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17 Feb 2023

Olivia Newton-John’s Daughter Recalls Star’s Last Words to Her: ‘She Was Making Jokes’

The world lost one of its biggest stars on Aug. 8, 2022, but Chloe Lattanzi lost her mom. About six months after Olivia Newton-John died at the age of 73, her daughter has revealed the sweet last words she ever heard the Grease sensation say to her before the star lost the ability to speak.

“The last words she could say to me was, ‘My sunshine,” Lattanzi told TODAY‘s Hoda Kotb Friday (Feb. 17) in her first TV interview since Newton-John’s death. “And right before she lost her ability to speak, she was making jokes.”

“I love my mom more than anything,” continued Lattanzi, whom Newton-John shared with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi. “She’s my mama, you know? She’s not Olivia Newton-John to me, but I’m so glad that she was Olivia Newton-John for so many people.”

The late four-time Grammy winner had been open about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatments during her lifetime. Following her death, Newton-John’s family asked that donations be made in her honor to her cancer research foundation, the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.

Before her passing, the “Physical” singer recorded a duet of “Jolene” with the song’s original singer, Dolly Parton. It was released posthumously on the same day as Lattanzi’s TODAY interview. Listen to it here.

Appearing at Lattanzi’s side during the interview was Newton-John’s husband, John Easterling, who spoke tenderly about the 15 years he spent with his wife. “She had the willpower, even in her most difficult times, to really bring in the light and to bring in the love,” he said. “And she was who she was all the way through.”

“A guy I was flying with said, ‘You know, John, when you’re lucky enough to have found your true soulmate, and you share a heart, when one passes, the other has the obligation to live life for both,’” he added. “And that was very empowering and very powerful for me, and gave a way forward.”

17 Feb 2023

Jig Been Up: FOX News Getting Cooked After Docs Reveal They Knew The Big Lie Was A Fraud

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Liberal Activists Demonstrate Outside Of Fox News In New York

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FOX News is all but confirmed as an alleged propaganda network. Not that anyone should be surprised, but recently revealed court documents show that the network’s anchors knew guests like Rudy Giuliani were spreading lies, and they continued to hand them megaphones anyway.

The documents (actually texts) are thanks to Dominion’s lawsuit against the network. In texts shared between racist FOX talking heads Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, they confirm that they’re clearly aware the guests they have on their shows are right-wing “lunatics.”

Reports CNN:

The most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air, damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing revealed.

The messages, included in a legal filing as part of Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, showed that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham brutally mocked lies being pushed by former President Donald Trump’s camp asserting that the election was rigged.

In one set of messages revealed in the court filing, Carlson texted Ingraham, saying that Sidney Powell, an attorney who was representing the Trump campaign, was “lying” and that he had “caught her” doing so. Ingraham responded, “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani].”

Also in the docs were references to a source who claimed to know of election fraud due to “time travel.” Nah, we’re not kidding—that is their source.

While MAGA Twitter is doing all types of gymnastics to try to dismiss these latest revelations, FOX News is trending for all the wrong reasons. Like seriously, why is that network still getting press credentials?

Peep some of the more potent Sly Fox News slander and observations of the elite hypocrisy in the gallery.

1. Standards?

17 Feb 2023

Jalen Rose Says $100 Is The Minimum For Crispy Lineups & Fades, Twitter Has Thoughts

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Jalen Rose has few peers in the world of crispy lineups and intact hairlines, especially in the NBA. The retired Detroit baller and current analyst recently shared that the lowest price a patron should pay for a haircut is $100 and Rose went up for both barbers and beauticians in his statement.

Jalen Rose, fresh at 50, spoke exclusively with Boardroom, the platform operated by Kevin Durant and his partner Rich Kleiman. In the brief video, Rose dispelled wisdom on what it should cost at the starting point to get the shapeups and tapers of your dreams.

“So first off, The minimum you’re supposed to be spending for a quality haircut is $100,” Rose began. “I’m here to defend the sanctuary this is called barbers and beauticians. You know, so many guys and people out here think y’all gonna show up and get a fly haircut and y’all gonna spend $35 dollars.

Rose contained, “Y’all gonna go to the end of the line. Y’all gonna hit up your barber, they gonna send you to the voicemail. You’ll have a 1 o’clock appointment. You gonna get there at 1 o’clock, and somebody gonna be sitting in that chair.”

