Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
f you didn’t make it to Cleveland, OH last month to attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, you can watch the whole thing unfold this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. Taylor Swift had the honor of opening the show with a tribute to one of her musical heroes, Carole King.
On Friday, Taylor tweeted a picture of herself hugging Carole and a picture of her performing one of Carole’s most enduring songs, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” Taylor wrote, “Carole, you and your music mean more to me than I could ever sum up in a speech or a performance. But I TRIED. #RockHall2021 tomorrow at 8pm ET.”
Taylor’s treatment of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” was decidedly different from the version by The Shirelles, which hit number one in 1960, and from Carole’s own version on her iconic 1971 album, Tapestry.
“The version that she did was amazing, and she just owned it…and it’s a way that I’ve never done it,” Carole told reporters of Taylor backstage at the Induction last month. “No one’s ever done it that way, and that’s my joy as a songwriter, to see how different people interpret a song.”
This was the legendary artist’s second time being inducted into the Rock Hall: She’s previously gone in as a songwriter along with her former husband and writing partner, Gerry Goffin.
Other stars who were inducted this year include Tina Turner, The Go-Gos, Foo Fighters and JAY-Z. Performers and presenters you’ll see on the HBO ceremony Saturday night include Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie and more.
Oscar winner Halle Berry is receiving another special honor, the People’s Icon award at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards. Cardi B, who co-executive produced the soundtrack of Halle’s new film, Bruised, will present the award.
“Halle Berry has broken down barriers, directed and starred in diverse roles that have paved the way for others in the industry,” says Jen Neal, executive vice president of NBCUniversal Entertainment Television. “In addition to her filmography accolades and trendsetting ethos, Berry is known for her philanthropic work with women, children and underserved communities. She is an icon of our time and for all these reasons and more, we are honored to present her with ‘The People’s Icon’ award.”
Bruised, which stars Halle and marks her directorial debut, is now in select theaters and arrives on Netflix November 24. The 2021 People’s Choice Awards will air on both NBC and E! on Tuesday, December 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
In other news, King Richard, the film story of how Richard Williams groomed his daughters Venus and Serena to become tennis superstars, opens in theaters and streams on HBO Max on Friday. Serena has become the more famous sister, but she tells Entertainment Weekly her older sibling deserves credit for her success.
“There would be no Serena if there wasn’t a Venus,” Serena declares. “She was my hero and she still is my hero. She’ll do something and I’m like, ‘I’m doing that, too.'”
Lastly, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony featuring honorees Jay-Z, LL Cool J and Tina Turner, airs Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. Then on Sunday, the second season of Starz’ Power Book II: Ghost, starring Michael Rainey Jr. and Mary J. Blige, debuts at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. Central.
While there have been plenty of big Australian rock, pop and country acts over the years — from AC/DC to Sia to Keith Urban — Australian rappers haven’t had as big of an impact internationally, until this year. In fact, two of them are up for New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards Sunday night: The Kid LAROI and Masked Wolf.
Masked Wolf, born Harry Michael, tells ABC Audio that in addition to his own hit “Astronaut in the Ocean,” he appreciates what LAROI — born Charlton Howard — has done to help boost the genre.
“I mean, he has done some pretty massive songs and made some pretty big waves,” says Wolf. “Australia’s finally being put on the map. I think we’ve tried for a long time. A lot of artists have tried to break internationally, and now it’s like finally happening, which is really good.”
But do he and LAROI hang out? Wolf jokes, “LAROI doesn’t want to meet me because he knows I’d beat him in basketball. I know he plays basketball, so he’s trying to stay away.”
Seriously, though, there’s no rivalry there, and Wolf says he doesn’t necessarily need to win Sunday night to feel like he’s a success.
“It’s really special to have that acknowledgment. But you have to be first happy with what you’ve been doing before the award,” he explains. “And whether we win it or not, truly, I’m just happy with where I’m at and where I’ve come from. I’ve been grinding at this for like 11 years. So award or not, I feel like what I’m doing now is the award.”
See who takes home the award Sunday night when the American Music Awards air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Kid Rock has some thoughts on “snowflakes” and “millennials.” Shocker: he’s not a fan.
The “Bawitdaba” rocker has released a new song called “Don’t Tell Me How to Live,” a collaboration with the band Monster Truck. The track is an updated version of a past Monster Truck tune of the same name, now with added rap verses from Kid.
Sample lyrics include “What the f***’s up with all the backlash/You snowflakes here’s a news flash,” and “Every opinion has a millennial offended.” Later on, Rock compares himself to David Lee Roth, Bruce Springsteen, and even Brad Pitt.
“Don’t Tell Me How to Live” is available now for digital download. Kid Rock’s most recent album is 2017’s Sweet Southern Sugar.
(NEW YORK) — This week marks twenty years since Microsoft unveiled the very first XBox.
