Shawn Mendes has decided that his current Wonder tour was just too much, too soon.
The Canadian superstar has announced that he plans to hit pause on his trek for the next three weeks so he can focus on his mental health. In an Instagram post, he writes, “I’ve been touring since I was 15 and to be honest, it’s always been difficult to be on the road away from friends and family.”
“After a few years off from the road, I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature,” he continues. “Unfortunately, the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me and I’ve hit a breaking point. After speaking with my team and health professionals, I need to take some time to heal and take care of myself and my mental health, first and foremost.”
Shawn said the postponement would last through his July 29 show in Uncasville, CT. He signed off by promising fans he would let them know “as soon as there are more updates.”
Tony Sirico, known for his scene-stealing role as Paul ‘Paulie Walnuts’ Gualtieri on The Sopranos, has died. He was 79.
No cause of death has been released.
Sirico’s brother, Rev. Robert Sirico, announced the news on Facebook Friday. “It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022,” Robert wrote.
“The family is deeply grateful for the many expressions of love, prayer and condolences and requests that the public respect its privacy in this time of bereavement,” the post continued. ”Memorial donations may be made in his honor to Wounded Warriors, St. Jude’s Hospital and the Acton Institute.”
According to the post, Sirico is survived by his two children Joanne Sirico Bello and Richard Sirico, as well as grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and many other relatives.
Sirico’s Sopranos co-star Michael Imperioli shared a tribute post on Instagram Friday, writing in part, “Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone i’ve ever known. I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad. But mostly good. And we had a lot of laughs.”
Neil Young has revealed that he just finished making a new studio album with Crazy Horse that he co-produced with Rick Rubin.
In a message posted Thursday on his Neil Young Archives website, the 76-year-old folk-rock legend explains that he’d like to release the album immediately, “but it won’t be out until later in this year,” because it will take some time for the vinyl to be manufactured.
“Listeners want vinyl for its quality and it’s worth waiting for,” he says, adding that some tracks from the album will be made available one at a time in advance leading up to the record’s release.
“With this recording, something special is happening and we know we have a good one,” Young enthuses about the new project. “It’s too early to say any more because in this world things come and go so fast. But real magic lasts and we think we have it.”
The as-yet-untitled album is a follow-up to Barn, which Young and Crazy Horse recorded in June 2021 and released in December.
“It’s the same band, Crazy Horse, but the music is unlike Barn, our last offering,” Neil writes. “Music lives!!!!! Two records made in one year!!!!!!!”
Veteran Norwegian pop-rock band A-ha, best known for their chart-topping 1985 hit “Take On Me,” have unveiled plans to release a new studio album called True North and a companion film of the same name in the coming months.
The album, which will be released on October 21, was recorded in November 2021 in the Norwegian city of Bodø, located just south of the Arctic Circle. The film, which documents the making of the album, will premiere in select theaters around the world in late summer and then will be made available for rental or purchase on October 21.
The first single from True North, “I’m In,” was released Friday via digital formats, along with a video featuring footage of A-ha performing the emotional song with Norway’s Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra.
A-ha multi-instrumentalist Magne Furuholmen, who wrote “I’m In,” says the song is a tune “about total commitment and a show of support for someone who is troubled.”
The True North film features the group performing and recording the new songs with the orchestra and also captures the band members discussing the project around Bodø. In addition, the film features scenes where actors portray life in the northern region of Norway.
“True North is a letter from A-ha, from the Arctic Circle, a poem from the far north of Norway with new music,” says Furuholmen.
The True North album can be preordered now and will be available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl set, digitally and as limited deluxe edition featuring the CD, the two LPs, a 40-page hard-cover book and a USB card.
A new TikTok video shows Harry Styles coming to a fan’s defense when performing in Antwerp, Belgium. A woman from North Carolina was waving a sign that said she was “stuck” in Europe, so naturally Harry asked her about it onstage. Once the audience learned she was American, they started booing. Harry looked appalled and tried lightening the mood by interacting further with the stranded fan — who definitely loved the extra attention.
