“Life Goes On” singer Oliver Tree will release his new album, Cowboy Tears, on February 18th. He’s also released a music video for the album’s title track, in which he co-stars with Bella Thorne.
The album is now available for pre-order. In a statement, Oliver explains the concept of the song, noting, “Cowboys are the toughest guys. It’s okay for us tough guys to cry, and the thing is, it’s okay for everyone to cry.”
“There’s a lot of anger that comes out of holding in your emotions, and that’s really popular for guys,” he continues., “Cowboy Tears is teaching people how to let it out and be able to put it out in a way that isn’t going to be violent or self-destructive.”
Thursday night on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Oliver will perform a medley of “Cowboys Don’t Cry” and “Life Goes On,” the latter of which is currently rising up Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart.
After 12 years as a recording artist, K. Michelle says she is about to release her sixth and final R&B album in March.
The “V.S.O.P.” singer tweeted that the project, titled I’m the Problem, “is definitely some ole school 90’s R&B crying s***.”
In a separate tweet, the former Love & Hip Hop star noted about the current state of R&B, “It’s a lot of awesome R&B music out now. The sound is just different right now. Every artist has their o[w]n take and version of R&B, and that’s what makes it so dope. I love 90’s vibes. The Jagged Edge, Mary [J. Blige], Brandy, Usher.”
Michelle says she was “going to pick the songs that show my true emotions,” and wants her R&B career to “end honest.” The 39-year-old entertainer plans to changes lanes and segue into country music.
As she records her upcoming album, her Lifetime series, My Killer Body with K. Michelle, will premiere on Thursday, February 3, at 9 p.m ET. The show will focus on her recovery from harmful body enhancements and document the journeys of other women who’ve had traumatic cosmetic surgery experiences.
“I decided to have an open form of communication that could save someone’s life. I WISH someone had told me the truth,” Michelle wrote about the series in an Instagram post.
“This world is a tough place and will tear you down if you let it, she added. “I’m so blessed to have met a group of individuals who are struggling to live, who just want to heal, and they want to share their true story to help other woman and men.”
The Memphis, Tennessee, singer will also star in the Lifetime film Single Black Female, premiering Thursday, February 3.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 842,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 12, 2:32 pm
More than 15 million new cases reported globally last week
More than 15 million new COVID-19 cases were reported globally last week, according to the World Health Organization.
“By far the most cases reported in a single week, and we know this is an underestimate,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
He said this “huge spike” is driven by omicron.
“While omicron causes less severe disease than delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated,” Tedros warned.
WHO officials said new vaccines may be needed for different variants, and until those vaccines are developed, the current vaccines may need to be updated.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jan 12, 1:59 pm
White House considering making high-quality masks available to all
The White House is considering making “more high-quality masks” available to all Americans, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.
“We’re in the process right now of strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans,” he said at Wednesday’s briefing.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 1:35 pm
Rhode Island reporting nation’s highest new case rate, California reaches pandemic case high
Deaths in the U.S. are on the rise. The average now stands at more than 1,600 new COVID-19-related fatalities each day — up by about 48% in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
Out of the 3,220 U.S. counties, just 26 counties are not reporting high transmission, according to federal data.
In the last week alone, the U.S. has reported more than 5.2 million new cases — that averages out to nearly nine Americans testing positive for COVID-19 every second.
Rhode Island is reporting the nation’s highest new case rate, while California is now averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day — a pandemic high for the Golden State.
But, according to experts, the surging national case numbers may not be indicative of what is happening in every region, and the nation’s overall continued increase does not necessarily mean that some areas will not see a decline.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 1:12 pm
91% less risk of death with omicron: Study
At Wednesday’s White House briefing Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if people are protected from getting omicron again, and he said the information isn’t available yet.
But CDC director Rochelle Walensky outlined a study from Kaiser Permanente Southern California that showed, compared to delta, omicron had a 53% reduction in adjusted risk of symptomatic hospitalization, a 74% reduction in adjusted risk of ICU admission and a 91% reduction in adjusted risk of death.
