Machine Gun Kelly is the subject of a new documentary set to premiere on Hulu this summer.
The film, titled Machine Gun Kelly’s Life in Pink, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the last couple years of the artist’s life as he moved from rap to rock with his 2020 album Tickets to My Downfall and this year’s Mainstream Sellout.
“My whole life changed in the last two years, and we had the cameras rolling,” Kelly says of the movie.
Judging by the Life in Pink trailer, the doc will tackle everything from MGK’s relationship with his father and daughter to his tiff with MMA fighter Conor McGregor at the 2021 MTV VMAs and the hostile reaction he got from crowds at rock festivals.
Talk about a glow-up: Lainey Wilson and Luke Combs are both big stars now, but their friendship dates back to when they were still unknown artists.
“I’ve known Luke for, oh my gosh, I met him in 2014,” Lainey reveals to Entertainment Tonight. “And he used to come over to my camper and write songs with me.”
If you’re not familiar with Lainey’s story, that camper was her home for three years after moving from her home state of Louisiana to Nashville to pursue her dream of being a country star.
But these days, all those difficult days of struggling to pay her dues seem worth it: She earned her first two #1 hits with her debut single, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” and a duet with Cole Swindell called “Never Say Never.” Plus, she’s been cast in the next season of the hit television show Yellowstone, cementing her superstar status.
Of course, Luke’s no slouch at country radio himself: Earlier this spring, he earned his 13th consecutive #1 hit with “Doin’ This.” That means that every one of the singles he’s released since he debuted has hit the top of the country charts.
Now, the old-pals-turned-stars are reuniting for Luke’s fall tour, called the Middle of Somewhere Tour, with Lainey serving as an opening act. She’s not letting her tour boss forget their early days together, though. “I’m reminding him of it all the time, and I guess he remembers,” she adds.
The Middle of Somewhere Tour launches September 2 with two dates in Bangor, Maine. Jordan Davis is also on the bill.
ndrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Many artists have had to postpone shows in the middle of a tour because they or members of their crew tested positive for COVID. But Josh Groban has perfect timing: He just caught COVID about a week and a half ago, which means he’ll be all clear for the start of his Harmony tour on Friday.
He tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that both he and his family tested positive after being “so hyper careful” and after they “outran it for so long.” “It hit me hard,” he admits, though he reassures fans, “I’ve been singing in my apartment and have no issues with breath control.” His family is fine too, he says.
However, Josh is still going to be careful: He’s playing only outdoor venues on the tour. As the singer, who’s vaccinated and boosted, explains, “My lungs are my job and my parents are in their seventies. It’s vitally important to make the most educated risks as possible to make sure we can all still thrive as a society.”
And then there’s the fact that he really enjoys playing outside. “Some of the best times we’ve had on the road have been at beautiful outdoor [venues],” he notes. “There’s nothing better than music under the stars.”
Josh is also excited to perform the songs from his 2020 album, Harmony,to crowds for the first time.
“These were the songs we were recording, the soundtrack that was keeping my head sane, during these awful months [of the pandemic],” he explains. “To be out in beautiful settings, singing songs I didn’t know would be sung at all (live), is really cathartic.”
Ringo Starr‘s All Starr Band recently postponed the last 12 concerts of the first leg of their 2022 North American tour after two members of the group — Edgar Winter and Steve Lukather — tested positive for COVID-19. Now all of those shows have been rescheduled.
The new dates run from a September 5 concert in Lenox, Massachusetts, through a September 22 performance in Providence, Rhode Island. The rescheduled shows take place immediately before the previously announced second leg of the All Starr Band’s 2022 North American trek, which is mapped out from a September 23 concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut, through an October 19-20 stand in Mexico City.
“We were having so much fun playing again and it was disappointing to have to stop,” says Ringo. “But we were able to reschedule these shows and add them to our Fall tour — and so as the song goes — I’ll see you in September! Peace and love.”
