Machine Gun Kelly has announced a new song called “More Than Life.”
The track is set to premiere alongside a video this Friday, June 10. You can check out some clips from the video shoot now via Kelly’s Instagram.
“More Than Life” follows MGK’s new album, Mainstream Sellout, which was released in March. The Travis Barker-produced record includes collaborations with Bring Me the Horizon, WILLOW and blackbear.
News about the new song arrives just as Machine Gun Kelly is about to launch his summer tour, which begins Wednesday in Austin, Texas. The outing includes a rotating set of openers, including Barker, WILLOW, blackbear and Avril Lavigne.
Dave Mason fans will be “feelin’ alright” in the coming months as the former Traffic singer/guitarist is kicking off a U.S. summer leg of his World in Changes tour this week.
The trek begins with a pair of shows in California — tonight in Carmel by the Sea and Thursday in Petaluma.
Mason will then head to the East Coast, where he will launch a series of shows with July 18 performance in Boston. The 76-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will also visit the Midwest and south-central U.S. during the trek, which winds down with a July 22 concert in Omaha, Nebraska, that will see Dave supporting Sheryl Crow.
The Omaha show is a special free event that will be held in the city’s Memorial Park and will also feature a fireworks display.
Mason has also lined up a trio of fall U.S. concerts in the Northwest — on November 11 in Portland, Oregon, and November 12 and 13 in Seattle. Check out his full itinerary at DaveMasonMusic.com.
Dave’s most recent album is Alone Together…Again, a rerecorded version of his 1970 debut solo album Alone Together that was released in 2020. Alone Together includes Mason’s hit “Only You Know and I Know” and the gem “World in Changes.”
Jim Seals in 1973; Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Toto founder David Paich is among the artists mourning the passing of Seals and Crofts‘ Jim Seals, who, according to The New York Times, died Monday at his home in Nashville at age 79 from an unspecified “ongoing chronic illness.”
Prior to the formation of Toto, Paich played keyboards on four Seals and Crofts albums during the mid-1970s and also worked on the string arrangements of some of the duo’s recordings.
“I can’t say enough about [Seals],” Paich tells ABC Audio. “What a consummate musician and teacher, tutor, guru — everything. And he was such a sweetheart [of a] guy. Nicest guy in the world.”
David adds, “[I] definitely would use the word genius when it comes to Jimmy Seals, ’cause he could just sit and play these songs, and they were just fantastic to hear him play. And then to get to perform with him was just a treat and an honor.”
Paich also reveals that the first hit record he played on after graduating from high school was Seals and Crofts’ “Diamond Girl,” noting that he went on to play on several of the duo’s albums, along with future Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro and, on some tracks, original Toto bassist David Hungate.
Paich tells ABC Audio that while collaborating with the duo, he learned a lot of studio techniques that he still uses today, such as “layering vocals and how to deal with a lot of information on tracks.”
In addition, David notes that he, Porcaro and Hungate all played in the Seals and Crofts touring band.
“It warms my heart and puts a smile on my face to talk about Jimmy Seals,” Paich says. “You know, it was nothing but an endearing, informative learning process with him, and … I’ll never forget him as long as I live.”
Carly Pearce’s latest single, “What He Didn’t Do,” is about as personal and specific as it gets. The chorus is a laundry list of all the reasons why a relationship ended in a breakup.
Her significant other, she sings in the song, didn’t “Treat me right, put me first / Be a man of his word / Stay home ‘cause he wanted to,” and so much more. It’s easy to read Carly’s personal, and very public, story into those lyrics: In 2020, she divorced fellow artist Michael Ray after eight months of marriage.
And while some might suggest that Carly shouldn’t inject too much of her own story into her music, the singer says in an interview with her record label that as a songwriter, she’s got a mandate to tell the truth.
“People might think that I write too much of my story, but for me, that’s my duty,” she says. “And I feel like when I am writing my story I am writing other people’s story, and this song proves it.”
