With previous records titled Meat and Candy and Happy Endings, the stakes were high for Old Dominion to settle on an appropriate moniker for their follow-up to their 2019 self-titled album, as lead singer Matthew Ramsey explains.
“You know, when it comes to a decision like that, first of all, it can be daunting to name an album after we’ve sort of set a tone of album titles as we have,” he says.
It seems originally, the group of hit songwriters was headed in the direction of more clever wordplay.
“[There was] lots of debate that wasn’t real debate,” Matthew explains, “because our problem in this band is we are really good at making jokes that make ourselves laugh that no one else thinks is funny.”
“But we pushed it to the last minute,” he admits, “[with] the label knocking on the door, saying, ‘Hey, we gotta have a title for this,’ and us going, ‘Yeah, what about this joke and that joke?'”
Ultimately, the answer was hidden in one of the album’s tracks.
“Finally, we all sort of arrived at the title at the same time,” Matthew reveals. “We pulled that lyric out of ‘No Hard Feelings,’ and [from] different parts of the bus… we all came together and we were like, ‘What about Time, Tequila & Therapy?’ And we were all like, ‘That’s what I was thinking.'”
“So this band is tight!” Matthew adds, as the band laughs.
Old Dominion’s fourth album, Time, Tequila & Therapy, featuring their top-ten hit “I Was on a Boat That Day,” is out now.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Houston 6, Chi White Sox 1
Tampa Bay 5, Boston 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Philadelphia 125, Toronto 113
Memphis 128, Charlotte 98
Miami 113, Houston 106
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PRESEASON
Tampa Bay 6, Florida 2
Ottawa 5, Montreal 4 (SO)
Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 2
Dallas 3, Colorado 1
Minnesota 3, Chicago 2 (OT)
Edmonton 3, Vancouver 2
Arizona 3, Vegas 1
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
L.A. Rams 26, Seattle 17
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Coastal Carolina 52, Arkansas St. 20
It was the first major Hollywood movie delayed because of the pandemic, and now the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, is finally in theaters this weekend. Daniel Craig returns for a final time as the British super spy, and he tells ABC News he’s thrilled fans get to see it in the theater, as intended.
“Bond movies are meant to be seen in cinemas with a crowd of people you don’t know that well with popcorn and drinks and some shouting and screaming,” he says.
Even though Craig knew No Time to Die would be the last time around for him, he admits that he didn’t take time to savor those moments while filming.
“There’s so many fires to put out. So many things to be thinking about, the following day, the following week, the following month, you’re just sort of in the process and that’s all that’s going on,” he explains. “It didn’t really, it didn’t hit home until the last shooting day.”
Craig, 53, adds that looking back on his experience, “the fun outweighs everything” despite a lot of “ups and downs.”
“I just look back with fondness about the people that I’ve had the chance to work with. That’s been really just the joy of it all,” he says.
With Craig’s exit, there enters a new 007, played by Lashana Lynch, who didn’t realize what she’d gotten herself into when it came to physical training for the part.
“I also did ask to be a ninja at the beginning, and I kind of regret that now because they did not go easy on me,” Lynch tittered.
Queen Latifah has struggled with losing weight for much of her life, and now she’s launching a new campaign to erase the negative stigma about obesity.
The hip hop and acting icon has partnered with pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk for the “It’s Bigger Than Me” campaign that aims to educate people about obesity as a clinical condition.
“It’s in your DNA,” Latifah tells People. “Maybe your hormones are doing something that you’re not aware of and that’s something for a professional to deal with.”
The Equalizer star, born Dana Elaine Owens, remembers that she was always mocked about being big for her age. At age 18, she experienced what she calls “flashes of self-hate” that she quickly wanted to end.
“I said, ‘Dana, you’re either going to hate yourself, or you’re going love yourself.’ And I decided at that moment I’m going to love myself,” Latifah says. “I don’t want to ever be in a place where I don’t love me.”
When she launched her self-titled talk show in 1999, Latifah confesses that it was “really hard to keep my weight in check.” The Grammy winner found herself judging how she appeared on camera.
“Looking at yourself on TV, which already adds 10 or 15 pounds, I’m like, ‘Oh, man. Look at my chin, look at my hips,'” she notes.
Now she understands that your body size is not an automatic indication of whether you are healthy. “A lot of people, they’ll be half my size, but they’re actually malnourished,” the Queen says. “I’m probably healthier than half those people just because I know where I stand. I know what I’m made of.”
After decades of feeling judged because of her weight, Latifah says she’s “in a good place,” adding, “I’ve learned to manage my body.”
Madonna‘s Madame X concert film debuts on Paramount+ today and you’ll be able to watch it in style, thanks to some matching merch.
A new, limited edition merch collection has launched on Shop.Madonna.com to celebrate the film’s release. The collection features hoodies, tees and shorts emblazoned with logos and imagery representing her first-ever theater tour experience.
