She says the song came as the result of a mental illness she didn’t even know she was living with. She revealed details about her upcoming album, The Journey, which speaks to just that — her journey through hardship, healing and leaning on faith. In a recent interview with ABC Audio, Maverick City Music member Naomi Raine spoke candidly about intimate life details ahead of her debut TRIBL Records solo single, “Not Ready.”
The inspirational new track provides listeners with a firsthand account of Raine’s honest conversation with Jesus, about grappling with the idea of having everything she’s wished for but at the same time feeling incomplete.
“I think that first line of, ‘Let’s be honest, Jesus I’m a mess’ — I wrote that when I was on my way out of a depression,” she said. Though “nothing was really wrong,” Raine came to the conclusion that she wasn’t living as her authentic, true self. “I was still trying to please everybody else and make everybody else feel good and I felt like my life was slipping away from me.”
But out of her struggle grew “Not Ready,” which has since served as a healing mechanism and reminder of her not just her power, but the power of music.
“I started to write … and get out of some of the funk that I was in. Putting language to it, just began to heal me in a way that I can’t even explain. I think music is miraculous.”
Raine’s realization that her artistry impacts others who can relate to the content of her songs helped her feel better about the lows life sometimes brings.
“I started to feel like, ‘OK, I’m normal,'” she said. “‘Not Ready’ is just a snapshot of my journey.”
Chris Young has a personal connection to the military — his sister and grandfather both served in the Marines — but that’s not all: Throughout his career, he’s made it a point to uplift and connect with all those who serve.
“There’s so many people that I’ve met,” he says, explaining that his career has afforded him the opportunity to perform for and meet military service men and women of all description. Every one of them has an inspiring story, he adds.
“If I was going to pick one — my buddy Joe Bowser, who lost his leg while he was serving,” Chris continues. “He and I have been friends for years and years and years…I got to meet him through one of my very first trips over to Iraq and German and Kuwait.”
Chris leans on his fellow country stars for inspiration on how to best use his platform to support the military. In particular, he looks up to the late legend Charlie Daniels, whose Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project raises funds for veteran-focused projects.
“They’ve got a lot of different outreach for veterans, if they’re dealing with something, or they might need help,” Chris details.
“Seeing Charlie’s love for the military, getting a chance to help them raise money and knowing it’s going to help our veterans who might need a leg up,” he goes on to say.
“Having that military connection to my family, having been able to be lucky enough to go around the world playing for military,” he adds,” being able to offer some help to veterans, it’s really important for me to have a chance to do that.”
The 15-track collection was recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, with frontman Joe Elliott in Ireland, bassist Rick Savage in the U.K., and guitarists Phil Collen and Viv Campbell and drummer Rick Allen all in the U.S.
Elliott tells ABC Audio that he really enjoyed working on the album remotely.
“[T]he creating of the record was beautiful, really, because everybody just was in their own space,” the singer notes. “And…all you needed to do [was] pick up the phone or send an email going, ‘I’ve got an idea,’ and then, bing!, off goes your inbox and there’s an MP3, and you sit and listen to it…and see if there’s anything you can add to it.”
Collen also loved the process, explaining, “It just saved so much energy, and we were just allowed to express and create and be inspired constantly…It was great.”
The album title references a lyrical phrase from T. Rex‘s signature tune “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” and Collen points out that Def Leppard chose the moniker after realizing that many tracks on the record included elements that evoked the early-’70s glam-rock era — a major influence on the band.
“[W]e realized that [between] the songs there was a thread,” Phil notes. “It was like some of the lyrics, some of the ideas, some of the vibes and rhythms and grooves were very…from that period.”
Adding to the glam-rock theme, Def Leppard enlisted longtime David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson to play piano on two tracks.
Elliott says Garson’s parts “had a little bit of avant-garde, kind of jazzy [feel], but not too much to…make it sound weird.”
Here’s Diamond Star Halos‘ full track list:
“Take What You Want”
“Kick”
“Fire It Up”
“This Guitar” — featuring Alison Krauss
“SOS Emergency”
“Liquid Dust”
“U Rok Mi”
“Goodbye for Good This Time”
“All We Need”
“Open Your Eyes”
“Gimme a Kiss”
“Angels (Can’t Help You Now)”
“Lifeless” — featuring Alison Krauss
“Unbreakable”
“From Here to Eternity”
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(UVALDE, Texas) — In the days and weeks before one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, the accused Robb Elementary gunman appears to have sent disturbing messages — including claims about intentions of violence at school — to numerous young people he met online, leaving a trail of digital red flags that appears to have gone unnoticed.
Over a dozen people tell ABC News that the accused gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, sent them concerning messages, across multiple social media platforms, in the days leading up to the massacre.
