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Drummer Bill Kreutzmann sitting out Dead & Company’s Playing in the Sand festival due to health issues

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The 2022 edition of Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company‘s Playing in the Sand concert-and-vacation extravaganza gets underway this Friday in Riviera Cancun, Mexico, but one of the band’s core members won’t be taking part in this year’s event.

Founding Grateful Dead and Dead & Company drummer Bill Kreutzmann has announced that he’ll be missing the event because of health issues.

“Playing in the Sand has become my favorite tour stop in recent years and there’s so much about it that’s just so great,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says in a Facebook message. “And thus, it is with a heavy and still recovering heart that I have to relay a note that I received from my doctor this morning, ordering me to sit this one out.”

He continues, “As many of you know, I had some health issues this past fall. After a lifetime of playing special beats, it’s almost no wonder that my heart came up with its own idea of rhythm. All jokes aside, my doctor has ordered me to take it easy (and stay safe) through the end of January so that I can continue to drum and play for you for many tours to come.”

Kreutzmann, 75, adds, “I wish my brothers in the band the best these next two weeks and I look forward to meeting back up with them — and with you — before you know it.”

The 2022 Playing in the Sand is scheduled for January 7-10 and January 13-16, with multiple performances taking place at the Moon Palace Cancún resort. A variety of COVID-19 protocols are being enforced to help ensure the safety and health of attendees, and organizers also are honoring refund requests.

Dead & Company haven’t yet confirmed any other 2022 performances.

Jan. 6 officer to David Muir: ‘I guarantee people are imagining this happening again’

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges has become a symbol of the violence officers endured while protecting lawmakers and the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Hodges had responded to the building as Capitol Police units were overrun, and ended up pinned down by the crowd, between a door and a crush of rioters intent on getting through police lines and into the building. One of those rioters, attacking him — as Hodges screamed, trying to set himself free. Video of that attack now seen around the world.

Watch more TONIGHT on “World News Tonight” at 6:30 p.m. ET

“I remember just the intensity of his guttural screams and I swear I remember him foaming at the mouth and just grabbing at my mask and … ripping it off my head, straining my neck, ripping away my baton, beating me in the head with it,” Hodges told “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir. “It crossed my mind at the time that, you know, this might be it.”

Muir sat down with Hodges and Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell — all of whom were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year. It was the first time the three officers sat down together for an interview since they, and former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone, detailed the horrors they endured on Jan. 6 during a congressional hearing six months after the attacks.

“The absolute zealotry of these people was unreal. They — they were completely convinced that — without any evidence whatsoever ever, that the election was stolen and that they were doing the right thing,” Hodges told Muir.

For Hodges, the lack of accountability so far for people in power he says are responsible for the attack is both frustrating and troubling.

On Jan. 6, ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of events marking one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continuing fallout for American democracy.

“It’s frustrating that we’re a year on and no one higher up at all has been charged with anything save, you know, contempt for not responding to a subpoena,” Hodges told Muir. “I’m very sensitive to telling other professionals how to do their job. You know, I’m not a fed, I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a prosecutor … I just have to hope that they’re doing everything they can to see that the– the people in power get what they deserve.”

Hodges, who remains an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, warns — if there are no consequences — a new attack is imminent.

“You’ve got to deal with this harshly and quickly in order to squash any thoughts of this happening again, which I guarantee you, people are imagining this happening again,” he told Muir.

“Right now?” Muir asked.

“Right now,” he warned.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Ely Brown and Trish Turner contributed to this report.

Omicron strikes again: Sundance Film Festival switching to virtual event

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Calling it a “deep loss,” the organizers of the annual Sundance Film Festival have announced the “difficult decision” to turn the in-person elements of year’s event in Utah into an online one.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is to blame.

“We have been looking forward to our first fully hybrid Sundance Film Festival and our teams have spent a year planning a festival like no other,” the organizers opened their announcement. “But despite the most ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel and other infrastructures across the country.”

The statement continued, “As a nonprofit, our Sundance spirit is in making something work against the odds. But with case numbers forecasted to peak in our host community the week of the festival we cannot knowingly put our staff and community at risk,” saying doing so “would be irresponsible in this climate.”

