The Weeknd‘s much-awaited fifth studio album, Dawn FM, dropped at midnight Friday. The “Save Your Tears” singer features a wide variety of stars on the project, including Lil Wayne, Tyler, the Creator, Quincy Jones, and actor Jim Carrey.
Along with the album’s release, The Weeknd hosted an exclusive livestream experience with Amazon Music. The three-time Grammy winner recreated the album cover as he appeared as an older version of himself, with grey hair and a beard, and serenaded the crowd with his new music from the middle of a DJ booth.
Dawn FM is the follow-up to The Weeknd’s 2020 RIAA-certified triple-Platinum After Hours album that featured the number-one song of the year, “Blinding Lights.”
Gunna has released his third studio album, DS4Ever, featuring Young Thug, Chris Brown, Kodak Black, 21 Savage and Chloe Bailey. “The Drip Too Hard” rapper also dropped the music video for the “Too Easy” remix, featuring Future and Roddy Ricch.
SZA dropped the video for her hit “I Hate You,” featuring LaKeith Stanfieid from Judas and the Black Messiah. The Oscar nominee is shown alone on a beach, and after arguing with SZA on his cell, he becomes so enraged, he throws his phone into the ocean.
In December, “I Hate You” set an Apple Music record as the most-streamed R&B Song by a female artist in its first week. “Y’all really took a song from SoundCloud and made it number one for 7 days straight. No promo no radio. no nada. Jus YALLS LOVE,” SZA commented on Instagram. “I AM SO BEYOND THANKFUL TO HAVE YOU ALL IN MY LIFE!”
Finally, Queens star Brandy collabs with the newest member of the cast, Remy Ma, on the latest song from the TV series, “Lady Z Strikes Back (Can’t Stop You).”
(NEW YORK) — A high school ice hockey player has died after sustaining a skate injury during a game, in what school officials called an “unimaginable tragedy.”
The accident occurred Thursday evening during a junior varsity game at Brunswick School, a preparatory school in Greenwich, Connecticut. The visiting team was from St. Luke’s, a prep school in New Canaan.
During the game, a St. Luke’s player fell to the ice and a Brunswick player unable to stop collided with him, police said.
“Game play was stopped and 911 was called,” Greenwich Police Department Captain Mark Zuccerella said in a statement.
The St. Luke’s player’s neck was cut by the skate blade, Brunswick school officials said in a letter sent to alumni Friday. The boy was treated by Brunswick medical staff before he was transported to a local hospital, but “tragically, he did not survive the operation,” Brunswick officials said.
The New Canaan Police Department identified the St. Luke’s student as sophomore Teddy Balkind.
“Teddy skated for the New Canaan Winter Club throughout his youth hockey career and was known to all as an all-around incredible young man, son and brother,” the department said on social media. “The men and women of the New Canaan Police Department offer our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Balkind family and all of those impacted by this tragic incident.”
Brunswick officials described the game before the accident as “entirely normal and unremarkable.”
“We are devastated; an unimaginable tragedy,” Brunswick Head of School Thomas Philip said in a statement to ABC News. “I have, of course, met with the Head of School at St. Luke’s and have contacted the boy’s family to offer whatever help, support, or assistance we can during such a challenging time.”
St. Luke’s was closed Friday and did not hold any classes or after-school activities.
“Our community is mourning,” St. Luke’s Head of School Mark Davis said in a statement to ABC New York station WABC-TV Friday. “Yesterday, we lost a precious young man in a tragic accident. Both St. Luke’s School and Brunswick School are in shock as we work to support our students and families. St. Luke’s singular focus at this moment is to care for our devastated community.”
Brunswick officials said the school has arranged counseling and support for the hockey team as needed in the coming days.
The accident sent shockwaves throughout the heartbroken hockey community in Connecticut and beyond.
“We woke up this morning with the heaviest hearts after hearing of the tragic loss of one of New Canaan’s own,” New Canaan Hockey said on Twitter. “Teddy was a wonderful young man, always smiling, a terrific teammate. No words are adequate for the grief we are all feeling.”
