Twenty One Pilots have earned a new chart milestone thanks to “The Outside.”
The track, the current single off the duo’s new album, Scaled and Icy, has hit number one on the Billboard Alternative Airplay ranking, making it the 10th Twenty One Pilots tune to achieve that feat.
The “Stressed Out” outfit is now just the sixth act to rack up at least 10 Alternative Airplay leaders since the chart first began in 1988. The other five are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Linkin Park, Foo Fighters and Cage the Elephant.
The Chili Peppers have the most number-ones, with 13.
Scaled and Icy also produced chart-toppers in “Shy Away” and “Saturday.” Twenty One Pilots will launch a U.S. tour in support of the record in August.
24 years ago today, *NSYNC‘s debut single “I Want You Back” was released in the U.S., so let’s check in and find out the status of that movie Lance Bassannounced he was making based on the true story of two girls who won a Winnebago on The Price Is Right in 1999 and used it to follow *NSYNC on tour that year. Well, it’s definitely happening.
“It is finally being written right now,” Lance told ABC Audio a few months ago. “I wanted to make sure that this movie was written by, one, females, and people that knew that fandom and appreciated that fandom. And this writing team knows that.”
Lance added that Rachel Bloom –best known for co-creating and starring in the musical comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — is involved.
“We’re toying with how much of a musical we’re doing,” he explained. “There’s going to be tons of music in it, y’know, the way Pitch Perfect does it, where they break into song and dance, but it makes sense.”
The movie’s set 20 years after the original 1999 road trip, Lance said, adding, “We just want it to be kind of fun, over-the-top…I want that R-rated road trip comedy that you just have a lot of fun with.”
Meanwhile, *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone told ABC Audio that Lance has wanted to make this movie since the original 1999 road trip.
“From day one, when these girls won The Price Is Right, and they were following us, we started giving them tickets…we kinda sponsored them a little bit,” he noted. “And [Lance] even said, ‘One day, I want to do a film about this’…so it was really cool to hear that he’s going to be doing this, [with] a couple of really, really, really great writers.”
Here’s wishing a very happy birthday to KISS‘ Paul Stanley, who was born 70 years ago today.
The band’s frontman, co-lead singer and rhythm guitarist was born Stanley Eisen in New York City. He was born with a deformed ear caused by a defect called microsia that also left him deaf in that ear.
In his late teens, Paul joined a group called Rainbow that featured bassist/singer Gene Simmons. The band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 and eventually recruited drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley. In 1973, the group again changed its name…to KISS. The band members soon came up with costumes and face makeup for themselves, with Stanley choosing the persona “The Starchild,” featuring a star over his right eye.
With their cartoonish look and over-the-top live shows featuring pyrotechnics and other dramatic effects, KISS soon became one of the most popular rock bands on the planet. Over the years, Stanley has written or co-written many of KISS’ biggest hits and most popular songs, including “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Hard Luck Woman,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” “Lick It Up” and “Forever.”
Stanley and Simmons have continued to lead KISS through the band’s entire history, while a number of musicians have filled the guitarist and drummer slots over the years.
In 2014, Stanley was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of KISS.
Outside of KISS, Stanley is an accomplished painter and also has released a few solo projects. His most recent was the debut album by his side project Paul Stanley’s Soul Station, Now and Then, which arrived in 2021. The album featured covers of a variety of classic soul tunes from the 1960s and ’70s, as well as a handful of originals.
Meanwhile, Stanley has had a rough go of it during the last several months, overcoming two bouts with COVID-19 and undergoing shoulder surgery in late 2021.
Thankfully, Paul appears to be on the mend as KISS prepares to relaunch its End of the Road farewell tour with an Australian leg that kicks off in March.
The new series Single Drunk Female makes its debut tonight on Freeform, telling the story of Samantha Fink, a late 20s alcoholic realizing things are spiraling out of control.
Sofia Black-D’Elia plays Sam in the series and tells ABC Audio that the show is highly relatable, even if you’re not a late-20s alcoholic from Boston.
“We are all touched by addiction in some way or another,” she says. “We all sort of know somebody or are that person…So it’s sort of impossible to not relate to some part of this story.”
For Black D’Elia, the part of Sam’s journey that she relates to is “when you realize that you’ve spent most of your 20s thinking you know who you are, and you were wrong and you don’t really know anything and you kind of have to start over.”
The creator of Single Drunk Female, Simone Finch, also relates to the titular character and even admits, “I think she is me, but me when I was an alcoholic.”
“Just kidding, I’m still an alcoholic,” Finch jokes. “But when I came into AA at 28, is sort of Sam — they’re very similar, I would say.”
