Many music fans planning to attend concerts this summer will be checking StubHub to see if they can score tickets to shows by their favorite acts. Now, the ticketing platform has revealed which artists boast the most in-demand shows scheduled between Memorial Day on May 30 and Labor Day on September 4.
Topping the list is the multi-act Stadium Tour co-headlined by Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe and also featuring Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
The trek, which kicks off June 16 in Atlanta, includes 36 U.S. dates through Labor Day. Other tours by veteran artists in the top 10 of the tally include Elton John at #5, Paul McCartney at #7, Billy Joel at #8 and Red Hot Chili Peppers at #9.
Elton has just eight stateside shows scheduled between Memorial Day and Labor, McCartney and Joel have six, and the Chili Peppers have 14.
Of the top-10 acts on the list, McCartney boasts the highest average price of tickets sold to his concerts…$349.
StubHub also has listed the top-10 “trending” touring artists of the summer of ’22, a tally that’s based on the increase in average show sales since their 2019 shows. Topping the list is Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who enjoyed an increase of 680%. Other artists on the tally include Taylor Dayne at #3 with a 570% increase, John Waite at #5 with a 410% jump, and The Wallflowers at #10 with a spike of 310%.
(WASHINGTON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a “prolonged conflict” in Ukraine, and could resort to drastic measures if the fighting doesn’t go his way, according to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Haines said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has sent a shock through the geopolitical order, “with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand, but are sure to be consequential.”
Though Putin has focused his forces on Donbas after failing in the north, THE U.S. does not believe he will be content with the eastern part of the country, Haines said.
“The next month or two of fighting will be significant as the Russians attempt to reinvigorate their efforts. But even if they are successful, we are not confident that the fight in the Donbas will effectively end the war,” she said. “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”
But for now Putin’s goal is to take control of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Donbas and encircle Ukrainian forces from the north and south “in order to crush the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces who are fighting to hold the line in the East,” Haines said.
Putin would also like to “consolidate control of the land bridge Russia has established from Crimea to the Donbas, occupy Kherson, and control the water source for Crimea,” she said.
The U.S. also sees signs his military wants to extend that land bridge to Transnistria, in Moldova, according to Haines.
Haines said Russia might be capable of achieving “most” of those goals in the coming months, but would need to mobilize more troops to achieve the last:
“We believe that they will not be able to extend control over a land bridge that stretches to Transnistria and includes Odessa without launching some form of mobilization. And it is increasingly unlikely that they will be able to establish control over both oblasts and the buffer zone they desire in the coming weeks,” Haines said.
But Putin is “probably counting on U.S. and EU resolve to weaken as food shortages, inflation, energy prices get worse,” she added.
Economic forces are at work in Russia as well, with sanctions from the West having a “pretty significant” impact on Russia, according to Haines.
“Among the indicators that one might look at are, for example, the fact that … we predict approximately 20% inflation in Russia, that we expect that their GDP will fall about 10%, possibly even more, over the course of the year,” she said.
The fighting itself has also worn on Russia’s capabilities.
“Our view is that the ground combat forces have been degraded considerably. It’s going to take them years … to rebuild that,” she said.
But degraded conventual forces could drive Putin to other means of exerting force.
“That may end up meaning that they have greater reliance in effect on asymmetric tools during this period,” Haines said. “So they may rely more on things like cyber, nuclear, precision, etc. And that’s obviously a shift in the way in which they are exercising their efforts for influence.”
The discrepancy between Putin’s high aspirations and his degraded conventional capability could lead to “a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory,” and “a period of more ad-hoc decision making in Russia” in the next few months, Haines said.
This could also manifest itself domestically.
“The current trend increases the likelihood that President Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on, or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine,” she said.
What could happen next?
“The most likely flashpoints for escalation in the coming weeks are around increasing Russian attempts to interdict Western security assistance, retaliation for Western economic sanctions or threats to the regime at home. We believe that Moscow continues to use nuclear rhetoric to deter the United States and the West from increasing lethal aid to Ukraine and to respond to public comments of the U.S. and NATO allies that suggest expanded Western goals in the conflict,” she said.
The next step for Putin could be to launch major nuclear drills to command respect from the U.S.
“If Putin perceives that the United States is ignoring his threats, he may try to signal to Washington the heightened danger of its support to Ukraine by authorizing another large nuclear exercise involving a major dispersal of mobile intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, strategic submarines,” Haines said.
But so far U.S. officials have said they do not believe Russia is preparing to actually use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere.
“We otherwise continue to believe that President Putin would probably only authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state or regime,” Haines said.
