They’ve worked together twice previously, but Elton John and Stevie Wonder have finally recorded an actual duet: “Finish Line,” which is available now as a digital download and on all streaming services.
In 1985, Elton and Stevie teamed with Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight to record the HIV/AIDS charity single “That’s What Friends Are For,” and in 1983, Stevie played harmonica on Elton’s smash “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.” But for Elton’s upcoming album The Lockdown Sessions, they did a proper collaboration, with both men singing and playing piano, Stevie on harmonica and a gospel choir backing them up.
In a statement, Elton celebrates his “fifty years of friendship” with Stevie, and says recording the duet was “a magical process.” “When you listen to what he does vocally and instrumentally on ‘Finish Line’ you think, ‘This is a true genius here,'” he adds.
Stevie raves in a statement of his own, “It is both a joy and honor to sing, play piano and harmonica for Elton! He has truly been one of the great spirits of music, life, friendship, and love, who I’ve met on this life journey! True artistry and music like love equals a forever commitment lasting many lifetimes.”
The music legend adds, “Elton, anyone who hears your voice singing ‘finish line’ will hear and feel your wisdom, your pain, your soul, your love, but also your resilience…I love it!! Congratulations to you and our forever and never, never-ending music, friendship, life-song! Long live Sir Elton John!”
The Lockdown Sessions comes out October 22 and also features collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Gorillaz, Miley Cyrus, the late Glen Campbell, Dua Lipa, Charlie Puth, Lil Nas X and more.
After Britney Spears‘ father Jamie Spears was suspended as her conservator at an LA hearing on Wednesday, he’s issued a statement saying it was the wrong decision.
In a statement to ABC News, Mr. Spears’ attorney, Vivian Thoreen, says “the outcome of yesterday’s hearing” is “disappointing and, frankly, a loss for Britney.” Instead, Thoreen says, the judge should have terminated the conservatorship entirely, which is, she notes, what Mr. Spears petitioned the judge to do.
“Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr. Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney’s estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer,” says Thoreen, adding that it was “Mr. Spears who took the initiative to file the petition to terminate the conservatorship,” when Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, wouldn’t.
“Despite the suspension, Mr. Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters,” Thoreen concluded, saying that Jamie “loves his daughter Britney unconditionally.” Britney herself requested that her father be removed as conservator.
In court Wednesday, Rosengart agreed the conservatorship “should and must” be terminated but with an “orderly plan.” He said his “logically reasonable” plan called for suspending Jamie immediately — which he says Britney insisted on — appointing a temporary conservator to replace him, and then returning to court within a month or so to end conservatorship for good.
Rosengart claimed Mr. Spears only wanted to terminate the conservatorship because he didn’t want to be “deposed under oath” or “turn over his files,” adding, “That’s what he’s most concerned about.” Rosengart has long accused Jamie Spears of financial shenanigans. Spears has denied any wrongdoing.
Ultimately, Judge Brenda Penny agreed that Rosengart’s plan was in Britney’s best interests. Another hearing is set for November.
One of Lee Brice‘s favorite things to do is perform in front of his fans, night after night. But after more than a year off of the road, Lee admits it has been a bit of a challenge to remember how to put on a live show.
“I had to kind of learn how to sleep on a moving loud bus again, which, it’s different cause you got used to sleeping in the still bed,” Lee tells The Country Daily.
“Another thing is that even when I get on, I’m about to go on stage I’m thinking ‘Okay I got all these songs that I’ve sang a million times and I’m like wait a minute…what’s the second verse?’ he adds. “You’re almost afraid you’re going to get up there and maybe forget lyrics to something that you’ve sang a million times.”
Lee is currently celebrating a top-five single with “Memory I Don’t Mess With.” The song is from his 2020 Hey World album.
(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of health care workers across the country are being fired or suspended in droves for not complying with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
President Joe Biden announced earlier this month a vaccine mandate for health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, impacting some 17 million health care workers in the nation.
States including New York, California, Rhode Island and Connecticut also set vaccine mandates for health care workers that take effect this week.
But there are brewing concerns over staff shortages at already-overburdened hospitals still grappling with COVID-19 cases. Some hospital networks said they’ve ramped up hiring ahead of vaccine deadlines to stabilize their workforces.
ABC News contributor John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, noted that while overall the number of health care workers being terminated or suspended isn’t huge, at the same time, “we can’t afford to lose anybody at this point.”