“The data in this study remain consistent with what we are seeing from omicron in other countries, including South Africa and the U.K., and provide some understanding of what we can expect over the coming weeks as cases are predicted to peak in this country,” Walensky said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 1:00 pm
CDC will update mask ‘information’ but won’t tell Americans which ones to wear
At Wednesday’s White House briefing, when asked about changing the CDC’s mask guidance CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the guidance won’t change but the CDC will update its website to reflect which masks work best, without telling Americans which one to wear.
“CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask and we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID 19. And that recommendation is not going to change,” Walensky said.
“We are preparing an update to the information on our mask website to best reflect the options that are available … and the different levels of protection different masks provide. And we want to provide Americans the best and most updated information to choose what mask is going to be right for them,” she said.
“The best mask that you wear is the one that you will wear and the one you can keep on all day long that you can tolerate in public indoor settings and tolerate where you need to wear it,” Walensky said. “We will provide information on improved filtration and that occurs with other masks such as N95s and information that the public needs about how to make a choice, which mask is the right one for them. But most importantly, we want to highlight the best mask for you as the one that you can wear comfortably.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 12:34 pm
Quebec considering health tax for unvaccinated residents
COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in Quebec and Quebec Premier François Legault says the biggest challenge is staffing.
“To get through the next few weeks, we’re going to need 1,000 more employees in hospitals and 1,500 more employees” at one of Quebec’s long-term care facilities, Legault wrote on Facebook.
About 10% of adults in Quebec are unvaccinated, but they make up half of the COVID-19 ICU hospitalizations.
“This means that unvaccinated adults are nine times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated adults. This is a huge burden on our health network,” he said. “This is why we are considering a payable health contribution for all adults who refuse, for non-medical reasons, to get vaccinated,” he said.
“The amount has not been decided yet, but it will be a significant amount,” he added.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jan 12, 11:55 am
COVID is leading killer of law enforcement for 2nd year in a row
The vast majority of law enforcement deaths last year — 301 out of a total 458 deaths — were due to COVID-19, the second year in a row COVID-19 was the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths, according to a new report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.
“Law enforcement officers nationwide continue to be exposed to the Covid-19 virus in the course of their daily assignments; therefore, the number of line-of-duty deaths is sadly ever-increasing,” the report said.
The vaccination status of the 301 officers who died is not known.
Jan 12, 10:22 am
CDC says it will update mask guidance
The CDC says it plans to update its mask guidance to “best reflect the multiple options available to people and the different levels of protection they provide.”
The CDC did not say when its guidance will be updated. In the meantime, the CDC said in a statement, “any mask is better than no mask, and we encourage Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Since the arrival of omicron, health experts have urged Americans to upgrade their cloth masks to an N95 or KN95 because the new variant is so highly transmissible. But these higher-grade masks are costly and hard to find.
Prior to omicron, CDC director Rochelle Walensky resisted suggesting N95 masks for the average American because the CDC didn’t want to discourage people from wearing any mask.
Dawn O’Connell, a top official at the Health and Human Services Department, said Tuesday that the Biden administration plans to increase production of N95s. There are already 737 million N95 masks in the strategic national stockpile available for medical workers.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Jan 12, 9:50 am
22,000 more Americans may die from COVID over next 2 weeks
Forecast models used by the CDC suggests COVID-19-related deaths will significantly increase over the next four weeks.
The model forecasts that 22,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 in just the next two weeks.
The CDC obtains these forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble — displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot — usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 9:50 am
22,000 more Americans may die from COVID over next 2 weeks
A forecast model used by the CDC suggests COVID-19-related deaths will significantly increase over the next four weeks.
The model forecasts that 22,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 in just the next two weeks.