Ty O’Neil/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE
(NEW YORK) — Fire danger is back down to critical after reaching extreme levels on Monday, but red flag warnings continue across six states in the Southwest, from Nevada to Oklahoma.
More than a dozen wildfires continued to burn on Tuesday across the region. The San Rafael fire in Arizona is 12% contained over 11,000 acres. The Hermit Creek and Calf Canyon fires are 39% contained over 200,000 acres.
Low humidity, gusty winds and dry brush continue to pose a high risk for fire to spread.
Above-normal heat has also spread into the Midwest, with temperatures soaring 20 degrees or more above average on Tuesday.
Even as far north as Des Moines, Iowa, could see temperatures of 90 degrees, and Chicago could see temperatures in the mid-80s.
Numerous record highs were reported across parts of the Plains and Midwest on Monday. Abilene, Texas, reached 103 degrees, a record high for the third day in a row.
Temperatures were in the 90s from San Antonio to Kansas City on Monday. More record heat was expected Tuesday from Texas to Memphis, St. Louis and Kansas City.
The heat will spread into parts of the eastern Great Lakes and parts of the inland Northeast by Thursday, as western New York and Pennsylvania could see possible record high temperatures.
Temperatures in Syracuse, New York, could be in the 80s by Thursday, while temperatures from New York City to Philadelphia are expected to be in the 70s.
(RED WING, Minn.) — Years after two infants were discovered dead along a stretch of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, police have identified and arrested their mother in connection with one of their deaths.
Jennifer Lynn Matter, 50, is charged with two counts of second degree murder in connection with the December 2003 death of her newborn son.
Four years before the body of her son was discovered, police had found a female infant’s body in the river. Investigators had suspected the two infants were siblings and their DNA profiles were run against criminal databases over the years to find their parents, but no match had been found, Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told reporters during a press conference.
Genetic genealogy ultimately provided the lead that led to Matter’s arrest by connecting officers to two persons of interest, Evans said. Investigators learned of a relative of the children in Goodhue County, Minnesota, and then worked to narrow their search, identifying Matter as the most “logical and likely” mother, he said.
Matter of Red Wing, Minnesota, had declined to voluntarily provide police with a DNA sample, according to the complaint. After obtaining a search warrant for the sample, police were able to identify Matter as the mother of the two children, the complaint says.
Charges have not been filed against Matter in connection with the 1999 death of Matter’s infant daughter, Stephen O’Keefe, the Goodhue County attorney, said at a press conference Monday. He declined to give a reason, but said the investigation is ongoing. Charges could be added or amended at a later time as more evidence comes to light, he said.
Information on an attorney for Matter was not immediately available.
During a bail hearing on Tuesday, a judge denied Matter’s application for a public defender, according to ABC affiliate KSTP in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her bail was set at $1.5 million without conditions, according to court records.
Investigators interviewed Matter on May 5, which is when she admitted the child born in November 1999 was hers, according to the criminal complaint. Matter told investigators she was in a bad mental state that year saying she was “in and out of jail, drinking too much, doing a lot of stupid things and had experienced chaotic life circumstances for a long time,” the complaint says.
Matter said that she was not aware she was pregnant when she started bleeding after dropping off her two other children. When she returned home, she said she began giving birth in the bathroom, according to the complaint.
She said the baby was born blue, was not breathing and was not crying so she “freaked out,” according to the complaint. Matter said she wrapped the child in a towel while she tried to figure out what to do. She said she was drinking heavily, according to the complaint.
Matter told investigators that a day later she drove the baby to Bay Point Park in Red Wing in the middle of the night and put her in the water, the complaint says.
A boater found the baby wrapped in a towel in the water, according to the complaint.
An autopsy of the newborn concluded that the manner of death was homicide, but the cause of death was undetermined, the complaint shows.
Matter said she gave birth to the second baby on a beach in nearby Florence Township in December 2003 while she was “laying low” because there was a warrant out for her arrest and she believed cops were looking for her, the complaint revealed.
Matter told investigators she did not remember whether she wrapped the second baby in a towel or a blanket and said she did not look to see the gender of the child. Matter said she remembered leaving the baby on the beach before driving away.
Matter later told investigators the child was breathing and may have been crying, but she did not remember it. Matter said she did not call 911 and hoped someone in the houses nearby would find the baby, according to the complaint.
A group of teenagers found the infant’s body along the shoreline of the river, the complaint shows.
An autopsy found that the male infant had force head injuries, “possibly due to the birth process,” according to the complaint. The infant’s manner of death was determined to be homicide, but the cause of death was undetermined, according to the complaint.
