(BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.) — Live Nation recently announced that proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required for entry to any Live Nation owned and operated venue or festival in the U.S. this fall.
The company, which promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment in the U.S. and around the world, said enforcement begins Oct. 4. This mandate will be applied to both concertgoers and musical acts were permitted by law.
Live Nation said best practices have also been developed for artists to request these policies at third-party venues.
“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of October 4th we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the U.S.,” Live Nation Entertainment president and CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement.
The company also is mandating employees be vaccinated by Oct. 4.
This news comes after AEG, another leader in concerts and live events, announced last week proof of vaccination will be required for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theaters and festivals as of Oct. 1 where permitted by law.
While AEG makes no mention of negative COVID-19 tests being accepted in lieu of proof of vaccination, Live Nation’s policy is similar to how Broadway is approaching the situation as the country grapples with the delta variant surge.
(NEW YORK) — Naomi Osaka and Levi’s have teamed up for an amazing denim launch that looks like it’s going to be a grand slam.
The tennis star and fashion brand announced the upcoming line on Tuesday, and it’s set to officially drop on Aug. 24.
The Levi’s x Naomi Osaka collection features reused, upcycled denim that includes everything from a kimono to a bustier, and is a unique mashup of sporty meets feminine pieces with subtle nods to Osaka’s Japanese heritage.
“I always loved wearing kimonos when I was a kid,” said Naomi in a statement. “So, to be able to do it in denim felt really different and a bit unexpected.”
The collection also has two denim short styles that are both made from an upcycled pair of men’s Levi’s jeans. One of the two is the lace-up short that has a sporty, raw hem that sits right above the knee and cool lace-up back detailing.
The other style features a fun vintage look that includes a short, raw hem along with draped crystal fringe.
One of the most standout pieces from the line is the trucker jacket bustier that also has a lace-up back similar to the shorts. The material is derived from repurposed Levi’s trucker jackets and has stylish flap pockets and shank buttons.
“I liked the idea of the bustier while I was sketching it,” said Osaka in a statement. “But I love it even more now that it’s been brought to life.”
She added, “It’s so cute!”
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, ambassador for social change and mental health advocate. She also has a passion for fashion that’s translated through several other collaborations with brands such as Frankies Bikinis, Nike, Louis Vuitton and several others.
In addition to fashion, she teamed up with chain salad restaurant Sweetgreen as the company’s first athlete ambassador and youngest investor.
Volbeat didn’t need to “Wait” very long to grab another number-one single.
The band’s new track, “Wait a Minute My Girl,” has hit number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. It arrives at the top spot on the ranking just two months after it premiered in June.
“Wait a Minute My Girl” is Volbeat’s ninth number-one Mainstream Rock Airplay hit, which ties the Danish rockers with Aerosmith in sixth for all-time charters. Shinedown has the most leaders in the chart’s 40-year history, with 16.
Volbeat will launch a U.S. tour September 24 in Atlanta.
Travis Denning is returning to the road with a renewed perspective.
As he jets across the U.S. as an opening act on Brothers Osborne‘s We’re Not For Everyone Tour, the “After a Few” singer says that he has a newfound appreciation for live shows and life on the road.
“I’m just so grateful. It’s like a totally different perspective. I try to take every opportunity now to go do things on the road, versus maybe there were days I woke up and just sat on the bus and did nothing,” Travis explains to People. “I remember the reason I love to do it is because I get to travel and do things.”
Travis also says he’s noticing a difference in the crowd, as more people seem to be in the moment and less occupied with capturing the show on their phones.
“They’re really living in the moment. I think you can just see people who missed it so much. What’s cool is everybody on stage missed it, too, so where there used to be a little bit of a wall between the audience and us, it feels more like a celebration of returning to this thing that we love,” he continues. “It’s been really amazing to experience that with people and just feel like we’re right there together. It’s almost like we’re not even on the stage.”
Travis dropped his new EP, Dirt Road Dawn, earlier this month as his current single, “ABBY,” climbs the charts.
