On Thursday night at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, Journey played their first concert since late 2019, and the first since longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith were fired early last year.
The performance was part of a series of Lollapalooza “aftershow” events that select artists also performing at the Chicago festival this weekend are playing at various venues in the Windy City. The Aragon show was a warmup for Journey’s Lollaplooza headlining set Saturday.
In addition to guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and singer Arnel Pineda, Journey’s lineup includes drummers Narada Michael Walden and Deen Castronovo, keyboardist/backing vocalist Jason Derlatka and bassist Randy Jackson, although Marco Mendoza is filling in for Jackson at the Chicago shows while Randy recovers from back surgery.
According RollingStone.com, the Aragon Ballroom show was an extra-long, two-set extravaganza that included classic hits like “Open Arms,” “Faithfully” and “Separate Ways,” along with deep cuts like “Suzanne,” “Just the Same Way” and “Feeling That Way.” You can check out fan-recorded video of the band performing the 1978 gem “Wheel in the Sky” on YouTube.
Walden, Jackson and Derlatka joined the band last year, while it was announced earlier this week that Castronovo, who previously played who Journey from 1998 to 2015, was once again a member of the group.
Meanwhile, Schon tells ABC Audio that he’s excited that popular rapper-singer Post Malone will be headlining Lollaplooza alongside Journey on Saturday.
“I think he’s a very good guitar player…and I heard he’s a fan of mine as well,” says Neal. “And he plays many different styles.”
Schon adds, “Maybe he’ll get done before we do, ’cause I think we’re playing a longer show, and I’d like to invite him to our show to come…and sit in.”
(TOKYO) — American backstroke swimmer Ryan Murphy alleged Friday that doping remains a problem in the sport after he lost twice to swimmers on the Russian Olympic Committee.
“It is a huge mental drain on me throughout the year to know that I’m swimming in a race that’s probably not clean,” said Murphy. “It frustrates me, but I have to swim the field that’s next to me.”
Murphy, who won gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016 in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, lost to swimmer Evgeny Rylov in the 200-meter and placed third behind Rylov and another swimmer, Kliment Kolesnikov, in the 100-meter backstroke this year. Both are part of the Russian Olympic Committee team.
The defeat marked the first time since 1992 that an American hadn’t won in the men’s backstroke competition.
“To be clear, my intention is not to make any allegations here. Congratulations to Evgeny,” Murphy added. “I do believe there is doping in swimming.”
After the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, whistleblowers uncovered a massive state-sponsored doping program. In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from officially sending any athletes to an international sports competition until December 2022, but the International Olympic Committee made the controversial decision to allow some Russian athletes to compete in Tokyo under the moniker Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) after testing showed they were clean.
Rylov denied being a part of any doping schemes and said Friday that he had been tested and swam a clean race.
“From the bottom of my heart, I am for clean sport. I’ve devoted my entire life to this sport… Ryan didn’t accuse me of anything, so I’d rather not comment,” he said during a press conference on Friday.
As of Friday, the ROC team has won 34 combined medals, including 10 gold, the third highest of all competing nations. None of those medals will be recorded in Olympic records as Russian wins.
(TOKYO) — When U.S. Olympian Tara Davis competes in the long jump competition this weekend at the Tokyo Olympics, cheering her on from home will be her boyfriend, Hunter Woodhall.
When Woodhall, a two-time Paralympic medalist sprinter, competes in the Tokyo Paralympics next month, the roles will be reversed.
Davis and Woodhall, both 22, are used to achieving great feats, but each being in the Olympics in the same year is remarkable even for them.
“I’m so, so, so excited,” Davis told “Good Morning America.” “This is my dreams coming true.”
“For me, the most special part of going to the games is what all we fought through over these last years,” added Woodhall. “We’ve both seen exactly what it took to get to this point.”
They met in early 2017 at a meet in Idaho when both were seniors in high school — Davis in California and Woodhall in Utah.
“I was warming up and I spotted Hunter and I was like, ‘Oh, that guy is cute,'” recalled Davis. “I didn’t know who he was but I went up to him as he was coming off the track after his race and gave him a hug and we started talking.”
They stayed in touch and started dating several months later, but faced the obstacle of a long-distance relationship again when they each pursued their track and field careers in college.
Woodhall made history as the first double-amputee to get a Division I track and field scholarship, at the University of Arkansas.
Born with fibular hemimelia, in which the bones in his lower legs never formed, Woodhall had both amputated below the knee at 11 months old.
Davis joined the track and field team at the University of Georgia, and then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where this year she finished her college career.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been closer than 700 miles from each other,” said Woodhall. “Learning how to do that [distance] is difficult.”
The coronavirus pandemic actually proved to be a respite for the couple, even though it delayed the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics by one year.
