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Trisha Yearwood added to her lengthy list of career accolades on Monday (March 24), when she was honored with the 2,805th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, during a ceremony held in Los Angeles.
Media personality Cody Alan, known for his work on SiriusXM and CMT, emceed the event, which honored Georgia native Yearwood’s numerous career milestones over the past three decades, and her journey from aspiring singer to multi-faceted entertainer, singer, author, television show leader, actress and businesswoman.
Two of Yearwood’s friends and fellow country artists, Reba McEntire and Carly Pearce, celebrated her at Monday’s ceremony.
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“What matters is the impact she’s continued to have on this industry, the genre, on me and on all of the next generation of female country artists,” Pearce said.
Pearce recalled several of the kind gestures Yearwood has made to her over the years, including greeting her backstage at the Opry and sending gifts from Yearwood’s line of pet products, for Pearce’s dogs Johnny and June, and inducting Pearce as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
“What a full-circle moment and honor for me to get to be here to help usher in this historic achievement after all the times Trisha has stood by my side,” Pearce said. “She is as beautiful on the inside as she is the outside, and I believe her loved ones would say that she is the same, down-to-earth girl she has always been. I’m grateful to have such a wonderful blueprint for what it means to have an impactful career, but also most importantly what it means to be a good person. In an industry where people will chew you up and spit you out, Trisha is the warm hug. And don’t we all just need a Trisha Yearwood and a warm hug in our lives? This star is one not everyone will achieve, but where you belong.”
Yearwood’s fellow Hollywood Walk of Fame member McEntire recalled first meeting Yearwood at the ACMs in the 1990s, at a party after the show.
“I came by and sat with you and your mom…and I thought, ‘I love her already, she’s sittin’ with her mom,’ cause my mom and I were real close, just like you and your mom,” McEntire said. “Your dry sense of humor and wit won my heart….You were funny and the years just kept going by and we got to hang out and be with each other, we got to sing together and have dinners together. You taught me a lot about cooking on your cooking show and she was like, ‘Oh poor little Reba. I’m going to help her learn how to cook,’” she said with a grin. “And I appreciated that more than you know. But our friendship throughout the years means the world to me, because girls out on the road need a buddy and we are in the country music business where girls stick together. We have fun together, we complain and gripe to each other, because you can’t do that with anybody else, nobody else understands. So congratulations today, I’m thrilled to pieces for you…I love you with all my heart and congratulations.”
Among those in attendance was Yearwood’s husband and fellow country artist and Hollywood Walk of Famer Garth Brooks, who could be seen wiping away tears during the ceremony.
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president/CEO Steve Nissen introduced Yearwood to the audience and welcomed her to accept her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony also took place near the iconic Capitol Records building, which also happens to be the place where Yearwood recorded her 2019 album Let’s Be Frank, an album of Frank Sinatra classics.
“This street represents creative genius, innovation, brilliance, recognized by your peers,” Nissen said, before Yearwood was presented with a resolution from the city council of Los Angeles.
Yearwood said, “It’s one of those surreal moments. My team, Team TY, who are all here and who I love, we all talk about being where your feet are and I’m trying to be where my feet are, but it’s very surreal to be here. It’s such an honor and the thing that makes it so special are the people who are here. I see a lot of faces in the crowd, who have been coming to see me since 1991. I love you and you know that, because all I ever wanted to do was to sing.”
To Pearce, Yearwood said, “Carly, your words were so kind. I want to tell you that when I met you for the first time, it was at a CMT Awards show and I just immediately knew that you were genuine. I knew I wanted to be your friend. So it’s been my honor to get to know you a little bit.”
Of McEntire, Yearwood said, “The person that taught me how to do that was the first artist who was so kind to me at an awards show and that was Reba McEntire, who just exemplifies friendship and class. She sent me flowers at my first awards show when nobody even knew I was in the dressing room. I though they were from my mom and dad and then I saw they were from Reba and I’m like, ‘Oh, okay.’ I’m so blessed that you and I have become more than just colleagues, but friends that get to hang out, because you’re right. There’s a misconception that female artists in particular are always climbing at each other and trying to get at each other, but the truth is, we’re all cheering for each other and with each other. This is an example of that. These girls, from every generation of country music, we’re all for each other.”
