On Monday, the superstar singer confirmed that she is releasing a new song on Friday, “Circles Around This Town.” She shared the news alongside the cover art that shows her wearing a tassel crop top and ripped jeans and leaning against a vintage car. She accompanied the post with the tagline “get lost, get found” and a pair of map emojis.
Fans flooded the comment section with their excitement, with one celebrating, “Yes yes yes!!!!! This year is starting out amazing,” while another added, “New year and already NEW MUSIC?!?!? UUUUGH WE STAN. So excited!”
Maren teased “Circles Around This Town” on December 22 with a video showing her walking around the back of the car, which has a license plate displaying the word “Go” as a guitar riff from the track plays in the background.
“Pedal down, 2022,” she captioned the clip, along with a red ring emoji.
Maren’s last album, 2019’s Girl, spawned three singles, including back-to-back #1 hits “The Bones” and the title track. “The Bones” was named Song of the Year at the 2021 ACM Awards and 2020 CMA Awards. She recently topped the charts with husband Ryan Hurd with their duet, “Chasing After You.”
Lil Nas X is looking back on his decision to publicly come out, saying that his intent and timing were “authentic.”
Speaking toCBS Sunday Morning recently, the Grammy winner explained why he chose to come out at the height of his “Old Town Road” fame.
“That would’ve been the most authentic time,” said Lil Nas X. “It’s like, I’m not doing it for attention. I’m already like the number-one artist in the world right now.”
The rapper said “there was definitely some fear” before making his announcement in 2019, adding, “There’s always gonna be fear when you’re doing something that’s literally life-changing. But you just have to do it, you know.”
He also acknowledged that, while he’s not the first gay rapper in the game, he is among the first to openly embrace his sexuality.
“I feel like I’m definitely much more ‘out there’ with it,” said Lil Nas X. “It’s always been, ‘Okay, if you’re gay, this needs to be sanitized. Let’s not include anything sexual.’ It’s like, ‘Be gay without being gay. We don’t wanna know what happens behind closed doors, or we don’t want you to express that.”
Lil Nas X is glad to have ignored that pressure and now hopes to be an example for other performers, saying, “I want every other artist to feel” they can freely express who they are.
When asked to summarize his 2021 in just one word, Lil Nas X chose “transformation,” because “I feel like I’ve bloomed into an entirely new version of myself.”
He added his five-time Grammy nominated debut album, Montero, allowed him to “reinvent myself” by giving him an outlet to “express myself more” through his music.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE
Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer rang in the New Year with a cover of The Golden Girls theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend.”
“There has been a lot of loss lately, a lot of endings,” Klinghoffer wrote in an Instagram post alongside a video of the cover. “It’s happening all the time everywhere, but these past few weeks have seen the loss of a few important people in my life.”
While Klinghoffer’s post doesn’t specifically mention her by name, the cover is also undoubtedly a tribute to late Golden Girls star and TV icon Betty White, who passed away New Year’s Eve at 99 years old.
Klinghoffer’s 2022 plans include hitting the road with Eddie Vedder as part of the Pearl Jam frontman’s solo band, The Earthlings. He’s also a member of Pearl Jam’s touring lineup.
Ellie Goulding is opening up about her battle with anxiety.
Over the weekend, the singer detailed her struggles in an emotional Instagram post.
“This past year has been the very best of my life,” she wrote. “But this year has also been the hardest of my life.”
The “Still Falling for You” singer, who performed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in December and gave birth to her son, Arthur, last year, said she’s had many unforgettable moments in 2021, but anxiety has also played a big role in her life.
“I’ve struggled daily, nightly, hourly, with a kind of panic I didn’t even know existed,” Ellie wrote. “While the moments of being on stage in front of all of you have been some of the most exhilarating and calming, this year I have been struggling.”
As 2021 came to a close, Goulding said she wanted to share her experience with her followers and explain why she didn’t respond to many of them when they asked her via social media how she was doing. Ellie went on to say that she’s been “scared to admit” that she hasn’t been feeling well.
“I feel like something is broken inside — something that has been echoed deeply by the few I have opened up to,” she said. “This is something so so many people have gone through, you may be going through right now, or might go through in the future — and I just wanted to say, and I have to remind myself all the time, that it’s not just you, it’s not just me. Crippled by anxiety.”
The singer hopes that by sharing her story, others going through the same thing might also find the courage to talk through those feelings.
Carrie Underwood fans watching season four of Cobra Kai got a surprise when the new episodes dropped on New Years Eve.
In episode nine of the Netflix series, the country superstar makes a guest appearance at the All-Valley Karate Championship, where all the loco dojos are competing. She performs a rendition of Survivor‘s “The Moment of Truth” that is featured in the original Karate Kid film.
Carrie made her love for the show known in August 2020 in a series of tweets, writing, “Just started watching #kobraKai on Netflix. Ummmm…it’s kinda awesome!” Carrie quickly acknowledged that she spelled the title wrong, which led to a Twitter thread with some of the cast, including the original Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio, his series co-star, William Zabka, and one of the show’s creators, Jon Hurwitz.