“By and large, vaccine mandates are working. Those in health care are taking these vaccine incredibly seriously to protect themselves and their patients.” Brownstein said. “We’re seeing a greater need of health care — there was a lot of deferred care for elective surgeries and behavioral health — juxtaposed with existing shortages of health care workers. Any impact is going to create even more pressure on health care systems.”
In the South and West
In North Carolina, the Novant Health hospital system, which has over 35,000 employees across 15 hospitals and over 800 clinics, fired around 175 of its workers for failing to get vaccinated, officials told ABC News.
Approximately 375 team members were noncompliant with the vaccine mandate last week and were given a five-day suspension period to get a COVID-19 shot.
Over the course of the week, nearly 200 additional team members became in compliance, Novant Health said Monday. The hospital system now has a vaccine compliance rate of over 99%, officials said.
Employees granted medical or religious exemptions must wear masks and undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Novant Health CEO and president Carl Armato said in a statement that the system has been steadily adding to travel staff numbers “to meet the needs of our organization throughout the pandemic.”
“Without a vaccine mandate for team members, we faced the strong possibility of having a third of our staff unable to work due to contracting, or exposure to, COVID-19. This possibility only increases heading into a fall season with the more contagious and deadly delta variant,” he said.
In Texas, Houston Methodist Hospital, which has some 26,000 employees, saw 153 employees quit or fired over the vaccine requirement after the June 7 deadline to get the shots. Of those, 26 were nurses.
“We staffed up prior to the mandate so that we would be much better prepared when our June 7 deadline arrived, and then we had the fourth surge in Houston starting in July. We continue to hire positions as needed, so we’ve not had any major turnover or staffing concerns,” hospital spokesperson Lisa Merkl told ABC News.
In California, health workers have until Thursday to be fully inoculated.
At Cedars-Sinai, based in Los Angeles with almost 17,000 people in its workforce, about 75% of staffers are projected to comply by the deadline. About 1% applied for medical or religious exemptions.
California Hospital Association spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea told ABC News that the mandate comes at a time “when many hospitals are facing serious staffing shortages.”
“It’s hard to predict exactly how the vaccine mandate will play out — every hospital is implementing its own processes and procedures,” Emerson-Shea said. “While some health care workers may qualify for exemptions for either medical or religious reasons, it is possible that some health care workers may choose to leave their employment rather than get vaccinated.”
On the East Coast
In Delaware, 150 employees left ChristianaCare, a major hospital system in the state, after they failed to meet the Sept. 21 deadline to get vaccinated, the hospital announced in a Monday statement.
Approximately 200 caregivers received religious or medical accommodations and will have to wear masks and be required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing to keep working.
“In late July, we made a commitment to put the safety of our caregivers and our patients first by requiring COVID-19 vaccination for everyone who works at ChristianaCare,” CEO Dr. Janice Nevin said in a statement. “As we anticipated, a small number of caregivers chose not to be vaccinated and have left the organization.”
The hospital network has also hired more than 200 caregivers over the past month to keep the workforce afloat.
In New York, hundreds of staffers have been suspended this week and risk losing their jobs as the statewide vaccine mandate for health workers reached its first dose deadline Monday.
Northwell, the state’s largest private hospital system with over 76,000 employees, fired about two dozen “unvaccinated leaders” at the management level or above for not getting vaccinated, officials said Tuesday.
“We are now beginning the process to exit the rest of our unvaccinated staff,” Northwell said in a statement.
In New York City, about 500 nurses for NYC Health + Hospitals are not at work and have been preemptively replaced. Unvaccinated workers have been placed on unpaid leave but can return once they get their shot. A hospital spokesperson told ABC News that today over 92% of the NYC Health + Hospitals’ workforce is in compliance with the state vaccine mandate as of Wednesday.
“We anticipated there would be some losses of staff. We knew that no matter what our efforts, some people would not get vaccinated, we planned appropriately,” hospital president Dr. Mitch Katz said Tuesday.
Erie County Medical Center Corporation based in Buffalo, New York, said about 276 employees, 7% of the workforce, was on administrative leave for failing to meet the requirement.
That total includes 5% of all ECMC hospital staff and 20% of staff at the Terrace View, a long-term care facility, hospital vice president of communications and external affairs Peter Cutler told ABC News. Those who have not gotten their shots are put on a 30-day period of unpaid leave, but if they get vaccinated they can return.
