BTS is rested up after their well-deserved holiday break and made their grand return to performing on Thursday.
Rolling Stonereports the Grammy nominees kicked off their three-day Permission to Dance on Stage show, which is taking place at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. Thursday’s performance marked the first time in two years BTS performed in their home country. Their last live show was in October 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic derailing their plans of future performances.
Because of ongoing COVID-19-related restrictions, the 70,000-seat venue limited the crowd to just 15,000 fans. In addition, masks were mandatory at the event and fans were discouraged from screaming, cheering and singing along with BTS.
The septet dove into their biggest hits for their first show, performing “Dynamite,” “Butter,” “DNA,” “Burning Up (Fire),” “On” and “Permission to Dance.”
International fans can catch BTS’ concert on March 12 at their local cinema, thanks to the BTS Permission to Dance on Stage — Seoul: Live Viewing streaming event. The concert will simultaneously premiere in theaters in over 60 countries on Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Unfortunately, U.S. fans will be unable to nab tickets to BTS’ upcoming Las Vegas shows this April, as pre-ticket sales gobbled up every available seat for all four nights.
Live events aside, BTS is gearing up for their next era in music. Their label, Big Hit, confirmed the group is working on a new album but did not disclose a release date.
Florence + the Machine‘s new album Dance Fever officially has a release date.
The fifth studio effort from the “Dog Days Are Over” outfit will arrive May 13. Frontwoman Florence Welch previously described the record as a “fairytale in 14 songs.”
While we don’t know the title of every one of those 14 songs, we do know three: the previously released tracks “King” and “Heaven Is Here,” as well as a just-released tune called “My Love,” which is available now via digital outlets.
Dance Fever is the follow-up to 2018’s High as Hope, which features the single “Hunger.” In between, Florence released a new song called “Call Me Cruella” in 2021 for the Disney film Cruella.
Now we know where the name for The Black Keys‘ Dropout Boogie tour comes from.
As promised, the “Lonely Boy” rockers premiered a new single called “Wild Child” overnight. But that wasn’t all: they also announced a new album, titled Dropout Boogie.
The follow-up to 2021’s blues covers compilation Delta Kream will arrive May 13. Dropout Boogie will be the first original Keys record since 2019’s “Let’s Rock”.
You can listen to the rambunctious “Wild Child” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video will premiere today at 11 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile, the Dropout Boogie tour will launch July 9 in Las Vegas. Band of Horses will provide support.
Actor Jussie Smollett is scheduled to return to court in Chicago today to learn if a judge will order him to serve prison time after he was convicted for lying to police and staging an attack.
In January 2019, Smollett reported to police that he was the victim of a hate crime, alleging that two men yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him and tried to wrap a noose around his neck in Chicago.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the former Empire actor faces up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conduct that he was convicted of last year. Part of the December trial included the testimony of two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who told jurors Smollett paid them $3,500 to carry out the attack, with a promise of an additional $500 later.
Because he doesn’t have an extensive criminal history and the conviction is for a low-level nonviolent crime, court observers do not think that Smollett will serve any prison time.
In February, Judge James Linnruled that news cameras will be allowed in the courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building for sentencing.
It’s going to air on PBS on May 17, butUSA Today has a preview of what you can expect from Lionel Richie‘s tribute concert celebrating his Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which took place Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
The tribute concert opened with Gloria Estefan performing Lionel’s song “Dancing on the Ceiling,” which brought Lionel to his feet. Country superstar Chris Stapleton sang “Say You, Say Me,” and Lionel’s fellow American Idol judge Luke Bryan sang “Lady,” the hit Lionel wrote for Kenny Rogers.
Luke told Lionel, “You fill my life with so much happiness,” and noted to the crowd, “He’s the most creative interpreter of a love song. You didn’t put him in a category; he was just the world’s music.”
Other highlights included Boyz II Men performing The Commodores’ hit “Easy,” Andra Day singing “Hello,” Yolanda Adams doing The Commodores’ “Jesus Is Love,” Miguel performing “You Are,” and Lionel himself closing the show with “All Night Long.”
