The Weeknd‘s number-one hit “Blinding Lights” has set quite a few chart records since it was first released two years ago. That’s why Billboard now lists it as number one on its new list of the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs.
The list is based on historical performance on the Hot 100 chart, and “Blinding Lights” gets the title because it set the records for the most weeks ever spent in the top five, top 10 and top 40 on the Hot 100, as well as on the chart overall.
Specifically, the song was in the top five for 43 weeks, the top 10 for 57 weeks, the top 40 for 86 weeks, and stayed on the chart for 90 weeks.
“I don’t think [it] has hit me yet,” The Weeknd told Billboard when he was informed of his latest accomplishment. “I try not to dwell on it too much. I just count my blessings, and I’m just grateful.”
“Blinding Lights” replaces Billboard’s previous #1 Song of All Time, Chubby Checker‘s “The Twist,” which was number one in 1960 and in 1962.
The top 10 on Billboard‘s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs chart are:
1. “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd
2. “The Twist,” Chubby Checker
3. “Smooth,” Santana feat. Rob Thomas
4. “Mack the Knife,” Bobby Darin
5. “Uptown Funk!,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
6. “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes
7. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
8. “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas
9. “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio
10. “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran
Forty years ago today, AC/DC released its seventh internationally available studio album, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), a follow-up to the Australian rockers’ massively successful Back in Black.
While its popularity and impact paled in comparison to Back in Black — which, with 25 million copies sold, has become the fourth best-selling album ever in the U.S. — For Those About to Rock was AC/DC’s first album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200.
The album also was AC/DC’s second with singer Brian Johnson, who joined the band before the recording of Back in Black following the death of longtime frontman Bon Scott. Additionally, it was the third of three consecutive AC/DC records produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, spanning the last week of 1981 and the first two weeks of 1982. Two singles were released from the album: the title track and “Let’s Get It Up,” which reached #4 and #9, respectively, on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. “Let’s Get It Up” also peaked at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
AC/DC toured extensively in 1981 and ’82 in support of the album, which has gone on to sell over four million copies in the U.S.
Here’s the For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) track list:
“For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”
“I Put the Finger on You”
“Let’s Get It Up”
“Inject the Venom”
“Snowballed”
“Evil Walks”
“C.O.D.”
“Breaking the Rules”
“Night of the Long Knives”
“Spellbound”
Rita Moreno became the first Latina to win a best supporting actress Oscar in 1961 for her portrayal of Anita in the iconic musical West Side Story. Now, half a century later, the 89-year-old actress is starring in Steven Spielberg‘s version of West Side Story.
“I don’t think of it as a remake….I think of it as Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. It’s a reimagining,” Moreno told ABC News.
The musical, which is inspired by Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet, is set in New York City in the 1950s and tells the story of rival gangs — the Sharks, who are Puerto Rican, and the Jets, who are white. At the story’s heart is the relationship between Tony, a former member of the Jets, who falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks.
Anita, who is Bernardo’s girlfriend and Maria’s friend and confidante, is played by Ariana DeBose in the new film. Moreno and DeBose told ABC News that Moreno gave DeBose advice about something she regrets not doing in a certain scene, but neither actress would say what scene that was.
“[Moreno] was very graceful with me, because, I’ll be very candid — I was awkward AF,” DeBose admitted. “She was, like, ‘I think there’s more power in a different delivery. So if that is helpful to you.’ “And I took the note. It was a good note.”
Moreno said, “I said, ‘I think it’s immensely effective, and I never — it never occurred to me to do the scene that way.’ Well, I’m thrilled that she used it.”
You can see more of the interviews in the primetime ABC News event Something’s Coming: West Side Story – A Special Edition of 20/20, airing on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
Taylor Swift certainly had a memorable reaction when “All Too Well” became the top song in the country. The single is now number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, which was no easy feat because it had to dethrone Adele‘s hit, “Easy on Me,” in order to do it.
