Many, many artists have covered David Bowie‘s “Heroes.” Dead Sara‘s “Heroes,” however, is very much not David Bowie’s “Heroes.”
On the track, which is the current single off the “Weatherman” rockers’ upcoming album, Ain’t It Tragic, lead vocalist Emily Armstrong sings, “All my heroes are dead.” As Armstrong tells ABC Audio, it was that lyric that really brought the song together.
“I just happened to read [that line] down on my list of lyrics that I have,” Armstrong recalls. “I just started singing that, and I was, like, ‘Oh, that’s the song.’ We had a shell of a song, but then it really made sense when we started actually honing in on what the album was gonna be.”
“From there, everything else just kind of rolled out,” she notes, adding that the sentiment “just made so much sense” to her.
“As a kid, all the stuff you’re gonna fight for and fight just in life, and nobody’s really gonna be there,” Armstrong explains. “When you’re an adult, you just go, ‘Oh, f***, I’m here. It’s just me.'”
And if it isn’t clear by the song, Armstrong definitely believes in the “You should never meet your heroes” adage.
“Yes, 100 percent,” she laughs. “And that’s all I’ll say about that.”
Ain’t It Tragic arrives this Friday, September 17.
Kyle Harvey, better known as Kyle, agrees that it’s never a bad time to learn about our rights as American citizens, regardless of our age. That’s why the “iSpy” singer still refers to his We the People song “Federal vs State,” which teaches about the differences in federal and state power, as his most impactful song to date.
“Attaching myself to [We the People] was a no-brainer for me,” Kyle tells ABC Audio of the Netflix series. “Because it was like, one, I get to be a part of something that the Obamas [who are the show’s executive-producers] are part of. Two, I get to actually help young people understand how our government works, which for me was…really awesome.”
Kyle explains that his participation in the 10-episode animated music series, which has been compared to Schoolhouse Rock!, wasn’t just an opportunity to “give back,” but “an opportunity to actually do something… really good.”
“For me like this is like the most important song I’ve ever made,” he shares. “Because I know that it will help kids out there learn.”
We the People, which also includes episodes featuring H.E.R., Cordae and Janelle Monáe, is available to stream on Netflix.
Bruce Springsteen will interview his longtime friend and collaborator “Little Steven” Van Zandt for the first time ever during a virtual event on September 28 celebrating the release of the E Street Band guitarist’s new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations.
The livestreamed event will begin at 8 p.m. ET on the 28th, and tickets are available now at StevieandBruceLive.com and VanZandt.UnisonEvents.com. Tickets also include a copy of Van Zandt’s book — signed for $45 or unsigned for $35.
Fans who purchase tickets for the interview will be able to watch the event on demand for 90 days after the livestream.
In Unrequited Infatuations, Van Zandt recounts the story of his eventful life, from his childhood in suburban New Jersey and the development of his passion for rock ‘n’ roll, to playing in various Jersey Shore groups en route to joining Bruce’s E Street Band, to forging a solo career and becoming a political activist in the 1980s, to finding success as an actor as Silvio Dante on The Sopranos, to launching his Underground Garage radio show and satellite radio station, and so much more.
Little Steven’s virtual conversation with The Boss marks the launch of a promotional tour for the memoir that will include three in-person events and another virtual interview.
For more details about Unrequited Infatuations, visit HachetteBooks.com.
Here’s Van Zandt’s full book-tour schedule:
9/28 — Virtual, Premiere Unison Event, Van Zandt in conversation with Bruce Springsteen, 8 p.m. ET
9/29 — New York, NY, 92Y, Van Zandt in conversation with screenwriter Jay Cocks, 7:30 p.m. ET
9/30 — Virtual, Commonwealth Club, Van Zandt in conversation (Interviewer TBA), 8 p.m. ET
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA, Book Soup at the Colburn Music School, Van Zandt in conversation with director Chris Columbus, 7 p.m. PT
10/3 — Montclair, NJ, Montclair Literary Festival, Van Zandt in conversation with news anchor Budd Mishkin, 5 p.m. ET
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The first all-civilian flight to Earth’s orbit successful launched Wednesday.
The Inspiration4 rocket took off successfully at the start of the five-hour window for launch at 8:02 p.m. ET. It reached orbit about 12 minutes later.
The crew said goodbye to their families, suited up and were driven in Teslas to Kennedy Space Center’s historic pad 39A Wednesday afternoon.
SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission is the third recent billionaire-backed space launch, but it’s going where neither Richard Branson nor Jeff Bezos could — into orbit.