Similarly, Albany Medical Center suspended 204 employees of its over 11,000-member workforce for one week starting Tuesday for not complying with the vaccine, officials said in a press conference Tuesday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that the numbers of state health care workers getting the COVID-19 vaccine are promising with 92% of hospital staff, 92% of nursing home staff and 89% of adult care facility staff inoculated with at least one vaccine dose.
“This new information shows that holding firm on the vaccine mandate for health care workers is simply the right thing to do to protect our vulnerable family members and loved ones from COVID-19,” she said.
To grapple with any potential shortages in hospital and health care staff, Hochul signed an executive order Monday night which allows health care workers from other states and countries to practice in New York and waives re-registration fees.
As Daniel Craig‘s reign as 007 comes to an end with the forthcoming No Time to Die, many have wondered who will be next to embody the secret agent. Among the names being tossed around for the role is Hardy’s, who didn’t have much to say when asked about it.
“I don’t know about that,” the Venom: Let There Be Carnage actor told Entertainment Tonight.
Hardy’s co-star, on the other hand, thinks the actor would be a great fit.
Naomie Harris, who also has played Miss Moneypenny in the Bond films since 2012’s Skyfall and reprises the role in No Time to Die, exclaimed, “He would be amazing.”
“He’s such a phenomenal actor. I’m such a huge fan of his and then working with him on Venom, I have even more respect for him,” Harris continued. “He’s just like, incredible, the physicality that he brings to the role is just extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Only time will tell if Hardy will be the successor to Craig’s Bond. Until then, though, fans can catch No Time to Diewhen it hits theaters on October 8.
Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Cheryl Burke had to sit out Monday night’s episode because she contracted COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated.
Speaking with E!’s Daily Pop, Burke opened up about how her diagnosis mentally affected her.
“I had all types of feelings,” she expressed. “There was a lot of shame behind it for some reason, disappointed, sad, just hopeless, because you can’t really control the situation.”
Burke and her partner, Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby, were unable to perform live on Monday and, instead, were judged based on a recording of one of their rehearsal dances. The judges praised their routine and the audience voted them through to the next round.
Burke is thankful to have been given a second chance, saying,” I would hate for it just to end, so I’m hoping that I’ll be cleared very soon and maybe just go back to the way it was. I don’t know, we’re taking it day by day.”
Burke also revealed that she’s using every moment of her off-time to make sure she and her “talented” partner stay in the competition. “I’m going to be a dance mom officially and Zooming into those rehearsals, you better believe it,” she laughed.
While she’s still unsure how she contracted COVID-19, Cheryl stressed that her mild symptoms are a testament of the effectiveness of the vaccine.
“I’m thankful that I got my vaccinations and I’m fully vaccinated, so that’s maybe, definitely, probably the reason I’m not in the hospital, god forbid,” she said. “I wanted to be able to share it because I wanted people to understand that it’s still out there. Even if you’re fully vaccinated, just stay safe and be careful and mask up.”
Lil Nas X burst into the scene in 2019 with his smash-hit “Old Town Road,” which spent a historic 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for three Grammy Awards.
That June, the rapper further made headlines by revealing he was gay. Speaking to XXL, the 22-year-old explained why he decided to come out during such a pivotal moment in his career.
“I honestly felt like it was kind of my duty… Especially if I wanted to move forward,” he said, admitting that he once thought he’d never come out. “And what I was doing, because authenticity is very real, and I feel like people can see right through that. And that’s a part of me.”
Lil Nas X said that he also worried how people would judge him after he came out, adding, “For me, I felt like [my insecurity with my sexuality] was my fear of people judging me for how I would act post-coming out.”
Noting how the hip hop community has treated him since revealing his sexuality, he admitted, “Honestly, I don’t feel as respected in hip-hop or many music places in general.”
“But these are communities that I am a part of, whether people would like it or not,” he continued. “This is something that I wanted to do because, not that my entire album is rap, but there are rap tracks on my album. I am a rapper. I am a pop star. I am a gay artist, I belong in these places, you know?”
Dolly Parton agrees. On Wednesday, she shouted out the rapper for recently covering her hit song, “Jolene.” Saying she was “honored and flattered” by his “really, really good” cover,” she added, “Of course, I love him anyway.”
(WASHINGTON) — Several popular baby food brands contain “high levels” of toxic heavy metals — and they are not doing enough to stop the practice, according to a new report released Wednesday by a U.S. House Oversight subcommittee.
