Edgar Winter‘s new album, Brother Johnny: An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Winter, hit stores Friday. As its title suggests, the 17-track collection features Edgar teaming up with a variety of well-known musicians to pay homage to the music of his late brother, blues-rock guitar legend Johnny Winter.
Among the many stars who contributed to the project are Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, Michael McDonald, ex-Allman Brothers Band members Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
“I thought this was gonna be a hard album to make, but this turned out to be just a joyous, inspiring, uplifting experience for me,” Edgar tells ABC Audio. “It was just so amazingly beautiful to do this with a lot of my longtime friends, and then a lot of people that I had never met.”
Edgar says one standout track is a version of Johnny’s soulful 1974 ballad “Stranger,” which features Starr, Walsh and McDonald.
Edgar explains that he initially envisioned Walsh playing guitar on a version of Chuck Berry‘s “Johnny B. Goode” that’s included on Brother Johnny, but notes that after Joe heard “Stranger,” he “flipped out,” and insisted on contributing guitar to that track.
After Walsh signed on, Edgar says he felt comfortable enough to ask Ringo, Joe’s brother-in-law, to play drums on “Stranger.” Winter admits that he “was blown away” when Starr agreed.
Edgar tells ABC Audio that it was his wife, Monique, who suggested getting McDonald to sing “Stranger,” which he immediately realized was a great idea.
“I just knew that it would be something special,” he notes. “And I really do feel like it’s a magical vocal, and one of the highlights on the album.”
Here’s Brother Johnny‘s full track list:
“Mean Town Blues” — featuring Joe Bonamassa
“Alive and Well” — featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd
“Lone Star Blues” — featuring Keb’ Mo’
“I’m Yours and I’m Hers” — featuring Billy Gibbons & Derek Trucks
“Johnny B. Goode” — featuring Joe Walsh & David Grissom
“Stranger” — featuring Michael McDonald, Joe Walsh & Ringo Starr
“Highway 61 Revisited” — featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd & John McFee
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Hoochie Koo” — featuring Steve Lukather
“When You Got a Good Friend” — featuring Doyle Bramhall II
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” — featuring Phil X
“Guess I’ll Go Away” — featuring Taylor Hawkins & Doug Rappoport
“Drown in My Own Tears”
“Self Destructive Blues” — featuring Joe Bonamassa
“Memory Pain” — featuring Warren Haynes
“Stormy Monday Blues” — featuring Robben Ford
“Got My Mojo Workin'” — featuring Bobby Rush
“End of the Line” — featuring David Campbell Strings
Out today, on The Roku Channel, Swimming with Sharks — starring Diane Kruger and Kiernan Shipka — is a drama about the dark side of Hollywood and how an assistant flips the script on an abusive boss. They say art often imitates real life, so just how accurate is the show’s depiction of Hollywood?
“Look, it’s like the Devil Wears Prada, you know, Meryl Streep‘s character is so terrible. But is everybody in the fashion world like that? No. So is everyone in Hollywood like Joyce Holt? No. Right? But is she the most fun to play and watch on TV? Probably,” says Kruger. “Do we really want to see a show about the nicest producer out there? I don’t think so.”
Unlike the original 1994 film, which Kruger admittedly did not watch, this new version is female-led, which is what drew her to the role.
“I think what’s unique about the show and what drew me to it is that now it’s 2022 and we’re women in these positions of power finally, right, to a certain extent anyways. And what that means for us, you know, in terms of wanting it all, wanting a family, wanting a happy home life…how to navigate our newfound power,” the actress explains.
Overall, Hollywood has made strides in the almost 30 years since the original SWS, which is something Shipka has noticed as well.
“The truth is that I’ve always been very protected and really kind of lucky in the circumstances that I’ve been in growing up and working in this town. But I think things are absolutely changing and absolutely improving,” she shares. “And I think, if anything, more things are just being talked about now and addressed.”
Florence + the Machine has unveiled the track list for the band’s upcoming album, Dance Fever.
