Harry Styles, Adele, Goo Goo Dolls, Gavin Degraw and Sara Bareilles are now the proud owners of more RIAA-certified Gold and Platinum hits.
The agency noted that only three albums and 13 singles released this year have achieved Gold and Platinum status — and among the handful of acts is Harry’s “As It Was. In a press release, RIAA dubbed it the top digital single of 2022 after selling over two million copies, thus earning double Platinum status. It also should be noted that his 2019 hit “Lights Up” is also two times Platinum now.
Two Adele songs from her 30 album obtained multi-Platinum status with “Oh My God” selling a million copies, while “Easy On Me” went three-times Platinum.
Goo Goo Dolls are celebrating 10 of their songs earning Gold and Platinum status in this latest roundup. Four songs of theirs — “Here Is Gone,” “Come To Me,” “Sympathy” and “Let Love In” — are Gold, with sales of over half a million copies. “Iris” remains their best-selling single, now certified for sales of seven million copies, while their 1998 album, Dizzy Up The Girl,is now five-times Platinum.
The group’s single “Name” sold over two million copies, while “Better Days,” “Black Balloon” and “Slide” have all achieved Platinum status.
Meanwhile, Gavin DeGraw’s 2011 hit “Not Over You” is now certified four-times Platinum.
And just in time for the 15th anniversary of her debut album Little Voice, which is officially twice Platinum, Sara found out her breakout hit “Love Song” has been certified six-times Platinum, while her single “Gravity” is double Platinum.
RIAA awards are determined based on a song or album’s sales as well as the amount of on-demand streams in the U.S.
Journey was forced to postpone the last four concerts of their spring North American tour because an unspecified member of the group tested positive for COVID-19, and now those dates have been rescheduled for March 2023.
The concerts, which were to have taken place on May 10 in Washington, D.C.; May 11 in Hartford, Connecticut; May 13 in Toronto; and May 16, in Quebec City, Canada, are now scheduled for next year on March 1, March 4, March 12 and March 9, respectively.
Toto, who served as Journey’s support act for the band’s entire spring 2022 tour leg, will also open those four 2023 shows. Heart‘s Ann Wilson had been announced as the opening act for the Toronto and Quebec City concerts before they were postponed.
As previously reported, Journey will release a new studio album titled Freedom on Friday, July 8.
The band also has a dozen upcoming 2022 concerts scheduled, including four special symphonic shows in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23. Visit JourneyMusic.com for more info on the group’s tour schedule.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) While his career is going strong now, with the Stranger Things phenomenon, actor David Harbour wasn’t so sure after his 2019 reboot of Hellboy flopped.
Back then, he tells GQ, he reached out to another star whose career had suffered its own superheroic bomb: Ryan Reynolds.
Harbour explained, “I called him and I was like, ‘Hey man, I just need to know something. You know Green Lantern? Huge flop for you. What the f*** is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now.”
“Am I gonna be okay? Am I gonna survive this?” he recalls asking.
For his part, he said Reynolds was “sweet” about the situation.
Both actors have since rebounded: Harbour with his turn in the MCU with Black Widow and of course, Reynolds has been on a hot streak since 2016’s Deadpool, which the Free Guy and Adam Project star described as a make-or-break moment for his career.
In fact, he’s used Deadpool to make fun of himself for choosing Green Lantern, repeatedly — even going so far as to have the red-suited hero go back in time to shoot “Ryan Reynolds” before he could make the movie, as seen in Deadpool 2.
For Harbour, however, the fate of the project reinventing comic artist Mike Mignola‘s demonic creation is still bitter. “It was a very difficult experience because I wanted a lot out of it. I really like Mike Mignola. I like that character,” he says.
The character was previously portrayed by fan favorite Ron Perlman, in projects brought to the screen by Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro.
“[E]ven when [the reboot] was announced, I realized that people did not want that character reinvented,” Harbour expressed, calling himself “naive and optimistic” at the time.
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — The father of the alleged Highland Park parade shooter has told ABC News that he is not culpable in the Independence Day attack, in spite of having signed a consent form for his son to apply for gun ownership.
“I had no — not an inkling, warning — that this was going to happen,” Bobby Crimo Jr. told ABC News about the Fourth of July attack his son, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, allegedly carried out in Highland Park, Illinois. “I am just shocked.”
Crimo claims both he and his wife asked their son just days before if he had any plans for the holiday. “He said ‘no.’ That was it,” Crimo recalled.