Prices range from $30 to $75, with more styles will be released soon. You can also find other tour merch in the online shop, including the infamous Madame X eye patch.
The Madame X concert film was shot in Lisbon, Portugal during the Queen of Pop’s sold-out tour, which ran from September of 2019 to March of 2020. It captures songs off her 2019 album of the same name, as well as previous hits and fan favorites.
The trek was different from Madonna’s previous tours. Instead of her usual stadium show, she created a much more intimate performance for theaters, and played multiple nights in major cities in the United States, England, France and Portugal.
Several shows on the tour were canceled due to a recurring knee injury Madonna suffered, and the entire tour was subsequently cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday, Madonna revealed that the main thing she wants people to take away from the documentary is that art is important in our lives. “I don’t think people emphasize that enough,” she insisted.
“James Baldwin was a great source of inspiration for me growing, and he was a great source of inspiration for the show,” she continued. “And one of the things I quote over and over again in the show is that artists are here to disturb the peace…in a good way.”
Justin Bieber: Our World hits Amazon Prime Video today, and it documents how Justin staged his New Year’s Eve livestream concert last December amid the pandemic. Director Michael D. Ratner also directed Justin’s YouTube docuseries Seasons, which detailed the singer’s struggle with Lyme disease, mental health issues and drug addiction. But Our World shows Justin at a much happier and healthier point in his life.
“I think when we made Seasons…he was coming out of a rough chapter of his life,” Ratner tells ABC Audio. “Ultimately, what this film should do is provide joy for people.”
“You should watch this film and take a trip down memory lane and feel the nostalgia of these old hits that he’s playing, all the way to some of his [newest] hits,” Ratner says, adding that Justin’s growth since Seasons is “evident” in Our World.
“You’re going to see him as a leader and as a 27-year-old man who’s married,” says Ratner.
Much of the film deals with Justin and his team attempting to stage the concert on the roof of the Beverly Hills Hotel while trying not to get COVID.
“It’s essential that the performance is great and has production value and feels special,” says Ranter. “But I think that the [pandemic] story…was what makes the film really work.”
Ratner also praises the footage that Justin himself shot.. In one scene, filmed last December, Justin’s wife Hailey asks him what his plans are for 2021, and he says he wants to have a child — or at least start trying for one. Ratner predicts that when that day comes, Justin will “be an incredible dad.”
“I’ve seen him around kids, and he’s so good with kids, as is Hailey,” he notes. “I think that they’re going to be great parents.”
Last month’s premiere of Shinedown‘s ATTENTION ATTENTION film, based on the band’s 2018 album of the same name, felt very much like a grand finale for perhaps the most conceptually driven work of the group’s career. However, as frontman Brent Smith tells ABC Audio, he and his band mates aren’t quite ready to leave ATTENTION ATTENTION in the rear view mirror.
“We have so many things that we want to do with ATTENTION ATTENTION in the future,” Smith says.
One of those ideas is to fuse the ATTENTIONATTENTION film with a performance of the album in its entirety during a Shinedown concert.
“[We’d be] conducting these massive video walls behind us to play the movie,” Smith explains. “As the movie’s playing, we’re performing [the album], too.”
There’s also talk of bringing ATTENTION ATTENTION to yet another medium: live theater.
“We’re starting to write a concept for the possibility of turning it into a play that could maybe see the light of day on Broadway one day, or any theater for that matter,” Smith says.
In addition to keeping the ATTENTION ATTENTION train running, Shinedown’s also started working on a follow-up album, set to arrive in 2022.
Neil Young is among the music artists and entertainers who will take part in a virtual charity event called CAMP-A-THON on October 28 that will raise funds for The Painted Turtle, a free camp for chronically ill children and their families.
The event will be hosted by comic and actor George Lopez, a longtime supporter of the camp, and also will feature appearances by Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah, Los Lobos, Danny DeVito, Cheech Marin, singer/songwriter Brett Dennen, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and others.
The event will feature stories about The Painted Turtle camp that will stream throughout the day, as well as performances from Young, Los Lobos, Marin and Dennen. The fundraiser will conclude with a virtual “Campfire” at 7 p.m. PT.
“This summer kids couldn’t go to the campsite and have a week long experience,” Lopez says, “but what The Painted Turtle did was bring Camp to all the campers wherever they may be, home or the hospital, and they delivered what they always deliver; hope, magic, and a whole lot of fun!”
The Painted Turtle is a nonprofit founded by late actor Paul Newman that’s located in Lake Hughes, California.
The CAMP-A-THON event is free, although viewers can make donations to the charity by visiting ThePaintedTurtle.org.
Young previously helped raise money for The Painted Turtle at his Harvest Moon: A Gathering concert, which took place in September 2019 at the camp.
(WASHINGTON) — After weeks of brinkmanship, the Senate voted Thursday night to raise the debt limit by $480 billion until Dec. 3.
