Eddie Vedder‘ ssolo concert Los Angeles last Friday featured a special appearance from The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.
The Pearl Jam frontman invited Copeland on stage for the show’s encore, which included a ramshackle cover of The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” — “Still practicing,” Vedder quipped at one point — and a closing performance of Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
Copeland’s guest spot allowed Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, who’s been Vedder’s drummer for the tour, to take a breather during “Message in a Bottle,” but he returned to the stage to play guitar on “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
Fan-shot footage of the performance is streaming now on YouTube.
Vedder’s tour, which launched earlier this month in support of his new Earthling solo album, concluded Sunday in San Diego. For the run, Vedder was joined by his Earthlings solo band, which included Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, and producer and guitarist Andrew Watt.
Camila Cabello‘s fans have all the proof they need that her new song, “BAM BAM,” is about her breakup with Shawn Mendes. The Grammy nominee shared a clip of her upcoming single and it contains some hard-to-miss references about her ex.
Taking to TikTok on Sunday, Camila shared a video of her watching her feet as they walk across the pavement and grass as her new song plays. “You said you hated the ocean but you’re surfin’ now/ I said I’d love you for life but I just sold our house/ We were kids at the start, I guess we’re grown ups now/ Couldn’t even imagine even having doubts/ But not everything works out,” the melancholy song begins over a the gentle strum of a guitar.
Camila continues singing as the intensity swells, “Now I’m out dancing with strangers/ You could be casually dating/ Damn, it’s all changing so fast” and ends with her proclaiming “Así es la vida si,” which translates to “That’s life, yes,” in English.
Fans were quick to dissect the lyrics and noted that after Camila and Shawn announced their breakup, the “Stitches” singer shared photos of himself on the beach. In reference to the house she sold, the “Havana” singer parted ways with her Hollywood Hills villa in December for a cool $4.3 million.
“BAM BAM,” which arrives Friday and features Ed Sheeran, appears to be Camila’s official response to Shawn’s breakup anthem, “It’ll Be Okay,” which he released a few weeks after the two parted ways in November. after dating for two years.
(SPOILER WARNING) “Tom’s a really bad liar.” That’s what fellow Brit, and fellow Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield had to say about Tom Holland, during a recent interview with BBC Radio regarding the very moment that Holland nearly spoiled the movie’s rumored multiverse-mashing three Spider-Man plot.
While sitting down with Garfield, host Ali Plumb showed an older clip from his interview with Holland and Zendaya, when her boyfriend accidentally gave away that it wasn’t he who saves her character MJ in a key No Way Home moment.
“It was quite a scary stunt,” Holland said about MJ’s scaffolding fall, “It looked great — I wasn’t there, of course.”
Plumb recalls trying to work out in his head what Holland meant: “‘If he’s not there, how does he save…?'”
The host emphasized the seconds after Holland said it, and in hindsight, the panic is evident. “You can see moment when [Tom’s] soul left his body,” Plumb says, to which Garfield — the Spidey who actually does the saving in the scene — laughs hysterically.
“God, bless him,” Garfield says. “I love him. Never change,” he advised his co-star.
Incidentally, Garfield also chatted about the lengths he went to to keep it quiet that his pal Charlie Cox was also in the film as Matt Murdock/Daredevil — including booking two tables in the dark corner of an Atlanta restaurant, and conversing next to each other while “staring at the wall.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home swings home on digital March 22 and on 4K UHD & Blu-ray on April 12.
Green Day has canceled the band’s upcoming concert in Moscow due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“With heavy hearts, in light of current events we feel it is necessary to cancel our upcoming show in Moscow at Spartak Stadium,” the punk trio writes in an Instagram Story.
“We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it’s much bigger than that,” the statement continues. “But we also know that rock and roll is forever and we feel confident there will be a time and a place for us to return in the future.”
The Moscow concert was scheduled to take place in May, ahead of the European leg of Green Day’s Hella Mega tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer, launching in June.