Crimo says he spent nearly an hour with his son in his yard the night before the attack talking about the planet. “Great mood,” he remembered. “I’m just shocked.”
Crimo says he never saw his son as a danger to anyone, but authorities recently disclosed at least one past instance in which his son allegedly threatened violence. In 2019, police in Highland Park confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from the suspect’s home after a family member called claiming he “was going to kill everyone.”
Crimo III is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and more charges are expected, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said. Prosecutors said that Crimo III confessed to Monday morning’s parade massacre. He did not enter a plea during a bond hearing on Wednesday.
“Making threats to the family … I think [that was] taken out of context,” Crimo said about authorities’ description of the 2019 incident. “It’s like just a child’s outburst, whatever he was upset about, and I think his sister called the police — I wasn’t living there.” Crimo said police removed his son’s knife collection from the home, after he was asked if there were any weapons in the house.
Authorities did not open a criminal investigation.
Later that same year, Crimo signed an affidavit allowing Crimo III to apply to obtain a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Card — needed in the state of Illinois to purchase firearms or ammunition.
“I filled out the consent form to allow my son to go through the process that the Illinois State Police have in place for an individual to obtain a FOID card,” Crimo said. “They do background checks. Whatever that entails, I’m not exactly sure. And either you’re approved or denied, and he was approved.”
On Wednesday, Illinois State Police announced there will be a criminal investigation into Crimo’s culpability because he sponsored his son’s application for a firearm owner identification card in 2019.
“Do I regret that? No, not three years ago — signing a consent form to go through the process … that’s all it was,” said Crimo, adding that he is not worried about potential legal consequences. “Had I purchased guns throughout the years and given them to him in my name, that’s a different story. But he went through that whole process himself.” Crimo said his son purchased the weapons with his own money and registered them in his own name.
Crimo claims he had no involvement with him purchasing weapons and learned of his son’s firearm collection when he displayed a “Glock handgun” he purchased on his 21st birthday. “Oh, looks nice,” he says he told Crimo III.
Crimo III’s FOID card was renewed in 2021 without the involvement of his father, according to authorities.
Crimo says he does not know the motive behind his son’s actions. “That’s what I’d like to ask him when I see him,” said Crimo. “Whatever was going on in his head at the time … to go kill and hurt innocent people is just senseless.” Crimo says his “heart goes out to all of the families that were affected.”
Crimo III allegedly killed seven people and injured dozens of others in the attack.
“I think about them all the time,” his father told ABC News. “I even had some people that were injured that I personally know.”
Prior to the shooting, Crimo’s son left a trail of disturbing images online — including depictions of shootings. He was also an amateur rapper with a little over 16,000 monthly listeners on Spotify; his last music release featured an album cover of a cartoon character aiming a gun.
“The online content I’m not aware of till recently,” said Crimo, adding that he saw his son as an “artist,” but did not always understand his work. “Maybe I’ve seen a couple of them in the past, and I’d look at them and go ‘that’s not you,’ because I know it’s like an act.”
Crimo denied rumors of his son suffering abuse at home. “Never, never,” he said, and he added that he and his wife are “very much against it.”
“I kept hearing all this stuff about … horrible parenting,” Crimo said. “He wasn’t raised that way. He has good morals,” he added.
“This isn’t Bobby,” Crimo said of his son’s actions. “I guess that’s why it’s so hard to wrap yourself around it. It doesn’t add up.”
Crimo III is being held without bond and is set to return to court for a preliminary hearing on July 28.
Crimo said the whole system needs to be overhauled, to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. “We need to come together as a community here in the country to come up with something, whether it’s new laws, guidelines … this country is our problem right here.”
A super-rich financial status isn’t the only thing Drake and Jeff Bezos have in common. On Instagram Wednesday, the Canadian rapper and Amazon founder bonded over their humble beginnings.
Drake shared a series of throwback images — one of a younger version of himself, presumably during his days as an actor on the show Degrassi and another of Bezos many years ago, sitting at a desk in front of an old computer in what’s been referred to as the very first Amazon office.
“Gotta start somewhere,” the rapper captioned the post, to which Bezos responded with the lyrics of a popular Drake song, “Started from the bottom now we’re here.”
In the first image, Drake is photographed in front of a door marked 1503. According to Complex, 1503 is the address of the apartment on 15 Fort York in Toronto, where the “God’s Plan” rapper and producer Noah “40“ Shebib recorded most of the work for So Far Gone, Drake’s third mixtape.