Jacob Bertrand, who stars as “Hawk” in the Netflix show, says the cast found out days before that Carrie would be making an appearance.
“The writers were trying to think of people that they could have on to do the concert for the All-Valley and remembered that she’s a mega-fan of the show. They offered it to her and she was like, ‘Yes, of course I will. I would totally do it.’ That was really sweet of her,” Jacob tells People.
“We knew a couple of days before when we read the script, but other than that, it was a complete shock to everybody. The background [actors] had no idea and they were freaking out when she came on,” he continues, describing the singer as “the nicest lady ever. …And she fricking killed it on the day. My God, she was belting.”
The night of the season premiere, Carrie donned an Eagle Fang Karate jacket that she got from the set.
With 2021 now in the rear-view mirror, let’s look ahead to some new rock albums that will be released in 2022.
The new year will kick off with the arrival of The Lumineers‘ Brightside on January 14, along with Underoath‘s Voyeurist and The Wombats‘ Fix Yourself, Not the World.
Releases scheduled for February include Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators‘ 4;Bastille‘s Give Me the Future and Korn‘s Requiem on February 4; Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s solo record Earthling on February 11; and Guns N’ Roses‘ Hard Skool EP on February 25.
Later in 2022, we’ll be getting not one, but two new Jack White solo albums: Fear of the Dawn on April 8, and Entering Heaven Alive on July 22.
Meanwhile, Machine Gun Kelly is set to release Born with Horns, his follow-up to 2020’s Travis Barker-produced Tickets to My Downfall, sometime this year.
Other artists who are expected to release albums this year include Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Shinedown, Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold and Papa Roach.
Osbourne’s as-yet-untitled album, which is expected out around springtime, will include contributions from his Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi, plus Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and other guest stars.
Here’s a list of notable confirmed and expected releases for 2022:
1/14:
The Lumineers, Brightside
Underoath, Voyeurist
The Wombats, Fix Yourself, Not the World
2/4:
Bastille, Give Me the Future
Korn, Requiem
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, 4
2/11:
Alt-J, The Dream
Eddie Vedder, Earthling
Spoon, Lucifer of the Sofa
2/25:
Guns N’ Roses, Hard Skool EP
3/25:
Various Artists, Legacy: A Tribute to Leslie West (featuring Slash, Zakk Wylde, Dee Snider, Martin Barre, Joe Lynn Turner, Elliot Easton, Robby Krieger & others)
4/8:
Jack White, Fear of the Dawn
Wet Leg, Wet Leg
4/15:
Fozzy, Boombox
5/27:
Liam Gallagher, C’mon You Know
7/22:
Jack White, Entering Heaven Alive
Unconfirmed or details not yet announced:
Brandon Boyd, Echoes and Cocoons
Machine Gun Kelly, Born with Horns
Megadeth, The Sick, the Dying and the Dead
Arctic Monkeys — TBA
Avenged Sevenfold — TBA
Ozzy Osbourne — TBA
Papa Roach — TBA
Shinedown — TBA
Olivia Rodrigo knows a thing or two about the ugly side of breakups, because she wrote a whole album about it. Now, in a new interview, she’s offering advice on how to move on from someone she once loved, and heal the emotional scars.
“Besides cutting off all contact, I think it’s important to not only forgive them, but forgive yourself for letting everything happen,” Olivia tells Vogue, referring to a past relationship. “That’s what I’ve learned.”
She referenced that relationship when revealing the one thing she’d tell her then-16-year-old self, which is, “You’re more than enough, and to trust your gut.”
Plenty of songs on Olivia’s SOUR album, such as the hit single “traitor,” contain lyrics about her suspecting something was up with her boyfriend but how she didn’t want to believe it.
Olivia has since found new love in rumored boyfriend Adam Daze. Olivia admits she knows when she has it bad when “I want my partner to be happy, even if that means that they’re not with me.”
But just because she’s not on someone’s radar doesn’t mean she waits around for them to notice her, saying she will “Write a song for them” to get her feelings across — admittedly something that she “definitely” did for a crush back in the day. She declined to reveal who that was.
That said, to write a song “from your heart and write as much as you possibly can” is something Olivia says is a recipe for making a hit track.
After everything the 18-year-old has learned about love, she revealed what she is now looking for in a future partner, saying “consistency, kindness, and respect” are the most important traits she wants her significant other to have.
In case you missed it, Journey has shared a video of their two-song performance on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest special on its socialmedia pages.
The veteran rockers performed their classic hits “Any Way You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believin'” live in New York City’s Times Square on Friday night at about 11:30 p.m. ET shortly before the ball dropped to ring in 2022.
Fans may have noticed that Journey drummer Deen Castronovo wasn’t performing with the band that night, and Castronovo revealed that was because he’d tested positive for COVID-19 before the event.
“Well yes it’s true! Tested positive for ‘The thing,'” Deen wrote on his Twitter feed. “I feel fine. Asymptomatic but the show must go on.” Castronovo also noted that Journey drum tech Steve Toomey was filling in for him at the Times Square gig.
