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Nelly shared his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office before stepping on stage for his Stagecoach performance. In a quick interview with Fox News Digital prior to his Stagecoach set on April 26, Nelly called himself a “glass half-full type of guy” when speaking on Trump’s first 100 days back in […]
Mike Peters, the lead singer of Welsh rock band The Alarm died on Tuesday (April 29) at age 66 following a decades-long battle with cancer. The death of the author of such strident 1980s alt rock anthems as “Blaze of Glory,” “Spirit of ’76,” “Sixty Eight Guns” and “The Stand” was confirmed in a statement from the group’s publicist titled “Totally Free.”
As the lone remaining original member of the punk-turned-rootsy rock group formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1977 (originally known as The Toilets) Peters continued to tour and release music during a three-decade battle with several forms of cancer, putting himself up as an indefatigable advocate for blood cancer patients.
Last April, before launching a 50-date U.S. tour, he was diagnosed with Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive form of lymphoma. According to the release, even after extensive treatment at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, U.K., including experimental therapies, doctors could not halt the cancer’s progress.
Michael Leslie Peters was born in Wales on Feb. 25, 1959 and logged time in early Hairy Hippie and The Toilets, forming the latter after being inspired by a Sex Pistols show he attended in 1976. Teaming up with childhood friend and bassist Eddie McDonald, as well as drummer Nigel Twist and guitarist Dave Sharp — initially as Seventeen — the group gelled as The Alarm in 1981, when they were signed to Miles Copeland’s IRS Records, the early indie rock home of groups including R.E.M., The Go-Go’s, Fine Young Cannibals, Wall of Voodoo and many more.
They got a crucial break when U2’s agent saw them live and invited the band to open for the then-ascending Irish group in December 1981. Their sound — a mix of acoustic roots rock, new wave balladry and howling, uplifting anthems — began to gain traction as they supported U2 on that band’s 1983 War tour.
The hard road work paid off on the Alarm’s 1984 debut album, Declaration, which spotlighted Peters’ sensitive, heartfelt lyrics on tracks including the opening salvo, “Marching On.” The anthem for youth found him wailing, “These are the kids they’re powerless/ So you tell them so/ These are the kids they’re powerful/ Don’t say you haven’t been told.”
Setting the tone for the next two decades, the album also featured such fist-in-the-air shout-along hymns to fortitude and fight as “Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?,” “We Are the Light,” “Blaze of Glory” (not to be confused with the Bon Jovi song of the same name) and one of the Alarm’s most beloved calls to arms: “Sixty Eight Guns.”
The song mixed a jaunty rockabilly-meets-mariachi horns sound with another one of Peters’ rallying cries for misunderstood youth, in this case inspired by a late1960sGlasgow street gang who went by the song’s title. “They’re after you with their promises/ Promises of love/ They’re after you to sign your life away,” Peters sings in his signature urgent, raspy yowl. “Sixty-eight guns will never die/ Sixty-eight guns our battle cry/ Sixty-eight guns,” he adds on the chorus.
The group expanded their sound on 1985’s sophomore effort, Strength, which added some churchy organs to the title track and added a handful of other classics to their live repertoire, including the synth-speckled “Knife Edge” and yet another heart-pumping call to arms, the harmonica and piano painted homage to the band’s early origins, “Spirit of ’76.”
They would release three more albums during their initial run, including 1987’s Eye of the Hurricane — featuring their signature ballad, “Rain in the Summertime” — as well as 1989’s Tony Visconti-produced Change, which got them their first and only Billboard Hot 100 top 50 hit with “Sold Me Down the River” (No. 50). That album also represented one of the group’s chart peaks in America, topping out at No. 75 on the Billboard 200 album chart; Strength hit No. 39 in February 1986 and Declaration ran up to No. 50 in April of 1984.
Among their other Hot 100 charting singles were “Strength” (No. 61), “Rain in the Summertime” (No. 71) and “Presence of Love” (No. 77).
After the release of their fifth, and final, LP by the original lineup, 1991’s Raw, the band split up and got back together just one more time, for an episode of VH1’s Bands Reunited, in October 2003. Peters continued his musical march with the Poets of Justice band featuring his wife, Jules Peters, on keyboards, as well as releasing his first solo album, Breathe, in 1994, one year before his first cancer diagnosis.
