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Stevie Wonder and Common to perform for Stand Up to Cancer telethon

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

The seventh annual Stand Up to Cancer telethon has tapped Stevie Wonder and Common to perform during the hour-long special.

Brittany Howard will also take the stage during the charity event, set to air on August 21. Ken Jeong and his wife Tran Ho, as well as Anthony Anderson and Sofia Vergara, will serve as the night’s hosts.

Reese Witherspoon, alongside husband Jim Toth, have signed on as the fundraiser’s executive producers.

Other recognizable names participating in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon to help raise funds will be Matthew McConaughey, Tony Hale, Jennifer Garner, Katie Couric, Jaime Camil, Max Greenfield, Chandra Wilson, Kate del Castillo and MJ Rodriquez.

In addition to the star power, those personally affected by cancer will share their experiences with the disease.

The commercial-free fundraiser will be telecast across all major networks on August 21, including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, as well as major streaming networks, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

To date, Stand Up to Cancer has raised over $600 million for its mission to fund research aimed at curing the disease, which has led to several new therapies and hundreds of clinical trials.

Michelle Branch to perform ‘The Spirit Room’ in its entirety to mark 20th anniversary

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Michelle Branch‘s hit debut album, The Spirit Room, and she’s planned a special performance to celebrate that milestone.

Michelle will do a one-night-only livestream on September 10, a solo acoustic performance during which she’ll perform the album in its entirety. In addition to buying tickets for the livestream, limited edition merchandise, virtual meet and greets and a virtual Q&A session with Michelle are also available.

You can get tickets for The Spirit Room — 20th Anniversary Livestream now via Moment House.

Michelle has also released a new 20th anniversary version of “You Get Me,” a song from The Spirit Room. It’ll be featured on a 20th anniversary edition of The Spirit Room that’s coming out as a double vinyl LP.

Michelle was just 17 when she released The Spirit Room. It sold over two million copies and included the hits “Everywhere” and “All You Wanted.” She was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist, and won a Grammy that same year for singing “The Game of Love,” a collaboration with Carlos Santana.

It’s worth noting that Michelle was also a huge influence on another up-and-coming female teen singer/songwriter: Taylor Swift.

Since The Spirit Room, Michelle has released several more albums, the most recent being 2017’s Hopeless Romantic. She also formed a successful country duo called The Wreckers. Michelle, currently married to The Black Keys‘ Patrick Carney, is also mom to two children: daughter Owen and son Rhys.

“I feel whole”: Cameron Diaz shares why she left acting

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

If you’ve been wondering where Cameron Diaz has been lately, the actress says she’s doing just fine, thanks.

Sitting down with comedian Kevin Hart on his new Peacock talk show, Hart to Heart, the Golden Globe-nominated actress shares that she’s stepped away from acting, a decision she made about eight years ago, at age 40, when she determined that she didn’t want to hand control of certain aspects of her life over to other people.

“I realized that I looked around and it was so many parts of my life that I wasn’t touching and that I wasn’t managing, and I couldn’t really manage it because it was so big,” Diaz says, adding that acting is “fun to do, I love it.”

Cameron made the decision around the time she met husband Benji Madden, whom she wed in 2015. The couple later welcomed daughter Raddix in 2019.

“All of those things that I didn’t have time for before, and not just not have the time for, but didn’t have the space to make the right decisions for me at the time to bring that in,” Diaz continues. “I really wanted my life manageable by me. My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself. It’s the best feeling. I feel whole.”

Though she’s stepped away from the big screen — last appearing in 2014’s Annie feature film — the Charlie’s Angels star teamed with her friend and entrepreneur, Katherine Power, last year to release organic wine brand Avaline.

That was awkward! Kevin Hart and Don Cheadle go viral after tense interview exchange

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Some things are just better left unsaid. Unfortunately for Kevin Hart, he learned this the hard way.

In a now viral clip from Hart’s new talk show Hart to Heart, the 42-year-old comedian is joined by Don Cheadle. During their discussion, Cheadle briefly mentions his age, which causes Hart to loudly react in a way that catches both stars off-guard — giving way to a cringeworthy exchange.

