We know how he met their mother, now it’s time to go on the journey of how she met their father.
The highly anticipated new Hulu sitcom How I Met Your Father debuts today, but star and producer Hilary Duff warns How I Met Your Mother fans that while there’s lots of good stuff for fans of the original, it’s not a reboot.
Duff, who admits she didn’t watch HIMYM the first time around, tells ABC Audio, “We see what some of the fans that are so diehard about the original, say. And we’re like, cool, cool, like, maybe we’re not going to be your cup.”
Elizabeth Berger created How I Met Your Father with Isaac Aptaker and says she’s excited for people to see to see it, but also a little nervous.
“Obviously when something has a built in, loyal fan base and so many people that are very invested on how you take it on and what you do with it, of course there is a pressure [but] we were also extremely excited,” she says. “It’s a show that we were fans of…Isaac and I went to college in New York City and we’re roommates and we identify with these stories really strongly.”
That said, Berger also thinks HIMYM, and other network sitcoms of the like, need to get with the times.
“I think the way groups of friends look have changed over the years, that it was very important to us to sort of have that kind of representation and have different points of views on the show, bring people together that don’t all have the same experience,” she says, explaining that, “it makes for more interesting life and it makes for more interesting television.”
No one may sing like him anymore, but the children of Chris Cornell seem to be forging their own musical path.
In a recent Instagram post, the late Soundgarden frontman’s widow Vicky Cornell shared a photo of their children, Toni and Christopher, playing music together.
“Sneaked a pic,” Vicky wrote in the caption. “My babies all grown up working on songs together.”
Last month, Toni guested on The Tonight Show to perform a cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Her father’s version of the Prince-penned Sinéad O’Connor classic is posthumously nominated for Best Rock Performance at this year’s Grammys.
Chris also had a child, Lily, with his first wife, Susan Silver. Lily hosts an ongoing mental health series called Mind Wide Open.
In related news, the YouTube channel of Chris’ band Audioslave recently unearthed a batch of footage from a 2003 performance for AOL. The sessions featured performances of songs including “Cochise,” “Like a Stone” and “I Am the Highway.”
Rick Wakeman is preparing to return to North America in February for a new leg of his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star solo tour, but the former Yes keyboardist also says he’s making progress on a new concept album on which he’s been working for a while.
As he told ABC Audio late last year, the project is called A Gallery of the Imagination. Explaining the concept, the 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer noted, “[I]f you go into an art gallery, you’ll see all kinds of paintings…from surrealistic to renaissance paintings to modern art…So I wanted to have an album which was a gallery of all different kinds of music.”
In a recent post on his website, Rick said of the project, “I am really pleased with how it’s coming together and I now am going to spend some time playing around with the song melodies and the lyrics ready to send to [singer/sax player] Hayley [Sanderson] and also some more work from me is [needed] as regards the keyboard arrangements for the instrumentals.”
Wakeman told ABC Audio that in conjunction with the album, he plans to encourage fans to create works of art inspired by each track, and then “we want to collect them all and…get hold of a big gallery somewhere…and have those pictures [displayed].”
Rick envisions people who visit the gallery will put on headphones and listen to the songs from the album while looking at the corresponding pieces of art inspired by the tracks.
He added, “I suppose [it’s] the next stage of being interactive with the audience.”
Wakeman’s 2022 The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour starts on February 22 in Seattle and is mapped out through a March 14 show in Toronto.
We know how he met their mother, now it’s time to go on the journey of how she met their father.
The highly anticipated new Hulu sitcom How I Met Your Father debuts today, but star and producer Hilary Duff warns How I Met Your Mother fans that while there’s lots of good stuff for fans of the original, it’s not a reboot.
Duff, who admits she didn’t watch HIMYM the first time around, tells ABC Audio, “We see what some of the fans that are so diehard about the original, say. And we’re like, cool, cool, like, maybe we’re not going to be your cup.”
Elizabeth Berger created How I Met Your Father with Isaac Aptaker and says she’s excited for people to see to see it, but also a little nervous.