Here’s the full list of rescheduled All Starr Band dates:
9/5 — Lenox, MA, Tanglewood (original date: 6/17)
9/6 — Baltimore, MD, Modell Lyric (original date: 6/14)
9/7 — Baltimore, MD, Modell Lyric (original date: 6/15)
9/9 — Easton, PA, State Theater (original date: 6/11)
9/10 — Pittsburgh, PA, PPG Arena (original date: 6/18)
9/11 — Philadelphia, PA, Metropolitan Theater (original date: 6/19)
9/15 — St. Augustine, FL, The AMP (original date: 6/24)
9/16 — Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall (original date: 6/26)
9/17 — Hollywood, FL, Hard Rock (original date: 6/25)
9/19 — Atlanta, GA, Cobb Center (original date: 6/22)
9/20 — Richmond, VA, Virginia Credit Union Live (original date: 6/21)
9/22 — Providence, RI, PPAC (original date: 6/12)
Brian Kelley, one half of the currently-defunct hit duo Florida Georgia Line, is returning with new solo music next month. Called “American Spirit,” the new song will honor patriotic pride just in time for Independence Day.
Brian co-wrote “American Spirit” with fellow country artist Canaan Smith as well as Jake Rose and Blake Redferrin. It’s an especially meaningful song for the singer because it honors his “Poppy,” John Edward Kelley, who earned two Purple Hearts and was a prisoner of war while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.
To celebrate the gravity of the song, Brian enlisted painter Steve Penley to create the cover art, which features an American soldier proudly waving the flag.
The new song also sees Brian returning to his former label home, Big Machine Records, which is also where he’ll release his new solo music going forward. In addition to his releases with FGL, he put out his debut solo album, Sunshine State of Mind, in 2021.
“American Spirit” comes out July 1, but it’s available to pre-save and preorder now.
Mariah Carey will soon have her name added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ahead of the ceremony, the hitmaker sweetly thanked fans for the honor.
Taking to her Instagram story, Mariah wrote, “I’ve always considered myself a songwriter first. It’s my favorite part of creating music, and what I feel is the greatest of all.”
While thanking fans for “all your love and support,” she decided to take a stroll down memory lane and introduced, “Here is a fan-favorite selection from each of my studio albums to celebrate my induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame!”
From her eponymous debut studio album, Mariah selected the song “Vanishing.” Other highlighted tracks include “Make It Happen” from the Emotions album and “Hero” from Music Box.
The honor is a long-time coming for the “Fantasy” singer, who waited nearly three years to be inducted. She, along with Eurythmics‘ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, The Neptunes‘ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, members of The Isley Brothers and veteran rocker Steve Miller, were announced as the new class of honorees in December 2019.
“I can’t believe it,” Mariah said at the time on Instagram. “The SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME!!!! This is truly one of the greatest honors of my career. I’m so proud and humbled to be in the company of such legendary songwriters — both previously inducted as well as the incredible class of 2020!”
The Induction and Awards Gala was originally scheduled for June 11, 2020, but it was moved to June 10, 2021, because of the pandemic — before it was bumped again to this Thursday, June 16.
(LONDON) — An estimated 185,000 children in eastern Ethiopia are suffering from severe malnutrition as the region experiences a “once-in-a-lifetime” drought, the charity Save the Children said on Thursday.
UNICEF previously warned of an “explosion of child deaths” in the Horn of Africa without immediate action, with over 1.7 million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in need for treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
Experts have said that climate change has intersected with man-made crises to worsen the famine, withrecent fighting in Ethiopia and the disruption to global food supplies brought by the war in Ukraine exacerbating the situation.
Earlier this month, UNICEF’s deputy regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Rania Dagash, made a desperate plea to the international community to intervene.
“[I]f the world does not widen its gaze from the war in Ukraine and act immediately, an explosion of child deaths is about to happen in the Horn of Africa,” she said. “Four rainy seasons have failed in the space of two years – killing crops and livestock and drying up water sources. Forecasts suggest the next October to December rains are likely to fail too.”
In a new report, Save the Children warned that the situation is set to worsen over the coming months as food prices continue to rise. The unprecedented conditions have also led to a change in animal behaviors, the charity said, as desperate monkeys and warthogs are encroaching on human communities in search of food and water. In the Shabelle zone of the Somali region, families have reported witnessing monkeys attacking children out of desperation.
“We have been receiving reports that many families have had to fend off hungry monkeys with sticks,” Abdirizak Ahmed, Save the Children’s area operation manager in the east of Ethiopia, said. “The monkeys never normally attack people, but the situation is so terrible that they are resorting to unnatural behavior like this especially in Dawa and Shebelle areas, the first areas affected by the drought and the driest. We understand the children were unharmed, but it’s filled people with fear about what the future will bring.”