If you need help rehabbing a cheap wig, just ask Lindsey Stirling. She revealed on Instagram that she ordered two $30 wigs off Amazon for her “Til The Light Goes Out” music video. She styled the wigs herself and revealed that if you want your wig to look “expensive,” you “cut some little wispy hairs in front to mask the cheap hairline.”
It’s been 40 years since Janet Jackson released her debut solo single, “Young Love,” and the Grammy winner has been celebrating the milestone anniversary on Instagram. “Wow it’s been 40 years u guys. Thank u so much for all the LUV,” she wrote while sharing some throwback pictures of the single’s official artwork.
How would you celebrate your kid’s birthday? How about a giant bubble bath? That’s what Jewel did! The singer is on tour and revealed she convinced a venue to put a ton of bubbles in their in-ground pool so her kid could enjoy some pre-birthday shenanigans. Jewel is currently on tour with Train and Blues Traveler.
Blondiehas released a rare demo of a song called “I Love You Honey, Give Me a Beer” that was recorded in 1980 and that will be featured on the band’s expansive forthcoming box set, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982, which is due out August 26.
The track, which is available now via digital formats, is an early version of “Go Through It,” a country-flavored tune that appeared on the band’s hit 1980 album, Autoamerican.
As previously reported, Against the Odds focuses on the influential New Wave band’s original heyday and is fully authorized by the group.
The retrospective, which can be preordered now, will be available in multiple formats and configurations, including an eight-CD set and a super deluxe collectors’ edition that features 10 12-inch vinyl LPs, a 10-inch LP and a 7-inch vinyl single.
The vinyl box set features 124 tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased. The collection contains remastered versions of Blondie’s first six studio albums — 1976’s Blondie, 1977’s Plastic Letters, 1978’s Parallel Lines, 1979’s Eat to the Beat, Autoamerican and 1982’s The Hunter — and four LPs of outtakes, demos, remixes, alternate versions, home recordings and other rarities.
The 10-inch disc features additional rarities from 1974 and ’75, while the vinyl single boasts a cover of The Doors‘ “Moonlight Drive” and a demo of the song “Mr. Sightseer.”
The box set also includes extensive liner notes and track-by-track commentary from Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke, and from former members Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Frank Infante and Gary Valentine.
Blondie: Against the Odds also will be available as a four-LP package, a three-CD set and digitally.
(NEW YORK) — Excessive heat warnings are in effect across much of the southern U.S. heading into a weekend with potentially record-breaking temperatures.
As of Friday morning, 13 states are on heat alert and temperatures will reach triple digits in parts of the south, with feel-like temperatures as high as 115 degrees, ABC News weather team reports.
Here are the high temperature records to watch on Saturday:
Salt Lake City, UT: 102º (1994)
Denver, CO: 98º (2021)
Scottsbluff, NE: 104º (2017)
Corpus Christi, TX: 100º (2005)
Austin, TX: 104º (2009)
Houston, TX: 102º (1980)
Waco, TX: 104º (1978)
Dallas, TX: 106º (1980)
Shreveport, LA: 104º (1884)
Tupelo, MS: 100º (1936)
Severe weather is also expected to continue across parts of the North, including Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota where large hail and damaging winds are possible, and a tornado cannot be ruled out. Golf ball size hail was reported in Montana and record flooding was reported in North Carolina and Missouri on Thursday.
Flash flooding due to heavy rain is possible through the weekend in parts of the Southeast, especially coastal regions from Georgia through the Carolinas where more than 3” is possible.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday touted falling gas prices, robust new jobs numbers and a low unemployment rate to make the case that his economic program and fight to bring inflation down is “working.”
“The unemployment rate is near a historic low of 3.6%. The private sector jobs are at a record high,” he said at a White House event about abortion. “Gas prices are still way too high, and have fallen 25 days in a row. And this week we saw the second largest single day decrease in gas prices in a decade. We still have a lot of work to do … But I am suggesting we are making significant progress. The program is working.”
The national average for a gallon of gas stood at $4.72 Friday, down three cents from Thursday and about 12 cents since this time last week, according to AAA.
The average cost for gas peaked at $5.01 per gallon on June 14, according to AAA, and the price of crude oil fell below $100 per barrel this week for the first time since May 11.
Relief at the pump comes as global demand for commodities slows, resulting in lower prices for crude oil copper, cotton, and lumber.