If successful, the crew on Inspiration4 will reach the farthest any civilian has traveled from Earth. They will orbit 360 miles above the Earth, even further than the International Space Station, which orbits at 240 miles.
Commanding the mission is 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, an experienced pilot. He founded a payment process company called Shift4 Payments and purchased all four seats on the flight for an estimated $220 million.
Isaacman wants this launch to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He has already donated $100 million to the cause.
One seat was reserved for 29-year-old St. Jude ambassador Hayley Arceneaux. Arceneaux is a bone cancer survivor and will be the youngest American to go to space as well as the first pediatric cancer survivor.
The third occupant will be Dr. Sian Proctor, 51, who said she has dreamed of going to space since she was a child. She burst into tears when she heard she was chosen as a member of the Inspiration4 mission.
She will become the fourth Black female American astronaut to travel into space.
The final crew member is Chris Sembroski, 41, an Iraq War veteran and engineer with Lockheed Martin, who won the final seat through a lottery that required a St. Jude donation to enter.
The four will orbit the Earth for three days with no set destination. They said they will conduct some science experiments while on board and auction off items in space for St. Jude.
There is always risk launching into space and coming home. While these passengers have been trained by SpaceX, they are not professional astronauts.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon will also be tested for the first time at this distance.
They cannot go much longer than three days without running low on fuel, food and water. And while past missions could make changes on the return because of bad weather on Earth due to astronauts on board, this ship won’t have quite as much flexibility.
After three days of orbiting Earth, they will prepare to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida late Saturday or early Sunday.
(WASHINGTON) — Women driving hundreds of miles alone for an abortion, clinics overwhelmed with out-of-state patients, providers facing “relentless harassment” from “emboldened vigilante activities,” those are some of the impacts detailed by the federal government in new court documents since the most restrictive abortion law went into effect in Texas earlier this month.
Nearly a week after announcing a lawsuit against the state, the U.S. Department of Justice filed for an immediate injunction Tuesday to halt the enforcement of the law, known as SB8, which bars physicians from providing abortions once they detect a so-called fetal heartbeat — technically the flutter of electrical activity within the cells in an embryo. That can be seen on an ultrasound as early as six weeks into a pregnancy — before many women even know they’re pregnant.
In their latest filing, the DOJ documented the impact of the unprecedented law based on declarations from the leaders of women’s health clinics, doctors and abortion rights advocates in support of the motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.
“The devastating effects warned of in the pre-enforcement litigation immediately became a reality for patients and providers in Texas,” the emergency motion states. “S.B. 8 has gravely and irreparably impaired women’s ability to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion across the State.”
Under the law, between 85% and 95% of all abortions previously provided will stop, according to the motion. One Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas went from providing 205 abortions the week before SB8 went into effect, to 52 the week after, according to the court documents.
As a result, “Women are being forced to travel hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of miles to obtain an abortion under harrowing circumstances in the middle of a COVID surge,” the motion states.
The DOJ recounted the experience of one patient, a minor, who was allegedly raped by a family member and traveled eight hours, from Galveston, Texas, to Oklahoma, for an abortion. There is an exception under the Texas law for abortions in cases of medical emergencies, but not for cases of incest or rape.
“[Other] survivors of sexual assault have to bear the additional burden of taking time off work and arranging childcare because abortions are not available in Texas,” the motion states.
According to the court documents, one patient drove a 1,000-mile roundtrip alone “because she didn’t have paid time off work and couldn’t afford” to miss her shift. Another “piled her children into her car and drove over 15 hours overnight to obtain a medication abortion in Kansas rather than struggle to patch together the money needed for airfare and child care or remain in limbo,” Anna Rupani, co-executive director of the advocacy group Fund Texas Choice, said in her declaration.
One patient traveled six hours each way to Oklahoma alone because she was worried she would make someone liable for helping her, the court documents state. Under SB8, private citizens can sue a person they “reasonably believed” provided an illegal abortion or assisted someone in getting it in the state, such as by driving them to an appointment.
On average, patients are traveling 650 miles each way to get to abortion clinics in the Southwest, according to the DOJ. The waits and logistical hurdles in planning travel to another state “have made it such that some women are no longer eligible for a medication abortion and instead are subjected to more invasive procedural abortions,” the motion states.
SB8 not only affects Texans, but has had an “extreme impact on the rights of women in other states,” the motion argues. Clinics in nearby states, including Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado, have been “overwhelmed” by an influx of Texas residents seeking abortions, with clinics in Tulsa and Oklahoma City in particular seeing an “overall staggering 646% increase” in Texan patients compared to the first six months of the year, according to the court documents.