Drake, 35, previously mentioned 1503 in the 2015 track, “Know Yourself.”
“Yeah, this that Oliver 40, Niko s**t man, 15 Fort York shit ya know,” he raps.
The Grammy-winning star was shocked to learn of Bezos’ comment. “holyyy Jeff knows about the man dem nobody can chat to me today!!! Big Bezos in the comments,” he replied.
According to Forbes, who has Bezos as the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $141.9 billion, the e-commerce giant started Amazon in 1994, out of the garage of his Seattle home.
Kane Brown may be working on a full-blown country album, but he’s still got plenty of pop hits in the chamber, and one of them will be out later this month.
The singer hopped on social media this week to tease the new song called “Grand.” Video footage shows Kane dancing and singing along in the studio, followed by shots from what appears to be the music video shoot, complete with futuristic strobe lights and a lit-up green background.
“Ain’t life grand? / Only ones I keep around me is my fam / No coincidence, that’s always been the plan / And I always keep it truly with the fans,” he sings in the clip.
“July 22!” Kane wrote in the caption of his post, encouraging fans to pre-save the track.
Kane has always put out a wide array of different musical styles, and he frequently collaborates with artists both in and outside of the country genre. Recently, he was announced as one of the contributors to EDM star Steve Aoki’s upcoming duets project.
It’s hard to believe Dirty Dancing came out almost 35 years ago. To celebrate its milestone anniversary, fans of the romantic film will soon be able to get their hands on commemorative editions of its best-selling soundtrack.
RCA Records and Legacy Recordings announced in a press release that they will reissue the iconic soundtrack with an all-new collectible color cassette edition as well as a 2LP vinyl set.
The cassette tape will come with an all-new cover and honor both Side A and Side B of the best-selling album by “showcasing these twelve classic tracks the way they’re meant to be heard.”
If you need a refresher, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack was stuffed with hit songs, including the standout track “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. Also accompanying that hit on Side A is star Patrick Swayze‘s “She’s Like the Wind” as well as Eric Carmen‘s “Hungry Eyes” and The Ronettes‘ “Be My Baby.”
The cassette drops Friday, August 19 and is available to pre-order on Amazon.
As for the vinyl collection, it’ll come with two records titled Dirty Dancing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) and More Dirty Dancing. It’ll arrive Wednesday, August 24. That is also available to preorder on MondoShop.com.
The soundtrack is one of the best-selling albums of all time. RIAA recently minted the Dirty Dancing soundtrack 14-times Platinum — meaning it sold over 14 million copies in the U.S. alone. On a global scale, over 32 million copies flew off the shelves when it was released in July 1987, cementing its status as one of the best-selling albums of all time.
The soundtrack also dominated the Billboard 200 for four months — or 18 weeks — after it was released.
Not even Doja Cat is immune to Eddie Munson’s charm. The Grammy winner has made it clear she caught feelings for Stranger Things breakout star Joseph Quinn and is really hoping he slides into her DMs.
After the new season premiered on Netflix, Doja fired off a tweet saying Joseph was “fine as s***.” She also declared Wednesday in a since-deleted tweet that she found his good looks “f***ing criminal.”
Things snowballed from there when original Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp revealed on TikTok that the “Say So” hitmaker slid into his DMs in hopes he could be her wingman.
He grabbed a screenshot of their Instagram exchange, which begins with Doja begging, “Noah can u tell Joseph to hmu.” She then doubles back to clarify, “wait no. Does he have a gf?”
“LMAOO slide into his dms,” Noah encourages in response, giving her the all clear that Joseph isn’t spoken for — but Doja then insists she doesn’t know the British actor’s Instagram or Twitter account handles.
The Grammy winner then replies, “He doesn’t have a dm to slide in.” She is proven wrong when Noah doubles back by linking Joseph’s account and writes back, “Right here ma’am.”
Fans are going wild that Noah exposed the “Kiss Me More” singer on TikTok, while others have applauded Doja for asking if Joseph was already taken.
It is unknown at this time if Doja has worked up the courage to message her crush.
Stranger Things‘ entire fourth season is streaming now on Netflix.
(NEW YORK) — After a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more at an Independence Day parade outside Chicago on Monday, thousands turned to the online platform GoFundMe to donate money to the victims — the latest example of the public gathering online to fundraise after a tragedy.
