Tom Parker, singer for the British band The Wanted, has lost his battle with cancer. He was 33.
Tom’s wife, Kelsey, confirmed his passing on Wednesday, saying in a statement, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we confirm Tom passed away peacefully earlier today with all of his family by his side.”
“Our hearts are broken, Tom was the centre of our world and we can’t imagine life without his infectious smile and energetic presence. We are truly thankful for the outpouring of love and support and ask that we all unite to ensure Tom’s light continues to shine for his beautiful children,” the statement continued. “Thank you to everyone who has supported in his care throughout, he fought until the very end. I’m forever proud of you.”
The Wanted also reacted to Tom’s passing, writing on Instagram, “Max, Jay, Siva, Nathan and the whole Wanted family are devastated by the tragic and premature loss of our bandmate Tom Parker, who passed away peacefully at lunchtime today surrounded by his family and his band mates.”
“He was our brother, words can’t express the loss and sadness we feel. Always and forever in our hearts,” the statement closed.
Parker was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma, a stage 4 brain tumor, in October 2020 after experiencing seizures. “We are all absolutely devastated but we are gonna fight this all the way,” he said on Instagram at the time.
He would periodically share progress updates with fans, his last being in November, where he announced his tumor was “under control” and “stable” following radiation and treatment.
Parker and The Wanted achieved fame in 2012 with their hits “Glad You Came” and “Chasing the Sun.” He leaves behind his wife as well as his two-year-old daughter Aurelia and one-year-old son, Bodhi.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden received his second booster shot following his scheduled remarks Wednesday about the state of the country’s COVID response, according to the White House.
Biden’s speech promoted the launch of COVID.gov, a new website the White House is billing as a “one-stop shop” to help Americans get better access to vaccines, tests, treatments and masks — as well as area-specific updates on COVID-19 spread.
The website leads users to locations where they can get vaccines, boosters and masks, and it connects people with another White House website to order free at-home rapid tests.
The president also highlighted that the “Test to Treat” initiative he announced at the State of the Union has already expanded to over 2,000 sites nationwide and now through COVID.gov’s new “Test to Treat Locator,” Americans can readily find pharmacies and community health centers to get tested for COVID-19 and receive treatments if needed.
Notably, many of the COVID response efforts available on COVID.gov are the same things the White House says are in jeopardy of running out in the coming weeks and months if more funding is not approved.
Administration officials for weeks have been ringing alarm bells about the critical need for more COVID funding, warning of the severe consequences for Americans.
Biden on Wednesday sent what a White House official called an “urgent, direct message to Congress” to act swiftly to secure funding for the administration’s COVID response.
Last week, the fund to cover testing and treatment for uninsured Americans ran out of money, leaving people to pay as much as $125 out of pocket if they get PCR testing at labs like Quest Diagnostics, one of the biggest in the country.
The funding to cover the cost of administering vaccines for uninsured people will run out next week.
At the same time, monoclonal antibody treatment supplies distributed to states each week has been cut by 35%. And the U.S. supply could run out entirely by May if funding isn’t secured.
The government says it has enough tests to get to the summer, but if there’s another surge, the country will again be caught flat-footed like it was during the omicron wave.
“You could see, again, a gap in access to at-home testing,” Andrea Palm, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, told reporters last week.
The White House has said without additional funding, “the results are dire” — one official told ABC News earlier this month, “Simply put, failing to take action now will have severe consequences for the American people.”
The White House has asked for $22.5 billion in immediate aid to keep COVID-19 programs afloat. Congress whittled that request down to $15 billion before cutting it from a spending bill entirely in early March. Since then, the White House has urged Democrats and Republicans on the Hill to come to an agreement, but negotiations remain at a stalemate.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
The singer just announced a Stadium Tour stop in Birmingham at the city’s Protective Stadium, a 45,000-capacity venue that opened last October and has never hosted a concert before. The show will take place June 4 at 7 p.m.
The just-announced show comes as part of a lengthy string of 2022 Stadium Tour dates for Garth, who booked new stops this year as well as setting several make-up dates at cities where he had to cancel planned concerts due to COVID-19 in 2021.
