Arcade Fire is down one of the band’s many members.
Multi-instrumentalist Will Butler — and younger brother of frontman Win Butler — announced over the weekend that he is no longer part of the “Wake Up” outfit.
“Hi friends — I’ve left Arcade Fire,” Butler tweeted on Saturday, adding that he made the decision at the end of 2021, after the group’s upcoming album WE had already been recorded.
“There was no acute reason beyond that I’ve changed — and the band has changed — over the last almost 20 years,” Butler wrote. “Time for new things.”
He added, “The band are still my friends and family.”
Butler’s news comes just after Arcade Fire announced WE last week. The follow-up to 2017’s Everything Now will arrive May 6.
Arcade Fire celebrated the album news with a trio of surprise concerts at New York City’s intimate Bowery Ballroom over the weekend.
It looks as though Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello may have an opportunity to perform their new duet, “Bam Bam,” live on stage next week.
Both stars have been announced as performers at Concert for Ukraine, a two-hour fundraising event taking place in Birmingham, England on March 29 and airing on Britain’s ITV. Proceeds will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Other acts on the bill include “Next to Me” singer Emeli Sandé and the band Snow Patrol, which features Ed’s bestie and frequent collaborator, Johnny McDaid. More artists will be announced in the coming days.
Tickets for the concert at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham go on sale tomorrow.
If you’re nominated at the 94th Annual Academy Awards on March 27, perhaps consider asking Rachel Zegler to be your plus-one.
That’s because the actress says she didn’t get a ticket of her own, despite the fact that she stars in the Steven Spielberg-directed film that was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture.
Zegler, who played María Vasquez in the remake, broke the ‘unvitation’ news on social media, when a fan made reference to what she’ll be wearing.
“I’m not invited so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel,” she replied.
Zegler’s fans immediately protested, offering her suggestions on how to undo the slight, including lobbying Spielberg. “I’m sure [he] could do something about this,” one follower stated.
Zegler replied, “…i have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening :’) i will root for west side story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago.” The actress added, “i hope some last minute miracle occurs and i can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes… [T]hanks for all the shock and outrage — i’m disappointed, too. but that’s okay. so proud of our movie.”
Officially, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tells The Hollywood Reporter that each nominee and presenter is offered a pair of tickets. Zegler wasn’t nominated, though her co-star, Ariana DeBose was, in the Best Supporting Actress category.
That said, AMPAS notes, extra tickets are allotted to nominated studios, but it seems as of now, Zegler came up short.
On Sunday, Zegler thanked her fans for “all the support…”, and asked for respect to the folks “behind the scenes” in movies and awards shows. “[L]et’s all just respect the process and i’ll get off my phone,” she concluded.
Machine Gun Kelly has announced a North American tour in support of this forthcoming album, Mainstream Sellout.
The trek launches June 8 in Austin, Texas, and will wrap up with a hometown show in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 13.
Along with Kelly, the bill will feature artists including Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, WILLOW, iann dior, blackbear, PVRIS and Trippie Redd on select dates.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 25, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit MachineGunKelly.com.
Mainstream Sellout, the follow-up to 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall, drops Friday. It includes the previously released songs “Emo Girl” and “Maybe,” featuring WILLOW and Bring Me the Horizon, respectively.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, will appear on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first of four days of high-profile confirmation hearings.
Monday’s session kicks off at 11 a.m. with 10-minute opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members, five-minute statements from outside introducers, and then, 10 minutes from Jackson herself.
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the nation’s second most powerful court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will face questions from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats over two days, starting Tuesday. On Thursday, senators can ask questions of the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses.
While Democrats have the votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee on their own, and hope to by the middle of April, the hearings could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support and shoring up the court’s credibility. Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes.
Jackson, who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, has spent the last month meeting with senators from both parties behind closed doors on Capitol Hill ahead of publicly testifying to her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
Here is how the news is developing. Check back for updates:
Mar 21, 10:02 am
Jackson preps for intense hearings by — knitting
While Judge Jackson has more experience fielding questions during high-intensity Senate hearings than any Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, she has described the process as “extremely nerve-wracking,” although she’s seen Senate confirmation three times.
To offset that nervous energy, Jackson says she took up — knitting.
