Looks like Ciara is getting ready to “level up” this summer, seeing as the singer just teased what could be new music on the way.
The Grammy winner took to Instagram on Thursday night, sharing a snippet of a new upbeat song and a 16-second video clip of herself with a few dancers, twerking at what looks to be a gas station.
Wild guess the song — if actually a thing — might be a dance record and could be called “Jump,” considering Ciara’s caption. “Its time to pull up and make that thang J.U.M.P,” she wrote.
Social media definitely appreciated the tease. Many fans pointed to the gray-colored Bronco truck the women were dancing on and around — and the relation to her husband, Russell Wilson‘s, job as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.
“Issa CC summerrrrr🔥,” said fellow artist Latto, while Ciara’s good friend La La Anthony commented, “It’s time!!!🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍.”
Could be safe to say the hip-hop world is ready for new music from CiCi.
Luke Combs and his wife, Nicole, are counting down the days until they welcome their first child — a baby boy. Nicole hopped on Instagram Stories to answer some fan questions about her pregnancy, offer some baby name hints and more.
The couple have settled on a name, she revealed, adding that “picking a boy name was EXTREMELY difficult for us.” She didn’t spill the details on which name they selected, but did say that “it’s a family name but also pretty unique I think.”
Nicole also cautioned fans not to expect her to share too many details about her new bundle of joy, adding that she and Luke will be “more on the private side” when it comes to their son.
“I’m already protective of him & I get super aggressive and weird messages about him already which stresses me out,” she added. “It makes me kind of sad [because] of course I’m going to want to share him with everyone. Who knows, things may change later on.”
Baby boy Combs will be here sooner rather than later: In response to a question about when she’s due, Nicole replied, “This month!”
Jack Harlow just released the music video for “Churchill Downs,” which was filmed where the iconic Kentucky Derby takes place, and PETA wasn’t a fan.
The animal rights activist group is calling on the rapper to donate all profits made off the clip to the racehorses. “PETA is calling on Harlow to donate the song’s proceeds toward caring for Thoroughbreds discarded by the industry,” they said in a statement.
PETA cited the abuse racehorses endure and remarked, “Three horses die on U.S. racetracks every day.”
“Profiting from the abuse of others is never acceptable, and PETA is calling on Jack Harlow to pony up and pay for the care of American Thoroughbreds,” said PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo.
Neither Harlow nor his collaborator on the track, Drake, have responded to PETA’s request.
When Ozzy Osbourne appeared in the video for Yungblud‘s new single “The Funeral,” not only did the young rocker get to work with a metal legend, he also got some advice from the Prince of Darkness.
“He said that he saw a lot of himself in me,” Yungblud tells NME of his conversations with Ozzy. “He said, ‘Never apologize for anything. They will understand you later. Time always tells.'”
Yungblud says during the video shoot he got to see a different side of Ozzy than how he’s perceived by the public.
“People think [Ozzy] is kind of … gone, but he’s not,” Yungblud shares. “He’s so intelligent and so f***ing beautiful. People are scared of him until they hear him speak.”
Ozzy, by the way, isn’t the only classic rocker who is a Yungblud fan. The “Fleabag” artist has also earned admirers in Mick Jagger and Roger Daltrey.
“The Funeral” will appear on Yungblud’s upcoming self-titled album, due out September 2.
Just days before CMA Fest returns to Nashville, more performers have been added to the festival’s already massive lineup.
Brothers Osborne and Old Dominion will now take the main stage at Nissan Stadium during the four-day fest on a bill that includes opening acts like Randy Houser, Deana Carter and Shenandoah.
Nissan Stadium headliner Alan Jackson will no longer appear on the stage during the festival, which is set for June 9-12.
A number of performers have also been added to the Platform Stage at Nissan Stadium, including Maddie & Tae, Dylan Scott andPriscilla Block. Over on the CMA Close Up Stage, Russell Dickerson has been added to the bill on Thursday as the Artist of the Day at Fan Fair X.
For ticketing details and more information, visit the festival’s website.
The clip, which you can watch at Browne’s YouTube channel, features the 73-year-old singer/songwriter driving around Los Angeles during the day and evening while wearing mirrored sunglasses. The video was directed by Jackson’s son Ryan Browne.
“The song is about wanting to be somewhere else, but for whatever reasons, you’re tied to the place where you live and the things you do,” Jackson says about the tune. “So I wanted it to be me driving around. To me, the video has a distinctive feature, which is that nothing happens. You don’t arrive anywhere, right?”
Coinciding with the clip’s premiere, Jackson will kick off a new U.S. leg of his “An Evening With” tour Friday night with a show in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The summer trek, which features the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing with his full backing band, is plotted out through a four-show stand — July 26, 27, 29 and 30 — at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.
Jackson also has another leg of the tour lined up for later this year, which runs from an August 31 performance in San Diego through a September 25 concert at the famed Red Rock Park & Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
Country superstar Mickey Guyton announced she recently contracted COVID-19 and will no longer make her scheduled Saturday performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia this weekend.
“After 2 1/2 years of dodging this virus, Covid has finally hit my doorstep,” she said in a note shared on Instagram. “I was SO looking forward to playing the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on Saturday, but unfortunately, I’ve tested positive for Covid. It’s going to be such an amazing weekend and I can’t believe I have to miss it.” She added, “Hope to make it back soon, but until then, stay well!! ❤️ Mickey”
Guyton was among a list of stars and entertainers — like Mary J. Blige, Summer Walker, Tye Tribbett and G Herbo — who are set to take the stage in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Saturday and Sunday.
