Alice in Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has released the title track off his upcoming solo album, Brighten.
While the previously released single “Atone” sounded very much cut from the same grungy cloth as Alice, “Brighten” feels more like a classic, bluesy rock n’ roll tune.
You can download the song “Brighten” now via digital outlets. Its accompany, surreal video premiered via Consequence.net.
Brighten the album arrives October 29. It’s Cantrell’s first solo outing in nearly 20 years.
Cantrell will launch a U.S. tour in support of Brighten in 2022.
Gabrielle Union, like many parents, found herself talking to her children about racism following the death of George Floyd.
Union is the mother of two-year-old Kaavia James, whom she shares with husband Dwyane Wade. She co-parents his three children from previous relationships — Zaire, 19, Zaya, 13, and Xavier, 7.
Speaking to Health, the Bring It On star opened up about having those sometimes difficult conversations with her kids.
“You want to just try to give them hope, to keep those flames of hope from being extinguished. But we were late. And they were not prepared,” Union said. “This is especially true when you have hope, and you buy into the American dream of having a good work ethic and just being a good person. You think if you just follow all these rules, there’s this promised land of milk and honey. But then [your kids are] like, ‘I did that. And it’s vinegar. You told us…’ So, we’ve had to adjust our approach, especially in the last year.”
“With the older kids, we talk about how the world is — I’m not going to say changing, but at least acknowledging certain truths that we’ve known for the last 400 years,” said Union. “People might say different things, but the proof is always in the pudding. You have to watch their actions.”
The actress adds that speaking with Zaya, who is transgender, is more of a challenge because “there’s so many roadblocks for her and her life.”
“All we can say is, ‘We’re not going to leave you on the road by yourself. We’ll be here. But this is what it is. And it’s OK to still be shocked and hurt and surprised when people that you thought you could count on to be better aren’t,'” Union declared.
(MILWAUKEE) — Milwaukee Public Schools, the largest school district in Wisconsin, will give $100 to students who get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The district’s school board voted unanimously Thursday night to mandate vaccinations for staff by Nov. 1, with exceptions for religious or medical reasons.
The board considered a vaccine mandate for students but ended up unanimously approving a $100 incentive for MPS students 12 and older who provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 1., including those who already got their shots.
The district has about 31,205 students who are eligible for the vaccine, meaning the district could shell out as much as $3.12 million, administrators said during the meeting, the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reported. Money from the district’s $500 million federal stimulus installment will be used to fund the effort.
The school already has other COVID-19 safety measures in place, such as required face masks, HEPA filtration units and physical distancing.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the most effective strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus,” Superintendent Dr. Keith P. Posley said in a statement. “We owe it to our students, teachers, staff, and community to take all possible steps to ensure safe schools.”
The district’s COVID-19 dashboard reports a total of 525 cases among students and staff since July 1, with 115 students testing positive the week of Aug. 30 to Sept. 3.
Over the last 14 days, there have been 448 cases among children under the age of 12 and 406 cases among 12 to 17-year-olds in Milwaukee, according to the city’s dashboard.
Nationwide, pediatric hospitalizations are a rising concern. Pediatric hospital admissions are at one of their highest points of the pandemic, with more than 2,355 children receiving care across the country for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections.
Debates over vaccine mandates continue to unfold in school districts across the nation.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Unified School District became the first large scale system to require eligible students to get the vaccine. All students ages 12 and up will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they have a “medical or other exemption,” the school district said.
President Joe Biden also announced that private businesses with 100 or more employees must require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.
Walker Hayes‘ viral crossover hit “Fancy Like” is getting some extra pop star power. The country rapper has just released a new version of the song, featuring Kesha.
“It’s going down…I’m yelling timber… I do words for a living and I don’t even how to communicate my excitement,” Walker said on social media ahead of the song’s release.
Kesha also sang the praises of “Fancy Like,” saying, “This song speaks to me on a very deep level. I’m fancy like…. A southern b**** who loves a Waffle House after a night at the dive bar n karaoke…. How u fancy like?”
Walker included “Fancy Like” on his latest Country Stuff album. The song, which went viral thanks to a TikTok dance Walker posted with his daughter, Lela, has inspired two Applebee’s commercials, and the return of the restaurant chain’s famous Oreo shake.