Davis and Woodhall were able to live together while taking their college classes remotely, and prepare for the long road to Tokyo by each other’s side.
“I think the postponement of the Olympics helped me tremendously,” said Davis. “I’m very happy that I got that full year to find out who I am, reset my brain and get back focused into what I love to do.”
In June, Woodhall made the U.S. Paralympic team and then flew from his trials in Minneapolis to Eugene, Oregon, where Davis was competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
“I finished my race and left from the track for a flight to Eugene,” said Woodhall, who made it in time to see Davis earn a spot. “That moment of cognition right after she realized she made the team was one of the most memorable things that I’ve ever experienced.”
Now, Davis and Woodhall will both compete at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, just weeks apart.
“The biggest thing that we’ve talked about is just understanding at the end of the day that it’s just a track meet,” said Woodhall of how he is helping Davis prepare mentally for her first Olympics. “It’s a really amazing experience and it’s important to soak it all in, but at the end of the day it’s a track meet and it’s our job and we will compete at the highest level we can.”
And both Davis and Woodhall said that they are looking forward as much to their post-Olympics life as they are to the event itself.
They will both officially graduate from college after they return from Tokyo, and then plan to live together full time for the first time in their relationship, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Davis and Woodhall each turned pro earlier this month, with both signing endorsement deals with Champion.
“Arguably, post-Olympics is more life-changing than pre-Olympics, which I don’t think is usually the case,” said Woodhall.
“I’m really excited to start a new chapter of my life and finally turn our dreams into reality,” said Davis.
Taika Waititi is bringing Flash Gordon back to the big screen. The Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner, who is currently working on Thor: Love and Thunder, apparently had a change of heart while working on an animated version of the Flash Gordon property, according to producer Jon Davis.
“It was a movie that was a huge influence on him growing up,” Davis tells Collider of the New Zealand filmmaker. “It is one of his favorite movies. He initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we…started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better.'”
Flash Gordon has influenced generations of filmmakers since Alex Raymond‘s 1930s comic strip debuted, including George Lucas, who fashioned Star Wars after the episodic theatrical serials of Flash that Lucas enjoyed in his youth.
Most famously, in 1980, Flash Gordon was converted into a campy space opera that starred Sam J. Jones as the earth athlete who finds himself fighting in an intergalactic war.
That film came to a new audience thanks to Mark Wahlberg‘s character in Seth MacFarland‘s Ted films, who, along with his teddy bear buddy, idolized Jones — who appears in the comedies.
Davis, who co-produced Disney’s just-released Jungle Cruise, tells Collider this version of Flash Gordon will be very, well, Taika. “He has the most fantastically interesting vision for this movie. And you can only know it is Taika. It is what he does. It is the way he looks at the world…He is the funniest guy in the world. And he thinks on a different plane.”
Davis continues, “This movie embraces everything that’s special about Taika, and his vision,” while noting that “it harkens in a very interesting way to the original conception from the comics.”
(NEW YORK) — Missy Park, CEO and founder of athletic brand Title Nine, is supporting the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in a big way.
This week, Park announced that the women’s adventure and outdoor apparel retailer will contribute $1 million to USWNT players to support their fight for equal pay. In addition, Title Nine established the “Kick In For Equal Pay” initiative, where the company will match any donations up to $250,000.
“My hope with this contribution is that we all are conscious of the small and large things that we can do,” Park told “Good Morning America.”
Park, a former athlete at Yale University and an beneficiary of Title IX, a federal civil rights law that was passed to prohibit sex-based discrimination in schools or education programs that receives federal money, said she was compelled to support USWNT players after watching the HBO Max documentary “LFG,” which chronicles their ongoing fight for equal pay.
In March 2019, the players sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination, despite the courts having dismissed their equal pay claims last year. While competing at the Olympics, the team filed an appeal stating the ruling “penalized the USWNT players for their success.”
“These women, they play more games, they win more games, and yet they are paid less, so I was really mad about that,” Park said. “But then I also realized I’m kind of mad at myself. Like, it’s not just up to U.S. Soccer to fix this — it’s up to all of us.”
In a statement to ABC News, the U.S. Soccer Federation said it is “committed to fair and equal pay for our Women’s National Team players – and for all women.”
“Comparing only the game bonuses our Men’s and Women’s National Teams receive ignores the $100,000 annual salary that U.S. Soccer pays members of the Women’s National Team. The USWNT Players Association negotiated and agreed to a contract that provides guaranteed annual salaries and benefits, in addition to game bonuses. Due to this contract structure, they receive lower game bonuses than the Men’s National Team, who do not receive salaries or benefits and are paid only on a “pay to play” basis,” the statement continues. “Right now, we are focused on supporting the Women’s National Team in their quest to win a fifth Olympic Gold Medal. Moving ahead, we will continue to work with the team and its players association to chart a positive path forward.”