St. Vincent has premiered the video for “Daddy’s Home,” the title track off her new album.
The clip finds Annie Clark performing the slinky tune from the back of a flatbed truck as it drives down a sweltering street. You can watch it now streaming via the St. Vincent Facebook page.
Daddy’s Home, the follow-up to 2017’s MASSEDUCTION, dropped in May. It also includes the lead single “Pay Your Way in Pain.”
St. Vincent will launch a U.S. tour in support of Daddy’s Home on September 3 in Portland, Maine. Along the way, she’ll stop by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 21.
St. Vincent is also opening for a pair of just-announced Foo Fighters U.K. shows, taking place June 2022.
Jim Jones announced Monday he’s recovering from COVID-19.
“I urge everybody to stay safe out there. COVID is real,” the Dipset member said in an Instagram video. “I was runnin’ ‘round here thinking I was Superman and COVID knocked the socks off Superman.” He also wrote that the virus “is like a stray bullet it don’t care who it hits.”
The 45-year-old rapper added that he recently tested negative and is feeling much better.
“So I urge and encourage everybody to please continue to mask up, please continue with hand sanitizer, social distance as much as you can, try to stay away from as many packed and crowded places,” he said. “I really felt it and I don’t want nobody to feel like how I felt.”
As previously reported, two weeks ago Jones and fellow Dipset members Cam’ron, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey battled The LOX in the latest edition of Verzuz, at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. The two groups will perform on the The Rap Superheroes Tour with State Property, which consists of Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Peedi, Oschino and Omillio Sparks, and the duo Young Gunz. The seven-city tour kicks off September 16 in Atlanta, and wraps up October 1 in Milwaukee.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — At 4:19 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, President Joe Biden concluded a speech defending his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, tapping his binder on a podium in the East Room of the White House for emphasis.
By 4:57 p.m., the presidential helicopter, Marine One, was in the air, headed for the presidential retreat, Camp David. For Biden, there was no looking back.
“I know my decision will be criticized, but I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision on to another president of the United States — yet another one — a fifth one. Because it’s the right one. It’s the right decision for our people,” Biden declared, leaving no doubt about his stance.
But as Biden withdrew to Camp David, his administration officials were left in Washington to field the lingering questions the president did not address: What exactly will be the fate of endangered Afghans struggling to leave the country? And why was the administration so surprised by the speed of the Taliban’s takeover?
For the Afghan interpreters and contractors who have aided U.S. forces during the 20-year war and are now under threat of retaliation from Taliban militants, getting answers is urgent.
More than 1,600 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan so far, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price confirmed Monday, but he declined to specify how many of those people are Special Visa applicants.
“As long as we deem that our public servants serving at [Hamid Karzai International Airport] are safe and secure, we will be engaged in an ambitious, aggressive, and around-the-clock effort to relocate as many as we possibly can,” Price said.
Defense Department Spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday morning that the Department of Defense is working to ramp up flight departures to one per hour. He hoped to achieve that cadence within the next 24 hours. But for those Afghans who are unable to travel safely through Taliban checkpoints to the airport, solutions are sparse.
“I know that there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating Afghans — civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier — still hopeful for their country. And part of it was because the Afghan government and its supporters discouraged us from organizing a mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, ‘a crisis of confidence,'” Biden said in his remarks Monday, attempting to defend the administration’s slow evacuation pace.
Monday evening, President Biden approved $500 million in State Department funding to aid Afghan refugees who are successfully evacuated.
“We plan on being on the ground there in Afghanistan for the next couple of weeks. It’s not just about moving out Americans, it is very much about meeting our moral and sacred obligations to those Afghans who helped us over the last 20 years getting as many out as we can,” Kirby said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.
For endangered Afghans, the challenge of leaving the country has been exacerbated by the sudden Taliban blitz.
“The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated,” Biden said Monday, admitting that his intelligence briefings did not accurately predict the pace of events. Biden did not directly address whether he considers it an intelligence failure.
