Red Hot Chili Peppers made good on their word to pay tribute to Taylor Hawkins during their headlining set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest this past Sunday.
During the performance, Peppers drummer Chad Smith took a moment to give a shout-out to Hawkins, who unexpectedly passed away on March 25 at age 50.
“We love the Foo Fighters, and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins,” Smith told the cheering crowd in footage captured by the Foo Fighters Live Instagram account.
The Foos had been originally scheduled to play Jazz Fest themselves, but they canceled all their tour dates following Hawkins’ death. RHCP was then recruited to headline the festival in their place.
“This means a lot to us to be able to play for them,” Smith said. He added that “the guys in the band are here” while gesturing backstage, implying that the Foo Fighters members were in attendance. According to NOLA.com, frontman Dave Grohl was indeed watching the set.
Smith also shared that Hawkins’ widow, Alison, was attending the performance, as well.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Smith said before leading the crowd in a chant of “We love Taylor!”
Smith previously told Billboard that he and the rest of RHCP wanted their set to be a “celebration” of Hawkins.
“We’re going to play our hearts out,” he said.
In related news, Sammy Hagar and his band The Circle honored Hawkins with a performance of the Foo Fighters song “My Hero” at the Beale Street Music Festival last Friday.
(WASHINGTON) — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a civic group from flying the Christian Flag from city hall flagpoles to mark Constitution Day.
The group — Camp Constitution — had argued that the third of three flagpoles was regularly available to mark commemorations and special events. The city approved more than 280 flyings over a dozen years but only rejected one — Camp Constitution’s Christian flag.
The city said allowing that flag would have been impermissible government speech, but Justice Stephen Breyer and the entire court disagreed.
Justice Breyer, writing for the court, said, “We conclude that, on balance, Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech. That means, in turn, that Boston’s refusal to let Shurtleff and Camp Constitution raise their flag based on its religious viewpoint ‘abridg[ed]’ their ‘freedom of speech.'”
In a sit-down with CNBC on Saturday, Bill Murray addressed for the first time allegations of “inappropriate behavior” against him that led to a film he was working on being shut down two weeks ago.
As reported, Aziz Ansari was directing Murray in Being Mortal, based on Atul Gawande‘s nonfiction book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.
“I had a difference of opinion with a woman I was working with,” a somber Murray began. “I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way.” He said producers “wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it, and so they stopped the production…”
“As of now…we’re trying to make peace with each other,” Murray continued. “We’re both professionals. We like each other’s work. We like each other, I think, and if you can’t really get along and trust each other, there’s no point in going further working together…”
Calling it “quite an education,” Murray, who’s 71, said, “I’ve been doing not much else but thinking about it for the last week or two…The world’s different than it was when I was a little kid — what was funny…[then] isn’t necessarily the same as what’s funny now. Things change, the times change. It’s important for me to figure it out.”
“I think the most important for me, is…what’s best for the other person. If it’s not best for the other person, it doesn’t matter what happens for me. And that gave me a great deal of comfort and relaxation, because your brain doesn’t operate well when you’re thinking…’How can I be so inaccurate and so insensitive?'”
“I think we’re going to make peace with it,” Murray said, adding, “I think it’s a really…sad puppy that can’t learn any more.”
One of Carrie Underwood‘s longtime dreams has became reality.
During her headlining set at Stagecoach Festival in California this weekend, the country superstar brought out Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to perform a couple of the rock band’s classic hits, “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” A video posted by Stagecoach shows Axl taking lead vocals while Carrie harmonies on “Paradise City” as she struts around the stage.
On Instagram, Carrie shared a series of photos from the epic moment as the two rock out together, with the set ending with a hug.
“Best. Night. Of. My. Life!!! I am still freaking out!!! Thank you, Axl, for making this lifelong dream come true!!! You rocked that @stagecoach stage harder than anyone has ever rocked it before!” Carrie raved in the caption.
Carrie hasn’t been shy about her love for rock and heavy metal music, having covered “Paradise City” at CMA Fest in 2013 and inviting Joan Jett to perform with her at 2019 CMA Fest.