Peters was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1995, battling that form of cancer, as well as later being twice diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia in 2005 and 2015. Taking on the disease with the same vigor that fed his songs, Peters co-founded the music-driven charity Love Hope Strength with his wife Jules — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 — as a means to raise awareness around stem cell donation. The organization’s “Get on the List” campaign at his shows helped add more than 250,000 people to the global stem cell registry.
The singer also kept a sparkle in his eye amidst his health battles, releasing an album by his hoax teen group The Poppy Fields, in 2004, scoring a hit on British radio with the blitzing “45 R.P.M.” Though the song clearly featured Peters’ signature vocals, at the time he said the masked effort was an attempt to shake-up the media’s perception of the by-then 20-plus year old band by concealing their identities and enlisting a group of younger musicians in the band the Wayriders to pose as the veteran act.
In addition to solo singles and albums, Peters, who shared the stage with icons including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan over the years, performed with the indie/new wave supergroup Dead Men Walking with members of The Mighty Wah!, The Damned and the Sex Pistols and briefly joined on as the lead singer of Scottish band Big Country in 2011 following the death of singer Stuart Adamson.
In addition to touring, Peters performed the “highest show ever” on Mt. Everest in 2007, where he was joined by some other 1980s new wave legends, including Cy Curnin and Jamie West of The Fixx, Glen Tillbrook of Squeeze and Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats for a show to raise cancer awareness. A tireless advocate for cancer awareness, Peters shared his stories with his fans and encouraged them to join him on mountain-climbing treks to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas and released a documentary in 2018 on the BBC about Jules’ cancer battle, While We Still Have Time.
Peters posted from his hospital room in January, his signature shock of long blonde hair shaved down to a slim mohawk, as he shared a new song, “Chimera,” which he said celebrated his receipt of his CAR-T cell therapy on what he called his “new birthday.” Peters booked a series of shows in June of this year in Wales, dubbed “The Alarm Transformation Weekends,” in advance of the upcoming release of his final album, Transformation. He also completed the second volume of his memoirs, Volume 2 HOPE – 1991-2005.
Check out some of The Alarm’s most beloved hits below.
A video of Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap allegedly calling for the death of British MPs (Members of Parliament) is being assessed by anti-terror police in the U.K. The clip from November 2023 appears to show one member of the band saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” At the time, the Conservative Party – also known as the Tories – were in government with a large majority.
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This follows news last week that a historic video of the band expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah – both of which are ascribed terror group status by the U.K. government – was being assessed by London’s Metropolitan Police. Under anti-terror laws, it is an offence to express support for such groups. A spokesperson for Kneecap did not respond to a request for comment.
On Sunday (April 27), a spokesperson for the Met said: “We were made aware of a video on 22 April, believed to be from an event in November 2024, and it has been referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required. We have also been made aware of another video believed to be from an event in November 2023.” The group are yet to be charged with any offence.
A U.K. government spokesman told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn threatening remarks made towards any individual. Political intimidation and abuse must have no place in our society. We recognise the chilling effect that harassment and intimidation of elected representatives can have on our democracy. All reports of intimidation, harassment and threats are taken extremely seriously. We work with the police and Parliament to do everything in our power to crack down on threats to elected officials.”
The news comes in the wake of the fall-out following the band’s sets at Coachella earlier this month. During their performance, the band displayed a message stating, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.”
On Friday, news emerged that the group had split with their U.S. booking agent IAG, and there have been calls for the group’s U.S. work visas to be revoked. Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of Ozzy, said, “This behavior raises concerns about the appropriateness of their participation in such a festival and further shows they are booked to play in the USA.” Kneecap are due to perform a headline tour in North America this October.
Kneecap have alleged on social media they have “faced a co-ordinated smear campaign,” saying their shows have previously “called out” the conflict in Gaza. They also suggested that they were considering legal action against the “malicious efforts.” Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert said the band had received “severe” death threats after Coachella.
Kehlani got on camera to give a statement regarding the cancellation of their upcoming performance at Cornell after the university’s president said the singer “has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments.”
