Lizzo‘s latest hit, “About Damn Time,” is a super-fun, disco-flavored bop, but according to her producer, it’s much more than that — it’s what Lizzo felt “the world needed at that exact moment.”
Speaking to Vulture, producer Ricky Reed said “About Damn Time” is “a core song about love.”
“That might seem weird at first, because it’s not explicitly about being in love with a person. But the thing that she really, really, really wanted to get across was, we need a song and a message to help us collectively step out from fear. So what’s the opposite of fear? It’s love,” he says.
Reed adds, “So, our plan with that song was to make a record that helps people step out from fear, step out from darkness, step out from sadness, whatever form it’s taking, and find your power and find love.”
“She thought that’s what the world needed at that exact moment,” Reed explains. “She put a lot of thought into it.”
Overall, Reed says, Lizzo insisted that the album address the “collective trauma” that is the pandemic and then try to “lift people up.”
He notes, “She’d say this over and over: ‘I’m an artist, I have to reflect the times.’ So we would always make sure, at every turn, that we were going to reflect the times. We can’t do that in the last few years without talking about what’s been going on.”
But of course, the album’s not a downer. It’s just that, as Reed explains, “You can’t lift anyone up without getting through the hard stuff first … before you move on to partying.”
Imagine Dragons reacted to the news by tweeting an exploding head emoji.
“Demons” and “Radioactive” appear on ID’s 2012 debut album, Night Visions, while “Thunder” and “Believer” are singles from 2017’s Evolve.
All four songs are also members of the RIAA Diamond club, having all been certified for 10 million units. Imagine Dragons is the first band with four Diamond-certified singles.
Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons released a new album, Mercury — Act 2, earlier this month. The record, the companion to last September’s Mercury — Act 1, features the single “Bones.”
Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge says he’s been working on new music with Yes frontman Jon Davison, who has made regular guest appearances at Lodge’s solo concerts in recent years.
“We’ve been writing a couple of songs together … for the future,” Lodge tells ABC Audio, while also noting that Davison will appear with him and his 10,000 Light Years Band at a one-off concert this Monday, July 25, at Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Lodge says. “It’s great having [Jon] onstage.”
The 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who mounted a three-week U.S. tour in March, tells ABC Audio that he’d initially planned to play more concerts this summer, but decided to take a break before scheduling a new trek.
Lodge notes he couldn’t pass up doing the Ocean City show because he loved the idea of playing in that location.
“To go to a pier in New Jersey in the summer, it intrigued me,” he says. “The boardwalk and all that, you know?”
Lodge says it reminded him of England during the late 1950s and early ’60s, when rock ‘n’ roll shows were commonly held on Sundays at various piers during summertime.
Meanwhile, he says the New Jersey concert will basically feature the same set as the ones he played in March.
At those shows, he performed renditions of classic Moody Blues songs that he wrote and also paid tribute to his former bandmates Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder and the late Ray Thomas by playing tunes they composed for the group.
A major highlight was a rendition of the Hayward-penned “Nights in White Satin,” with Davison on guest vocals.
(LONDON) — Wildfires continue to rage across Europe, as an unprecedented heat wave and drought conditions threaten efforts to combat flames in some regions.
In Greece, 56 forest fires occurred in the last 24 hours, the national fire service said Wednesday.
Most of the outbreaks were controlled early on, though firefighters are battling two larger fires near Athens, the Fire Service of Greece said in a statement.
One — in Penteli, a northern suburb of Athens — has so far burned 20,350 acres, local media reported.
Nearly 100,000 residents were told Tuesday to evacuate from the areas in and around Penteli, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday. That included a hospital.
The second large wildfire started in Megara, a small city west of Athens. Nearly 100 firefighters have been deployed to the site, along with dozens of firefighting trucks, aircraft and helicopters, fire officials said Wednesday.
Authorities have not yet determined what sparked the fires.
With temperatures in Athens expected to reach a high of 94 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, the national fire service issued an alert for heightened risk of dangerous fires for the state of Attiki, in Athens; several states in the Peloponnese region; the island of Evia, the site of devastating wildfires last year; and the islands of Chios, Samos and Ikaria.
Portugal, Spain and Italy have also been battling multiple wildfires amid elevated temperatures.
In Portugal, officials extended an alert on fire risk through Thursday as several fires burn throughout the country, including in the region of Murça, where high temperatures and strong winds have posed a challenge to combating the blaze.
Spain has seen dozens of wildfires in recent weeks. Currently firefighters are battling 12 active fires in Spain, with over 1,200 personnel responding, state officials said Wednesday.