The procedural move to break the GOP filibuster, which required 60 votes, was the first hurdle cleared, with a final count of 61-38. At least 10 Republicans needed to side with all Democrats to clear the hurdle to move forward to a final vote; 11 ultimately voted to advance the vote.
Democrats then raised the debt limit with a simple majority — 50-48. No Republican voted w/ Democrats to raise the debt ceiling.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced earlier in the day that Democrats and Republicans had reached an agreement to avert the U.S. defaulting on its debt for the first time.
“We have reached an agreement to extend the debt ceiling through early December, and it’s our hope that we can get this done as soon as today,” Schumer said Thursday morning, referring to a Senate vote.
McConnell followed Schumer and confirmed the deal was close to a vote — with the GOP leader claiming credit for saving the American people from default and the Democrats from themselves.
“The Senate is moving toward the plan I laid out last night to spare the American people a manufactured crisis,” he said.
Republican leaders initially struggled to find 10 GOP votes to break the filibuster following weeks of messaging to members that Democrats should go it alone.
But 11 Republicans ultimately voted to advance the debt ceiling vote. They were: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, West Virginia Sen. Shelly Moore Capito and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso.
The agreement to raise the debt ceiling by $480 billion gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority it says is needed to get the government through to Dec. 3.
The Senate deal comes a little more than a week before Oct. 18 — the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pegged as when the U.S. will no longer be able to cover its debts. Dec. 3 is the expiration date of the stopgap government funding bill needed to keep the government running.
The deal also comes as Democrats are still working to pass President Joe Biden’s sweeping domestic policy agenda, paving the way for a busy two months.
Some Republicans have privately expressed frustration with McConnell, after following GOP messaging for weeks that Democrats would have to raise the debt ceiling on their own.
“In the end, we’ll be there,” Thune, the Republican Whip, said. “It’ll be a painful birthing process.”
Before the debt hike hits Biden’s desk, it also needs to pass the House.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted in a letter Thursday night that the House may have to return early from recess to vote on the debt ceiling legislation. The House was expected to return Oct. 19 — one day after Yellen warned lawmakers the U.S. would default — so it’s likely they will have to come back sometime next week.
Real-world consequences of the U.S. defaulting could include delays to Social Security payments and checks to service members, a suspension of veterans’ benefits and rising interest rates on credit cards, car loans and mortgages.
After White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s lukewarm reception to McConnell’s offers on Wednesday, the White House appeared more receptive on Thursday, now that Democrats on the Hill signaled their agreement.
“This is a positive step forward, the debt ceiling, short term deal that we’re seeing and it gives us some breathing room from the catastrophic default we were approaching because of Senator McConnell’s decision to play politics with our economy,” deputy press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Pressed on the change in tone, she said, “This is a temporary respite, but we’re not going to let up until Senator McConnell stops obstructing and allows us to put this behind us for good.”
Jean-Pierre wouldn’t say if the White House would sign on to Democrats beginning the budget reconciliation process for a longer-term debt ceiling fix, considering they’ll have more time now to navigate the complicated process, but it’s clear a longer-term solution will be needed.
“We’ll defer to them on the process,” she said of congressional Democrats, “But as the agreement shows there’s no, there’s nothing stopping Congress from addressing the debt limit, through regular order, which is what we have been asking for.”
(WASHINGTON) — United Airlines expects travel to surge in December as more people look to get away for the holidays.
“We’re seeing a lot of pent-up demand in our data and are offering a December schedule that centers on the two things people want most for the holidays: warm sunshine and fresh snow,” Ankit Gupta, vice president of network planning and scheduling at United, said in a press release.
To meet the demand, United plans to fly 3,500 daily domestic flights in the last month of the year — making it the airline’s largest schedule since the start of the pandemic. In comparison, United flew just 649 flights in a single day in April 2020.
“We know families and friends are eager to reunite this holiday season, which is why we’re thrilled to add new flights that will help them connect and celebrate together,” Gupta said.
In December, United will begin offering new direct flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix from Cleveland, and to Orlando from Indianapolis. United will offer up to 195 daily flights to 12 destinations in Florida this winter, the most flights to the state in company history. The carrier will also have 66 daily flights to over a dozen ski destinations across the U.S. in its schedule.
The airline expects the busiest travel days for the Thanksgiving holiday to be Wednesday, Nov. 24 and Sunday, Nov. 28. United said popular days for winter holiday travel are expected to be Thursday, Dec. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 2.
If you’re looking to travel over the holidays and have not booked yet, experts say now is the time.
“We expect that prices will remain relatively low until about Halloween, so that’s kind of the day where if you know you get to Halloween, that’s when you should definitely book if you haven’t booked yet,” Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper, said in an interview with ABC News. “Because after Halloween, we’re expecting prices for Thanksgiving to start rising about 40% for domestic and international flights for Christmas.”
After Halloween, Hopper said travelers should expect domestic fares to spike 40% leading up to Thanksgiving week, and an additional 25% for any last-minute flights.
