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Luke Bryan celebrates a prank-fueled, family-filled 45th birthday on tour

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Luke Bryan turned 45 years old on Saturday, and the singer marked the milestone by playing a packed amphitheater show at a Bristow, Virginia stop on his Proud to Be Right Here Tour.

But if you know anything about the Bryan household, you know that the country superstar’s wife, Caroline, can’t pass up any opportunity for a prank — even if the subject of that prank is on tour and far from home.

Caroline and the rest of Luke’s family, including his two sons Bo and Tatum, surprised the singer with a mini-party onstage, complete with a table full of gag gifts. Among them were a pair of Jockey brand underwear — a nod to the Jockey commercials Luke’s recently starred in — a six-pack of his own Two Lane beer, and more.

“Alright, dammit. I got a lamp, a fire extinguisher, and more Jockey underwear. Lays potato chips…” Luke told the crowd as he surveyed his birthday haul, before suggesting they all join him and his family for a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

“Tate, do you wanna sing me ‘Happy Birthday’? Bo?” Luke continued, jokingly turning to his sons, who are 13 and 10. “Y’all don’t wanna sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to your dad? That’s horrible. After all I’ve done for y’all.”

Of course, Luke ultimately got his birthday wish, with the crowd singing him a round of “Happy Birthday.” Onstage, the singer’s family sang along, as did his opening acts Caylee Hammack and Dylan Scott, who had returned to the stage for the surprise after performing earlier in the night.

Additional posts that Caroline shared to social media show more of the backstage birthday fun, which included a dance party on Luke’s tour bus and a cake.

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Volbeat announces fall headlining tour

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Volbeat has announced their first headlining shows in nearly two years.

Kicking off September 24, the eight-date trek includes stops in Atlanta, Oklahoma City, San Diego, Los Angeles, Pasa Robles and Oakland, CA, and San Antonio and Lubbock, TX. The Hu, Twin Temple and Municipal Waste will be the openers on select dates. Dates are scheduled through October 10. Tickets go on sale July 23 at 10 a.m. local time at Volbeat’s website.

In addition, the Danish rockers will also appear at the Rebel Rock festival in Orlando, FL on September 23 and at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, CA on October 8.

Volbeat recently released two new songs: “Wait a Minute My Girl” and “Dagen Før.” The latter features guest vocals from Danish singer Stine Bramsen. Both tracks were written and recorded in lockdown, and were the first fresh tracks from the group since their 2019 album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound.

Journey escaping to Las Vegas for symphony performance

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Journey has scheduled a one-night-only performance in Las Vegas this December.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will take the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday, December 18, but what makes the show special is that they’ll be performing with a symphony orchestra.

The show will feature Journey’s new lineup, which includes former American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass and famed producer Narada Michael Walden on drums, along with Neal Schon on guitar, Jonathan Cain and Jason Derlatka on keyboards and Arnel Pineda on vocals.

As previously reported, Journey’s classic 1981 album Escape was recently RIAA-certified Diamond for more than 10 million sales.

Journey will be one of the headliners at Lollapalooza on July 31.

DOJ charges 4 Chinese nationals with state-backed worldwide hacking campaign

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday announced the unsealing of an indictment charging four Chinese nationals with a years-long effort to hack into computer systems of dozens of companies, universities and governments in the U.S. and at least 11 other countries.

The two-count indictment, returned by a grand jury in May but unsealed just last Friday, names four residents of China in connection to the scheme — three of whom are identified as officers with the Hainan State Security Department, an arm of China’s intelligence service.

Ding Xaioyang, Cheng Qingmin, Zhu Yunmin, and Wu Shurong had one goal, according to court documents: install malware on protected computers and steal the data on the computers.

The indictment alleges that the HSSD created a front company to “identify and recruit talented computer hackers to penetrate foreign entities (including foreign universities) and steal trade secrets, proprietary data and to recruit talented linguists to interpret the stolen material.”

Prosecutors allege that the scheme went on from July 2009 to September 2018, targeting various research universities in the United States, including the National Institutes of Health, and primarily used a phishing technique to gain access to companies and institutions data.

The Justice Department alleges that the hackers targeted infectious-disease research related to Ebola, MERS, HIV/AIDS, Marburg and tularemia.

