Janet Jackson‘s bold new documentary has had a ripple effect on her music, boosting her streaming numbers by over 100 percent.
Billboardreports Janet’s streams have skyrocketed by 109 percent since her eponymous four-part documentary premiered on A&E and Lifetime in late January, during which she provides honest insights on her career, controversies, upbringing and more. By February 3, fans streamed her songs 10.6 million times. The most listened-to single was “That’s the Way Love Goes,” clocking 778,000 streams in the U.S. alone. Other songs enjoying a major bump in numbers are “All for You,” “Control,” “Any Time, Any Place” and “Nasty.”
Janet also enjoyed a major boost in sales. “That’s the Way Love Goes” leads the pack, with fans snatching up 1,300 copies. Securing the second-most sales was “All For You,” with 1,100 copies sold. “Rhythm Nation,” “Escapade” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” also sold over 1,000 downloads each.
Janet’s album sales also jumped by 17,000 units. The leader is Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, with 4,000 copies of it flying off the shelves.
According to Nielsen, 2.8 million people tuned in to watch part one of Janet Jackson, the documentary when it premiered on January 28, and it amassed an additional 1.2 million views via digital download or on demand. Parts two through four were respectively seen by 4.3 million, 3.7 million and 3.8 million people when they aired for the first time.
No other nonfiction offering on A&E and Lifetime amassed such numbers since 2019’s Surviving R. Kelly.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 915,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 64.3% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 11, 1:55 pm
Pfizer delays request for vaccine for kids under 5
Pfizer said it has postponed its application to the FDA to expand the use of its COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5.
Pfizer instead will continue with its study on the three-dose vaccine and seek authorization when that data is available.
“We believe additional information regarding the ongoing evaluation of a third dose should be considered as part of our decision-making for potential authorization,” Pfizer said.
FDA independent advisors will no longer meet on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss
Feb 11, 12:09 pm
US cases at lowest point since Christmas
The daily case average in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest point since Christmas, with the nation now reporting an average of 215,000 new cases each day — a 71% drop in the last three weeks, according to federal data.
However, even with the declines, nearly 99% of U.S. counties are reporting high transmission. Also, many Americans are taking at-home tests and not submitting their results, so case totals may be higher than reported.
U.S. hospitalization rates are also declining.
On average, about 12,100 Americans are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day, down by about 25% in the last week, according to federal data.
The national average continues to plateau around 2,300 new COVID-19-related deaths per day.
Feb 11, 6:56 am
New York City’s unvaccinated workers face termination
About 3,000 municipal workers in New York City — less than 1% of the city’s workforce — face termination Friday after refusing to abide by a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The requirement, established under former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, applies to municipal employees hired after Aug. 2, 2021, who were told to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment and to unvaccinated police officers, correction officers, firefighters and others who opted to forego city health benefits and are currently on leave because they are not vaccinated.
The mandate achieved a vaccination rate among municipal workers of more than 95%. A number of exceptions were approved in recent months.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that some workers initially facing termination had submitted their proof of vaccination, so the final number wasn’t yet clear. He reiterated that the stragglers aren’t being fired but are “quitting.”
“The responsibility is clear,” Adams told reporters Thursday. “We said it. If you were hired, you get this job, you have to be vaccinated. If you are not following the rules, you are making that decision. You are making the decision that you are not going to follow the rules of getting vaccinated. And that is a decision they are making.”
“I want them to stay, I want them to be employees of the city,” he added. “But they have to follow the rules.”
-ABC News’ Mark Crudele and Aaron Katersky
Feb 10, 3:24 pm
1st vaccine shipments for kids under 5 could be as soon as Feb. 21, pending FDA authorization
The first vaccine shipments for children under 5 could arrive at pediatricians’ doors as soon as Feb. 21, according to a planning guide sent to states from federal health officials and obtained by ABC News.
Doses can ship once the FDA signs off.
The FDA’s independent advisory committee will meet on Tuesday and after that the FDA can issue an emergency use authorization.
The CDC’s independent advisory panel is expected to meet within days of the FDA’s authorization. Once the CDC signs off on its panel’s recommendations, vaccinations for kids under 5 can start.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Feb 10, 2:18 pm
Walensky: Difficult to release guidance that works everywhere from NYC to rural Montana
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky acknowledged that it’s tough to make national guidelines to ease restrictions that will fit every different city and town.
“One of the challenging pieces has been how we make guidance that is general enough so that it can be applied to New York City and rural Montana and Indian country, which is our responsibility, and yet have it be specific enough so that people can get their questions answered,” Walensky said in a webinar in hosted by the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project.
Looking to the future, Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s vaccine chief, said “Obviously the hope is — and I think it’s probably the 90% scenario — is that we’re going to now move into a period where … the virus becomes endemic. And we will be living alongside it probably in a period where we will start to get yearly boosters for it.”
But Dr. Sara Oliver, an epidemic intelligence service officer for the CDC, noted that, although there’s a drop in cases, the same hasn’t happened yet in hospitals.
