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Katy Perry appears on country superstar Thomas Rhett’s new album

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Last month, Katy Perry released “When I’m Gone,” a collaboration with Swedish dance DJ and producer Alesso. Now comes word that she’s going country.

Katy appears on the title track of Where We Started, the new album from country music superstar Thomas Rhett. According to The Tennessean, the song is “a roots-style duet that offers a sentimental, honest and autobiographical reflection on the romance” between Rhett and his wife Lauren, who will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary this year.

Rhett told reporters recently that Katy got involved because someone on his team asked if they could send the song to her people and see if she wanted to sing on it. He wasn’t convinced he’d ever hear back, but he said sure.

“Literally within 24 hours Katy responded and said, ‘I love this. I resonate with this so well,'” he continued. “When she put her vocal on it…I feel like it really came to life.”

Of course, this isn’t Katy’s first foray into country. In the past, she’s sung with Darius Rucker, Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgraves, among others.

Where We Started comes out April 1. Meanwhile, “When I’m Gone” has become Katy’s fourth top 10 on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic songs chart. Who says she can’t do it all?

Wordle takes the internet by storm

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) – The first big viral trend of 2022 is here, and it’s a colorful word game called Wordle.

Players who visit Wordle’s website have six chances to guess a five-letter word, which has been randomly selected from a database. With each try, the game tells you how close your letters are to the “word of the day.” If the letters you pick are in the word but in the wrong order, Wordle highlights them in yellow. If the letters are in the word and placed correctly, they get highlighted in green. Gray-highlighted letters means they don’t appear in the word of the day.

“It’s a good, fun game,” says Gizmodo Executive Editor Andrew Couts. “It only takes a couple of minutes, and it’s something to talk about with your friends.”

Wordle was created by New York software engineer Josh Wardle this past fall, but Couts says the game really became popular in late December and early January, and now boasts more than three hundred thousand daily players.

“It seemed after the holidays, everybody seemed to be playing this game and sharing it on Twitter, sharing it all over social media,” says Couts, adding that Wordle’s distinct visual style is key to its success.

“It creates kind of a cool little pattern that the game makes it really easy to share on social media…so you can show people how well you did on the word of the day. And I think that’s one of the big things that has made this game take off.”

Wordle 209 6/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Took me all morning….

— Rob Hawley (@robertlhawley) January 14, 2022

While the game’s rules are simple, Couts says there are a few strategies to maximize your chances of Wordle glory.

“Picking words with a bunch of vowels, and picking words with common consonants like S’s or T’s or K’s is a good way to kind of get the word of the day quickly.”

That simplicity cuts both ways – which could open up the game to people who are willing to increase their odds through shadier means.

“It’s also a very simple website and it’s very easy to cheat if you really wanted to,” says Couts. “You can look at the source code of the website, for example, and see the entire list of the words of the day. So you can know them in advance. But that kind of takes all the fun out of it.”

And after all, Couts says, now is just the right time for some innocent, online fun.

“It’s actually a nice thing on the internet for once, so that’s very welcome.”

Hear ABC News Radio’s Michelle Franzen report on the latest viral craze:

Cash It In: Whitesnake’s David Coverdale sells music publishing rights

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Maybe he should rename his band “Goldsnake” now that Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale has joined the ranks of artists who have sold off their music publishing rights.

Coverdale has struck a deal with Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited, which — according to Billboard — has acquired the “music publishing, master rights and master rights royalties” for the veteran rock singer’s catalog. Also as part of the agreement, the company will help oversee income generated from performance of songs in the catalog.

The deal not only includes songs by Whitesnake, which Coverdale founded in 1978 and continues to lead, but material from his mid-1970s stint with Deep Purple, solo releases and various other projects.

Among the notable songs included in the acquisition are Deep Purple’s “Burn” and “Stormbringer,” and Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again,” “Is This Love,” “Still of the Night” and “Slow an’ Easy.” The deal also includes “The Last Note of Freedom,” a song David co-wrote with Billy Idol and Hans Zimmer for the film Days of Thunder.

“I am thrilled beyond words to joyfully announce that my existing catalog of works, both songs and master recordings, which I have been involved in creating for over 50 years, is now in exceptionally safe hands with the fine people at Round Hill,” Coverdale says in a statement. “I look forward immensely to working together with [CEO] Josh Gruss and all at Round Hill to ensure the legacy of my existing works for future generations to enjoy.”

While monetary terms of the deal weren’t announced, Billboard estimates that the income streams in the package are worth $35 million.

Other artists that have inked music-publishing agreements with Round Hill Music include Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Randy Bachman, Rob Thomas, Tesla, Triumph, Goo Goo Dolls‘ Johnny Rzeznik and many more.