She also thanked the members of her team, Team TY, saying, “We are a team, I love you so much.” She added, “My family, my sister Beth, who is the crier, more than my husband actually. Her and her husband John are here representing our parents, who I know are here in this moment and just loving every second, especially my mom. She’s loving a star on Hollywood Blvd.” Yearwood continued by thanking her longtime producer Garth Fundis, saying, he is “the man who brought me ‘She’s in Love With the Boy,’ he brought me ‘The Song Remembers When,’ he brought me ‘Walkaway Joe,’” and thanked him for “helping me make my dreams come true.”
She also thanked her husband Brooks, calling him, “the one who has really been a cheerleader and one who, as many accolades and awards as he has won, I never see him get more excited than he does when I receive something. And for all the people who want this for me, nobody wants it more than you and I appreciate you for being my support. We’re down a few stars from each other, but we’ll figure out something, we’ll put out some breadcrumbs or something,” she added, jokingly. “I want to thank you all for taking out your time on this gorgeous day to be here for this star.”
McEntire and Pearce then joined Yearwood to reveal Yearwood’s newly minted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Among the Georgia native’s accolades are three Grammy wins, three CMA Awards, membership in the Grand Ole Opry and the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, the ACM Honors icon award and CMT’s inaugural June Carter Cash humanitarian award. She won her first Grammy for best country vocal collaboration, for a collaborative rendition of the Patsy Cline classic “I Fall to Pieces” with Aaron Neville. She picked up two more wins, for best female country vocal performance (“How Do I Live”), and for best country collaboration with vocals (“In Another’s Eyes”) with husband Garth Brooks.
The Belmont University alumna has amassed numerous hits including her breakthrough “She’s in Love With the Boy,” as well as “How Do I Live,” “XXXs and OOOs (An American Girl),” “The Song Remembers When,” “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway,” “Believe Me Baby (I Lied),” and “Thinkin’ About You.”
Beyond the 15 albums she has released, she is also host of the Emmy-winning Food Network show Trisha’s Southern Kitchen. She’s written four New York Times bestselling cookbooks and has had cookware, furniture and home accessories lines. She also co-owns the Nashville bar Friends in Low Places with Brooks, with menus created by Yearwood.
Ahead, Yearwood is prepping her upcoming new album, which will feature her own work as a songwriter on each of the tracks. She’s previewed the project with the lead song “Put You in a Song.” Beyond her own business initiatives, Yearwood supports a range of charitable causes, including her longtime work with Habitat for Humanity, her support for breast cancer research and her nonprofit Dottie’s Yard which aids shelters and animal rescue causes.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame launched in 1961. Other country artists with with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame include Brooks, Roy Acuff, Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Brooks & Dunn, Freddy Fender, Lefty Frizzell, Crystal Gayle, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, McEntire, Tim McGraw, Buck Owens and Charley Pride.
Ed Sheeran has enlisted an all-star cast to back his written plea for the U.K. government to provide stronger support for music education in schools, with signatories including Sir Elton John, Harry Styles, Coldplay and more.
In an open letter to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of this week’s budget announcement, Sheeran says that while he acknowledges a recent package from the Labour government on arts education, “we urgently need funding going directly into the hands of schools and communities on the ground. We’re losing time.”
In an accompanying statement, Sheeran added, “This creative industry brings so much to our culture, our communities, our economy, our personal wellbeing, but music education has fallen through the gaps. That’s why I’m tasking government, collectively, to correct the mistakes of its past and to protect and grow this for generations to come.”
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The letter specifically calls for a £250 million ($322.6 million) U.K. music education package “to repair decades of dismantling music” and calls upon a number of government departments (Culture, Education, Foreign Office, Health & Social Care and Business & Trade) to contribute to the fund. It also highlights five key areas for growth: music funding in schools, training for music teachers, funding for grassroots venues/spaces, music apprenticeships and a diverse music curriculum.