The single — which comes off her 29: Written in Stone album and follows her chart-topping duet with Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” — is one of the most-requested songs on the album, Carly says.
“I’ve never had a song that just — organically, socially — people ask for it in everything that I do,” she says. “Whether it’s online or in a tweet or in a DM or if I’m doing an interview, or radio stations have asked me about it.”
Truth-telling has been a major theme throughout Carly’s current album cycle, and that authenticity has paid off. She recently became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing & Sony Music Entertainment
The documentary about George Michael, narrated by the late star, arrives in theaters June 22, and an exclusive new clip takes a deep dive into the origins of the late singer’s revolutionary “Freedom ’90” music video.
Elton John makes an appearance in the nearly two-minute clip and discusses how George’s work permanently changed the music industry. “It changed the whole face of how videos were done,” said Sir Elton. “The video said everything. It was genius and it was a revolutionary thing.”
George didn’t want to be featured in the music video and instead asked five supermodels to star in “Freedom ’90.”
“It was a specific group of women that George wanted that had just been on the cover of British Vogue that was shot by Peter Lindbergh. It was like, ‘He wants you five and it has to be all you five,'” recalled model Cindy Crawford.
Added Naomi Campbell, who was also in the music video, “George pitched it to me in L.A. and his exact words were, ‘You’re the leader of the gang and unless you say yes, the rest of the girls won’t.'”
George Michael Freedom Uncut explores the late singer’s career following the release of his 1987 album, Faith, which skyrocketed him into fame, through the release of his 1990 follow-up work, Listen Without Prejudice: Vol 1. That period in his career saw George fight for his artistic freedom while grieving the loss of his mother and first real love.
Queen Latifah is speaking out about her weight and why she’s angry about being categorized as obese.
The actress and singer opened up on a new episode of Red Table Talk about the day a personal trainer told her she would be considered obese.
“I was mad at that,” Latifah said in a clip for Wednesday’s episode of the Facebook Watch show. “It pissed me off,” she said, stunned at finding out that what she thought of as being “just thick” turned out to be “30% over” where she should’ve been in terms of weight, according to the trainer.
“She’s showing me different body types and she’s telling me, this is what your BMI is, this is what your weight is, and you fall into this category of obesity,” said The Equalizer star, referring to body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Latifah also opened up to Red Table Talk hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris about the scrutiny she received early on in her acting career, including during her time on the hit ’90s show Living Single.
”We looked like four women who live in Brooklyn, and that’s what we were supposed to be representing,” she said. “But the word came down that we needed to lose weight.”
As a result of her desire to spark more conversation around weight loss and obesity, Latifah joined the It’s Bigger Than Me campaign and is currently on a three-city tour encouraging honest discussion with audience and panel members.
She told ABC Audio of the tour, “The only way we’re going to change the stigma that comes along with it and really educate people is to sit down, to have conversations.”
(ANAHEIM, Calif.) — A California man has been arrested for the theft of an Olympic volleyball champion’s gold medal last month.
The medal, awarded to U.S. women’s volleyball starting setter Jordyn Poulter during the 2020 Tokyo Games, still has not been found, the Anaheim Police Department said in a statement.
Jordan Fernandez, 31, was charged with first-degree residential burglary, second-degree vehicle burglary, identity theft and possession of narcotics on Tuesday, the statement said.
Fernandez was arrested Friday and arraigned Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty. Court records show that he was being held in custody.
“Subsequent to pursuing several investigative leads, APD investigators arrested Jordan Fernandez, a 31-year-old resident of Anaheim, for the theft of the gold medal,” the police department said.
Poulter is offering a $1,000 reward for the medal’s return with “no questions asked,” Anaheim police said.
According to police, the medal was stolen from Poulter’s car while it was parked in a garage.
The medal, awarded to Poulter as part of the the U.S. women’s volleyball team’s historic first Olympic win, was given after the Americans defeated Brazil in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021.