“The lights are as bright as they are in here, in terms of cameras and attention, and you do your best not to make a fool of yourself in front of the senators,” Jackson said in a conversation for the D.C. Circuit Historical Society in 2019.
She said that she “started so many scarves I could have outfitted a small army,” recalling her first Senate confirmation process in 2012, when she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. District Court in Washington. She currently sits on currently sits Washington’s federal appellate court.
Ahead of this week’s marathon questioning, Jackson met one-on-one with 44 senators ahead of her hearings next week, including all members of the Judiciary Committee and its 11 Republican members, according to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, the White House “sherpa” for the nominee, escorting her on Capitol Hill.
Mar 21, 9:40 am
Some in GOP paint Jackson as ‘soft on crime,’ White House rejects accusation
Several GOP senators have telegraphed plans to question Judge Jackson’s defense of detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a private defense attorney, her support of reduced sentences for convicted drug offenders and the backing of her nomination by outside progressive advocacy groups.
In a sign the hearings could get contentious, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — a former Supreme Court clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and a potential presidential hopeful — suggested in a barrage of tweets Thursday that Jackson has a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” and suggested she is “soft on crime.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week, calling it a “last-ditched eve-of-hearing desperation attack.”
“The facts are that, in the vast majority of cases involving child sex crimes, broadly, the sentences Judge Jackson imposed were consistent with or above what the government or U.S. probation [authorities] recommended. And so, this attack that we’ve seen over the last couple of days relies on factual inaccuracies and taking Judge Jackson’s record wildly out of context,” Psaki said.
While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley’s insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice. ABC News’ Devin Dwyer fact checks Hawley here.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:23 am
Will any Republicans vote for Jackson?
Judge Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes. She was also confirmed by the Senate in 2010 as vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021, but after private meetings with Jackson this month, all three were noncommittal about supporting her again.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin has said he is hopeful more than three Republicans will support the nomination this time around, GOP Whip Sen. John Thune said last week he would be surprised it that were the case.
“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” Collins said after spending more than 90 minutes one-on-one with Jackson. “I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision.”
No Republican senator has publicly disputed Jackson’s qualification to be a justice, though several have raised concerns about her rulings and presumed judicial philosophy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:06 am
What to expect at Monday’s hearings
Monday marks the first day of four high-profile hearings where the Senate Judiciary Committee and American people will hear from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee and the first Black woman nominated to the nation’s highest court in its 233-year history.
The hearings will gavel in at 11 a.m. with 10-minute statements from the committee’s 11 Republican and 11 Democratic members. Following member opening statements, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Finally, Judge Jackson will then deliver an opening statement in the afternoon for 10 minutes. ABC News will air special coverage of her remarks.
And for the first time since the pandemic, for each half-hour of the proceeding, up to 60 members of the public invited by senators will also be allowed to attend.
The rapper announced over the weekend that he is expecting his first child with hairstylist Jackilyn Martinez.
He posted a video on Instagram of the gender reveal, showing him dropping a ball on the ground that exploded into blue powder at the same time Martinez shot off a popper that dispersed blue confetti. The couple then hugged and kissed as the crowd cheered.
“It’s a boy!!” Soulja captioned the video. He later posted the news on his Instagram Stories, writing, “THANK YOU GOD. SUCH A BLESSING. DEAR SON I WILL LOVE U FOREVER.”
The 31-year-old said back in 2021 that he was hoping for a child. “I have everything I want in life except for a son,” he posted on his Instagram Story in September. “God please bless me I’ve been patient.”
On Twitter, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah seemingly responded to the Grammy Awards’ decision to remove Kanye West from its list of performers for the April 3 show.
“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” said the comedian, who returns as host this year.
West’s rep confirmed to People that the awards show banned the Donda rapper over his “concerning online behavior,” despite his five nominations this year.
The defense of West from Noah is significant, not only because he’s hosting again this year, but because at least one example of Ye’s “concerning online behavior” targeted Noah. Last Wednesday, Kanye was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours for violating the platform’s policies on hate speech and bullying and harassment for posting an apparently racist dig at Noah, after he voiced concern on The Daily Show about West’s constant posts about his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Pete Davidson.
Noah, who grew up with an abusive father, said in part on his show,”What [Kim is] going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave.”
The Daily Show host later said in an Instagram story that Kanye’s recent behavior “breaks my heart,” adding, “I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain.”