Deen, whose substance-abuse issues were a factor in him being fired from Journey in 2015, subsequently worked on his sobriety and rejoined the band’s lineup in July of 2021.
He added in his message, “Hey at least I feel great and it wasn’t cuz I was high on drugs and alcohol right!! Love you all and stay safe out there!!”
Castrovono also posted a follow-up message on Twitter over the weekend that reads, “HAPPY NEW YEARS!! Sending you all peace, health & happiness! Thank you for all the well wishes and support! God bless you all! CYA out on the road with [Journey] in 2022!”
Journey’s Freedom Tour 2022, with opening act Billy Idol, kicks off on February 22 in Pittsburgh.
With 2021 in the record books, Heritage Auctions reveals it raked in a record of its own: $1.4 billion in sales from everything from sports memorabilia, to comic books, to one of Elton John‘s pianos.
The 45-year-old institution revealed some of the year’s biggest sellers, including the sole best-known copy of Batman No. 1, which sold for more than $2.2 million at the start of 2021.
Not to be outdone, one of four known near-mint copies of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 — which introduced Spider-Man — sold in September for $3.6 million.
A rare first edition of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone set a record last month for the highest price paid for any single modern novel, when the hammer fell for $471,000.
In more you’re-sure-to-be-mad-at-Mom-for-throwing-it-out news, vintage video games generated more than $26 million bucks through Heritage Auction sales in 2021, including “a magnificent sealed copy of Super Mario 64” that sold for $1,560,000 in July.
On that note, trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering generated more than $11.6 million at auctions throughout last year — including a single, sealed “First Edition Pokémon Base Set Booster Box” that sold for $408,000.
Heritage Auctions also revealed that more than $19.8 million in prized possessions also went under the hammer in 2021, including $4.2 million that a collection of Journey guitarist Neal Schon’s instruments fetched in the summer, and a touring piano played by Elton John for decades went for more than $915,000 in July.
(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 826,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62% 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 03, 10:34 am
More than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19
More than 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A total of 103,329 people are receiving medical care, which is an increase of 130% from the number recorded two months ago.
Of those patients, more than 17% — about 18,000 — are in intensive care units.
The newly updated figure is just shy of the hospitalization peak seen during the summer wave fueled by the delta variant, when 104,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID in early September.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 03, 10:34 am
More than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19
More than 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A total of 103,329 people are receiving medical care, which is an increase of 130% from the number recorded two months ago.
Of those patients, more than 17% — about 18,000 — are in intensive care units.
The newly updated figure is just shy of the hospitalization peak seen during the summer wave fueled by the delta variant, when 104,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID in early September.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 03, 10:20 am
FDA authorizes Pfizer’s booster shot for 12- to-15-year-olds
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized booster shots of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in children between ages 12 and 15 on Monday.
Booster shots have been touted as a key tool in fighting the surge in COVID cases linked to the omicron variant, which has shown an ability to — at least partially — evade protection offered by two doses.
The FDA also shortened the wait period for adults and adolescents to receive boosters from six months down to five months.
In addition, the agency authorized COVID booster shots for children aged five to 11 who are immunocompromised.
Jan 03, 9:43 am
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ pauses performances amid COVID surge
“Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical” has becomes the latest Broadway show to announce it is pausing performances amid the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases in New York City.
In a post shared on Twitter, producers announced the musical will “be taking a hiatus” between Jan. 10 and March 14.
Anyone with tickets for performances during the hiatus can either exchange for performances after March 15 or request a refund.
Jan 03, 9:34 am
Puerto Rico’s COVID positivity rate jumps from 2% to 33%
Puerto Rico’s COVID-19 positivity rate spiked to 33% on Monday, according to the island’s health department COVID dashboard.
This is a 16-fold jump from the 2% positivity rate reported just two weeks ago, which was a record low.
Scientist Mónica Feliú-Mójer from Ciencia PR, an organization that focuses on scientific education in Puerto Rico, said the rapid increase is due to many factors, including people’s behavior.
She said people gathering over the holidays, while a highly transmissible variant continued to spread, led to the spike in the positivity rate.
“The holidays are culturally very, very important and everyone thought this would be a different Christmas. People were eager to get together,” Feliú-Mójer told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Cristina Corujo
Jan 03, 3:28 am
South Korea reports first 2 omicron deaths
South Korea on Monday reported the deaths of two patients in their 90s who tested positive for omicron.
Both were receiving treatment in Gwangju, about 200 miles south of Seoul, the semi-official Yonhap News Agency said.
South Korean health officials reported 111 new omicron cases on Monday, bringing its total to 1,318 omicron cases.
About 83% of South Korea’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. About 36% received a booster.
Jan 03, 2:17 am
Israel approves 4th vaccine dose for people 60 and over
Israel’s Ministry of Health approved a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine for health care workers and people over 60 years old, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
“Israel will once again be pioneering the global vaccination effort,” Bennett said at a press conference in Jerusalem. “Omicron is not Delta — it’s a different ball-game altogether.”
Fourth doses will be administered four months after booster shots, Bennett said.
