During a recent interview with The New Yorker, Paul McCartney took a dig at The Rolling Stones when asked whether he thought The Beatles were a better band than their British Invasion counterparts, and apparently Mick Jagger was paying attention.
As previously reported, McCartney commented to The New Yorker, “I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are…I think [The Beatles’] net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”
Keeping that in mind, footage has emerged from The Rolling Stones’ Los Angeles-area concert Thursday night at SoFi Stadium that shows Jagger playfully making reference to McCartney’s insult while chatting with the audience between songs.
In the clip from the show, shared by The Daily Mail‘s website, Jagger listed some of the celebrities who were in the audience, including Megan Fox, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lady Gaga. He then joked, “Paul McCartney is here. He’s gonna join us in a blues cover later on.”
McCartney made similar comments about The Beatles being better and more diverse than The Rolling Stones in an April 2020 radio interview, while also declaring that he loved The Stones.
Jagger was asked about McCartney’s 2020 comments that same month while chatting with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, and he called Sir Paul a “sweetheart” and that insisted that there was “obviously no competition” between their two bands.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. regulators are considering revising the rules for COVID-19 vaccines to allow people to opt for a different type of shot for their booster than what they originally received, a move that would enable people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to receive the Moderna or Pfizer dose as their next shot.
Likewise, a person who got the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine might be able to boost with J&J or the other mRNA shot.
No decision has been made, and it’s not clear how soon mixed doses could happen.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration would need to amend its authorizations of the three vaccines available to Americans, and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention would have to endorse the idea.
But in a meeting Friday with independent advisers, senior government officials suggested they were open to the idea.
“It does seem like there’s some consensus that this is an important option for people to have,” said Dr. Peter Marks, a senior FDA official who oversees vaccine regulation.
Amanda Cohn, a senior adviser for vaccines at CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said having “allowable language” from the FDA would be helpful from a public health perspective. One concern, she said, are the 15 million people who have received the J&J shot but either might not have access to a second dose or are concerned about the risk of rare but serious blood clots that the vaccine poses to women of childbearing age.
“If there’s not any allowable language in the FDA factsheets or EUA authorization, then those individuals are left behind,” she said.
While Marks said providing regulator flexibility was possible, he asked the advisory panel to weigh in on what data might be needed to make such a decision. He didn’t offer a timetable and suggested he would be interested in collecting more real-world data first.
“We don’t know from the short studies what the longer-term effects of mix and match will be. And we just don’t have those data,” he told the advisory panel.
Early results from a recent study by the National Institutes of Health found that boosting with a different shot than what was received the first time around appears to be safe and effective. What’s more is that the study found J&J recipients wound up with higher antibody levels if they were boosted with Moderna or Pfizer.
The ability to mix vaccine brands also could be of interest to male teens and young adults, who are more likely to experience heart inflammation following a shot of Moderna or Pfizer. While treatable and typically mild, there have been reports of hospitalization among that population.
Cohn said there do not appear to be any safety concerns with mixing booster doses of any type.
“I think the safety data that has been presented today is very supportive, especially in light of the culmination of the millions of doses of these products that we’ve seen given and the safety evidence from all of those vaccines,” she said.
Dr. Ofer Levy of Boston Children’s Hospital, a panel member, said the government should be ready to move forward quickly to allow for mixed boosters.
“In the real world, all these kinds of combinations or extra boosters are already happening,” he said.
In honor of its 50th anniversary, Queen will be celebrated on the fourth and latest installment of ABC’s Singalong franchise, which will air November 4 at 8 p.m.
Hosted by Emmy-winning actor and singer Darren Criss, The Queen Family Singalong will feature various well-known music artists and other celebs performing hits by the iconic British band, including Adam Lambert, who currently serves as Queen’s frontman.
Lambert will be singing “The Show Must Go On” on the special. Other stars who will be performing on the special include Fall Out Boy, former Alice Cooper guitarist Orianthi, country singer Jimmie Allen, Miss Piggy, singer and reality star JoJo Siwa, OneRepublic and vocal group Pentatonix.