Other big-name co-signers to the letter include Annie Lennox, Ben Lovett & Ted Dwane (Mumford & Sons), Central Cee, Dave, Eric Clapton, James Bay, Myles Smith, Robert Plant and Stormzy.
Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, is due to present her spring budget statement to parliament on Wednesday (March 26).
The Ed Sheeran Foundation
Courtesy of The Ed Sheeran Foundation
The letter comes amid a renewed focus on music education in the U.K. In January, Sheeran launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation to highlight the lack of music education funding and help provide opportunities. He wrote at the time, “Even when I was in school it was seen as a ‘doss subject’ and not taken seriously. There’s a misconception that it’s ’not a real job’ — when the music industry accounts for 216,000 jobs in so many different fields, and bringing as much as £7.6 billion ($9.3 billion) in a year to the UK economy.”
In the letter, Sheeran additionally calls for an extra £32 million ($41.3 million) a year towards the Music national Music Hub program, set up by the U.K.’s Department of Education (DfE) to provide high-level music education to state schools. In 2025, the program will provide schools with funding of up to £79 million ($101 million).
At the BRITs earlier this month, several high-profile acts used the ceremony to call for better music foundations for emerging artists and school pupils. Speaking from the stage after collecting the BRITs Rising Star Award, Myles Smith said, “If British music is one of the most powerful cultural exports we have, why have we treated it like an afterthought for so many years? How many more venues need to close? How many more music programs need to be cut before you realize that we can’t just celebrate success, you have to protect the foundations that make it?”
Experts have also highlighted the need to provide ample education around not only music performance but the diverse job opportunities available in the industry overall. In a previous interview with Billboard UK, Ben Selway of Access Creative College said, “The lack of access to music education for under-16s results in a generation of young people who’ve not been afforded the opportunity to spark their interest in music and realise their talent.”
Read the full letter and see the list of signatories here.
Rauw Alejandro lands his first No. 1 single from Cosa Nuestra, his fifth studio album, on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, as “Khe?,” with Romeo Santos, rises from No. 3 for its first week at the summit (ranking dated March 29). The song is the fourth from the set to rank on the overall tally, two of which previously reached the top 10.
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“Khe?” is the most heard song among Latin-formatted radio stations thanks to a 5% bump in audience impressions, equating to 7.9 million earned in the U.S. during the March 14-20 tracking week, according to Luminate.
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The song reigns over previous No. 1 “El Amor de Mi Vida” by Carín León, which drops to No. 8 with a 22% dip in impressions.
“Khe?” is Rauw Alejandro and Romeo Santos’ first collab, and, coincidentally, their first No. 1 on Latin Airplay since 2023. While Rauw Alejandro last led through “Party,” with Bad Bunny, the Santos’ previous coronation arrived via another team-up, “El Pañuelo,” with Rosalía. The two leaders were only two weeks away from each other.
For Santos, while “Khe?” puts him in a tie with Wisin (22) for the ninth-most champs overall since Latin Airplay began in 1994, the new coronation expands his already-established No. 1 record among tropical acts –way ahead of his next competitor, Prince Royce, who has achieved 17 No. 1s to date.
Before “Khe?” topped the Latin Airplay chart, Rauw’s No. 1 album Cosa Nuestra delivered the No. 23-peaking “Touching The Sky” (Aug. 2024), while “Tú Con Él” landed at No. 7 and “Qué Pasaría,” with Bad Bunny, reached No. 3 high on the Feb. 15- and the March 8-dated charts, respectively.
All charts (dated March 29, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, March 25. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Travis Kelce pulled out the retro vibes — and paid tribute to another sporting legend — on a recent episode of his New Heights podcast, with the NFL star sporting a Michael Jordan hoodie from Nike. Fans immediately noticed the vintage-inspired pullover, which features a 90s-style print of Jordan and his famous red and white Chicago Bulls jersey (as well as his NBA championship rings).
