(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Washington 12, Toronto 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 5, Boston 3
NY Yankees 2, Boston 0
Tampa Bay 10, Baltimore 0
LA Angels 8, Detroit 2
Kansas City 3, Houston 1
Chi White Sox 9, Oakland 0
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Cleveland 3 Minnesota 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 2, Miami 0
Chi Cubs 2, Cincinnati 1
Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 0
Colorado 7, San Diego 3
San Francisco 3, NY Mets 2
Arizona 3, Philadelphia 2
LA Dodgers 4, Pittsburgh 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 72, Minnesota 60
Dallas 80, Chicago 76
Las Vegas 93, Washington 83
Phoenix 84, Indiana 80
Los Angeles 85, Atlanta 80 (OT)
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Colorado 2, LA Galaxy 1
Minnesota 1, San Jose 1 (Tie)
At first glance, Riley Green‘s latest hit, “If It Wasn’t for Trucks,” might seem like just another ode to country’s favorite vehicle for riding backroads, throwing tailgate parties, and hauling hay.
But for the Alabama native, it hits much closer to home than that.
“The whole song is really personal,” Riley reveals. “And talking about when my granddaddy died, and ‘where would I have first heard Merle [Haggard],’ the line about ‘where was I supposed to cry.'”
“You didn’t cry in front of anybody,” he explains. “You pulled off in your truck somewhere if you were gonna do it.”
“And I love the line, ‘how would anybody’s daddy get around,'” he goes on. “That thought to me is pretty cool to go, ‘Everybody’s dad drives a truck. What would they do if there weren’t trucks?’ They’d have to walk everywhere, because nobody’s dad drives a car.”
While Riley freely admits it’s almost impossible to come up with an entirely new idea, he maintains it’s the execution that can really make a song special.
“Everything’s probably been said. Anything you can ever say, any idea’s probably been written in one of the eight billion country songs that are out there,” Riley points out. “But finding a cool way to say it and finding a personal way to say it, I think is what makes a song stick out, in my mind.”
Right now, Riley’s busy with the Beers on Me Tour with Dierks Bentley and Parker McCollum.
“If It Wasn’t for Trucks” is the title track of Riley’s 2020 EP, and is also included on his new collection, Behind the Bar.
For the last seven years, Imagine Dragons‘ hit “Radioactive” has held the record for the most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100. While that record has now been broken by The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights,” it’d be hard to call “Radioactive” anything but a rousing success, especially given where it started.
As frontman Dan Reynolds tells Billboard, “Radioactive” wasn’t on anybody’s radar when ID was first getting started.
“Once we signed [to Interscope], it wasn’t like everybody at the label was like, ‘This is the song,'” Reynolds recalls. “In fact, it was the opposite. ‘It’s Time’ was the first single, and we [already] had ‘Radioactive’ at that point.”
“Nobody thought that that song would play on radio,” he continues. “In fact, I remember our radio department specifically being like, ‘This song won’t play on radio.’ But the song just started to go on its own, and then it just went to radio because it kind of had a life of its own, and it kinda dictated its own way.”
Surely that conversation will be a pivotal scene if anyone decides to make an Imagine Dragons biopic.
As for “Radioactive’s” now-beaten record, Reynolds feels good that it fell to The Weekend, whom he calls a “legend” and an “icon.”
“I think his music is the type of music that’s going to live on for a long time, and do good things,” Reynolds says. “So if there was ever someone to take the record, I think it’s good company.”
Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons is gearing up to release a new album called Mercury — Act 1 on September 3. It features the singles “Follow You,” “Cutthroat” and “Wrecked.”
Since becoming a mom, Meghan Trainor has pivoted from music to TV, because it allows her to spend more time with her son Riley — and the Grammy winner says she knows how lucky she is to be able to have that option.
Along with Adam Lambert and others, Meghan will be a judge on the upcoming reality competition show on E! called Clash of the Cover Bands. She’ll also be the host of a new Top Chef spinoff called Top Chef Family Style, which will stream on Peacock. In both cases, she gets to work a normal day and return home in the evening, with the added bonus of Riley being able to join her on set. It’s quite a change from her previous life as a globe-traveling pop star.
“Yeah, it’s my dream and I still get to, like, come home and be working on music whenever I can,” Meghan tells ABC Audio. “And I just love that I don’t have to travel, honestly!” She laughs, “Like, I don’t even know…I couldn’t even picture me dragging him on a plane right now. It seems like a lot of work!
“I’m just so happy that we can drive 10 minutes to work and do our work and he gets to come with me,” she notes. “So many moms out there can’t bring their child to work every day. And I get to do that. So I’m super-lucky and I know how blessed I am. So it’s been awesome!”
So far, neither show has a premiere date set. Meghan’s most recent album was A Very Trainor Christmas, which came out in October of 2020.
There was a time, if you can believe it, when Camila Cabello “never had any friends,” she tells Bustle. But now she has plenty, and she says she was taught the importance of friendship by none other than Taylor Swift.