The Festival will instead be held virtually, starting as planned on Thursday, January 20, and continuing for eleven days. Already scheduled online elements of the festival will remain unchanged, but the event’s film screenings — the key draw of the annual gathering that started in 1978 — will be both online, and unspool in various locations from January 28-30 with the help of the festival’s satellite partners.

The Sundance Film Festival statement adds, “It has become increasingly clear over the last few days that this is the right decision to make for the care and well-being of all of our community.”

Chris Brown drops trailer for new single “Iffy”

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Chris Brown is in the middle of a multi-million dollar heist in the trailer for his upcoming single, “Iffy.”

As we witness gun fire and a high speed car chase, a narrator says, “They want five million. I want my money. They owe me money.” Chris posted the video tease on Instagram, along with the comment, “BREEZY SEASON COMING! 2022 NEW ERA UNLOCKED.”

The full song and video will drop on Friday, January 14. “Iffy” will be the first single from the Grammy winner’s 10th studio album, Breezy, to be released later this year. It will be the follow-up to his chart-topping 2019 album Indigo, which included the eight-times-platinum hit “No Guidance” featuring Drake.

This week’s, Aaliyah‘s uncle, Barry Hankerson, revealed that Chris will be featured on Aaliyah’s new posthumous album, Unstoppable, which is dropping later this month. The album will also include collabos with Drake, The Weeknd, Snoop Dogg, Future and Ne-Yo.

Brown’s 2014 album X included the song “Don’t Think They Know,” which featured Aaliyah.

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Lollapalooza co-founder Ted Gardner has died

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Music-industry veteran and Lollapalooza co-founder Ted Gardner has died.

The news was first announced by Anton Newcombe of the band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, who Gardner had managed. According to Billboard, Gardner was 74.

“I’m sad to report Ted Gardner, our manager passed away today surrounded by his loving family,” Newcombe tweeted on December 28. “We will miss a great manager, mentor & friend. Our condolences to all his family & friends.”

Gardner was the manager of Jane’s Addiction when he and Perry Farrell co-founded Lollapalooza in 1991. He also managed bands including Tool and The Verve.

I’m sad to report Ted Gardner, Our manager
passed away today surrounded by his loving family. we will miss a great manager, mentor & friend
Our condolences to all his family & friends. pic.twitter.com/T9XzL4yyVa

— anton newcombe (@antonnewcombe) December 28, 2021

2022 Grammy Awards are officially postponed because of COVID-19

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

For a second year in a row, the Grammy Awards will not take place on January 31 as originally planned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC News confirms the Recording Academy has delayed this year’s ceremony, which was to be hosted again by Trevor Noah.

“After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show,” the organization announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The Recording Academy continued, “The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks.”

At this time, the organization has not announced when the Grammys will be rescheduled, but promised the new date “will be announced soon.”

Currently, federal data reports that more than 100,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S. for COVID-19. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the weekend shows that the U.S. is now averaging nearly half a million new cases a day — averaging out to nearly six Americans testing positive every second.

Dwayne Johnson thanks fans for making three of his films the top three movies worldwide for Netflix

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just “paused his workout for a second” to share some news with his 287 million Instagram followers.

Johnson explained in a post that Netflix had just called to inform him that currently, the streaming giant’s “top three movies in the world belong to me.”

He went on to explain that Red Notice still sits at number one on the global ranking — Johnson thanked fans for making it “the biggest movie of all time for Netflix.”

The second is the Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, which Rock noted had “the highest audience score of all time for…any Fast and Furious movie.”

The third is a 2012 throwback called Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which Johnson called a “very special family movie.”

“I’m a lucky son of a b****,” Johnson added, admitting, “it’s because of all of you that any of this is possible.”

“I’m privileged to deliver the goods for you,” Johnson said, before signing off by blowing the camera a kiss.

Incidentally, while Johnson mentioned Hobbs and Shaw‘s Rotten Tomatoes audience score, the comment can’t be seen without considering the bad blood with his former Fast 5 co-star Vin Diesel.