The North Attleboro High School Hockey in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, called it an “incomprehensible loss of a young hockey player.”
“Our BIG RED HOCKEY family sends our thoughts, love and prayers to the St. Luke’s and Brunswick hockey communities,” the team said on Twitter.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Will Reeve and Darron Reynolds contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 833,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-Half of NYC COVID hospitalized patients were admitted for other reasons
-COVID vaccines can cause temporary menstrual cycle changes: Study
-CDC director responds to criticism of COVID-19 guidance
-Florida allowed up to 1 million COVID-19 tests to expire, official says
-Global COVID cases top 300 million
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 07, 3:08 pm
Pfizer vaccine lowers risk of inflammatory condition in teens: CDC
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dramatically reduces the risk of teenagers developing MIS-C, a dangerous inflammatory condition, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Friday.
MIS-C is a condition in which different body parts can become inflamed such as the heart, lungs and kidneys. It tends to appear in kids and adolescents two to six weeks after becoming infected with COVID-19.
Researchers looked at children and teens between ages 12 and 18 from 24 hospitals across the country.
They found that the vaccine was 91% against MIS-C. Of the children who were critically ill with MIS-C and required life support, all were unvaccinated.
“No fully vaccinated patients with MIS-C required respiratory or cardiovascular life support, as opposed to 39% of unvaccinated MIS-C patients who did,” the authors wrote.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Jan 07, 2:17 pm
Half of NYC COVID hospitalized patients were admitted for other reasons
About half of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in New York City were originally admitted for other reasons, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Across the state, 42% of COVID-19 patients entered hospitals for reasons unrelated to the virus, such as a car accident, and only learned they were positive during their stays, Hochul said during a press conference Friday.
This is the first time that New York has differentiated between patients who go to hospitals to get care for COVID-19 and those who seek out care for other issues but test positive upon arrival.
Hochul also asked New Yorkers who have mild symptoms to not got to emergency rooms to get tested or treated because many hospitals are currently understaffed.
“If you’re an adult with very minor symptoms, you can handle a runny nose. You can handle the throats being a little sore, a little bit of a cough. Just treat as if you would the flu, all the protocols,” she said. “But please don’t overburden our emergency rooms.”
Hochul added that nearly 20% of all emergency rooms in the state are made up of people who are there only to get tested for COVID-19.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Jan 07, 1:27 pm
White House and USPS finalize deal to mail out 500 million COVID tests
The White House and USPS have finalized a plan to mail out 500 million free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests to Americans, a source briefed on the plan told ABC News.
It comes as the first contract to produce the tests was awarded to a testing company Thursday night, a White House spokesperson confirmed.
The main issue that was delaying the finalization of the plan was whether or not USPS can retain 40,000 temporary holiday season workers to help deliver the tests.
However, it’s not clear how many tests will be available from the first contract or how exactly USPS will deliver them. The White House has been vague on the timeline and has yet to launch a website through which Americans can order the tests.
The USPS-White House deal was first reported by The Washington Post.
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Cheyenne Haslett and Sasha Pezenik
Jan 07, 12:45 pm
COVID vaccines can cause temporary menstrual cycle changes: Study
COVID-19 vaccines can cause temporary changes to menstrual cycles, a new study from Oregon Health and Science University suggests.
Researchers looked at nearly 4,000 women who use Natural Cycles, a Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control app.
They found that some women who received COVID-19 vaccines experienced changes, with the most common being periods starting late by about one day.
However, the effects were temporary with a normal menstrual cycle returning within one or two months after getting the shot.
The team emphasized the findings do not mean COVID-19 vaccines have an impact on current or future fertility.
(MEMPHIS) — New details have surfaced about Justin Johnson, the man who is wanted for allegedly shooting and killing rapper Young Dolph at a bakery in Memphis on Nov. 17 as he continues to evade capture.
The Memphis Police Department issued a first-degree murder warrant for Johnson, 23, on Wednesday — a Memphis man with a history of violence who is allegedly a local Memphis rapper known as Straight Drop or Straight Dropp, according to ABC Memphis station, WATN, and other local media outlets.
