Olivia Newton-John‘s state memorial service in her home country of Australia will be “more of a concert than a funeral,” said a government official.
Born in England, Olivia grew up in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria Premier Dan Andrewstweeted, “I’m so pleased that Olivia [Newton]-John’s family have accepted our offer of a State Memorial Service. We’re working with Olivia’s family on the details, but it will be more of a concert than a funeral – fitting for a Victorian who lived such a rich and generous life.”
Previously, Olivia’s niece Totti Goldsmith told an Australian TV show that the family had accepted the offer. And certainly, there’s no shortage of singers who’d love to pay tribute to the beloved Grease star.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s husband, John Easterling, has posted a tribute to her on Instagram in which he writes, “At Olivia’s deepest essence she was a healer using her mediums of song, of words, of touch. She was the most courageous woman I’ve ever known. Her bandwidth for genuinely caring for people, for nature and all creatures almost eclipses what is humanely [sic] possible.”
He adds, “It is only the grace of God that has allowed me to share the depth and passion of her being for so long. In her most difficult times she always had the spirit, the humor, and the will power to move things into the light. Even now as her soul soars, the pain and holes in my heart are healed with the joy of her love and the light that shines forward.”
He concludes, “Our family deeply appreciates the vast ocean of love and support that has come our way.”
The 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival will take place on September 24 in both New York City and in Accra, Ghana. And, as usual, the lineup is very star-studded.
The New York edition of the fest will be held in Central Park, and its bill will include Mariah Carey, as well as Jonas Brothers and Metallica. The event, which will be hosted by Global Citizen ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas. also will feature performances by pop singer Charlie Puth, Italian rockers Måneskin, Latin star Rosalía and country star Mickey Guyton, with more artists to be announced later.
Meanwhile, the concert in Accra, Ghana, will commemorate the 65th anniversary of African nation’s independence, and the show will feature Usher, and R&B superstars SZA and H.E.R., among others.
The concerts will be broadcast and streamed on ABC, ABC News Live, FX, Hulu, Twitter, YouTube and more. A primetime special, Global Citizen Festival: Take Action Now, will air September 25 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
As always, tickets to the concerts are free, and can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visiting GlobalCitizen.org and taking action on the charity’s issues.
Global Citizen is calling for world leaders to work to fight extreme poverty and specifically is asking the leaders attending the United National General Assembly to invest $600 million in the future of women and girls worldwide, to close the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall and to provide $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis.
According to Global Citizen, as many as 1.2 billion people now live in countries experiencing food, energy and financial crises and as many as 200 million more may experience extreme poverty by November if action isn’t taken now.
Weezer‘s scheduled Broadway residency has been canceled, according to frontman Rivers Cuomo.
In a post on his Discord server, which was viewed by ABC Audio, Cuomo writes, “I just learned that our Broadway shows have been cancelled (due to low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses).”
“I’m very sorry to be telling you this now after we’ve already invested so much time, thought, and emotion,” Cuomo adds. “Extra apologies to those of you who cleared schedules and made travel plans to be with us…I loved where we were going and I hope we can find a way to resurrect our vision.”
However, Weezer’s socialmediaplatforms and website are still promoting the residency, and links to buy tickets still appear to be active.
The residency was set to take place over five performances at New York City’s Broadway Theatre in September. The first four shows would be themed around one of Weezer’s four seasonally themed SZNZ EPs, while the fifth would feature songs from all of the EPs and “Weezer fan favorites.”
ABC Audio has reached out to Weezer’s rep for confirmation.
The 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival will take place this September in both New York City and Accra, Ghana. And, as usual, the lineup is very star-studded.
Mariah Carey, Jonas Brothers, Charlie Puth, MÅNESKIN, Metallica, Rosalía and country star Mickey Guyton will perform in New York’s Central Park at the September 24 event, which will be hosted by Global Citizen ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas. More artists will be announced later.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the 65th anniversary of Ghana’s independence will be celebrated with a concert in Accra featuring Usher, SZA, H.E.R. and TEMS.
The concerts will be broadcast and streamed on ABC, ABC News Live, FX, Hulu, Twitter, YouTube and more. A primetime special, Global Citizen Festival: Take Action Now, will air September 25 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
As always, tickets to the concerts are free, and can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visitingglobalcitizen.org and taking action on the charity’s issues. Because, of course, it isn’t just about music.