Johnson and his Hobbs co-star Jason Statham‘s breaking off to do their own blockbuster film reportedly didn’t sit right with Diesel, and their co-star ,Tyrese Gibson.

Last November, Diesel posted a message to his “little brother Dwayne” — who, at six foot five stands some five inches taller than Diesel — hoping they could reunite for the final Fast and Furious film.

In December, Johnson explained to CNN that while he “would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful,” there was “no chance” he’d return.

He also called Diesel’s public post a “manipulation.”

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Soulja Boy segues from music: “I’m an actor now”

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

After more than 14 years as a recording artist, Soulja Boy says he’s switching lanes in 2022.

The “Crank That” rapper announced on Instagram Live that now he’s focusing on television and film.

“2022, my new TV show coming out January 21 [with] Revolt TV, shout-out to P. Diddy,” the 31-year-old MC said. “Being Draco…we going into the year with all positive energy, you know what I’m saying? I ain’t got no beef with nobody. I ain’t got no smoke, no problems, no nothin’. All I’m doing is TV show and movies, I’m a actor now.”

Soulja Boy says he’s not feuding in 2022 after past beefs with Kanye West, Chris Brown, Bow Wow, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ice-T, and the late Young Dolph.

In November, Soulja was removed from the last two shows on The Millennium Tour because of his feud with Dolph. Promoter G-Squared Events made the decision because of the possibility of a retaliation against him.

As previously reported, Soulja was ready to get violent in August when Kanye scrapped the verse he recorded for the song “Remote Control,” on the Donda album.

“I wanna fight. Do u know how to fight? @kanyewest,” he wrote as part of a long Twitter post. The Atlanta MC also had a warning for West: “I might diss u everyday for the rest of my life how I’m feeling.”

In November, Yeezy apologized on Instagram. “Love you bro. I should have told you I wasn’t gonna use the verse,” Ye admitted. Soulja responded, “Love you too bro. That’s all I wanted.”

Soulja Boy isn’t completely retiring from music, as he plans to drop new music titled “Heart Break Soulja” on Valentine’s Day.

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Britney Spears reveals she enjoyed her first glass of red wine in 13 years

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Britney Spears is letting her fans know she is 100 percent indulging in life since being released from her longstanding conservatorship. In a new Instagram post, she revealed she poured herself her first glass of red wine since 2008, when the conservatorship was enacted.

Britney started her update by speaking about why she is sharing videos of her dancing to music by Madonna, with whom she collaborated on her 2003 track “Me Against the Music,” saying it makes her want to treat herself.

“I’m sure it looks weird me dancing to @madonna so much … I see it … it’s like I’m not trying as much like I’m INDULGING,” Britney remarked, adding a crying-laughing emoji. “Well that’s exactly what her music does to me.”

Britney then revealed, “I had my first glass of red wine last weekend !!! I’ve waited 13 years … that’s long enough !!” She also joked she is simply living by the example her family supposedly taught her, which is, “be selfish and love thyself.”

“In a world where we all have the right to speak … drive … buy alcohol … party … have cash … I apologize for INDULGING in front of the masses … and dancing a touch slower !!!” Britney added.

She also had a few words for those leaving negative comments on her posts, reminding people that “Nobody’s perfect,” and adding, “People are absolutely hateful.”

Britney’s 13-year conservatorship was terminated in November.

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Watch new trailer for Hulu’s upcoming ’Pam & Tommy’ series

January 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Hulu has released a second trailer for the upcoming Pam & Tommy limited series about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee‘s infamous sex tape.

While the first teaser focused mostly on the two men who stole and then sold the tape, played by Seth Rogen and Nick Offerman, the new clip gives us more of a preview of Lily James and Sebastian Stan‘s respective performances as the Baywatch superstar and the Mötley Crüe drummer.

“You don’t seem to understand what a big deal this is,” James’ Anderson tells Stan’s Lee, who replies, “I’m on that tape just the same as you.” When Anderson says that the tape is “worse” for her, Lee shoots back, “How is this worse for you?”

Pam & Tommy is set to premiere February 2 with three episodes. Subsequent episodes will air weekly.

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