(NEW YORK) — Delegations from Ukraine and Russia held talks Monday morning on Belarus’ border in an attempt to end Moscow’s invasion as Russian troops continue to attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to send a delegation to meet with Russian negotiators during a phone call Sunday with Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s president’s office announced.
The two sides began talks Monday at the Pripyat River on the border, north of Chernobyl, the spokesperson said, an area that is currently under Russian military control. The Russian delegation includes officials from Russia’s foreign and defense ministries as well as the presidential administration.
Ukraine has said the key issue for the talks is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops. Russia has signaled it wants to discuss Ukraine adopting “neutral status.”
The Ukrainian delegation included David Arahamiya, a member of the Servant of the People political faction; Oleksiy Reznikov, the minister of Defense of Ukraine; Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the presidential office; Andriy Kostin, the first deputy dead of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Tripartite Contact Group; Rustem Umerov, a member of the Parliament of Ukraine; and Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytsky.
Russia’s delegation includes officials from the foreign and defense ministries and presidential administration.
The talks are the first between the two sides since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on Thursday, but Zelenskyy, in a televised address, said he had little hope of a breakthrough.
“I will be honest, as always: I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that if there was a “chance” to end the war, he should take part in the talks.
Ukraine had earlier rejected a proposal from Russia to hold the talks in the southern Belarusian city of Gomel, on the grounds that Belarus is directly involved in Russia’s attack, having hosted the Russian invasion force that is now moving south on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and letting Russia fire missiles from its territory.
The Kremlin has signaled it wants to hold talks where Zelenskyy will discuss “neutral status” for Ukraine, in effect hoping to negotiate Kyiv’s terms of surrender. But Zelenskyy’s administration has said while it wants talks to end the killing in Ukraine, it will not make concessions.
“We will not surrender, we will not capitulate, we will not give up a single inch of our territory,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said at a press conference.
While brokering the meeting, Zelenskyy said Lukashenko has promised that no missiles or aircraft would carry out strikes on Ukraine while the negotiations were underway. But in an unpromising sign for the talks, Ukrainian officials said Belarus had launched at least two Iskander ballistic missiles at Ukraine on Sunday after the agreement to meet was reached.
It was also Lukasheko who suggested that Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet at the Belarus-Ukraine border, Zelenskyy said, adding that though he is not optimistic a resolution will be reached, he does not want there to be any doubt that he did not try to stop the war.
The diplomatic effort came as Russian troops continued to try to press their attack in Ukraine but faced a fierce defense from Ukrainian forces. In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast, Ukrainian defenders succeeded in beating back Russian units during street fighting.
The momentum of Russian forces in Ukraine appears to have been slowed by fuel and logistics shortages, as well as “stiff resistance,” a U.S. senior defense official told ABC News on Sunday.
The official also credited the slowdown of the Russian invasion to resistance by Ukraine.
With a production dogged by the pandemic, and an injury to its 79-year-old lead, Harrison Ford, franchise producer Frank Marshallrevealed over the weekend that the fifth Indiana Jones movie has finished production.
In a tweet that was re-tweeted by director James Mangold, Marshall displayed a crew hat reading “Indy,” in that unmistakable slanted Raiders of the Lost Ark font. “That’s a wrap!” he declared.
Last August, Mangold tweeted that the production hadn’t been severely affected by a fight scene snag that left Ford with an injured shoulder, seemingly throwing water on reports that it had left the shoot “in chaos.”
Indiana Jones 5 was initially slated to hit theaters July 9 of 2021, but was pushed back to July 29, 2022 over pandemic concerns, and recently moved again to a June 30, 2023 opening date.
The as-yet-untitled fifth Indy adventure also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Shaunette Renée Wilson, and Boyd Holbrook.
The film is being produced by Lucasfilm, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration on Monday emphasized the drastic nature of economic sanctions levied again Russia over the weekend in which the U.S. and allies targeted Russia’s Central Bank, preventing the Kremlin from accessing any of its more than $600 billion in reserves in the U.S., or in U.S. dollars in foreign countries.