Planned Parenthood health centers in Oklahoma are seeing scheduling backlogs of “several weeks” due to the number of Texan patients, while some clinics are simply unable to accommodate large numbers of out-of-state patients due to current demands and staffing challenges “given the current threats from S.B. 8 layered atop the challenges of hiring in a pandemic,” according to the court documents.
Abortion clinic staff have also been impacted, the DOJ argues, as SB8 has “emboldened vigilante activities” against abortion providers and staff, including yelling at, recording and trying to follow them home.”
Staff are also concerned about the threat of potential lawsuits. Whole Woman’s Health, which has 17 doctors on staff across its three abortion facilities in Texas, reported that only one doctor “unconditionally agreed to work” after the law was enacted, according to the court documents.
“For most of our physicians, the risk was too great to even come to work,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, said in her declaration.
Some clinics risk closure for good under the law, supporters of an immediate injunction said.
“If the law remains in effect for an extended period of time, and we are only able to serve a fraction of our patients with a fraction of our staff, we will have to shutter our doors and stop providing any healthcare to the communities we serve,” Hagstrom Miller said. “I believe that, without court-ordered relief in the next couple of weeks, S.B. 8 will shutter most if not all of the remaining abortion clinics in Texas.”
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The first all-civilian flight to Earth’s orbit is set to launch Wednesday.
The Inspiration4 crew said goodbye to their families, suited up and were driven in Teslas to Kennedy Space Center’s historic pad 39A Wednesday afternoon, ahead of a five-hour window for launch beginning at 8:02 p.m. ET for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission is the third recent billionaire-backed space launch, but it’s going where neither Richard Branson nor Jeff Bezos could — into orbit.
If successful, the crew on Inspiration4 will reach the farthest any civilian has traveled from Earth. They will orbit 360 miles above the Earth, even further than the International Space Station, which orbits at 240 miles.
Commanding the mission is 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, an experienced pilot. He founded a payment process company called Shift4 Payments and purchased all four seats on the flight for an estimated $220 million.
Isaacman wants this launch to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He has already donated $100 million to the cause.
One seat was reserved for 29-year-old St. Jude ambassador Hayley Arceneaux. Arceneaux is a bone cancer survivor and will be the youngest American to go to space as well as the first pediatric cancer survivor.
The third occupant will be Dr. Sian Proctor, 51, who said she has dreamed of going to space since she was a child. She burst into tears when she heard she was chosen as a member of the Inspiration4 mission.
She will become the fourth Black female American astronaut to travel into space.
The final crew member is Chris Sembroski, 41, an Iraq War veteran and engineer with Lockheed Martin, who won the final seat through a lottery that required a St. Jude donation to enter.
The four will orbit the Earth for three days with no set destination. They said they will conduct some science experiments while on board and auction off items in space for St. Jude.
There is always risk launching into space and coming home. While these passengers have been trained by SpaceX, they are not professional astronauts.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon will also be tested for the first time at this distance.
They cannot go much longer than three days without running low on fuel, food and water. And while past missions could make changes on the return because of bad weather on Earth due to astronauts on board, this ship won’t have quite as much flexibility.
After three days of orbiting Earth, they will prepare to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida late Saturday or early Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 663,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 63% of Americans ages 12 and up are 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:
Sep 15, 6:58 pm
NYC health officials investigating cases linked to Labor Day concert
New York City’s Heath Department announced Wednesday it is investigating a cluster of COVID-19 cases that were linked to a Labor Day weekend concert.
At least 16 people have been identified as part of the cluster linked to the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall’s Island, which is located in the East River, the department said.
Eight people have been also been identified who “though likely exposed prior to attending the concert,” were in attendance while potentially contagious, according to the health department.
“Anyone who attended this festival should get tested immediately, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated. This is especially urgent if attendees are experiencing symptoms,” New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi, said in a statement.
The concert’s organizers had strict rules for entrance.
Attendees had to show proof of vaccination that matched their photo ID. Unvaccinated ticket holders were allowed in if they showed proof of a negative test “no more than 3 days prior to each day of attendance,” according to the concert’s website.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is planning to meet on Sept. 22 and 23 and is prepared to discuss COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
This will delay the potential start date of boosters until at least late next week, past the president’s planned start date for boosters on Sept. 20.
The White House acknowledged that the start date is ultimately up to the CDC and Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA advisory panel is currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on boosters for the Pfizer vaccine and will have a non-binding vote later that day.