The video doesn’t share where Rose is but it could be assumed that the interview took place in Salt Lake City, Utah where the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend festivities are set to kick off. And one thing is for certain, Rose knows a thing or two about keeping a fresh cut and has one of the most formidable hairlines in the game. His only comp in the strong hairline game is Paul George and Anthony Davis at this point.

Check out the reactions to Jalen Rose saying you gotta pay a whole meatball at the minimum to get a fresh cut. Do you agree? Disagree? Engage the tweet below or sound off in our comments section. As for us? We don’t have Jalen Rose money so you got it, Big Dog.

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Photo: Marcus Ingram / Getty

7. Can’t front. This is a good tweet.

12. That’s a low blow.

15. Nobody, fam.

17 Feb 2023

Bailey Zimmerman Honors Johnny Cash With a Cover of ’God’s Gonna Cut You Down’

Bailey Zimmerman has stormed Billboard‘s country charts of late with his own songs, including “Rock and a Hard Place” and “Fall in Love,” but on Friday (Feb. 17), he paid tribute to the Man in Black, covering Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”

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The release is an Apple Music exclusive, in conjunction with the launch of MLS Season Pass and the new “Man in Black” Nashville Soccer Club kit honoring the life and music of the late Country Music Hall of Fame member.

“The real reason I chose Cash’s ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’ is because I’m such a believer, like I know he was,” Zimmerman told Apple Music. “Stoked for everyone to hear this version and maybe see Nashville SC use it next season!”

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” was included on the 2006 posthumous Cash release American V: A Hundred Highways, the fifth entry in Cash’s American series. His version was inspired by a folk song, “God Almighty’s Gonna Cut You Down,” which was originally recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946 and released by group The Jubalaires a year later.

Given that Cash’s version of the song and video were released three years after the music legend’s death in 2003, Cash’s video is a black-and-white piece of visual art that includes a string of celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Whoopi Goldberg, Travis Barker, Bono, Johnny Depp, Flea, Billy Gibbons, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Brian Wilson, Owen Wilson and more.

Listen to Zimmerman’s version on Apple Music, and Cash’s version below:

17 Feb 2023

White Supremacist Payton Gendron Sentenced To Life With No Parole For Racist Buffalo Shooting

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The murderous white supremacist teenager who ruthlessly gunned down 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year will spend the rest of his natural life behind bars. And while that won’t bring the victims back to life, perhaps it will grant their family members some semblance of peace.

According to the Grio, Judge Susan Eagan kept things plain with 19-year-old Payton Gendron—whose adherence to the white nationalist “great replacement theory” helped inspire him to commit the massacre—when she told him, “There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances,” before sentencing him Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Before Eagan handed down her sentence, the court heard emotional testimony from family members of the victims.

From the Grio:

Tamika Harper, a niece of victim Geraldine Talley, said she hoped Gendron would pray for forgiveness.

“Do I hate you? No. Do I want you to die? No. I want you to stay alive. I want you to think about this every day of your life,” she said, speaking gently. “Think about my family and the other nine families that you’ve destroyed forever.”

Gendron locked eyes with Harper as she spoke, then lowered his head and cried.

Kimberly Salter, the widow of security guard Aaron Salter, explained that she and her family were wearing “red for the blood that he shed for his family and for his community, and black because we are still grieving.”

Other family members made sure their rage was loud and clear when confronting Gendron.

One man charged at him and had to be led out of the courtroom.

After the victim testimonies, the court heard Gendron’s brief statement about how he “shot and killed people because they were Black,” just before sliding in an explanation literally nobody cared to hear about how the internet made him do it.

“I believed what I read online and acted out of hate, and now I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me,” he said, just before a woman in the courtroom who couldn’t take it anymore stood up and let it be known that “we don’t need” his useless mea culpa, and then she stormed out.

Good riddance to another violent white supremacist, and may they all share his fate.

17 Feb 2023

Foo Fighters Pay Tribute to Taylor Hawkins on Late Drummer’s Birthday

The Foo Fighters remembered late drummer Taylor Hawkins on what would have been his 51st birthday on Friday (Feb. 17). “Miss you so much,” read an Instagram post featuring a picture of Hawkins looking directly into the camera with a half-smile on his face and his drum kit in the background.