Taylor celebrated the milestone on Twitter and hilariously wrote “*FERAL SCREECH*” when sharing the announcement. “All Too Well” is not only her eighth official chart-topper, it is now the longest-running song to hit number one.
“All Too Well,” which clocks in at 10 minutes and 13 seconds, topples Don McLean‘s nearly 50-year record, when his eight-minute and 34 second song “American Pie (Parts I & II)” rose to the top in 1972.
Taylor’s mind was blown by her history-making accomplishment, as evidenced by the tell-all emoji, and she further thanked fans in a follow-up message, writing, “I’m so proud of this song and the memories I have with you guys because of it. You truly chose this one and now you did THIS?! I’m floored. A ten minute song is at the top of the Hot 100.”
She also thanked her team for helping turn the 10-minute version of the heartbreaking ballad into “The ultimate craftsman of songs,” and shouted out collaborators Jack Antonoff and Christopher Rowe as well as sound engineer Laura Sisk and songwriter Liz Rose.
The Grammy winner is celebrating the success of her newly rerecorded Red (Taylor’s Version), which is now the number-one album in the country after debuting atop the Billboard 200.
E! News reports that Taylor has since jetted to South America to visit longtime love Joe Alwynon the set of his upcoming movie, The Stars at Noon, which is reportedly being filmed in Panama.
I’m so proud of this song and the memories I have with you guys because of it. You truly chose this one and now you did THIS?! I’m floored. A ten minute song is at the top of the Hot 100.🤯
Dua Lipa wants to help you make sense with what’s going on in the world, so she’s launching the new platform, Service95, to provide style, culture and societal insights through her well-traveled lens.
Launching in January, the service will introduce Dua’s fans to movers and shakers from across the world and share their perspectives about life, culture and style. Dua will also provide recommendations for little-known places to eat, hang out and visit that she personally finds fascinating.
The Grammy winner-turned-lifestyle-guru said she was inspired to launch Service95 because she is always curating experiences for her friends, because she loves sharing all the hidden gems and global insights she learned of while touring. Now, she wants to invite everyone into her inner circle.
“The more we share with each other, the closer we become, the wider our circles grow,” Dua said in a statement to ABC Audio. “I find huge joy in telling people what I’ve learned about in any given city and love finding connection in our shared experiences. Service95 is going to take that idea and bring it to anyone who’s as curious as I am about life.”
You can subscribe to the free, weekly Service95 newsletter via the official website.
Dua also teased her upcoming At Your Service podcast, which compliments Service95’s purpose, where she’ll tap into her journalism skills and interview hard-to-get “high profile guests” on a myriad of topics — from complex world issues to things on their radar.
“Not only am I probing them about the things I’m most curious about, I’m also treating them like the experts they are,” Dua said.
(NEW YORK) — The NBA has suspended-without-pay Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart after an altercation during Sunday’s game.
The NBA announced Monday that for “recklessly hitting,” James will serve his one-game suspension Tuesday when the Lakers face the New York Knicks. For his part, Stewart has been suspended two games for “escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing” James “in an unsportsmanlike manner.”
The incident began with just over nine minutes remaining in the third quarter during Sunday’s game at Little Caesars Arena. James and Stewart had been vying for position during a free throw, when James struck Stewart as their arms became intertwined, ESPN reports. Blood appeared steam from above Stewart’s eye immediately after the blow. Several people, including coaches and teammates, attempted to block Stewart’s path as he attempted to run toward James. Both players were subsequently ejected from the game, with Stewart assessed two technical fouls and James a flagrant foul 2.
The Lakers and Pistons will face off again next Sunday in Los Angeles. Both Stewart and James will be eligible to play in that game.
(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — A Georgia jury was set to begin deliberating Tuesday the fates of three white men charged with trapping Ahmaud Arbery with their pickup trucks and fatally shooting.
“Your oath requires that you will decide this case based on the evidence,” Judge Timothy Walmsley told the jury before sending the panel off to begin their deliberations.