“This is just the beginning,” Dolph’s longtime partner Mia Jaye said in a statement posted to Instagram, following law enforcement’s announcement of the alleged suspect. “We are still prayerful that all attacks, plots and plans that were made against Adolph’s life are revealed and justice is diligently served.”
Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was shot and killed in Memphis on Nov. 17 while visiting Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, a bakery in South Memphis the rapper was known to frequent. He was 36 and shared two young children with Jaye, Tre and Ari, both of whom shared an emotional tribute to their father at a memorial in Memphis last month.
Young Dolph’s aunt Rita Myers told Rolling Stone in an interview on Wednesday that the family is reeling from her nephew’s killing.
“There’s not any closure for us with this news, because [Johnson] is not in custody, and we still don’t have all the facts,” she said. “We still feel the same. This news just made me feel worse. I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn’t. All I know is, anyone who could walk up and take the life of another person for no reason is someone with hate in their heart, a person who has no regard for life, a person who cares about nothing.”
Surveillance video released by police appears to show two suspects on the scene of the shooting, but no information has been released by MPD regarding the identity of a second potential suspect.
Johnson, who has a history of violence according to court records, is wanted by police in connection with a number of alleged charges, including first-degree murder, criminal attempted first-degree murder and property theft, the Memphis Police Department said on Wednesday.
Asked by ABC News to verify that Straight Drop’s known Instagram account, which is unverified and has over 50 thousand followers, belongs to Johnson, Memphis police declined to comment.
The phone number and email linked to the Instagram account are associated with Johnson, according to records reviewed by ABC News, and Straight Drop’s verified Spotify account mentions Justin Johnson in the writing credits of several songs.
Straight Drop released a song called “Stepped On,” featuring Big Homiie G, on his YouTube page on Nov. 22 — five days after Dolph was killed. The rapper shared a clip on his known Instagram account of the song and linked to the YouTube video in his profile.
In the video, Straight Drop appears to be wearing a chain with the acronym “PRE,” which resembles those worn by Dolph and artists who are associated with Dolph’s label, “Paper Route Empire,” which he founded in 2010.
This led to some confusion among fans regarding Straight Drop’s potential connection to the label. Whether he had a relationship with the late rapper or other PRE artists is unclear and ABC News has reached out to a representative of Dolph for comment.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Johnson had an outstanding warrant related to a weapon offense out of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee for violation of federal supervised release, and both cases are being investigated by the U.S. Marshals Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force.
According to Shelby County court records reviewed by WATN, Johnson, who was 18 years-old at the time, shot three people at the Billy Hardwick Bowling Alley in 2017 – two of whom were injured.
Young Dolph honored by his kids at memorial as Memphis grapples with his death
Shelby County Judge Christopher Craft, who presided over the case, told WATN that Johnson had no record at the time, which is why he was given a second chance.
“The first time he used a gun, we gave him some slack because of him immediately cooperating and doing everything,” Craft said.
He was sentenced to five years in prison but after a few months he was released on probation, Craft said, but his probation was later revoked after Johnson faced a federal weapons charge for which he served additional time in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons told ABC News on Friday that Johnson was sentenced in the Western District of Tennessee and committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on March 11, 2019 and was released on May 25, 2021 via Good Conduct Time release.
Law enforcement urged the public to share any information regarding Johnson’s whereabouts and said that the suspect is a fugitive who “has ties to organized criminal gangs,” and “should be considered armed & dangerous.”
A spokesman for MPD told ABC News that as of Friday morning there are no updates to share regarding this case.
Johnson is 5-foot-8, 190 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes, police said. A combined reward of up to $15,000 is being offered by MPD, the U.S. Marshals Service and Crime Stoppers for information leading to his arrest.
(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — The three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery have been sentenced.
