Ozzy Osbourne has been dealing with a variety of health ailments over the past few years, but luckily, COVID-19 isn’t one of the them. In an interview with Metal Hammer, the Black Sabbath frontman hypothesizes that being the Prince of Darkness may have helped him in that regard.
“My wife had the virus; my daughter had the virus and I never got it,” Osbourne says. “Being a devil worshipper does have its good points!”
It’s unclear whether whether Ozzy meant his daughter Kelly or Aimee contracted COVID-19. His wife Sharon, of course, was briefly hospitalized with the virus late last year, and has since recovered. Two of Ozzy and Sharon’s granddaughters also tested positive.
In addition to his connection with Satan, Ozzy also got the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year.
As for Osbourne’s other health issues, the 72-year-old tells Metal Hammer he’s “in for more surgery” for his neck, which he injured in 2019 after suffering a fall in his home. He also had a bad case of pneumonia in 2019, as well, and revealed in 2020 that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
That hasn’t stopped him from making music, though — Ozzy’s next solo album, the follow-up to 2020’s Ordinary Man, is a “work in progress,” he says.
Say it isn’t so! Daryl Hall celebrates a milestone birthday Monday, when he will turn 75. Here are some things you may not know about the blond half of Daryl Hall & John Oates, music’s most successful duo:
–Born Daryl Hohl, Hall met John Oates in 1967 in the service elevator of Philadelphia’s Adelphi Ballroom, where they both were trying to escape a fight between rival gangs.
–Prior to forming a duo with Oates, Hall was released a 1969 album as part of the rock duoGulliver. He was also one of the group of musicians who, under the name Electric Indian, released the 1969 top 20 hit “Keem-O-Sabe.”
–Hall’s favorite hobby is buying and restoring historic homes. In 2014, he even hosted a show on the DIY Network called Daryl’s Restoration Over-Hall.
–Since 2007, Hall has hosted Live from Daryl’s House, an ongoing concert series that features him duetting with fellow musicians. At first, the series originated from his home in Millerton, NY; now it takes place at his club, Daryl’s House, in Pawling, NY.
–Don’t ever refer to his music as “blue-eyed soul.” Daryl hates the term, insisting, “Soul music is not about race.” He doesn’t like the term “yacht rock” either, and don’t even think about calling them Hall & Oates: It’s Daryl Hall & John Oates. “The reason we’ve always insisted on our full names is because we consider ourselves to be two individual artists, Hall told the San Jose Mercury News. “We’re not really a classic duo in that respect.”
–Daryl Hall and John Oates have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(NEW YORK) — Hockey fans can expect new viewing platforms and updates when they watch games this season. ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and Hulu are changing the way fans can watch their favorite sport while introducing it to everyone in an exciting way.
Watch the full interview from Good Morning America:
A veritable menagerie of well-known musicians have lent their talents to a new tribute to Pink Floyd‘s classic 1977 concept album Animals that will be released November 19 on CD and digital formats.
Animals Reimagined: A Tribute to Pink Floyd includes contributions from former Yes keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz, current Yes singer Jon Davison and bassist Billy Sherwood, longtime Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre, ex-Blue Öyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard, and many others.
The album, which can be pre-ordered on CD and digitally now, also will be issued as a vinyl LP in 2022.
Among the other artists featured on the tribute project are theatrical psych-rock legend Arthur Brown, Vanilla Fudge/Cactus drummer Carmine Appice, Cutting Crew frontman Nick Van Eede, former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnett, UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore, Utopia bassist Kasim Sulton, Dream Theater frontman James La Brie and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, jazz-rock guitar great Al Di Meola, and Bauhaus‘ David J.
In advance of the album, a cover of the track “Dogs” recorded by Bonnett, Moore, Sulton, Rudess and Mastelotto has been released as a digital single.
Pink Floyd’s Animals was released in January 1977 and peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. It has gone on to sell more than four million copies in the U.S. The album, which was written mostly by singer/bassist Roger Waters, featured lyrics that compares the classes of human society with three animals — pigs, dogs and sheep.
Animals Reimagined follows a similar star-studded project released in May that paid tribute to Pink Floyd’s 1975 Wish You WereHere album.
Here’s the Animals Reimagined: A Tribute to Pink Floyd track list, along with the musicians featured on each song and the groups they’re associated with:
“Pigs on the Wing 1” — Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull)
“Dogs” — Graham Bonnet (Rainbow), Vinnie Moore (UFO), Kasim Sulton (Utopia), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson)
“Pigs (Three Different Ones)” — James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Al Di Meola, Joe Bouchard (Blue Öyster Cult), Patrick Moraz (The Moody Blues/Yes), Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
“Sheep” — Arthur Brown, Rick Wakeman (Yes), Jan Akkerman (Focus), David J. (Bauhaus/Love & Rockets), Carmine Appice (Cactus/Vanilla Fudge)
“Pigs on the Wing 2” — Jon Davison (Yes), Albert Lee, Billy Sherwood (Yes)
Anthony Anderson may be making a return to the upcoming revival of Law & Order.