The sanctions also target Russia’s National Wealth Fund and the Ministry of Finance, and officials said it was clear from the beginning of the Ukraine invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning to use Central Bank assets to mitigate any sanctions.
“Today’s announcement that prohibit transactions with the Central Bank of Russia in the National Wealth Fund will significantly hinder their ability to do that, and inhibit their access to hundreds of billions of dollars in assets from our actions alone, they will not be able to access assets that are either in United States are in U.S. dollars,” officials told reporters.
“This fund and its leadership are symbols of deep seated rushing corruption and influence peddling globally … and it’s known to be intimately connected to kleptocracy at the highest levels of the Russian government,” an official added.
“Our strategy — to put it simply — is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backwards, as long as President Putin decides to go forward with his invasion of Ukraine,” a senior administration official said.
Officials explained the sanctions — a major step for the Biden administration — were announced over the weekend when it became clear it was necessary to move before the markets opened Monday.
“We learned over the course of the weekend from our allies and partners was the Russian Central Bank was attempting to move assets and there would be a great deal of assets starting on Monday morning from institutions around the world. So, we took these that we’re taking these actions in a way that they will be effective immediately,” an official said.
Officials said the “actions represent the most significant actions the U.S. Treasury has taken against an economy of this size, and assets of this size,” noting the Russian Central Bank is many times larger than Iran’s or Venezuela’s.
Officials wouldn’t specify how much of the $630 billion “rainy day fund” would be affected, but noted the U.S. knows that the Russian Central Bank has its assets diversified around the world.
“What we’ve done today is not only preventing them from using those dollars in the United States, but preventing them from being able to use those dollars in other places like Europe or Japan to defend their currency and prop up their institutions. And our – our goal was to make sure that not only would they not have access to dollars, but also not have access to other currencies,” an official said.
On the energy front, officials said they have multiple interests in keeping energy out of the sanctions packages for now: “A — because we want to support the global economic recovery, but B — because we don’t want prices to spike for the benefit of President Putin as a major energy exporter.”
Officials said over the long term, the U.S. and allies will look to degrade Russia’s capacity to be a leading energy supplier, perhaps working to keep it from developing energy technologies.
At the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night, Selena Gomez did what we’re sure many a female star has wanted to do over the years: walked up to the podium barefoot.
On the red carpet, Selena wore black heels, but then tripped and fell to her knees, in full view of the press. She then took off both shoes and walked off the carpet barefoot. Later, when she came on stage to present the award by Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, she was still barefoot.
Of course, the Only Murders in the Building star still looked fabulous, wearing a black Oscar de la Renta gown and a Bulgari diamond necklace worth $1 million.
The SAG Awards also saw Lady Gaga and her A Star Is Born co-star/director Bradley Cooper reuniting: They hugged each other when they saw each other at the event, where both were nominees. Unfortunately, both went home empty-handed.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — There is growing evidence that Ukraine is managing to inflict significant casualties on Russian forces as they try to advance deeper into the country — and that the swift strike Russia hoped to carry out on the capital, Kyiv, has been slowed by intense and popular resistance.
Russia hasn’t managed to make significant progress in the last two days. The main Russian force pushing down from Belarus towards Kyiv does not appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Ukraine’s military claims the Russian troops are struggling with fuel and logistics supplies. Images and videos of destroyed Russian military vehicles and tanks, which have been verified, have been circulating online.
One example of the effective Ukrainian resistance took place Sunday when Russia appeared to mount a half-hearted attempt to destroy resistance in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv.
Russian special forces units in light armored vehicles tried to push into Kharkiv after indiscriminately bombarding the city with artillery, but they were rapidly destroyed by Ukrainian troops and volunteer territorial defense, according to videos posted online.