Global Citizen is calling for world leaders to work to fight extreme poverty and specifically is asking the leaders attending the United National General Assembly to invest $600 million in the future of women and girls worldwide, to close the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall and to provide $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis.
According to Global Citizen, as many as 1.2 billion people now live in countries experiencing food, energy and financial crises and as many as 200 million more may experience extreme poverty by November if action isn’t taken now.
The 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival will take place this September in both New York City and in Accra, Ghana. And, as usual, the lineup is very star-studded.
Mariah Carey, Jonas Brothers and Charlie Puth will perform in New York’s Central Park at the September 24 event, which will be hosted by Global Citizen ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Metal legends Metallica, Italian rockers MÅNESKIN, Latin star Rosalía, and country star Mickey Guyton are also on the bill, with more artists to be announced later.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the 65th anniversary of Ghana’s independence will be celebrated with a concert in Accra featuring Usher, and R&B superstars SZA and H.E.R., among others.
The concerts will be broadcast and streamed on ABC, ABC News Live, FX, Hulu, Twitter, YouTube and more. A primetime special, Global Citizen Festival: Take Action Now, will air September 25 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
As always, tickets to the concerts are free, and can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visitingglobalcitizen.org and taking action on the charity’s issues. Because, of course, it isn’t just about music.
Global Citizen is calling for world leaders to work to fight extreme poverty and specifically is asking the leaders attending the United National General Assembly to invest $600 million in the future of women and girls worldwide, to close the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall and to provide $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis.
According to Global Citizen, as many as 1.2 billion people now live in countries experiencing food, energy and financial crises and as many as 200 million more may experience extreme poverty by November if action isn’t taken now.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are fundraising off Monday’s FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, providing another platform for Trump to capitalize financially on government investigations related to him.
Trump’s Save America PAC sent out a fundraising email Tuesday morning in which Trump urged supporters to “rush in a donation IMMEDIATELY to publicly stand with me against this NEVERENDING WITCH HUNT.”
Trump, in the email, cast the lawful search of his estate as an attack on all his supporters, saying the FBI raid “violated” not only his home but the “home of every patriotic American who I have been fighting for since that iconic moment I came down the Golden Escalators in 2015.”
“I need every single red-blooded American Patriot to step up during this time,” the email read.
Justice Department and FBI officials declined to comment on the raid, saying that they don’t discuss ongoing investigations.
Trump’s latest fundraising push comes amid what appears to be a gradual slowing down of his massive fundraising prowess, as Trump’s fundraising committees have been bringing in relatively smaller hauls over the past few months.
Last month, Trump’s Save America Joint Fundraising Committee reported raising just $17 million during the entire three-month period from April through June, including a little under $6 million for the Save America PAC itself. The amount represents a big drop from the hundreds of millions of dollars Trump’s team and the Republican Party raised together in the months following the 2020 election.
The Republican National Committee, which has continued to raise money in Trump’s name even though it no longer fundraises in conjunction with Trump’s PAC, also sought to raise funds off the FBI raid. It sent out an email with the subject line “BREAKING NEWS” to supporters late Monday night, just as the news about the raid was unfolding, saying that “This is UNPRECEDENTED.”
“We need YOU … to step up RIGHT NOW to stand with the GOP & STOP JOE BIDEN,” the email read.
Early Tuesday morning, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel continued the fundraising appeal during an appearance on Fox News, where she urged supporters to donate to Trump-endorsed 2022 Senate candidates including Herschel Walker in Georgia, J.D. Vance in Ohio, Adam Laxalt in Nevada, and Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s campaign, meanwhile, was selling hats and T-shirts that say “Defund the FBI.”
“The FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago provides not just Trump, but the whole Republican base that affiliates with Trump, a significant but temporary boost in fundraising as well as an opportunity to propagandize for the upcoming election,” Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at the Washington-based progressive watchdog group Public Citizen, told ABC News.
Holman said he expects the appeals to be “highly successful at first, but probably short-lived,” depending on what the FBI uncovered at Trump’s estate.
“At this point, the FBI is not saying anything, which allows Trump and his affiliates to scream the most extreme conspiracy messages for fundraising,” Holman said. “But once the FBI starts unveiling what it found hidden away in Mar-a-Lago — assuming that the FBI did in fact find incriminating records — the appeals will lose their legs.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who is leading the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said he doesn’t know the details of the FBI raid but that it must have been based on a warrant approved by a judge.
“In any investigation, you follow the facts,” Thompson said. “I’m not certain as to the specifics of why the FBI did the raid on Mar-a-Lago, but as you know, a judge had to approve the affidavit for the warrant.”