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Jordan Flight Fleece Graphic Pullover Hoodie
Though it looks like a time capsule piece, the hoodie is actually a brand new release from Nike and Jordan Brand. The best part: it’s in stock right now and available for just $110 at Nike.com.
The cozy hoodie features a 100% cotton construction, with a touch of spandex for easy movement and stretch. A fleecy lining keeps things soft and comfortable, whether you’re wearing it for travel, for errands or for a light workout or run. As the product description reads, “This hoodie adds warmth and style worthy of the best player to ever lace ’em up.”
The unisex hoodie is available in sizes XS to 3XL; it features a classic relaxed fit, though you can size up if you want that trending oversized look. Kelce wore this Jordan pullover in an off-white “sail” color, though you can also pick up the hoodie in a heather gray or black.
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TRAVIS KELCE STYLE
Palm Angels Embroidered Logo Track Jacket
While books and blogs alike have documented girlfriend Taylor Swift’s style for years, Kelce is fast becoming a Fit King himself, with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end walking the tunnel and showing up to events in high-fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Jacquemus and Amiri, and emerging designers like Collina Strada, Palm Angels, and Nahmias.
This “Style by Kelce” Instagram account, meantime, has more than 10,000 followers, with countless other accounts like it keeping tabs on Kelce’s changing looks.
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Kelce is currently recording his podcast during the NFL off-season. He led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl appearance in February, though Kansas City lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 40-22. The 2025 NFL season kicks off in September.
JonasCon took place this past weekend in the Jonas Brothers’ home state of New Jersey, and we got into the huge event! From an interview with the brothers to their surprise concert and unexpected guests, keep watching to catch everything you missed at JonasCon. Did you attend JonasCon? Let us know in the comments Joe […]
Goose announced on Monday (March 24) that it is parting ways with its instrumentalist, Jeff Arevalo. Both sides shared statements via social media, implying that there were personal tensions within the band that led to the split.
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In Goose’s statement, the band cited “behavior in Jeff’s personal life that does not align with the band’s core values,” noting that it was an “incredibly unfortunate, unexpected situation,” without going into further detail.
“However, it is clear that this is the only way forward as we remain committed to upholding the values that define our community, particularly when it comes to respecting others and creating a safe environment,” the statement continues, adding that the band’s most recent tour was an “unexpected challenge to navigate,” but the group will continue as a foursome. See the full post here.
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In Arevalo’s statement, he shared his side of the story, revealing that in January, he “came to management with a personal crisis I was having,” which led to the musician taking a break from the tour. “I chose to take a mental health break and pursued a program in the great state of Washington,” he continued. “I studied emotional issues, spoke with many counselors and worked in a group therapy setting with an open heart and mind.”
Amid his program, Arevalo said that the “idea of a new and limitless future became much more enticing to me than returning to ‘the organization.’” He claims that after leaving the program he joined, he didn’t hear from his bandmates and instead “received an email from the band’s lawyer stating that I was being let go for ‘reported behavior and actions.’ I have had plenty of time to reflect upon my actions, relationships and values and I agree that we should go our separate ways.”
After expressing gratitude for the opportunity to be in the band and thanking fans, Arevalo explained that he did not feel “rightly respected, valued or properly utilized in my time with the organization,” adding that he had to “forgo severance” after refusing to sign an NDA. He concluded his statement by noting that he’s pursuing other opportunities, adding that he’s “been grossly mistreated and underestimated” despite having “a lot to offer.”
Read Arevalo’s statement here.
Arevalo joined Goose in 2020, and his departure comes just a month before the band is scheduled to release their latest album, Everything Must Go, on April 25.
Billboard Japan’s Women in Music initiative launched in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers, and executives who have made significant contributions to music and inspired other women through their work, in the same spirit as Billboard’s annual Women in Music celebration since 2007. This interview series featuring female players in the Japanese entertainment industry is one of the highlights of Japan’s WIM project.
