The lineup has been unveiled for the star-studded 2023 edition of the RockIsland Fest, which will take place January 17-21 in Key West, Florida.
The artists on the bill include Styx, Loverboy, Tesla, 38 Special, Queensrÿche, Quiet Riot, Extreme, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy, Stryper, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, Enuff Z’Nuff, Honeymoon Suite and Autograph.
Pre-sale passes for the five-day rock extravaganza are available now, while tickets, passes and packages will go on sale to the general public on July 6 at 10 a.m. ET.
The main venue for the event is the 4,000-seat capacity Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheater, located on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.
“The inaugural RokIsland Fest in early 2022 brought some of the biggest rock bands on the planet to the island of Key West for four days of epic performances and tropical bliss,” says festival co-founder Dave Giencke in a statement posted by uDiscoverMusic.com. “After the overwhelming response from the artists and attendees who came in from all over the country and across the pond, we decided to add another day to RokIsland Fest 2023 with a lineup as equally stacked as year one. I’m fairly certain we’ve once again created the premier destination experience for rock fans around the world.”
This year’s inaugural RokIsland Fest included performances byCheap Trick, Night Ranger, Poison‘s Bret Michaels, Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider, Skid Row, Warrant, Winger, Dokken, Lita Ford, Enuff Z’Nuff and many others.
It was a dogfight at the box office over the weekend, but in the end, Elvis downed Maverick.
Newly revised numbers quoted by Variety show that Baz Luhrmann‘s Presley biopic beat Tom Cruise‘s sequel by around a million bucks — close, but still good enough for a first place finish.
The trade reports that Elvis made $31.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, while Top Gun: Maverick brought in $29.6 million in its fifth weekend in theaters. Earlier estimates had the movies tied at $30.5 million apiece.
That said, don’t feel bad for Tom: Maverick is the star’s biggest hit of his long career and flew past the billion-dollar mark at the global box office after just a month.
Mishael Morgan made history Friday night as she became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama: Actress.
She was previously nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2018 and 2019 for her role as Hilary Curtis in The Young and the Restless. After starring in the series since 2013, this year, Morgan won for her current role as Amanda Sinclair.
“I was born on a tiny island in the Caribbean, and I’m now standing on an international stage and I am being honored regardless of the color of my skin, regardless of my passport, for being the best at what I do,” the 35-year-old actress said in her acceptance speech. “Now there are little girls around the world and no matter what the industry, the vocation … they can strive to be the best.”
“I need to thank the fans and everybody sitting at home,” Morgan continued. “They embraced me when I came on this show and I am so immensely proud of our generation.”
“We are breaking glass ceilings left right and center and I am so honored to be a vessel and to experience this moment. Everybody out there today, we can do this thing called equality and unity together,” she added.
Morgan posted an Instagram photo holding her trophy, which she captioned, “It wasn’t a dream. We did this. I am so blessed to be living in a time, where this could be a part of my story.”
Other winners at the 49th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards included Steve Harvey, Outstanding Game Show Host for Family Feud, and Tamron Hall, Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host for her self-titled show. Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts also won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Informative Talk Show.
Sometimes, you just want your eyes to sparkle. In case you don’t have the power to control lightning to get that effect, Ulta Beauty has you covered.
The cosmetics company has revealed its “Be Worthy break apart eye shadow palette,” inspired by the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder. The kitfeatures sparkly shades with names like Electrify, Goddess, Protector of the Cosmos, and Hero’s Journey. Naturally, there’s a shade called Love and another, Thunder.
As its name suggests, the palette breaks apart — like Thor’s hammer Mjölnir did. One side bears shades emulating the new armor of Chris Hemsworth‘s character, while the other side’s colors more closely reflect the literal glow-up Natalie Portman‘s character, Jane Foster, gets when she becomes Mighty Thor.
The set retails for $25.
Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters July 8 from Marvel Studios, which is owned by ABC News’ parent company Disney.
Justin Bieber appears to be on the mend and was spotted in public for the first time since announcing he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
TMZ snapped photos of the “Ghost” singer out and about with his wife, Hailey Bieber. The two had spent the past few weeks in the Bahamas, presumably to allow Justin privacy while he recovered.
The outlet caught the two deboarding their plane in Los Angeles. The Grammy winner was wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap and a hoodie with its hood up. As for Hailey, she had her hair done up in a messy bun, and was wearing sunglasses and an oversized leather jacket.
The couple didn’t go straight home from the airport, instead grabbing some sushi at West Hollywood’s Sushi Park before continuing on their way.
Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare neurological complication caused by the chickenpox virus, which can reactivate as shingles later in life as it stays dormant in one’s system after initial infection. The Mayo Clinic says Ramsay Hunt is caused when a shingles rash breaks out near one’s ear. The rash can trigger facial paralysis, which is what Justin has.
