Kenny G is about to release his first new album in six years, and will follow it up with a tour that’ll feature him performing his Christmas songs, as well as his hits.
The album, New Standards, will be out December 3, and on vinyl February 11. The album is made up of original songs that were inspired by “the jazz ballads of the 50s and 60s,” according to a press release. The first track, “Emeline,” is available now; you can pre-order the album as well.
“For this album, I wanted to try to recreate those ‘sounds’ but do it my own way, which for me meant that I would have to compose the songs myself,” Kenny says in a statement. “So I set out to compose and perform songs that capture the ‘heart and soul’ of those beloved jazz standards and to record them ‘my way.'”
“It was a wonderful (and painstaking) labor of love and I’m super proud of the end result,” he adds.
On December 2, Kenny will kick off the Miracles Holiday & Hits Tour in Waukegan, IL. It’s set to wrap up December 20 in Falls Church, VA.
As previously reported, a documentary called Listening to Kenny G, which will examine why the saxophonist and his music are so polarizing, will air on HBO December 3.
Squid Game has become a pop culture phenomenon, with huge — and unexpected — ratings for Netflix, and even a spoof last week on SNL. Its surprise success has also led to surprise stardom for its oldest cast member.
Seventy-seven-year-old Oh Young Soo plays Player 001 in the series, and his affecting performance as the terminally ill, dementia-addled man has his phone ringing off the hook with new acting offers.
According to the pop culture site Soompi, the actor told the Korean show HowDo You Play, “So many people have been contacting me, and because I don’t have a manager to help me, it’s hard for me to handle the volume of calls and messages I’ve been receiving. So my daughter has been helping me.”
“I feel like I’m floating on air,” the actor admitted. “It makes me think, ‘I need to calm down, organize my thoughts, and hold myself back right now.'”
The actor, who was interviewed by the show’s host Yoo Jae Suk and Mijoo from the K-Pop group Lovelyz, explained, “Things have changed quite a bit. Even when I go out to a cafe or somewhere like that, I now have to be aware of [how I appear to others]. It’s made me think, ‘Being famous is tough, too.'”
Young Soo reflected, “I don’t have any grand ambitions,” adding, “Big or small, I’ve received a lot of things while living my life. Now, I want to leave behind those things that I’ve received.”
(NEW YORK) — Climate change is not only warming the planet, it’s negatively affecting human health in myriad ways, with researchers reporting surges in heat-related illnesses, infectious diseases, poor sleep and an increase in suicides, according to a major report by The Lancet Countdown that’s been cosigned by health experts from more than 70 institutions worldwide.
“There is no safe temperature rise from a health standpoint,” Dr. Renee Salas, an author of the report and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “The take-home message of this year’s brief is clear: Climate change is first and foremost a health crisis.”
Additionally, the report shows how decades of racial inequity has deepened divides when it comes to health outcomes, especially in the U.S. over the last few decades, as researchers have observed an increase in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat waves, wildfires and droughts.
We could be investing in a healthier future. This is a pivotal moment in history.
More than a third of urban heat-related deaths in the 1990s and early 2000s can be attributed to climate change, and extensive research also has shown that exposure to heat waves poses a range of health risks, from heat rashes to heat exhaustion to heatstroke.
“During the last heat wave, I saw paramedics with burns on their knees from kneeling down on the sidewalk to take care of patients with heatstrokes,” said Dr. Jeremy Hess, a co-author of the report and a professor of environmental and occupational health services at the University of Washington. “I have seen patients die of heatstroke this year. These are preventable problems.”
Warmer temperatures also contribute to people sleeping less and observable increases in suicide and crime.
“Patients tend to complain more about sleep disturbances during heat waves, which generally go away once the weather passes,” said Dr. Shehram Majid, a New York City-based psychiatrist. “I have seen a rise in patients struggling with mood and anxiety disorders during periods of extreme weather in NYC.”
One study estimates that in the U.S., suicide rates rise 0.7% for every 1 degree Celsius increase in average temperature.
Climate change also creates and exacerbates droughts, which can lead to more wildfires that burn for much longer, which means more dust and smoke that destroys air quality. Agriculture suffers. Pollen levels can increase, affecting those with allergies.
And poor air quality can be felt thousands of miles away from fires. In July 2021, smoke from California’s Dixie Fire reached the Eastern Seaboard, contributing to the worst air quality in New York City in 15 years.
“September 2020, we saw the max wildfires to date, with about 80,000 wildfires in the U.S., which is eight times greater than 2001,” Salas added.