“It’s difficult to envision a time point where we can say COVID is over if we’re still in a time period where our hospitals and ICUs are feeling the strain,” Oliver said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Feb 10, 1:51 pm
Nevada lifting indoor mask mandate, including for schools
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Thursday announced an immediate end to the state’s indoor mask mandate — including for schools — citing a rapid decline in cases and a drop in hospitalizations.
“Teachers & schools will no longer be required to wear masks but school districts will need to work with their local health authorities to have plans in place to deal with outbreaks,” the governor tweeted.
He added, “Employers and organizations, including school districts, may set their own policies, and I encourage them to work with their employees and communities to ensure that policies are in place.”
Masks in Nevada will only be required on public transit per federal law, or in special facilities like hospitals or long-term care facilities.
Evanescence‘s European co-headlining tour with Within Temptation is being postponed yet again.
The international outing has been delayed multiple times from its originally scheduled April 2020 launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trek was finally set to kick off this March, but complications stemming from the continuing pandemic have forced the two bands to push it back one more — and, hopefully, final — time.
“As the world is slowing reopening again, we have been feeling optimistic about the tour actually taking place in March and April,” a statement from Evanescence reads. “However, a lot of countries still have restrictions in place, and we are forced to make a decision right now for logistical reason.”
“We know you understand that many things are still outside of our control,” the statement continues. “But we are very optimistic that we WILL be performing these shows, and we kindly ask that you bear with us one more time while we arrange the tour so it can actually happen.”
Evanescence plans to announce the rescheduled dates, likely to take place this November and December, “in the next few days.”
“We miss and love you, and we will definitely see [you] again,” Evanescence writes. “Stay safe.”
Evanescence launched a U.S. co-headlining tour with Halestorm late last year. The last few dates on the outing were postponed to early this year due to the Omicron surge.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden held a call with transatlantic leaders on Friday to chart next moves as talks over Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine showed no sign of defusing the crisis.
Biden spoke about “coordination on both diplomacy and deterrence” with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, NATO, the European Commission, and the European Council, according to the White House.
The president has remained largely silent on Ukraine over the past few days, instead holding public events focused on the U.S. economy.
The transatlantic call came as NATO warned Europe was facing a “dangerous moment.”
“This is a dangerous moment for European security,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday in Brussels.
European leaders have engaged in intense diplomacy with Russia and Ukraine over the past several weeks to avoid war in eastern Europe. But the talks have so far failed to yield much apparent progress.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, before meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the next day.
Russia and Ukraine held talks Thursday in Berlin, moderated by Germany and France, but after nine hours of discussion failed to even agree on issuing a joint statement.
Western officials had hoped that the latest round of the so-called “Normandy Format Talks” would push forward the diplomacy by Macron and other officials who have been shuttling between capitals over the past couple weeks.
The sides remained at an impasse, though, over Russia’s insistence that the Ukrainian government speak directly with Russian-backed separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine.
Biden said Monday that Americans currently in Ukraine should leave, and on Thursday, he repeated that message with more urgency.
“American citizens should leave now,” Biden Thursday said in an interview with NBC News. “It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.”
Senior U.S. officials say they do not believe Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has made a decision whether to invade Ukraine, even as he has amassed over 100,000 troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine.
The U.S. and other Western nations have warned of severe economic consequences to Russia if it does invade. Russia denies it plans to do so.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Russia and Belarus kicked off 10 days of joint exercises in Belarus, north of Ukraine.
“As we said before, we’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday in Melbourne, Australia. “To be clear, that includes during the Olympics.”
The Winter Olympics, which are ongoing in Beijing, are scheduled to end on Feb. 20.
Dustin Lynch’s new album, Blue in the Sky, arrived on Friday, and along with it comes a new single and music video.
In “Party Mode,” the singer takes an alcohol-fueled getaway to run from his heartbreak, complete with “Drinking every single drink, seven night a week, all over this town.” It’s a party anthem with a darker lyrical subtext, but the music video focuses on the song’s fun side.
In the clip, Dustin joins forces with his real-life buddies Cornbread and Corbin Wilson for a post-breakup tropical escape.
From start to finish, Blue in the Sky is filled with elements from the singer’s real life. Not only does it feature his friends, but in the music video, the gang take a ride in a small plane — when he’s not making music, Dustin’s studying to get his pilot’s license.
“Party Mode” is the next single off Blue in the Sky, following the multi-week number-one hit, “Thinking ‘Bout You.” It also lends his name to Dustin’s Party Mode Tour, which kicks off March 17.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of En Vogue’s Funky Divas, and to celebrate, they’re releasing an expanded and digitally remastered version of the 1992 hit album.
The new digital collection — featuring the album’s top-10 hits “Giving Him Something He Can Feel,” “Free Your Mind,” and “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)” — will be available on March 25, one day after the album’s official anniversary.
The 21-track remastered version will also feature eight remixes making their digital debut. You can pre-order the album now and get early access to the Hyperadio Remix of “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It).”
