Foo Fighters are set to receive the inaugural U.S. Global Icon Award at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
The prize will recognize Dave Grohl and company for their “unparalleled career and continued impact and influence [that] has maintained a unique level of global success in music and beyond.”
The Global Icon Award has previously been given out by the MTV Europe Music Awards. Past winners include Green Day, Ozzy Osbourne, U2, Queen, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston.
Along with the honor, the Foos will perform at this year’s VMAs, marking their first set at the ceremony since 2007. They’re also nominated in three categories: Best Rock, Best Choreography and Best Cinematography, all for the “Shame Shame” video.
The 2021 MTV VMAs will air September 12. Other performers include Machine Gun Kelly and Lorde.
Stevie Nicks hasopened up in a new interview about her past struggle with drug addiction and how she was able to “save” herself.
Speaking with country star Tim McGraw on Apple Music’s Beyond the Influence Radio show Wednesday, as reported by People, the 73-year-old Fleetwood Mac frontwoman admitted that she experimented with drugs when discussing what topics she’d avoid if given the opportunity to write her memoir. She also made it clear that drugs are no longer part of her life.
“I managed to save myself. I got through some pretty scary moments, but I saved me,” she declared, noting how she relied on herself and “nobody else” to get herself through her darkest moments. “I survived me. I survived my cocaine. I survived by myself.”
Nicks continued, “I checked myself into rehab. Nobody did that for me. I did it and that’s like with my whole life.”
As for why she’d rather not go into full detail about that part of her life should it ever be put on paper, the “Dreams” singer said, “I would dance over those parts just to give the wisdom out to people.”
Nicks is considering writing her own memoir, but told McGraw that she doesn’t think one book would be enough to hold everything that’s happened to her. Instead, she may tell her life story across four installments.
“I think that what I would do first, and only lately have I thought this, I might sit down at some point across the kitchen table with some of my girlfriends who have been there for a lot of it and put on a tape recorder and just start talking from the very beginning,” she said.
Nicole Kidman is set to star as comedy legend Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin‘s upcoming Amazon Studios biopic, Being the Ricardos, and although Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, hasn’t seen the finished product, she’s already raving about the actress.
Speaking with The Palm Springs Life magazine on August 18, Lucie gushed, “Nicole did a spectacular job.”
“The two days that I watched, though, were both little flashbacks, so she was playing Lucy in the late ’30s and mid-’40s,” Arnaz went on. “She wasn’t Lucy of Lucy Ricardo fame yet, so it was a trifle different. And I know she meant it to be, so it could feel different. But boy, what she did was astounding. She’s got such poise and class,” Arnaz said of Kidman.
Alongside Kidman, Javier Bardem was cast as Dezi Arnaz, Ball’s husband and Lucie’s dad.
In January, Lucie defended Kidman’s casting after some expressed that they felt Debra Messing or others would be better suited for the role.
“Here’s the deal. You should understand we are not doing a remake of I Love Lucy. No one has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo nor do the Vitameatavegamin routine or the chocolate factory routine or any of the silly things,” Lucie explained in a Facebook video at the time. “It’s the story of Lucille Ball, my actual mother, not Lucy Ricardo, and her husband, Dezi Arnaz, my dad, not Ricky Ricardo.”
A release date for Being the Ricardos has yet to be announced.
Trent Reznor and company have announced that they’re cancelling all of their 2021 live shows due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
“When originally planned, these shows were intended to be a cathartic and celebratory return to live music,” NIN writes in a statement. “However, with each passing day it’s becoming more apparent we’re not at that place yet.”
The band adds, “We are sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment and look forward to seeing you again when the time is right.”
Nine Inch Nails’ calendar included two headlining shows in Cleveland scheduled for September, as well as sets at festivals including Riot Fest, Louder than Life and Welcome to Rockville. Slipknot and Morrissey have joined the Riot Fest lineup in NIN’s place; replacements for Louder than Life and Welcome to Rockville have yet to be announced.