While websites like GoFundMe have made such philanthropy increasingly easy, there can be risks.
Highland Park, Illinois, Mayor Nancy Rotering warned the community about potential fundraising scams in a Tuesday morning news conference. By then GoFundMe had already established a specialized hub with links to fundraisers it said it had verified.
Donors had raised millions across 11 different pages as of Wednesday, the website showed. Comments poured in offering well-wishes; some hoped for more gun reform. At least one donor said they were sending care from as far away as Australia.
“As a parent trying to enjoy the little things in life with my own kids, I am deeply saddened that this is where we are now in our world, having to fear a street parade. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you,” said a comment from a user named Joanna Castello.
One fund will support the family of a couple killed in the shooting. Irina and Kevin McCarthy’s 2-year-old son, Aiden, was found alone in the aftermath. He was later reunited with his grandparents, according to a Highland Park city manager.
As of Thursday morning, the fundraiser for the slain couple had drawn almost $3 million, more than six times its initial goal of $500,000 — with more than 50,000 individual donations.
Many donors directly addressed the couple’s orphaned son in their messages.
One GoFundMe donor identified as Lauren Cohen wrote: “Aiden, I am so sorry for your unimaginable and tragic loss. We are all looking out for you and are heartbroken for you, your family and all of the victims of this tragedy. Sending love.”
The parade shooting “hub” is not the first instance when GoFundMe has been used in the wake of a mass shooting.
Following the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre in May and disasters including West Coast wildfires and the 2021 Surfside Condo collapse in Florida, GoFundMe has continued to establish so-called “crisis hubs,” according to a Medium post the company shared last year.
When news reports of a crisis arise, GoFundMe said it directs a team that monitors related fundraisers, according to the post. The company works with newsrooms, government officials and law enforcement during the verification process.
Some funds are held by the platform until payment information is confirmed — even if the fundraiser is verified, the Medium post shows.
GoFundMe does not always deem unverified fundraisers fraudulent. They can still accumulate donations, according to the post. But organizers cannot withdraw funds from pages that have not been vetted.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told ABC News Wednesday that the platform requires details such as government ID, banking information and addresses when verifying pages. GoFundMe guarantees a full donation refund in cases of fraud, the spokesperson said.
Donors can also directly report pages to GoFundMe for investigation and contact organizers with questions on the site if they want to know more before donating, the spokesperson said.
Kevin Scally, chief relationship officer for the nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator, told ABC News that fraudulent activity often takes place outside platforms like GoFundMe. Scally said scammers are more likely to target people through look-alike fake webpages and direct, personal appeals.
Scally said GoFundMe has made great strides in fraud protection, citing the policy of validating users before allowing them to withdraw funds. Still, he urged prospective donors to do their research.
“It’s typically best to do some due diligence and make sure that, if you are supporting an organization or you’re supporting a personal fundraiser, you’re doing that through a verified, valid means,” he said.
James Caan, the actor who was perhaps best known for his iconic role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, has died. He was 82.
A tweet from Caan’s account on Thursday read, “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.”
Bronx, NY native Caan got his start in theater before switching to TV, where he had roles in popular series like The Untouchables, Route 66 and Dr. Kildare. After making his movie debut in 1963 with an uncredited cameo in Irma la Douce, he worked steadily, but none of his movies were very successful.
In 1971, Caan starred in the hit TV movie Brian’s Song, earning an Emmy nomination. In 1972, his former college classmate Francis Ford Coppola, who’d previously cast Caan in his 1969 film The Rain People, tapped him to play Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, which earned Caan Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. He also appeared briefly in the sequel, The Godfather Part II.
In the years that followed, Caan, now a box-office success, starred in hits like Funny Lady, Rollerball, A Bridge Too Far, Thief and Chapter Two, but famously turned down roles in now-classic movies like including M*A*S*H, The French Connection, Apocalypse Now, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Blade Runner, Superman and Kramer vs. Kramer.
For most of the ’80s, Caan stopped acting for a variety of personal reasons, but he returned to the screen in the ’90s with Misery, Honeymoon in Vegas and Wes Anderson‘s directorial debut, Bottle Rocket. He continued to work in TV and movies, most famously in Elf, as Will Ferrell’s estranged father. In 2012, he guest-starred in his son Scott Caan‘s CBS series Hawaii Five-0.
This fall, Caan was to have started filming Coppola’s Megalopolis.