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For the latest installment, the four members of ATARASHII GAKKO! — MIZYU, SUZUKA, RIN, and KANON — spoke with Billboard Japan at Amazon Music Studio Tokyo in Shibuya. There’s no other act quite like this unique group anywhere in the world, including its home country. Their concept is to “stand out” and true to this motto, the “Otona Blue” members put on fierce performances clad in their signature sailor-style school uniforms. Having toured internationally to great success and secured fans of various genders and nationalities, what’s their current mindset and where are they heading? The four young women who have been fearlessly standing out from boundaries over the years looked back on their careers and spoke about their future goals in this latest interview.
SUZUKA
Megumi Omori
The concept of ATARASHII GAKKO! has been to “stand out” from the beginning. Why did you choose this theme?
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SUZUKA: I think the premise was that “ordinary is boring.” We wanted to create something new instead of copying something made by someone else. When we explored that idea, we ended up with the concept of “standing out with our individualities and freedom.”
RIN: We were still in junior high and high school when we formed the group, so we were actual students. That’s why we really wanted to become leaders who were half a step ahead of other students. That feeling is also reflected in the “leaders” part of our group’s name. [Translator’s note: The group’s name in Japanese means “the new leaders in school.”]
Now that a decade has passed since the group’s formation, has your way of thinking about standing out changed?
KANON: I think my understanding of it has deepened. At first, I just sort of intuitively tried to stand out, but now I think about what I can do to push boundaries in a meaningful way.
SUZUKA: Yeah, standing out sounds easy but it’s actually quite hard. At first, I was simply rebellious, like, “I don’t like stuff that is exemplary,” but now I have respect for the background of why those boundaries were created. I often say, “It’s OK to stand out, but not to go overboard.” [Laughs] Instead of taking off on a stolen motorbike like the late Yutaka Ozaki sings in his classic song, “The Night,” our group places importance on inner freedom and liberation. We’ll follow rules but push boundaries and add our own new essence, that’s how we feel now.
RIN: In the past, we were like, “Let’s stand out!” on a single straight line that we’d drawn, but now that line has split and spread out in various directions and we look forward to it intersecting with various things.
KANON: To explain in sensory terms, it feels like it started out as a cool color, but now it’s become a warm color. Ten years ago, we were standing out in a pointed way, but now the way we stand out is like a permeating warmth.
KANON
Megumi Omori
What’s the public reaction been like to the way you’ve been standing out?
MIZYU: In Japan, it feels like if you’re even slightly different from the norm, people will ask you, “How come?” But I’ve always wondered who decides what is “normal.”
SUZUKA: We often use the phrase “intolerance is stifling” in our activities and this has been a theme since the group’s formation. There are rules in school and society that you have to follow, of course, but they include things that make you wonder, “Why isn’t this allowed?”
RIN: I think I’ve probably felt pressure to behave in a certain way because I’m a woman.
KANON: But we shouldn’t have to feel that pressure, you know? We want to convey through our music and performances how we can free ourselves from such pressures.
It takes courage to stand out from boundaries. What advice would you give to someone who can’t muster up that courage?
RIN: “Standing out” doesn’t necessarily mean sticking out, and taking that first step towards doing the things you like or want to do is what’s important. That small first step will lead you to your own unique way of standing out. This isn’t really advice, but I want to tell people to cherish the things they really like.SUZUKA: I think one of the main reasons why people can’t muster up the courage to do what they want is because they’re worried about what other people think. But the truth is, no one is really paying that much attention to you. [Laughs] If you do something you like and it’s within the rules, then the people around you have no choice but to accept it. So trust yourself more and do what you like.
RIN
Megumi Omori
So that’s the solid common understanding you all share.
KANON: What SUZUKA and RIN said has become the norm among the four of us. Because we’re accepted by the other members of the group, we can also accept everyone else. So when you come to our shows, you’ll understand what I mean. It’s a space where everyone becomes free and we can all say to each other, “This is the best!” We and all our fans have become a community that sticks out.