The record, which frontwoman Florence Welch previously described as a “fairytale in 14 songs,” includes the previously released cuts “King,” “Heaven Is Here” and “My Love,” plus 11 more new tunes.
Florence has also shared a photo of what looks like the back cover of Dance Fever, and the album appears to be divided into three sections, with the first four songs making up part one, followed by five songs each in parts two and three.
Dance Fever, the follow-up to 2018’s High as Hope, arrives May 13. Florence will launch a U.S. tour in support of the record in September.
Here’s the Dance Fever track list:
“King”
“Free”
“Choreomania”
“Back in Town”
“Girls Against God”
“Dream Girl Evil”
“Prayer Factory”
“Cassandra”
“Heaven Is Here”
“Daffodil”
“My Love”
“Restraint”
“The Bomb”
“Morning Elvis”
Daniel Knighton/Getty Images; Bobby Bank/Getty Images
Peter Frampton, George Thorogood and doo-wop/rock ‘n’ roll legend Dion DiMucci are among the artists who will be taking part in acclaimed blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa‘s third annual Stream-A-Thon charity event scheduled for Saturday, May 1, at 3 p.m. ET.
The event benefits the Fueling Musicians program launched by Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation to help support supports musicians in need. Bonamassa will host the presentation, which will feature over two hours of music performed by more than 25 artists.
In addition to Frampton, Thorogood, Dion and Bonamassa, the lineup includes Litte Feat/Doobie Brothers keyboardist Bill Payne, Eric Gales, Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes.
To date, To date, the Fueling Musicians program has raised more than $500,000 for touring musicians who have faced financial difficulties and whose livelihood has been impacted by the the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music industry.
To find out more information about the Fueling Musicians program and to donate to the cause, visit KeepingtheBluesAlive.org.
“I am so thankful for the incredible support from our industry partners and for the fans who have donated to this program,” Bonamassa says. “Through the generosity of our contributors, we can continue to impact musicians who still need our help.”
(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — A federal jury found ISIS fighter El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts of being part of a core group of British terrorists known as the “Beatles,” who held hostage 26 westerners in a conspiracy that led to the murders of four Americans and at least two Britons.
The jury deliberated for less than a full day. Closing arguments came Wednesday and they were handed the case in the afternoon. By the time they finished lunch Thursday, they had reached a verdict.
“Elsheikh really incriminated himself,” despite wearing a mask as he and the other Britons brutalized her son, said Diane Foley, mother of New Hampshire-raised journalist James W. Foley.
Humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller’s dad Carl said justice was served, and added that he felt his daughter’s presence throughout the trial.
“This is what the families asked for. And this is what we got. It’s the American justice system at work at its best,” he told ABC News.
As the jury settled in for its short deliberations, Mueller approached Elsheikh’s defense team, thanking them for their service as court-appointed lawyers and assuring them of his respect. Some of the defense team wiped away tears. “I hold no malice toward them for what they do,” he said.
Many of the former hostages testified in graphic detail about the beatings and other cruelties inflicted on them, seated a mere 12 feet from the man now convicted of breaking ribs and slapping faces of captives the Beatles starved and tortured.
Because of an agreement with the UK, neither Elsheikh or co-defendant Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded guilty, faced the death penalty.
Elsheikh doesn’t deny fighting for ISIS but rested his defense in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on his claim that this was a case of mistaken identity about holding the westerners captive. He faces a life sentence for the conviction of holding hostages and causing the deaths of journalists and humanitarian aid workers.
In closing arguments Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Elsheikh was one of the men who brutalized American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. The men were shown in ISIS videos in 2014-15 being beheaded by a black-clad and masked ISIS executioner nicknamed “Jihadi John” because hostages had dubbed the men the “Beatles” to discuss them while in captivity.
The videos shocked the world as the executioner — later named as Mohammed Emwazi — demanded the U.S. cease military strikes against ISIS.
Kayla Mueller, 26, of Prescott, Arizona, was reportedly killed by an airstrike by ISIS in February 2015. It was later revealed that she had been taken by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and repeatedly abused and raped.