In late March 2022, the beloved Foos drummer was found dead in his Bogotá, Colombia, hotel room at age 50. Hawkins’ death was announced through a social media statement from the band’s accounts; to date no cause of death has been officially announced.

In a New Year’s Eve post the band posted a heartfelt message about the challenges of 2022 while providing a peek into their future. “As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us,” the Foos began their statement on Twitter.

“Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life. And for the past 27 years out fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were – and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”

In the months following Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters staged a pair of all-star tribute concerts in memory of the late drummer. The shows, which took place in London and Los Angeles, featured appearances by Travis Barker, Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Liam Gallagher, Lars Ulrich, and dozens more.

The band recently announced its first string of dates following a year-long silence in the wake of Hawkins’ death, including spots at a number of festivals including Boston Calling (May 26), Sonic Temple (May 28), Rock Am Ring (June 2), Rock Im Park (June 4), Bonnaroo (June 18), Harley-Davidson Homecoming (July 15), Fuji Rock (July 28-30), The Town (Sept. 9) and Sea.Hear.Now (Sept. 17). At press time the group had not yet announced who will play drums on those dates.

Check out the Foos post below.

17 Feb 2023

First Stream: New Music From Skrillex, P!nk, Janelle Monáe, Niall Horan and More

Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Skrillex ends a long album drought, P!nk takes us on a journey, and both Janelle Monáe and Niall Horan return with splashy new singles. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:

Skrillex, Quest for Fire 

Casual Skrillex fans might be shocked to learn that Quest for Fire is only his second album — after all, the 35-year-old was a defining figure of the EDM boom during the 2010s, a prolific producer and collaborator over the past decade, and one of the more exhilarating presences at the many festivals he played across several years. Quest for Fire is his first album in nine years, but perhaps Skrillex was simply winding up for this moment: the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s Recess sounds just as vital in its dance visions as his best work, and riotously diverse, with a song like “RATATA,” in which Missy Elliott stops by to breathe new life into a “Work It” refrain, leading into “Tears,” a slam-bang showcase for dubstep king Joker.

P!nk, Trustfall 

In a recent chat with Billboard about new album Trustfall, P!nk explained why her ninth studio LP is a “f–king journey” that can’t be contained by one mood. “This album could have easily been, Side A is Roller Skate Time, and Side B is No Sharp Objects in the Kitchen Time!” she said. “But that’s not life. Life is messy and beautiful and messy again.” And Trustfall is true to P!nk’s reality: working with a range of collaborators, from Max Martin to Chris Stapleton to Fred Again.. to First Aid Kit, the pop superstar presents herself as a woman, wife, mother and industry veteran capable of dancing away her troubles and pleading for understanding on the same collection of sometimes uptempo, often emotional songs.

Janelle Monáe feat. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, “Float” 

Janelle Monáe lives up to the title of her new single: “Float” is all about hovering over muddled discourse and rising above petty details, being able to leave earthly trappings and find grace in artistry. It’s a skill that the multi-talented Monáe has flaunted over the course of her breathtaking career, and “Float,” created with Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, gives her a chance to bask in her achievements over simmering trap drums and a boisterous mid-tempo piece of production; “Float” may introduce a new body of work, but even if it doesn’t, Monáe has earned the chance to levitate above the naysayers.

Niall Horan, “Heaven”

When boy band members disperse, they often leap into establishing a solo presence to keep the public’s attention, then gradually settle into a sound for themselves. Such has been the case with the members of One Direction since they went on hiatus, and particularly with Niall Horan, who has found a warm pop-rock niche and strengthened his songwriting since debuting with solo hits like “This Town” and “Slow Hands.” “Heaven,” which previews third album The Show, reaches for eternal love with a vocal elasticity and guitar chug that play off each other with ease.

Polo G feat. Future, “No Time Wasted” 

“I know you waitin’ / Gettin’ fed up, you runnin’ out of patience,” Polo G declares to open the chorus of “No Time Wasted”; he could be addressing his ravenous fan base, which didn’t get a new album from the Chicago rap star in 2022 after three straight years of doing so, but Polo spends the rest of the new single demonstrating that, when he does return, his storytelling instincts will be sharper than ever. Guest star Future slides onto Polo G’s contemplative level here, simultaneously bragging and commiserating about the trappings of fame, but Polo owns the track by mulling his fears, memories and nightmares in evocative detail.