(NEW YORK) — Time to take stock of what’s in your freezer after a major frozen shrimp producer issued an expanded recall on a range of products due to salmonella concerns.
Avanti Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd, expanded a voluntarily recall that was first issued June 25, 2021 to now include “certain consignments of various sizes of frozen cooked, peeled, deveined, shrimp (with some packaged with cocktail sauce) sold in various unit sizes, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.”
Avanti sells its shrimp under a range of labels. Initially, the recall included frozen shrimp from Censea, CWNO, Chicken of the Sea, Honest Catch, Hannaford, Waterfront Bistro, Open Acres, 365 (Whole Foods), and Meijer. Now it has expanded to include new brands and additional SKUs from the previous brands listed.
Click here for full details on the affected products, codes and labels from the FDA.
The affected frozen raw and cooked shrimp products were distributed nationwide from November 2020 to May 2021, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the recall, there have been nine reports of salmonella-related illness to date associated with these shrimp distributions. Avanti has taken several preventive steps and initiatives to eliminate potential for future contaminations.
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious illness, especially in young children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Although a number of product included in the recall has not been associated with any illness, according to Avanti Frozen Foods, this expansion was initiated out of an abundance of precaution after discussions with FDA and CDC.
Consumers who purchased any of the products in question are urged not to eat it and return them to the place of purchase or contact the company by phone with questions.
If your board game time needs a heavier soundtrack, then Iron Maiden is here for you.
The metal legends have dropped a new song called “Stratego,” a track off their upcoming album Senjutsu. While there aren’t specific mentions of flags, bombs or spies, the tune does include lyrics such as “Teach me the art of war” and “Spills of a crying nation upon my soul.”
Senjutsu, Iron Maiden’s 17th studio album and its first since 2015’s The Book of Souls, is due out September 3, and can be pre-ordered now. It also includes the previously released single “The Writing on the Wall.”
Nas is once again the ruler of the BillboardTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his latest release, King’s Disease II, debuts at number one. This is his tenth album to top the chart, and his first in nine years to hit number one.
King’s Disease II, featuring Eminem, YG, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Charlie Wilson and Ms. Lauryn Hill, sold 56,000 units in its first week.
The Illmatic rapper hit the streets this week promoting his new music, and posted an Instagram video showing him randomly giving out free CDs and sharing fist bumps with his fans.
“This new album got me out here acting like a bootlegger in 2004,” Nas commented.
Nas is the 12th artist to have at least ten number-one albums on the chart. The Temptations lead with 17, followed by Jay-Z with 14, Future and R. Kelly with 12, and Drake has 11. Nas is tied with Aretha Franklin, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder and The Isley Brothers, all of whom claim 10 chart-topping albums.
Nas’ new music is the follow-up to King’s Disease, which won a Grammy for Best Rap Album earlier this year, his first win after 13 nominations.
Barbra Streisand has made history once again, this time with her Release Me 2 album, which debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart dated August 21.
The debut makes Barbra the only woman to chart a new album in the top 20, or top 40, of the Billboard albums chart in every decade from the 1960s through the 2020s.
The 79-year-old music legend made her Billboard 200 chart debut 58 years ago, when The Barbra Streisand Album bowed at No. 17 in 1963. It later peaked at No. 9.
The only other act to have sent an album into the top 20 or top 40 in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, ’10s and ’20s is Bob Dylan, who accomplished that thanks to his Rough and Rowdy Ways collection, which peaked at No. 2 in 2020.
Streisand also extends her record for the most top-40-charting albums among women in the history of the Billboard 200 chart, which began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in 1956. Release Me 2 brings her total of top-40-charting albums to 54, ahead of Aretha Franklin, who has 26. Frank Sinatra tops all acts, with 58.
Release Me 2 features a collection of 10 previously unreleased Streisand recordings. The first volume, Release Me, came out in 2012.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Trade Commission is not backing down in its antitrust legal battle against Facebook.