The jury got the case after Linda Dunikoski, the Cobb County, Georgia, assistant district attorney appointed as a special prosecutor in the Glynn County case, took two hours to rebut the closing arguments made on Monday by attorneys for the three defendants.
The jury, comprised of 11 white people and one Black person, heard wildly different summations on Monday of the same evidence in the racially-charged case. Dunikoski alleged the defendants pursued and murdered Arbery because of wrong assumptions they made that the Black man running through their neighborhood had committed a burglary, while defense attorneys countered that Arbery was shot in self-defense when he resisted a citizen’s arrest.
Travis McMichael, the 35-year-old U.S. Coast Guard veteran; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, a retired Glynn County police officer, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 53, each face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted on all the charges.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to a nine-count state indictment that includes malice murder, multiple charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a 12-gauge shotgun and aggravated assault with their pickup trucks.
The McMichaels and Bryan were also indicted on federal hate crime charges in April and have all pleaded not guilty.
Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern:
Nov 23, 11:34 am
Judge gives jury final instructions
Judge Timothy Walmsley read the jury final instructions and explained the law and each charge to the jury before sending the panel off to deliberate their verdicts.
Walmsley told the jury that they must reach a unanimous verdict beyond a reasonable doubt, explaining that does not mean “beyond all doubt” or to a “mathematical certainty.”
He reminded the jury that the defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the charges and that the burden of proof is solely on the prosecution.
Walmsley said that lesser charges could only be considered against William “Roddie” Bryan. He said the lesser charges against Bryan are simple assault, reckless conduct and reckless driving.
“Each of you must decide this case for yourself,” Walmsley said.
Nov 23, 10:56 am
Prosecutor pokes holes in Travis McMichael’s testimony
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski suggested to the jury that Travis and Greg McMichael became angry at Ahmaud Arbery after he ignored their calls to stop when they pulled up alongside him during the pursuit.
Dunikoski attacked the testimony of Travis McMichael, pointing out inconsistencies and claims she alleged were concocted for the trial.
Dunikoski said neither Travis McMichael nor his father told police on the day of the shooting that they were trying to place Arbery under criminal arrest because they believed he had committed a burglary at a home under construction in their neighborhood.
The prosecutor cited Travis McMichael’s testimony that he thought his father had called 911 before they set out to chase Arbery.
“Does anybody believe that?” asked Dunikoski, suggesting that a dispatcher would have kept Greg McMichael on the line to get more information.
She scoffed at Travis McMichael’s claim on the witness stand that he didn’t know what his father yelled at Arbery as they chased him, including the alleged statement threatening to shoot Arbery.
She said Travis McMichael’s testimony was full of “maybes” and assumptions, including that Arbery may have committed a crime, that maybe he was caught.
“These are all maybes. He doesn’t know anything,” Dunikoski said.
Dunikoski also poked holes in Travis McMichael’s claim that he spoke to Arbery calmly during the pursuit, trying to get him to stop and answer questions about what he was doing in their neighborhood.
“Do you believe for a minute he was talking softly to Ahmaud Arbery?” Dunikoski asked the jury.
She played a 911 call Travis McMichael made after Arbery was cornered, and breathlessly reported his emergency that “A Black male was running down the street.” In the background of the call, Greg McMichael was heard yelling at Arbery, “Stop. Goddammit. Stop.”
The prosecutor wrapped up her rebuttal argument by telling the jury the defendants are all “parties to the crime” and asked the panel to convict them on all charges.
Nov 23, 10:03 am
Defense attorneys call for a mistrial
As prosecutor Linda Dunikoski continued her rebuttal argument, defense attorneys for Greg and Travis McMichael objected several times, accusing Dunikoski of misstating the law that pertains to citizen’s arrest.
After one of the defense attorneys called for a mistrial in front of the jury, Judge Walmsley sent the panel out of the courtroom.