Trump himself said Monday’s raid was just the latest “political targeting” against him and his supporters.
“The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years,” he said in a statement Monday night. “It just never ends.”
In the meantime, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump for the presidency in 2016, also appeared to be capitalizing on news of the raid. On Monday she tweeted out a donation link for her political organization, and promoted existing campaign merchandise like hats and T-shirts that read “But her emails.”
(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) — Three people are dead after a house exploded Wednesday in southern Indiana, officials said.
Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene in Evansville, after the blast occurred Wednesday afternoon on the 1000 block of North Weinbach Avenue, officials said.
So far three deaths have been reported to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as a result of the explosion, chief deputy coroner David Anson said in a statement. The victims’ names will be released pending family notification, he said.
The home where the explosion occurred was destroyed and 39 other structures were “damaged severely or suffered minor damage,” Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly told reporters Wednesday evening. The Knight Township Trustee’s Office was among the buildings damaged and will be closed for the foreseeable future, officials said.
According to Evansville’s building department, 11 of the 39 homes damaged in the explosion are uninhabitable, Connelly said.
Some 60 firefighters were on the scene assisting, Connelly said.
A 100-foot radius around the blast is not searchable and some buildings are not safe to enter, Connelly said, noting that there could be other victims.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
CenterPoint Energy arrived following the blast and “made the scene safe,” Connelly said. “There was no detection of gas and they’re restoring service now.”
Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke was on-site surveilling the damage.
“There’s a big investigation and cleanup effort underway,” Winnecke told ABC Evansville affiliate WEHT.
An off-duty Evansville police officer reported the explosion, the mayor said.
The block where the incident occurred “will be shut down for the foreseeable future,” the Evansville Police Department said.
“As more information becomes available, the respective agencies investigating will be able to provide more information,” the department said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.
On Wednesday’s The Tonight Show, Madonna joined host Jimmy Fallon and his house band The Roots in the Tonight Show Music Room for a version of “Music,” from her new compilation album, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones — performed with classroom instruments.
In the recurring segment, Fallon and The Roots back music artists for a version of one of their popular songs, using instruments you would find in a classroom.
In this case, it was Madonna rocking the triangle, with Fallon pounding a wood block while Roots members played a toy xylophone, a melodica, a toy guitar, tambourines and shakers.
Past music room guests have included Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Ed Sheeran and Adele.
Madonna also shared the stories behind a couple of her number-one hits, including “Everybody,” which she said she convinced the DJ at a New York City club called Danceteria to play, marking the first time she saw people dancing to one of her songs.
“I walked down these very steep stairs of a wedding cake and I got to the bottom and I started dancing and my white stiletto pump fell off,” she recalled. “I was trying to do this like smooth move, like dive for the shoe and make it look like it was choreography, and my dress flipped up and my butt was showing!”
Good news is on the way for Dolly Parton fans with a sweet tooth: her Duncan Hines baking collection is getting a restock later this month.
The collection comes with two different cake mixes: Dolly’s limited-edition Southern Style Coconut Flavored Cake Mix and Southern Style Banana Flavored Cake Mix. To go along with the cakes, fans will get one can of Creamy Buttercream Frosting and one can of Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, plus a tea towel, potholder and three keepsake recipe cards.
“I hope you get a chance to grab one & bake up something special,” Dolly said on Twitter when she announced the restock.
Dolly’s Duncan Hines isn’t just delicious — it’s also award-winning. The Coconut Flavored Cake Mix won Best Cake Mix in the People Food Awards 2022.
Only Murders in the Building star co-creator and star Steve Martin is hinting that the comedic whodunit may be his swan song.
“We were very happy just doing the live show,” the 76-year-old comedian tells The Hollywood Reporter, referencing his You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today! tour with longtime friend and Only Murders co-star Martin Short. “There may be a natural end to that — somebody gets sick, somebody just wears out — but I wouldn’t do it without Marty. When this television show is done, I’m not going to seek others. I’m not going to seek other movies. I don’t want to do cameos. This is, weirdly, it.”
The Hulu series — also starring Selena Gomez — and his live show are just two of Martin’s current projects. He’s also working on his 12th book, as well as a documentary about his life and career.
Only Murders in the Building is up for three Emmys this year, including outstanding comedy series and lead actor nods for Martin and Short. The show, currently in its second season, was recently renewed for a season three.
