Nigerian music superstar Davido gave fans an unexpected surprise when he announced that his North American tour is set to kick off this June, and they responded, clearly excited, since one of the stops is already sold out!
The 29-year-old international singer-songwriter posted a show update to Instagram on Thursday, revealing that the Toronto stop on his “We Rise by Lifting Others” tour has sold all of its available tickets.
Davido had just revealed the five-city pop-up trek on this past Tuesday, alerting concert-goers about the many surprises and new tunes he might preview at the shows.
“I miss my fans in North America so much I had to put together a short run just to come see you all,” he wrote. “Going to be plenty of surprises and I might preview a few songs off my new album. Tickets on sale everywhere this THURSDAY ! LETS GO.”
In 2011, Davido found major music success with the release of his debut album, Back When, and hit single “Dami Duro.” His popular song “If” also landed at the top of the Apple Music charts for weeks after its release.
Here’s a list of the tour stops and dates:
6/16 — Brooklyn, NY, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!
6/17 — Toronto, ON, History
6/18 — Boston, MA, House of Blues
6/21 — Chicago, IL, Aragon Ballroom
6/25 — Los Angeles, CA, YouTube Theater
Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay, a co-founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, will release a new studio album called In the Country on July 8 that features his interpretations of country hits.
Among the tunes featured on the 12-track collection are renditions of such country chart-toppers as Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You,” Garth Brooks‘ “The River,” Alabama‘s “I’m in a Hurry and I Don’t Know Why,” and Lee Ann Womack‘s “I Hope You Dance, as well as notable crossover hits like John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis.”
In the Country‘s lead track, “Somebody Like You,” has been released as the album’s first single, and is available now via digital formats. A music video for the tune featuring Furay performing the song has debuted on his official YouTube channel.
The album includes guest contributions from Vince Gill, John Berry, ex-Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff, and longtime Eagles bassist/former Poco member Timothy B. Schmit.
The digital version of In the Country features two bonus tracks — renditions of the 1969 Furay-penned Poco tune “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” and George Strait‘s 1992 chart-topper “I Cross My Heart.” You can pre-order the album starting Friday.
Meanwhile, a special exclusive vinyl version of In the Country will be released on June 18 as part of the 2022 Record Store Day event.
“I believe that there is always a reason for everything,” says Furay, reflecting on his country collection. “And I believe that the timing for this record is going to be so refreshing for so many people who have struggled so much with what we’ve gone through that it’s going to be a breath of fresh air for everybody.”
Here’s In the Country‘s full track list:
“Somebody Like You”
“I Hope You Dance”
“Take Me Home, Country Roads”
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful”
“Your Love Amazes Me”
“I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)”
“Lonesome Town”
“Walking in Memphis”
“I’m Already There”
“The River”
“In This Life”
“Chalk”
Digital Bonus Tracks:
“I Cross My Heart”
“Pickin’ Up the Pieces”
(NEW YORK) — A wildfire inferno is setting up in multiple states as dangerous fire conditions threaten to spread the fires even further.
At least 14 fires are currently burning through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.
North of Flagstaff, Arizona, where the Tunnel Fire has been scorching through communities after sparking on Sunday, about 750 homes have been evacuated. The Tunnel Fire has burned through 20,000 acres so far and is 0% contained.
About 100 miles southwest of Flagstaff, the Crooks Fire in Prescott, Arizona, has blazed through 2,000 acres and is also 0% contained.
Voluntary evacuations have been ordered in Jarales, New Mexico, where the Bosque Fire has burned through 165 acres and is expected to grow, while mandatory evacuations were issued in Boulder County, Colorado, after the Table Mountain Fire grew to 52 acres.
Red flag and high wind alerts had been issued Thursday for eight states from Arizona to Nebraska. Relative humidity is also down to 5%, with wind gusts as high as 70 mph are possible. The wind is being created by a storm system moving through the West on Thursday and Friday.
The worst fire conditions Thursday are expected to stretch from New Mexico to Colorado. A decades-long megadrought in the West has also contributed to the fire danger in the region.
The fire danger is expected to worsen even more on Friday, with states from New Mexico to Colorado classified as being in extreme fire danger, the highest level of fire danger.