“Obviously when something has a built in, loyal fan base and so many people that are very invested on how you take it on and what you do with it, of course there is a pressure [but] we were also extremely excited,” she says. “It’s a show that we were fans of…Isaac and I went to college in New York City and we’re roommates and we identify with these stories really strongly.”
That said, Berger also thinks HIMYM, and other network sitcoms of the like, need to get with the times.
“I think the way groups of friends look have changed over the years, that it was very important to us to sort of have that kind of representation and have different points of views on the show, bring people together that don’t all have the same experience,” she says, explaining that, “it makes for more interesting life and it makes for more interesting television.”
(NEW YORK) — It’s been nearly three months since 18-year-old Brendan Santo vanished while visiting friends in East Lansing, Michigan, the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State football game.
There have been no clues yet as to what happened to the Grand Valley University student who disappeared on Halloween weekend, but the search for him continues, and his family is not giving up hope. “We just want Brendan back,” they told ABC News.
“It is unfathomable to believe in this day and age someone can just disappear,” Brendan’s aunt, Dawn Brewer, said. “Our family is desperately begging anyone with information to come forward even anonymously.”
Santo was last seen around midnight on Oct. 29 on MSU’s campus, near Yakeley Hall, authorities said. He was wearing grey sweatpants, a black T-shirt, a Detroit Red Wings cap and Converse high tops, police said. He’s about 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds.
FBI to assist in search for 18-year-old who went missing weekend of Michigan State-Michigan game
Santo’s friends believed he was heading toward the Brody neighborhood, where he was staying with other friends, but he never arrived. His phone was at 0% battery when he went missing, the last message he sent was around 11:45 p.m.
The surveillance cameras in Yakeley Hall were not working the night Brendan went missing, MSUPD confirmed, and there were no other cameras in the area.
“Finding out what happened after Brendan left Yakeley Hall is the key to finding Brendan, or at the least adding another piece to this horrible puzzle,” Brewer said.
Santo’s friends reported him missing the next morning. Brendan’s vehicle remained in the last location it was parked, and there is no indication he left the East Lansing area, according to MSUPD.
Family searches for missing 26-year-old daughter Mercedes Clement
Soon after Santo’s disappearance, the FBI joined state and local agencies in the search, which included efforts by foot, drone, helicopter and boat. Authorities utilized multiple K9 teams early in the investigation, including cadaver dogs.
According to MSUPD, multiple cadaver dog indications on the Red Cedar River near Santo’s last known location along with his digital footprint led investigators to focus on the Red Cedar River, though they are exploring other possibilities.
“As a parent, family member or friend, you want to turn over every boulder as fast as you can to get the information you need to find your loved one. We understand an investigation like this can take time, but it has been very difficult,” Santo’s aunt said.
There have been no sightings of Santo to date, and none of his belongings have been found, but interest in his disappearance has only grown. Volunteer searches, charity events and various fundraisers have helped raise awareness, as has social media.
There have been two extensive civilian searches with over 800 volunteers scouring the area looking for Santo’s black red wings hat, blue iPhone, car key or gold necklace. Several MSU students and local citizens have continued to search every day, according to the family.
“Many of these people do not know Brendan or our family, but have taken the time and energy to help us every day … our family continues to be overwhelmed by their support and dedication,” Brewer told ABC News.
The family-run Facebook page called “Bring Brendan Santo Home” has reached over 43,000 members, donned BBH Warriors. Many are participating in a #bringbrendanhome flyer challenge, which encourages people to print Brendan’s flyer and post a photo with the hashtag “#bringbrendanhome.” Flyers have been posted across the country and beyond, according to the family. An Instagram account created to getting the word out continues to grow, as more join the search for the missing teen.
The reward for any credible information about Brendan’s whereabouts has grown to over $20,000. The tip line can be reached at 844-99-MSUPD (844-996-7873), tips@police.msu.edu or Crime Stoppers of Mid-Michigan 517-483-STOP (7867) https://www.crimestoppersofmidmichigan.com/.