While some senior military officials cautioned Biden against withdrawal, presenting him with a litany of possible consequences, Biden chose to move forward. DOD Spokesperson John Kirby defended the president’s choice on “Good Morning America” on Monday.
“The commander in chief is the commander in chief. It’s not about overruling his military leaders or other advisers. He is given options. He is given the pros and cons for each option, and then it’s up to him to decide. He was advised by the Defense Department, we had a voice. We had a seat at the table. We provided our advice and counsel. The president made his decision and now we’re in execution mode,” Kirby said.
Even members of Biden’s own party are raising questions about the intelligence on Afghanistan. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.,chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, proposed investigating what led to the government’s underestimation of the Taliban advance.
“I hope to work with the other committees of jurisdiction to ask tough but necessary questions about why we weren’t better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces,” Warner said in a statement Monday.
For those looking to carry out those investigations, the answers might be disheartening. The government’s nonpartisan watchdog on operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, on Monday released a report compiled just before the Taliban takeover, analyzing 20 years of U.S. efforts there. The report delivers a blunt verdict.
“Twenty years later, much has improved, and much has not in Afghanistan. If the goal was to rebuild and leave behind a country that can sustain itself and pose little threat to U.S. national security interests, the overall picture in Afghanistan is bleak,” it concludes.
Lady Gaga’s dogs Asia & Koji; Michael Stewart/GC Images
In February, Lady Gaga‘s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot when he tried to keep her beloved French bulldogs from being stolen. Thankfully, he survived and the dogs were recovered, but now Ryan would like your help.
In a GoFundMe page that he’s set up, Fischer explains that after he spent all those months “reclaiming” his body, he wanted to take a six-month journey to strengthen his “emotional and mental health,” so he decided to rent a van and explore the country while “seeking out communities that support the process of growing from trauma.”
Unfortunately, he writes, he’s two months into his journey, but his 1991 Ford Falcon rental van has broken down, he has nowhere to stay and he’s run out of cash.
“I have a clear purpose but am at an obvious impasse. With no vehicle, apartment, and having run out of savings and surviving on donations from generous loved ones, I am humbly asking for your help,” writes Fischer. “This is not an easy thing to ask, but I have started to realize sharing your vulnerability with others is exactly when radical change begins to occur for everyone involved.”
Fischer is hoping to raise $40,000 so he can buy a van and pay for his travel expenses. As of noon ET Tuesday, he’d raised just over $4,500.
“I love you, and thank you for all the ways you have supported me throughout; I truly can’t wait to see how the next step of this journey unfolds for us all,” Ryan concludes.
No word on whether or not he’s asked Lady Gaga, who called Ryan “hero” in February, for a donation.
The honorary plaque is located at 6314 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Pie Hole restaurant, which is at the corner of Vine St.
“This is a very special day for me,” the “American Pie” singer and songwriter said. “Awards are given every year on those television programs, and every year a new person is named a favorite; however, this award is forever. This is an honor I get to share with friends, fans, and whoever walks down Hollywood Boulevard.”
McLean’s friend “Weird Al” Yankovic was on hand to introduce Don, and the members of the country vocal group Home Free also took part in the ceremony.
“Weird Al” recorded a Star Wars-themed “American Pie” parody in 1999 called “The Saga Begins,” which featured a humorous recounting of The Phantom Menace‘s plot told from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s point of view.
Home Free teamed up with Don last year for an a cappella version of “American Pie.” The group led fans gathered for the unveiling ceremony in a sing-along of McLean’s famous anthem, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
You can check out a video of the entire ceremony at the Walk of Fame’s official YouTube channel.
What happens when you mix “Glycerine” with “Vasoline”? Well, we’ll find out this fall.
Bush and Stone Temple Pilots have announced a co-headlining tour, set to kick off September 30 in Mesa, Arizona. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 20, at 10 a.m. local time.
Bush’s latest album, The Kingdom, dropped last summer. It includes the single “Flowers on a Grave.”
STP, meanwhile, just dropped a 25th anniversary reissue of their 1996 album Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop last month. The group’s most recent new effort is 2020’s Perdida.