En Vogue is also updating the music videos for “Free Your Mind,” “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)” and “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” to 4K/HD quality.
This summer, the group is touring with other ‘90s acts including New Kids on the Block and Salt-N-Pepa. The Mixtape Tour kicks off on May 10 and runs through July 23.
Happy birthday Sheryl Crow, born sixty years ago today.
Sheryl’s career spans over three decades, 11 studio albums and nine Grammy awards. She got her start singing commercial jingles in the 80s before landing a spot as a backup singer on Michael Jackson‘s tour in 1987. She didn’t get her big break until 1994, when she released her debut studio album Tuesday Night Music Club,which featured her hit single, “All I Wanna Do.”
Since then, Sheryl’s sold more than 50 million albums and scored other hits such as “If It Makes You Happy,” “Soak Up the Sun,” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” and her “Picture” collaboration with Kid Rock.
Sheryl also dabbled in acting, making her first television appearance in 1990 on the short-lived Cop Rock. Since then, she’s made multiple cameos across several popular series such as One Tree Hill, 30 Rock, Hannah Montana and NCIS: New Orleans. The singer also appeared in three films; 54, The Minus Man and De-Lovely.
In addition to nine Grammys, Sheryl also has one Academy of Country Music Award, three American Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a BRIT Award, and a People’s Choice Award. In addition, she was given an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University.
All this and more will be explored in her eponymous upcoming documentary that will take fans behind the scenes of Sheryl’s rise to fame and her “arduous musical career battling sexism, ageism, depression, cancer, and the price of fame,” per the official description. Sheryl is set to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 11.
(PHOENIX) — Five Phoenix police officers were shot and four others were hurt by shrapnel during an early morning barricade situation at a house, the department said.
All injuries are non-life-threatening, police said.
The incident began when officers were called to a home where a woman was reported shot, Phoenix police said.
When an officer approached to help, the suspect, an adult man, invited the officer inside, said Phoenix police spokesman Andy Williams.
As the officer approached the door, “the suspect ambushed him with a gun and shot him several times,” Williams said. “That officer was able to get back and get away to safety.”
“Other backup officers arrived on scene and they surrounded the home and began calling out the occupants,” Williams said.
Then another man — not the suspect — came out of the house holding a baby girl, police said. The man put the baby on the ground and walked to police where he was detained.
When officers went to bring the baby to safety, the suspect again opened fire from inside the house, shooting four more officers and indirectly injuring four other officers with shrapnel, police said.
The baby appears to be OK, police added.
The suspect then barricaded himself in the home, police said.
Once the scene was secured police said they found the suspect dead inside.
The woman who was the first reported to be shot was found in extremely critical condition inside the home, police said. She appears to be the suspect’s former girlfriend, police said.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted, “Please continue to pray for the five @PhoenixPolice officers injured this morning. Our men and women in blue work day and night—no matter the circumstances—to protect our state from danger.”
He added, “My office is working closely with the Phoenix Police Department to get updates on the situation and the officers’ conditions.”
Other police departments are also speaking out.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown tweeted that his department “stands with our brothers and sisters of the Phoenix Police.”
The Head and the Heart has released a new song called “Virginia (Wind in the Night),” a track off the band’s upcoming album, Every Shade of Blue.
“Being from Virginia, for me this song represents a long and winding relationship to place — a place that is grounding,” says vocalist Jonathan Russell.” I’m often drawing on my life through symbolism as a way into someone else’s psyche. It’s part of my search for a deeper connection without having to compare our experiences directly.”
“There is a reason this song has two titles,” he continues. “One is literal and one is symbolic. Not everyone is from Virginia, I know that. But I bet you have walked home and heard the wind in the night.”
“Virginia (Wind in the Night),” which is available now via digital outlets, is the second song to be released from Every Shade of Blue, following the title track. The album, which follows 2019’s Living Mirage, arrives in full on April 29.
The Head and the Heart will launch a U.S. headlining tour in support of Every Shade of Blue in May.
Taylor Swift hasn’t scored an ACM Award nomination since 2018 — until this week. The singer’s deliciously petty music video for “Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” has been nominated for Video of the Year.
The music video was directed by pal Blake Lively and stars Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller as a groom suffering from cold feet on his wedding day because he cannot get his ex, played by Taylor, out of his head.
The singer celebrated her nomination via Instagram story, writing, “AHHHHHHH CONGRATS @blakelively, MILES AND @keleighteller!!!! BIG GROUP HUG!”
Taylor continued, “I loved making this video and it’s so cool to see the @acmawards nominate it for video of the year” and closed with a crying while smiling emoji.
“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version),” which features vocals from country superstar Chris Stapleton, is among the “from the vault” tracks that appeared on her recently released Red album. The music video was released on November 15 and features an unhinged Taylor wreaking havoc on her ex’s wedding, from ripping chunks out of the wedding cake to giving a drunken speech and falling off the stage — all while the adoring guests approve of her shenanigans. But the ending shows it’s a fantasy conjured by her ex boyfriend, who cannot stop thinking about her.