Hours before the massacre, Ramos allegedly messaged a young girl on Instagram saying that he had a secret he wanted to tell her, according to messages reviewed by ABC News, the contents of which law enforcement sources say are part of the ongoing investigation into the shooting. Ramos had allegedly tagged the girl in a photo of two guns days earlier.
In another message allegedly sent the morning of the shooting, Ramos sent a photo of a gun lying on a bed, according to a user who shared direct messages from the suspect’s alleged account with ABC News. She replied, asking, “Why’d u send me a pic of a gun.”
And moments before the attack, the accused gunman allegedly sent a string of messages to a young girl in Germany who he had met on the social media app Yubo, detailing that he had shot his grandmother and was heading to the school for his next target, according to messages reviewed by ABC News.
In an interview with ABC News, the young girl, who asked to be referred to as “Cece,” said that since the shooting she has been asking herself, “What if I could change the outcome, what if I could change his mind to not do this?” Cece said she regretted not putting together why Ramos had “bought two rifles on his birthday, May 16, and ordered a package full with ammunitions.”
Cece said that, in hindsight, there were also other warning signs — including the fact that Ramos asked others on Yubo if they wanted to be famous.
Another user on Instagram showed ABC News alleged messages from Ramos saying his preferred weapon is the AR-15, which was the assault weapon used in the Texas shooting.
A week before the shooting, Ramos sent another Yubo user a message telling her he would make her famous if she followed him back on Instagram, according to messages reviewed by ABC News.
And another young user told ABC News that the Ramos was on Yubo the day before the massacre and that he implied that something would occur the next day.
That user, who lives in Greece and asked to remain anonymous, told ABC News she tried to report Ramos to Yubo — but that “regardless of how many times he was reported … he would still come back.”
A spokesperson for Yubo, when asked by ABC News if Ramos’ account had been flagged, said that “at this stage, we are not legally able to release any specific user information outside of direct requests from law enforcement.”
The company “can confirm that we are investigating an account that has since been banned from the platform” the Yubo spokesperson said. “We are deeply saddened by this unspeakable loss and are fully cooperating with law enforcement on their investigation.”
The majority of the users who Ramos allegedly messaged in the days leading up to the shooting told ABC News that they were first contacted by him on Yubo, which has been described as a dating app for teens. The users he communicated with are predominantly high-school age. Most said they did not report the messages and didn’t take them seriously.
In the weeks leading up to the deadly attack, Ramos also appeared to have made efforts to meet some of the users he had met on Yubo in person, according to messages shown to ABC News.
“He was supposed to meet up with me,” a young girl told ABC News before expressing relief. “I just never really texted him back.”
The user showed ABC News messages allegedly showing that Ramos had planned to meet up with her in late April.
“He would mostly follow girls who he thought were attractive,” another Yubo user told ABC News. “And asked to meet up with them.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — The mothers of Rojelio Torres and Tess Mata, two 10-year-olds killed in the Texas elementary school shooting, spoke with ABC News about their heartbreak.
“Two of my sons go to that school, but I only got one back,” said Evadulia Orta, the mother of Rojelio and three other children.
At least 19 children and two teachers were killed after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, west of San Antonio, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Rojelio was described by his mother as a “very smart and loving child.”
“I’m going to miss him because he was my life,” said Orta. “All my kids are my life, but losing that little piece of my heart, I lost my son.”
Several families were left waiting at a local civic center to hear whether or not their children had survived the attack. Among them were Orta as well as Veronica Mata, the mother of 10-year-old Tess, who was killed.
Tess’ father, Jerry Mata, was originally at the school, desperate to go inside and find his daughter, but was held back by law enforcement. At the civic center, law enforcement corralled all the families that still had missing children and had them wait.
The family says dozens of people were waiting in one big room, pacing and crying for hours before being called up by law enforcement and notified.
Orta said she was waiting for her child to be bussed to the civic center until the last bus came: “They said, ‘There’s a bus coming, there’s a last bus coming.’ It never came.”
She checked hospitals near Uvalde and in San Antonio, but there was no word of her son.
The Mata family says they are angry nothing has been done by politicians to prevent such shootings, and they say they haven’t gotten any information from police about the investigation into the attack.
Their daughter Tess is described by the family as a bubbly little girl who loved to dance and had dreams of being TikTok famous.
“She deserves to be remembered,” Veronica Mata said. “She put a smile on everybody’s face every time she was always dancing. She always had the biggest smile ever. So I want her to be remembered, for the awesome little girl that she was.”
ABC News’ James Scholz and Nery Ynclan contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — In the eyes of the Biden administration, China is a daunting rival and an ever-present risk to global security. But it’s also a necessary partner for tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues.
During an address laying out the president’s policy towards China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken described a delicate balance between isolating and enabling the country, calling it the “most serious, long-term challenge” to the global balance.