While alcoholism doesn’t necessarily sound like the premise for a comedy, executive producer Daisy Gardner would beg to differ.
“The darkest moments of my life are also the moments that I laugh the hardest,” she explains. “Like, when stuff goes so awry and is so terrible, just something ridiculous will happen. And that’s truly funny to me.”
(JACKSONVILLE, N.C.) — Two Marines have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a rollover accident Wednesday near Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, according to officials.
Seventeen Marines were injured in the accident after they were ejected from the back of the 7-ton military vehicle as it tried to make a turn onto a highway just miles from the base at about 1 p.m., according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Two of the injured were airlifted to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, while the other 15 were transported on the ground.
The 19-year-old Marine who was driving the military vehicle, Louis Barrera, has been charged with exceeding a safe speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, according to the highway patrol.
One Marine who was ejected from the truck was hit by another military vehicle trailing the accident, police said.
The vehicle was carrying 19 Marines total, all from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, stationed at Camp Lejeune. The driver, Barrera, and passenger in the front of the vehicle were uninjured.
Officials will release the identifications of the victims once next of kin have been notified.
An investigation into the accident is ongoing, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. Devin Rich said at a press conference he was not sure if this was part of a training mission.
The 2nd Marine Logistics Group had initially posted on Twitter, “We are aware of a vehicle rollover in Jacksonville, North Carolina, involving service members with 2nd MLG. We are working closely with @camp_lejeune and Onslow County officials to gather details regarding this incident.”
Camp Lejeune is located in southeast North Carolina along the Atlantic coast. It is home to more than 30,000 people.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Deftones‘ Sergio Vega has opened his own shop with the online gear marketplace Reverb to sell some of his own basses from throughout his career.
Among the instruments available for purchase include basses used in studio and on tour with Deftones, as well as others used with Vega’s band Quicksand. Vega is also parting ways with various preamp and effects processors used for Deftones songs including “Diamond Eyes,” “Tempest” and “Poltergeist.”
“This stuff is near and dear to me,” Vega says. “I’ve used these things for the past 10-plus years with Quicksand and Deftones. These are things I [used on] tours with Deftones around the world. [Gear that] I’ve been in writing sessions with, that I’ve been in the studio with.”
You can check out Vega’s Reverb shop now via Reverb.com.
Deftones released their latest album, Ohms, in 2020. The record’s title track and its song “Genesis” are nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, respectively, at the 2022 Grammys.
Last March, Micky Dolenz issued a full-length album titled Dolenz Sings Nesmith made up of covers of songs by his Monkees band mate Mike Nesmith, and now, in the wake of Nesmith’s passing in December, plans have been announced for a follow-up EP featuring Micky’s versions of four more songs penned by Mike.
Dolenz Sings Nesmith — The EP is due out on March 18 and will be available as a 10-inch vinyl disc pressed on blue vinyl. The EP can be pre-ordered at MickyDolenz.com and DeepDiscount.com, and Dolenz is offering signed and unsigned versions of the disc at his website.
Dolenz Sings Nesmith — The EP features tracks from the same sessions that yielded last year’s album. They include a song called “Soul-Writer’s Birthday” that Mike wrote in 1967 but never recorded.
The EP also features a version of “Some of Shelly’s Blues,” a song that The Monkees recorded in 1968, but whose rendition wasn’t released until it appeared on the 1990 Missing Links Volume Two compilation. The other songs on the EP are “The Crippled Lion” and “Grand Ennui,” which first were released on Nesmith albums in 1970 and ’71, respectively.
Micky’s cover of “Grand Ennui” also appeared as a bonus track on the CD version of the Dolenz Sings Nesmith album.
Nesmith died of heart failure on December 10, 2021. He was 78.
In other news, Dolenz has a series of five joint concerts with Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals lined up in the northeastern U.S. this spring, running from an April 23 show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, through a June 4 gig in Lynn, Massachusetts.
The Scorpions celebrate the joy of rocking their fans like a hurricane in the official video for the title track of their forthcoming studio album, Rock Believer.
The clip, which premiered this week at the veteran German hard rockers’ YouTube channel, features new scenes of The Scorpions performing “Rock Believer” in a studio, mixed with archival footage of the band playing at a variety of major concerts and behind-the-scenes footage of the group interacting with fans and having fun offstage.
The video also incorporates glimpses of childhood photos of the band members.
The group has posted a message on its Facebook page about the inspiration behind the song that reads, “Over the years, we’ve heard people say lots of times that rock is dead. But there are still millions of rock believers out there all over the world to prove them wrong. Our fans are the best in the world…We’ll see you someday somewhere out there, because we’re Rock Believers just like you.”