The storm system moving West will bring severe weather from Texas to Minnesota, with damaging winds, large hail and the possibility of isolated tornados.
ABC News’ Max Golembo and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
Switchfoot has released a new remix of the band’s song “I Need You (To Be Wrong)” in collaboration with lovelytheband.
In a statement, the “Meant to Live” rockers describe the updated track as “almost a remix in reverse.”
“Taking a dissonant idiosyncratic single and making it sweet,” Switchfoot says. “lovelytheband did a great job — loved hearing their take on this one!”
“The first band I was ever a fan of was Switchfoot,” adds lovelytheband drummer Sam Price. “To work with them on a song was a movie-like, full circle moment. It was truly special!”
You can listen to the remix now via digital outlets.
The original “I Need You (To Be Wrong)” appears on Switchfoot’s new album, Interrobang, which was released last August. Switchfoot will launch a tour in support of the record alongside Collective Soul in July.
lovelytheband released their latest album, Conversation with Myself About You, in 2020.
BTS sure is busy these days. They recently took over Las Vegas, are hard at work on new music, and will be reviving their cooking show, BTS Recipe. Now, the group’s coming to your gym — kinda.
Engadget reports BTS is teaming with Apple Fitness+ for an all-new workout that’ll drop on International Dance Day, which is April 29. The “Butter” singers have their own dance workout coming soon that’s set to their music that’s sure to make you sweat. Each week will offer a brand-new regimen for you to master.
Not only that, the Apple Fitness instructors will teach you how to perform the band’s “Dynamite” dance moves. Complete these workouts, or at least last for 20 minutes per episode, and you’ll be rewarded with limited-edition awards and animated stickers for your messages.
Other weekly BTS-inspired episodes won’t just focus on dance and will offer workouts for the treadmill, cycling, Pilates, strength, HIIT and yoga.
BTS isn’t the only musical act aiming to help whip people into beach-bod shape. Apple Fitness is also developing workout routines set to music from ABBA and Queen.
Korn has premiered the video for “Worst Is on Its Way,” the current single off the band’s new album, Requiem.
The black-and-white clip captures an intense performance by Jonathan Davis and company, cut with footage of the band members being, as a press release puts it, “decomposed into animated particles.”
You can watch the “Worst Is on Its Way” video streaming now on YouTube.
Requiem, the 14th Korn album, was released in February. It also includes the single “Start the Healing.”
Korn will hit the road in support of Requiem on a co-headlining U.S. tour with Evanescence beginning in August.
If you’ve ever indulged in the New York Times best-selling graphic novel series The Bad Guys, you’re already well aware of the five titular characters who are now being brought to life in Dreamworks’ animated film adaptation.
The movie follows Mr. Wolf, voiced by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, and his crew of animal outlaws — Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Mrs. Tarantula (Awkwafina) — as they set out on their most challenging mission yet: going from criminals to model citizens. The film also features Zazie Beetz as city governor Diane Foxington, while Lilly Singh documents the action as local reporter Tiffany Fluffit.
In comparison to the books, the action-packed family movie dives deep into the characters’ backstory.
Director Pierre Perifel, making his feature-film debut, told ABC Audio that his decision to highlight the characters’ pre- and post-criminal storyline was intentional.
“You always have to bring a little bit more,” he said, speaking on the film’s inspiration from the books. “We also wanted to do a little bit of a genesis of the change for Wolf. You know, what happens before he decides to go good? Who are these characters?”
Perifel was afforded “tons of freedom to explore” by book author Aaron Blabely, who serves as an executive producer on the film. The director said he took full advantage of that liberty, including his ability to do so alongside the talented cast.
“The idea was to really have a cast that was not the usual suspects,” he said. “The whole team is such a fantastic group of actors and performers who just brought these characters to life. We got incredibly lucky.”
To watch Mr. Wolf and the gang come to life on-screen, check out The Bad Guys in theaters starting Friday, April 22.
(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 now launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 21, 3:02 pm
US calls Putin’s victory claim in Mariupol ‘disinformation’
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments Thursday morning claiming victory in Mariupol was “yet more disinformation” from Russia’s “well-worn playbook,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.