One fire, in the northeastern region of Aragon, caused a railway company to suspend train service on its Madrid-Zaragoza line on Wednesday.
In Italy, where several wildfires have broken out throughout the country this week, a blaze near the Tuscan town of Lucca burned over 1,400 hectares and forced some 500 people to evacuate, officials said.
Record temperatures and winds are impacting firefighting efforts in France, where tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in recent days and some 2,000 firefighters are battling blazes in the southwestern Gironde region. Two firefighters were seriously injured Tuesday while battling the forest fires, officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the impacted region on Wednesday, where he toured the devastation and met with firefighters. Climate change, which scientists say will continue to make wildfires more frequent and destructive, will force France and the European Union to take “structural decisions,” he said, according to Reuters.
In the United Kingdom, London has been battling record blazes amid record hot weather.
Wednesday was the busiest day for the city’s fire service since World War II, authorities said, with firefighters responding to more than 1,146 incidents across London.
More than 40 houses and stores were destroyed “after a number of significant grass fires spread to nearby buildings,” the London Fire Brigade said. “Crews worked tirelessly to tackle fires which also engulfed garages, farm buildings, vehicles, outbuildings, a car wash and a church hall.”
No fatalities were reported, though 16 firefighters suffered heat-related injuries, authorities said.
“We can’t afford to have more of these days,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter Wednesday. “We need to adapt our cities and stop these horrific events from occurring by tackling the climate crisis.”
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Protesters in several cities across the country are calling on the Biden administration, as well as local officials, to address the rapid rise in monkeypox cases.
Demonstrators, including many LGBTQ activists, say officials have yet to provide the necessary outreach to vulnerable populations as issues continue to plague the vaccine rollout.
A protest is being planned for Thursday by several organizations in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
Nearly 60% of those diagnosed with monkeypox in New York City have self-identified as members of the LGBTQ community, according to the New York City Department of Health.
The city has seen more than 600 cases so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 20, there have been over 2,100 confirmed cases in the U.S. with numbers quickly rising, the CDC says.
Federal and state agencies have been scrambling to supply enough vaccines and treatments for monkeypox as demand grows by the tens of thousands.
Groups, including HIV/AIDs awareness and advocacy organizations Housing Works and ACT UP New York, said they have a list of requests for both state and federal governments.
“There is a shame involved in this,” said Mordechai Levovitz, an organizer of the Thursday protest and clinical director of LGBTQ Jewish youth group JQY. “There is a taboo. This is something that, for people who had [rashes and lesions] on their face, something that they can’t hide.”
On the state level, the group is demanding an expansion of vaccine appointment availability; meaningful community outreach; a stockpile of vaccines; a safety net fund for people who test positive and have to take off of work; as well as providing hotel rooms for quarantining.
On the federal level, protestors are calling for large-scale information campaigns about monkeypox testing from the CDC, and free and accessible testing for un- and underinsured individuals, as well as for the government to provide a demographic breakdown of infected populations.
“The federal government must invest in communication about monkeypox testing, treatment, and vaccine availability now,” according to a statement from Act Up New York.
It continued, “We need meaningful outreach to all communities including vulnerable populations, streamlined communication efforts, mass testing implementation, expedited FDA approval of TPOXX (MPX treatment), and a public plan for the US government to take action on the Bavarian Nordic stockpile (15.2 million vaccines).”
In a press conference Wednesday, New York Department of Health officials said they are working with advocates and activists on outreach efforts.
“We’ve been developing clinical guidance, expanding test capacity – initially from our public health labs, and now to commercial labs – partnering with the federal government, as the Governor has said, and revitalizing our network of local health departments,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett.
She continued, “We’re doing all of this with real attention to the importance of dignity and respect, without stigma, and with equity always at the center of our work.”
The CDC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Protests have also taken place in San Francisco where cases are rising. The San Francisco Department of Public Health reported 55 monkeypox cases on July 19 alone, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 141.
LGBTQ groups have been on high alert regarding the rapid spread of cases, saying that the messaging around the circumstances of infection has not been adequately communicated to at-risk communities.
Though demographic data is not yet available for cases across the U.S., nearly 60% of people infected in New York City self-reported as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, though demographic data on sexual orientation was unavailable for 39.6% of the cases. Two individuals — 0.6% of cases — reported that they identify as straight.
At least 34% of those infected in Europe identified as gay or bisexual, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
However, the sexual orientation of 65% of the infected people is unknown or missing in the data, the European agency said.