Cornell had booked Kehlani to headline the school’s Slope Day, an annual celebration following the last day of classes, set for May 7 this year. Earlier this week, the invite was rescinded.
Kehlani’s performance was officially canceled on Wednesday, per an email Cornell president Michael I. Kotlikoff sent to students and faculty. According to a New York Times report, Kotlikoff wrote in the email that “the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord … In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos and on social media.”
“I am being asked and called to clarify and make a statement yet again, for the millionth time, that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew,” Kehlani said on Saturday (April 26) in a video uploaded on Instagram.
“I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women — that’s what I’m anti,” they spelled out.
Kehlani continued: “In fact, the very first Live that I did in the beginning of this genocide was with a really beautiful Jewish organization called Jewish Voices for Peace, and I still continue to learn from and work alongside really impactful Jewish organizers against this genocide.”
“I want to be very clear in stating that I do believe God has plans for me and that’s not gonna stop nothing that I have going on, but I’m asked to clarify because this keeps coming up as a means to silence me, as a means to stop things that happen in my career, as a means to change the course of my life, and I just don’t believe that,” said Kehlani, who also noted they were in the studio working on new music. “So here’s the clarification that you needed. I hope this is everything you needed. Straight from my mouth, not a written statement with a white background from my notes.”
“Back to my album,” they concluded. Kehlani’s next full-length release will be the follow-up to 2024’s Crash.
Kehlani has been transparent about their support for Palestine and criticism of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war. In the singer’s 2024 “Next 2 U” video, they wore kaffiyehs, had dancers waving Palestinian flags, and featured the phrase “Long Live the Intifada.” In 2023, the musician joined a coalition of musicians to sign the Artists Against Apartheid letter, which called for a ceasefire.
Watch Kehlani’s Instagram reel from this weekend below.
Jiggly Caliente, who rose to fame on season four of RuPaul’s Drag Race, has died at 44.
Caliente, whose real name was Bianca Castro, passed away on Sunday (April 27), just days after undergoing a leg amputation following a severe infection. Her family announced the sad news in a post on Instagram.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Bianca Castro-Arabejo, known to the world and cherished by many as Jiggly Caliente,” the statement read. “Bianca passed away peacefully on April 27, 2025, at 4:42 am, surrounded by her loving family and close friends.”
“A luminous presence in the worlds of entertainment and advocacy, Jiggly Caliente was celebrated for her infectious energy, fierce wit, and unwavering authenticity. She touched countless lives through her artistry, activism, and the genuine connection she fostered with fans around the world.”
The family continued, “Her legacy is one of love, courage, and light. Though her physical presence is gone, the joy she shared and the space she helped create for so many will remain forever. She will be deeply missed, always loved, and eternally remembered.”
News of her passing follows an earlier family update shared on April 24, in which they revealed that Caliente had suffered “a serious health setback” and had undergone the amputation of most of her right leg due to a “severe infection.”
At the time, they noted that she would be unable to participate in the upcoming season of Drag Race Philippines or any public engagements as her recovery was expected to be extensive.
“At this time, we kindly ask for privacy for Bianca and her family as they navigate this difficult journey together,” the earlier statement read. “While Jiggly concentrates on healing, we invite her friends, fans, and community to uplift her with messages of hope and love on her social media channels. Bianca’s family and drag house are deeply grateful for the continued outpouring of support, strength and prayers.”
Caliente first gained attention with her run on RuPaul’s Drag Race season four, where she finished in eighth place. She later returned to the franchise for All Stars season six and joined Drag Race Philippines as a recurring judge in 2022.
Caliente also portrayed Veronica Ferocity in FX’s hit series Pose, appearing in 12 episodes over the show’s three-season run.
Read her family’s full statement on Instagram below.
Los Angeles police have released video from the shooting of author Jillian Lauren, the wife of a Weezer band member, during a chaotic backyard confrontation that culminated in a volley of gunfire.
Lauren’s wounds were not life-threatening in the April 8 shooting in the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, where the 51-year-old wife of Weezer bass player Scott Shriner emerged from her home with a gun as city police and the California Highway Patrol searched the area for three people who fled a car wreck.