Kharkiv’s Mayor Oleg Sinegubov on Sunday night pushed a triumphant message, saying that “control over Kharkiv is completely ours” and that Ukrainian forces had succeeded “in a full clearing of the city of the enemy.”
Sinegubov said dozens of Russian troops had surrendered with little fight, sometimes in whole groups of five to 10 men, with some abandoning their equipment.
A number of military analysts — including those that correctly predicted the invasion — believed Russia had hoped for a lightning “shock and awe” advance to the edge of Kyiv in the first days that would lead to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government surrendering without Russia needing to actually seize the city. Instead, the resistance is growing, officials said.
“It is clear they hoped to get Zelenskyy to surrender quickly without inflicting heavy casualties on the Ukrainian military [and] civilians. That failed, but their execution still appears to be fairly restrained,” Rob Lee, analyst from Kings College London’s War Department, wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
Lee said that strategy had now failed, and that Russia would have to move to a plan B, which he feared would mean “more force.”
Time is working against Russia. Ukrainian popular resistance is gaining in self-confidence, and the Russian piecemeal strategy so far has allowed cities more time to set up defenses, putting in place barricades and distributing thousands of weapons.
In Berdyansk, the only major city Russia has gained full control of, videos posted to social media Monday showed a crowd of residents angrily chanting a slogan insulting President Vladimir Putin at Russian troops guarding a government building on the main square.
At the same time, the international response is also growing, with more sanctions and moves aimed at crippling Russia’s economy, while European countries are sending more and more weapons to bolster the Ukrainian defense, with the European Union also announcing that for the first time it would provide Ukrainian officials with military support.
Russia has so far held back its main army and has been using its air and artillery power against military targets, avoiding widespread, intense bombardment against civilian areas. Analysts, including Lee, said Russia appeared to have initially sought to inflict limited casualties on Ukrainian civilians and the military, likely out of concern about backlash in Russia and making it harder to achieve a swift political change in Ukraine, as well as a stronger international reaction.
U.S. officials and independent analyst now fear if Russia’s attempt to overpower Ukraine quickly fails, it may turn to using more brute force to achieve it. That could mean unleashing indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes to destroy Ukraine’s military and terrorize civilians, as well as besieging cities.
That already appears to be happening in Kharkiv, where Russia in the last two days has fired heavy artillery, including “Grad” multiple rocket launchers onto the city, causing significant damage to civilian buildings.
“I think today we’ve seen a shift in Russian targeting towards critical civilian infrastructure, greater use of MLRS, and artillery in suburban areas. Unfortunately, my concern that this was going to get a lot more ugly and affect civilians is starting to materialize,” Michael Kofman, an analyst at CNA, who also predicted the invasion as likely, tweeted late Saturday.
U.S. officials caution, though, that Russia still has major combat power yet to be deployed, with roughly half its forces massed near Ukraine still not engaged. A massive 3-mile-long column of hundreds of vehicles has formed up in northern Ukraine after crossing from Belarus and appears to be moving towards Kyiv.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
Neil Diamond has joined the “sell your catalog” club of veteran musicians.
Universal Music Group has acquired Diamond’s entire catalog, as well as the rights to all his recordings, including 110 unreleased tracks, an unreleased album, and archival long form videos. The legendary singer, who turned 81 in January, has sold more than 130 million albums over the past 50 years. No price was reported for the deal.
Universal Music Group has overseen Diamond’s publishing since 2014. The deal also brings together recordings he made for UMG, like “Sweet Caroline,” “Red, Red Wine,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue,” with his earlier recordings for the BANG label, and his post-1972 work.
UMG will also release Diamond’s future music, if he decides to make any.
“After nearly a decade in business with UMG, I am thankful for the trust and respect that we have built together,” Diamond said in a statement, adding that he feels “confident” that the company will “continue to represent my catalogue, and future releases with the same passion and integrity that have always fueled my career.”
As previously reported, The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise will premiere at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre on June 21, where it’ll have a six-week engagement before heading to Broadway.