On November 15, 2001, at an event that included a guest appearance from Duane “The Rock” Johnson, then-Microsoft CEO Bill Gates pulled the wraps off the black and green gaming console. Since then the device has been through four generations, each of which have added a myriad of features and garnered huge followings. But the console’s success wasn’t always a sure thing.
“They were a boring tech company,” says IGN Executive Editor Ryan McCaffrey. “Games were not something you associated Microsoft with.”
“The company took a huge risk,” says Danny Peña, Games Editorial Lead at G4TV and host of the podcast Gamertag Radio. “They were not a hundred percent sure if the concept was going to be successful or not.”
Early XBox consoles came with Ethernet ports, which supported Microsoft’s online gaming service XBox Live. Launched a year after the original XBox, the service allowed gamers to play with their friends over high-speed internet at a time when many systems still used slower, dial-up connections.
According to McCaffrey, “with broadband gaming you could just have a better quality game experience, and it really changed everything.” He adds Microsoft was ahead of its competitors when it came to offering faster connection speeds.
“They were well out in front of Sony on this. They were well out in front of Nintendo. And now it’s sort of taken as – taken for granted I’d say.”
As for the games XBox players were interested in, McCaffrey says it’s difficult to separate the success of the XBox from the popularity of its flagship Halo franchise – a series of sci-fi action titles which launched alongside the console in 2001.
“I’ve never experienced a first person shooter like this ever in my life,” says Peña, who was one of the first to play the original Halo: Combat Evolved game at a Microsoft launch event in 2001. “That was the game that put XBox on the map.”
“The original [Halo] was what we call in the games business a ‘killer app,’” says McCaffrey. “You had to have the game, and therefore you had to have the system to play the game on.”
“There’s an argument to be made – a very good argument – that we would not even be having this conversation if not for Halo. Because the original XBox might not have survived if Halo had not been this incredibly big deal,” he adds.
But the road to the XBox’s 20th anniversary has had its fair share of potholes as well. The controller for the original XBox was widely panned for being too big and uncomfortable to hold. One Twitter user joked it was so large it “had its own weather systems” and “affected tides.”
Early examples of the second generation XBox “360” were prone to hardware issues. According to a 2009 study, nearly a quarter of the consoles experienced some form of system failure – four times the rate of its contemporary competitor, Sony’s Playstation 3. Reliability problems were so pervasive that Microsoft issued a recall to address the most common failure, nicknamed the “Red Ring of Death” because it caused the ring around the console’s power button to glow red.
Over the last two decades, the company has added hardware and software features including things like XBox Live, a motion-tracking “Kinect” system, voice controls, and even a streaming service for games called “xCloud.”
According to Peña, a theme that distinguishes the XBox brand from competitors like Sony and Nintendo is a focus on making video games accessible to people with disabilities.
“Microsoft has been very supportive when it comes to accessibility,” says Peña, citing the recently released Forza Horizon 5 racing game, an XBox exclusive title, as an example.
The game can be customized with high-contrast colors or color-blind options intended for players with sight impairments, or set to run at a reduced speed, which gives players more time to react to the high-speed action.
Microsoft says it will also soon allow people with hearing impairments to play the game with on-screen interpreters for American or British Sign Language.
“They’re the one the company has been doing the most out of every other company out there right now,” says Peña. “I have family members that – they’re deaf, you know, and now they could also play the game and have that same experience that I have… I think that’s very, very important.”
At an anniversary event on Monday – which also featured a cameo from The Rock – Microsoft announced it would start allowing gamers to try out a beta version of the upcoming Halo: Infinite a few weeks early, ahead of the game’s release early next month. But not all of those gamers will be standing in line outside retailers awaiting its release, as many Halo fans in the past have done. Recent XBox consoles, like the current “Series S” and a version of the high-end “Series X,” don’t feature disk drives. Instead, Microsoft has been pushing digital game downloads and even streaming games via xCloud. Peña says that could give us a hint as to the future of the console.
“Without buying the physical version, they can just play it through their phone, through their smart TVs – I could definitely see that.”
Listen to ABC’s Mike Dobuski take a look back at 20 years of XBox:
(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — Defense attorney Kevin Gough called the homicide trial of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black jogger, a “public lynching” of his client — who is one of three white men accused of chasing and killing Arbery.
He claimed that the trial has been “infected by mob violence by the woke-left mob,” and asked the judge for a mistrial once again. His request was denied by the judge.
“Third parties are influencing this case,” Gough said, referring to the “spectator activity” and “media frenzy” concerning public figures attending the trial and gathering outside of the courtroom. “This is what a public lynching looks like in the 21st century.”
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski had argued that “there’s absolutely no evidence here that the jurors have been influenced in any way by the first and only larger crowd that came yesterday. No evidence that they even knew it was out there.”