Poulter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Poulter, 24, was training in California and had been living in Anaheim when the theft occurred. She had left the medal in a bag inside her unlocked car before leaving it in a two-door garage with the door open, police said.
“I really unintentionally forgot to take it out,” Poulter told NBC on Tuesday.
After going inside for a quick Zoom call, Poulter returned to see the car’s center console open and found her bag missing, according to police. The medal, along with several other items, had been taken.
The medal was awarded to Poulter after her first and only Olympic performance so far.
Poulter told the Los Angeles Times she cares more about the emotional value of getting her medal back versus the lost monetary value, citing the medal as being worth less than one might assume.
According to the International Olympic Committee, there are around six grams of gold plating on the 2020 Tokyo gold medals, and the rest is pure silver. The average 2020 gold medal weighs about 556 grams total.
The Anaheim Police Department asks anyone with information on the medal’s whereabouts to contact the department at 714-765-1900 or the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.
Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, Johnny Depp‘s lawyers in the high-profile defamation trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, said Depp was “over the moon” with the verdict.
“It was like the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders and I feel that finally after six years he’s gotten his life back,” Chew told GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos about Depp.
On June 1, a jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages over Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed, in which she alleged to be a victim of domestic abuse, despite her abuser not being named in the piece.
Depp will receive a total of $10.35 million due to Virginia state law capping punitive damages at $350,000.
The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for comments made by Depp’s former attorney.
Vasquez said Depp had an opportunity “to speak the truth for the first time” at the trial.
“It was six years in the making, and I think he was able to connect with the jury and the general public and tell what really happened in this relationship,” she continued.
When asked about a previously released statement from Heard’s spokesperson that said the verdict was “setting back decades of how women can be treated in the courtroom,” Vasquez pushed back.
“We’re only speaking about what happened in this case, right? And the facts in this case were overwhelmingly positive for Johnny and the verdict speaks for itself,” she said.
Vasquez also denied that the verdict was a setback to the #MeToo movement, saying, “I think our response to that is we encourage any victim to come forward — domestic violence doesn’t have a gender.”
Vasquez said her team’s cross-examination of Heard was focused on “using her words against her,” saying it was “very important” to them that “every question that was asked was tied to something she had said previously.”
Chew said there was “a real contrast” between Heard and Depp on the stand.
“Johnny took ownership of a lot of things and it seemed at times, and perhaps it came through to the jury, that she had an answer for everything and she wasn’t taking accountability for anything, and I think that made a difference,” he said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A $30,000 reward is being offered in the search for a third suspect in a Philadelphia mass shooting that erupted Saturday night in the busy South Street entertainment district that left three people dead and 12 injured, authorities said.
The Philadelphia Police Department released a series of security video clips and still images showing the teenage suspect from multiple angles on South Street around the time of the shooting.
“This male is considered armed and dangerous,” police said in a statement.
The episode was one of at least 11 mass shootings across the country over the weekend, including one that left three people dead and 11 injured in Chattanooga, Tennessee, another in which three people were killed at a graduation party in Socorro, Texas, and yet another that left a 14-year-old girl dead and eight people injured at a strip mall in Phoenix.
In total, 17 people were killed and 62 were injured in the mass shootings.
As the search for the third suspect in the Philadelphia shooting continued Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee was holding a hearing on gun violence in which survivors and relatives of those killed in recent mass shootings at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school and a Buffalo, New York, supermarket testified.
The Philadelphia mass shooting occurred just before midnight Saturday when a physical confrontation on the street prompted multiple people to open fire near the intersection of South and Second streets, which was teeming with people at the time.
Two of the three people killed and many of those injured were innocent bystanders, police said. Police initially said 11 people were injured, but that number was revised to 12 in the police department’s latest statement.
Police said four or five different guns were used in the shooting and two, including an untraceable ghost gun — a firearm without serial numbers — .with an extended magazine, were found within a two-block crime scene.