Park’s decision to contribute to the USWNT’s fight for equal pay is also a personal one. As a mother of two kids who both have big athletic dreams, Park wants to make sure they’re both able to pursue them in a way that’s equal.
“I have a son, Leo. And he’s a basketball player. And I have a daughter, she’s a soccer player, amongst other things,” she said. “I think about Leo when he was young — he dreamed of being in the NBA. You know he could dream of making a living doing that … My daughter is a soccer player — shouldn’t she have that dream, too? Don’t we want all our sons and daughters to have the same dreams?”
(NEW YORK) — As coronavirus cases in the U.S. begin a concerning climb upward and virus variants threaten a return to normalcy, a handful of businesses have announced COVID-19 vaccination mandates as they prepare to welcome workers back to the office.
The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission said employers can legally require COVID-19 vaccinations to re-enter a physical workplace, as long as they follow requirements to find alternative arrangements for employees unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons or because they have religious objections.
Still, the requirements have proven a hot button issue as business leaders mull over office reopening plans, in some cases sparking legal challenges and immense pushback from workers who refuse the shot. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that a mandate to require all federal employees to be vaccinated is now “under consideration.”
Here is a roundup of some of the major U.S. employers that have announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Google
Tech giant Google announced a vaccine requirement Wednesday for those returning to its offices. The company has some 135,301 employees, according to SEC filings.
In a memo sent to employees, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai also announced that the company’s “voluntary” work-from-home policy had been extended through Oct. 18 after it was initially set to expire on Sept. 1. In addition, Pichai wrote that “anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated.”
“We’re rolling this policy out in the U.S. in the coming weeks and will expand to other regions in the coming months,” the chief executive said. “The implementation will vary according to local conditions and regulations, and will not apply until vaccines are widely available in your area.”
He said local leads will share further guidance with employees, including “details on an exceptions process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other protected reasons.”
Pichai added that he hopes these steps “will give everyone greater peace of mind as offices reopen.”
Facebook
Hours after Google’s announcement, Facebook said Wednesday it will require anyone working at its U.S. campuses to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Implementation of the new policy will hinge on “local conditions and regulations,” Facebook Vice President of People Lori Goler said in a statement to ABC News. There will be a “process” for those who will be exempt from the mandate, such as for medical reasons, Goler said.
ABC News has requested further details on the testing protocols and action for failure to adhere to the requirement.
“We continue to work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone’s health and safety,” said Goler, who noted that Facebook will be evaluating its approach outside the U.S. “as the situation evolves.”
Facebook is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and has offices in over 80 cities worldwide.
Washington Post
Some staff members at the Washington Post on Tuesday shared on Twitter that the company announced it was mandating vaccines.
In a memo sent to employees and shared with ABC News by the Washington Post, publisher and CEO Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. announced the mandate and said employees must also “demonstrate proof of full COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment.”
The Post, which employs more than a thousand journalists and is aiming for a mid-September reopening, said accommodations will be provided to people with “genuine medical and religious concerns” and that they will need to document them with the human resources team.
“Even though the overwhelming majority of Post employees have already provided proof of vaccination, I do not take this decision lightly,” Ryan said in the memo. “However, in considering the serious health issues and genuine safety concerns of so many Post employees, I believe the plan is the right one.”
St. Jude’s, Houston Methodist and more hospitals
The health care sector, perhaps unsurprisingly, has been one of the industries with the most vaccination requirements.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that all patient-facing health care workers in state-run hospitals are required to get vaccinated. “That is a point of contact, that could be a serious spreading event, we want to make sure those workers are vaccinated period,” Cuomo said Wednesday.
At St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, staff were informed earlier this month that they had a Sept. 9 deadline to get vaccinated. “By September 10, employees who have refused vaccination or do not have an approved medical or religious exemption will be put on an unpaid administrative leave for two weeks,” wrote Dr. James R. Downing, president and CEO of the Memphis hospital. “Those who fail to start the vaccination process will be terminated at the end of the two-week period.”
The Houston Methodist hospital system in Texas, which oversees eight hospitals and has more than 26,000 employees, set a June 7 deadline for staffers to get the vaccine or risk suspension and termination. More than 175 staffers at the Houston Methodist hospital were temporarily suspended without pay last month after not complying with a mandate, and a lawsuit was filed against the hospital. A Texas judge sided with the hospital, tossing out the lawsuit filed by 117 employees who were against getting the shot.
Delta Airlines
Delta Airlines came out ahead of the curve on vaccine mandates. The airliner said in May that it would require all new hires in the U.S. to be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they qualify for an accommodation.