Although the four-time Grammy-nominated singer won’t make the music festival, she will appear in her CMTCrossroads episode alongside Texas-based band Black Pumpas, which airs on June 15.
Imagine the family that moved in next door to you was actually a bunch of famous evildoers in disguise. That’s the premise of Disney Channel’s new offering TheVillains of Valley View,and the cast explained what makes their show so relatable.
“It’s about a family of supervillains! What’s not to love about that?” Malachi Barton, who plays Flashform, asked ABC Audio. He thinks the show is relatable because it celebrates “a family being their unique selves while they’re having to learn how to work together.”
Reed Horstmann, who plays the villain Chaos, added the sitcom has “a lot of heart” because it’s about a family of once-powerful supervillains “finding their own self-confidence” after being “forced to adapt” to life on the run.
The family is forced to go into hiding after Havoc, played by Isabella Pappas, angers the League of Villains. The supervillains change their identities to the Madden family and move to a sleepy suburb in Texas.
Pappas said the show is not just about villains, it shares important life lessons. “It’s about taking control of your life and not letting people walk all over you,” she said, adding that’s an important message for young kids.
Kayden Muller-Janssen plays Hartley, the Maddens’ ultra-nice neighbor. She’s happy to see a show that sympathizes with villains instead of the “perfect” heroes. She said villains are allowed to have flaws, which makes them “really relatable” because “everybody makes mistakes. That’s a part of being human.”‘
British comedian Lucy Davis stars as the top-ranked villain Surge, the family’s matriarch, and found her “strong and confident” character very surprising. Teasing a midseason arc, she dished, “You almost wouldn’t have expected her to have insecurities.”
The Villains of Valley View premieres June 3 on Disney Channel.
R. Diamond/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Jeff Beck has been joined by a very famous special guest on his current U.K. tour — guitarist Johnny Depp. At the British blues-rock guitarist’s latest concert, in Gateshead on Tuesday, he revealed that he and the Pirates of the Caribbean star will be releasing a collaborative album soon.
Stereogum reports that during the concert, Beck said to the audience, “I met this guy five years ago, and we’ve never stopped laughing since. We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”
According to Setlist.fm, Depp joined Beck at his last four U.K. concerts to perform several songs, including an original called “Hedy Lamarr.” They also covered John Lennon‘s “Isolation,” late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson‘s “Time,” Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On,” Jimi Hendrix‘s “Little Wing,” Killing Joke‘s “The Death and Resurrection Show” and The Beatles‘ “A Day in the Life.”
Beck and Depp actually released a collaborative studio version of “Isolation” as a digital single in 2020.
Depp’s latest performance with Beck came a day after Johnny scored a major legal victory against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, as jurors agreed that she defamed him with an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018.
Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in the defamation suit, although the judge clarified that Virginia law caps the latter at $350,000.
Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, claiming the article obliquely — and falsely — accused him of abuse, which, he maintained, devastated his film career.
Beck has four concerts left on his U.K. trek, but it’s not known if Depp will perform at the upcoming shows.
Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — One hundred days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the unexpectedly prolonged conflict has created a political headache for President Joe Biden with no end in sight.
Historic inflation and sky-high prices at the gas pump in the U.S. have driven Biden’s popularity down ahead of midterm elections this fall.
He has to a large degree risked his political fortunes on the outcome of a war that he has pledged he will not send U.S. troops to fight — and which shows no signs of abating.
Russia has made recent gains on the battlefield. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russian forces now control 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Biden said Friday that “it appears” there will have to be “a negotiated settlement” to end the war.
“What that entails, I don’t know,” the president said, speaking to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “I don’t think anybody knows at this time.”
But Biden would not say if he thought Ukraine had to cede territory to Russia to achieve peace.
“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said. “It’s their territory. I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do.”
The president has succeeded in largely keeping Western allies united, strengthening the NATO alliance in the face of Russia attempts to split it.
But as Russia continues to block Ukrainian food exports and sanctions drive up energy prices worldwide, Biden has found himself in the increasingly difficult position of balancing his desire to stop what he has called Russia’s threat to democracy, with Americans’ rising economic uncertainty.
Russia has also sought to present the conflict as a fight in which the United States is directly involved.
But while Biden insists he will not send American troops to Ukraine, as long as the war continues — and while the U.S. sends Ukraine increasingly sophisticated weaponry — the risk remains that the president could find himself more deeply involved than he wants.
The United States has sent billions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Ukraine. Last month, Biden signed legislation providing $40 billion more over the coming months.
And it has provided intelligence that the Ukrainians have used to target Russian forces.
The U.S. military assistance — combined with aid from other Western nations — have contributed to Ukraine’s successes in fending off the Russian invasion.
The level of weapons systems the U.S. has provided has become more and more advanced over time.
This week, Biden committed to sending even more powerful, longer-range missile systems useful for the battle in eastern Ukraine.
After Russia’s failures early in the war — not taking any major cities and finding itself forced to narrow its aims — it has now made steady progress in the east.
What Vladimir Putin thought might just take a matter of days — conquering all of Ukraine — didn’t happen due to Ukrainian resolve and increasing American help.
But his aggression continues, despite unprecedented heavy sanctions that Biden said would change his behavior — sanctions now in effect for months.
One hundred days in, how Biden’s face-off with Putin ends — and when — is still an open question.