“China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly, the economic diplomatic military and technological power to do it,” he said. “Beijing’s vision would move us away from the universal values that have sustained so much of the world’s progress over the past 75 years.”
Delivered at George Washington University, his speech acknowledges that China was also a vital collaborator in the fight against climate change, pandemics and economic turmoil.
Blinken boiled the quagmire down into a single phrase.
“Put simply, the United States and China have to deal with each other for the foreseeable future,” he said. “That’s why this is one of the most complex and consequential relationships of any that we have in the world today.”
The secretary said that while the administration was already employing strategies to curb China’s influence, it would not try to limit its growth or create new Cold War. But while Blinken maintained that peace was its core goal, he vowed the U.S. would not compromise it own goals.
“Competition need not lead to conflict. We do not seek it. We will work to avoid it. But we will defend our interests against any threat,” he said.
The cost of China’s rise
Blinken acknowledged that China had undergone meteoric growth in the past half-century, but said its own people and other countries caught in its crosshairs had paid the price.
“Under President Xi, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad,” he said, citing mass surveillance, power grabs in the South China Sea, widespread human rights violations, the subversion of trade rules and more.
Blinken also noted the country’s repression of freedom in Hong Kong, its brutal treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in Tibet and the Xinjiang region, and its indignation over any international criticism over draconian measures employed against its citizens.
“Beijing insists that these are somehow internal matters, that others have no right to raise. That is wrong,” Blinken said.
The secretary also reaffirmed the One China policy, which was called into question earlier this week when President Biden he would defend Taiwan militarily before walking back his statements.
Blinken said the U.S. still acknowledges only one Chinese government, but said its posture towards Taiwan had intensified.
“What has changed is Beijing’s growing coercion by trying to cut off Taiwan’s relations with countries around the world and blocking it from participating in international organizations,” he said, adding that China regularly put on shows of force by flying military aircraft near the island. “These words and actions are deeply destabilizing. They risk miscalculation and threaten the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
For all its commitment to its own territorial integrity, Blinken argued China’s unwavering alliance with Russia was hypocritical.
“Even while Russia was clearly mobilizing to invade Ukraine, President Xi and President Putin declared that the friendship between their countries was and I quote, without limits,” he said.
Checking China’s spending power
Blinken repeatedly stressed that the aim of the administration was not exclude China from the world market. Instead, senior administration officials say they want to make sure it “plays by the same rules as everyone else.”
Blinken said that by creating dependencies, Beijing was “seeking to make China less dependent on the world and the world more dependent on China.”
“For our part, we want trade and investment as long as they’re fair, and don’t jeopardize our national security,” he added.
He warned other countries to go into trade partnerships with open eyes, wary of retaliation should they adopt a stance China disagrees with.
“Many of our partners already had a painful experience, how Beijing can come down hard when they make choices that it dislikes,” he said.
A decisive decade for the world
The secretary predicted the ideological battle between superpowers would be decided in the next 10 years.
“President Biden believes this decade will be decisive,” Blinken said, outlining the administration’s three pronged approach. “The Biden administration strategy can be summed up in three words, invest, align, compete.”
Invest, he said, referred to invigorating industry, technology and research to ensure the U.S. was up to par with China in these arenas. Align meant strengthening ties with key allies.
Blinken said efforts to do both these things were already underway through initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and revived geopolitical partnerships. But to truly compete, he contended that more needed to be done — calling on Congress to resolve a months’ long stalemate and send a massive spending bill aimed at ramping up the country’s ability to economically contend with China to the president’s desk.
“Beijing is determined to lead, but given America’s advantages, the competition is ours to lose — not only in terms of developing new technologies, but also in shaping how they’re used around the world, so that they’re rooted in democratic values, not authoritarian ones,” he implored.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, traveled to Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, to pay tribute to the 19 students and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School.
Meghan, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap, was photographed laying a bouquet of white roses and kneeling before a cross at a memorial near the school, where on Tuesday a gunman entered through a backdoor and opened fire in a classroom, according to authorities.
Among the shooting victims remembered at the memorial site are two fourth-grade teachers, several sets of cousins, a 10-year-old boy whose family called him “the life of the party,” a 10-year-old girl who loved to play softball and a 10-year-old boy described by his mom as a “very smart and loving child.”
Meghan visited Uvalde in a “personal capacity,” according to her spokesperson.
“She took this trip in a personal capacity as a mother, to offer her condolences and support in person to a community experiencing unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson told ABC News.
Meghan, 40, lives in California with her husband, Prince Harry, and their two young children, Archie and Lilibet.
Meghan and Harry run the Archewell Foundation, described by the couple as an “impact-driven global nonprofit.”
The family is scheduled to travel soon to the United Kingdom, where they will join Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, next weekend for her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The trip will mark their first public trip to the U.K. together since stepping down from their senior royal roles two years ago.