Investigators said arrest warrants for additional suspects could be issued as the investigation unfolds.
Police said the wanted suspect still at large is Black, in his late teens, tall and heavyset, light- to medium-complected and with bushy hair. He was wearing a COVID-style mask and a black hooded shirt with distinctive markings, police said. Video released by police showed the suspect wearing dark sneakers with brightly colored shoe laces as he went into stores and mingled with people on the street.
Two other suspects have been arrested and charged in the shooting. Arrest warrants were issued Monday for Quran Garner, 18, and Rashaan Vereen, 34.
Garner, who was shot in the hand by a police officer during Saturday’s episode, was already in custody at a hospital when Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced on Monday that he is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
Vereen was arrested by U.S. Marshals Monday afternoon at a home in South Philadelphia. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violating the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Citing security video, Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said the shooting started after one of the victims she identified as Mika Townes got into a physical confrontation with Gregory Jackson, a 34-year-old man who was killed in the shooting.
Pescatore said Townes and Jackson were passing each other on the same side of South Street when words were exchanged, setting off a melee. She said Jackson is captured on video punching Townes in the face and then Vereen, who was with Jackson at the time, allegedly helping Jackson beat Townes.
Jackson and Townes, who both had valid permits to carry concealed weapons, both drew weapons during the confrontation, Pescatore said. She said Townes, who police have deemed a victim in the incident and is not facing charges, fatally shot Jackson in self-defense before he was was allegedly shot and seriously injured by Vereen.
She said Garner, who was with Townes at the time, then allegedly drew a weapon and fired in the direction of where the melee occurred as police converged on the scene. Garner, who Pescatore alleged was armed with the ghost gun police recovered at the scene, then allegedly aimed his weapon at officers, who fired at him, striking him in the hand.
Innocent bystanders Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College prep school in Philadelphia, and Alexis Quinn, were killed in the shooting.
Minners was out celebrating his 22nd birthday when he was shot.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the Girard College teachers’ union said in a statement read.
Quinn was described by her mother, Tina Quinn, as a loving daughter whose favorite color was purple and someone who learned every new TikTok dance.
“She said ‘mom, you’re my Valentine,’ I say ‘awww,” Tina Quinn told ABC Philadelphia station WPVI.
The mother described her 24-year-old daughter as her “mini-me.” She said her daughter called her “old lady.”
“That’s what I’m going to miss. I’ll miss the morning phone calls. Every day she called me. ‘Hey! Hey old lady, what’re you doing?'” Tina Quinn said.
She added, “I just want closure for my daughter you know? I just want this gun violence to end.”
Christina Aguilerawill headline LA Pride this Saturday. Ahead of the festivities, the “Beautiful” singer explained why she is a staunch defender of the LGBTQ community.
“I’m all about people standing up for what they believe in, which is why I think the LGBTQ+ community feels connected to me. We’ve all come from struggle; We’ve all had to fight to be heard,” she wrote in a People op-ed. “Being an LGBTQ+ ally is not something that’s short-lived. It’s in my DNA.”
The Grammy winner has felt a connection with the community ever since she entered the music industry. “I had a hard time feeling like I had to look and act a certain way to fit into the pop star mold. But I did not want to be this safe, conventionally pretty, precious thing,” she recalled, which is what led her to ditch the facade and embrace who she truly was with her 2002 album, Stripped.
“It was the first album where I told stories that I really believed in,” she wrote, explaining it was an outlet to share her “personal struggles.” She added she’s “proud” of the “Beautiful” music video, which featured a gay couple and a trans woman.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about it beyond wanting to show people owning who they are. It was somehow taboo at the time, but it represented something so true,” said Christina. “I still hear stories about how that video has helped people, and it means everything to me.”
Christina adds the LGBTQ community has helped her over the years and has become “my support system and family.”
She says her connection with the community matters more to her than her “accolades and awards” because, as she stated, “They’re my people.”