If the FDA approves, the ACIP will discuss and vote on recommendations, such as who should get the boosters and when.
The CDC director will make the ultimate decision on the boosters following the ACIP recommendations.
-ABC News’ Eric Strauss
Sep 15, 4:00 pm
Moderna makes the case for boosters
Moderna on Wednesday released its own analysis of various studies, making the case that the company’s original vaccine appears to generate the strongest protection among the three currently authorized vaccines, but also saying people who got their vaccine will also need a booster six months later.
Like Pfizer, Moderna is requesting authorization for a booster dose six months after the primary vaccination based on evidence that boosters are safe and generate immune response, and based on newly published data from its phase 3 trial showing a lower risk of breakthrough infections among people vaccinated eight months ago compared to people vaccinated 13 months ago.
Unlike Pfizer, Moderna’s third booster will be a half-dose. Moderna says its data shows that boosting with a half-shot seems to generate more than enough immune response.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Sep 15, 3:18 pm
9 states have more hospitalizations than any point in pandemic
In the last five weeks, the U.S. hasn’t reported a single day with fewer than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases, according to federal data. In the nearly six months between Feb. 7 and July 29, there was not a single day with more than 100,000 new cases.
Nine states — Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia — currently have more patients hospitalized than at any other point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
But the CDC says hospital admissions will likely decrease over the next four weeks.
Sep 15, 2:47 pm
LA County to require vaccine, negative test for clubs, concerts
Los Angeles County will require vaccination or proof of a negative test for events with more than 10,000 people, including clubs, concerts and sporting events.
As of Tuesday, LA County had 1,224 COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
Sep 15, 1:22 pm
Kids ages 2 and up must wear masks at day care in NY state
In New York state, masks are now required at child care centers for children ages 2 and above and for all staff and visitors, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a tweet Wednesday.
“These universal mask requirements apply to anyone medically able to tolerate wearing a mask, regardless of vaccination status,” the governor said.
“With Delta on the rise, requiring masks is a key part of slowing the spread, reopening our economy safely, and protecting vulnerable New Yorkers,” Hochul tweeted. “This new mask requirement ensures that children in our child care facilities receive the same protection as children in our schools.”
Sep 15, 12:11 pm
Wendy Williams has breakthrough COVID
Talk show host Wendy Williams has a breakthrough COVID-19 case, her show said.
The new season of The Wendy Williams Show will be postponed to Oct. 4.
Sep 15, 9:53 am
FDA releases Pfizer’s data on boosters
Americans will likely need a booster shot about six months after their second vaccine dose, according to data from Pfizer that was released by the FDA.
Pfizer said it doesn’t think the delta variant surge contributed to the vaccine’s waning protection.
This data will be debated on Friday by an independent FDA panel. After a vote, the FDA is expected to formally amend its vaccine approval for Pfizer. Then the decision heads to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and finally to the CDC for sign off.
Sep 15, 8:15 am
TSA sees lowest number of travelers in 4 months
TSA agents screened 1,271,516 travelers at U.S. airports Tuesday, the lowest number since May 5.
Sep 15, 3:22 am
Alaska’s largest hospital begins rationing care amid COVID-19 surge
The largest hospital in Alaska is beginning to ration care as COVID-19 patients flood the facility.
“While we are doing our utmost, we are no longer able to provide the standard of care to each and every patient who needs our help,” Dr. Kristen Solana Walkinshaw, chief of staff at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday by The Anchorage Daily News. “The acuity and number of patients now exceeds our resources and our ability to staff beds with skilled caregivers, like nurses and respiratory therapists. We have been forced within our hospital to implement crisis standards of care.”
“What does this mean? In short, we are faced with a situation in which we must prioritize scarce resources and treatments to those patients who have the potential to benefit most,” she continued. “We have been required to develop and enact policies and procedures to ration medical care and treatments, including dialysis and specialized ventilatory support.”
Walkinshaw explained how what happens at Providence Alaska Medical Center and other hospitals in Alaska’s biggest city “impacts our entire state” because “many specialty cares can only be provided in Anchorage.”
“People from all around Alaska depend on Providence to provide medical care for people statewide. Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to meet this need; we no longer have the staff, the space or the beds,” she wrote. “Due to this scarcity, we are unable to provide lifesaving care to everyone who needs it. Our emergency room is overflowing; patients wait in their cars for hours to see a physician for emergency care. On a daily basis, our transfer center is unable to accept patients who sit in emergency rooms and hospitals across the state, people who need care their current facility is unable to provide. If you or your loved one need specialty care at Providence, such as a cardiologist, trauma surgeon or a neurosurgeon, we sadly may not have room now. There are no more staffed beds left.”