He’s got plans for a two-night hometown stand in Nashville this spring, followed by sold-out stops in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Charlotte, Cincinnati and South Bend are also among the cities he’s visiting this summer.
Tickets for Garth’s Birmingham show go on sale April 8 at 10 a.m. CT.
Paras Griffin/Getty Images / Scott Legato/Getty Images for ABA
Latto sampled Mariah Carey‘s 1995 hit “Fantasy” for her bop “Big Energy” and, now, the two ladies have come together for a brand new remix.
The 23-year-old rapper sat down with fans on Twitter to answer some of their burning questions and, obviously, the conversation gravitated toward her hot new collaboration.
When one wanted to know how the remix came to be, Latto revealed she first wanted to approach Mariah “in like November” when the song “first started going up” the charts. While she “didn’t think I could get her realistically,” Latto said she eventually “said f*** it and reached out. She was down.”
Latto also answered questions about what it was like jumping into the recording studio with the legendary singer and admitted to having a few butterflies in her stomach prior to meeting Mariah.
“I was sooooo nervous,” Latto confessed, adding she had no idea what to say. The “Wheelie” artist explained she had no reason to psych herself out because, “The conversation just floweddd she was so genuine and I definitely was overthinking.”
As for what it was like sitting in the recording booth with Mariah, Latto said, “We was sipping on her liquor Black Irish & just kicking it.”
Latto has high hopes for the remix and previously told fans, “FYI this might be Mariah’s 20th and my 1st #1” on the Billboard Hot 100. We’ll see if it makes it to the top!
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Like millions of Foo Fighters fans, John Stamos is mourning the loss of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was found dead in a Bogota, Colombia, hotel room last Friday night.
Stamos posted to Instagram a video from Hawkins in which he ribs his fellow drummer for taking a spot in a commercial from him.
“Stamos is a good buddy of mine,” Hawkins says in the clip. “He’s a great drummer…he’s a great dude, all that stuff.”
“But I am a little upset with him, actually,” Hawkins continues. “I have to be honest with you because I was supposed to do that GEICO commercial. You know that GEICO commercial where he flips, flips the stick. That was mine. Originally that was mine.”
He adds, “But they decided to go with Stamos because he’s better looking. But I am the best stick flipper around, sorry Stamos,” he continued. “I got this. It goes me, Tommy Lee, Stamos.”
For his part, the Full House star and part time Beach Boys drummer commented, “Yes, Taylor you are the best stick flipper and I miss you pal!”, adding “#gonetoof***ingsoon”.
Dave Grohlannounced Tuesday that his band was cancelling the remainder of their tour “in light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins.” According to Variety, Sunday’s Grammys will include a tribute to Hawkins.
They say art often imitates life, and that’s the case when it comes to Elliot Page and his Umbrella Academy character.
Elliot, who came out as transgender in December 2020, starred as Vanya Hargreeves in the Netflix series, and on Tuesday, it was revealed that his character will reflect that change, with his character transitioning to Viktor.
Alongside a screen grab of Elliot from the upcoming third season of the series about a family of misfit superheroes, the actor wrote, “Meet Viktor Hargreeves.”
Netflix retweeted the post, adding, “Welcome to the family, Viktor — we’re so happy you’re here.”
Umbrella Academy also stars Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan and Aidan Gallagher. Season three hits Netflix June 22.
It has been shown that Will Smith‘s slapping Chris Rock goosed the ratings of last Sunday night’s Oscars by some 600,000 viewers, so the results of a new survey about the show may not come as a surprise.
A OnePoll survey of 1,000 American viewers revealed 63% plan to tune in next year just because of the slap.
Nearly 1 in 10 of respondents say they only tuned in after they heard about the incident — meaning, they witnessed Smith tearfully accepting his Best Actor trophy for King Richard, to a standing ovation.
Not surprisingly, Smith’s attack on Rock was listed as the “most shocking” moment in Oscars history, with 35% of those polled attesting to that.
The slap far outpaced other jaw droppers, like when La La Land was accidentally announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight in 2018 (19%); Kevin Hart fired as host for old tweets (18%); and Marlon Brando sending Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the Best Actor award in 1973 (17%).