Previous installments of ABC’s Singalong specials have focused on Disney music, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the Queen-themed show also will feature the casts of the Broadway productions of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin, who’ll team up to perform a group rendition of “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Here’s a list of confirmed performances on the special, with more to be announced soon:
Adam Lambert –- “The Show Must Go On”
Derek Hough featuring Alexander Jean -– “Another One Bites the Dust”
Fall Out Boy -– “Under Pressure”
Jimmie Allen featuring Miss Piggy -– “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
JoJo Siwa and Orianthi -– “We Will Rock You”
OneRepublic -– “We Are the Champions”
Pentatonix –- “Somebody to Love”
The casts of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin — “Don’t Stop Me Now”
(LANSING, Mich.) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive Thursday to help residents of Benton Harbor access safe drinking water, vowing to replace all lead pipes by April 2023.
The directive comes a week after officials urged locals in Benton Harbor, a city of 9,600 people, to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth due to elevated levels of lead in water testing.
“For six consecutive sampling periods over the last three years, the Benton Harbor water system has failed to meet the regulatory standard for lead,” the governor said in the directive.
Advocates in the city had filed an emergency petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 9 demanding a federal intervention to aid in the crisis.
In the directive, the governor announced she’ll expedite lead service line replacements to be completed in 18 months, up from the prior five-year timeline. The effort will also continue to give free bottled water to Benton Harbor residents and free or low-cost drinking water testing and health services.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has received U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA) approval to provide Benton Harbor residents specific baby formula that does not require the mixing of water.
The effort will be funded by federal, state and local resources, with additional federal funding expected through the infrastructure bill currently moving through Congress. Under Michigan’s 2022 state budget, $10 million is dedicated to replace service lines in Benton Harbor.
“I cannot imagine the stress that moms and dads in Benton Harbor are under as they emerge from a pandemic, work hard to put food on the table, pay the bills, and face a threat to the health of their children,” Whitmer said in a statement. “We will not rest until the job is done and every parent feels confident to give their kid a glass of water knowing that it is safe.”
Rev. Edward Pinkney, a local activist and president of the grassroots Benton Harbor Community Water Council, touted the directive as a victory.
“Without the petition, none of this could have happened. I am more than happy that Whitmer is now taking this a little bit more seriously,” he told ABC News. “But, I want her to tell the people that the water is unsafe to drink rather than saying this is out of ‘an abundance of caution.'”
Benton Harbor sources its water from Lake Michigan. Elevated lead levels in water has been an issue for several years in the city, where 85% of the population is Black, 5% Hispanic and about 45% have an income below the federal poverty line, according to the U.S. Census.
Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials and service lines contain lead corrosion. Lead exposure harms brain development in children and it causes both short and long-term health problems for adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The EPA has a lead contamination action level of 15 parts per billion. If water samples hit that mark, officials are supposed to take several actions to educate the public and restore water to a safe level.
In Benton Harbor, water testing surpassed that level in 2018. One home in 2020 tested at 440 ppb for lead. Eleven homes tested this year showed water with lead levels above 15 ppb, with one home hitting 889 ppb — nearly 60 times the EPA’s action level, according to data released by the city.
According to the petition filed with the EPA, Benton Harbor has 5,877 total service lines, 51% of which “are known to contain lead, are known to be galvanized lines previously connected to lead, or are of unknown material but likely to contain lead.” Just 2% of service lines contain zero lead.
The crisis echoes the Flint, Michigan, crisis in 2014 and 2015 where the state switched the city’s water supply to come from the Flint River. An investigation later found there were highly toxic levels of lead in the water.
(EDISON, N.J.) — First lady Jill Biden hit the campaign trail Friday, hoping to help deliver victories for Democrats in two gubernatorial elections.
Biden stumped in New Jersey for Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday afternoon and is traveling to Virginia Friday evening to help elect Terry McAuliffe.
“I came here to ask the people of New Jersey to reelect Phil Murphy as your next governor. You know, he’s used this office to lead New Jersey through one of the darkest times in modern history,” Biden said in Edison, New Jersey, Friday afternoon. “Joe and I know Phil. We know that he’s going to fight for you and your family every single day.”
An incumbent Democratic governor hasn’t won reelection in New Jersey since the 1970s, but public polling indicates Murphy is better positioned heading into November than McAuliffe. Polls conducted in mid-September from Stockton University and Monmouth University showed Murphy with a nine-point and 13-point lead, respectively, over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman.