Emerging evidence, cited in the report, also shows that wildfire smoke may be more harmful than many other types of smoke, especially for children. Exposure has been linked to an increased risk of heart and pulmonary disease, premature death, worsened mental health and greater risk of preterm birth.
More flooding can create conditions that lead to increased mosquito breeding, which means diseases such as Dengue fever, a dangerous viral infection, can spreader wider more quickly via the insects.
“New Dengue transmission potential is five times higher than 1950,” Salas added.
Longer warm seasons also means more ticks are spreading Lyme disease.
“We spent many years talking about the pandemic, yet we were not prepared. We are bound to make the same mistake again with climate change. We have not invested in the mitigation and adaptation necessary,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “The health sector is already stressed, and when you add these natural disasters it pushes things to the breaking point.”
Policymakers need to get serious about taxing carbon and reaching zero-emission targets, said Benjamin, adding: “This is an opportunity to invest differently in a green recovery that isn’t fueled by fossil fuels. We could be investing in a healthier future. This is a pivotal moment in history.”
Yalda Safai, M.D., M.P.H., a psychiatry resident in New York City, is a contributor to ABC News Medical Unit.
Ed Sheeran may be a global superstar but he’s also British, which is why he”ll be entertaining fans young and old in his home country in the coming months.
Ed’s been booked to perform at the Royal Variety Performance, an annual charity event that will mark its 109th year in December. Senior members of the British Royal Family will be in attendance at the event, which will also feature performances Rod Stewart, James Blunt, Anne-Marie, Elvis Costello and The Greatest Showman star Keala Settle, who’ll sing “This Is Me” from the hit movie.
Adele‘s bestie, British comedian Alan Carr, will host and the proceeds go to the Royal Variety Charity, which helps provide care and financial assistance to entertainers. The charity’s patron is Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Variety Performance airs in December on British TV and will stream at ITV.com.
Before that, on Friday, November 5, Ed will appear on the BBC’s children’s programming channel, CBeebies, reading a bedtime story for kids. He’ll read the book I Talk Like a River, about a boy who has a stutter. Ed can definitely relate, since he had a stutter as a kid.
Ed told the BBC he’s “delighted” to read the book, “especially as I’m a new dad myself.” He adds, “I hope the story helps inspire and support other children who stutter.” You’ll be able to watch Ed read I Talk Like a River on the BBC iPlayer.
Other stars who’ve read stories for kids on CBeebies include Elton John, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Evans, Orlando Bloom, Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page and many more.
Do you know a child who stutters? 🗣@edsheeran is reading an ‘Ed-time’ Story about it on Fri 5th Nov 📚
Slash has announced a new album with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators.
The fourth studio effort from the Guns N’ Roses shredder and his solo band is fittingly titled 4, and will arrive February 11, 2022.
Our first preview of 4 is the previously teased single “The River Is Rising,” which you can download now via digital outlets.
Slash and company will launch a U.S. tour next year in support of 4 starting February 8 in Portland, Oregon. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting next Friday, October 29, at 10 a.m. local time, with various pre-sales happening throughout the week.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit SlashOnline.com.
Here’s the 4 track list:
“The River Is Rising”
“Whatever Gets You By”
“C’est la Vie”
“The Path Less Followed”
“Actions Speak Louder than Words”
“Spirit Love”
“Fill My World”
“April Fool”
“Call Off the Dogs”
“Fall Back to Earth”
Are you ready to rock ‘n’ roll with Ringo Starr? The famed ex-Beatles drummer has debuted a music video for his new cover of the Bill Haley and His Comets classic “Rock Around the Clock,” which appears on Starr’s recently released Change the World EP.
The tune features Ringo’s brother-in-law, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, ripping through a couple of wailing solos.
The video, which you can check out on YouTube, features footage shot at Starr’s Roccabella West home studio of Ringo singing and playing drums, as well as Walsh doing his thing on guitar.
Session bassist Nathan East and Starr’s frequent studio collaborator Bruce Sugar also appear in the clip. The track also features backing vocals from Amy Keys and Windy Wagner.
Ringo says he decided to record his own version of “Rock Around the Clock” because he was reminiscing about the impression the song had on him when he first heard it on his 15th birthday. His grandparents took him to see the movie Blackboard Jungle in a theater then while he was recovering from tuberculosis.
Starr recalls that when the song came on, the audience “ripped up the cinema!!! They just threw the chairs and went crazy. I thought, ‘WOW this is great!’ I remember that moment like it was yesterday, it was incredible. And the song just rocks.”
“Rock Around the Clock” is one of four songs featured on Change the World, along with “Let’s Change the World,” “Coming Undone” and “Just That Way.” The EP is available now on CD, cassette and digitally. A 10-inch vinyl version will be released on November 16, and can be pre-ordered now.
