After India.Arie announced last week that she was pulling her music from Spotify partly because of racist language used by podcast host Joe Rogan on the streaming service, she followed up by sharing clips of Rogan previously using the N-word.
The four-time Grammy winner posted edited footage of YouTube clips to her Instagram Stories Highlights showing Rogan using the racial slur several times.
Rogan responded on Instagram by saying the clips were taken out of context, but acknowledged, “It looks f****** horrible, even to me.”
He added. “I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist. But whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say, ‘I’m not racist,’ you’ve f***** up. And I clearly have f***** up.”
In announcing she was removing her music from Spotify, Arie said, “One [reason] is the Joe Rogan conversation, and for me his language around race and some of the things I’ve seen and heard, but also coupled with that, there is the treatment of artists by Spotify.” The “Strength, Courage & Wisdom” singer added that the platform underpays musical artists, and that she doesn’t want to support a company that prioritizes giving Rogan a hefty salary.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a memo Sunday to employees that he was “deeply sorry” for how the Rogan controversy has affected them. Spotify has also removed 70 past episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, with Ek’s memo saying Rogan “chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify.” Ek further said the Rogan podcast will continue.
In responding to the criticism of Spotify, Ek also announced that the company is “committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”
(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 902,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 64.1% 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 07, 11:54 am
New Jersey governor to end mask mandate for schools
New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy announced Monday that the state’s requirement to wear face masks in schools will end on March 7.
“Balancing public health with getting back to some semblance of normalcy is not easy. But we can responsibly take this step due to declining COVID numbers and growth in vaccinations,” Murphy tweeted.
Murphy, a Democrat, has imposed some of the strictest pandemic-related mandates in the country. New Jersey, an early hot spot for COVID-19 cases, has lost more than 31,000 residents to the virus.
This move follows a decision last month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, to rescind his state’s mask mandate for schools.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governors of New York and Connecticut have said that they are reevaluating school mask mandates set to expire later this month.
Feb 07, 11:47 am
All states reporting declining or stable new case rates
After months of rising cases due to the omicron surge, every state in the U.S. is now reporting declining or stable new case rates, according to federal data.
Less than one month ago, the U.S. was averaging more than 800,000 new cases per day. Now that average has plummeted to just over 313,000 new cases per day — a 61% drop since the nation’s peak in mid-January and a 56% drop in the last two weeks.
Even so, the U.S. still reported nearly 2.2 million new COVID-19 cases last week; the nation’s daily case average remains higher than during any other wave of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations are also falling. About 14,000 Americans are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day — down by more than 23% in the last week, according to federal data.
Deaths, however, remain very high, with 16,800 Americans dying from COVID-19 over the last week. Deaths are a lagging indicator and usually take a few weeks to dip after the country sees a decline in cases and hospitalizations.
Feb 07, 9:42 am
Delaware to end universal indoor mask mandate
Delaware will lift its universal mask mandate on Friday morning after an improvement in cases and hospitalizations, Gov. John Carney said.
“We’re in a much better place than we were several weeks ago,” Carney said in a statement Monday. “I want to be clear about this point — COVID is still circulating in our communities. And the virus still poses a risk of serious illness, particularly among those who are not up to date on their vaccinations. But we have the tools to keep ourselves and each other safe.”
The mask requirement for Delaware schools was extended and is now set to expire on March 31.
Feb 07, 8:09 am
New Jersey governor to end mask mandate for schools
New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy is expected to announce Monday that the state’s requirement to wear face masks in schools will end the second week of March.
Murphy, a Democrat, has imposed some of the strictest pandemic-related mandates in the United States. The move would follow a decision last month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, to rescind his state’s mask mandate for schools.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governors of New York and Connecticut have said that they are reevaluating school mask mandates set to expire later this month.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Feb 07, 5:48 am
Ottawa declares state of emergency over trucker-led protests
Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency on Sunday because of trucker-led protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions.
The move by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” according to a statement from the city.
“It also provides greater flexibility within the municipal administration to enable the City of Ottawa to manage business continuity for essential services for its residents and enables a more flexible procurement process, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders,” the city said.