“Love is the only answer to everything we’re doing,” Lionel told the crowd.
The Gershwin Prize recognizes an artist’s lifetime achievement in music. Past recipients include Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Smokey Robinson, Paul McCartney and Gloria and her husband, Emilio Estefan.
(WASHINGTON) — Inflation spiked again last month, increasing 0.8 percent in February after rising 0.6 percent in January, the latest figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor show.
Compared to February of last year, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in prices customers pay for goods and services, is up 7.9%, marking a four-decade high.
The Labor Department said the biggest price hikes were for gasoline, shelter and food.
Move over Batman, it’s The Penguin’s time to shine.
HBO Max announced Tuesday that they’ve officially given a straight-to-series order to The Penguin, a limited series based on the Dark Knight’s nemesis.
According to the streamer, “The DC drama expands upon the world filmmaker Matt Reeves has created for Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman and centers on the character played by [Colin] Farrell in the film.”
“The world that Matt Reeves created for The Batman is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” Farrell said. “I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.”
Reeves adds, “Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in The Batman, and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill. Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”
The news comes after the successful March 4 release of Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson. The film, which also stars Zoë Kravitz, grossed $258 million globally in its first weekend in theaters.
(NEW YORK) — A group of kidney donors is going to great heights to educate others about being a live organ donor.
The Kidney Donor Athletes, a national organization working to educate and change the perception around live organ donation, is doing so through their “one kidney climb.” This year, on March 10, which marks World Kidney Day, the group of 22 kidney donors are climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
“The purpose of this climb is to show people around the world that it’s possible to thrive on one kidney,” Tracey Hulick, founder of Kidney Donor Athletes, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Hulick and the rest of the climbers are part of 22 separate donation chains. When someone donates to a stranger on behalf of someone they know, it sets off a chain reaction and an opportunity for many more lives to be saved. The donors who are taking part in the climb have different reasons for donating.
“Growing up, I had a classmate who passed away because he couldn’t find a bone marrow donor,” Samantha Carreiro of Dover, New Hampshire, said. “In that moment, I kind of just knew that given the chance to help somebody eventually in my life, I would do so.”
Carreiro eventually donated a kidney to a spin instructor at a gym she belonged to for years. She learned that he needed a kidney and knew this was something she was supposed to do.
For Steve Wilson of Katonah, New York, he was inspired to become a kidney donor after learning about his high school acquaintance’s daughter, who received a life-saving kidney transplant from a woman in their hometown.
He said he was “excited” for the recipient and her parents and was deeply moved by the “ultimate act of selflessness” from the donor. Wilson said he later donated his kidney to a 53-year-old woman in Seattle.
“It’s a way to leave an imprint on the world, to make somebody’s life better, to give somebody else a second chance at life,” Wilson added. “To see their children grow up and maybe their grandchildren.”
Patients need kidney transplants if theirs start to fail and are no longer able to rid the body of toxins, according to the University of Chicago Medicine. Patients can become tired, lose their appetite, become nauseous and wind up ill.
There are approximately 97,000 people on the National Kidney Transplant List, and more than 3,000 are added to the list each month. However, many patients spend years on the waiting list because there aren’t enough organs available, according to the University of Chicago Medicine.
The National Kidney Foundation notes that 13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant.
Through their climb, the Kidney Donor Athletes are hoping to get the message out there that it’s possible to live on one kidney, and they hope to inspire others to donate, too.
“Something that’s important to all of us is to normalize kidney donations,” Patty Graham, a Kidney Donor Athlete from Boulder, Colorado, said. “We’re not heroes, we’re normal people. We lead normal lives. In fact, all the donors — I know our lives are even better and more enhanced after donation.”
“What is life if we’re not helping each other?” Carreiro added.