In an upcoming episode of Rachel Ray‘s syndicated talk show, obtained by Deadline, Anderson, who played Detective Kevin Bernard for two seasons, says he’s already been approached about making a return on the Emmy-winning crime drama.
“I did have a conversation with Dick Wolf,” Anderson says of the show’s creator. “I will just say that. So, we’ll see what the future holds.”
As previously reported, NBC has greenlit season 21 of Wolf’s Law & Order, 11-and-a-half years after it was abruptly canceled. Like previous seasons, the show will once again center on “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”
Although casting details have yet to be announced, the new season of Law & Order is expected to feature many of the same characters from the original series, including Jack McCoy, who was played by Sam Waterson.
Anderson’s interview with Rachel Ray will air October 14. Check your local listings to watch live.
It’s been over 50 years since Paul McCartney announced that The Beatles were going their separate ways. While fans still speculate who initiated the breakup, Sir Paul has again set the record straight.
“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney, 79, said regarding the late John Lennon when talking to BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life. The Guardianobtained an advanced copy of the special, which is scheduled to air October 23.
McCartney recalled, “John walked into a room one day and said, ‘I am leaving The Beatles.'”
Paul said that announcement led to “the most difficult period” of his life. He and his band mates Ringo Starr and George Harrison were “left to pick up the pieces” by being forced to keep Lennon’s exit a secret.
“So for a few months we had to pretend. It was weird because we all knew it was the end of The Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away,” Sir Paul reflected.
The pressure eventually got the best of McCartney. He said he became “fed up of hiding it” and admittedly “let the cat out of the bag” when promoting his eponymous debut solo album on April 10, 1970.
McCartney also reflected on the infamous lawsuit he brought against his band mates, saying it was because he didn’t want to be controlled by manager Allen Klein.
“I had to fight, and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles,” he remarked. “They thanked me for it years later.”
McCartney also thinks that, had Lennon stayed, The Beatles “could have” survived for longer. “This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue,” he said.
(MARTINSBURG, WVa.) — A current U.S. Navy engineer and his wife were charged with sending restricted naval data internationally, with the intention of selling it, court records unsealed over the weekend show.
Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, allegedly communicated through encryption services with an undercover FBI agent and attempted to sell submarine data that was restricted, according to a criminal complaint.
The FBI were brought into the case from the beginning, court documents say.
Starting in December 2020, an unspecified country received a package from the United States, containing U.S. Navy documents as well as an SD disc and a letter explaining that it was not a hoax, the FBI says.
“Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation,” the letter in the package allegedly said. “This is not a hoax.”
They turned it over to the FBI legal attaché in the country, and FBI began to communicate through encrypted email, according to the complaint. Allegedly on the other side of that encrypted email was Jonathan Toebbe.
The FBI alleges he asked to be compensated in cryptocurrency writing in an email that, “Face to face meetings are very risky for me, as I am sure you understand. I propose exchanging gifts electronically, for mutual safety.”
An undercover FBI agent whom he was communicating with was posing as a representative of a foreign country, and allegedly suggested a drop location for him to drop off sensitive information, according to the complaint.
Court documents say Toebbe asked for a signal to be placed in the country’s main building as a sign of good faith while he visited Washington, D.C., which the FBI placed, and as a sign of good faith, paid Toebbe $10,000 in cryptocurrency.
After the exchange, the government alleges Teobbe dropped sensitive documents in West Virginia, while his wife allegedly acted as a lookout.
“Records show that JONATHAN TOEBBE is a government employee working as a nuclear engineer for the United States Navy and holds an active Top Secret Security Clearance through the United States Department of Defense and an active Q clearance from the United States Department of Energy,” the documents state.
The government alleges that Toebbe put an SD card containing restricted naval data inside a peanut butter sandwich.
“Specifically, the U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that several of the documents contained militarily sensitive design elements, operating parameters, and performance characteristics of Virginia-class submarine reactors,” court documents state.
In total, Toebbe allegedly received $100,000 for dropping off restricted data.
He allegedly conducted three drop-offs.
“The U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that multiple documents on the SD card contained Restricted Data. Specifically, the U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that the document contained schematic designs for the Virginia-class submarine. Virginia-class submarines are nuclear-powered cruise missile fastattack submarines, which incorporate the latest in stealth, intelligence gathering, and weapons systems technology,” the documents say. “Virginia-class submarines, with a per unit cost of approximately $3 billion, are currently in service with the United States Navy and are expected to remain in service until at least 2060.”
The Toebbes were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Saturday. They will appear in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on Tuesday. They have been charged in a criminal complaint alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act.
(SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.) — Remains found in a Southern California desert this weekend may belong to 30-year-old Lauren “El” Cho, who has been missing for months, authorities said.
The remains were recovered during a Saturday search for Cho “in the rugged terrain of the open desert of Yucca Valley,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
The remains haven’t been identified and a cause of death hasn’t been released. The sheriff’s office said the identification process could take several weeks.
Cho, from New Jersey, was reported missing on June 28 “when she reportedly walked away” from the Yucca Valley home where she was staying, the sheriff’s department said.
The search for Cho was launched this summer and included planes searching the remote mountain terrain and canines scouring the area for evidence, the sheriff’s office said.
Cho’s family describes her as “a talented musician, an incredible baker, a hilarious and loyal friend, a strangely intuitive gift giver, and probably the coolest sister one could hope for.”
(NEW YORK) — William Shatner will make history Wednesday as he boldly goes where few have gone before while aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
The Star Trek actor who played the iconic Captain Kirk joined Good Morning America Monday along with his fellow flight crew members as they anxiously await their delayed departure.
“I’m deeply disappointed because I was building up the enthusiastic response, now we have to wait another day,” Shatner said. “[But] it’s really worth it. What’s a day with this extraordinary experience that we’re about to have.”
The 11-minute ride to the edge of space about 60 miles above the earth’s surface comes just two months after the first successful Jeff Bezos-owned space flight with Wally Funk, 82.
Shatner, 90, is set to become the oldest person ever to go to space and will hit weightlessness in zero gravity for about four minutes.
Blue Origin crew member Audrey Powers told GMA that this trip and opportunity was a long time coming.
“They offered me the opportunity to represent all those great people and sit in the seats, so I could not be more overwhelmed at the opportunity,” she said. “I feel an enormous sense of responsibility to represent this team.”
Glen de Vries, a fellow Blue Origin crew member and passenger, added, “this is how innovation happens.”
“This is the beginning of a new time for space and we’re on the beginning of a curve that’s going to blast off,” he said. “That’s a metaphor for that adventure that we’re literally going to have together. I can’t wait.”
Shatner said he expects plenty of Captain Kirk references as the world watches him and the crew in flight.
“Actually, I haven’t heard Shatner in a long time,” he said with a laugh.
New Shepard’s 18th mission, NS-18, has targeted liftoff on Oct. 13, at 8:30 am CT from Launch Site One in West Texas.
(NEW YORK) — Selma Blair is getting candid about living with multiple sclerosis in a new documentary.
In Introducing, Selma Blair, the actress opens up about how she is embracing the disease and how she is feeling after undergoing a stem cell transplant in 2019.
“At this moment, I’m great,” Blair told Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts in an interview. “It is important to say, ‘at this very moment’ and I don’t want to be complaining although I — I always say, ‘I have no complaints but do you have a minute?’ It’s like my joyful thing.”
Blair added, “I have more gains than losses. And I do have things that can sometimes be embarrassing but this part of it that I do want to show ’cause that’s the part that’s healing, and perfect, and acceptance — the glitches, maybe some of the speech.”
The actress, who is known for her roles in films such as Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde, first shared her MS diagnosis on Instagram in 2018. Months later, she spoke with GMA her daily battle with the disease.
Blair said that coming forward with her illness has meant a lot to others, including her fans and followers.
“What I saw when people came up after an Instagram post or especially your show that I was on — how much it meant,” she said. “And that moved me more than I had been moved by other things that I have achieved in my life or done.”
The documentary, which will show viewers what went into Blair’s decision to get the stem cell transplant, will show her fears about receiving the procedure, which is still experimental for MS and not a cure, and the intensive rounds of chemo she had to do to help “reboot” the immune system. Stem cell transplants are not yet FDA approved for the treatment of MS.
“I kinda got to a critical point and my nervous system and more symptoms and I couldn’t stay awake,” Blair said. “I was mortally afraid of chemo my whole life. I’m someone that’s always gone holistic when I can.”
But Blair said that after one dose of chemo, she was talking clearly and the inflammation started to go down. Now, she revealed her brain is free from forming new lesions, but she does have volume loss in some speech and movement areas and prefrontal damage — things she takes medicine for throughout the day.
“I chose this as a marker in my life to want to live, to want to be a person that can show other people with chronic illness, disabilities, an injury they couldn’t get over, a hit,” she said. “I just took a hit. And we take hits. … And that resilience is possible.”
As for acting, she hopes it’s something she can return to someday.
“If the right thing — I’m not looking, but God knows I would never say I wouldn’t dream of being a part of an amazing set one day.”
For now, she’s taking things one step at a time and finding joy.
“We have to take care of ourselves and be patient,” Blair said. “And better times come. Maybe not for good. Maybe it’s not a cure. But more than not, better times will come. We’re meant to have joy on this earth. I never felt that before.”
Introducing, Selma Blair will hit theaters Oct. 15.