The “Cold Water” singer shared a video earlier this month that showed how the syndrome affected the right side of his face. “This eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move. So there’s full paralysis on this side of my face,” he revealed. Justin has since called off the remainder of his North American tour dates in order to heal.
At this time, the European leg of his Justice World Tour is still going forward, with it resuming July 31 in
Kane Brown was the grand marshal for the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series this weekend, and it appears he had a great time.
On Sunday, the country hitmaker shared a series of snaps from his racing adventure in Nashville, which started with a police escort to the Nashville Superspeedway. On Instagram Stories, Kane revealed that he wore a Dale Earnhardt shirt to the race that fellow NASCAR legend Richard Petty took the liberty of signing.
“When you wear a Dale Earnhardt shirt to the race and Richard Petty gets mad and signs it,” Kane says in the video shrugging with a laugh, adding the caption, “2 kings” with several fire emojis. He posted photo evidence of Richard signing the shirt.
The “Good As You” hitmaker also shared a video from his suite that shows the cars racing around the track as he cheers on Martin Truex Jr.
To make the day even more special, Kane invited two members of the Boys and Girls Club, an organization he’s been a longtime supporter of, to help give the command for drivers to start their engines.
(WASHINGTION) — The Supreme Court on Monday said separation of church and state does not prohibit public school employees from praying aloud on the job near students.
The case involved a high school football coach praying post-game at the 50-yard line, joined by his players.
Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the opinion. The vote was 6-3.
“Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s,” Gorsuch wrote. “Nor does a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.
In her dissent, Sotomayor introduced the case as being “about whether a public school must permit a school official to kneel, bow his head, and say a prayer at the center of a school event,” and wrote, “The Constitution does not authorize, let alone require, public schools to embrace this conduct.”
She said the free exercise clause serves as “a promise from our government” while the establishment clause serves as a “backstop that disables our government from breaking it” and “start[ing] us down the path to the past, when [the right to free exercise] was routinely abridged.”
“It elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise, in the exact time and place of that individual’s choosing, over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state, eroding the protections for religious liberty for all,” she wrote.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett joined the majority opinion in its entirety, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined for the most part.
The ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District is a win for former high school football coach Joe Kennedy, who was suspended from his job in 2015 over post-game prayers on the 50-yard line that sometimes involved his players.
“This is just so awesome,” Kennedy said in a statement Monday. “All I’ve ever wanted was to be back on the field with my guys. I am incredibly grateful to the Supreme Court, my fantastic legal team, and everyone who has supported us. I thank God for answering our prayers and sustaining my family through this long battle.”
Kennedy insisted the midfield prayers were brief, private individual acts of faith, while the school district argued that student participation breached constitutional prohibitions against the promotion of religion by government officials.
“It was my covenant between me and God that after every game, win or lose, I’m going to do it right there on the field of battle,” Kennedy previously told ABC News of his ritual, which he said typically lasted less than a minute.
“This is a right for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re this religion or that religion or have no faith whatsoever,” he said. “Everybody has the same rights in America.”
The school district in Washington state responded to the ruling in a statement, saying, “In light of the court’s decision, we will work with our attorneys to make certain that the Bremerton School District remains a welcoming, inclusive environment for all students, their families and our staff.
“The Bremerton School District’s priorities have always been protecting the rights and safety of students while ensuring that they receive an exemplary education. That’s why, when we learned that a district employee was leading students in prayer, we followed the law and acted to protect the religious freedom of all students and their families,” it said. “We look forward to moving past the distraction of this 7-year legal battle so that our school community can focus on what matters most: providing our children the best education possible.”
Lower courts had sided with the school district. A Supreme Court reversal in favor of Kennedy could soon expand the ability of government employees nationwide to practice their faiths more openly while on the job, legal experts say.
The First Amendment protects free speech and free exercise of religion, but it also prohibits the establishment of religion by the government.
The Supreme Court has long said that public school-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause, even if the prayer is voluntary.
At the same time, the court has ruled that free speech rights don’t end at the schoolhouse gate and that religion need not be entirely expunged from public schools.
While Kennedy routinely prayed on the field after games for more than seven years, attracting varying levels of participation from students, it wasn’t until 2015 that the school district informed the coach of constitutional concerns.
“They just said if anybody could see you anywhere here, it was over,” Kennedy said.
The school district explained at the time in a statement that the prayers violated “constitutionally-required directives that he refrain from engaging in overt, public religious displays on the football field while on duty.”
Some parents complained that the prayer sessions were applying inappropriate pressure on students to participate, even if unintended.
“The coach is a leader. The coach is a mentor. If he goes to the 50-yard line, he has a message he wants to deliver, and so the players would follow,” said Bremerton parent Paul Peterson, whose son Aaron played for coach Kennedy in 2010.