(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 last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 02, 10:02 am
2 explosions heard in Russian city of Belgorod
A pair of “powerful explosions” were heard early Monday in the western Russian city of Belgorod, about 15 miles from the border with Ukraine, according to the regional governor.
“I woke up to the sound of two powerful explosions half an hour ago. According to the anti-crisis center, there were no reports of casualties or damage. Footage showing flashes in the sky has emerged on social media,” Belgorod Oblast Gob. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The blasts followed a series of other explosions and fires at industrial and military facilities across Russia in recent weeks. On Sunday, the governor of Russia’s western Kursk Oblast, which also shares a border with Ukraine, said a railway bridge used to transfer Russian troops to Ukraine had partially collapsed. In a video posted on Telegram, Kurk Oblast Gov. Roman Starovoit blamed the incident on sabotage.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 9:55 am
Quarter of Russian units in Ukraine now ‘combat ineffective,’ UK says
Over a quarter of Russian military units committed to fight in Ukraine have been likely rendered “combat ineffective,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.
“At the start of the conflict, Russia committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65% of its entire ground combat strength,” the ministry said. “It is likely that more than a quarter of these units have now been rendered combat ineffective.”
Meanwhile, some of Russia’s most elite units, including the Russian Airborne Forces or VDV, “have suffered the highest levels of attrition,” according to the ministry.
“It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces,” the ministry added.
On Sunday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said at least 30 senior Russian military officers have been eliminated in the previous five days.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 9:30 am
Israel lashes out at Russia over Lavrov comparing Zelenskyy to Hitler
Israel on Monday lashed out at Russia over “unforgivable and scandalous” remarks made by its top diplomat about Nazism and antisemitism, including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.
During an interview Sunday with an Italian television channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was asked about Moscow’s assertion that it invaded neighboring Ukraine to “denazify” the country. Lavrov said the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish does not negate the Nazi elements in his country, drawing a parallel with Hitler, the chancellor of Nazi Germany.
“So when they say: ‘How can Nazification exist if we’re Jewish?’ In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” Lavrov said, speaking to the station in Russian, dubbed over by an Italian translation.
Russia does not insist on Zelenskyy’s surrender, Lavrov said, but wants the Ukrainian president to order “neo-Nazi battalions to halt resistance, lay down their arms and let civilian hostages go.” Lavrov alleged that Moscow only seeks to guarantee the security of pro-Russia Ukrainians in the eastern regions.
Lavrov’s comments came at a time when Israel, which was created as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust, has sought to remain neutral amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid condemned the statement made by his Russian counterpart as “unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error.”
“The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust,” Lapid, the son of a Holocaust survivor, said Monday. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame Jews themselves for antisemitism.”
Ukraine also denounced Lavrov’s statement, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba saying it exposes “the deeply-rooted antisemitism of the Russian elites.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 7:18 am
Jill Biden to meet with Ukrainian refugees in Romania, Slovakia
U.S. first lady Jill Biden will travel to Romania and Slovakia this week to meet with American soldiers, U.S. embassy staff as well as displaced Ukrainian families, the White House announced Monday.
Romania and Slovakia are hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine who were forced to flee their homes due to Russia’s invasion.
According to a press release from the White House, Biden will depart the United States for Romania on Thursday evening. On Friday, she will visit Mihail Kogalniceau Airbase in southeastern Romania, where she will meet with U.S. military service members.
On Saturday, Biden will travel to Romania’s capital, Bucharest, to meet with Romanian government officials, U.S. embassy personnel, humanitarian aid workers as well as educators who are helping teach displaced Ukrainian children. She will then travel to Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, to meet with U.S. embassy staff there, according to the White House.
On Sunday, which is celebrated as Mother’s Day in the U.S., Biden will travel to the eastern Slovak city of Kosice and the small village of Vysne Nemecke, the largest of three border crossings between Slovakia and Ukraine, to meet with Ukrainian refugees, humanitarian aid workers as well as local Slovakians who are supporting the displaced families, according to the White House.
“On Mother’s Day, she will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country because of Putin’s war,” the White House said in a statement.