Seven people were arrested in Ottawa on Sunday due to enforcement measures around the demonstration, according to a press release from the Ottawa Police Service.
“There are over 60 criminal investigations so far related to the demonstration,” police said. “They are primarily for mischief, thefts, hate crimes and property damage.”
Sunday marked the 10th straight day of the so-called “freedom convoy” protests, which began with truckers critical of a new rule that they must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the United States-Canada border. The demonstrations have since grown into broader challenges to pandemic-related public health measures and opposition to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Thousands of protesters have occupied the streets of Ottawa and other cities across Canada in support of the movement, paralyzing the capital’s city center with traffic jams, nonstop noise and complaints of harassment. Protesters have said they won’t leave until all COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions are lifted nationwide. They are also calling for the removal of Trudeau’s government, even though most of the public health measures were put in place by provincial governments.
Avril Lavigne is the latest musician to pull the plug on an upcoming European tour. Taking to social media on Monday, the “Love It When You Hate Me” singer announced that she was forced to postpone her upcoming LOVE SUX tour because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have some unfortunate news to share with you all about my UK and European dates. I have to make the difficult decision to postpone this tour until 2023,” Avril said. “Due to on-going issues surrounding the pandemic, there are a series of travel and venue restrictions from country to country that have made the tour not possible to happen.”
She continued, “It’s not an easy decision, but it’s one that will help ensure that we are able to play every single date of the tour, put on the best show possible at full capacity, and operate in a safe environment.”
The tour was to promote Avril’s upcoming album, LOVE SUX, which is due out February 25.
“It really breaks my heart to have to do this, but I know it will be worth the wait,” Avril promised, saying her rescheduled dates will now take place between April and May of 2023. She assured those who had purchased tickets for the old dates will be able to use them for the 2023 tour.
Avril has since updated her official website so ticket holders can learn more about the postponement.
Avril now joins a growing number of artists who were forced to push back their European tours, such as Shawn Mendes, Måneskin, Aerosmith and others.
Nine Inch Nails has announces a series U.S. headlining tour dates.
The outing will first kick off in the spring with shows in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Franklin, Tennessee, on April 28 and May 1, respectively. Then, Trent Reznor and company will head West for a fall tour beginning with a two-night stand at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on September 2 and 3, before wrapping up with a homecoming show in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 24.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 11, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit NIN.com.
As previously reported, Nine Inch Nails will also be headlining the Shaky Knees and Primavera Sound Los Angeles festivals in April and September, respectively.
DNCE is back after a four-year break, promises frontman Joe Jonas.
Speaking toRolling Stone, the “Cake By the Ocean” singer revealed he was inspired to make new music when filming the upcoming Korean War movie Devotion. “I felt so inspired by what a beautiful city I was in and some of the music I heard when I was there,” Joe said, and created a new album perfect for his dance-rock band, DNCE.
Joe teased DNCE’s new single, “Happy Feet,” which features Kygo, noting it’s about “enjoying life to the fullest.”
“I think what DNCE always did so well was bring joy to people, which is what I wanted to do with this new batch of music. Obviously it’s still very tricky times, but it reminds us all of being able to go out there and dance and enjoy life,” he added.
Joe also revealed that there’s a shakeup in the DNCE lineup this time around. While original members Jack Lawless and guitarist JinJoo Lee have returned, bassist Cole Whittle is now pursing a solo career.
Joe isn’t sweating losing Cole, however, and added, “I can kind of foresee [DNCE] becoming this E Street Band where members come and go…It could be a great opportunity to have some special guests” — such as Ryan Tedder.
Joe also says he’s in a much better place now when it comes to holding down multiple projects. “In the past with the Jonas Brothers, I used to carry a lot of trauma when new projects would present themselves because you could only focus on one thing at a time,” said Joe.
The singer has since teased his upcoming new music on Instagram, telling fans, “So excited to start sharing the new stuff we’ve been working on including #DancingFeet with @kygomusic!!”