In Brief: ‘Degrassi’ going to HBO Max; NBC jumps in with ‘Quantum Leap’ reboot, and more

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

HBO Max is moving forward with Degrassi, the latest iteration of the beloved teen drama franchise, according to Variety. The 10-episode series will follow “the painful high school experience of self-discovery by following a group of Toronto students and faculty coping with events that both bring them together and tear them apart.” Degrassi is set to debut in 2023. In the meantime, HBO Max will stream all 14 seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation, beginning this spring…

NBC has given a pilot order to a reboot of Quantum Leap, the 1990s sci-fi series, which starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, the network announced on Thursday. The reboot is set 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett, played by Bakula, vanished after stepping into the Quantum Leap accelerator. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Bakula is not attached to reprise his role in the new Quantum Leap, but has discussed possibly getting involved, according to Deadline. Bakula’s co-lead on the original series, Dean Stockwell, died in November at age 85…

The Producers Guild of America has postponed the 33rd Producers Guild Awards due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the guild announced on Thursday, according to Deadline. The awards ceremony was originally scheduled for Feb. 26 but will now take place on March 19 at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The Guild will work closely with government officials and health experts to protect all staff and attendees of the ceremony. At this time, attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated with a booster, if eligible, and they must also provide a negative COVID-19 test. The new PGA Awards date now places it the same weekend as the Writers Guild Awards, which are set for March 20. The Directors Guild Awards are currently set for March 12…

David Ramsey is returning to the Arrowverse. The actor will reprise his role as Arrow’s John Diggle/Spartan in the upcoming drama Justice U, currently in development at the CW, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Per the logline for Justice U, “After spending years fighting alongside masked heroes, John Diggle embarks on a new mission to recruit five young meta humans to live undercover as freshmen at a prestigious university. There he will oversee their education and train them to become the heroes of tomorrow.” Ramsey will direct the pilot should The CW opt to move forward with the script…

Epix has renewed its drama series Godfather of Harlem for a third season, the network announced on Thursday. The series follows the true story of Harlem crime boss Bumpy Johnson — played by Forest Whitaker — who, after serving 10 years in jail, returns to his hood to find it run by the Italian mob. Vincent D’Onofrio, Ilfenesh Hadera, Nigél Thatch, Lucy Fry and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy also star. The show’s third season will consist of 10 episodes, with production set to begin in New York this summer…

Paul Simon’s self-titled post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album celebrates 50th anniversary today

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Fifty years ago today, Paul Simon released his first post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album, a self-titled effort that arrived almost two years after the lauded folk-rock duo’s final full-length record, Bridge over Troubled Water.

Paul Simon featured two hits singles, the reggae-flavored “Mother and Child Reunion” and the catchy, samba-influenced “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” which reached #4 and #22, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album itself peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell more than a million copies in the U.S.

Simon wrote 10 of the album’s 11 songs by himself, while one tune, “Hobo’s Blues,” was co-written with legendary jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who also plays on the track.

The song “Duncan” features the Paris-based Andean folk group Los Incas, which also contributed to the 1970 Simon & Garfunkel hit “El Condor Pasa (If I Could).” “Duncan” was issued as the Paul Simon album’s third and final single, but stalled at #52 on the Hot 100.

Paul Simon landed at #425 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” As the magazine noted, “Simon’s first solo effort after the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel had plenty to prove, and it did, with a tour de force of songcraft, virtuosic guitar picking, upper-register vocal dazzle, and vivid storytelling.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Mother and Child Reunion”
“Duncan”
“Everything Put Together Falls Apart”
“Run That Body Down”
“Armistice Day”
“Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”
“Peace Like a River”
“Papa Hobo”
“Hobo’s Blues”
“Paranoia Blues”
“Congratulations”

Listen to new Jack White song, “Love Is Selfish”

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jack White has premiered a new solo song called “Love Is Selfish.”

The acoustic track, which is available now for digital download, is accompanied by a self-directed video showing the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather rocker giving an intimate performance for an empty bar at an American Legion post. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.

“Love Is Selfish” will appear on White’s upcoming album Entering Heaven Alive, one of two solo records he’s releasing this year. The other, Fear of the Dawn, features the more raucous single “Taking Me Back,” suggesting it’ll be the more electric counterpart to the folksier Entering Heaven Alive.

Fear of the Dawn drops April 8, while Entering Heaven Alive arrives July 22.

White will launch a solo tour in support of both albums this year beginning April 8 in Detroit.

Eddie Vedder releases new solo single, “Brother the Cloud”; reveals ’Earthling’ album guests

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Eddie Vedder has shared a new song called “Brother the Cloud.”

The track, which you can download now via digital outlets, will appear on the Pearl Jam frontman’s upcoming solo album, Earthling. It’s the third cut to be released from the record, following “Long Way” and “The Haves.”

Along with the new tune, Vedder revealed the guest artists appearing on Earthling, including Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr and Elton John, as well as members of his Earthlings solo band: Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, and guitarist and producer Andrew Watt.