Travis McMichael — who fatally shot Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, while Arbery was jogging — claims he shot him in self-defense.
That day, McMichael was accompanied by his father Gregory and their neighbor Bryan. They followed Arbery, because they say they had believed that the 25-year-old was a criminal following recent reports of crime in the neighborhood.
Detective Parker Marcy testified that Gregory claimed he armed himself because he suspected Arbery may have stolen a handgun from his son’s truck several weeks earlier, but he acknowledged he had no proof of this.
The McMichaels claimed, through their lawyers. that they were attempting to make a citizens’ arrest. On the witness stand Thursday, McMichael said that Arbery never verbally threatened him or brandished a weapon during the five minutes the three of them chased Arbery before he was fatally shot.
The men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The year of Måneskin will continue this weekend when the Italian rockers take the stage at the American Music Awards.
The set will mark the first-ever U.S. award show performance for the Eurovision winners, and they plan to celebrate the occasion appropriately.
“Of course, the event is so important for us,” drummer Ethan Torchio tells ABC Audio. “So we’re gonna do something important, too.”
In addition to performing, Måneskin is also nominated for an AMA: the group’s viral single, “Beggin’,” will compete for the Favorite Trending Song prize. As for who will get to keep the trophy should they win, bassist Victoria de Angelis says it’s up for grabs.
“We will fight about who gets it,” de Angelis laughs. “As we do with every award we get.”
The 2021 AMAs air Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Other nominees include Foo Fighters, Machine Gun Kelly, All Time Low, Glass Animals and AJR for Favorite Rock Artist. Glass Animals and AJR are also up for Favorite Pop Duo or Group.
Cardi B is gearing up for Sunday night’s American Music Awards and, to hype up her fans, she teased what to expect when she takes the stage as this year’s new host.
She tells ABC Audio her goal for the night is to make sure everyone has “a good time.”
“I don’t really care much about being inspirational,” she remarked, even though this is the first time she’s ever hosted an awards show. Instead, she wants to bring the “good vibes” because “I like to party!”
“I want to wake people up,” Cardi exclaimed, while clapping her hands before promising, “I’m giving you Belcalis,” which is her birth name.
Cardi didn’t appear all that nervous about the upcoming gig, either, but she did admit there are a few scenarios she wants to avoid. “I just don’t want to make a joke and it’s, like, crickets,” she said. “I don’t wanna stutter or say something mean or wrong, you know?”
Several big performances will rock the AMA stage and, when asked which acts she’s most excited to see, Cardi shared a laundry list of names, “I wanna see Silk Sonic. I wanna see BTS. I wanna see Megan [Thee Stallion]. I wanna see Chloe [Bailey]. I wanna see my friend, Bad Bunny…. I wanna see everybody!”
The “Up” rapper remained tight-lipped about what else we can expect from Sunday night’s show and only teased, “You gotta be tuned in to see!”
The 2021 AMAs air Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Florida Georgia Line member Tyler Hubbard opens up about a painful but pivotal moment in his life in a new episode of the In Good Faith podcast, hosted by pastor Judah Smith and his wife, Chelsea.
Tyler and his wife, Hayley, were guests on a new installment of the series, and during their conversation, Tyler recalled being a sophomore in college home for a visit when his dad unexpectedly died.
“He had taken up flying helicopters, which was a cool hobby…it was fun watching him do something he loved,” Tyler explains. “That weekend he had a helicopter crash in the backyard and we were there, which was tough, but also a blessing to be there when it happened. Just one of those freak accidents, very unexpected, and it kind of shaped who I was.”
Even as a 20-year-old going through a traumatic family tragedy, Tyler knew that this event would play a role in the kind of life he would go on to live — for better or worse.
“And I kind of made a promise to God in that moment, like, ‘Look, I want to lean on you. I want to trust you,’” he explains. “‘I know you’re in control and I have faith that as much as this is confusing and I don’t understand it, I really want to do this right. And I want to go through the process and the grieving and all that, but I want to trust you.’”
Elsewhere in the episode, Tyler further explores his grieving process, and he and his wife share their experience with therapy and premarital couples counseling.
Fall Out Boy‘s Patrick Stump is swinging into the weekend with a soundtrack EP for the Disney Junior animated series, Spidey and His Amazing Friends.
The six-track set includes the show’s theme, as well as five other tunes Stump wrote and recorded for the show, which follows the adventures of Peter Parker and his fellow spider-powered pals. You can download it now via digital outlets.
Stump and Fall Out Boy previously entered the superhero world with their song “Immortals,” which was recorded for the 2014 Marvel-inspired Disney movie Big Hero 6.
Fall Out Boy’s most recent album is 2018’s M A N I A. They spent the past summer touring with Green Day and Weezer on the Hella Mega tour.