Officials have emphasized that gay and bisexual men, in particular, are at risk here in the U.S., though they stress that anyone can contract the illness.
The CDC says monkeypox can spread, among other ways, through through direct contact with an infectious rash, scab or bodily fluids or via respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact.
(NEW YORK) — Two more shark encounters were reported on Long Island Wednesday, including an attack on a teenager, officials said.
A dead shark, which appeared to be a great white according to The Riverhead Society, was spotted on Dune Road Beach in Quogue, New York, by a nearby resident around 9:33 a.m., police said.
Later in the evening, a 16-year-old surfer suffered a minor bite on his foot while he was in the water in Kismet Beach on Fire Island, police said.
The 7- to 8-foot shark found in the morning washed back into the ocean before police could secure it, according to officials from Quogue Village Police Department.
“At this time, we are cautioning swimmers and boaters in the area to be aware of this ongoing situation,” the police said in a statement.
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau said the Fire Island sighting happened around 5:45 p.m. when the teen paddled approximately 20 yards off the shore. The surfer was bit on his right foot, and sustained an approximate 4-inch laceration, police said.
The teen was able to walk out of the water and was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment, according to police.
Suffolk County Police Aviation responded by helicopter, but the water was too murky to locate the shark, officials said. Marine Bureau officers continued to comb the water on boats to locate the shark, according to police.
This is the latest in a string of shark sightings and attacks off New York’s coast over the last few weeks.
From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches, according to state officials.
On Tuesday, beaches in the Rockaways were shut down after beachgoers spotted sharks in the water. No one was hurt.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring and patrols at Long Island beaches on Monday in response to the sightings.
(WASHINGTON) — Families of several Americans who are detained abroad arrived in Washington on Wednesday morning to unveil a mural depicting them in an effort, their relatives say, to increase public awareness and pressure the Biden administration to do more to bring them home.
The mural features 18 Americans held in other countries. There are currently 64 known citizens being detained outside the U.S., according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.
The mural includes WNBA superstar Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, who have become faces of the issue because of their ongoing detentions in Russia. (Griner was arrested and later pleaded guilty to illegally bringing hashish oil into the country, though she said it was “inadvertent” and was part of her vape cartridge. Whelan was charged with espionage, which he and the U.S. government deny.)
The 15-foot-tall installation aims to bring attention to Griner, Whelan and to a series of under-recognized Americans being held around the world, sometimes for political leverage.
Many of the images used for the mural are of the last pictures taken of the detainees.
While Matthew Heath’s portrait depicts him with a soft smile in his crisp Marine uniform from when he served, his mother, Connie Haynes, said he is currently being tortured in Venezuela after more than two years in detention.
She claims Heath has been repeatedly beaten and left with both hands broken and his retina detached and has at random intervals been fed carbon monoxide while locked in a 2 square-foot box.
Heath tried to kill himself this year but was still being abused and chained to his bed in the medical facility where he was being watched, according to his mom.
“My son is not going to survive if our government does not get him home,” she said Wednesday. “I don’t know how much more he can endure.”
During the unveiling, Haynes was interrupted with a call and rushed to end of the alley next to the mural. Her son was trying to reach her.
“We were able to tell him what we’re doing, for him, for the other families — how hard we’re working to try to get him home,” Heath’s uncle, Everrett Rutherford, said afterward.
They were also able to connect Heath with the Biden administration’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, who spoke Wednesday.
During the rare opportunity to talk with Heath, Rutherford said he and Heath’s mom were able to “give [Heath] a bit of courage and hope.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday called the mural “a powerful symbol of those who have been deprived and taken from their loved ones” and said Carstens’ presence at the unveiling was an important way “to continue to show our support for these families who are enduring an ordeal that to anyone but them is unimaginable.”
“These efforts are — by necessity — quiet,” Price said when asked about the frustration of some of the detainees’ families about the future. “We have found that these cases often are best worked behind the scenes. Even though we don’t speak of it, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t working around the clock to see the successful resolution and outcome.”
The mural’s artist says it was designed to be impermanent.
The Americans’ faces, plastered using flour, water, sugar and paper, will “fade, tear and eventually disappear over time,” Isaac Campbell explained in a press release. That fleeting quality is meant to add a sense of urgency for the government to “use the tools available to bring these Americans home — before their faces fade away and disappear from this wall,” Campbell wrote.
“This doesn’t go away,” said Neda Sharghi, the only sister of Emad Shargi, a dual citizen who has been detained in Iran since 2018 on claims he is a spy.