The Space Jam: A New Legacy star explains, “And me, you know, I’m 56 years old…” before he”s cut off by Hart who lets out a loud, “Damn!”

The two stars briefly stare at each other in silence as Cheadle shoots Hart a look, leading the Fatherhood star to apologize.

“Sorry,” he says as the clip comes to a close.

Although the exchange was interpreted by most as awkward and tense, there seems to be no bad blood between the two.

Hart showed that he was able to laugh at his pain by retweeting the clip along with the caption, “Y’all gotta check out this interview in full,” followed by four crying laughing emojis.

It’s appears Cheadle didn’t take the situation too seriously, either. When a fan asked what was going through his mind in that moment, the Avengers: Endgame star answered, “That @KevinHart4real and i need to do a movie together asap!”

“I think this is my favorite interview ever,” he added. “‘damn!'”

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Justin Bieber jumps on his personal “song of the summer”: Wizkid’s “Essence”

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Starboy/Sony Music International/RCA Records

Remember when Justin Bieber jumped on the remix of “Despacito,” and helped drive the Latin pop track to a record-setting run at number one? Well, he may be about to do something similar for the Afrobeats genre.

Justin has joined Nigerian singer Wizkid — whom you may remember from his appearance on Drake‘s number-one hit, “One Dance” — for a remix of his hit “Essence.”

“Thank u for letting me jump on the song of the summer,” Justin wrote on Instagram. “‘Essence’ remix out now.”

The new version of “Essence” will appear on the deluxe version of Wizkid’s album Made in Lagos, due out August 27. The original version has been a popular music clip on Instagram and TikTok.

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Black Veil Brides premiere new ‘The Phantom Tomorrow’ track, “Torch”

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Black Veil Brides has released a new song called “Torch,” a cut off the band’s upcoming album, The Phantom Tomorrow.

The track, which is available now for digital download, is accompanied by a video that concludes the narrative that began with the visual for lead single “Scarlet Cross,” and continued with the songs “Fields of Bone” and “Crimson Skies.” The story is related to the character Blackbird, an important figure in the Phantom Tomorrow concept.

“We wanted to create something that felt like a fitting ending to the four-video story arc that started with ‘Scarlet Cross,'” says frontman Andy Biersack. “While this is the end of the original ‘Blackbird’ video chronology, it certainly is not the end of The Phantom Tomorrow narrative that plays out on the record and in our upcoming comic book series.”

“It’s been one of the greatest joys of my professional life getting to dream up these concepts,” he adds. “For us as a band to work with such amazing individuals and to see this story realized on the screen is an absolute honor.”

The Phantom Tomorrow is due out October 29. It’s the follow-up to 2018’s Vale.

Brothers Osborne bring Leslie Jordan to a dive bar brawl in their “I’m Not for Everyone” video

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Brothers Osborne’s current single, “I’m Not for Everyone,” is all about celebrating the quirks that make a person stand out from the crowd — even if some people might not accept them the way they are.

for the song’s music video, the sibling duo enlisted one of their quirkiest pals — actor-turned-social-media-star Leslie Jordan — to play the starring role of a happily off-beat guy strolling unscathed through a massive bar fight.

Dolled up in a Nudie-style suit and at least a foot shorter than everyone else in the room, Leslie ultimately becomes the star of the show. He even charms the bar’s patrons so thoroughly they quit brawling and throw their arms around each other, swaying and singing along to the last chorus of the song.

“We got our dear friend Leslie Jordan to be the protagonist and he is absolutely killing it,” says band mate John Osborne. “He doesn’t look like anyone here, and it doesn’t bother him. He sticks out like a sore thumb. The song is about not being for everyone, but the core of the song is about embracing that part of you, and Leslie does it perfectly.”

By now, the two acts are old friends. Last year, the Brothers’ T.J. Osborne had a guest spot on Leslie’s star-studded gospel project, Company’s Comin’, an album that also featured the legendary likes of Dolly Parton and Chris Stapleton.