“These criminal charges once again highlight that China continues to use cyber-enabled attacks to steal what other countries make, in flagrant disregard of its bilateral and multilateral commitments,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The breadth and duration of China’s hacking campaigns, including these efforts targeting a dozen countries across sectors ranging from healthcare and biomedical research to aviation and defense, remind us that no country or industry is safe. Today’s international condemnation shows that the world wants fair rules, where countries invest in innovation, not theft.”

The indictment comes on the heels of the Biden administration, several allies and partners and NATO are joining forces to “expose and criticize” China for a “pattern of malicious cyber activities,” announcing on Monday that the PRC is profiting off some of the cyberattacks they’ve supported, and officially saying they were behind the Microsoft Exchange server breach in March, according to senior administration officials.

Xiaoyang Certified Indictment Unsealed 0 by ABC News Politics on Scribd

“One Last Time”: Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett to perform two shows at Radio City Music Hall

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are reuniting one last time.

The dynamic duo is celebrating a decade of friendship and artistic collaboration with a pair of shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in August. One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga marks the singers’ only public performance together this summer ahead of their joint album release later this year.

The show will take place over two nights, the first on Tony’s 95th birthday, August 3, followed by a second show on August 5.

Earlier this year, Tony’s family announced that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. The shows at Radio City Music Hall will serve as his final career performances in NYC.

All attendees, with the exception of children under 16, must be fully vaccinated. Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 22 at 10 a.m. local time.

The New York natives first collaborated on Tony’s 2011 album, Duets II, reimagining the classic show tune “The Lady Is a Tramp.” In 2014, they teamed up for a full-length album, Cheek to Cheek, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was named Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

Usher debuts new Las Vegas residency with two sold-out shows

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Usher debuted his new Las Vegas residency over the weekend with two sold-out shows on Friday and Saturday at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

It was the first new headlining residency show to open on the Las Vegas Strip in more than a year and a half, and brought some famous faces to the audience including Jermaine Dupri, L.A. Reid, Nick Cannon, Lil Jon and Akon.

The show featured a set list spanning Usher’s 20-year career, with performances of “U Remind Me,” “Burn,” “You Make Me Wanna…,” “Don’t Waste My Time,” “Scream,” “Yeah!” and more, backed by a live band and over two dozen dancers. Usher also donned a series of designer costumes, many of which were designed by Balmain.

Tickets for performances through January 2022 are on sale now. A limited number of VIP meet & greet packages are also available at Ticketmaster.com/ushervegas or in-person at The Colosseum box office.

Usher, Live Nation Las Vegas and Caesars Entertainment are donating $1 of every ticket purchased to Usher’s New Look, Inc., an organization the singer founded in 1999 to help transform the lives of underserved youth.

Daniel Craig reveals why he wanted to do one more Bond film

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Photo: Nicola Dove – © 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

For Daniel Craig, 2015’s Spectre was the last time he thought he’d be playing James Bond.

“I thought I probably was physically not capable of doing another,” 53-year-old Craig, who suffered a torn meniscus during filming, told Total Film. “For me, it was very cut and dried that I wasn’t coming back.”

However, two or so years later, the opportunity to explore a different side of Bond drew the English actor back in for one last hoorah.

“It’s interesting to explore his emotions, because he’s a cut-off character. He doesn’t feel like other people, because he’s a killer,” he explained. “On Casino [Royale], he loses the love of his life, and then the shutters come down. On Quantum [of Solace], the flawed movie that it is, it’s about revenge. And Skyfall is about M. It’s about loss. They’re big themes. And I think, ‘Yeah! Why not have big themes?’”

For Craig’s final Bond film, No Time to Die, the theme takes a turn. It’s about “love and family.”

“Because what’s bigger than that?,” he asked. “Bond’s ‘family’ being Moneypenny and Q and M. And then Lashana [Lynch] comes in, and she’s like a distant cousin who you’re not sure about.”

No Time to Die marks the end of Craig’s 14-year reign as James Bond, and while it’s been a rollercoaster ride, there’s no doubt that he’ll miss being a super spy extraordinaire.

“I’m incredibly proud and honored to have been a part of it in the way that I was,” Craig shared, adding that the reason he got to work with “the best people in the industry.”