Brands including Gerber, Plum Organics, Beech-Nut and Walmart are named in the report, which calls on baby food manufacturers to begin voluntarily testing their products for toxic heavy metals and to phase out products that contain large amounts of ingredients that test high in toxic heavy metals.
The report also calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hurry in releasing its standards for heavy metals in baby foods and to, in the meantime, require baby food makers to test their finished products for heavy metals.
“Today’s report reveals that companies not only under-report the high levels of toxic content in their baby food, but also knowingly keep toxic products on the market,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, said in a statement. “The facts speak for themselves, and the fact of the matter is that the baby food industry has consistently cut corners and put profit over the health of babies and children.”
In response to the call to action in the subcommittee’s report, the FDA told ABC News it plans to announce “soon” the date for a public meeting that will “address questions around the scope of the Closer to Zero plan.”
“We have continued our sampling to help inform our process to set levels, and we are working to strengthen our relationships with federal partners, industry and advocates to ensure that we make meaningful and lasting reductions in exposure to toxic elements from foods,” the FDA said in the statement.
The new report is a follow-up to a report released in February by the same subcommittee that found baby foods from several leading brands contained “significant” levels of toxic heavy metals, including lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Congressional investigators requested test results and internal company documents from seven of the largest baby food manufacturers in the U.S. in November 2019, following reports alleging baby foods contain high levels of toxic heavy metals.
In some cases, some of the baby food products analyzed carried as much as 91 times the allowable arsenic level, 177 times the lead level, 69 times the cadmium level and up to five times the mercury level, the report said.
Exposure to toxic heavy metals poses a specific risk to toddlers and infants because they absorb more than adults and their brains are still developing, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Experts point out though that heavy metals are found all over, and in order to suffer detrimental effects, a person would have to be exposed to toxic heavy metals for a prolonged period of time, and a one-time ingestion of the levels found in baby food products would not be considered dangerous.
The AAP also has guidelines for parents to help shield their children from toxic heavy metals, which enter food through water and soil as well as from during the manufacturing and packaging processes.
In the new report released Wednesday, the subcommittee says Beech-Nut recalled just two of its six infant rice cereal products that tested over the FDA’s limit of inorganic arsenic earlier this year, while Gerber did not recall either of its two products that also tested over the limit.
In response to the report, a Beech-Nut spokesperson told ABC News in a statement, “Our process of manufacturing baby food does not contribute heavy metals to the final product. Heavy metals are found naturally in our environment. They are in the soil, the water, the air — and are therefore unavoidable in our overall food supply.”
As part of its continuous improvement practices, Beech-Nut continues to work with the FDA to identify the best practices, which may include “finished product testing,” according to the statement.
Gerber told ABC News that it is “committed to reducing the levels of heavy metals in our baby foods to the lowest levels possible.”
“The FDA made us aware of their contact from the State of Alaska about a sample of our rice cereal that tested slightly above the guidance level for inorganic arsenic set by the FDA, and was referenced in the report. The FDA retested the sample, was unable to confirm the result by Alaska and confirmed to Gerber that no action was needed,” the company said in a statement. “While the Subcommittee report notes proposed limits on specific heavy metals, those are based on proposed standards from the Baby Food Safety Act, which are not current law or regulation. All Gerber foods have and continue to meet all applicable guidelines and limits set by the FDA, the governing body for safety regulations in the food industry.”
The subcommittee report also names Plum Organics, whose products it says are “tainted with high levels of toxic heavy metals.” It also calls out Walmart for weakening its arsenic standard in baby food products, calling the decision “an extreme course reversal on efforts to protect babies’ neurological development.”
Sun-Maid, which purchased Plum Organics in May from Campbell Soup Co., did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Campbell Soup Co. told ABC News that it continues to “support the FDA’s efforts in setting clear and specific science-based federal standards.”
“For more than 150 years, Campbell has placed the safety of our consumers above all else,” the company said in a statement. “We have cooperated with the subcommittee throughout this process and will continue to do so. In fact, we released the data highlighted in this report in February 2021 and published it on our web site at that time.”
Walmart said in response to the report’s findings that it has “always required that our suppliers’ products meet the guidelines established by the FDA.”
“Our specifications have always been aligned with or below the FDA requirements for naturally occurring elements and the FDA noted in April that its testing shows that children ‘are not at an immediate health risk to exposure,” Walmart said in a statement to ABC News. “We are encouraged the FDA launched a collaborative process to establish science-based standards for infant and baby foods and look forward to further guidance.”
