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Nicki Minaj’s vaccine claims debunked by Trinidad health minister

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

It looks like Dr. Anthony Fauci isn’t the only official who is refuting Nicki Minaj‘s recent comments regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Trinidad and Tobago health minister Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh is, too.

Earlier this week, Nicki, who was born in Trinidad, shared with fans that one of the reasons she did not attend the Met Gala was because attendees had to be vaccinated, and she was not. In a later tweet, she claimed that a friend of a family member who received the vaccine became impotent afterward.

The claim sparked much controversy and prompted Deyalsingh to investigate the claim, which he debunked in a video shared on Twitter Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim,” he says in the clip. “As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad or, I dare say … anywhere else in the world.”

The media storm surrounding the “Anaconda” rapper’s tweets even attracted the attention of the White House, with officials offering to chat with Nicki about the vaccine’s effectiveness. There were also rumors that Twitter had suspended Nicki’s account, presumably for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. However, a Twitter spokesperson told ABC News, “Twitter did not take any enforcement action on the account referenced.” And Nicki’s account is still active as of Friday morning.

Zac Brown Band has “Fun Having Fun” with new track

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Zac Brown Band just dropped a new song, “Fun Having Fun,” from their upcoming The Comeback album, out on October 15. The song was written by lead singer Zac Brown, along with Kenny Habul, Kurt Thomas and Ben Simonetti, and inspired by reminiscing about their own respective carefree childhoods.

“‘Fun Having Fun’ is about all the dumb stuff you do when you’re a kid. One of my co-writers on the track is actually my buddy Kurt, who I went to high school with in Dahlonega,” Zac says of his Georgia upbringing. “He and I made a demo tape when we were kids called KZ, for Kurt & Zac, and he was the first guy I ever sat down with and thought, ‘We’re gonna be big.’”

Zac is now the proud parent of five children, which is why he felt so drawn to “Fun Having Fun.”

“It was fun to circle back to that time in my life and remember some of the things that we did together, especially with the perspective of now being a parent,” Zac adds.

Tyra Banks defends Olivia Jade ahead of her ‘Dancing with the Stars’ debut: “Olivia is so brave”

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tyra Banks is defending this year’s most controversial Dancing with the Stars casting choice — Olivia Jade.

The 21-year-old daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli is set to make her DWTS debut Monday night. But some fans criticized her involvement because of her parents’ participation in the Varsity Blues college admissions cheating scandal. But returning show host Banks told Entertainment Tonight that fans need to give Olivia the benefit of the doubt.

“I think Olivia is so brave,” the supermodel said. “I think people don’t know her, they know what happened to her.”

As previously reported, Giannulli and Loughlin pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison last year for paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing crew recruits, when neither participated in the sport.

“She has said that she did not know about what was going on and it’s really sad, and it’s very hurtful when something publicly happens but you had nothing to do with it. So I trust that she says she didn’t know,” continued Banks.

“[Olivia] is having to deal with that and I think she’s coming to Dancing with the Stars to be able to tell her story and show her vulnerability,” Banks went on. “And is she a celebrity? Not traditionally, but what is a celebrity today? If that’s the case then there’s no Instagram influencer that is a celebrity. We are in a whole different world and celebrity has taken a turn and a change.”

As for whether or not Olivia deserves to be on the show, Banks declared, “If people are talking about you, you’re famous and you can be on Dancing with the Stars.”

Dancing with the Stars returns Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Carly Pearce drops 29: Written in Stone, announces headlining tour

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

It’s a big day for Carly Pearce! The Grand Ole Opry member has released her autobiographical 29: Written in Stone album, and also announced her own headlining The 29 Tour.

29: Written in Stone is the follow-up to Carly’s telling 29 EP, adding eight new songs to the original project.

“Once I started writing, I thought I’d gotten it all out of my system,” Carly said of the new record. “But the songs just kept on coming, and I realized to truly understand how you come out the other side, not just a quick snapshot, this full project needed to happen. Now people can see how you thrive and shine even in the lowest moments.”