Twenty-three million people are experiencing extreme hunger across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, Save the Children said. The charity is urgently calling for donors to help avert the humanitarian crisis.
“Children — especially small children — are bearing the brunt of a harrowing and multifaceted crisis in Ethiopia,” said Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s director in Ethiopia. “A prolonged, expanding, and debilitating drought is grinding away at their resilience, already worn down by a grueling conflict and two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday dramatically escalated its fight to dial back historic inflation, raising its benchmark interest rate by 0.75%, the largest rate hike since 1994. The move offers hope that sky-high prices for essentials like fuel and groceries will eventually come down.
The decision will impact the average American and the economy as a whole in profound and largely negative ways, experts told ABC News.
An increase to the benchmark interest rate raises borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, which in theory should slash inflation by slowing the economy and eating away at demand. That means borrowers will likely soon face higher costs for everything from car loans to credit card debt to mortgages, the experts said.
Plus, the rate hike could exacerbate the ongoing stock market decline — a fear validated by early trading on Thursday as all three major stock indexes fell at least 2%. A sustained further decline would hammer portfolios, including 401(k)s that are often pegged to the S&P 500.
On top of that, the strategy all but guarantees an economic slowdown and risks tipping the economy into a recession, the experts added. The hot job market will likely cool, leading to fewer openings for job seekers, slower wage growth and possible layoffs, they said.
“Everybody’s income statement and balance sheet will look a little less attractive here,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “They need to buckle in.”
What the rate hike means for you
In general, an interest rate hike makes borrowing more expensive. So any purchase that requires a loan — for a home, car, or higher education — could be affected. Credit card rates are also highly sensitive to Federal Reserve moves, so card holders should expect higher payments in the coming months.
Purchasing a home, for example, will likely involve higher mortgage rates. Since mid-March, when the Fed instituted its first rate hike of the year, the average 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped from 4.45% to 6.03%, according to Mortgage News Daily.
That rate could reach as high as 7% or 8%, Derek Horstmeyer, a finance professor at George Mason University’s School of Business, told ABC News. Each single percentage point increase in a mortgage rate can add thousands or tens of thousands in additional cost each year, depending on the price of the house, according to Rocket Mortgage.
“Any sort of asset that you need to borrow money to acquire,” Horstmeyer said. “Will be much more expensive.”
Alongside the heightened cost of loans, investors will face the prospect of a further downturn in the markets for assets like stocks and cryptocurrency. As economic prospects dim and companies face higher borrowing costs themselves, traders may turn elsewhere for safer investments. In addition, the excess income that some put into the stock market during the pandemic will likely be harder to come by.
But economists disagree about how much of the market downturn so far this year has come in anticipation of further hikes from the Fed.
Since many investors already expected rate hikes like the 0.75% increase on Wednesday, the strategy at the Fed may have little effect on the market. But a further market downturn would move stock portfolios, 401(k)s, and likely cryptocurrency holdings even lower, and could delay an eventual market recovery.
The S&P 500 fell deeper into bear market territory in early trading on Thursday, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is down more than 30% since its last all-time high.
“A lot of the drop is priced in already,” said Horstmeyer, the finance professor, before the stock market fell early on Thursday. “Maybe 5% more to go but knock on wood we don’t go much lower than that.”
What the rate hike means for the economy
By design, the rate hike intends to slow the economy, which should cut demand for goods and labor and in turn reduce inflation.
Despite a contraction of the economy over the first three months of the year, the labor market remains tight and consumer spending has proven resilient. But the rate hike on Wednesday should cool off the labor market and consumer demand, experts said.
As people face higher borrowing costs, their spending will decrease and businesses will see revenue decline. When business performance slows, companies will freeze hiring or even impose layoffs, which will loosen demand for workers and slow wage growth, experts said. In turn, people will have even less money to spend, reinforcing the economic slowdown.
Eventually, the slowdown should ease inflation, providing relief for households struggling to afford gas, groceries, and other necessities.
“At this point, a hard landing is unavoidable,” Eric Sims, a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, told ABC News. “There will be some short-term pain.”
But the most recent rate hike — and the additional ones signaled by the Fed on Wednesday — should eventually restore the economy to a healthy rate of inflation, said Jeremy Siegel, a professor emeritus of finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. The central bank’s target inflation rate is 2%, well below the rate of 8.6% recorded in May.
“You need medicine to cure inflation,” Siegel said. “The sooner you give the medicine, the quicker the patient will recover.”