(NEW YORK) — A growing proportion of COVID-19 deaths are occurring among the vaccinated, a new ABC News analysis of federal data shows.
In August of 2021, about 18.9% of COVID-19 deaths occurred among the vaccinated. Six months later, in February 2022, that proportional percent of deaths had increased to more than 40%.
Comparatively, in September 2021, just 1.1% of COVID-19 deaths occurred among Americans who had been fully vaccinated and boosted with their first dose. By February 2022, that percentage had increased to about 25%.
Experts said the increase in breakthrough deaths is expected with more Americans reaching full vaccination status.
“These data should not be interpreted as vaccines not working. In fact, these real-world analyses continue to reaffirm the incredible protection these vaccines afford especially when up to date with boosters,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.
In addition, many vulnerable Americans are more than one year out from their primary vaccinations and have yet to receive booster doses.
To date, more than 220 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, 100 million of whom have received their first COVID-19 booster. However, about 91.5 million eligible Americans — about half of those currently eligible — have yet to receive their first booster shot.
The increase in breakthrough deaths comes as a growing proportion of older Americans enter the hospital for COVID-19 related care.
Last summer, after more vulnerable, older populations had been vaccinated, the share of Americans ages 65 years and older in the hospital had dipped to a pandemic low — with younger populations representing the largest age groups of people in need of care. However, throughout the omicron surge, the average age of those in the hospital with COVID-19 has steadily gotten older again.
More than 90% of seniors have been fully vaccinated, but a third of them have yet to receive their first booster shot. Even with overall high vaccination rates in older populations, in recent months, during the omicron surge, 73% of deaths have been among those 65 and older.
Health experts said vaccines and boosters continue to provide significant protection against severe disease. However, waning immunity re-emphasizes the urgency of boosting older Americans and high-risk Americans with additional doses.
“This trend in increased risk among the elderly further supports the need for community wide immunization. Older populations, especially those with underlying conditions, continue to be at great risk of severe complications, especially as immunity wanes. The best way to protect them is to make sure everyone around them is fully immunized,” Brownstein said.
All Americans over the age of 50, immunocompromised people over the age of 12, and people who received two doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, are currently eligible for a second booster.
Approximately 10.5 million people in the U.S. have received their second booster dose.
“Given the fact that immunity is waning, we’ve got to get people boosted,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told GBH News’s Boston Public Radio on Monday.
In February, unvaccinated adults were 10 times more likely to die of COVID-19 compared to vaccinated individuals and five times more likely to require hospitalization, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Compared to fully vaccinated and boosted adults, unvaccinated people were about 20 times more likely to die of COVID-19 and seven times more likely to require hospitalization.
(SPOILERS) Michael Waldron, who broke open Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse with the hit Disney+ series Loki, is spilling spoilers about his latest success, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The movie has Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch “breaking bad,” as the writer puts it, after she got a hold of a black magic book called the Darkhold in the close of the Emmy-nominated series WandaVision.
Some had griped online that Wanda’s movie move to the dark side undoes her arc in WandaVision, which ends with her coming to terms with the loss of her love, Paul Bettany‘s Vision.
Waldron doesn’t see it that way, saying, “My interpretation of WandaVision is that she confronts her grief and she lets go of the people she has under her control, but I don’t think she necessarily resolves her grief in that show, and I don’t think she resolves her anger.”
He continues, “You see in the final scene of WandaVision — the mistake that our Wanda makes is she opens the Darkhold. So yeah, that was how I arrived there. It made sense to me and it made sense to our teams because we built the story.”
With Doctor Strange out of the way, Waldron is again working “in earnest” with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige on a hush-hush Star Wars feature script.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Waldron teases, adding, “I’m enjoying having the freedom on that to do something that’s not necessarily a sequel or anything….it just doesn’t have a bunch of TV shows and movies that you’re servicing on top of it, the way I did with Doctor Strange.”
He calls dabbling in that galaxy far, far away, “nice,” adding, “It feels like a different exercise.”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Kacey Musgraves and The Chicks are among the headlining acts at Austin City Limits Music Festival, taking place October 7-9 and October 14-16 at Zilker Park in the Texas capital. Tickets are on sale now.
Tyler Hubbard is teaming up with celebrity fitness trainer Erin Oprea for Fitness at Fest, taking place during CMA Fest at Bridgestone Arena Plaza on June 10 at 8:15 a.m. CT. Tickets are $10 and will be donated to the CMA Foundation.