(NEW YORK) — The debate over requiring children to wear masks at schools rages on, but not among doctors or scientists — or teachers.
Multiple recent studies have shown that masks effectively slow virus transmission and prevent school closures. Three such studies were just published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report on infectious diseases.
Kara McCormick-Lyons, a seventh grade teacher and president of the White Plains Teachers’ Association in Westchester County, said the new findings weren’t surprising.
“Of course it works,” McCormick-Lyons said. “Physical distancing, masking, being outdoors when you can, all of these things make a difference.”
Whatever mild discomfort children may experience from wearing a mask, she added, is a small price to pay and “if that’s what we have to do to all stay here [in school], then it’s well worth it.”
One recent study from Arizona found the odds of an outbreak were 3.5 times higher in learning environments without a mask requirement. Additionally, schools that implemented mask mandates before school restarted in the fall have had fewer outbreaks compared to schools that more recently adopted the policy.
J. Mac McCullough, an associate professor at Arizona State University and co-author of the study in Arizona, said the results further bolster existing guidelines.
The research “aligned with the CDC’s recommendation for masking in schools as one part of a layered approach to preventing COVID-19 outbreaks in K-12 schools,” he added.
Another study that examined multiple states found the number of schools reporting COVID-related closures in August and early September was greatest in the South, where fewer mandates are in effect. States including Tennessee, Texas and Georgia have reported upwards of 200 COVID-related school closures.
Another nationwide study showed COVID cases were higher in counties without mandatory masking. For every 100,000 kids, there were 18 fewer COVID cases per day in counties where schools had mask mandates, although the study’s authors did note that it’s difficult to conclude masks alone are responsible for that discrepancy when factoring in social behaviors and other potential variables among communities.
(WASHINGTON) — Intense phone calls, ice cream and bipartisanship. The Congressional Baseball Game had it all as lawmakers of all stripes came together Wednesday night to enjoy a little of America’s favorite pastime: baseball.
The game came hours before a potential government shutdown and crucial infrastructure bill vote.
Though many lawmakers were at Washington National’s park ready to play ball, business was still booming on the Hill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced senators reached a deal to avert a government shutdown just hours before it would’ve taken effect. But it wasn’t game over for Democrats just yet.
On Thursday, lawmakers are set to vote on President Joe Biden’s widely-touted $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The White House has struggled to get moderates like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Joseph Manchin, D-W.Va., on board as well as other progressives who worry about social spending programs being cut from the bill as a result of those negotiations. If Thursday’s vote fails, it would be a big hit to Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, and it would highlight a lack of party consensus for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
So Wednesday’s game had more implications than just the usual bragging rights, and it showed, because big players came out, and not just to cheer on their colleagues.
After the first inning, the game paused. Then, Biden made his way out from behind home plate. At the same time, fans sitting in the Democratic fan section erupted into cheers while Republican fans booed the president and chanted for the game to resume.
Biden sat in the Democrats’ dugout for some time, talking with lawmakers. On multiple occasions, lawmakers handed the president their phones to either take photos with them or jump on calls. More than once he was seen looking intense while leaning on the railing of the dugout and talking on the phone.
But, it wasn’t all work. Biden handed out ice cream bars to both teams, complete with the presidential seal.
House Speaker Pelosi and second gentleman Doug Emhoff didn’t suit up to play, but they were in attendance, cheering on Democrats. Pelosi was also busy multitasking, watching the game while talking to several people on the phone. She spent most of the night busy with negotiations as Democrats go into crunch mode trying to get lawmakers on the same page ahead of Thursday’s infrastructure vote. Her palpable tension came after progressive Democrats on Tuesday warned Pelosi and other party leaders that without a deal on a broader social policy bill, they did not intend to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Earlier in the evening Wednesday, Biden was inducted into the Congressional Baseball Hall of Fame. His granddaughter, Naomi Biden, accepted the award on his behalf, leading many to believe the president was caught up in infrastructure negotiations at the time.
And hopefully those negotiations went better off the field for Democrats than on the field. Republican lawmakers led for most of the night and ended up taking home the trophy, with a score of 13-12.
The Congressional Baseball game has been played since the early 1900s. It’s a chance for members of Congress to put aside their political differences on the Hill and instead take them to the mound. The game supports Washington, D.C., charities and philanthropies, which include The Washington Literacy Center, The Boys and Girls Club and the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.