The CDC obtains these forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble — displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot — usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 8:51 am
British prime minister apologizes for attending lockdown party
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Wednesday for attending a party during England’s strict lockdown in 2020.
It was the first time that Johnson acknowledged he went to a garden party at his official residence and office on London’s Downing Street in May 2020. He is facing growing anger and calls for his resignation over claims he and his staff flouted COVID-19 restrictions by holding a “bring your own booze” party. At the time, Johnson’s government had imposed restrictions barring people in England from meeting more than one individual outside their household.
During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons in London on Wednesday, Johnson said he had considered the garden party to be a work event to thank his staff for their efforts during the pandemic.
“I want to apologize,” Johnson told lawmakers. “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.”
The prime minister urged people to await “the full conclusion” of an investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray into several alleged parties by government staff. Gray will report her findings by the end of the month.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson’s defense was “the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road” and demanded he “do the decent thing and resign.”
The prime minister declined to resign and didn’t explicitly admit that he had broken any rules, but said he understood “the rage.”
“I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the past 18 months,” he added. “I understand the anger, the rage that they feel at the thought that people in Downing Street were not following those rules.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies, Ian Pannell and Joseph Simonetti
Jan 12, 7:56 am
Russia sounds alarm over imminent wave of omicron infections
Russian officials are warning that an omicron-fueled wave of COVID-19 infections will soon hit, amid fears about how deadly a surge of the highly contagious variant — even if milder — might be in a country with a low vaccination rate.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who is overseeing the COVID-19 response, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Wednesday that the situation could be “more critical” than previous waves of infections in Russia — a worrying prospect since earlier waves led to a high number of deaths.
Russia has reported more than 312,000 fatalities from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country registered just under 1 million excess deaths in 2021.
The Russian government has said the country will soon see six-figure daily cases. Less than 50% of Russians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amid widespread reluctance across the nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely tried to downplay the scale of his country’s COVID-19 outbreak, warned Wednesday of the imminent increase in infections. Putin said Russia is “on the threshold of possible new outbreaks.”
Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the country is at a “turning point,” which will decide how bad the wave will be. Russian authorities are calling for people to take precautions and observe social distancing measures. However, there are relatively few restrictions in most parts of the country.
Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said Tuesday that the nationwide number of omicron cases is expected to rise considerably in late January and early February. The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, also warned Tuesday that omicron is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 12, 5:00 am
US government to send schools millions more COVID-19 tests
As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to keep all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning amid the pandemic, his administration announced Wednesday that it will provide schools with an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.
The federal government will send 5 million more rapid tests and 5 million more lab-based PCR tests to schools nationwide each month, at no cost. The rapid tests will be delivered starting later this month, while the PCR tests will be available immediately. The additional tests every month will allow the country’s schools to “more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
Moreover, as the Biden administration continues to surge testing sites to hard-hit and high-risk communities, the federal government will also “consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools,” the White House said.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also help connect schools with testing providers so they can use money allocated to them last year through the $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Later this week, the CDC will provide new training, resources and materials to help schools implement “test-to-stay” policies, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 4:21 am
West Virginia’s governor says he feels ‘extremely unwell’ after testing positive for COVID-19
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.
Justice, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.
“I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature,” Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. “I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away.”
“The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse,” he continued. “My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms.”
Jan 12, 3:53 am
‘Most people are going to get COVID,’ FDA head warns
The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that most people in the United States will contract COVID-19, as the country grapples with record levels of infections and hospitalizations.
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. “What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, [and] transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.”
He should have used Thor’s massive axe Stormbreaker. In a new Instagram post, Chris Hemsworth is getting in some practical exercise, by trying to split a log.
The operative word is “Trying.”
To the giggling delight of his pal and Centr app trainer Luke Zocchi, who is filming, Hemsworth chops away, to no avail.
After six tries, Thor splits it, and screams and flexes triumphantly. “When at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try again and again” he posted.