The Scorpions released “Rock Believer” as an advanced digital single last week, while the album, which can be pre-ordered now, is due out on February 25.
In conjunction with the video’s premiere, the band members took part in an online afterparty and Q&A event that was accessible by subscribers of the YouTube Premium service. The 50-minute presentation is available on demand at The Scorpions’ YouTube channel. A free YouTube Premium trial also is being offered.
(ATLANTA) — Both vaccination and a prior infection provided protection against another infection and hospitalization due to COVID-19 during the United States’ delta wave, according to a study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between May and November 2021, researchers analyzed data from New York and California to determine the impact of vaccination and previous COVID-19 infection on cases and hospitalization rates.
The study focused on four core groups of people — those who were unvaccinated, without a previous infection; those who were unvaccinated, with a previous infection; vaccinated people, without a previous infection; and vaccinated people, with a previous infection.
The analysis found that before delta became the predominant variant in June, vaccination offered better protection against breakthrough infections than prior infection offered against reinfection. But after delta became dominant, this trend shifted, with prior infection offering slightly better protection. However, this also coincides with a time when many Americans were several months out from their shots, and before boosters were authorized.
Notably, the study was conducted prior to the emergence of the omicron variant, and before the widespread availability of booster shots, thus, researchers warned that results cannot be directly applied to the nation’s current surge. In addition, the analysis did not include data pertaining to the severity of initial infections, and hospitalization data was only pulled from California.
During the delta wave, two doses of a vaccine offered excellent protection against hospitalization, and notably, researchers stressed that getting vaccinated remains a safer option than contracting COVID-19.
Vaccine immunity does fade over time, the study found, and the further out an individual is from one’s last vaccine shot, or a prior infection, the more likely it is that they will experience a breakthrough infection.
When asked repeatedly on Wednesday during a press briefing whether the data were showing that when delta was prominent, having had an infection provided greater protection against a subsequent infection than from being vaccinated, a CDC representative insisted that vaccination is still the safest way to protect oneself.
Scientists also suggest the study reinforces the evidence that “vaccination remains the safest strategy for protecting against COVID-19.”
The CDC also cited a recent study, which demonstrates that as time increases after an infection, vaccination still provides greater protection against COVID-19 compared to prior infection alone, thus underscoring “the importance of being up to date on COVID-19 vaccination.”
Later this week, the CDC said it will publish additional data on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters while omicron has been circulating.
(FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.) — A Virginia man convicted of murder has been charged in connection with two decades-old cold case homicides, authorities said.
Charles Helem, 52, is currently serving life in prison at a Virginia supermax state prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of a Chantilly woman who was found strangled in her townhome in 2002.
He has been now been charged in two unrelated homicides in Virginia and Maryland after allegedly confessing to both murders, authorities announced Wednesday.
“We now know even more about the dangers the killer presented to the entire national capital region,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a press briefing.
The murder of Eige Sober-Adler was among Fairfax County’s notable cold cases. The 37-year-old was found dead in a field in Herndon on Sept. 9, 1987, badly beaten.
Helem allegedly confessed to the murder during an interview with Fairfax County detectives in October, officials said.
“Detectives were able to corroborate this confession with details known only to the killer,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said during the Wednesday briefing.
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Helem for murder in connection to Sober-Adler’s death. Descano said his office will now pursue a “vigorous” prosecution of Helem.
Authorities in Prince George’s County, Maryland, have also charged Helem in connection with an unsolved murder in Mount Rainier. Jennifer Landry, 19, was found dead in a wooded area on Aug. 15, 2002. An autopsy determined she had died of asphyxia and cutting wounds to her neck. It took nearly three years for police to positively identify her body.
In 2010 and 2017, Helem sent letters to law enforcement claiming to have information on the Landry murder, though he refused to speak with detectives until last year, police said.
“He verbally confessed to killing Jennifer Landry,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said during the briefing.
Helem initially provided information on the unsolved Fairfax County murder while talking to Prince George’s County detectives, police said.
It is unclear if Helem has an attorney. Court records for Fairfax County and Prince George’s County not have yet listed his case.
Davis and Aziz said authorities are exploring whether Helem may be connected to other unsolved cases.
The parents of both women are deceased, authorities said, though officials in both counties said they hoped the latest charges bring some closure to the victims’ surviving families and friends.
“My team and our partners in law enforcement did not waver in our dedication to seek answers and pursue justice in this cold case,” Descano said.