Earthling, Vedder’s first solo effort in 11 years, drops February 11. Vedder and the Earthlings will launch a tour in support of the record February 3 in New York City.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Northeast braces for coldest temperatures in years, snow targets South, East Coast

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Bundle up: temperatures in the Northeast are plunging to their lowest levels in three years this weekend as snow blasts the South and the East Coast.

Wind chill warnings and advisories are in effect across New England, where it may feel like 35 to 40 degrees below zero Friday night into Saturday morning. In Boston and New York City wind chills could drop to 15 to 20 degrees below zero Friday night.

The snow will first hit the Midwest. By Sunday morning, the icy rain and snow will rip through the South from Atlanta to Raleigh.

This storm has the potential to give Atlanta its first measurable snow in four years on Sunday.

The Southeast could then see heavy rain and thunderstorms Sunday night, causing power outages, coastal flooding and travel disruptions for the Interstate 95 corridor.

The storm then takes aim on the Northeast, where it’ll hit Sunday night and Monday morning.

As of now, the storm tracks more inland in New England and New York state, leaving more of a rain event for the I-95 corridor and the New York City area. But that could still cause travel disruptions for New York City commuters.

ABC News’ Hilda Estevez contributed to this report.

“The things being said are absolutely not the truth”: Spears sisters engage in a war of words on social media

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

On Thursday night, Britney Spears wrote a lengthy Twitter post in which she reacted to what her sister Jamie Lynn Spears had said in her interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang. On Friday, Jamie Lynn responded to what her sister wrote by saying that Britney’s “accusatory posts” are causing her family to receive death threats.

In her post, Britney wrote, “The 2 things that did bother me [in the interview was] that my sister said was how my behavior was out of control. She was never around me much 15 years ago at that time …. so why are they even talking about that unless she wants to sell a book at my expense??? REALLY???”

Britney said she was also bothered by Jamie Lynn’s discussion of how Britney was upset that she’d performed remixes of her songs on an awards show.

Britney wrote, “I know it may sound like a silly thing to most people but I wrote a lot of my songs and my sister was the baby. She never had to work for anything.” She added, “Everything was always given to her.”

Britney concluded by saying, “Hope your book does well, Jamie Lynn!!!…my family ruined by dreams 100 billion percent and try to make me look like the crazy one…my family loves to pull me down and hurt me always so I am disgusted with them.”

On Friday, Jamie Lynn responded in a lengthy Instagram post, writing, “Brit…you know behind the scenes I have always been here. It’s become exhausting when conversations, and texts we have in private don’t match what you post on social media.”

She continued, “The things being said are absolutely not the truth and I have to clarify that, because now it’s getting harder for me to rationalize to my oldest daughter why our family continues to get death threats, as a result of their aunt’s vague and accusatory posts, especially when we know she could tell the truth and put an end to all of it in one second if she wanted to.”

Jamie Lynn also clarified that her book is “not about [Britney],” adding, “I can’t help that I was born a Spears too and that some of my experiences involve my sister.” She also said that contrary to what Britney claimed, she had worked hard to build her own career.

“I don’t want drama, but I’m speaking my truth to heal my traumas,” she concluded, adding, “I will always love my big sister and be here for her. It’s time to put an end to the unhealthy chaos that has controlled my life for so long.”

North Korea test-fires missile for third time in 2022 alone

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea Friday afternoon, three days after the regime claimed a successful launch of a newly developed hypersonic missile.

“South Korean military detected two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired northeast towards the East Sea from Uiju, North Pyonganbuk-do,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters Friday.

Pyongyang has tested its missile capabilities three times this month. On Wednesday, North Korea’s state media, Korean Central News Agency, hyped the test-fire of the claimed hypersonic missile by reporting that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the launch himself.

North Korea’s show of force took place on the same day the regime expressed discontent over new sanctions implemented by the U.S.

“If the U.S. adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK will be forced to take a stronger and certain reaction to it,” a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Cheong Seong-Chang of Seoul-based Sejong Institute said these missile launches were an expression of frustration over U.S. sanctions on the regime’s mass destruction weapons and ballistic missile programs.

“Considering that North Korea has been testing new weapons at dawn or early morning, it’s reasonable to assume that North’s missile test launch this afternoon was improvised to showcase backlash against the U.S. sanctions,” he told ABC News.

Shin Beom Chul, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, saw the consecutive missile launches as an effort to gain more bargaining chips by North Korea.

“Considering that political dialogue is restricted due to COVID-19 at the moment, it seems North Korea intends to strengthen its nuclear capabilities in the meantime,” Shin told ABC News. “At the same time, this consecutive military provocation has more than one purpose – to neutralize the U.S. efforts with stronger sanctions and also to secure the status of a de facto nuclear powerhouse.”

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