As the featured artist on one of the biggest hits of the year, Lil Nas X‘s “Industry Baby,” Jack Harlow is riding a wave of success. He received two Grammy nominations for the song, attended the Met Gala, and now sits courtside with household names at basketball games.
However, the Louisville, Kentucky, native knows fame can be fleeting.
“I’m terrified to fall off and lose my spot or lose the ground I’ve covered, or not reach the potential that people see,” Harlow admits to Variety. “Every time I sit courtside at these games or go to the Met Gala or maybe the Grammys, what’s in my head is, ‘I’ve gotta be here next year.’ I don’t want this to be the last time.”
Meanwhile, the “Whats Poppin” rapper says that while he is focused on his creativity, he finds that as his popularity rises, music has become less important.
“Once you become actually famous, it’s only half about the music,” he says. “They’re just showing up to see you in the flesh, put you on their Snap, throw some panties at you, whether they know a single lyric or not.”
Harlow also wishes that, like Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, he had an alter ego to hide behind.
“Sometimes artists will assume characters for a verse or a feature — Kendrick does that, Em had it with Slim Shady, and sometimes in the studio my engineer will even encourage me to ‘get out of Jack Harlow,'” he says. “That’s something I’d have to work on intentionally, and maybe I will.”
Jimmy Eat World has released all three of the band’s Phoenix Sessions streaming concerts to watch for free on YouTube.
The virtual shows originally premiered earlier this year and included full album performances of “The Middle” outfit’s latest release, 2019’s Surviving, as well as 1999’s Clarity and 2004’s Futures.
“In a time seemingly more uncertain than now, we wanted to give something to you amazing people, while selfishly fulfilling our need to play music together,” Jimmy Eat World says. “We are eternally grateful for each and every one of you who helped make this happen by purchasing tickets and all the beautiful fans we met during those meet and greets.”
“Here’s to seeing you all IRL in 2022!” the band adds.
Audio recordings of the Phoenix Sessions streams were previously released on digital outlets in November.
The latest holiday hit by Elizabeth Chan, dubbed “The Queen of Christmas” by The New Yorker, is “A Christmas Song.” It’s the first Christmas song she ever wrote, but she’s re-released it this year to celebrate her 10th anniversary of making Christmas music. It was inspired, she says, by Christmas music itself.
“My earliest memories of Christmas music is me and my sister just listening to the radio 24 hours a day, just being so excited to listen to Christmas music,” Elizabeth tells ABC Audio. “Because I really think, in my life, that’s what makes Christmases.”
The 10th anniversary version of “A Christmas Song” appears on Elizabeth’s new album, Greatest of These Days, which features her holiday hits and some new tracks — and she actually let her family pick the album’s first single.
“They chose ‘A Christmas Song.’ They literally voted for that,” she shares. “There’s always a part of me that’s like, ‘My first song? Really?’ But…I always knew that it was a special song.”
And speaking of family, Elizabeth’s four-year-old Noelle now gets that Mommy’s job is writing Christmas songs and singing them, but she doesn’t quite get the whole picture.
“She actually says to me, ‘Mommy, I just wrote a song. And tomorrow it’ll be on the radio!’ She thinks it’s that easy!!!” Elizabeth laughs. “But that’s the beauty [of it]. She has no limiting beliefs! That’s the same heart that I had when I said to my parents, ‘I love Christmas music. This is what I want to do.'”
“So for me to see it in my own children is both exhilarating…and mortifying at the same time!” she laughs.
To learn how Elizabeth became a full-time Christmas artist, check out her spoken-word album-slash-memoir, The Queen of Christmas, on iTunes.
Gov’t Mule, the group fronted by ex-Allman Brothers Band singer/guitarist Warren Haynes, recently released a new studio album titled Heavy Load Blues that’s the jam band’s first full project dedicated to the blues.
Haynes and company must have done something right, because the album currently is spending its third week at #1 on Billboard‘s Blues Albums chart.
Heavy Load Blues features a mix of covers of songs by blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby Blue Bland, Elmore James and Junior Wells and original tunes Warren wrote that were inspired by some of his blues heroes.
Haynes tells ABC Audio that he’s been planning to make a blues album with Gov’t Mule for years, but kept putting it off because of his busy schedule, that is until the COVID-19 pandemic freed up some time for him.