Price called Putin’s comments an attempt to “distract from what can only be considered the underperformance of Russia’s military forces and its failure to achieve its original objectives in Ukraine.”
Price said Ukrainian forces in Mariupol “continue to hold their ground.”
“Their ferocious stand stands in stark contrast to the plummeting morale that we’ve seen among Russia’s forces. It stands in stark contrast to the tactics that we’ve seen Russia impose against those in Mariupol,” he added.
Price said the U.S. has called for humanitarian access — aid to get in and people to get out — and has supported humanitarian groups working to do so. But he blamed Russia’s attacks on humanitarian corridors for preventing it from happening.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Apr 21, 2:20 pm
Most Russian forces focused on Donbas: US
The U.S. has assessed that the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol remains contested, and that Russian airstrike activity remains focused there and on the Donbas region, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.
Russia now has 85 battalion tactical groups, each made up of roughly 800 to 1,000 troops, inside of Ukraine, the official said. More of these groups are headed to the Donbas region, the official said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 21, 1:01 pm
Mariupol mayor thinks city will hold out
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told ABC News he thinks his city will hold out, saying Russian forces have “been fighting our boys for 57 days and they still can’t win.”
The mayor’s comments come hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that his siege of Mariupol had been a success, congratulating his defense minister and thanking Russian troops. Putin also ordered troops to abandon their assault on the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, the last holdout for Ukrainian troops in the port city.
Boychenko said 100,00 civilians remain, including 1,000 in the steel plant.
Apr 21, 12:50 pm
19 Ukrainians released from Russian captivity in 2nd second prisoner swap this week
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 19 Ukrainians, 10 military and nine civilians, have been released from Russian captivity in the second prisoner swap this week.
-ABC News’ Alexandra Faul
Apr 21, 11:08 am
Biden announces $800 million new security assistance package
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new $800 million security assistance package to help Ukrainians fighting in the eastern Donbas region. This funding includes heavy artillery weapons, tactical drones and howitzers.
This package includes 72 new howitzers. Combined with the 18 howitzers announced last week, the 90 howitzers headed to Ukraine can equip five battalions, according to the administration.
Biden noted that he’s run out of pre-approved money and equipment to send to Ukraine and he appealed to Congress to approve more.
When pressed by ABC News on how long the U.S. can sustain this level of spending, Biden said, “We have the capacity to do this for a long time.”
He went on, “The question is, are we going to continue to maintain the support of the international community? And keep the pressure on Putin to prevent him from overrunning the country, No. 1, and No. 2, make sure we continue to maintain the economic sanctions, which, over time, and we’re beginning to see, they’re devastating their economy and their ability to move forward.”
Biden also announced a separate $500 million in economic aid to Ukraine to help fund government operations like salaries, pensions and social programs.
The president added that the U.S. is now banning Russian-affiliated ships from American ports.
Biden met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal Thursday morning ahead of his remarks.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Sarah Kolinovsky
Apr 21, 9:30 am
Biden administration to fast-track refugees trying to come to US
The Biden administration on Thursday is moving to fast-track Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the U.S. with an operation called “Uniting for Ukraine.”
Beginning April 25, U.S. based individuals and entities can apply to the Department of Homeland Security to sponsor Ukrainian citizens, the administration said.
Any U.S. citizen or entity can apply to sponsor Ukrainians and there’s no limit on how many Ukrainians a person or entity can sponsor, administration officials said. A background check is required.
Any Ukrainian who has been a resident of the country since Feb. 11 and has up-to-date vaccinations will be eligible for the program. They will be subject to a background check, biometric screening and other security checks.
Ukrainians who don’t have a visa to enter the U.S. will be encouraged to apply for this program.
Administration officials said this was part of President Joe Biden’s promise to take in 100,000 Ukrainians into the U.S.
For those who don’t have sponsors or friends or family in the U.S., the administration is working with non-governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations to help connect people to them.
“One of the reasons we are having sponsors that are entity based … is precisely to deal with those situations,” one administration official said.