Carly will kick off her headlining tour on November 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. Andrew Jannakos will serve as her opening act. Dates and her new album are available at CarlyPearce.com.

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738 days later…Metallica play “secret” hometown show in San Francisco

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Snooze you lose: Metallica fans in San Francisco who weren’t paying attention to the band’s social media yesterday missed out on the opportunity to see the metal giants rock their hometown at a tiny venue, for 20 bucks.

The group announced the surprise show at the San Francisco Venue The Independent on Thursday: It required proof of vaccination, as per a mandate by the city. The show sold out in 30 minutes, but there is footage posted on the band’s Instagram Stories and, frankly, all over YouTube if you want to see what you missed.

The wristbands for the show noted that it had been 738 days since Metallica’s last concert. The last time Metallica played its hometown was in 2019.

According to Setlist.FM, the band’s set list included “Whiplash,” “Ride the Lightning,” “Sad but True,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Creeping Death,” “One,” “Master of Puppets,” and “Seek & Destroy.”

Ed Sheeran announces massive 2022 stadium tour

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Ed Sheeran is ready to send “Shivers” down fans’ spines with the announcement of a 2022 stadium tour.

Ed dropped the news via Instagram video on Friday morning that he’s embarking on the + – = ÷ x Tour next year that will see him headlining several stadiums across Europe.

The tour kicks off April 28 in Cork, Ireland and continues through September 23, when it wraps in Frankfurt, Germany.

Along the way, Ed will headline three shows at Wembley Stadium in London and host multiple two-night stays at venues including Glasgow’s Hampden Park, Etihad Stadium in Manchester in Ed’s native England, and the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, U.K.

This marks the megastar’s first major tour since 2019, when the two-year ÷ Tour set a record as the highest-grossing tour of all time.

Check out the full list of tour dates on Ed’s website. Tickets go on sale September 25 at 8 a.m.

Priyanka Chopra responds to growing criticism over ‘The Activist’: “The show got it wrong”

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Kyle Galvin/Courtesy of Priyanka Chopra Jonas/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Priyanka Chopra responded Thursday to the growing backlash against her upcoming new show, The Activist.

The Activist‘s initial concept was to have contestants compete in several challenges for a cash grant and to raise awareness for their particular issue. With Chopra, Usher and Julianne Hough were set to serve as judges. However, the backlash was immediate when the series was unveiled, with some critics saying the show pitted activists against one another for entertainment.

Chopra took to Instagram to acknowledge the growing complaints, declaring, “You were heard.”

“The show got it wrong, and I’m sorry that my participation in it disappointed many of you,” the actress continued. “The intention was always to bring attention to the people behind the ideas and highlight the actions and impact of the causes they support tirelessly.”

CBS has since announced plans to revise The Activist, turning it into a documentary that will remove all competitive elements and instead celebrate the six individuals and their work.

Referencing the show’s new direction, Chopra added, “I’m happy to know that in this new format, their stories will be the highlight, and I’m proud to collaborate with partners who have their ear to the ground and know when it’s time to hit pause and re-evaluate.”

The Quantico star’s remarks come a day after Hough apologized, saying the show “missed the mark” and understood why critics called it “tone-deaf.”

The Activist was originally intended to premiere in late October. CBS, in tandem with the show’s production partners Global Citizen and Live Nation, have yet to announce the show’s new airdate.

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More than 600,000 flags on National Mall stand witness to America’s COVID dead

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — On one small, white rectangle is the name of a 29-year-old engineer, on another the name of a World War II veteran, and on a third, that of a 15-year-old — just three of more than 600,000 flags on the National Mall reflecting the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on American lives and the country.

On the grassy expanse near the Washington Monument, the field of flags is being displayed as a part of a chilling exhibition called “In America: Remember.”

Each represents a life lost to the pandemic, and each sits amid a sea of symbolic grief.