“During the whole COVID lockdown thing, I wrote five or six blues songs…and I had also for several years been compiling a list of blues covers that eventually I would want to tackle,” Warren explains. “And I think the whole lockdown thing just forced that to the forefront…[I]t seemed like the right time to do this.”
Haynes says some of his goals for the record was to include songs by artists that Gov’t Mule hadn’t covered live before, to explore various blues subgenres, and to make the album sound like a vintage recording.
A deluxe version of Heavy Load Blues features several bonus tracks, including, interestingly, a heavy blues interpretation of the 1973 Elton John song “Have Mercy on the Criminal.”
Haynes notes, “[O]ur version is a little heavier and darker [than Elton’s], but it’s perfect that way. It’s a great song and a great story.”
Here’s the album’s full track list:
“Blues Before Sunrise”
“Hole in My Soul”
“Wake Up Dead”
“Love Is a Mean Old World”
“Snatch It Back and Hold It”/”Hold It Back”/”Snatch It Back and Hold It”
“Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”
“(Brother Bill) Last Clean Shirt”
“Make It Rain”
“Heavy Load”
“Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home”
“If Heartaches Were Nickels”
“I Asked Her for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)”
“Black Horizon”
Deluxe Version — Bonus Tracks:
“Hiding Place”
“You Know My Love”
“Street Corner Talking”
“Have Mercy on the Criminal”
“Long Distance Call”
“Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (Extended Version)
“Need Your Love So Bad” (Live)
“Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” (Live) — with Hook Herrera
The Byrds‘ three surviving original members, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman, have come together to collaborate on a new deluxe photo book focusing on the influential band’s early years that will be published next year.
The 400-page tome, titled The Byrds: 1964-1967, features over 500 images taken by such lauded photographers as Henry Diltz, Jim Marshall, Linda McCartney and Barry Feinstein, as well as restored pics from the Columbia Records archives and from the personal archives of the group’s original manager.
The book also features commentary penned by McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman, who share their recollections about the group, which pioneered folk rock, psychedelic rock and country rock, as well as about their late band mates Gene Clark and Michael Clarke.
The Byrds: 1964-1967 is the first in-depth photo book about the group, and the book on which the surviving founding members have collaborated. The project also marks the first time that Roger, David and Chris have all worked together since recording a few new songs for The Byrds’ 1990 retrospective box set.
Four versions of the book will be published: a Standard Version, a Deluxe Limited Edition, a Super Deluxe Limited Edition, and a Super Deluxe Limited Edition that comes with a fine art print.
The Super Deluxe Limited Editions, which will be released in October 2022, can be pre-ordered now at ByrdsBook.com, and are the only configurations signed by all three surviving founding Byrds members. When copies of the Super Deluxe versions sell out, they will not be reprinted.
Those purchasing the Super Deluxe Limited Edition with a print will be able to choose one of three images — McGuinn photographed by Diltz in 1967, Crosby photographed by Marshall in 1965 or Hillman photographed by Feinstein in ’65.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 111, Orlando 99
Cleveland 124, Houston 89
Miami 101, Philadelphia 96
Milwaukee 114, Indiana 99
LA Lakers 107, Dallas 104 (OT)
New Orleans 113, Oklahoma City 110
Charlotte 131, San Antonio 115
Minnesota 124, Denver 107
Utah 124, L.A. Clippers 103
Sacramento 119, Washington 105
Memphis 113, Portland 103
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chicago 5, Washington 4 (OT)
NY Rangers 3, Arizona 2
Anaheim 4, Seattle 1
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 101, N. Colorado 76
Southern Cal 66, UC Irvine 61
Xavier 86, Morehead St. 63
Alabama St. at UCLA (Postponed)
(WASHINGTON) — A group of 100 or so potential scholars in the State Department’s prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student Program will have to continue waiting for a final answer on whether their cohort — not shielded from disruption following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and withdrawal of an American presence there four months ago — will continue.
Maryam Jami, 23, an attorney in Herat who called the program the “venue to her dreams” of earning her Masters of Law in the U.S. next year before returning to help refugees in her native Afghanistan, opened an email update expected from the State Department early Wednesday morning.
Jami says she rose from her bed to read the message on her phone, before sharing it with her three sisters, who were standing by to comfort her.