Meanwhile, the Brothers Osborne are headed to Iowa this weekend for the next dates on their We’re Not for Everyone Tour.

Watch ‘GoT’ star Kit Harington straight up go for it, sing Train’s “Drops of Jupiter” on ‘Fallon’

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

For years, Jimmy Fallon has been trying to get one of his guests to participate in a bit he calls “Straight Up Goes For It” — in which said guest would sing Train‘s “Drops of Jupiter.” Well, it took him years to find someone willing to do it, but Thursday night, he finally succeeded.

Thursday was the 1,500th episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and, after “dozens of famous people that you know and love” told Fallon no, Game of Thrones star Kit Harington finally said yes. And even though the actor best known as Jon Snow can neither sing nor play the piano, Fallon said, “He’s doing it because he’s cool, and he’s funny and he gets it.”

And Harington did, indeed, “straight up go for it,” pretending to play the piano decorated with candles and roses as he belted out the Grammy-winning 2001 hit. While his voice wasn’t great, he made it through the entire song — even to the “nah nah nahs” at the end — though he did get tripped up by the admittedly bizarre lyrics several times.

The audience, of course, went wild.

Who’s 50? The Who’s classic fifth studio album, ‘Who’s Next,’ celebrates its 50th anniversary Saturday

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Who‘s fifth studio album, Who’s Next, considered one of the group’s finest moments, was released 50 years ago this Saturday, August 14.

The follow-up to the legendary British band’s classic 1969 “rock opera” Tommy, Who’s Next was put together from songs that The Who’s main songwriter and songwriter Pete Townshend composed for a multimedia project called Lifehouse that was based around the concept of a future society where music was outlawed.

Townshend’s grand vision for Lifehouse proved impossible to pull off, and the project was abandoned, but some songs and sonic ideas, including the use of synthesizers, were salvaged for Who’s Next.

The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200, and was the group’s only release to reach #1 on the U.K. albums chart. It features some of The Who’s most popular and enduring songs, including “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Bargain.”

“Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Behind Blue Eyes” also were released as singles, and both made it into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #15 and #34, respectively.

“Baba O’Riley,” the album’s lead track, is often incorrectly referred to as “Teenage Wasteland.” Its title was inspired by the names of Townshend’s guru, Meher Baba, and one of Pete’s musical inspirations, minimalist composer Terry Riley.

The album’s iconic cover humorously appears to show the band members having just relieved themselves on a huge concrete monolith. However, only Townshend actually urinated on the structure; rainwater was used to mimic the effect for the group’s other members.

Who’s Next is The Who’s most successful U.S. album, selling over 3 million copies. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it at #77 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Here’s the Who’s Next track list:

“Baba O’Riley”
“Bargain”
“Love Ain’t for Keeping”
“My Wife”
“The Song Is Over”
“Getting in Tune”
“Going Mobile”
“Behind Blue Eyes”
“Won’t Get Fooled Again”

Jennifer Hudson shares the mandate that Aretha Franklin gave to her for the ‘Respect’ biopic

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jennifer Hudson says she received a special mandate from the Queen of Soul when she took on the role of Aretha Franklin in the new biographical film Respect.

In the film, which captures the life and career of Franklin, Hudson plays the singer as an adult. The movie focuses not only on Aretha’s struggles with her relationships, but also with the male-dominated music industry that often tried to control her. Hudson tells ABC Audio that Franklin wanted to make sure that she did her story justice.

“I remember our very first meeting, and [Franklin] said, ‘How are you going to portray me?’ And I said, ‘Well, however you would like to be portrayed,'” the singer says, laughing.

According to Hudson, Aretha wanted the Oscar winner to make her biopic be more than just about the drama.

“I think the biggest thing was just holding onto her roots — and my roots as well — which is her faith,” Hudson explains. “And that was key to me, and the most important thing throughout the entire film in portraying her.”

Respect, also starring Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans, is now in theaters.

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