“Elsheikh, without a shadow of a doubt, is an ISIS Beatle,” prosecutor Raj Parekh told the jury.
But defense lawyer Nina Ginsberg countered that the U.S. never presented any hard evidence that the defendant was anything other than a foot soldier in ISIS battling the Syrian Army.
Despite evidence from a parade of former hostages and FBI agents who testified during the trial about what she described as “loathsome, brutal acts,” Ginsberg said the government failed to prove Elsheikh was a captor, and that he was “never identified at this trial by any of the former hostages.”
The U.S. instead relied primarily on Elsheikh’s own statements after his 2018 capture by Syrian Democratic Forces with fellow admitted ISIS Beatle Alexanda Kotey, who has pleaded guilty. They told several journalists, primarily British filmmaker Sean Langan, on video that they held the westerners captive, got family members’ email addresses from hostages such as Mueller, and beat others such as Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye.
Rye testified on Tuesday, revealing agonizing details of how the British ISIS members had stuck him in the ribs 25 times on his 25th birthday, hanged him by his hands and jammed the barrel of an MP5 submachine gun in his mouth.
He described the loyalty of Foley, who once had an opportunity to escape captivity but refused to abandon his comrade, the British journalist John Cantlie, whose whereabouts and survival remain unknown. Notably, Cantlie’s photo was shown to jurors alongside six other hostages known to have been killed.
The captors forced them to sing a version of “Hotel California,” emphasizing the line, “You can never leave” — but that was hardly the worst of their suffering.
Sotloff tried to leave letters for Mueller in a communal toilet, but they were caught and he, Cantlie and Foley were punished severely, he recalled. When he learned after 13 months he had been ransomed and set for release, Rye said Cantlie came to him.
“He wanted me to bring out a message. ‘If you cannot get us released, drop a bomb on this place – kill us,'” Rye said, as family members of hostages in the courtroom held each other.
By the time he and another hostage were told they were being released as the last two Europeans, Rye said the Americans and British hostages knew they were going to be executed. The U.S. began bombing ISIS in August 2014.
The Americans retreated silently to one corner of the small room, the British men in another corner. As he left the room, “I took one last look at my friends, and thought it was the last time I would see them alive,” Rye told the jury.
Prosecutors said all of the hostages who were brutalized and those ultimately murdered showed superhuman courage. They described a year or more of broken ribs, severe blows to the thighs called “dead legs,” stress positions, water deprivation, mock executions – and finally beheadings which, at least, ended their suffering.
“All these people wanted was to do the right thing,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fitzpatrick said.
Sotloff’s father, Art, told ABC News that justice has been served.
“I feel like all of them are looking down on us, pattin’ us on the back for doing the right thing,” he said.
Editor’s Note: ABC News investigative reporter James Gordon Meek is the recipient of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation’s 2022 World Press Freedom Award for reporting on hostage cases since 1993.
(NEW YORK) — By this fall, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech could potentially have a COVID-19 booster that specifically addresses the omicron variant as well as its subvariants and other known strains of the virus, CEO Albert Bourla said during a panel Wednesday.
“It is a possibility that we have it by then; it’s not certainty,” Bourla said. “We are collecting data right now, and as far as I know, Moderna, as well as us, we are working on omicron or different enhanced vaccines,”
It would be simple to create a vaccine specifically targeting omicron, he explained, but it is scientifically and technically more difficult to create a vaccine that addresses all known variants.
“I hope clearly by autumn … that we could have a vaccine, if we have one that works,” Bourla said.
Once enough data is aggregated, Bourla said the company will submit data to the Food and Drug Administration.
Earlier this year, Dr. Anthony Fauci called Pfizer’s decision to start human trials on an omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine a “prudent move.”
“It makes sense to think in terms of at least having ready an omicron-specific boost,” Fauci told MSNBC in January.
Last month, Moderna also announced it had started phase 2 trials of its omicron-specific booster vaccine, which will ultimately include 375 adults in the U.S.
In February, Moderna President Stephen Hoge said he believes the combination approach – which they call a “bivalent” vaccine — could offer more durable protection while preserving activity against “ancestral” variants.