In addition to this new program, officials said the State Department will expand resettlement operations in Europe for Ukrainian citizens.
Apr 21, 6:44 am
Putin claims ‘success’ in Mariupol siege
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that his siege of Mariupol had been a success, congratulating his defense minister and thanking Russian troops.
“The completion of the combat work to liberate Mariupol is a success,” Putin said. “I congratulate you. Convey words of gratitude to the troops.”
Putin’s claim of victory came as he ordered troops to abandon their assault on the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, the last holdout for Ukrainian troops in the port city.
A Ukrainian commander of the regiment at the site said Ukrainian troops there are ready to surrender, if their safety can be guaranteed by a third party and they are allowed to take the bodies of their dead with them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office called for negotiations inside Mariupol to get anyone left in the factory out of the area alive.
Apr 21, 5:13 am
Putin cancels Mariupol plant attack, orders site blocked off
Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled his military’s attack on a Mariupol steel plant, one of the last areas in the port city held by Ukrainian forces, ordering his troops to instead seal all exit routes from the sprawling plant.
“I consider the proposed assault on the industrial zone impractical,” Putin told Sergei Shoigu, his defense minister, during a meeting televised on Thursday by Russian state media, according to a translation of the Kremlin’s official transcript.
The Mariupol city council claimed Tuesday that there are at least 1,000 civilians, mostly women with children and the elderly, seeking shelter in the Azovstal Steel and Iron Works plant. It was unclear how many Ukrainian troops were defending the site.
Putin in the televised meeting ordered his troops to “block” the industrial zone. He repeated the claim that Moscow would let troops leave unharmed if they lay down their weapons and surrender.
“There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground on these industrial facilities,” Putin said. “Block this industrial area so that the fly does not fly.”
Apr 20, 4:37 pm
Delegations walk out on Russian official
During a G20 meeting of economic and finance ministers on Wednesday, delegations from several countries, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, walked out of the room while Russia’s delegate began his remarks, the White House confirmed.
Canada’s Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, tweeted a photo of several officials, including herself, Yellen, U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, outside of the meeting room, standing in solidarity with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
“It’s an indication of the fact that President Putin and Russia has become a pariah on the global stage,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
The Treasury also unveiled new sanctions Wednesday against dozens of Russian and Belarusian people and institutions, including a key commercial bank and a virtual currency mining company.
“This is part of our stepped-up effort to crack down on those attempting to evade our unprecedented sanctions,” Psaki said.
The State Department has also imposed visa restrictions on over 600 Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainian separatists backed by the Kremlin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Apr 20, 3:59 pm
UN chief seeks peace talks with Putin, Zelenskyy
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres wrote separate letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday asking to meet “to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine,” a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the president’s office, tweeted that Ukraine is ready to hold a special round of negotiations in Mariupol.
Apr 20, 3:25 pm
Thousands more Russians enter Donbas: US official
Four more Russian battalions, each made up of roughly 800 to 1,000 troops, have crossed into Ukraine over the last 24 hours, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday. Three of those battalions — or up to 3,000 troops — moved to the disputed Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the official said.
Four flights carrying military aid, including artillery, from the Biden administration’s most recent $800 million package arrived in Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the official said. More supplies are set to arrive over the next day, the official said.
When ABC News asked why the U.S. decided to send artillery, the official responded: “We’re mindful of the importance of artillery in the fight that they’re in right now and in the fighting in the days to come because of the terrain, and because of what we think they’re going to be up against with Russian forces.”
Another reason was “the fact that it wouldn’t require an onerous amount of training for the Ukrainians to know how to use them” and the ability to ship them quickly, according to the official.
Apr 20, 2:12 pm
Humanitarian corridor from Mariupol didn’t work as planned Wednesday
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Wednesday’s humanitarian corridor from Mariupol didn’t work as planned but evacuation efforts will continue Thursday morning.
“Due to the lack of control over their own military on the ground, the occupiers were unable to ensure a proper ceasefire,” Vereshchuk said in a statement.
There also wasn’t “timely transportation of people to the point where dozens of our buses and ambulances were waiting,” Vereshchuk said.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Dozens of high school students in California contracted COVID-19 after attending their prom.