This is the second stunning exhibit based on a project trying to capture, the artist said, the “human dignity” behind the mind-numbing numbers.

Back in the fall of 2020, the first featured a then-unthinkable 200,000 flags near RFK Stadium in Washington.

Since then, the scope of the new project has more than tripled as the death toll continues to rise, coming ever closer to the number estimated to have died during the 1918 influenza pandemic, now at more than 667,000 — or one in every 500 Americans.

The exhibit, being unveiled Friday, will stay on the National Mall until Oct. 3.

Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, the artist, spoke with ABC News as more and more flags were being placed on Thursday.

“It’s really hard to think about the grief that is just embodied by one flag,” Firstenberg said. “And when as you walk amongst 660,000, it’s unimaginable the pain that people have gone through.”

Visitors can stop at a table and personalize a flag with the name of a loved one lost.

Many now also carry messages from across the country submitted on the project’s website, messages to mothers, fathers, siblings and friends. Firstenberg said she hoped it could be cathartic for families not able to hold large funerals or be with family and other loved ones given pandemic restrictions.

Some are to strangers, but fellow Americans.

She recalled one emergency room doctor who traveled to Washington from New York last fall to add the names of 12 patients he lost to COVID.

He then turned around, she said, heading back to start a new shift.

Firstenberg said she hopes the flags, and the sound of them being pulled in the wind, will give visitors “a moment of pause.”

“This is all of our art,” she said, “because it’s when people personalize flags and a complete stranger comes and meets that flag and feels something, senses the grief that is embodied by just that one flag, they created the art, too.”

ABBA’s ‘Gold’ returns to ‘Billboard’ top 40, thanks to new singles & album announcement

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

ABBA’s Gold is has caught a second wind, rising back up the charts for the first time in three years.

Gold: Greatest Hits, the compilation album by the Swedish pop group, soared up the Billboard 200 chart from number 114 to number 34 on the survey dated September 18.

According to the outlet, the album moved 15,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending September 9, a 61% jump, as per MRC data. Part of that includes 5,000 units in physical album sales, which allows it to climb the Top Album Sales chart from the 33rd spot to the 11th, as well.

ABBA’s climb up the charts comes after the quartet dropped two new singles — “Don’t Shut Me Down” and “I Still Have Faith In You” — earlier this month. Additionally, they announced a new album, Voyage — their first in 40 years — as well as a special production to open in London next year featuring digital avatars of the group’s members performing their legendary songs.

Gold: Greatest Hits, which was originally released in 1992, last saw the top 40 in August 2018, when it peaked at number 25. That was likely due to the release of the movie Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which features the group’s songs.

All in all, the set has spent an impressive 168 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart in total since its release.

Lil Nas X makes waves with emotionally charged debut album ‘Montero’

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After spending months hyping his debut album, Lil Nas X‘s emotionally charged Montero is finally here.

Released Friday at midnight, Lil Nas X also delighted fans by dropping the heartbreaking music video for the song, “That’s What I Want.”

The single explores the 22-year-old Grammy winner’s pains of the heart as he openly craves sharing his life and success with a significant other that loves and needs him just as much. Lil Nas X also confesses that he’s garnered a reputation “for givin’ love away,” admitting it’s a crutch to combat the loneliness that’s consuming him.

The music video follows Lil Nas X loving and, eventually, losing the man he thought was going to be his forever, culminating with the rapper donning a wedding dress and walking down the aisle to accept a guitar given to him by Billy Porter.

Montero boasts a robust list of collaborators, including Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion and several others.

Montero explores personal themes of self-hatred and struggling with self-acceptance, such as in the track “Sun Goes Down,” with lyrics describing what it means to be happy or at peace with one’s self. The album, which boasts an array of pop and hip hop crossover tracks, also features the song “Dead Right Now,” which has Lil Nas X looking back at those who have doubted him when he took a leap of faith to drop out of college and pursue his dream of making music.

Montero is now available to purchase and stream everywhere.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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