“The harm is to those who are the minority students, the minority faiths, the students who have no faith,” he said. “They are being pressured into doing something that they don’t fundamentally agree with. That’s what the First Amendment protects us from.”
A federal appeals court called Kennedy’s characterization of his prayers as brief, quiet and solitary as a “deceitful narrative,” noting that they were clearly audible prayers surrounded by groups of students, amounting to unlawful religious speech as “a school official.”
Kennedy’s case has been cheered on by top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, dozens of state and federal lawmakers, and star NFL quarterbacks, like Kirk Cousins and Nick Foles, who told the justices in a friend-of-the-court filing that the power of prayer promotes good sportsmanship.
The school district has had broad backing in court filings from other professional athletes, members of Congress, civil rights groups, teachers’ unions, and local government groups, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Kennedy currently lives in Florida but told the court that he would move back to Bremerton to return to coaching, if the justices ruled in his favor.
ABC News’ Libby Cathey contributed to this report.
Lil Nas X revealed that his relationship with BET has been tumultuous for “quite some time” and hints that the fiasco over his zero nominations was the last straw.
The rapper has aired his grievances with the network through his “Late to Da Party” collab with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, which contains the profane chant: “F*** BET.”
In a statement toRolling Stone, the Grammy winner explained, “My relationship with BET has been painful and strained for quite some time. It didn’t start with this year’s nominations like most people might think.”
“They did let me perform on their show last year, but only after [I gave] assurances that I was not a satanist or devil worshiper, and that my performance would be appropriate for their audience,” he continued.
BET refuted the “Panini” rapper’s claims and said in a separate statement that the “summation of events around Lil Nas X’s 2021 BET Awards performance is simply untrue.”
“Since last year’s performance, we have been in touch to work on other projects,” a representative told the outlet. “We are still excited about his previous performances and continue to wish him well. But today, we are focused on culture’s biggest night and delivering history-making moments for fans worldwide.”
Lil Nas X began publicly beefing with BET after he failed to snag a single nod at this year’s award show despite the success of his debut album, Montero, which produced several hit singles. He said he’s calling out BET because “this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community, y’all can sit and pretend all u want but imma risk it all for us.”
His “Industry Baby” collaborator, Jack Harlow — who was nominated for Best Male Hip Hop Artist — wore a Lil Nas X tee on the red carpet.
Cyndi Lauper has released a new version of her 1993 abortion-rights anthem “Sally’s Pigeons” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 opinion that declared abortion a constitutional right.
“The Supreme Court’s radical decision today makes the re-recording and re-release of ‘Sally’s Pigeons’ more relevant than ever,” Lauper wrote on Instagram. “In my childhood, women didn’t have reproductive freedom and 50 years later we find ourselves in a time warp where one’s freedom to control their own body has been stripped away.”
The two-time Grammy winner continued, “When I wrote this song with Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1991, we wrote about two little girls who dreamt of stretching their wings like the pigeons they watched that flew above them. They dreamt of being free. But freedom then for women and unfortunately now comes at a big price.”
Cyndi added, “If we don’t have control over our own bodies then we have no real freedom. We are second class citizens. We need to mobilize. We need to let our voices be heard.”
“Sally’s Pigeons” was inspired by Lauper’s childhood friend who became pregnant and died after seeking a back-alley abortion. The heartbreaking track includes lyrics, “Some twenty one years back/ She left one night with just a nod/ Was lost from some back alley job/ I close my eyes and Sally’s pigeons fly.”
She has since changed the lyrics of the 2022 version of her song and says the events took place “some fifty-one years back.”
The “Time After Time” singer is a staunch advocate for abortion rights.
Ed Sheeran let his fans know he is a major fan of Sam Smith, whom he invited on stage to perform during his takeover of England’s legendary Wembley Stadium.
Ed is performing two weekend sets at the London venue and invited the “Dancing with a Stranger” singer to guest with him on his second night. The Grammy winner shared a sweet video of them hanging out and captioned it, “The incredible @samsmith guesting last night to a sold out Wembley. Got pure goosebumps for it, just so wonderful.”
Sam reposted the video and expressed on their Instagram, “Forever grateful for your support and friendship Ed. Hearing Wembley sing ‘stay with me’ last night is a sound I will never forget. Took me to the moon. Thank you. What a show, what a guy.”
The duo performed Sam’s 2014 breakout hit, “Stay With Me,” which Ed explained in the video, “We first performed this song eight years ago, which is mad!” The clip also shows the “Shivers” singer admiring Sam’s vocal prowess, dancing on stage and inviting the audience to join in on their duet.
After the show, Ed dubbed their set “pure enjoyment” and said the night’s audience was “the best crowds in London, ever.”
The video also highlighted the multiple hugs the two shared during the event. “I love you,” the redhead told Sam during an embrace before they took the stage. Sam responded, “I love you more!”
Ed is next set to take over Wembley on June 29 and 30.