(NEW YORK) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort in past weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind. The Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave but some hoping to evacuate are still stuck in the country. Meanwhile, the Taliban has announced its new “caretaker” government which includes men with U.S. bounties on their heads — and no women.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 10, 11:33 am
2nd passenger plane takes off from Kabul
A second Qatar Airways flight has taken off from the airport in Kabul with an unknown number of Americans on board, a day after the more than 100 foreign nationals left Afghanistan on the first flight out since the U.S. military’s withdrawal.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed that 39 Americans had been invited on Thursday’s chartered Qatar Airways flight from Kabul and from that group, 10 U.S. citizens and 11 lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, flew out.
Another 43 Canadian citizens, 13 British citizens and others were also aboard.
The Biden administration offered some praise for the Taliban on Thursday for their cooperation as officials try to fly out some 100 Americans without U.S. troops or a State Department presence on the ground.
Sep 10, 8:00 am
US has ‘many means’ to get intelligence in Afghanistan, Mayorkas says
The United States has “many means” of gathering intelligence in Afghanistan despite not having boots on the ground, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday.
“We no longer have troops in Afghanistan, but we have other resources to learn information on the ground and we certainly use those resources to the best of our abilities,” Mayorkas told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on “Good Morning America.”
“We are quite creative and quite capable of learning information from coast-to-coast and all over the world,” he added.
Mayorkas noted that the U.S. government is watching the potentially re-emerging terrorist threat in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan “very closely.”
“We watch the threat landscape all over the world,” he added. “We have built an entire architect to protect, to safeguard the American people.”
But the greatest threat to the U.S. homeland is currently domestic terrorism, according to Mayorkas.
“Individuals who are prone to violence by reason of an ideology of hate or false narratives that we see on social media or other online platforms,” he said. “I think it’s a sad thing to see hate emerge, as we have observed it emerge over the last several years.”
With the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks approaching, Mayorkas said the government is not aware of any “specific credible threats targeting the United States” on the somber date.
“But we are vigilant,” he added. “We watch the information, we learn information; but at this point in time, we don’t know of any threat on the anniversary.”
Sep 09, 3:57 pm
More than 30 Americans invited as passengers on flight from Kabul, some declined
More than 30 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were invited by the U.S. to be passengers on the first chartered flight out of Kabul since the American evacuation mission ended, but not all said yes. Some said no because of medical reasons, extended family members or their desire for more time, among other reasons, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Price said he could not give an exact number of those who did make Thursday’s flight to Qatar.
Echoing an earlier statement from the National Security Council, Price said he welcomed the Qatari Airways departure from Kabul. He said he hopes and expects more flights will be allowed to continue in the days to come.
Sep 09, 2:16 pm
White House confirms flight with Americans landed in Qatar, calls Taliban cooperation ‘professional’
National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne has confirmed that U.S. citizens and permanent residents were among the passengers on the first charter flight to leave the airport in Kabul since Qatar took over operations at the airport and that they have safely landed in Qatar.
The statement offered no passenger numbers, so it’s unclear how many U.S. citizens were on board, but it did provide some praise for the Taliban’s cooperation.
“The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA. They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step,” the statement said.
Ed Sheeran has joined the lineup for the MTV VMAs this Sunday, MTV confirms.
The singer will deliver a performance of his new song, “Shivers,” which he released on Friday. He joins previously announced performers Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
Ed’s up for three VMAs this year: Video of the Year, Best Art Direction and Best Choreography, for his song “Bad Habits.”
Doja Cat hosts this year’s ceremony, airing this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 2,977 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks left New York City at a standstill for weeks — but just 48 hours after the horrors in Lower Manhattan, all Broadway theaters were re-opened. New York City’s then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani saw the Great White Way’s return as a key to the city’s recovery.
One of the performers that night was Tony winner Idina Menzel, then a struggling actress.
“I was going into Aida at the time, and…I was replacing Taylor Dayne … I was sort of at a low point in my career, and I was really excited about it,” she recalls to ABC Audio. “And then the day I was supposed to get on stage was 9/11.”
“When we finally did come back. I remember my dad was in the audience, and it was quarter filled, people were just not in the mood or weirded out or scared to be in a public space together,” she adds. “And it…felt, I remember, awkward to be up there. Is it OK to be singing and celebrating and making the attention about ourselves? But yes, it’s good for people because they…needed to heal.”