But the strategy of rate hikes risks slowing down the economy so much that it brings about a recession, the experts said. A recession, however, would likely be mild, they said.
And the upcoming months are crucial in determining whether the economy tips into a recession, said Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“All the negatives for the economy are at their apex right now,” he said.
“If we can weather this immediate storm of high interest rates, high inflation and slowing growth, I think we’ll make our way through without a recession,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Thousands of cattle in Kansas have died as a national heat wave scorches the U.S., leaving one of the country’s leading cattle farming states with a loss amid rising production costs.
At least 2,000 cattle have died as of Tuesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment told ABC News.
The cattle deaths happened throughout the weekend, as extreme heat and humidity persisted through Saturday and Sunday.
AJ Tarpoff, associate professor and beef extension veterinarian at Kansas State University, told ABC News that multiple factors led to the heat stress that caused the cattle to die.
“The temperature spiked, the humidity spiked, but the wind speed dropped,” Tarpoff said. “This is quite rare for this region of western Kansas, and it lasted for over one day.”
Tarpoff added that since nighttime temperatures were higher than usual, the cattle did not receive the normal cooling time they need to counter heat stress.
Scarlett Hagins, a spokesperson for the Kansas Livestock Association, said there was a 10 to 15-degree spike over Saturday night, which was a drastic jump in temperatures for the area.
“There was little wind, and the temperature didn’t really cool down overnight,” Hagins told ABC News. “The cattle just didn’t have time to acclimate because it happened so fast.”
Tarpoff said cattle are generally adaptable animals, but this weather event was particularly stressful because of the fast temperature change.
“Cattle are a robust animal; they can adapt to all kinds of weather all over the world,” Tarpoff said. “Some animals just did not have time to adapt [from the spring season] and some were still shedding their winter coats.” “Going forward, cattle can adapt quickly, as long as the wind keeps. It all depends on nighttime cooling hours and wind speed.”
Hagins said Kansas markets 5.5 million cattle each year, so while the loss of these 2,000 was unfortunate, this event should not affect market prices or the supply chain for beef.
“People shouldn’t worry about seeing beef on the shelves or seeing the price of beef go up,” Hagins said.
Hagins said ranchers in Kansas have mitigation protocols to deal with summer heat, which usually does not spike as it did over the weekend.
“Heat stress is always a concern, but there are mitigation protocols in place and we usually can protect against these kinds of deaths,” Hagins said.
Hagins said many ranchers make sure to increase water availability for cattle as temperatures rise, and also adjust feeding schedules for the animals.
“They will change what time they are feeding or what kind of food they are feeding the cattle so that they are not digesting during the hot hours because when cattle digest, their bodies get warmer,” Hagins said.
The cattle deaths come amidst a national heat wave that has nearly 100 million Americans under heat advisories.
U.S. residents from California to Pennsylvania face heat indexes nearing or surpassing triple digits.
For even the country’s hottest regions, such temperatures are abnormal for early summer, and extreme weather events persist among the increasing effects of climate change.
(WASHINGTON) — COVID-19 vaccinations for kids under age 5 could be available as early next week after an advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted Wednesday to recommend authorization for both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines.
Before shots can be administered to kids, the FDA must issue its official authorization, which could happen within days.
This Friday and Saturday, an advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will meet and then present its recommendation to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who gives the final green light.
At the start of the pandemic, scientists studied vaccines in adults first because they have a higher risk of dying of COVID-19. That means parents of children under the age of 5 have waited over two years, since the start of the pandemic, for a COVID-19 vaccine for their kids.
Now that the vaccine is one step closer to being available, parents may have questions about everything from which vaccine and how many doses their child should receive to how safe and effective the vaccines are.
Here are answers from pediatricians across the country to common questions from parents.
1. Which vaccine should my child get, Pfizer or Moderna?
The short answer is that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are safe and good options for kids under 5, pediatricians say.
“Basically, they’re both very good choices,” Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, told ABC News. “It’s always a great idea to have a choice for vaccines.”
Among the factors that will come into play on vaccine choice include which vaccine is available locally, parents’ preference and pediatricians’ recommendations, according to Maldonado.
The main difference between the two is that Moderna’s vaccine is delivered in two shots, taken 28 days apart, and Pfizer’s vaccine requires three shots over the course of around three months.