Lauren — listed by police as Jillian Lauren Shriner — was released on a $1 million bond on suspicion of attempted murder pending further investigation. She is scheduled to appear in court April 30.
Police released the excerpts from body camera recordings, surveillance video and audio of 911 dispatch conversations on Friday (April 25). The video clips show officers peering over a high wooden fence into a yard and shouting over the noise of a surveillance helicopter at a woman to put down her gun or risk getting shot. The fence obscures from the cameras what is on the other side.
“Ma’am, we’re trying to help you. Put the gun down,” a voice says. “You’re going to get shot. It’s the police.”
An officer indicates that the woman has cocked a gun — “Oh, she racked it” — immediately before the sound of at least six shots rings out.
In a separate segment of silent surveillance video from Lauren’s backyard, she can be seen exiting the home barefoot and carrying a pistol in her right hand. Another segment shows Lauren from behind, apparently raising a gun that is briefly visible. Dirt kicks up near her feet, and she turns and walks toward a doorway to the house.
Further body camera video shows Lauren lying prone in the middle of a residential road as police place handcuffs behind her back, while noting that she has a wound on her arm.
Lauren’s published works include two bestselling memoirs, 2010’s Some Girls: My Life in a Harem and 2015’s Everything You Ever Wanted.
Weezer is a Los Angeles-based band, beloved especially for their 1994 record unofficially known as the “Blue Album,” with songs including “Say It Ain’t So.” Shriner joined the band in the early 2000s.
Justin Bieber is mourning the passing of his maternal grandfather, Bruce Dale.
On Saturday (April 26), the 31-year-old pop superstar shared a heartfelt tribute on social media honoring Dale, who died April 24 at the age of 80 at Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth, according to an obituary posted by W.G. Young Funeral Home in Stratford, Ontario.
“Papa , I always took all ur money lol,” Bieber wrote on Instagram alongside a throwback photo with his grandfather. “I remember u specifically telling me, gramma gave u an allowance of 20 dollars for the WEEK! I would always convince you to spend on snacks at the hockey game on Friday nights.”
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The “Sorry” singer also fondly recalled their shared moments. “Reluctantly you always gave it to me. Corn nuts, skittles, gum balls, chuck a puck, slush puppies … Shout out to the jr b referees Beatty, Fagon, Flanagan lmfao,” he wrote.
Bieber went on to remember Dale’s spirited presence at hockey games, saying, “My grandpa wasn’t shy in letting them know that they were being pieces of sh-ts.”
“I can’t wait to see u again soon in heaven,” he continued. “Until then I know ur watching down probly still heckling Beatty or Fagon for missing that cross check call in the corner there lmfao.”
Bieber concluded his emotional tribute with, “I will miss u. I will ache. And I’ll sit and let myself remember all of the wonderful times we’ve had.”
Dale, father of Bieber’s mom, Pattie Mallette, was a longtime supporter of his grandson’s career. He appeared in Bieber’s 2011 documentary Never Say Never and shared memories during a 2018 interview at the Stratford Perth Museum, which featured an exhibit dedicated to the pop star.
In addition to Justin, Dale’s obituary also mentioned the singer’s wife, Hailey, their son Jack Blues, Dale’s other children, and his wife, Diane.
Bieber’s paternal grandfather, George Bieber, passed away in 2021.
You can see Bieber’s full tribute to his grandfather Bruce on Instagram here.
Prosecutors are firing back at efforts by Sean “Diddy” Combs to bar an infamous 2016 surveillance video from his upcoming sex trafficking trial, calling it a “desperate” attempt to avoid “crushing” evidence.
With his trial looming next month, Diddy’s attorneys argued last week that the clip — showing him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel — has been deceptively edited and would “unfairly confuse and mislead the jury.”
But in a response filing Friday, prosecutors say those arguments are “overblown” and are merely a pretext to prevent jurors from seeing “some of the most damning evidence of his sex trafficking.”
“The defendant has been overwhelmingly concerned with the existence of the video surveillance since the assault occurred and has taken great measures to ensure it was not released,” prosecutors write. “Now facing trial, the defendant attempts to keep this devastating proof from the jury. His grasping arguments to preclude this crushing evidence should be quickly dismissed.”