The Atlanta-headquartered company with some 91,000 full-time workers has said it will not be putting in place a company-wide mandate to require current employees to be vaccinated, though the new hires vaccine requirement kicked in on May 17.
Disney
The Walt Disney Company announced Friday that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S. must be fully vaccinated.
Employees working in-person who aren’t already vaccinated have 60 days to do so as of July 30 while most employees working from home must provide proof of vaccination before returning, said Paul Richardson, Disney’s senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer.
Richardson said the company is also developing vaccination protocols for employees outside the U.S.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Anyone hoping to catch a Broadway show as the Great White Way reopens this fall will need proof of vaccination along with their ticket.
The Broadway League announced Friday that theater owners and operators of all 41 New York City theaters will require all theater attendees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for all performances through October 2021. Additionally, this also applies to all performers, backstage crew and theater staff.
Masks will also be required for audience members while inside the theater “except while eating or drinking in designated locations.”
Theatergoers will need to be fully vaccinated with an Food and Drug Administration or World Health Organization-approved vaccine and must show proof of vaccination at their time of entry with a valid ticket. For those who took Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, the performance they attend must fall at least 14 days after their second dose. For those who opt for Johnson & Johnson, the show they attend must be 14 days after their single dose.
The Broadway League also said that ticket holders for performances through Oct. 31 will be notified of the new rules and be kept abreast of an anticipated review of the policies in September. The organization said the future review “may include a relaxation of certain provisions if the science dictates.”
Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, said “a uniform policy across all New York City Broadway theatres makes it simple for our audiences and should give even more confidence to our guests about how seriously Broadway is taking audience safety.”
Exceptions will be made for children under 12 and those with medical conditions or religious reasons for not getting vaccinated. These individuals must instead provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of a show’s start time or a negative COVID-19 antigen test taken within 6 hours of the start time.
This news comes amid rising concerns over the delta variant of COVID-19.
PVRIS have officially started their new era, releasing their first new music since last year’s album Use Me.
The new song, “Monster,” arrives ahead of their new headlining tour, which is set to kick off August 6 with openers Royal & the Serpent.
“‘Monster’ is a song about reckoning with outside opinions and expectations put upon oneself,” says frontwoman Lynn Gunn. “It can be easy to take on the weight of negative situations/opinions, this is about the struggle of releasing those inhibitions and internalizations and returning back to yourself.”
Earlier this month, PVRIS, which now consists of Gunn and Brian MacDonald, announced that they’d be “debuting three new songs on tour to give you an advanced preview of what’s to come,” adding, “It’s about to get crazy.” Presumably, “Monster” is one of those songs.
Multi-platinum singer Jacquees is back to serve up his new single, “Not Jus Anybody,” featuring Future. The smooth collaboration finds Jacquees letting women know he’s not like any other guy.
“Yeah, you know that I’m about it / Don’t even gotta talk about it / You know I’m not just anybody / So don’t even try to play it shy with me,” he sings.
After linking up with Oscar and Grammy-winning producer D Mile on “Messy Love,” U.K. singer Nao has returned with the title track to her forthcoming album, And Then Life Was Beautiful, out September 24th.
Ant Clemons tapped 2 Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign for his humble new song, “Appreciation.” The track features a catchy melody and chorus, in which Clemons and Ty Dolla expound upon their appreciation for women.
“Baby, I’m a black rockstar sensation / I like what you’re doin’, baby, give me motivation, woah / Shorty make it clap, yeah, standing ovation / I’m spendin’ my money woah, just to show appreciation,” they sing.
Meanwhile, Chicago rapper and singer Tink dropped off her new album, Heat of the Moment, featuring Kodak Black, Jeremih and Yung Bleu, and an exceptional track with Nigerian superstar Davido. The follow-up to her 2020 EP, Hopeless Romantic, features Tink’s Yung Bleu-assisted single, “Selfish.”
And lastly, self-proclaimed “trap house jazz” artist Masego shared the music video for “Mystery Lady (Sego’s Remix).” The visual has Masego wandering through the streets and alleys in Mexico City, Mexico. The original version, featuring Don Toliver, can be heard on Masego’s acclaimed 2020 EP, Studying Abroad.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Kelly Clarkson has been ordered to shell out nearly $200,000 a month to ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. But a new report from People claims that agreement is only temporary.
A source tells the mag that the court order — which has Kelly paying $150,000 per month in spousal support and $45,601 per month in child support for their two children — “is strictly temporary support until a final settlement is worked out.”
The order, handed down by a Los Angeles judge on Tuesday, also has the singer paying $1.25 million toward Blackstock’s attorney fees.
Kelly and Brandon married in 2013 and share seven-year-old daughter River Rose and five-year-old son Remington Alexander. Their split was made public in June 2020.