The agency filed an amended complaint against the social media giant on Thursday — voting 3-2 along party lines to proceed — after a federal judge in June dismissed an initial antitrust complaint brought by the FTC.
The new complaint alleges that after Facebook failed to develop innovative mobile features for its network, the company instead opted for an “illegal buy-or-bury scheme” to maintain dominance, according to a statement from the FTC. The agency also accuses the company of “unlawfully” acquiring innovative competitors after its own failed efforts to create popular mobile features.
“Facebook lacked the business acumen and technical talent to survive the transition to mobile. After failing to compete with new innovators, Facebook illegally bought or buried them when their popularity became an existential threat,” Holly Vedova, the FTC’s Bureau of Competition acting director, said in a statement Thursday. “This conduct is no less anticompetitive than if Facebook had bribed emerging app competitors not to compete.”
“The antitrust laws were enacted to prevent precisely this type of illegal activity by monopolists,” Vedova added. “Facebook’s actions have suppressed innovation and product quality improvements. And they have degraded the social network experience, subjecting users to lower levels of privacy and data protections and more intrusive ads.”
Vedova said the FTC’s latest legal move seeks to “put an end to this illegal activity and restore competition for the benefit of Americans and honest businesses alike.”
Many of the arguments are along similar lines of the initial lawsuit, though the FTC said the new complaint includes additional data and evidence.
The new complaint in part focuses on the “transition period” when the emergence of smartphones and mobile internet use seemingly threatened Facebook’s dominance.
The agency alleges in a statement that after Facebook suffered “significant failures during this critical transition period,” the company opted instead to engage in anticompetitive behavior and buy up mobile innovators, including former rivals Instagram and WhatsApp.
The agency also takes aim at Facebook’s treatment of software developers, saying that after starting its Facebook Platform as an open space for third-party software developers, it abruptly reversed course and required developers to agree to conditions that prevented successful apps from emerging as competitors.
In response to ABC News’ request for comment, Facebook referred to a company Twitter post that said: “We are reviewing the FTC’s amended complaint and will have more to say soon.”
In response to the initial complaint, the company has previously slammed the allegations as “revisionist history,” noting that the agency had cleared the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The company has also argued that Instagram and WhatsApp have become what they are today due because Facebook further funded and developed them.
When he dismissed the initial antitrust complaint, District Judge James Boasberg stated that the agency’s complaint “is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed.” Boasberg said the FTC failed to provide enough facts to prove Facebook’s alleged monopolistic behavior.
Lina Khan, a vocal critic of Big Tech’s dominance, took the helm at the FTC earlier this year, leading many to speculate a crackdown on the industry could be looming. Facebook has petitioned for Khan to be recused from the antitrust investigation, but the agency on Thursday dismissed the petition.
In a new cover story with VMAN, Lil Nas X reveals how his father’s musical aspirations inspired him to pursue a music career of his own.
“My dad is a gospel singer,” the 22-year-old tells the mag. “He still sings gospel but not as much. I guess [he] inspired me to say, ‘Wow, if my dad can go out there now, at almost 50 years old, and make music, what’s stopping me?’ It was definitely a part of what pushed me. I actually ended up using one of his engineers for some of my earlier music.”
With his upcoming album Montero — titled for Lil Nas’ birth name — the singer is putting himself out there more than ever before.
“The album is me inviting people into the world of me…into the world of Montero,” he says. “[This] project gave me the opportunity to bravely show different parts of myself. Parts that I may not have shown so openly previously.”
Lil Nas says he hopes people will listen to the album and learn something about themselves through learning more about him.
“I want the takeaway to be that it’s okay to be yourself, and I mean every aspect of your true self,” he says.
Lil Nas has yet to announce a release date for Montero, which features the songs “Montero (Call Me by Your Name), “Sun Goes Down” and “Industry Baby.”