(NEW YORK) — Robert Durst has been charged in Westchester County with the murder of his former wife, Kathie, who disappeared in 1982, according to the district attorney’s office.
A criminal complaint was filed Tuesday of this week.
“The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office can confirm that a complaint charging Robert Durst with the murder of Kathleen Durst was filed in Lewisboro Town Court on Oct. 19, 2021. We have no further comment at this time,” a statement from a spokeswoman for Westchester DA Mimi Rocah said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
For many years, Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and his friend, sports artist Scott Medlock, teamed up to organize an annual celebrity golf tournament and all-star concert to benefit the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. However, with Medlock himself battling cancer, this year’s edition of the event will feature Krieger joined by various musical friends at a special show to raise money for Scott’s medical bills.
The event, dubbed the “Celebration of Friendship” All-Star Concert — Scotty, Robby & Friends, takes place this Sunday, October 24, at Bogie’s Bar in the Los Angeles suburb of Westlake Village, California.
“Unfortunately, Scotty has got cancer and it’s gotten…bad,” Krieger tells ABC Audio. “So we’re just doing it for him and his family this year, trying to raise some money for them, because it’s amazing how much drug companies will charge for chemotherapy.”
While an official lineup for the show hasn’t been announced, Krieger reveals that the event will feature performances by “a lot of cool people,” including ex-Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine and his current group, a couple of members of Boston, and former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and his collaborator and one-time girlfriend Orianthi.
“It should be fun,” Robby says.
You can check out the various tickets and VIP packages that are available for the benefit concert by visiting TheMedlockKrieger.org and Eventbrite.com.
Guns N’ Roses are cashing another major paycheck after wrapping the U.S. leg of their 2021 Tour.
Billboardreports that the hard-rock legends sold a whopping 363,000 tickets during their rescheduled tour, which was postponed last year when COVID-19 shut down the entertainment industry. That number of tickets sold amounts to a $50 million payday for GN’R.
Originally called the 2020 Tour, the outing started on Super Bowl Weekend in January of last year at American Airlines Arena in Miami. About 11,200 tickets were sold for the event, which translated into $2.7 million in cold hard cash.
GN’R eventually pumped the brakes as the pandemic worsened and the tour was moved to summer 2021. However, the delay did little to dampen the cash flow because when the tour picked up again on July 31 at Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark Stadium, the outing made history at the time for becoming the concert with the best single-night earnings during the pandemic-era. That summer concert earned a resounding $2.3 million in ticket sales.
As the tour went on, that record was continually broken — for example, the band raked in $4.5 million at New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium on August 5.
Now, with their U.S. leg in the rearview mirror, the band is taking a breather before hitting the road again next year for the third leg of their tour, which kicks off in Lisbon, Portugal on June 4.
The tour is slated to wrap December 10, 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand.
That said, it’ll be awhile before we find out how their pandemic-era trek measures up to their previous Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which ran for four years and earned $584.2 million in ticket sales — making it the third highest-grossing concert tour in history.
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Cast members of Warner Bros. highly anticipated remake of Dune are weighing in on the original 1984 film and why the two should not be compared.
For Dune star Dave Bautista, who plays Baron Harkonnen’s nephew Glossu Rabban, the first Dune had a special appeal.
“I was a fan,” Bautista says of the David Lynch-directed adaptation. “It’s so odd, because it’s become one of those cult classics and it’s so different from the novel…It’s so different from what we’ve done. The performances are so over the top, so big, but there’s just something… great about the movie.'”
Sharon Duncan-Brewster, who portrays Imperial ecologist Dr. Liet-Kynes, has a different take on the original film, explaining that the 1984 version was hard to watch.
“I remembered watching the original and thinking, ‘This is weird,'” she laughs. “But still, there was something within it that kept pulling me in the saying, ‘Actually, you want to watch this from the beginning. Don’t watch it halfway through.’ [But, when] I found out I was about to play the role of Kynes, I started to then go back and watch it in its entirety.”
Meanwhile, Stellan Skarsgård, who takes on the role of villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, says its best not to compare the two projects.
“When [a film is] made out of a book, it has to be…filtered through the filmmaker’s psyche and his personality,” he explains. “And David Lynch makes one thing out of it. And then Denis Villeneuve does something totally different, because it’s a Denis Villeneuve film. It’s like…20 different kinds of Hamlet performances and they’re all different because they’re filtered through different personalities. So I don’t even compare them.”
Dune, also starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, is now available in theaters and on HBO Max.