Travis McMichael, 35, was sentenced to life without the possible of parole. He delivered the deadly shot and was convicted on all nine charges: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
The McMichaels’ neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 53, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of three of the felony murder counts as well as charges of aggravated assault with his pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
“On February 23, 2020, almost two years ago, a resident of Glynn County, a graduate of Brunswick High, a son, a brother, a young man with dreams was gunned down in this community,” said Judge Timothy Walmsley before delivering the sentences. “As we understand it, he left us home apparently to go for a run. And he ended up running for his life.”
He took a minute-long moment of silence during his remarks to demonstrate “only a fraction of the time” that Arbery was running from the three men who were chasing him for five minutes.
A Georgia jury in November, after deliberating for about 11 hours, convicted the three white men of chasing and fatally shooting Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was out on a Sunday jog in February 2020.
Each faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In the courtroom, Arbery’s father Marcus Arbery reflected on the loss of his son.
“The man who killed my son has been sitting in this courtroom, every single day, next to his father,” said Marcus. “I’ll never get that chance, to sit next to my son ever again, not at the table, not at a holiday.”
Arbery’s sister, Jasmine, remembered Arbery as a “big personality.”
“Ahmaud had dark skin that glistens in the son,” she said. “He had curly hair and would often like to twist it. Ahmaud had a broad nose and the color of his eyes was real, with melanin. He was tall with an athletic build and enjoyed running. Ahmaud had an appreciation for being outdoors.”
She added: “These are the qualities that made these men assume that Amaud was a dangerous criminal and chase him with guns. To me, those qualities reflect a young man full of life and energy who look like me and the people I love.”
His mother Wanda Cooper-Jones began her statement to court with a message to her son, Arbery.
“This verdict doesn’t bring you back,” she said. “But it does help bring closure to this very difficult chapter of my life. I made a promise to you, I’ll lay you to rest. I told you I love you and someday, somehow I would get you justice. Son, I love you as much today as I did the day that you were born. Raising you was the honor of my life and I’m very proud of you.”
All three men had pleaded not guilty to the nine-count state indictment.
The three men also have been indicted on federal hate crime charges, and all have pleaded not guilty. Jury selection for that trial is set to begin Feb. 7.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Arbery’s family, spoke in a press conference before the sentencing, calling the guilty verdict “an awakening in America.”
“What we pray for is that this is a new, precedent in America that harkens back to the words written in 1776 when we say we hold these truths, that all men are created equally,” Crump said. “We pray that we see that same spirit in a sentence of these killers, this lynch mob. We want to make sure that they don’t get a slap on the wrist.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Bergdorf Goodman
Soon, fans of Rihanna‘s Fenty lingerie line will be able to physically peruse the shelves and hand pick their favorites.
On Friday, the Grammy winner announced that she’s expanding her franchise from the digital world to the physical world. “2022, we coming in HOT! we bout to bring you a whole new #SavageXFenty experience with the launch of our brick-and-mortar retail stores!” Rih says in an Instagram post, and she also released a teaser of what one of her stores is going to look like. The physical Fenty locations are extremely colorful and flaunt a sleek, modern design.
“Can’t believe it’s actually that time, and I can’t wait for you to have this experience irl,” she continued before revealing where exactly her excited fans can go shopping. “Our very first locations: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.”
It’s obvious that more stores are to come, but Rihanna is keeping those details tightly under wraps. The singer has yet to reveal when the lingerie stores will open their doors or if they’ll be selling new merchandise exclusive to their locations, but she’s been teasing that a big announcement should be expected very soon.
Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty line was launched in 2018 and has grown to sell more than women’s lingerie, including items for men, sleepwear and much more. Her venture, paired with her Fenty Beauty line, has pushed Rihanna’s net worth past a billion dollars in 2021, according to Forbes.
Folk legend Judy Collins has been making albums for over 60 years, but for the first time ever, the 82-year-old singer will be releasing a record entirely made up of songs she has written.
Spellbound, which will be released on February 25, features 12 recently composed folk tunes, plus a new version of her 1990 gem, “The Blizzard.”
Collins tells Billboard that the project began coming together in 2016, after she tasked herself with writing a poem a day for 90 days, which, at her husband’s prompting, turned into a year.