“So I just think: if you can’t get excited about a Bond movie, what can you get excited about?,” he added.

No Time to Die opens in theaters October 8.

“Happy two-week anniversary”: Gwen Stefani shares gorgeous wedding photo

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Two weeks after her wedding to Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani is still living in bliss.

On Sunday, the No Doubt frontwoman turned to Instagram to commemorate the two-week anniversary of their lavish wedding in Oklahoma, sharing a gorgeous black-and-white photo of her and Blake walking into a stone chapel, welcomed by officiant Carson Daly and a slew of wedding guests.

“Happy 2 week anniversary,” she captioeds the pic, adding a heart emoji.

The couple married on July 3 at their ranch in Blake’s native Oklahoma. Gwen wore a custom Vera Wang wedding gown, along with a veil embroidered with their names and those of her sons Kingston,Zuma and Apollo. Blake and Gwen wrote their own vows for one another, with Blake also turning his into an original song for his wife.

Gwen also wore a Vera Wang party dress at the reception, where she and her new husband danced to a playlist that included music from fellow The Voice coaches Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine‘s band, Maroon 5.

Iron Maiden announces new album, ‘Senjutsu,’ coming in September

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After releasing their new song, “The Writing on the Wall,” along with an animated mini-movie, Iron Maiden has now unveiled details of their new studio album.

Called Senjutsu, the 17th album from the metal legends will arrive September 3. Their first album in six years, it’s a double-CD collection, the title of which loosely translates from Japanese to “tactics and strategy.” The cover art, created by Mark Wilkinson based on an idea by Maiden bassist Steve Harris, features the band’s beloved mascot Eddie in full samurai gear.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson says Senjutsu was recorded in 2019 during a break in the band’s Legacy tour so they could continue on the road and still have plenty time to set up the project. Of course, as he says, “The pandemic delayed things more — so much for the best-laid plans — or should that be ‘strategies!?'”

Harris says of the new project, “We recorded this album in the same way we did The Book of Souls in that we’d write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds.”

“There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging,” Harris adds, noting, “I’m very proud of the result and can’t wait for fans to hear it.”

Senjutsu is available for pre-order July 21 at IronMaiden.com in a variety of formats, including a few different colors of vinyl and a super deluxe box set.

Here’s the track listing for Senjutsu:

“Senjutsu”
“Stratego”
“The Writing on the Wall”
“Lost in a Lost World”
“Days of Future Past”
“The Time Machine”
“Darkest Hour”
“Death of the Celts “
“The Parchment”
“Hell on Earth”

‘Never Have I Ever’ cast discusses the opportunity for growth and authenticity in their coming-of-age comedy-drama

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan says she’s still navigating the “pressures” and success of her hit coming-of-age series Never Have I Ever even in its second season.

“It’s funny when people say, ‘Oh, you’re a pro now. Season two you’re a pro,” Ramakrishnan tells ABC Audio. “But reality is… I still only have done a season… So there’s still a huge part of me that’s learning. Every day is a new day on set and I’m learning something that I didn’t know before. Whether it’s behind the camera or in front.”

While the series — which follows Ramakrishnan as Devi, a 15-year-old Indian-American girl looking to improve her social status — is still new for Maitreyi, some of her co-stars see the show as a rare opportunity to “embrace” their culture.

“[It’s] the character that I brought most of myself to,” says Poorna Jagannathan, who portrays Devi’s mom Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar. “There’s a sense of a continuous self. So who I am outside of the set is also who I am on set. And that’s the first time that I’ve experienced that fluidity, even though I’m not Nilini at all in real life.”

Richa Moorjani, who plays Devi’s cousin Kamala Nandiwadal agrees, noting that she too has been able to bring “most” of herself to Kamala without “feel[ing] like [Richa has] to change.”

“I didn’t have to hide away from my Indian-ness,” Moorjani explains. “That was just so rare and such a blessing for me as a South Asian actor. It’s just been an incredible experience.”

Jagannathan concurs, calling it a “privilege” to “immerse” herself into her character.

“I’ve never felt that before,” she says. “Now that I have it, I’m not going back.”

Season 2 of Never Have I Ever is now available on Netflix.

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