Suffice it to say, he’s no match for Chris Evans in the log-splitting game — at least onscreen. In Captain America: Civil War, Evans’ heroic alter-ego literally splits a log in half with his bare hands.
Evan Rachel Wood, who has accused Marilyn Manson of abuse, will detail her experience with domestic violence in a new documentary titled Phoenix Rising.
The first installment of the two-part film will premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, taking place virtually from January 20 to January 30. According to a description on the Sundance website, Phoenix Rising follows Wood as she “moves toward naming her infamous abuser for the first time.”
While the description does not mention him specifically, it is presumably referring to Manson, to whom Wood was once engaged. In a February 2021 social media post, Wood wrote that Manson, born Brian Warner, had “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Warner responded with a statement that did not mention Wood’s allegations specifically, only that “recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality.”
Following Wood’s allegations, more women came forward with accusations of sexual, physical and mental abuse against Warner, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline, and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, all of whom filed lawsuits against him. Through lawyers, Warner has denied the allegations.
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
Billie Eilish and Harry Styles will headline Coachella 2022, along with Kanye West and Swedish House Mafia.
Billboardconfirmed the new lineup on Wednesday after Coachella had to slam on the brakes for the past two years. 2020’s festival was set to take place that April, but it was moved to October because of the pandemic before organizers decided to push it back a year. The rescheduled 2021 festival was also canceled because of COVID-19.
Travis Scott, Rage Against the Machine and Frank Ocean were set as the original headliners, but all three will no longer take to the stage in 2022. Travis was dropped from the lineup after 10 people died at his Astroworld concert in November and Frank Ocean will instead take over the Coachella stage in 2023.
This year’s festival is set to take place for two weekends in April, the 15th through the 17th, and then again on the 22nd through the 24th, in Indio, California. No further information regarding musical acts is being reported at this time.
Following Kodak Black‘s recent Jay-Z Verzuz challenge, Drake is showering praise upon the “Zeze”rapper.
“You really all that for this generation and the next one if we being honest,” Drizzy commented while Kodak was doing an Instagram Live session.
Back in 2018, Drake called Kodak’s Dying to Live one of his favorite albums of “the last five years.” He told the Florida MC, “Your purpose is so pure. … Like you are almost talking from this God level birds eye view of your own life. I wanna know how you broke that wall.”
In January 2020, Kodak suggested a collab album in Drake’s IG comments, saying, “I Am Your Biggest Fan Sir. … If We Can’t Do A Whole Album Together, I Never Want To Do A Song With You Sir.” When Kodak dropped his Haitian Boy album last year, the Champagne Papi responded, “Man you always give me that inspiration…Real POET…Oracle. … Man let’s do some music for sure. But for real you really on another level.”
Maddie & Taeshared an update this week about duo member Taylor Kerr, revealing that the singer has been in the hospital for the past month due to complications with her pregnancy.
Taylor shared a selfie from her hospital bed, with her singer-songwriter husband, Josh Kerr, in the background. Both are giving the camera a thumbs-up, despite their lengthy bed-rest ordeal.
“Today marks 1 month of being in the hospital,” the post’s caption reads. “T went in for a routine checkup at 24 weeks, then we were immediately admitted and we have been here ever since.”
The band assured fans that Taylor’s baby is doing well. “Our sweet girl is doing great, she is just a little more excited than she is ready to be in the world,” the post continues. “This hasn’t been easy but we’re leaning on God and trusting His plan. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.”
Back in December, Maddie & Tae postponed their 2022 tour plans, saying that Taylor was on bed rest per her doctor’s orders. The singer had previously announced her pregnancy in November. Taylor and Josh’s baby girl will be their first child, and she’s due in spring 2022.
Meanwhile, the duo have continued to share new music off their Through the Madness Vol. 1 project, which is due out January 28.
“I’ve won the Golden Ticket!” That’s the word from Ming-Na Wen, who appeared on Good Morning AmericaWednesday, the day the Star Wars spin-off series’ third episode dropped on Disney+.