Walmsley appeared frustrated at all the interruptions to Dunikoski’s rebuttal, saying, “I like to get the closing arguments done.”
Walmsley denied the motion for a mistrial, telling the attorneys, “I indicated the law is going to be provided to the panel. I’ve indicated the court’s position with respect to the law.”
Nov 23, 9:42 am
‘This isn’t the Wild West’: Prosecutor
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski went through the felony counts against the defendants, telling the jury that the evidence shows they are guilty of each charge, including malice murder.
“This isn’t the Wild West,” Dunikoski said, referring to the actions the McMichaels and Bryan allegedly took.
“But for the criminal intent at false imprisonment, but for the false imprisonment, but for the assault with the motor vehicles, but for the aggravated assault with the shotgun, he (Arbery) wouldn’t be dead. That’s how you think about it,” Dunikoski said. “You can’t take out any of these crimes. You take out any one of these crimes that they committed and he’s still alive.”
Dunikoski added, “All of the underlying felonies played a substantial and necessary part in causing the death of Ahmaud Arbery.”
Nov 23, 9:18 am
‘Ignorance of the law is no excuse’: Prosecutor
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski began her rebuttal argument by telling the jury she wants to make sure “we are on the same page as far as the facts and the law goes.”
She said the law requires “a fair-minded and impartial juror to honestly seek the truth.”
“In other words, do you think they committed the crimes? That’s all you need. Oh, if you go, ‘Yeah, I think they committed the crimes, you’re good. That’s all you need.”
Dunikoski’s statement prompted objections from the defense attorneys that she was misstating the law. Judge Timothy Walmsley told the jury he will instruct them on the law once Dunikoski is finished.
The prosecutor then told the jury that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
“If you’re going to take the law into your own hands, you better know what the law is,” Dunikoski said, referring to the laws of self-defense and citizen’s arrests that the defendants are claiming.
“The state is not saying that Greg and Travis McMichael ran out of their house to go murder him,” Dunikoski said. “It started out as one thing and it escalated and it escalated until it became murder.”
Nov 22, 8:30 pm
Jury sent home for the night
After Kevin Gough, the attorney for William “Roddie” Bryan, wrapped up his closing argument, Dunikoski informed the judge that she’d need another two hours to present her rebuttal argument.
Judge Walmsley polled the jury and they said they didn’t want to stay longer.
Dunikoski will present her rebuttal argument on Tuesday morning before the jury is given final instructions on the law and sent to begin deliberations.
Court will resume at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, about a half-hour earlier than usual.
A new, updated version of the Nevermind cover lawsuit has been filed, Rolling Stone reports.
This past August, Spencer Elden sued the surviving members of Nirvana — Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic — as well as the late Kurt Cobain and his widow Courtney Love, alleging that the artwork for the seminal 1991 album, which features a photograph of a naked baby Elden swimming in a pool towards a dollar bill, amounted to child pornography.
According to Rolling Stone, Elden’s lawyers amended the suit in a new filing this week to include new claims, such as that photographer Kirk Weddle, who’s named as an additional defendant, also took photos of Elden “dressed up and depicted as Hugh Hefner,” the notorious founder of Playboy.
Additionally, the suit now cites various journal entries written by Cobain — which were published posthumously in the 2002 book Journals — in an effort to illustrate that the design of the Nevermind cover was sexual in nature.
While he Nirvana members, Love and Weddle are still named in the suit, ex-Nirvana drummer Chad Channing has been removed as a defendant. Channing’s initial inclusion in the complaint was confusing, since he had left Nirvana in 1990, before the band recorded Nevermind.
Requests for comments from both Elden’s lawyer and the legal team for the defendants were not returned to Rolling Stone.
Since originally filing the suit, Elden has Nirvana to censor his genitalia in any future editions of the Nevermind. A 30th anniversary edition of the album was released earlier this month with the original artwork intact.