For 17%, Ellen DeGeneres snapping a selfie with celebrities was listed as a shocking moment as well, as was John Travolta puzzlingly pronouncing Idina Menzel‘s name as “Adele Dazeem.”
The slap was even deemed far more shocking than 1974’s infamous onstage Oscars “streaker” incident — that came in at 16%.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will receive his second booster shot following his scheduled remarks Wednesday about the state of the country’s COVID response, according to the White House.
Biden is expected in his speech to promote the launch of COVID.gov, a new website the White House is billing as a “one-stop shop” to help Americans get better access to vaccines, tests, treatments and masks — as well as area-specific updates on COVID-19 spread.
The website leads users to locations where they can get vaccines, boosters and masks, and it connects people with another White House website to order free at-home rapid tests.
The president will also highlight that the “Test to Treat” initiative he announced at the State of the Union has already expanded to over 2,000 sites nationwide and now through COVID.gov’s new “Test to Treat Locator,” Americans can readily find pharmacies and community health centers to get tested for COVID-19 and receive treatments if needed.
Notably, many of the COVID response efforts available on COVID.gov are the same things the White House says are in jeopardy of running out in the coming weeks and months if more funding is not approved.
Administration officials for weeks have been ringing alarm bells about the critical need for more COVID funding, warning of the severe consequences for Americans.
Biden on Wednesday will send what a White House official called an “urgent, direct message to Congress” to act swiftly to secure funding for the administration’s COVID response.
Last week, the fund to cover testing and treatment for uninsured Americans ran out of money, leaving people to pay as much as $125 out of pocket if they get PCR testing at labs like Quest Diagnostics, one of the biggest in the country.
The funding to cover the cost of administering vaccines for uninsured people will run out next week.
At the same time, monoclonal antibody treatment supplies distributed to states each week has been cut by 35%. And the U.S. supply could run out entirely by May if funding isn’t secured.
The government says it has enough tests to get to the summer, but if there’s another surge, the country will again be caught flat-footed like it was during the omicron wave.
“You could see, again, a gap in access to at-home testing,” Andrea Palm, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, told reporters last week.
The White House has said without additional funding, “the results are dire” — one official told ABC News earlier this month, “Simply put, failing to take action now will have severe consequences for the American people.”
The White House has asked for $22.5 billion in immediate aid to keep COVID-19 programs afloat. Congress whittled that request down to $15 billion before cutting it from a spending bill entirely in early March. Since then, the White House has urged Democrats and Republicans on the Hill to come to an agreement, but negotiations remain at a stalemate.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
It appears Doja Cat might be retiring from music after all. The “Say So” singer rebuked claims that she’s returning to music after making nice with her Paraguayan fans.
Last week, the Grammy nominee said she “quit” music after becoming embroiled in a nasty Twitter row with her South American fans. They were upset she didn’t interact with those who gathered outside her hotel in the rain and for not consoling disappointed fans that the country’s music festival she was set to perform was cancelled.
She later declared music “is dead to me” and followed up with, “This s*** ain’t for me so I’m out. Y’all take care.”
Doja apologized to her South American fans on Monday and, although she never addressed her previous comments about quitting music, it sparked theories that she wasn’t serious about the threat.
Well, it appears those theories were wrong. When outlets began reporting she wasn’t retiring, she fired back, “yes the f*** i am.” Doja didn’t elaborate, which only intensified fans’ reaction to the news.
While some fans begged her to reconsider, others insisted she still had more music to put out before she hangs up the microphone. Some even told Doja she wasn’t allowed to retire until she collaborated with certain artists, such as Azealia Banks.
Eventually, one follower asked, “genuine question..what are you gonna do when you quit lol,” to which another commented, “prolly interior design.”
Doja has not reacted to anyone else since doubling down on her retirement claims.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 30, 11:46 am
Zelenskyy warns Norway of Russia’s military buildup in Arctic
Ukraine warned Norway on Wednesday that Russian forces have “amassed in the Arctic region” and will ultimately pose a threat to Europe.
“I think you are experiencing new risks near your border with Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to Norwegian lawmakers via video link from Kyiv. “A number of Russian troops that has no normal explanation has already been amassed in the Arctic region. For what? Against whom?”