Warner Bros. has shuffled the release dates for a few of its upcoming movies. Variety reports the Jason Momoa-led sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is being pushed back from December 16, 2022, to March 17, 2023. Meanwhile, The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, high-tails it from November 4, 2022, to June 23, 2023. Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam is being pushed back three months to October 21, 2022; and DC League of Super-Pets — in which Johnson voices Superman’s canine partner, Krypto the Super Dog — is moving into Black Adam‘s original July 29, 2022 spot. Super-Pets was originally slated for a May 20, 2022 release. Finally, Shazam! Fury of the Gods will move up a few months. The Zachary Levi-starring pic switches from June 2, 2023, to Dec. 12, 2022…
Paramount+ on Wednesday debuted the first teaser trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The Star Trek: Discovery spinoff will be set a decade before the Kirk era, and will follow Pike and the USS Enterprise on their own intergalactic adventures. Anson Mount will return as fan-favorite Capt. Christopher Pike, along with Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Pike’s first officer, and Ethan Peck as science officer Spock. Strange New Worlds launches May 5 on Paramount+…
The 75th annual Tony Awards will return to New York City’s legendary Radio City Music Hall on June 12, and for the first time ever, they’ll air live coast-to-coast on CBS. The four-hour ceremony will once again be split between Paramount+ and CBS. Coverage will start on the streaming platform at 7 p.m. ET, with the remainder of the ceremony airing live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. Paramount+ will also stream the telecast alongside the live show, and the show will be available on-demand in its entirety after airing. Nominations for this year’s Tonys will be announced May 3…
CBS announced on Wednesday that it has renewed four of its popular reality shows — Survivor, The Amazing Race, Tough as Nails and the home makeover series Secret Celebrity Renovation — for the 2022-2023 broadcast season. The renewals will take Survivor through its 44th season and The Amazing Race to its 34th cycle. Tough as Nails will run through its fifth season and Secret Celebrity Renovation is headed into its second season…
Conrad Janis, the character actor best-known for playing Fred McConnell, the father of Pam Dawber’s Mindy in Mork & Mindy, the 70s sitcom that also starred Robin Williams, died March 1 in Los Angeles, business manager Dean A. Avedon tells The New York Times. He was 94. A cause of death was not given. Janis appeared on many popular TV shows, including The Untouchables, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, The Waltons, Maude, Happy Days, The Jeffersons, Laverne & Shirley and Frazier. On film he appeared in Airport 1975, Billy Crystal’s Mr. Saturday Night and Ben Stiller’s cult favorite The Cable Guy, starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick, among others. Janis was also a successful and lifelong jazz trombonist who performed regularly with his group, the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band…
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(NEW YORK) — A tentative $83 million settlement has been reached in a punitive class action lawsuit brought by victims affected by the Surfside building that partially collapsed in South Florida last June, court filings show.
The lawsuit was filed against several groups and individuals, including companies that developed and maintained the property, the company responsible for the construction of the building, and engineers and inspectors of the building.
Ninety-eight people were killed in the collapse when the South Tower suffered a “catastrophic failure,” according to court documents.
While 55 condominium units were immediately destroyed, the remainder of the building, which had 136 units, had to be demolished, documents show.
The agreement provides for an $83 million Common Fund to be paid to unit owners as compensations for condominiums and contents; in exchange, unit owners will be relieved from any liability for injury and wrongful death claims, according to court documents.
Each unit owner will be paid a proportionate share of the funds based on their ownership share of the condominium, court documents show.
Once the agreement is finalized and can no longer be appealed, the victims will receive $50 million out of the first $100 million that is recovered from groups responsible for the building. The remaining $33 million of the settlement will be paid out of the money that’s first recovered after that $100 million, according to the court filing.
“All other funds recovered will inure solely for the benefit of the wrongful death claimants,” according to a court filing.
Morabito Consultants, one of the defendants in the lawsuit, said in a statement that it “denies that it is, in any way, liable for the collapse or the resulting damages.”
“But we also firmly believe that the families who have suffered from this tragedy deserve compensation so that they may focus on healing,” it added.
In a statement Tuesday to NBC 6, Becker & Poliakoff, which represents the condo association, said it “continues to deny that it is in any way responsible for the collapse… (and) this settlement is not a finding of fault against Becker…. We are pleased this matter was quickly resolved and sincerely hope the insurance settlement will bring some relief to those impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
The court will hold a final approval hearing for the agreement on March 30. Any objections to the agreement must be submitted to the court by March 23.