Nirvana has not issued any official public statement regarding the suit, though Grohl has made a few veiled comments in recent interviews, including telling the U.K.’s Sunday Times that he had “many ideas” about changing the Nevermind cover if need be.
The five-date tour kicks off on April 2 in Morristown, New Jersey, and also will visit Washington, D.C., on April 4; New York City on April 5; and Chicago on April 7, before winding down in Los Angles on April 7.
The Hollies have long been led by two members of the band’s classic lineup — lead guitarist Tony Hicks and drummer Bobby Elliott. Rounding out the group’s current incarnation are lead singer Peter Howarth, bassist Ray Stiles, keyboardist Ian Parker and rhythm guitarist Steve Lauri.
“We felt like this is something no other band gets to do, celebrate six decades together,” says Hicks. “Sixty years of this band and these songs means so much to us and so many others.”
Adds Elliott, “We’re incredibly excited performing for everyone on what will be some of the most special shows in the history of The Hollies.”
The group, which was co-founded in 1962 by singers Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, scored a string of hits in the 1960s and early ’70s, including “Bus Stop,” “Stop Stop Stop,” “Carrie-Anne,” “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” “The Air That I Breathe” and “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress).”
Tickets for The Hollies’ U.S. tour are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting TheHolliesOfficial.com.
Prior to the trek, the band will be making a special appearance on March 31 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of the 2022 Flower Power Cruise, which sets sail from Miami on March 28.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.1 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 772,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 59.2% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the new is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 23, 10:46 am
Unvaccinated 9 times more likely to be hospitalized, 14 times more likely to die: CDC
In September, unvaccinated people had a 5.8 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared to vaccinated individuals, according to federal data pulled from 24 states and jurisdictions that has been published on the CDC website.
The unvaccinated are 14 times more likely to die from COVID-19, according to the CDC.
At Monday’s White House COVID-19 briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said unvaccinated adults are nine times more likely to be hospitalized for the virus compared to vaccinated adults.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 23, 9:34 am
Michigan hospital officials warn of strained health system
The Michigan Hospital Association is warning of strained health systems as COVID-19 surges across the state.
Michigan is fast approaching its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began, with more than 3,900 patients currently receiving care, according to state data. The vast majority of patients in the ICU and on ventilators are unvaccinated.
“Most hospitals throughout the state have more patients in their emergency departments than they do available rooms and staff to care for them,” officials wrote in a statement on Monday. “This results in long wait times, patients being placed in hallways or conference rooms, and diverting patients away from a hospital because there is no physical room or medical staff available to accept more patients.”
“We are extremely concerned because our best predictions are that COVID-19 patients will continue to increase during the weeks ahead as we enter the yearly flu season,” they said.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 22, 2:31 pm
US sees another increase in pediatric cases
The U.S. has reported an increase in pediatric COVID-19 cases for the third week in a row.
Nearly 142,000 children tested positive in the last week, which is a 16% increase from the week prior and a 41% jump over the last three weeks, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Nearly 6.8 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
COVID-19 cases among children remain “extremely high,” the organizations said, and there have been almost 1.7 million additional cases since the first week of September.
The Midwest continues to see the highest number of pediatric cases.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, AAP and CHA said. However, AAP and CHA continue to warn that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 22, 12:44 pm
Hospital admissions on the rise
Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions are on the rise in the U.S., up 8.4% in the last week, according to federal data.
Nineteen states reported at least a 10% jump in hospital admissions over the last week: Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Michigan, which is now reporting more cases than at any other point in the pandemic, has the nation’s highest infection rate, followed by Minnesota, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Maine.
Puerto Rico, Florida and Hawaii have the nation’s lowest infection rates, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 22, 10:01 am
TSA vaccine mandate won’t impact holiday travel
About 93% of TSA employees are in compliance with Monday’s deadline for the federal employee vaccine mandate, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.
“In compliance” means employees have had at least one shot or have filed for a medical or religious exemption.
Holiday travel won’t be impacted by the mandate, Farbstein said.