Walkinshaw urged people to wear face masks, even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and to get the vaccine if they are eligible and have not done so yet.
“We ask that you help us to open our beds again so that we may continue to care for all Alaskans,” she wrote.
Sep 14, 7:07 pm
Regeneron lands $2.94B deal with US government for more monoclonal antibodies
Regeneron has reached a $2.94 billion agreement with the federal government to supply more doses of its monoclonal antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19.
Under the new agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, Regeneron will furnish another 1.4 million doses of the treatment by the end of January 2022.
The one-dose therapy will be made available to any member of the American public who is eligible to receive it. It currently is authorized to treat COVID-19 patients ages 12 and up who have mild to moderate symptoms and are at high risk of severe illness.
The deal comes as orders of monoclonal antibodies from states have gone up 1,200% in recent weeks during the delta surge, ABC News reported last month.
Last week, the White House outlined plans to boost the average pace of weekly shipments of the treatment by 50%, as part of a new six-part strategy to combat the delta variant.
Idris Elba may not be a fan of 40-degree days, but, apparently, he doesn’t mind the rain sometimes.
The English actor, who’s also a musician and DJ, has released a remix of grandson‘s single “Rain” with Jessie Reyez, which was recorded for the new movie The Suicide Squad. Elba, of course, stars in the DC Comics film as Bloodsport.
“We shot a sequence in the rain and I remember it feeling like a music video at the time,” Elba recalls. “In my head, I thought how sick it would be to write a song about the rain sequence. When I heard grandson and Jessie’s song I was so happy to get a chance to remix it and contribute it to the universe.”
Adds grandson, “What can you say when a legend agrees to work with you? It was a natural opportunity that came up through The Suicide Squad soundtrack, and I’m beyond grateful Idris, a multifaceted artist I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid, agreed to add his touch of London house music to our song ‘Rain.'”
Paul McCartney will celebrate the publication of his upcoming book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, by taking part in a special Q&A event on November 5 in London at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.
Tickets to attend the event, dubbed The Lyrics: Paul McCartney in Conversation, will go on sale to the general public on Friday, September 17, at 5 p.m. ET/10 a.m. local time and to Southbank Centre members starting Thursday, September 16, at 5 p.m. ET.
The event also will be livestreamed via Dice.fm, and tickets for the stream can be purchased for $14 beginning this Friday, September 17, at 5 p.m. ET. The stream will be available on demand for seven days after the event.
During the event, the former Beatles legend will discuss the book while sharing stories about his life, songs and creative process with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet Paul Muldoon, who edited it.
As previously reported, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present will be released on November 2 and can be pre-ordered now. The book offers a self-portrait of McCartney while profiling 154 songs he’s written throughout his long career.
The two-volume work also will feature handwritten lyric sheets, as well as rare personal photos, drawings and rough drafts of songs. Sir Paul has penned commentary about each tune to give fans a look inside his creative process.
The songs featured in the book appear alphabetically, spanning from “All My Loving” though “Your Mother Should Know.” Also included are recently discovered lyrics to an unrecorded Beatles song, titled “Tell Me Who He Is.”
October is going to be a great month for Queen Naija and Meek Mill fans.
First up, Meek Mill has set a Friday, October 1, release date for his long-awaited, fifth studio album, Expensive Pain. As part of the announcement, the Philly rapper unveiled the album artwork, which was created from an original painting by renowned artist Nina Chanel Abney. The album will include Mill’s newly released songs, including “Sharing Locations,” featuring Lil Durk and Lil Baby, and “Blue Notes 2,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. Expensive Pain serves as Meek’s first full-length album since 2018’s Championships, which included collaborations with Jay-Z, Drake, Cardi B, Future, Ella Mai and many others.
Also scheduled for October, Queen Naija is taking her music on the road. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the singer announced The Butterfly Tour, which officially launches in Atlanta on October 17.
The tour — which comes after Naija took the number-one spot on Billboard‘s Top R&B Albums chart with her debut album, missunderstood — will include shows at Brooklyn Steel in New York City and St. Andrews Hall in Queen’s hometown of Detroit. Chicago-based R&B singer-songwriter TINK has also been confirmed as a special guest on most of the tour’s scheduled dates.
Tickets for The Butterfly Tour go on sale this Friday, September 17, at 10 a.m. local time at IAmQueenNaija.com.