Noah said West remains an “indelible” part of his life, but commented, “I’ve woken up too many times and read headlines about men who’ve killed their exes, their kids and then themselves. I never want to read that headline about you.”
Incidentally, West may have deleted all of his Instagram content: His feed showed zero posts as of Monday morning.
(NEW YORK) — With rising costs and inflation impacting everything from food to gas, it’s no surprise that home prices for buyers and renters are also up.
Housing prices have soared, especially for renters. According to an analysis from Realtor.com, median rents spiked upward by approximately 20% year-over-year in January, and it’s not just large cities that are being affected.
Mid-size cities like Tampa, Florida, and Chandler, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix, are growing rapidly and residents are seeing rents shoot up as well. The two fastest-growing rental markets are currently in Miami and New Orleans.
Why is rent so high?
There are several factors that have contributed to higher rents, including a nationwide housing shortage, significantly higher housing costs and more young people entering an already crowded housing market.
How much should you spend on rent?
The 30% rule is a common one, where 30% of your gross income or your money after taxes is spent on housing. It’s a rule Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary recommends.
“The rule’s very simple, do not spend more than a third of your income, after-tax income, on where you’re renting or the mortgage you’re paying,” O’Leary previously told GMA.
If you can swing it, the 30% rule is a great guideline but for many in big cities, this might not be feasible or realistic.
A better method may be a 50/30/20 budget, where 50% is spent on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on debt and savings. Rent would fall under the 50% category.
Consider both budgeting rules to determine what you can afford — and you should definitely figure it all out before you jump into a new lease or renew your current one.
What can you do to lower your rent?
Remember that rent is negotiable.
Do your homework and compare similar listings. Take note of listings that cost the same and find out what they have and don’t have.
Compare yourself to a vacancy. Landlords need to spend money to advertise open apartments and it may help them save time and money if you decide to move in or stay.
Sell yourself and highlight the pros of renting to you. Do you always pay your rent on time? Do you keep a clean and tidy apartment? Do you have skills you can barter for a lower price? A property manager or owner may reconsider if you’re a more desirable renter than others.
If you plan on staying in one location for a longer period of time, ask for a discount for signing a longer-term lease.
Inquire about concessions like an earlier move-in date or a free month.
Over the weekend, Shawn Mendes gave fans a preview of his upcoming Wonder tour with a special showcase at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX.
According to Billboard, Shawn performed a brand-new song during the showcase: “When You’re Gone.” He also posted a video of himself on Instagram talking about the track and playing it. He says the song is about breaking up with someone and not realizing that now you don’t have anyone to call when you’re “in a panic attack” or “on the edge.”
“It’s like, ‘I’m actually on my own, and I hate that,'” Shawn says. “That’s my reality.”
Shawn also performed another song about a breakup, “It’ll Be Okay,” which he released last year as a standalone single after he split with Camila Cabello.
“I was completely not expecting the amount of love and support for this one,” Shawn told the audience, according to Billboard. “I truly believe that songs can be a true form of healing and come at moments for me when I need to hear them most. This is one of those songs for me and I’m just so happy that people have connected so much.”
Shawn kicks off his long-awaited Wonder tour later this year.
The Tucson Music Hall in Tucson, Arizona will be named after one of the city’s most famous daughters: Linda Ronstadt.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romeroannounced the news on Twitter, calling Ronstadt “one of Tucson’s most iconic women.” The official renaming will take place on May 7, during the city’s 40th annual International Mariachi Conference. Linda saluted that musical genre in her hugely successful 1987 album, Canciones de Mi Padre.
According to The Arizona Republic, Mayor Romero said in a statement, “Linda Ronstadt is a beloved daughter of Tucson. It is time to honor her legacy and her ability to tell the story of our culture through music.” The legendary 75-year-old singer will be on hand to unveil the music hall’s new sign.
The Republic shared a statement from the mayor’s office in which Ronstadt said, “I am fortunate to be a member of a large musical family that has been associated with the City of Tucson since the 1800s. My entire career was informed and nurtured by the music we made as I was growing up here.”
Ronstadt, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, retired from singing in 2011 due to vocal problems. In 2013, she revealed she had Parkinson’s disease, but her diagnosis was later changed to progressive supranuclear palsy (PCP), a late-onset degenerative disease that is often mistaken for Parkinson’s.