San Mateo High School held the party on April 9 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, about 18 miles away. Following the event, however, 90 out of the 600 students who attended tested positive for the virus.
“I was not very sick. I had a sore throat for a couple of days, like two, and then congestion,” junior Parker Del Balso, one of the 90 to contract COVID, told local affiliate ABC 7.
According to San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly, all of the cases were mild.
The outbreak comes as several other superspreader events have been reported, mostly recently this month’s Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C., that saw several high-profile politicians test positive for the virus including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
However, the cases were all reported to be either asymptomatic or mild, and no one required hospital care.
Experts said these outbreaks are a sign that BA.2 — a highly infectious subvariant of the original omicron variant and the predominant variant in the U.S — is not having a major impact on hospitalizations or deaths.
“These events, either among students or politicians, we are seeing signs of superspreader events,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “But they’re not severe because of widespread vaccinations and people are overall protected from severe illness and death.”
Masks were optional at the event. However, according to guidance from the Department of Public Health in San Francisco, where the prom was held, masking is only required in high-risk settings such as health care facilities and homeless shelters.
In other settings, masking is only recommended based on individual risk tolerance, where there is high levels of community spread and if someone is at high risk of severe illness.
Despite the outbreak, school leaders and students said having the prom was worth it to provide a sense of normalcy during the pandemic.
“This has been a really hard year for kids, and we need to keep having as many activities as we can,” Skelly said.
Del Baso, the junior student, agreed, telling the local station, “Overall, I think it was worth it. It was a great, fun time.”
Skelly told ABC 7 that other schools in the district will be adding more mitigation measures to their proms so they don’t experience similar outbreaks.
“We’re going to be more careful about activities,” he said. “We’re going to test more students beforehand to make sure they’re not going into the dance COVID positive.”
Dr. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist with the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, said the timing of the test before such events is very important.
“If you are doing a rapid PCR test and the event happens within two to three hours, that’s a good idea,” he told ABC News. “The timing and quality of the test will give you a good sense of security.”
He continued: “But if you get tested 48 hours before the event, you could catch the virus within that time and spread it.”
San Mateo Union High School District did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment. The Asian Art Museum also did not reply to a request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is slamming the Federal Aviation Administration for a plane scare that triggered a frantic evacuation of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday night.
She blamed the FAA for not notifying U.S. Capitol Police that a U.S. Army plane would be flying in restricted airspace near the Capitol — carrying parachute jumpers taking part in a demonstration at nearby Nationals Park.
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable,” Pelosi said in a statement released by her office. “The unnecessary panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful for Members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace on January 6th.”
On Jan. 6, the Capitol was breached by supporters of then President Donald Trump and poor information sharing was seen by at least one congressional committee as an intelligence failure by law enforcement.
The Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement entities have vowed to be better about information sharing and since that day every incident on Capitol Hill has been met with a large police presence and show of force.
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Capitol Police sent an alert about an aircraft intrusion, calling for an urgent evacuation of the U.S. Capitol.
A short time later, U.S. Capitol Police sent another notice that the aircraft no longer posed a threat.
“As soon as it was determined that we were not given advanced notice of an approved flight, our officers followed USCP policies and procedures and immediately led everyone safely out of the Congressional building,” Capitol Police said in a statement on Thursday. “It is extremely unusual not to be made aware of a flight in advance.”
The agency noted the last time they had an evacuation due to an aircraft was in 2014, adding the decision to evacuate the Capitol is one they don’t take lightly.
Capitol Police confirmed that the plane was a military flight by the Golden Knights Parachute Team for Military Appreciation night at Nationals Park.
Army parachutists landed on the field just before first pitch between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals.
The Army’s Recruiting Command says its initial review of Wednesday night’s incident has found that the Golden Knights parachute team filed all the appropriate FAA documentation and received proper FAA approval for their flight plan last night over Nationals Park.
“The team also confirmed the pilots established and maintained communication with the FAA prior to and throughout the operation,” says an Army spokesperson in a statement on Thursday.
The FAA has not responded to ABC News request for comment.
ABC News’ Sarah Shales, Mariam Khan and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