While Virginians rejected former President Donald Trump at the ballot box twice and Democrats made significant gains in the commonwealth, including securing a trifecta government when he was in office, McAuliffe only has a slim 2.5-point lead over GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
Despite the race tightening over the last few weeks, McAuliffe is confident Virginians will back his record and he’ll once again break the so-called “Virginia curse” of candidates losing Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial race if they have the same party affiliation as the current occupant of the White House.
“We’re gonna win this again and make history again with this,” McAuliffe told reporters Thursday. “I am the first candidate for office of either party in 80 years to win every single city and county (in the primary). … Why? I think a.) people were happy with my job as governor before and b.) because I have a real agenda.”
The first lady is not the only high-profile surrogate hitting the road for the two candidates — former President Barack Obama will also stump for both men next week.
Obama will hold back-to-back events in the states on Oct. 23, 10 days before Election Day and coinciding with the first day of in-person early voting in New Jersey’s history.
Georgia heavy-hitters Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who were both on the president’s shortlist for vice president, are also headed to Virginia on Sunday to campaign for McAuliffe.
After McAuliffe said during the last debate that he doesn’t “think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” the Youngkin campaign rallied around education as his closing message. Having the first lady, an educator who began her career in 1976, join McAuliffe on the trail could serve as an opportunity to speak to the issue and reassure parents who may be wary of his stance.
Biden, who currently works as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, has made education one of the top priorities in her role as first lady.
The first lady is not the first Biden to campaign for McAuliffe in the state — President Joe Biden also made a campaign stop on behalf of his longtime friend in July — though recent polling has shown Biden’s approval ratings in the state fall, leading McAuliffe to distance himself from the president.
“We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through,” McAuliffe said during a virtual rally last week. He’s also said he’s frustrated that Congress still hasn’t passed the infrastructure package, saying the “inaction on Capitol Hill … is so damaging.”
Despite the comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that she expected the president would continue to advocate for McAuliffe’s candidacy.
“I think the president of course wants former Governor McAuliffe to be the future governor of Virginia. There is alignment on a lot of their agenda, whether it is the need to invest in rebuilding our roads, rails and bridges or making it easier for women to rejoin the workforce,” Psaki told reporters.
“We’re going to do everything we can to help former Governor McAuliffe and we believe in the agenda he’s representing,” she added
And McAuliffe has since made clear that Biden is still welcome in Virginia, telling reporters Tuesday, “He’ll be coming back. You bet he will.”
ABC News’ Meg Cunningham contributed to this report.
However, two big questions remain: Where will they be broadcast — and even more importantly, will any celebs show up?
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the journalist organization that run the awards show, didn’t answer those two questions, but said the 79th annual event will be held on January 9.
The HFPA also released its deadlines for submissions, and say nominations will be revealed on December 13.
In February of this year, a Los Angeles Times exposé revealed the HFPA hadn’t had a Black member in 20 years. Following the controversy — and the ouster of one of its heads over racially insensitive emails — Hollywood shunned the organization. Tom Cruise even went so far as to return his three trophies in protest.
In August, the HFPA announced reforms to its bylaws and membership rules with the intention of bringing diversity to its ranks.
(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its official public health guidance for the 2021 holiday season, offering up mostly general advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The recommendations urge people to get vaccinated ahead of the holidays if they haven’t done so already. For young children who aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine, the CDC suggests reducing risk of exposure by making sure the people around them are vaccinated.
The CDC also recommends that people continue to wear masks indoors in public spaces.
“We fully expect that families and friends will gather for the holidays this year and we have updated our guidance on how to best to stay safe over the holidays,” the agency wrote in a statement. “The best way to minimize COVID risk and ensure that people can safely gather is to get vaccinated or get the booster if you’re eligible.”
The holiday guidance is notably less prescriptive than last year, when vaccines were not available to the general public.
In 2020, for example, the CDC warned against traditional trick-or-treating by knocking on doors and instead suggested individually wrapped goodie bags that families could “grab and go” from a distance.
This year, the CDC doesn’t provide holiday-specific advice. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said she thinks trick-or-treating can be done safely if kids stay outdoors and stick to small groups.
