element,” he captioned the video.
Olivia Rodrigo has been performing Gwen Stefani‘s No Doubt hit, “Just a Girl,” while on tour, and Gwen finally noticed. “U killed it,” Gwen shared while posting a clip of Olivia’s recent performance to her Instagram story. Olivia responded with a sobbing emoji. Fans are now hoping Gwen will crash one of Olivia’s shows.
Camila Cabello released the music video for “Hasta Los Dientes,” which features Maria Becerra. Camila wears a frost-blue number, complete with a minty wig and frilled dress, for her colorful music video.
(NEW YORK) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion bid to purchase Twitter struck an unexpected roadblock early Friday morning when he tweeted that he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform.
Nearly two hours later, Musk assured observers that he remains “committed to acquisition.” But damage had been done. The price of Twitter shares plunged Friday, closing more than 9% down.
Market analysts said the worry over fake accounts could serve as a pretext for Musk to bargain a lower price for the acquisition or abandon the effort altogether. The share prices of both Tesla and Twitter have fallen in the weeks since Musk reached a deal to purchase the social media platform, on April 25, potentially making the acquisition less attractive for Musk.
“I believe he’s still committed in theory, probably at a lower price,” Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush, an investment firm, who closely follows the tech sector, told ABC News. “It starts to be a boy that cried wolf.”
An unpredictable figure, Musk defies an easy assessment of his thinking. But he has expressed concern over fake accounts on previous occasions. On April 21, days before he reached the deal to acquire Twitter, Musk tweeted: “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!”
There are two main explanations for why Musk could be worried about fake accounts. First, there is the threat they pose to the company’s business model. Second, there is their potential to undermine the credibility of the platform as a site of authentic discourse between real users.
Twitter generates the vast majority of its revenue through advertising to users on the platform, which means its business depends to a significant degree on the number of users who see the ads displayed by the company.
In the first quarter of this year, the company reported 229 million users who accessed Twitter on any given day on a platform on which they could be shown ads, which amounted to a 15.9% increase from the same quarter a year ago. The company reported $1.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter of this year, of which $1.11 billion came from advertising.
If the number of spam or bot accounts on Twitter is larger than the company has estimated, then it could cut into that number of monetizable users and the amount of ad revenue they generate. In turn, that could damage Twitter’s bottom line.
An accurate estimate of the number of fake accounts is important “given that establishing an accurate number of real tweeters is considered to be key to future revenue streams via advertising or paid for subscriptions on the site,” Susannah Streeter, a senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told ABC News in a statement.
In prior comments, Musk has stated another source of worry over bot accounts that centers on how they could undermine the role Twitter plays as a “de facto public town square,” as he has described it. If Twitter posts cannot be trusted as real remarks from actual human beings, then the value of the discourse on the platform deteriorates.
“There is so much potential with Twitter to be the most trusted & broadly inclusive forum in the world!” Musk tweeted on May 3.
“That is why we must clear out bots, spam & scams. Is something actually public opinion or just someone operating 100k fake accounts? Right now, you can’t tell,” he added in a follow-up tweet minutes later.
Public interest in fake accounts on social media platforms intensified in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, when it was found that Russian operatives had used false accounts to spread misinformation on a massive scale. In 2018, Twitter escalated its efforts to remove fake or suspicious accounts, suspending more than 70 million such accounts in May and June of that year, the Washington Post reported that July.
For its part, Twitter has acknowledged the challenge of accurately estimating the number of fake accounts on the platform. In the public filing this month in which it stated that fake accounts make up less than 5% of users, Twitter added a note of caution about the figure: “In making this determination, we applied significant judgment, so our estimation of false or spam accounts may not accurately represent the actual number of such accounts, and the actual number of false or spam accounts could be higher than we have estimated.”
Last month, Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share, which amounted to a 38% premium above where the share price stood before it was made public that Musk had been purchasing company stock.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Musk over a delay in notifying regulators of a 9.2% stake in Twitter he took earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Likewise, the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the acquisition over the possible violation of an antitrust reporting rule.
Ives, the analyst at Wedbush, said the announcement from Musk on Friday puts the outcome of the acquisition in question.
“This continues to be a circus show that really puts the deal in uncertainty,” he said. “The chances of a deal getting done is probably less than 50% now.”