On Monday, Biden will meet with Slovakian government officials before heading back to the U.S.
-ABC News’ Armando Garcia
May 02, 5:48 am
Pelosi leads delegation to Poland after visiting Ukraine
A high-level U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Monday, a day after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
“Our distinguished Congressional delegation came to Poland to send an unmistakable message to the world: that America stands firmly with our NATO allies in our support for Ukraine,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi said their talks with Duda and other Polish officials in the Polish capital “will be focused on further strengthening our partnership, offering our gratitude for Poland’s humanitarian leadership, and discussing how we can further work together to support Ukraine.”
Earlier, Pelosi and the half dozen U.S. lawmakers with her traveled to the southeastern Polish city of Rzeszow, where they met with U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Poland to reassure NATO allies and deter Russian aggression.
“These engagements are even more meaningful following our meeting in Kyiv with President Volodymr Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian leaders,” Pelosi said. “In that profound and solemn visit, our delegation conveyed our respect and gratitude to President Zelenskyy for his leadership and our admiration of the Ukrainian people for their courage in the fight against Russia’s diabolical invasion. Our Members were proud to deliver the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package.”
Pelosi, second in line to the U.S. presidency after the vice president, was the most senior American lawmaker to visit Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. The delegation’s trip to the Ukrainian capital was not disclosed until they were safely out of the country.
-ABC News’ Chad Murray
May 01, 4:57 pm
Russian shelling of Mariupol steel plant resumes: Ukrainian officials
Russian forces resumed shelling the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Sunday after some civilians inside the facility and in nearby homes were evacuated during a brief cease fire, according Ukrainian officials.
“They are shelling the plant with all kinds of weapons,” said Denis Schlega, commander of the 12th Brigade of Operational Assignment in Mariupol.
Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and Russian Ministry of Defense all confirmed that some civilians were evacuated from the steel plant, where a Ukrainian military unit is making a last stand in the port city that is almost entirely under Russian control.
Zelenskyy said about 100 civilians were evacuated from the steel plant on Sunday and were being taken to Zaporizhia, a city under Ukrainian control.
The Mariupol City Council said in a statement that evacuations from Mariupol had stopped Sunday afternoon due to “security reasons.” The city council said the evacuations would resume on Monday.
May 01, 4:13 pm
Civilians killed, injured in shelling of Kharkiv region: Ukrainian official
At least three civilians were killed and eight others injured on Sunday as a result of heavy shelling from Russian forces in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official.
The casualties were reported in the residential areas of Saltivka, Bohodukhiv and Zolochif, according to Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 01, 12:24 pm
Pope Francis condemns ‘macabre regression of humanity’ in Ukraine
Pope Francis on Sunday described the war in Ukraine as a “macabre regression of humanity” that makes him “suffer and cry.”
Speaking to thousands of people crowded into St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the pope called for humanitarian corridors to be opened to evacuate civilians trapped inside or near a steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Evacuation of civilians at the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces have been staging a last stand against Russian troops, have started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Red Cross and the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday.
During Sunday’s Vatican service, Francis repeated his criticism of Russia for invading Ukraine.
“My thoughts go immediately to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city of Mary, barbarously bombarded and destroyed,” the pontiff said of the Russian-controlled southeastern port city, which is named after Mary. “I suffer and cry thinking of the suffering of the Ukrainian population, in particular the weakest, the elderly, the children.”
In Catholicism, the month of May is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Francis asked for monthlong prayers for peace in Ukraine.
“While we are witnessing a macabre regression of humanity, I ask you, together with so many anguished people, if we are really seeking peace, if there is the will to avoid a continuous military and verbal escalation, if we are doing everything possible to make the weapons stop? Please, let us not give in to the logic of violence, to the perverse spiral of arms. Let us take the path of dialogue and peace. Let us pray.”
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 1, 2022
In keeping with the Cambridge birthday tradition, the photos were taken by Duchess Kate over the weekend in Norfolk, where the Cambridges have a country home. The duchess has released a photo of each child on their birthdays each year.
Last week, Duchess Kate also shared photos of her son, Prince Louis, to mark his fourth birthday.