“I think the reason why oil prices are going down now is because the prospect that we do see an economic slowdown,” GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan told ABC News Thursday.
If that trend continues, a potential recession could prove politically problematic for Biden and fellow Democrats ahead of the midterm elections in November. Building a strong economy was a priority in the Democratic party’s 2020 platform.
“But, if all of a sudden, the worries over the recession fade, we can see oil prices go right back up,” De Haan said.
A hurricane making landfall near a refinery, such as one in Louisiana, could also cause prices to rise.
In the coming weeks, what Americans pay at the pump in some states could fall another 25 to 50 cents per gallon on average, De Haan said.
Some stations around the country have already lowered prices to the mid-three-dollar range.
The president’s remarks Friday are the latest in a largely unsuccessful White House effort to counter damaging daily headlines about skyrocketing prices at the pump.
What began with attributing the rise in prices to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine became a proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for three months. But that plan found little support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Some Republican senators called the proposal to halt the 18-cent tax a gimmick, while some Democrats said it might not work.
The president also floated offering rebate cards to Americans in June, but the Washington Post reported a chip shortage would make it challenging to produce the cards.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm then met with top oil executives late last month to discuss how their companies might help ease pain at the pump, but some analysts say it is unlikely the current price drop is related to the administration’s lobbying efforts.
The falling price of crude oil and weakened demand have driven the cost of gas down and the industry is also working through higher-cost inventory, according to investment research firm Third Bridge’s global lead for energy Peter McNally.
“That is bringing prices at the pump down, not the president telling the corner gas station to do it,” McNally said Thursday.
The White House doubled down this week, again calling for Congress to suspend the federal gas tax Thursday and blaming Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Friday.
“Wholesale gas prices are down by $1 per gallon,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. “Retail gas prices have only come down by about 20 cents over the same period. More work needs to be done.”
But gas stations are slowly lowering their prices as they try to recapture some of their margins from when prices rose, De Haan said. Stations are behind the curve when their costs rise for up to five days, as raising prices is difficult if other stations do not adjust theirs, he said.
The White House and the Federal Reserve deserve some credit for recognizing inflation as a serious challenge, University of Houston petroleum engineering professor Ramanan Krishnamoorti said Thursday.
The FED raising interest rates last month “certainly slowed down some of the price exuberance we’ve seen with inflation,” he said.
The government’s release of 100 million oil barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve year-to-date has also helped. Releasing oil has added supply to the market, likely preventing prices from going higher, McNally said.
Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE
(NEW YORK) — Elon Musk is terminating his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, according to a new Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
“Mr. Musk has sought the data and information necessary to ‘make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s platform'” and did not receive it, the filing stated.
Fake accounts have become a sticking point in Musk’s rollercoaster bid to acquire the social media platform, with the Tesla CEO previously threatening to end his agreement over concerns about the prevalence of bot and spam accounts
In the filing on Friday, Musk’s attorney claimed that Twitter “is in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement” and appears to have made “false and misleading representations” when entering into the agreement.
Twitter stock is down about 6% in after-hours trading.
ABC News’ has reached out to Twitter for comment.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Cruise and Teller in “Maverick” — Paramount Pictures
When any film makes a billion bucks, it’s all but guaranteed its movie studio wants to talk “sequel.” But in the case of Top Gun: Maverick, it all comes down to one person: Tom Cruise.
Considering the fact the biggest hit of his career came 36 years after the hit original, it’s unlikely we have to wait that long for a follow-up — if there will be any.
Still, co-star Miles Teller, who plays Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Anthony Edwards‘ character “Goose” from the first movie, told Entertainment Tonight that he’s had “conversations about it” with Cruise.
“That would be great, but that’s all up to TC, that’s all up to Tom,” Teller says.
The film has Cruise’s AARP-qualified ace Navy pilot having to train a new squad of young hotshots for a dangerous mission. Teller’s fellow flyers included Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis and Glen Powell.
However, even if a sequel doesn’t come to pass, the actor is satisfied. He says of the now-60-year-old star, “For him to share Top Gun with me and a lot of these other young actors, it’s just been such a wild ride, and it’s still going.”