Midland will embark on The Last Resort: Greetings from Tour, beginning on September 23 in Phoenix, AZ. The tour wraps on November 18 in Seattle. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
Cam is headlining The Otherside Tour later this year, with Jillian Jacqueline and Amythyst Kiah opening on select dates. The tour kicks off July 28 in Portland, OR. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
The clip starts with Harry rolling across the floor with his costar, actress Mathilde Lin, before jumping to rehearsals. Harry shares the work that went into each shot, from filming multiple takes to all the staging that went on to ensure each shot was perfect.
The video also shows everyone dancing on the rotating floor for the first time, which is pretty noisy, and also lets fans see what it looked like before it was finished. While it looks like a giant UFO on the ground in the music video, Harry revealed its simplistic design — a circular slab that moves using a motor and wheels.
Other scenes show Harry trying to take off his shoe, busting some dance moves and pretending to do kung fu with members of the crew. The “Adore You” singer also enjoyed some quality time with an infant, raising the baby over his head like that iconic scene in The Lion King and then cuddling the child until it begins crying for its mother, which causes others in the room to erupt into laughter.
Harry also included footage of everyone celebrating when filming wrapped, which includes thunderous applause and plenty of hugs.
“As It Was” is featured on the singer’s upcoming album, Harry’s House, which arrives May 20.
— 50 Cent is keeping his promise on employing Mo’Nique, after he announced a new TV gig that the 54-year-old actress just landed. Taking to Instagram to share the news of Mo’Nique’s role on the hit Starz show BMF, 50 shared a video of the award-winning actress, who introduced the world to her character, Goldie.
“Guess who i got in BMF this season GOLDIE !,” the rapper wrote. “I don’t miss, THE UNDER DOG’s BACK ON TOP.”
Fans on social media expressed excitement over the comedian, who is said to have been blackballed from the entertainment industry following her fallout with Precious director Lee Daniels in 2009.
“[Q]ueen of comedy back like she never left,” one user said. Power star Joseph Sikora wrote, “Ooooooo weeeee! I’m here for this.”
—Kehlani started trending on Twitter on Tuesday after the Blue Water Road singer shared her thoughts on a recent radio interview that she felt was “cringey” and “invasive.” Fans weren’t too happy with Kehlani’s treatment on The Morning Hustle, citing the hosts’ emphasis on the singer’s pronouns and unnecessary questions related to her romantic life.
“See, there’s an actual music journalist out there that would have LIVED for a chance to interview Kehlani. But instead it was you,” one Twitter user wrote, addressing the hosts. “Sorry to that journalist. Sorry to Kehlani…”
Another tweeted, “Kehlani wasn’t wrong. If anything she was a good sport during this interview on The Morning Hustle because she was dealing with two fools that cared more about a salacious soundbite to go viral than talking about her album.”
As a result of the interview, Kehlani says she will only speak to a select number of people whom she feels care about her deeply.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Philadelphia police are seeking a suspect in a recent string of sexual assaults that they believe may be the work of a serial rapist.
Authorities have identified a “pattern of sexual assaults” that occurred in the Kensington neighborhood and involved a man who sexually assaulted women in his car, according to Captain James Kearney, commanding officer of the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit.
“We’ve got three cases,” Kearney told reporters during a briefing Tuesday. “We have a pattern going on here.”
The incidents occurred in the early morning hours of March 15, April 5 and April 21, police said. Two victims were approached by the suspect and got in his car, one after being offered a ride, police said. A third victim was forced into the car, police said.
Philadelphia Police Department
In all three cases, the suspect drove to a location, pulled out a handgun and demanded oral sex from the women, police said. In the most recently reported assault, the suspect also punched and raped the victim and stole her cellphone, Kearney said. A rape kit was conducted, where DNA evidence was collected and is in the process of being compared to other cases, he said. The iPhone was recovered as well, he said.
Police described the suspect’s car as a 2016 to 2020 charcoal gray Dodge Charger four-door sedan, with tinted windows and “distinct rims.” Detectives were able to locate surveillance video of the car but were unable to pick up a license plate, Kearny said.
The victims ranged in age from 28 to 35 and were all Black women, police said. Kearney described them as “the most vulnerable people out there,” and noted that the area is known for sex work.
“He’s preying on these women who we believe he feels that’s not going to report it,” he said.
Authorities believe that additional assaults involving other women may have occurred and are asking potential survivors to step forward.
“For one reason or another, these survivors, these women are not coming in to talk to us,” said Kearney. “We need to talk to people and stop it from happening again.”
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