(NEW YORK) — The British national who allegedly took a rabbi and three other people as hostages inside a Texas synagogue on Saturday arrived in the United States last month and gave customs agents a hotel in New York as his local address, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News on Monday.
The suspect, Malik Faisal Akram, 44, reportedly took a flight from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Dec. 29 and listed a hotel in Queens, New York, as his local address on a customs form, the sources said.
The FBI is investigating whether Akram actually stayed at the hotel prior to traveling by air to the Dallas-Fort Worth area possibly on Dec. 31.
As investigators piece together Akram’s movements in the United States, they’ve determined he bought the handgun used in the hostage-taking on the street from someone he met at a local homeless shelter in Texas, according to the law enforcement sources. The last time the gun was legally sold through a federally licensed dealer was in September 2019, they said.
While in New York, Akram — who was shot dead by an FBI hostage rescue team, ending a nearly 11-hour standoff with authorities in Texas — also obtained a cellphone, which he apparently used up until his death, the sources told ABC News.
Suspect was not on any watch lists
Akram’s name did not appear on any U.S. watch lists.
Investigators are now working to develop a complete timeline of his movements since his arrival in New York. According to the sources, Akram stayed at homeless shelters for about a week and may have portrayed himself as experiencing homelessness to gain access to the Texas synagogue during Shabbat services.
As part of the investigation, authorities are looking into Akram’s mental health history and are working to determine whether any potential history should have come up during the vetting process for his travel to the United States.
Sources told ABC News that American and British authorities have made contact with Akram’s brother, who told them Akram has mental health issues.
A friend of Akram’s family, told the Associated Press on Monday that it was known in their community of Blackburn, England, that Akram had “mental health issues.”
Mahmud, a community organizer in Blackburn, also said that Akram had previously served a custodial sentence in England and questioned how he got past U.S. immigration checks.
“Well, I do know he obviously served a custodial sentence, so it must have been serious enough for him to serve a custodial sentence. So, he was known to the authorities for that reason,” Mahmud said without elaborating on what offense Akram had been sentenced for. “But for all intents and purposes, other than that, he lived what one would describe a normal kind of existence. He was part of the community.”
Two teenagers have been arrested in England as part of an ongoing investigation into the hostage-taking incident, British authorities said. The pair were detained in southern Manchester on Sunday evening and “remain in custody for questioning,” according to a statement from the Greater Manchester Police. Multiple law enforcement sources in the U.S. told ABC News that the teens are Akram’s children.
Suspect called New York rabbi during standoff
At 10:45 a.m. CST on Saturday, police in Colleyville, Texas, received a 911 call reporting that an intruder, later identified as Akram, was aggressively confronting Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville.
Cytron-Walker said in an interview with CBS News on Monday that Akram knocked at the synagogue’s window and that he invited Akram in for a cup of tea prior to Shabbat services. The rabbi said that during the services, while his back was turned to Akram in prayer, the suspect pulled a gun.
After taking Cytron-Walker and three other members of the synagogue hostage, Akram was heard on a livestreamed video of the service saying he was holding four hostages, claiming to be armed with a gun and explosives, and stating that he was willing to die at the hands of police and that he was not acting on behalf of a foreign terrorist organization.
Facebook eventually interrupted the livestream, but law enforcement officials were able to access the synagogue’s closed-circuit TV system, allowing the FBI to continue to view the unfolding events in real-time, the sources said.
Just after 12 p.m., Akram instructed Cytron-Walker to call New York-based Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of the Central Synagogue in Manhattan. In a series of subsequent calls with Buchdahl, Akram reportedly threatened to kill the four hostages if convicted terrorist and al-Qaida supporter Aafia Siddiqui was not released from prison at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth.
“I can confirm that the gunman reached out to me twice (on Saturday) by phone,” Buchdahl wrote in an email to the New York-based Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “We are about to share a note with the congregation just confirming that. Other than that for security reasons I cannot share more.”
Investigators are working to determine why Akram chose Buchdahl to speak to, sources told ABC News. Authorities suspect it was because she is the leader of a prominent synagogue in the city where Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, was convicted in 2010 of assault and attempted murder of a U.S. soldier and members of a U.S. team sent to interrogate her in 2008. She was sentenced to 86 years in prison.