Camila tells Bustle that when her music career began, she and her mom did everything together “to the extreme. Because I never had any friends.” She explains, “I’ve been [working] since I was 15. I’ve been traveling so much, and it’s been really hard for me to water the soil for friendships.”
But when Camila was chosen to open for Taylor Swift on her 2018 Reputation tour, she says, she finally learned how important it was to cultivate non-romantic relationships.
“Taylor has always been so kind and supportive and also goes out of her way to give you artist advice,” Camila tells Bustle. “[She’s] really about making friendships and relationships the most important thing. She is so brave at watering those seeds of friendships and relationships.”
Camila adds, “She always answers my texts and she’s so busy. I don’t even answer texts because I’m just worse at it. It takes intention to be like, ‘Let me write all my friends back.’”
Luckily, Camila isn’t lacking in the romantic relationship department either, as her romance with Shawn Mendes proves. “There’s a lot of sweetness and tenderness [between us],” she tells Bustle. “I think we’re both sensitive. I’m really lucky to be able to surround myself with tenderness; it’s really important to me.
An updated version of Rush‘s 2019 screening event Cinema Strangiato will be shown in select theaters for one night only on September 9 in honor of the 40th anniversary of the legendary Canadian prog rockers’ 1981 album, Moving Pictures.
Rush: Cinema Strangiato — Director’s Cut will feature an alternate version of the film, which boasts highlights from the 2015 concert film R40 Live, plus behind-the-scenes segments and soundcheck footage.
The updated flick features bonus performances of “One Little Victory” and “Red Barchetta,” as well as the Neil Peart drum medley “Cygnus X-1″/”The Story So Far,” which is described as Neil’s “final recorded drum solo masterpiece.”
R40 Live features performances filmed in 2015 at a number of stops on Rush’s 40th anniversary trek, which turned out to be the band’s farewell tour. Peart died of brain cancer in January 2020.
Cinema Strangiato also includes interviews with The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, The Trailer Park Boys, Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz, and others.
Tickets for Cinema Strangiato — Director’s Cut are on sale now in the U.S. at CinemaStrangiato.com. Tickets will be available for screenings in Canada on September 1.
The team behind Big Little Lies is back for more drama with Nine Perfect Strangers, launching today on Hulu.
The miniseries is set at a boutique health-and-wellness resort whose director, played by Nicole Kidman, is on a mission to reinvigorate the tired minds and bodies of nine stressed city dwellers. Bobby Cannavale, who plays one of the resort’s guests, tells ABC Audio it’s not the kind of place you’re likely to find him.
“Sandals with the kids,” is the closest he’s come to visiting a health spa, although he doesn’t even think that qualifies. “[A] 50 minute massage is 10 minutes too long for me,” he admits. “I don’t like when they’re putting their hands on me and… I’m not into the facials and I can’t do it. They’re not relaxing to me. I like to be in a place that’s nice looking, but people leave me alone.”
Samara Weaving and Melvin Gregg play a couple in need of therapy, and Gregg says tinkering around the house helps him keep his mental health in check.
“I really enjoy like carpentry and like landscape work,” he reveals. “So, that’s how I kind of escape.”
Weaving’s routine for decompressing includes practicing as much self-care as possible.
“Every day,” she tells ABC Audio, “I’m riddled with anxiety, so I’m always try to fix it. Yeah, I’m crazy. I usually do yoga for like twenty minutes a half an hour if I can most days and then I’ll sit and meditate for like ten minutes. That’s always helpful. Therapy every week.
Music and acting stars Ludacris and Queen Latifah worked together on a film for the first time, and for the Fast & Furious actor, it was one of the highlights of his career.
They just wrapped shooting the thriller End of the Road in New Mexico, in which Latifah portrays a recent widow, who after losing her job, drives her family cross-country to start a new life.
“Filming with Queen was one of the best experiences ever, and I’m not just saying that,” Ludacris tells Billboard. “Her energy is so unmatched. She’s so zen’d the hell out.”
The three-time Grammy winner says he always wanted to collaborate with Latifah, and they had so much fun together: “We was laughing and joking on set every day.”
Luda dropped his new single “Butter.ATL” last Friday which pays tribute to his love of peanut butter, and his hometown, Atlanta. He also appears in a new Jif peanut butter commercial with Gunna.
Ludacris is also executive producing a new children’s animated series, Karma’s World, named after his first daughter. On July 28, his wife Eudoxie gave birth to his fourth daughter, Chance Oyail Bridges.
Twenty-two years ago, he dropped his debut studio album, Incognegro, on his own independent label, Disturbing Tha Peace. Now more artists choose to be independent, and Ludacris says the key to success is social media.
“Come up with clever ways to have things go viral, as opposed to trying to spark something negative,” Ludacris says. “Try to do something positive, funny or that hasn’t been done before that puts people on to your music.”
Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson is pregnant. Her husband Colin Jost confirmed the delightful news over the weekend.