“We continue to explore options for proceeding with the Program, but we have not yet identified a safe and viable way forward,” the email signed by a State Department official read. “We recognize the impact of this uncertainty about the future of the Program, and we are continuing our efforts to look for pathways forward. By January 31, 2022, we will provide further communication regarding if we are able to proceed with the selection process, including interviews.”
The note went on to remind that not all semifinalists would be finalists chosen for the program, was it to continue, and suggested hopeful scholars consider other evacuation routes and opportunities.
“The safety and well-being of you and your family will always be our highest priority, and our decision-framework is guided by this steadfast principle. Due to the uncertainty of the process and the limited number of semi-finalists who become recipients if the program continues, we recommend that you carefully considering all options and opportunities available to you on a continuing basis, keeping safety as the paramount consideration,” it continued.
“We know the challenging situation you are facing and the fortitude you have shown, and we reiterate our commitment to the future of the Afghan people,” the email said in closing.
The update from the State Department to the potential 2022 cohort, which has seen its in-person interviews delayed twice this year, came two months after the last update on Oct. 18, which some semifinalists believe their email and social media campaign — #SupportAfgFulbrightSemiFinalists2022 — targetting officials in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal triggered.
Jami says she brushed off her sisters’ efforts to comfort her, telling them she was fine, closed her phone went back to bed.
“After seeing that email, I didn’t really feel anything,” Jami recalled in a phone call with ABC News from her home in Herat on Wednesday evening. “Nowadays, we Afghans, any door that we are running to closes to our faces. So this is the story of our life. It’s just something we have just gotten used to.”
After having left a WhatsApp group with other potential scholars, Jami said some friends asked her and others who had left to rejoin it on Wednesday, as the emails from the U.S. official trickled into their phones and computers. Though Jami said some in the group of 63 and counting believe they should now ramp up their efforts, Jami said she’s looking at other options.
“I have given up because I no longer have hope,” she said. “Because they indirectly have told us in this email that we should look for other opportunities. They also say that they couldn’t figure out or find any other way to continue with this — but I’m sure if the U.S. really wants to grant us this opportunity, there are ways.”
She also advised other semifinalists to follow her lead, saying she’s “80% sure” the program will cease for them.
“Everyone should think on other opportunities as well because they indirectly have told us that they are they are not actually willing to continue this program for us,” she said. “It will determine our future if we keep waiting for something which is uncertain and most likely will not happen. It will devastate our futures. It will devastate the future of our communities which we are working for.”
The program, established by Congress in 1946 with a goal of international relationship building by offering both grants to U.S. citizens to study or teach abroad and to non-U.S. citizens to study in the states, of which Secretary of State Antony Blinken is an alum, was disrupted for Jami’s cohort — a group hoping to gain their master’s degrees in the U.S. — first by COVID-19 and then, again, with the end of America’s longest war and diplomatic presence in the country now on the brink of economic collapse and famine.
Still, some of the group, Jami says, are pushing for the State Department to have their interviews proceed virtually instead of at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul — where applicants were to report for the interviews over the summer before the delays — which was evacuated in the middle of August.
“We are reviewing the significant safety, logistical, and programmatic constraints which must be overcome to successfully implement the 2022-23 Fulbright Program,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News last week. “We are committed to remaining in communication with the semifinalist group about the status of the program, understanding they must pursue the choices that make the most sense for themselves and their families.”
Although Jami gushed earlier this month about how the prestigious program was a “venue to her dreams,” she said she won’t allow its potential suspension, as well as the thought that her test scores will soon expire, to stop her from the real work of helping her people.
“Of course, I had chosen the Fulbright Program as my future path, but my biggest dreams were not just conditioned to the Fulbright Program,” she said. “I will still continue my efforts for Afghanistan.”
“At the end of the day, we are trying to be what we always dreamt of being — not just being a Fulbright Scholar or just studying in the U.S. — but what we expected to do after when we return to our country,” added Jami, who hopes to work for the United Nations or Afghanistan government one day. “This is what really matters.”
ABC News’ Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.
(MAYFIELD, Ky.) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday surveyed damage in Kentucky he described as “beyond belief” and met with families in neighborhoods ravaged by deadly tornadoes last weekend.