Pfizer’s data shows that fuller protection against COVID-19 does not kick in until the third shot, meaning a child who gets that vaccine will take longer to be protected against the virus.
Moderna says its vaccine is about 40 to 50% effective after two shots, and the company expects to roll out a booster, or third shot, in the coming months.
The Pfizer vaccine has already been available for those who are 5 and older but would now be available for kids ages 6 months through 4 years.
Moderna’s vaccine has previously been available only for people ages 18 and older. The latest vaccine authorization will be for kids ages 6 months to 5 years.
2. Does it matter that Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines have different doses?
No, according to Dr. Vandana Madhavan, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Mass General Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School.
“What is most important is that both vaccines have the lowest doses given to the youngest children so that they are protected without increased side effects,” she said. “The actual dose is less important than the level of protective antibody that a particular vaccines pushes the immune system to make.”
The Pfizer vaccine is 3 micrograms — one-tenth of the adult dose — given in three doses.
The Moderna vaccine is 25 micrograms — one-fourth of the adult dose — given in two doses.
3. Will my child have side effects from the vaccine?
The side effects in children who get vaccinated against COVID-19 are typically mild, according to Madhavan.
“The most common side effect from the COVID-19 vaccine in all age groups is a sore arm at the site of an injection,” said Madhavan. “Children might get a low-grade fever, generalized fatigue and crankiness but these side effects are less common and self-resolved, going away in a couple of days.”
4. Why does my child need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at such a young age?
While COVID-19 has had a more deadly impact on older adults, there have still been nearly 500 deaths in kids under 5 and over 30,000 hospitalizations in the U.S.
“One of the main issues is parents thinking that COVID-19 is a very mild disease, and the vaccines are very unsafe,” said Dr. Diego R. Hijano, pediatric infectious disease specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “And we cannot emphasize that the opposite is true.”
Dr. Tanya Altmann, a California-based pediatrician and school physician, said getting a child vaccinated against COVID-19 can not only help prevent immediate illness but also protect them from longstanding complications from the virus.
“Kids under age 5 deserve and need protection just as older kids and adults against the potentially serious complications from COVID-19 infection,” said Altmann. “The vaccine has reduced hospitalizations from COVID-19 in all other age groups and emerging data also shows a decrease in long COVID.”
Madhavan stressed that it is important to get as many children vaccinated as possible amid summer travel and camps and a return to school in the fall.
“We can’t predict what the summer and fall will bring with respect to new variants and how transmissible, how serious these variants will be,” said Madhavan. “We do know that thus far, vaccines are very effective at preventing serious disease from all variants.”
5. How do experts know the vaccine is safe for young kids?
Both Pfizer and Moderna released data to the FDA prior to Wednesday’s advisory meeting. The data shows the vaccines proved safe in clinical trials for kids ages 6 months through 4 years, or 5 years for the Moderna shot.
Dr. Jay Portnoy, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and a member of the FDA advisory committee, called the vaccines “very safe to use.”
“Our question today is, does the benefit outweigh the risks of this vaccine? And I think that the evidence is pretty clear,” Portnoy said at Wednesday’s meeting. “For preventing severe disease, hospitalization, emergency visits, this vaccine is very effective, very safe to use.”
6. How do I get a vaccine for my child?
Parents should talk to their child’s pediatrician about where and how to get a vaccine.
Pediatricians’ offices, children’s hospitals and family doctors’ offices will all be among the top sites for kids under 5 to get vaccinated.
If the authorization process for Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines moves forward as planned, vaccines could be available for kids as early as Tuesday.
“Remember, pediatricians get vaccines all the time. It’s a large part of what they do,” said Maldonado, adding that the American Academy of Pediatrics has already been working with the CDC and local health departments to coordinate the vaccine rollout for kids under 5. “They’re used to rolling out new vaccines on a regular basis.”
7. If my child had COVID, do they still need to get vaccinated?
Yes, pediatricians say.
“Individuals who have a combination of infection and vaccines have the best protection of all,” said Hijano, describing a concept called hybrid immunity. “They are better than those who only got the vaccines and significantly better than those who only got infected.”
According to Hijano, getting kids vaccinated, including those have already had COVID-19, will be especially important as the virus contains to change and new variants emerge.
Kids can get vaccinated as soon as they are out of isolation from COVID-19. They do not have to wait a certain amount of time, according to Hijano.
Priya Jaisinghani, M.D., is an endocrinologist at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