The seemingly ageless 58-year-old actress is tickled she’s hit a rarefied high-water mark, known as the Disney Trifecta: That is, she voiced Mulan in Disney’s 1998 animated film of the same name; she followed that as special agent Melinda May in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and now plays assassin Fennec Shand on The Book of Boba Fett.
“I’ve won the golden ticket,” she laughed to fellow Disney Legend Robin Roberts. “That will be on my tombstone, I think, ‘I’ve won the golden ticket. ‘”
A life-long geek and an out and proud former alumna of her high school’s Sci-Fi Club, Ming-Na explained Star Wars was always a presence in her life. “When I was a little kid, you know…I would like pretend I’m like the female Han Solo because I loved Luke, I loved Princess Leia and I wanted to like be the rogue warrior, you know, to be in battles with them.”
She adds, “Never in my life did I imagine that I would actually become a character…[alongside] the legendary Boba Fett of all things. I still pinch myself. I really do because I’m a kid!”
The actress says of her Star Wars stardom, “[I]t’s just one of those moments where you go, ‘Wow, I’ve manifested this and if I can do it, anyone can, anyone can.'”
She explains, “You know, a little Chinese girl, you know, an immigrant coming to this country with a single mom…” she says, calling her career, ‘the epitome of the American dream.'”
(ATLANTA) — After weeks of health experts urging Americans to upgrade their masks to protect against the omicron COVID-19 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that it was planning to update its mask guidance to “best reflect the multiple options available to people and the different levels of protection they provide.”
In a statement provided to ABC News on Wednesday, the agency said the goal is for Americans to have “the best and most updated information to choose what mask is right for them.”
The move by the CDC would be the first significant update to its mask guidance since last July when it urged all Americans to return to wearing masks, after the delta variant proved so transmissible that research found even vaccinated people could transmit the virus.
While vaccinated people are considered infectious for a shorter period of time than someone who is unvaccinated, and they are considerably less likely to end up hospitalized, the CDC urged everyone to return to masking indoors to prevent community cases from rising.
Since the arrival of omicron, however, health experts have urged caution with the usual cloth masks and cities like Los Angeles and New York have already recommended mask upgrades to their residents.
CDC would not say how soon it planned to update its online guidance, although one administration official said the goal was by week’s end. The Washington Post first reported that CDC was considering the update to its guidance.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency’s director, told reporters on Wednesday that the overall recommendation won’t change that “any mask is better than no mask” and that a mask should fit well.
The best mask, she told reporters, is “the one you can keep on all day long that you can tolerate in public indoor settings and tolerate where you need to wear it,” Walensky said.
“I recommend you get the highest quality mask that you can tolerate and that’s available to you,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and President Joe Biden’s senior medical adviser, told CNN on Tuesday.
One problem with pushing higher grade masks is that they can be costly, harder to find and – in the case of surgical N95s – somewhat uncomfortable to wear. The CDC also warns customers against counterfeit masks that aren’t as effective.
Prior to omicron, Walensky resisted a call for Americans to wear surgical N95 masks for the average American because the agency didn’t want to discourage people from wearing any mask.
Walensky did not wear an N95 mask while testifying on Capitol Hill Tuesday. According to a spokesperson, she wore a disposable mask with a cloth mask on top “to ensure a tight seal.” That would be in keeping with CDC’s current guidance that suggests Americans could opt for two masks for increased protection.
To address the issue of limited supply, the Biden administration says it’s planning to help ramp up production of N95s to make them more available to Americans who want one. Dawn O’Connell, a top official at the Health and Human Services Department, said Tuesday that the government planned to sign a contract within the next month or so that would identify a provider to produce 140 million N95 masks a month.
There are already 737 million N95 masks in the strategic national stockpile available for medical workers.
White House COVID Coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday the White House was seriously considering making “high quality masks” available to all Americans, although he did not provide additional details.
ABC News reporter Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