Charlotte’s sixth birthday comes a few days after Prince William and Kate celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary.
Charlotte is currently fourth in line to the British throne behind her grandfather, Prince Charles, father, and older brother, Prince George.
Just hours before a concert in Laval, Quebec on Sunday, Avril Lavignecalled off that show and two others, due to a positive COVID-19 test in her touring entourage. She also postponed two other shows: one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia.
In a statement, Avril wrote, “To my fans and friends in Laval, QC, Moncton, NB and Halifax, NS, we are sincerely sorry to let you know that we are postponing these shows due to a positive COVID case within the tour and subsequent exposures..I/we sincerely apologize and want you to know that this was not a decision we made lightly. We remain focused on everyone’s safety and can’t wait to see you all very soon.”
The show in Laval has been rescheduled for May 7, while new dates for Moncton and Halifax will be announced soon.
As previously reported, Avril joined Olivia Rodrigo on stage Friday in Toronto. Avril’s Canadian tour is scheduled to run through the end of May, and then she’ll join Machine Gun Kelly for U.S. dates this summer.
John Stamos is staying in the Disney family, with a step into the Marvel Universe. The Big Shots star will voice none other than Iron Man in the second season of the animated Spidey and His Amazing Friends for Disney Junior. The show will also feature the voices of The Goldbergs vet Sean Giambrone as Ant-Man, and Back to the Future‘s Biff Tannen, Tom Wilson, as the villain Sandman…
Deadline is reporting Mr. Robot veteran Christian Slater has joined the star-studded cast of FX’s limited series series Fleishman Is In Trouble. Based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s bestselling novel, the show will star Jesse Eisenberg in the title character of Toby Fleishman, who enters the online dating world after his marriage hits the rocks. The cast also includes Adam Brody, Lizzy Caplan and Claire Danes…
Legendary comic artist Neal Adams has died at the age of 80, according to his family. Adams is considered to be one of the giants of the so-called Bronze Age of comics of the 1960s and 1970s, and is particularly known for his iconic interpretation of Batman, which helped define the character for subsequent generations of artists and readers. He also is known for drawing Green Lantern and Green Arrow books for DC and The Avengers and X-Men comics for Marvel. Adams earned the industry’s top honor, induction into Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998…
The CW has clipped Batwoman‘s wings. The news came via a tweet from showrunner Caroline Dries on Friday, who noted, “Just got the sad news that Batwoman will not be seeing [a fourth season]. “I am bummed, but full of gratitude. What an honor to make 51 episodes.” The series initially starred Ruby Rose as the titular crime fighter, but she was replaced in the sophomore season by Javicia Leslie…
Netflix’s Steve Carrell-fronted comedy Space Force has been brought down to Earth, Variety reports. The expensive-to-produce show, meant to spoof President Trump‘s launching of the sixth military branch, ran for two seasons…
The Bad Guys topped another slow week the box office. The animated family flick spent its second week at #1, earning an estimated $16 million, bringing its two-week domestic gross to $44.4 million.
Holding onto the runner-up spot for the second straight was Sonic the Hedgehog 2, taking in just under $11.4 million in its fourth weekend of release. The animated film has now collected $160.9 million in North America, passing the original Sonic’s $149 million domestic total. However, that film’s theatrical run was cut short by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore pulled up in third place, adding an estimated $8.3 million in its third week of release. The film has earned a disappointing $79.6 million domestically so far, Internationally, however, the Harry Potter spin-off has racked up $250 million to date, bringing its worldwide tally to $329.6 million.
The Northman took fourth place for the second time in as many weeks, delivering an estimated $6.3 million. Its two-week domestic total now stands at $22.8 million to go along with $18.8 million overseas, putting its global tally at $41.6 million.
Rounding out the top five was Everything Everywhere All at Once, pulling in an estimated $5.5 million to bring its six-week domestic total to $35.5 million — an impressive feat for an art house film. The movie, starring Michelle Yeoh, has collected another $2.7 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $38.2 million.
Liam Neeson‘s action flick Memory tanked in its debut, only managing an estimated $3.1 million for an eighth-place finish.