Siddiqui’s attorney, Marwa Elbially, released a statement over the weekend saying Siddiqui did not know Akram and that she condemned his actions.
Elite FBI team flown in to help
As the hostage standoff was unfolding on Saturday, authorities reached out about 12:30 p.m. to the FBI’s hostage rescue team at the bureau’s headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. The team was immediately dispatched to Colleyville, officials said.
Around 5:30 p.m., Akram released one of the hostages unharmed.
About four hours later, the FBI hostage rescue team entered the synagogue after Cytron-Walker and the two other hostages escaped when they bolted for an exit door as the rabbi threw a chair at the suspect.
Akram was shot as the team entered the synagogue and later died from his wounds. A handgun, believed to belong to Akram, was recovered inside the synagogue, sources said.
(NEW YORK) — As voting rights legislation remains stalled in Congress, Martin Luther King Jr.’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, and his 13-year-old granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, were among a coalition of civil rights activists who led the annual Peace Walk in Washington on Monday to honor the legacy of the civil rights icon and demand action on voting rights.
“What we want is for Americans to be engaged,” King III told ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, adding that the need for federal safety guards is more urgent than ever. “This year, we are laser focused on getting the right to vote sustained and getting the right to vote empowered.”
The march comes as lawmakers are expected to take up a vote to change the Senate rules as early as Tuesday that encompasses both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Some would say it’s about time the Congress takes up a debate on voting rights in the Senate.
Without the support of 10 Republicans needed to overcome a GOP filibuster to block the legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to raise a rules change vote as early as Tuesday, according to a Democratic aide familiar. But with conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema making clear they will not vote to end the Senate’s filibuster — even though both support the underlying legislation — the fate of the reforms that activists are demanding action on is unclear.
“Let the Senate hear you! Let the White House hear you all! Spread the word!” said King’s granddaughter before her family led hundreds of marchers across a snow-capped Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
Yolanda Renee King had sharp words for lawmakers, calling out Senators Manchin and Sinema by name.
“Sen. Sinema, Sen. Manchin, our future hinges on your decision and history will remember what choice you make. So join me in demanding action for today, tomorrow and generations to come,” Yoland Renee King said.
She added, “For all the elected leaders out there who are tweeting, posting and celebrating my grandfather, Dr. King, today, my message to you is simple do not celebrate, legislate!”
Manchin released a statement Monday celebrating the life and legacy of King, but made no mention of voting rights.
“We celebrate and honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most inspiring and important figures in American history. Dr. King taught us to stand up for what we believe in through civil, peaceful means to unite our nation instead of divide it,” the statement read.
When asked if Manchin’s words are enough, King III told ABC News, “First of all, I would say that, you know, it’s kind of frustrating for people to be releasing statements and you really have not totally adhered to my father’s ideals. My father not only gave his life, but he fought for the right to vote, and he and others gave their lives. And again, Sen. Manchin says he supports a bill but he won’t move or is not so far moved on a pathway to say that there’s a pathway for it.”
He added, “So my hope and my message to him would be senator, you got to go further. You can’t say, ‘I’m for something’ but don’t have a pathway to [it], and that’s anybody who’s talking about dad today, because I’m sure [there are also] many senators also on the Republican side, who ought to be ashamed of themselves, who have shut down the process for voter expansion, voter protections.”
At least 19 states have passed new restrictive voting laws since the 2020 election. There have been 34 such new laws in total across the country, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, and most of them in states controlled by Republicans.
Many of the new laws, fueled by false claims of widespread election fraud by former President Donald Trump, take aim at mail-in voting, implement stricter voter ID requirements, allow fewer early voting days and limit ballot drop boxes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the King family Monday for a voting rights rally at Washington’s Union Station outside Capitol Hill, where she spoke in support of expanding voter access, alongside other members of Congress and activists, including Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and Rev. Al Sharpton.