(HOUSTON) — The nation’s largest pro-gun lobby is poised to gather in Texas days after one of the worst mass shootings in recent U.S. history unfolded in the state.
Despite demands to cancel the annual meeting in light of the tragedy, the National Rifle Association’s Annual Leadership Forum is scheduled to take place in Houston from Friday through Sunday.
The pro-gun gathering comes days after authorities said an 18-year-old armed with an AR-15-style rifle opened fire in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers and wounding 17 people.
Groups including the Harris County Democratic Party, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and March For Our Lives plan to rally outside the convention hall Friday, calling for gun reform in the wake of the massacre.
“Every single speaker at the NRA event this weekend bears responsibility for the innocent lives lost to gun violence,” the Harris County Democratic Party said on Facebook. “It is past time for thoughts and prayers.”
The NRA had the option of delaying the convention, particularly as families prepare to bury those killed in the shooting, but “did not choose to do so,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said during a press briefing Thursday. He noted that the city does not have the “legal right” to cancel a convention.
The city will be providing security for those attending the meeting, he said, as officials urged peace from protestors and attendees. Protest barricades will also be set up, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner.
“We will respect everybody’s right to protest and speak their concerns and their voice,” Finner said during the briefing. “We will not tolerate destruction of property, nor will we tolerate people assaulting individuals.”
The annual NRA meeting typically draws up to 80,000 members, according to the association. Ahead of the convention, the NRA said in a statement that the organization will “reflect on these events, pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure.”
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the forum on Friday. Firearms, ammunition, knives, toy guns and other items will be prohibited from that event, per a U.S. Secret Service notice.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday he was unsure if he would attend the meeting.
“I’m living moment-to-moment right now,” he said when asked about his plans during a briefing. “My heart, my head and my body are in Uvalde right now, and I’m here to help the people who are hurting.”
Singer Don McLean backed out of performing at the event in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting tragedy.
“In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week,” he said in a statement. “I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events, as well. After all, we are all Americans.”
ABC News’ Aliyah Thomas contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Days after at least 19 elementary school students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, students at schools around the country staged walkouts to protest gun violence.
In Michigan, students at Oxford High School, where a school shooting occurred in November, staged a walkout at 12 p.m. on Thursday. Four students were killed in the shooting.
Students at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, also walked out of class, in support of the national gun safety movement. The school was the site of a shooting in November 2019, in which two students were killed.
Students also staged walkouts at schools in Port Washington, New York, and Falls Church, Virginia.
Student organizers say at least 600 students walked out of Paul D. Schreiber Senior High School in Port Washington earlier this afternoon.
Emma Janoff, an 11th grader at Schreiber and a member of ‘Students Demand Action’, a national organization against gun violence, says she got active on gun control policy and school safety following the 2018 Parkland High School shooting.
“You see news every day about kids getting shot and people your age dying and it’s just incredibly sad and unbelievable, especially to see like kids younger and kids my age,” Janoff told ABC News. “I cant imagine that being me; but it is imaginable because it happens so often.”
The 17 year-old says her school’s administration was in support of the walkout and she hopes the over 200 planned demonstrations across the country send a clear message that students are a “united front.”
A walkout may not necessarily change legislation, Janoff said, but these actions show “students are still united in this.”
She said that although most students aren’t old enough to vote, they still want to see change and are willing to take measures to have their voices heard in politics.
“Students don’t have to be quiet about it just because they’re a kid,” Janoff said.
In recent years, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has purchased some of the music world’s most historic guitars, as well as many other famous memorabilia items. He will be putting his collection on public display in New York City for the first time on Friday, June 3, at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
The Jim Irsay Collection includes guitars played and owned by Bob Dylan, members of The Beatles, Prince, Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead‘s Jerry Garcia, Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour and many other famous musicians.
The collection also features other instruments, as well as autographed photos, handwritten lyrics and more. The most recent addition to Irsay’s trove of memorabilia is the guitar that late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain played in his band’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video, which he purchased at an auction for over $4.5 million.
Some non-music-related items are also part of the collection: an original “wanted” poster for John Wilkes Booth, a baseball bat used by Jackie Robinson and a robe worn by Muhammad Ali.
The public event will run from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free tickets can be reserved at Eventbrite.com.
Meanwhile, a private, invite-only reception will be held June 2 at 7 p.m. ET at the Hammerstein Ballroom that will give attendees the chance to check out the collection. It will also feature a performance by The Jim Irsay Band. Described as a group “which has never existed and will never exist again,” the band will feature Irsay backed by founding R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, longtime John Mellencamp guitarist Mike Wanchic, John Fogerty/ex-Mellencamp touring drummer Kenny Aronoff and others.
Former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant will be a guest performer with the band.