After Biden surveyed the destruction in Mayfield by air and then on the ground, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear later choked up when thanking Biden publicly and introducing him in Dawson Springs, where Biden had stopped and talked to families whose homes were destroyed, including a 12-year-old girl carrying an American flag in a neighborhood where nearly every tree had been uprooted.
Biden opened his remarks by reminding people used to travel to Dawson Springs for the city’s healing waters, but, Biden said, “Now it’s our turn to help the entire town to heal.”
“I intend to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to support your state and local leaders, and as you recover and rebuild because you will recover and you will rebuild,” Biden said, surrounded by storm damage. “The scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief. When you look around here, it’s almost beyond belief. These tornadoes devoured everything in their path.”
He also offered condolences for those who lost someone and insisted “something good must happen” from the tragedy.
“I met one couple on the way up, said they’re still looking for four of their friends. They don’t know where they are. And those who have lost someone, there’s no words for the pain of losing someone. A lot of us know it.” Biden said.
“Keep the faith,” Biden added. “No one is walking away. We are in this for the long haul.”
Ahead of his remarks, Biden updated a presidential disaster declaration to boost federal disaster funds from 75% to 100% coverage for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Kentucky for a 30-day period.
Earlier, before receiving a briefing from state and local officials in Kentucky “on the impacts of the tornadoes and extreme weather,” according to the White House, Biden vowed all the federal support he can provide to the area, both now and in the months to come.
“Immediately after a disaster is a time when people are really, really moving, and trying to help each other and trying to get things done. But after a month, after six weeks, after two months, people can get themselves to a point where they get fairly depressed about what’s going on, particularly young kids, particularly people who’ve lost somebody. And so I just want you to know, the help that we’re able to offer at the federal level, is not just now,” Biden said.
“I’ve instructed my team to make you all aware of everything that is available from a federal level,” Biden added later on. “And some of it has to do outside of FEMA, outside of Homeland Security, there’s other programs, including education, there’s a whole range of things, but I’m here to listen.”
The president seemed struck by the scale of the damage he saw on his aerial tour.
“As you fly over here, as I’ve done in the past, I’ve not seen this tornado, this much damage from a tornado. You know, you think, but for the grace of God, why was I not 100 yards outside that line? Which makes it so different,” he noted.
Biden was joined for the visit by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who were on the ground there on Sunday.
At least 88 people have been confirmed dead across five states, 74 in western Kentucky alone, and the death toll could rise “significantly,” Beshear said on Tuesday.
(NEW YORK) — The nation’s top health officials warned Wednesday that the fast-rising omicron variant “undoubtedly” compromises the protection of two doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, putting the U.S. at risk of a tidal wave of fresh COVID cases in the next month if more people don’t get vaccinated and sign up for booster shots.
The good news, though, is that booster shots mostly reconstitute protection, reducing the need for the U.S. to roll out an entirely new vaccine formula specific to omicron.
“Booster vaccine regimens work against omicron,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser.
The speculation about what happens next has rattled many Americans as they prepare to travel for the holidays. Cases of the new variant have been doubling every two days, with a sevenfold increase in the prevalence of the omicron variant in the last week– proving itself to be even more transmissible than the delta variant.
“We expect to see the proportion of omicron cases here in the United States continue to grow in the coming weeks,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials said the best bet is wearing a mask indoors and improving ventilation, in addition to vaccinations and boosters.
“Those are the tools we have. If we didn’t have these tools, I would be telling you to really, really be worried. But we have tools. So, get vaccinated, get boosted,” Fauci said.
The White House on Wednesday sought to tamp down any speculation of lockdowns. Jeff Zients, Biden’s chief coordinator on the COVID response, said they weren’t necessary.
“We know how to keep our kids in school and our businesses open and we’re not going to shut down our economy in any way,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re going to keep our schools and our businesses open.”
Still, whether the U.S. faces shutdowns again is largely in the hands of state and local officials who typically have splintered ideas on how to handle surges.
In New York, a statewide mask mandate for all indoor public places was to take effect Jan. 15 unless businesses already have a vaccine requirement in place. In Texas, the governor has tried to ban mask mandates and is fighting a federal mandate that large businesses either require vaccines or weekly testing.
New York University and Princeton University joined Cornell University this week in canceling events and moving winter exams online. Cornell declared “alert level red” after finding 900 cases, including a “significant number” of students infected with the omicron variant.