“We do believe, as we’ve said, that it is time to update the vaccine against the mutations that are currently circulating and to improve the durability against those new variants of concern,” Hoge said during an investors call in February.
The push to develop omicron specific boosters come as the omicron subvariant BA.2 sweeps the globe and as new subvariants continue to pop up.
BA.2 is now estimated to account for the vast majority — 85.9% — of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of April 9 and more than 90% of new cases across the Northeast.
On Wednesday, New York identified the emergence of two sublineages of BA.2, named BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, that appear to have a 23% to 27% growth advantage over BA.2.
New York has had a recent surge of infections in the central part of the state, which officials said is likely fueled by these two new subvariants. Although they are thought to be highly contagious, so far, there is no evidence to suggest they cause more severe illness.
“We are alerting the public to two omicron subvariants, newly emerged and rapidly spreading in upstate New York, so New Yorkers can act swiftly,” state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement Wednesday. “While these subvariants are new, the tools to combat them are not. These tools will work if we each use them: get fully vaccinated and boosted, test following exposure, symptoms or travel, consider wearing a mask in public indoor spaces, and consult with your health care provider about treatment if you test positive.”
For the month of March, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 rose to collectively comprise more than 70% prevalence in central New York and more than 20% prevalence in the neighboring Finger Lakes region, state data shows, and data for April indicates that levels in central New York are now above 90%. The state reported that its findings are the first confirmed instances of significant community spread due to the new subvariants in the U.S.
Across the state of New York, reported infection and hospitalization rates have been steadily on the rise for weeks.
Reported infection rates have increased by 73% in the last week, and new hospital admissions have increased by nearly 25% in the last week.
(NEW YORK) — The CEO of General Motors Mary Barra sat down exclusively with ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis to introduce their newest electric vehicle the Cadillac LYRIQ and take the first ride.
In 2021, the company announced that it is committed to selling all-electric vehicles by 2035.
“I think it gets into the power of General Motors brands,” said Barra. “First of all, we’re a full line manufacturer. We have four brands and we have vehicles at every price.”
Elon Musk’s Tesla currently dominates the U.S. electric vehicle market, owning 60% of shares in the space.
Barra said the new version of the American classic is set to take Tesla head-on.
“If you think about it right now, [electric vehicle] sales are very low. They’re in single digits. By 2025, and then beyond, we want to start dramatically growing shares,” said Barra. “We sell more vehicles than anyone else does with the brands, and we have loyal consumers, so I’m really excited about our future.”
Watch the full story on “Good Morning America” FRIDAY at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.
(RUIDOSO, N.M.) — Three people have died as a result of extreme weather that has ripped through the U.S. in recent days.
The bodies of two people were found in a home in Ruidoso, New Mexico, after the McBride Fire scorched the area, according to authorities. On Tuesday, local firefighters had responded to a home on Gavilan Canyon Road that had been overcome with flames, New Mexico State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco announced. The next day, officers from the Ruidoso Police Department located the bodies after family members noted that an elderly couple attempting to evacuate had been unaccounted for, Francisco said.
The McBride Fire has burned through 5,736 acres in the Gavilan Canyon within the Village of Ruidoso since it sparked on Wednesday and remains 0% contained, according to fire officials.
Fueled by timber, brush and dry grasses on an arid landscape, the wildfire has burned 207 primary structures and multiple outbuildings and prompted hundreds of evacuations, officials said.
The extreme fire danger on Wednesday ranged from Western Texas into Colorado, where humidity dropped to as low as 2% with wind gusts up to 70 mph. The critical fire danger continued on Thursday, with 10 states from Texas to South Dakota under a red flag warning due to humidity levels down to 4% and wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph.
About half of the continental U.S. under threat for volatile weather for much of the week, which led to more fatalities. In Rison, Arkansas, one person died Wednesday evening after a tree fell onto their mobile home, according to officials. At least one person was injured in Adair, Oklahoma, Wednesday after a reported tornado damaged homes and businesses in the area.