“The Congress and I give great credit to the Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer for his relentless and persistence and trying to get this done, and to the president for his leadership, but we have to get this done,” Pelosi said, before launching into an argument for changing Senate rules to make way for election reform legislation.
“While it may be true to them that the filibuster is an important custom, it is not the Constitution of the United States, the truth is,” Pelosi said. “If you really truly want to honor Dr. King, don’t dishonor him by using compression of custom as an excuse for our democracy.”
Beatty, following Pelosi, told the crowd of supporters, “Silence is not an option.”
“We will not yield our efforts to enshrine voting rights legislation into law, nor will we allow a filibuster to filibuster away our democracy and our voting rights,” she said.
ABC News’ Libby Cathey contributed to this report.
Tears for Fears have debuted a new song called “Break the Man,” the third advance single from the veteran British New Wave duo’s forthcoming studio album, The Tipping Point.
The song, which is available now via digital formats, was co-written by founding singer/bassist Curt Smith and the group’s current touring guitarist, Charlton Pettus, who also co-produced The Tipping Point.
Smith says of the new tune, “‘Break the Man’ is about a strong woman, and breaking the patriarchy. I feel that a lot of the problems we’ve been having as a country and even worldwide to a certain degree has come from male dominance. It’s a song about a woman who is strong enough to break the man. For me, that would be an answer to a lot of the problems in the world — a better male-female balance.”
The Tipping Point, which will be released on February 25, will be Tears for Fears’ first new studio album since 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. The group will support the record with a 2022 U.S. tour featuring support act Garbage that’s scheduled to kick off May 20 in Cincinnati and run through a June 25 concert in Wantagh, New York.
Prior to “Break the Man,” Tears for Fears also released The Tipping Point‘s title track and a song called “No Small Thing” as advance singles, as well as companion music videos for bothtunes.
An archival live album capturing the very first concert by the veteran rock band Cactuswill be released this Friday, January 21, on multiple formats.
The album, titled The Birth of Cactus 1970, was recorded at a show that also featured The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Grateful Dead and Steve Miller Band. The concert featured Cactus playing several tunes from its 1970 self-titled debut, as well as select songs from its second and third albums — 1971’s One Way…or Another and Restrictions.
Cactus was formed by Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and bassist Tim Bogert around the time of their group’s initial breakup. The band’s original lineup also included singer Rusty Day of The Amboy Dukes and guitarist Jim McCarty of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
Appice recalls of Cactus’ first gig, “I remember…hanging out with Hendrix who was a friend of Cactus. We got on stage and the energy level was off the charts! All the songs kicked major a**. We were so excited to get Cactus going and this show helped. Crowd was great and we did ROCK!!”
The Birth of Cactus 1970 can be pre-ordered now and will be available as a CD digipak and a limited-edition purple-vinyl LP, as well as in digital formats.
Here’s the album’s track list:
“One Way…or Another”
“Sweet Sixteen”
“No Need to Worry”
Medley: “Let Me Swim/Big Mama Boogie/Oleo”
“Feel So Good”
“Parchman Farm”
The two actors were featured during the luxury fashion house’s Men’s Fashion Week runway presentation, a collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, on Sunday.
MacLachlan, 62, kicked off the show while Goldblum, 69, closed it.
MacLachlan — known for roles in the original Dune movie and Blue Velvet, as well as in TV shows Twin Peaks, Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives — was handsome in a long black coat featuring a pop of color with blue pants and gloves underneath.
Goldblum — known for films The Fly, Jurassic Park and Thor: Ragnarok, as well as TV shows Will & Grace and Disney+’s The World According to Jeff Goldblum — rocked an all-black look with faux fur trim on the sleeves and bottom of the overcoat.
“In the #PradaFW22 Show actors are interpreters of reality, employed to echo truth through their portrayals. Here, everyday reality is valorized, its signs and signifiers exchanged with those of elegance and sophistication,” a post on Prada’s Instagram account read. “Through fabrication and methodology, an equal gravity is given to each genre of clothing — every facet of reality is offered significance, a sophistication and esteem, a lasting value.”