The 2022 ACM Awards just got even more star-studded, as Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett are set to join Dolly Parton as co-hosts.
Following the news last week that the legendary singer would be hosting the ACM Awards for the second time, comes news that the 2021 ACM New Male Artist of the Year and New Female Artist of the Year, respectively, will also helm the show on March 7. Dolly previously hosted the show in 2000.
Additionally, Gabby and Jimmie will be announcing some of the nominations for the awards ceremony on Thursday on the ACM Awards Twitter account at 10:30 a.m. ET.
“We taking country music back to VEGAS,” Jimmie shared on Twitter.
“So excited to announce that @jimmieallen and I will be joining @DollyParton to co-host the @ACMawards!” shared Gabby.
The ACM Awards air live for the first tome on Amazon Prime Video on March 7 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET.
Layne Staley & Mike Starr in 1992; Ebet Roberts/Redferns
The estates of late Alice in Chains members Layne Staley and Mike Starr have sold their music rights to the music publishing company, Primary Wave.
According to a press release, Primary Wave now owns “a stake in [Staley and Starr’s] music publishing catalog, as well as master royalty income stream.” The deal includes royalties to AiC classics including “Man in a Box,” “Would?” and “Rooster.”
In a statement, Primary Wave Publishing Partner David Weitzman says, “Primary Wave is pleased to partner with the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr to honor their musical legacies as part of the classic era lineup of Alice in Chains, who created the amazing songs and records that comprise the albums Dirt and Facelift, and the acoustic EPs, Jar of Flies and Sap.”
“These projects represent the greatest works from one of the best artists of the iconic ’90s Seattle-based grunge era,” Weitzman adds.
Both Staley and Starr were original members of Alice in Chains. Frontman Stayley died in 2002, while bassist Starr, who left AiC in 1993, passed in 2011.
Ringo Starr has unveiled updated plans for his 2022 North American tour with his All Starr Band that include a newly confirmed kickoff date and a lineup change.
The latest All Starr Band trek, which has been postponed twice since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, will get underway with a just announced May 27-28 engagement at Casino Rama in Rama, Canada.
This will mark the fifth time that Ringo and the All Starrs will begin a tour at the Canadian venue, after 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2014.
The group’s 2022 itinerary also features a new concert in Canandaigua, New York, on May 30 and a second show in Atlanta on June 21, which joins a previously announced June 22 Atlanta gig. In addition, previously confirmed concerts on May 31 in Asbury Park, New Jersey; June 3 in Worcester, Massachusetts; and June 21 in Richmond, Virginia, are no longer on the All Starr Band’s schedule.
As for the lineup change, veteran rocker Edgar Winter will be rejoining the group in place of founding Santana and Journey singer/keyboardist Gregg Rolie, who had played with the All Starrs since 2012. Winter previously was a member of the All Starr Band from 2006 to 2011.
The rest of Ringo’s All Starr Band remains the same — Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Men at Work frontman Colin Hay and former Average White Band guitarist/bassist Hamish Stuart, as well as sax player/percussionist Warren Ham and drummer Gregg Bissonette.
“I can’t wait to get back out on the road and play,” says Ringo. “This is the longest I’ve been off the road in years — up until 2020 I was touring every year with the All Starrs — and I’ve really missed it.”
(BEIJING) — Team USA figure skater Vincent Zhou has withdrawn from Tuesday’s individual competition after testing positive for COVID-19 for a second time.
U.S. Figure Skating announced Sunday night that Zhou had tested positive for the virus amid a regular screening and that he would be able to compete in the men’s short program, which begins Tuesday.
The 21-year-old shared the news about the second positive result on Instagram Monday morning.
“This absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person,” Zhou said. “I am more than just another positive COVID test. I am more than just another face in the crowd.”
Zhou said he’s done everything in his power to stay free of the virus since the start of the pandemic and has isolated himself so much in recent months that the loneliness has been crushing at times.
He was absent from the podium Sunday after Team USA took home its first silver medal in the teams competition.
Despite withdrawing from the competition, Zhou said he was proud of his achievements.