Nearly 600 storm reports this week across the Heartland, with more than 250 reports of damaging straight line winds on Wednesday as the severe weather blew through from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes on Wednesday alone, according to the National Weather Service.
More than 30 tornadoes were reported in 10 states over the past three days, a continuation of record-breaking tornado activity in March. The system also brought uncharacteristic winter weather to places like Portland, Montana and North and South Dakota, where some regions were piled with several feet of snow.
The storm system has now moved east and will bring damaging winds into the I-95 corridor from Maryland to Massachusetts, which will include large cities such as Philadelphia and New York City.
ABC News’ Max Golembo, Marilyn Heck, Melissa Griffin and Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Rudy Giuliani assisted federal investigators in unlocking several electronic devices that had been seized from him by the FBI — a move that could speed a decision from Southern District of New York prosecutors whether to charge the former New York City mayor and presidential candidate over his lobbying efforts in Ukraine, his attorney and sources familiar with the case told ABC News.
The FBI seized more than a dozen devices from Giuliani’s home and office during a search last April. A court-appointed special master has been reviewing the contents but had been slowed by the inability to access all of the devices, the sources said.
Giuliani either unlocked several devices himself or gave investigators a list of possible passwords, the sources said, confirming information first reported by CNN.
There has been no comment as of yet from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
ABC News previously reported prosecutors began reviewing thousands of communications from Giuliani after the special master filtered out material she deemed to be subject to the attorney-client privilege.
According to her latest report in January, the special master, retired Judge Barbara Jones, agreed about half of what Giuliani designated as privileged should be withheld from federal prosecutors who are investigating his business practices.
Jones said Giuliani previously asserted privilege over 96 chats and messages on a cellphone that contained about 25,000 chats and messages.
“Mr. Giuliani designated 96 items as privileged and/or highly personal. Of those 96 designated items, I agreed that 40 were privileged, Mr. Giuliani’s counsel withdrew the privilege designation over 19, and I found that 37 were not privileged,” Jones said in her report.
The remaining 56 items were turned over to federal prosecutors.
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — Police in Grand Rapids, Michigan, released video footage on Wednesday of the fatal police shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop April 4.
Patrick Lyoya, 26, a native of Congo, was shot by an officer following a struggle outside a house in Grand Rapids after he was pulled over for a faulty license plate, according to police.
The footage shows the white officer, whose name has not yet been released, struggling with Lyoya, eventually forcing him to the ground and shouting “stop resisting,” “let go” and “drop the Taser,” before shooting Lyoya in the head.
The city’s new police chief, Eric Winstrom, released four videos of the incident Wednesday amid pressure from the community. These include a dashcam video, body camera video, a cell phone video and surveillance video from a neighbor.
“I view it as a tragedy…It was a progression of sadness for me,” said Winstrom, during a press conference.
“Me being from Chicago for the last 20 years, I’ve handled many police shootings myself, so I do have a lot of experience in this,” the chief said. “I was hoping to never have to utilize that experience here.”
Winstrom said Grand Rapids Police and Michigan State Police are conducting an ongoing investigation and he would not comment further or take any action until after the investigation.
He said the officer is a seven-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police who is currently on paid leave and “stripped of all police powers” as the investigation is ongoing.
The footage released Wednesday shows the officer shouting at Lyoya to “get back in the car” shortly after the video began. He then asked Lyoya if he spoke English and demanded he show his driver’s license. Lyoya turned to the passenger in the car and started to walk away. The officer then grabbed him, beginning an aggressive struggle.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump who is representing Lyoya’s family says the family is devastated and he is calling for the officer to be fired and prosecuted.
The Grand Rapids Police Officers Association did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
“He’s on his hands and knees facing away from the officer. There are so many other things the officer could have done instead of pulling his gun out and shooting him in the back of the head,” Crump told ABC News.
After the release of the video, businesses in Grand Rapids closed early as a precaution on Wednesday. Demonstrators gathered across the city with many convening in front of City Hall throughout the night. There have been no reports of violence during the protests.