“The future of Europe — the whole continent from north to south, from west to east — is being decided right now,” he added. “On our land, on Ukrainian soil, in Ukrainian air, in Ukrainian sea. So that your soldiers do not have to defend NATO’s eastern flank, so that Russian mines do not drift to your ports and fjords, so that your people do not have to get used to the sound of air alarms and so that Russian tanks are not amassed at your border, we must stop the aggression of the Russian Federation together and only together.”
Zelenskyy said Russian forces are continuing to carry out relentless and indiscriminate attacks on his country. Although Ukrainian troops are holding off Russian advances, he warned that “the columns of Russian armoured vehicles are not decreasing.”
“There are no forbidden targets for Russian troops. They attack everything,” he told Norwegian lawmakers. “Ukraine’s losses are enormous.”
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko and Christine Theodorou
Mar 30, 11:18 am
Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister
During a meeting in China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi doubled down on increasingly close ties between the two nations despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Wang acknowledged the “Ukraine problem” but stopped short of offering support.
Chinese officials have said repeatedly in the past weeks that they are “not a party” to the conflict but “support Russia and Ukraine in overcoming difficulties.”
-ABC News’ Karson Yiu
Mar 30, 9:55 am
Putin advisers ‘afraid to tell him’ about Russian military performance
U.S. intelligence said it believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers on his troops’ performance in Ukraine “because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth,” a U.S. official told ABC News.
Based on declassified intelligence, the official said, “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military. There is now persistent tension between Putin and the MOD [Ministry of Defence], stemming from Putin’s mistrust in MOD leadership. Putin didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian President.”
The official continued: “We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth.”
Mar 30, 8:30 am
Poland plans to abandon Russian hydrocarbons by year’s end
Poland announced Wednesday its plan to stop buying Russian oil, gas and coal by the end of 2022.
“Today, we present the most radical plan in Europe to abandon Russian hydrocarbons — oil, gas and coal. This plan is necessary for the recovery of Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference.
According to Morawiecki, Poland “will impose a total embargo on Russian coal in April, at the latest in May.” He said his country has already largely reduced its dependence on oil from Russia and “will do [its] best to abandon Russian oil by the end of the year.” He added that he is also expecting a decline in gas imports in May.
Morawiecki called on other European countries, including Germany, to follow suit. He urged the European Commission “to establish a tax on Russian hydrocarbons so that trade and economic rules in the European single market are fair.”
Mar 30, 8:06 am
Enrollment in Poland’s national guard grows sevenfold
In the Polish village of Zegrze, about 20 miles north of Warsaw, cars line the small street outside a facility belonging to Poland’s Territorial Defense Force (TDF). Officials said interest in training with the TDF has increased sevenfold in the last month, following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine — creating an unintended traffic backup in the facility’s tiny public parking lot.
The TDF is the fifth military branch of the Polish Armed Forces, behind the Land Forces, Army, Navy and Special Forces. The group is made up of volunteer and part-time privates, and is comparable to the National Guard of the United States.
ABC News got exclusive access into the TDF facility in Zegrze and spoke with several new trainees, all of whom were women. Each one spoke about their underlying interest in the military and wanting to feel confident in protecting themselves and their families. But several said they became motivated to enroll after watching average Ukrainian citizens defend their country. They were inspired to be prepared in the same way.
ABC News’ cameras were allowed to follow a group of trainees — men and women of all ages — as instructors took them into a nearby forest on Tuesday morning. The trainees were clad in army fatigues and their faces were marked with camouflage paint as they crawled along the ground, guns in hand. The training was a grueling, real-life instruction that left them exhausted within an hour.
The program lasts for 16 days, with at least 12 hours of training required each day. At the end, the trainees take a military oath and then are allowed to return home. Many know there is a chance they will soon be called on to help the Polish military as the Russian invasion grinds on in neighboring Ukraine. While they won’t likely see combat, their main objective is to enhance national defense capabilities and protect their local communities.
Mar 30, 7:39 am
Ukrainians attempt to save animals from abandoned zoo near Kyiv
Ukrainians are attempting to rescue exotic animals from an abandoned zoo near the capital.