The Saturday Night Live star, who was performing two sold out shows at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut, told the audience on Saturday that he and Johansson are about to become parents.
Allison Stockel and Jared Shahid, the Playhouse’s respective Executive Director and Artistic Director, confirmed to ABC Audio that Jost broke the news at their venue.
“Colin announced from the stage that he and Scarlett are expecting soon. I think it was fun for our audience to hear such big news unexpectedly,” Shahid remarked. “The crowd was very excited – everyone cheered and clapped.”
Both Stockel and Shahid described Jost’s announcement as “casual,” so both of them “assumed it was public knowledge” already.
Shahid also explained to ABC Audio that Jost’s performed a “Yondr show,” meaning all recording devices were not permitted and phones were placed in magnetic pouches during the event, “So no one was able to post about it.”
“It’s been fun to see the story develop over the last couple days,” he added.
The child will be Jost’s first and Johansson’s second. The actress shares six-year-old daughter Rose Dorothy with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.
Johansson, 36, and Jost, 39, confirmed their engagement in 2017 after two years of dating and tied the knot in October 2020.
(NEW YORK) — Marine Corps Maj. Thomas Schueman’s quiet street in Rhode Island is a world away from Afghanistan, but he remains steadfast in his mission.
As Taliban forces took over Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul Sunday, Schueman was desperately trying to find a way out of the country for his friend and former interpreter Zak, one of the many still trapped as the government collapsed around them.
“He wasn’t just a translator, he was my brother, basically one of my Marines,” Schueman told “Nightline.” “I have a lifelong commitment to the people I serve and lead.”
He hopes to get Zak, who will only be identified as such in this report to protect his identity, and his young family to the airport and to safety. Schueman made call after call as the hours turned to days.
Within a few short weeks of American troops leaving the country, Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, an Islamic military insurgent group, in a stunning failure. This comes after 20 years of Americans fighting there and $2 trillion spent.
Nearly 2,400 Americans, 66,000 Afghan military fighters and over 47,000 Afghan civilians were killed in the decadeslong war.
Many wonder if the sacrifices of those who served had all been in vain. Afghans who remain in the country stand to pay the highest price as the situation there grows more urgent by the minute.
Six thousand American troops have now been ordered to head directly to Kabul to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission. Images of Chinook helicopters evacuating U.S. personnel from the country were eerily reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975.
President Joe Biden announced in April that he would make good on the Trump administration’s negotiated treaty with the Taliban to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. Just five weeks ago, he was adamant that what we have seen over the past few days would not happen.
Monday, amid growing criticism, Biden admitted the Taliban retook the country more quickly than anticipated, but stood behind his decision to leave Afghanistan.
“If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision,” he said. “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”
Afghanistan fell less than one month before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, after which the U.S. invaded their country. Dubbed Operation Enduring Freedom, it led to nearly two decades of fighting, involving roughly 800,000 U.S. troops.
Schueman was one of them. No stranger to the sacrifices of war, he earned a Purple Heart while serving. And like too many soldiers, he lost dear friends.
In 2010, he met a young interpreter named Zak. Schueman said Zak saved his life many times.
Schueman has spent the last five years trying to help Zak get a visa to the U.S.
“I think it’s a very simple transaction. You serve with U.S. forces and we will provide you a visa,” Schueman said. “He served with U.S. forces, we did not provide the visa. I think that’s a betrayal.”
As the Taliban took province by province, Zak spent days in Kabul working to get documents in order for him, his wife and four children, all under the age of five — while Schueman worked from the U.S. to devise an exit strategy.
“What the Taliban does to people who work with the U.S., they execute them,” Schueman said. “So this is not a ‘what if’ kind of scenario, this is what will happen if we cannot get Zak to the airport and on a flight.”
It’s become a nightmare reality for Afghan refugees — one call, one day, one moment could mean the difference between life and death.
After hours of back and forth, Schueman got the call Sunday night that Zak and his family were finally beginning the hour, 20-minute walk toward the airport.
But that glimmer of hope was dashed when hours later Zak left this voice message: “We just are returning back to our apartment because there was gunshot fire everywhere,” … “That’s why we returned back to our house.”
“We’ve exhausted every course of action I can think of — it’s about midnight, we’ll stay with them throughout the night here and pray for them,” Schueman said in a video diary late Sunday night.
Despite the setback, Schueman is still focused on finding a way out for Zak and his family.
The U.S. has now approved transport for 30,000 at-risk individuals, including interpreters and their families, out of Kabul — but the logistics remain daunting.
As of Tuesday, the Taliban was guarding the only way into the airport, only letting foreigners pass. The group declared they’re in full control, setting up checkpoints throughout the city to separate locals from foreigners.
Zak and his family remain in Kabul but they continue to be hopeful that he will get on an airplane.
“Until I know Zak has his ass on a seat in an airplane, I have to continue to believe that that is going to be what happens,” Schueman said.