“If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely,” Walensky told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
When it comes to big family gatherings, the CDC suggests “additional precautions” such as testing in advance or avoiding crowded indoor spaces before making the trip.
The 2021 guidance follows some confusion earlier this month when the CDC provided a technical update to its website that appeared to be its new recommendations for the season. The agency later removed the page, which was outdated.
Holidays have been a major driver of the pandemic, with hospitalizations and deaths spiking to its highest levels following the 2020 holiday season. Last January, the death toll peaked at around 3,600 people per day.
Those numbers plummeted following the rollout of vaccinations, only to surge again this summer with the arrival of the delta variant sickening unvaccinated populations.
According to CDC data collected from hospitals and state health officials last August, an unvaccinated person was 11 times more likely to die from COVID than a vaccinated person.
Health officials are again warning caution ahead of this holiday season so cases don’t spike again, although vaccines have made gatherings considerably safer.
One bright spot for families of children who remain ineligible for the vaccine: Federal regulators are expected to greenlight shots for kids as young as 5 in early November.
The dose of the Pfizer pediatric shot is a third smaller than the dose given to adults, but would still require two shots three weeks apart. And like adults, a child would not be considered immunized until two weeks after their second shot.
A vaccine for infants and children under age 5 isn’t expected until early 2022.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
Kelly Clarkson’s holiday project, When Christmas Comes Around, arrived on Friday, and the track list boasts some impressive collaborators. Among them is Chris Stapleton, who lends his voice to one particularly soulful song, “Glow.”
Kelly and Chris trade verses on the song, a love ballad about the one special person who’s missing from an otherwise perfect Christmas.
“Nothin’ has changed, I still wish you could be / Wrapped up in my arms, spendin’ Christmas with me,” the pair harmonize in the chorus. “When it gets cold is when I notice the most / With all the lights on the trees, even Christmas can’t compete with your glow…”
This is the first time Kelly’s ever teamed with Chris, but the pop star’s no stranger to country collaborations in general. In fact, “Under the Mistletoe” — her duet with Brett Eldredge — is a bonus track on When Christmas Comes Around.
Kelly also snagged a number-one country hit back in 2011, thanks to her duet with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”
Starz has released an epic first trailer to the second season of their hit crime-drama Power Book II: Ghost.
The new promo teases Michael Rainey Jr.‘s original Power character, Tariq, and his deeper dive into the world of crime following the events of season one. As previously reported, Power alum Larenz Tate has been upped to a series-regular role for the second season of the Power spinoff. He joins Mary J. Blige, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Woody McClain and others, who will also return. Season two of Power Book II: Ghost premieres November 21 on Starz.
In other news, Kevin Durant‘s Apple TV+ series, Swagger, has dropped its first trailer. Inspired by Durant’s childhood experiences playing basketball in Washington, D.C., the series follows the young athletes, families and coaches as they “walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption.” Swagger stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isaiah Hill, Quvenzhané Wallis, Tristan Mack Wilds, Jason Rivera and others. The series hits Apple TV+ on Friday, October 29.
Finally, John Boyega has teamed up with Converse for The Create Next Film Project, a new initiative that will help nurture the next generation of Black filmmakers. As part of the project, Boyega will work with five London filmmakers, who will receive funding to create a five-minute short film, as well as be supported through mentoring from Boyega and a team of creatives. The program’s design is to help “highlight issues people of color face working in the industry.” Boyega shared the news on his Instagram with the message, “The next generation deserves a proper shot ! Let’s do this.”
According to a press statement, the Hard Rock Live concert will be the most intimate performance The Stones have given in more than a decade. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Monday, October 18, at 10 a.m. ET, and will be available at MyHRL.com.
“[W]e are honored to have the privilege of hosting perhaps the most iconic rock band of all-time on the final date of their North American tour,” says Hard Rock International executive Keith Sheldon. “With what will be by far the most intimate performance on the No Filter Tour, we know this will be an incredibly special evening at our 6,500 seat Hard Rock Live venue.”
The Rolling Stones next concert will take place Sunday, October 17, in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, the second of two shows the band has scheduled at the venue.
Just Announced – The Stones will bring the No Filter tour to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on November 23. Tickets go on sale this Monday, October 18 at 10am ET. pic.twitter.com/0KMk1PDkmp