Vitaly Mukhanov told ABC News that he had volunteered to help bring supplies to Ukrainian soldiers when he came across the Yasnohorodka family ecopark, about 30 miles outside Kyiv. The park appeared to have been damaged by shelling and the animals, including camels and ostriches, were left with no food. Some were injured, while others were dead.
Videos and images Mukhanov took of the scene and posted on Facebook on Monday quickly went viral and he said he was subsequently contacted by the zoo’s owner, who asked if he could help.
In one of the videos, Mukhanov comes across a wounded ostrich. The bird appeared to be taking its last breaths as he gently stroked its head.
“You can see from the images that the animals were in a very bad way,” Mukhanov told ABC News. “The town nearby was liberated from the Russians two days ago, so the owner is now returning to the zoo and they hope to evacuate the animals in the next couple of days.”
Mukhanov said he has since returned to western Ukraine to get more supplies, but he was told that veterinarians were due to visit the Yasnohorodka family ecopark on Tuesday to provide care to some of the animals.
Mar 30, 7:18 am
Explosion rings out near Russian city of Belgorod
A missile hit a temporary Russian military camp near the border with Ukraine late Tuesday, according Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
TASS, citing a source, reported that preliminary data shows the camp, just outside the Russian city of Belgorod, was fired on from the Ukrainian side. However, Ukraine has denied responsibility and instead blamed the incident on Russian error.
Belgorod Oblast Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement that blasts occurred in the village of Krasny Oktyabr, about 19 miles southwest of Belgorod. He did not cite a cause of the incident, saying he was awaiting a report from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows an explosion in Krasny Oktyabr on Tuesday night. The cause of the blast was unknown.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk alleged that “an unauthorized detonation of ammunition” took place at a warehouse of the Russian Armed Forces in Belgorod.
“This is an example of typical for Russians neglect of safety precautions and mass use of dangerous ammunition of the Second World War,” Vereschuk said at a press briefing Wednesday.
Belgorod is about 50 miles north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which Russian forces have shelled heavily in recent weeks.
Mar 30, 6:11 am
Russia bombards Chernihiv hours after claiming to curb assault
Air raid sirens sounded off across almost all of Ukraine overnight and into early Wednesday, hours after Russia said it would scale back its military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Russian forces bombarded the besieged northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv as well as Khmelnytsky Oblast in western Ukraine, while several missiles were shot down over the capital, Kyiv, according to Vadim Denisenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister. The damage and any casualties were still being assessed Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the Luhansk Oblast has been under heavy shelling for days, Denisenko said.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed Wednesday that the Russian military continues to withdraw part of its troops from near Kyiv and Chernihiv, and are possibly “regrouping units to concentrate the main efforts in the eastern direction.” However, the General Staff said it believes the real goals of the so-called withdrawal are a rotation of individual units, misleading Ukraine’s military leadership and creating an erroneous idea about Russia’s refusal from the plan to encircle Kyiv.
Mar 30, 5:27 am
Over four million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than four million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 9% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 35 days.
More than half of the refugees crossed into neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 30, 3:41 am
Russian authorities may ‘single out and detain’ Americans in Russia and Ukraine, US warns
The United States is warning that Russian authorities “may single out and detain U.S. citizens” in both Russia and Ukraine.
The warning came Tuesday as the U.S. Department of State issued new travel advisories for the two warring countries.
The State Department previously warned Americans in Russia that they could be targets for harassment by Russian authorities. But the latest advisory makes it explicit that U.S. citizens could be “singled out,” “including for detention.”
The State Department has also previously warned Americans against traveling to Ukraine to join the fight against Russian forces, pointing to statements from Russian authorities that anyone detained while fighting will not be considered a lawful combatant. That could mean mistreatment or worse, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
“There are continued reports of U.S. citizens being singled out and detained by the Russian military in Ukraine and when evacuating by land through Russia-occupied territory or to Russia or Belarus,” the latest advisory for Ukraine states.
Both Russia and Ukraine have been on the State Department’s “Travel Advisory Level 4 – Do Not Travel” for months, as tensions ratcheted up and with little to no diplomatic presences on the ground.