Then, after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Judy says, “my job was to sit down at the piano and write a poem that day or try to finish the ones that were sitting there — if anything spoke to me as a song, write it. It’s the only thing I was doing.”
In the songs, Collins reflects on various aspects and periods of her life, including being part of early-’60s folk scene in Greenwich Village, traveling around the U.S. as a young woman, and her love of her longtime home of New York City.
“I thought I should write a script around it,” Collins jokes about the collection of songs. “It could very well be a musical, a history of my life.”
Judy tells Billboard that she has plenty more songs written, so a Spellbound II may be on the horizon. She also is planning a children’s record, another project with frequent collaborator Ari Hest and, possibly, a new duets album.
“Spellbound”
“Grand Canyon”
“So Alive”
“Hell on Wheels”
“Shipwrecked Mariner”
“When I Was a Girl in Colorado”
“Thomas Merton”
“Wild with Mist”
“Gilded Rooms”
“Prairie Dreams”
“City of Awakening”
“Arizona”
It was a very happy 37th birthday for Keyshia Ka’oir Thursday as she received a special surprise from her husband, Gucci Mane.
At a birthday celebration, the model opened a gift from Gucci, and as he watched, she screamed and then declared, “It’s a million dollars, y’all,” and then revealed a stack of cash.
“Happy Birthday to my wife the most beautiful woman in the world and the best thing ever came into my life I love you Mrs Davis 4ever and appreciate and will never take you for granted,” the “Ice Daddy” commented on Instagram. “I got the perfect wife and family and I got your back 4life.”
“Behind every strong black man is a strong black woman,” he added. “Thank you for staying down when every one turned they back. I got the smartest prettiest and most loyal wife in the world And I’m a spoil her for life.”
Keyshia commented, ONE OF MY BEST BIRTHDAYS EVER Thank u hubby, and added, “The perfect birthday with my family!”
Gucci and Keyshia celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary on October 23. Their son, Ice Davis, turned one year old on December 23.
The Weeknd‘s all-new album, Dawn FM, is finally here and, with it, comes some speculation over whom he may be referencing in some of his songs. One particular track has fans wondering if he confirmed his long-rumored relationship with Angelina Jolie.
The ballad “Here We Go… Again,” which is the eighth track on the album, features a lyric that gave some listeners a double take. In it, he sings, “My new girl, she a movie star,” and that he “Loved her right /Make her scream like Neve Campbell.”
He continues singing in the track, “But I make her laugh/ Swear it cures my depressing thoughts/ ‘Cause, baby girl, she a movie star/ Baby girl, she a movie star/ I told myself that I’d never fall/ But here we go again.”
The Weeknd has yet to confirm if the song is about Angelina or another mystery woman.
In October, the Eternals actress was asked about her rumored relationship with the singer after the pair were photographed together several times. When speaking with E!’s Daily Pop, host Justin Sylvester asked Angelina, “Your kids are at the age where they have opinions…were they more excited that you were in the Eternals, or that you’re friends with The Weeknd?”
Angelina replied with a smile, “They’re very excited about this film, if that’s what you’re asking. They’re very excited about this film.”
Other reports have since come out to say their relationship is cordial, but leave it to The Weeknd to get the rumor mill back up and running once again.
Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram are taking fans inside the making of their Grammy-nominated album, The Marfa Tapes, with an upcoming documentary film.
The movie, which has the same name as the album, will add a visual element to the Texas trio’s raw, acoustic project, which they recorded while on a songwriting and music-making trip to Marfa, Texas. The project captures the live energy of the songs, as well as the ambient noises of planes overhead, cows in a neighboring pasture and coyotes howling in the distance.
“It’s scary, it’s risky, it’s very, very vulnerable, to not have any fixes,” Miranda explains in a trailer for the documentary. “To not have any production. To just let the wind blow, and the birds, and the cows, and kinda let it be.”
The Marfa Tapes documentary film premieres January 20 on Paramount+.