“I remember we all sang ‘America the Beautiful’ at the curtain call, and I remember my dad was with my husband at the time, he just started bawling, and he’s not a very emotional man. And my…ex-husband Taye [Diggs], he didn’t know what to do with my father,” Idina recalls, laughing.
She adds, “So…I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of those kinds of moments and to provide some kind of sanctuary when we’re all going through things.”
Two of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme‘s children have filed for a domestic violence restraining order against their father, TMZ reports.
According to documents obtained by the site, Homme’s sons Orrin, 10, and Wolf, 5, submitted documents through their mother and Homme’s ex-wife, The Distillers‘ Brody Dalle.
TMZ reports that the docs accuse Homme of verbal and physical abuse, including hitting and throwing things at his children, grabbing them inappropriately, and threatening to kill Dalle’s boyfriend. The kids also allege that Homme drove them while drinking alcohol. They describe Homme as “scary,” and are requesting that he must stay 100 yards away from them.
In a statement to TMZ, Homme’s lawyer says, “Ms. Dalle has previously brought these claims to the police, DCFS, and the presiding judge of the family law court, all of whom have declined to take any action based upon these spurious claims.”
TMZ does not mention whether Homme and Dalle’s oldest child, daughter Camille, is involved.
Both Homme and Dalle previously filed restraining orders against each other following their divorce in 2019.
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
In 2018, former Journey frontman Steve Perry returned to music with Traces, his first new solo album in 24 years. Now he’s set to release his first-ever collection of holiday tunes.
The Season, which is due out on November 5, features Perry’s renditions of eight classic yuletide tunes, including “Winter Wonderland,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Auld Lang Syne,” “Silver Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
“I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs,” says Steve. “I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.”
In conjunction with the album announcement, Perry has debuted one of the songs as a digital single, a jazzy, stripped-down rendition of “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”
“When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll be Home for Christmas,’ as I was singing ‘Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree’…I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung mistletoe and then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window,” Perry notes. “I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there…I was a bit stunned…Back Home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”
The Season, which you can pre-order now, is available in multiple formats, including CD, digital, streaming and vinyl. Various limited-edition colored-vinyl versions of the album can be purchased at Perry’s official online store, Target and Barnes & Noble.
Here’s the full track list of The Season:
“The Christmas Song”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Auld Lang Syne”
“Winter Wonderland”
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
“Silver Bells”
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Twenty years ago Saturday, Mariah Carey’s most maligned and misunderstood album, Glitter, was released. Here’s the story of this project, which is now a cult classic.
Mariah had been planning a movie and soundtrack project called All that Glitters since 1997, but didn’t get a chance to work on it until she signed a new five-album, $100 million contract with Virgin Records in April of 2001.
But on July 19, after the release of the soundtrack’s lead single, “Loverboy,” Mariah made a bizarre appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live, handing out ice cream to fans and stripping off her shirt to reveal a more revealing outfit. “Loverboy” failed to reach number one — which, in Mariah terms, made it a “flop.”
After the TRL incident, Mariah posted a voice note on her website saying she’d like to “take a little break.” On July 26, she was hospitalized for two weeks, citing “extreme exhaustion” and a “physical and emotional breakdown.” Mariah would later reveal in 2018 that it was during this time that she was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder.
As Mariah became the butt of late-night jokes, the release of Glitter the album was delayed from August 21 to, unfortunately, September 11. When it finally emerged, critics disliked its ‘80s vibe and felt Mariah was overshadowed by the album’s many guest stars, which included rappers Ludacris, Da Brat, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and others.
Glitter was the lowest-selling album of Mariah’s career to that point — something she would later blame on the 9/11 terrorist attacks — but when the film also flopped at the box office, Virgin Records dropped her.
Flash forward to 2018: Mariah Carey fans launched a #JusticeForGlitter social media campaign, urging people to buy the album. It worked: The album ultimately reached number one on iTunes. A grateful Mariah, then on tour supporting her album, Caution, added a medley of songs from Glitter to her tour set list.
Many music critics subsequently changed their tune, praising Glitter as “brilliant,” “undeniably ahead of its time” and “the perfect ‘80s tribute.”