Omar Apollo, “3 Boys” 

Fresh off of a breakthrough year and a best new artist Grammy nod, Omar Apollo has returned with “3 Boys,” a smoky synthesis of doo-wop in which he concludes that a multiplication of romantic partners would be the only way to overcome a bitter heartbreak. The new single smartly showcases the multi-faceted enormity of Apollo’s voice — his ability to deliver ghostly harmonies, ethereal falsetto and desperate, full-throated cries — and becomes another winner for the rising star because of it.

17 Feb 2023

Rihanna’s Super Bowl ASL Interpreter Opens Up About Her Viral Halftime Show Performance

Justina Miles just opened up about her Super Bowl 2023 playbook for the first time since her American Sign Language interpretation of Rihanna‘s halftime show on Feb. 5 went mega viral. In a candid interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings on Friday (Feb. 17), the performer shared details about how she prepped for game day and revealed what Ri said in a DM to her afterward.

Given how perfectly Miles nailed each and every lyric of the pop star’s halftime show medley of hits — as demonstrated in dozens of TikToks with millions of views and likes — you might be surprised to learn that she only received Ri’s setlist five days before the show. “I was nervous before getting [the setlist], like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s she gonna do?’” Miles confessed.

“I got it and I’m like, I know all the songs,” she continued. “I was confident. I looked over the lyrics, made sure I got all the meanings right … I memorized the lyrics and the beat, so that way I can sign the lyrics and move to the beat so [viewers] can see the beat rather than hear the beat.”

A nursing student from Maryland, Miles explained that there are different levels of deafness. While she herself can hear to an extent, she is still considered deaf, which makes her the first deaf woman to serve as an interpreter for the Super Bowl. After their performance, she said Ri messaged her directly to congratulate her on the feat.

“I did not get a chance to meet her, but she did DM me,” Miles said. “She was like, ‘Black queen, you’re amazing. We’re BFFs in my head, you were amazing!’ It was beautiful.”

“We practiced in the same vicinity — she did not look pregnant!” she added, referencing the “Lift Me Up” singer’s surprising pregnancy reveal during the show. “I found out after.”

Watch Justina Miles recap her viral Super Bowl performance below:

17 Feb 2023

Here Are All the Performers Confirmed for 2023 Premio Lo Nuestro

The 2023 Premio Lo Nuestro awards are just days away, with Sebastian Yatra leading the pack with 10 nominations. 

The Colombian artist, who’s nominated for the all-genre artist of the year, is closely followed by other top nominees Bad Bunny, Camilo, Becky G, and Grupo Firme, who each have nine nods; Maluma, Daddy Yankee, and Ozuna with eight each; power couple Rauw Alejandro and Rosalía tie with seven, as well as Carin León, Karol G, Carlos Vives, and J Balvin.

In total, 192 artists across diverse musical backgrounds are nominated in 39 categories, but in addition to its well-deserving nominees, the awards show will also feature a star-studded lineup of performers. 

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Maluma, Marc Anthony, Christian Nodal, Ivy Queen, Paulina Rubio and many more acts have been confirmed to take the stage on Thursday, Feb. 23.

This year’s theme is “El Mundo Es Lo Nuestro” (“The World Is Ours”), and the 35th annual award show will broadcast live on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. ET. It will be simulcast on Galavisión in the U.S. and Canal 5 in Mexico.

Here are all of this year’s performers, in alphabetical order:

  • Alan Estrada
  • Álvaro Diaz
  • Arthur Hanlon 
  • Aymée Nuviola 
  • Carin León
  • Carlos Rivera
  • Christian Nodal 
  • El Alfa 
  • Elena Rose
  • Fuerza Regida
  • Gente De Zona
  • Gilberto Santa Rosa
  • Gloria Trevi 
  • Goyo
  • Grupo Firme
  • Grupo Frontera
  • Isabella Castillo
  • Ivy Queen
  • Jerry Rivera
  • La Adictiva 
  • Lupita Infante 
  • Maffio
  • Maluma
  • Marc Anthony
  • Mau y Ricky
  • Melendi
  • Noel Schajris
  • Norberto Vélez
  • Ozuna
  • Paulina Rubio 
  • Pepe Aguilar
  • Prince Royce 
  • Ricardo Montaner
  • Sebastián Yatra
  • Tiago PZK
  • Tini 
  • Tito Nieves
  • Valentina