The omicron variant was believed to have originated in southern Africa, whose lower-income countries have struggled to obtain and distribute vaccines needed to tamp down outbreaks. In recent weeks, scientists have been collecting real-world data while conducting lab studies on how the virus responds to antibodies induced by the vaccine.
The latest research found that booster shots significantly improved protection against disease. Yet only 55 million Americans have received boosters, making many Americans vulnerable.
“The omicron variant undoubtedly compromises the effects of a two-dose mRNA vaccine induced antibodies and reduces the overall protection,” Fauci said. But early studies “indicate that boosters reconstitute the antibody titers (numbers) and enhance the vaccine protection against omicron,” he added.
In one study cited by the CDC, nursing home residents with a booster have 10 times lower rates of getting COVID compared to people who are unvaccinated or vaccinated but without a booster.
The CDC has been looking at various scenarios involving a triple whammy this winter – COVID-related hospitalizations stemming from omicron or delta, along with cases of seasonal flu. The worst case scenario is a peak in January with cases slowly trending downward by March, though the data informing the forecast is still sparse.
The dreary possibility was discussed in a phone call on Tuesday with public health organizations, which said the message from the CDC was to take steps now to blunt the impact.
Chrissie Juliano, executive director of Big Cities Health Coalition who participated in the call, said her takeaway from the discussion was that there are a lot of unknowns with omicron.
But it’s also clear what has worked against every variant so far — masks in public indoor settings, vaccines, and now, boosters for everyone eligible.
“We do have tools in place and we do know what to do. But we need to make sure that those things happen,” Juliano said.
ABC News producer Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Major U.S. airline CEOs were in the hot seat on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon, questioned by lawmakers on whether they appropriately spent billions in taxpayer dollars.
The airline industry received a bailout of $54 billion at the height of the pandemic when air travel came to a screeching halt. The goal was to preserve airline jobs, and in return airlines agreed to place limits on executive compensation, eliminate stock buybacks and dividends and not involuntary furlough employees.
Even with the aid, however, airlines said they had no choice but to shrink. They incentivized thousands of employees to accept early retirement offers, buyouts and take unpaid leave.
The moves left them with few resources when air travel came roaring back. During the summer and fall, taxpayers bore the brunt of the cuts — facing daylong cancellations, delays, lines and hold times.
“The return of demand for air travel has been intense,” American CEO Doug Parker wrote in his opening statement. “Like other airlines, we have experienced some operational challenges in recent months, which we have worked to manage as deftly as possible.”
Lawmakers questioned the CEOs on whether airlines have held up their end of the bargain since the goal of the aid was to preserve staff for the eventual travel rebound.
“We end[ed] up with airplanes in the wrong place, people in the wrong place,” Parker said regarding the airline’s mass flight cancellations in October. “So that was the driver of the vast majority of cancellations, but … it gets unfortunately mischaracterized as we don’t have enough people.”
Parker explained they actually have more pilots and flight attendants for shifts than they’ve had in the past, but that employees pre-pandemic were more willing to pick up extra trips, which fueled some of their operational challenges.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly admitted to some scheduling mistakes over the past year.
“We just need to make sure that we don’t overschedule the airline relative to the people resources that we have,” he said, “and we’ve made a number of adjustments in that regard.”
And United revealed they are struggling with a regional pilot shortage.
“All of us, particularly our regional partners, simply don’t have enough airplanes to fly,” United CEO Scott Kirby told lawmakers. “We have almost 100 airplanes effectively grounded right now, regional aircraft, because there’s not enough pilots flying, which means we just can’t at the moment fly to all the small communities that we would like to.”
But the executives were in agreement that the road to recovery would have been worse if it weren’t for the payroll support program. PSP saved nearly 400,000 direct passenger airline jobs, according to data from the airlines.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say the program saved the airline industry,” Parker added.
Executives addressed worker shortage concerns by detailing their aggressive hiring initiatives. In all, the major U.S. airlines plan to hire around 30,000 new workers in 2022.
U.S. airlines handled the recent Thanksgiving travel rush without a major hiccup, but they fear the emerging variant could pose another potential setback.
“The omicron variant has created further uncertainty,” Delta COO John Laughter told lawmakers, “and there is no clear consensus on when business and international travel will return.”