RIN: The members have completely different characters and our personalities and appearances are diverse as well. But because four such people got together and grew up respecting the things that we each like, the ATARASHII GAKKO! community has become a place where everyone can feel at ease. That’s why we can express ourselves with confidence even when we go out into the outside world.
MIZYU: I’ve never felt that I had to be the same as everyone else. If you like cute things, for example, you can pursue that to your heart’s content, and even if your tastes are different from the people around you, the important thing is to explore that. The members of our group can respect each other even if we can’t relate to certain aspects, and we’ve come this far because we can enjoy our differences.
MIZYU
Megumi Omori
As female artists, do you ever find yourself thinking about gender?
KANON: We’re women, but it’s a given that we don’t want to be bound by gender. Sometimes we wear sailor-style (girls’) school uniforms, sometimes we wear gakuran (school uniforms for boys), and we have male fans who wear sailor-style school uniforms. Both in Japan and elsewhere, many people express themselves in ways that transcend gender boundaries. We feel like we just express ourselves as human beings without being bound by gender.
MIZYU: Yeah, it seems like our fans freely choose what they like instead of thinking that men should be like this or women should be like that.
KANON: That’s why we want to live as individuals and as human beings instead of “being strong as women.” If people take our expression on a more essential level, like in their souls or senses, rather than being bound by our gender, that would make me happy.
SUZUKA: When I was little, I used to behave in ways that were so different from what was considered “girly” and really hated the feeling of being pushed into a stereotype of what a girl should be like. Now I’ve come to think that it’s fine to just be the way I am.
Is there anything the four of you want to take on in the future?
SUZUKA: I want to make my life wonderful, and I want to make everyone else’s lives wonderful, too. It could be about attaining happiness, or about accomplishing something amazing, but I want to make it so that I can look back and think, “That was one hell of a life!”
KANON: We often use the word “seishun” (youth), but for us, seishun isn’t about age, but about living life to the fullest right now. I want to keep living life to the fullest with these members.
This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan.
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It’s been a few weeks since Jim Jones released his lates album At The Church’s Steps, and though 50 Cent and Cam’ron weren’t too impressed with his first week sales to say the least (they clowned him), Jones is mushing on and dropping off new work in support of his project.
Linking up with Keen Streetz and Mia Ariannaa for his visuals to “Walk With Me,” Jones returns to his hood in Harlem with enough ice to make the temp on the block drop a few degrees while Mia and Keen politic in and outside of the bodega.
Elsewhere Curren$y decides to do a little stuntin’ of his own and in his and Harry Fraud’s clip to “Duct Tape,” Curren$y pulls out the bright yellow Ferrari to show heads how he rolls before rolling up a fat spliff and enjoying one of the gifts the earth has given to man. We’re eternally thankful for that.
Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend including work from Wiz Khalifa and Rakai, D Stunna featuring Aye West, and more.
JIM JONES FT. KEEN STREETZ & MIA ARIANNAA – “WALK WITH ME”
CURREN$Y & HARRY FRAUD – “DUCT TAPE”
WIZ KHALIFA & RAKAI – “WHAT YOU WAITING 4”
D STUNNA FT. AYE WEST – “GOOD TASTE”
MONEY MAN – “MAKE & MODEL”
MONEYBAGG YO – “CLOSE THE DOOR”
PEEZY – “6-7AM”
KOKANE – “WASN’T DOWN FOR ME”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKQTbAAxWY0
Forest Hills Stadium in Queens says it’s planning to move ahead with its 2025 concert season, amid reports that the New York Police Department (NYPD) has revoked the venue’s permits due to an ongoing conflict over noise complaints between the stadium and its residential neighbors.
“Forest Hills Stadium is moving forward with our 2025 concert schedule as planned and our permitting timeline is on its standard schedule,” reads a statement from the New York venue that was posted to social media on Sunday (May 23). “As happens every season, the vocal NIMBY minority of Forest Hills Gardens are attempting to roadblock yet another enjoyable season of music.”