The siblings’ father, who “felt like there was hope to bring his son home” while watching the unveiling, fainted and was taken away in an ambulance out of the event, Neda Shargi said. “This is our world,” she added.
“Any second my father could pass and not see his son anymore,” she said. “But I don’t want to cry,” she continued, calling on anyone struck by the new mural to call their representatives to “let President [Joe] Biden know that you will all stand with him if he can bring Americans home.”
Wednesday’s ceremony comes one day after Biden signed an executive order that declared hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens a national emergency.
The order is meant to leverage more financial sanctions against those who are directly or indirectly involved in such detentions. Additionally, the State Department added new warnings on its travel advisories to help citizens avoid locations overseas where they risk wrongful arrest.
The White House informed relatives of American detainees of the executive order before its signing in a Monday call that was characterized as a “one-way conversation” by Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for a network of families and the Bring Our Families Home Campaign. He claimed the White House’s latest actions were “an effort to pre-manage the press attention” around relatives of those detained arriving in Washington this week.
While some families have commended the move to improve transparency and intelligence-sharing between the federal government and concerned relatives of those held overseas, others have expressed vexation with their lack of communication with the president.
“We are definitely grateful,” Hannah Shargi, the daughter of Emad Shargi, told ABC News of Biden’s recent actions. But she said she wants to see, at minimum, meetings between families and Biden organized by the country where their relative is detained.
“We know that they’re suffering. We know they’re scared. And we know they’re anxious,” White House spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on Tuesday. “We know they want their loved ones back home, and the president wants that, too.”
Meanwhile, they work and they wait.
“I used to walk these streets with him,” Hannah Shargi said Wednesday next to the mural that features her father. “It gives me some hope that he is larger than life here. And he is larger than life in real life — so I’m glad people are seeing him how I see him.”
(NEW YORK) — New York beachgoers were spooked by another shark sighting Wednesday, albeit a short-lived one.
The dead shark, which appeared to be a great white according to The Riverhead Society, was spotted on Dune Road Beach in Quogue, New York, by a nearby resident around 9:33 a.m., police said.
The 7- to 8-foot shark washed back into the ocean before police could secure it, according to officials from Quogue Village Police Department.
“At this time, we are cautioning swimmers and boaters in the area to be aware of this ongoing situation,” the police said in a statement.
This is the latest in a string of shark sightings and attacks off New York’s coast over the last few weeks.
From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches, according to state officials.
On Tuesday, beaches in the Rockaways were shut down after beachgoers spotted sharks in the water. No one was hurt.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring and patrols at Long Island beaches on Monday in response to the sightings.
(FORT GORDON, Ga.) — One U.S. Army Reserve soldier has died and nine others were injured after a lightning bolt strike while on a range at Fort Gordon, Georgia, a base spokesperson told ABC News.
“We know there were injuries, but we don’t know the extent of those injuries,” base spokesperson Anne Bowman told ABC News.
Bowman said the incident occurred at approximately 11:10 a.m. at Training Area 26 when there was bad weather in the area, and that the soldiers “sustained injuries associated with a lightning strike at one of their training areas.”
Fort Gordon’s Department of Emergency Services and EMS responded to the scene immediately, according to Augusta ABC affiliate WJBF.
The soldiers were taken to the Dwight David Eisenhower Medical Center at the base for treatment, according to Bowman.
Doors guitarist Robby Krieger has revealed plans to release a new album this summer with a new group called Krieger & The Soul Savages.
According to a post on Robby’s official Facebook page, the band features keyboardist Ed Roth, bassist Kevin Brandon anddrummer Franklin Vanderbilt playing “a blend of melodic, psychedelic rock and soul.”
Krieger & The Soul Savages appears to be a rechristened version of Robby’s jazz-flavored side group The New Experience, which debuted in 2019 and also featured Roth, Brandon and Vanderbilt.
Krieger & The Soul Savages made their live debut last week at two concerts in the Los Angeles area. The band also has club gigs lined up on July 31 at Bogies in Westlake Village, California, and August 10 at Vibrato Grill in LA.
Meanwhile, Robby has five other upcoming concerts scheduled with his other group, the Robby Krieger Band. Those shows will take place on July 21 in St. Charles, Illinois; July 22 in Des Plaines, Illinois; September 23 in San Juan Capistrano, California; and September 25-26 at the famed Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood.
During the two-night stand at the Whisky, Robby and company will celebrate the 55th anniversary of The Doors’ second album, Strange Days.