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation that aimed to “fulfill his sexual desires.” The case centers on elaborate “freak off” parties in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex, as well as on alleged acts of violence to keep victims silent.
Jury selection is currently set to start on May 5, with opening statements scheduled for May 12. If convicted on all of the charges, which include sex trafficking and racketeering, Combs faces a potential life prison sentence.
The Cassie video, which aired on CNN in May, showed him attacking her at the Intercontinental Hotel in March 2016. The clip drew far more public attention to the accusations against the star — who was then only facing civil lawsuits — and prompted an apology from Combs shortly after it aired.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” Combs said at the time. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry.”
In the lead up to the trial, Combs’ lawyers have repeatedly targeted the Cassie tape, accusing prosecutors of unfairly leaking it and alleging that CNN had unfairly edited it. Last week, they formally moved to ban it from the trial, calling it “inaccurate” and “unreliable” because of edits that were “specifically designed to inflame the passions” of viewers.
But in Friday’s response, the feds said those issues were quibbles that could easily be fixed at trial, not valid reasons to withhold the tape from jurors entirely. They pointed out that Combs himself had apologized over the clip and had not disputed its content; and they said that any problems with finding the original footage were caused by Diddy’s own efforts to destroy it.
“It is by the defendant’s own hand that the original version of this damning footage no longer exists: it was deleted and given to the defendant as part of a cover-up orchestrated by the defendant and his co-conspirators,” prosecutors write. “The Court must not reward the defendant for his actions by precluding the video that remains available despite the defendant’s obstructive efforts.”
Cornell University has canceled Kehlani’s upcoming performance, which the singer was slated to perform on campus at the university’s annual Slope Day on May 7. According to The New York Times, Cornell president Michael I. Kotlikoff emailed students and faculty on Wednesday (April 23) to make his decision to cancel Kehlani’s performance official. Explore Explore […]
Five For Fighting‘s Grammy-nominated “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” became an anthem of solidarity and a No. 14 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 2001 after it was repurposed as a tribute to the victims and first responders of the horrific Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The gentle piano ballad on which band mastermind John Ondrasik sings “I’m more than a bird, I’m more than a plane/ I’m more than some pretty face beside a train/ And it’s not easy to be me” in his homage to heroes who have the right to bleed provided succor at a time when Americans were wounded to their souls over the deadly assault.
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Now, Ondrasik’s song has gotten a second life as a means to call attention to the estimated 59 Israeli hostages still being held hostage in Gaza in the wake of militant group Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which around 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 250 were taken hostage.
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Ondrasik told NPR on Wednesday (April 23) that he re-wrote some of the song’s lyrics at the behest of the mother of 24-year-old hostage Alon Ohel. “When they reached out, I’m like, ‘of course. I’m honored to do this.’ And very quickly, it became clear that ‘Superman’ should be the song,” Ondrasik said, noting that some original lines, such as “Find a way to lie about a home I’ll never see” didn’t fit the assignment.
“I couldn’t have that line, ‘a home I’ll never see,’ because we all hope and pray they will see – and many of the hostages have come home,” said Ondrasik, who traveled to Israel last April to perform the song in Tel Aviv’s so-called “Hostages Square” on Ohel’s piano; he also released another song, “OK (We Are Not Okay)” last year to honor the hostages. The new “Superman” lyrics find him singing: “Found a way to fly to a home I will soon see.”
Ondrasik, 60, who is not Jewish, told NPR that for him, “this is a moral issue. It’s not political. It’s not religious. Everybody should be demanding to release the hostages. It’ll put much more pressure on Israel to end this war.”
The singer uploaded a new video for the song to YouTube on April 14 — two days after the start of the Passover holiday — with a message of hope, writing, “The strength and perseverance of our hostage families, while enduring over seventeen months of unimaginable torment and devastation, often seems Superhuman. I am honored to collaborate with current hostage Alon Ohel’s mother Idit, brother Ronen, and family and friends with this new version of ‘Superman’ to support Alon and all hostages and their families.”
Check out the new video Ondrasik recorded with footage from Hostage Square below.