The statement follows a report from the New York Post published Sunday that claimed the stadium — which has long been plagued by noise complaints from neighbors and in 2023 was hit by a lawsuit from the local homeowners association, the Forest Hills Garden Corporation (FHGC), seeking to shut down its summer concert program — had its sound amplification permits revoked by the NYPD last week due to an impasse in the conflict between the FHGC and the West Side Tennis Club, where the stadium is located. According to the article, the FHGC announced it would no longer grant the NYPD permission to close the streets around the stadium, which the FHGC privately owns, leaving the NYPD with no choice but to revoke the sound permits.
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Billboard has confirmed that the FHGC has refused to grant the NYPD permission to close the streets bordering the stadium for its upcoming summer concert season, essentially making it impossible for the department to do its job.
“This is a disagreement between the Forest Hills Garden Corporation (FHGC) and the West Side Tennis Club,” a spokesperson for the NYPD said in a statement provided to Billboard. “We understand that many people enjoy these concerts every summer, but we must be able to take appropriate action to keep people safe. We trust that the FHGC and the West Side Tennis Club will be able to reach an appropriate compromise.”
Despite the standoff, the venue says it still intends to move forward with the upcoming concert season that would include performances from Bloc Party, The Black Keys, Leon Bridges, Alabama Shakes, Tyler Childers and two nights of Phish.
In October 2024, a year after the FHGC filed its lawsuit, a judge dismissed five of the seven claims brought by the homeowners association, including claims that the West Side Tennis Club was in violation of its contract with the neighborhood and that it had unjustly profited from the stadium’s growing success. The ruling left only FHGC’s public and private nuisance claims intact, though the judge in the case, Joseph J. Esposito, did not find in FHGC’s favor on the merits of the nuisance claims. He merely held that they had stated a claim sufficient to survive the motion to dismiss, which they must now prove through discovery.
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Source: Ubisoft / Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is doing numbers, giving Ubisoft a much-needed win.
Take that haters. After plenty of rumbling and hoping Assassin’s Creed Shadows would be a massive flop for Ubisoft, the highly-anticipated next chapter in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is already a hit.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows reached 2 million players three days after its release. According to a post from Ubisoft, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows has now surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey.”
This milestone follows after Shadows reached 1 million players in the first 24 hours of its release, easily eclipsing AC Valhalla’s record. According to Ubisoft, Valhalla was the biggest launch on PC when it was launched in 2020.
We zap five years later, and Shadows seemingly smashed that record.
What also could have contributed to that record was that Shadows was launched on Steam from day one and immediately verified for Steam Deck use. It took two whole years for Valhalla after its original release to land on Steam.
Currently, Shadows’ all-time peak concurrent numbers on Steam are at 64,825, officially putting it past Odyssey’s 62,069 but easily blowing past Origins (41,551) and Valhalla (15,679).
If Assassin’s Creed Shadows continues at this pace, it could become one of the biggest releases of the year. To put things in perspective, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which was a very well-reviewed title, took two weeks to hit the 2-million player mark; it only took days for Shadows to reach that goal.
Ubisoft Finally Gets A Win With Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Shadows’ performance is a much-needed win for Ubisoft, which has been reeling thanks to commercial flops like Star Wars Outlaws and Skull and Bones. This could be the shot in the arm the video game developer has been looking for.
It also showed that all the social discourse around Shadows, specifically about the game’s dual protagonist, Yasuke, the Black Samurai, and Naoe, the female shinobi assassin, didn’t matter in the end.
Hell, it might have even helped the game sell.
Who knows.
Well, we loved Shadows and wrote in our review of the game that “Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an exceptional entry into the franchise that brilliantly combines all of the good features from the games over the years and stuffed them into a game that doesn’t require you to play 100+ hours to complete. It’s so good that you want to spend as much time in its world as possible to uncover more of the story because it’s absolutely worth it.”
Congrats to the Ubisoft team for the successful launch. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.