Entertainment News

Just over two weeks away from turning 100, icon Betty White passes away in her home Friday morning just before 9:30. For her 100th birthday, Betty White was planning to...

Pentatonix/RCA RecordsWe spent 2020 dancing to Dua Lipa's album Future Nostalgia.  Now, Pentatonix is throwing it back to the '90s, with a club-tastic medley that's the perfect soundtrack for a six-minute dance party.

In their new video, the group, dressed in their best '90s club styles, sings their way through an amazing 17 dance floor favorites a cappella style, including "Around the World (La La La La La)," the ATC song that Ava Max interpolates in her current hit, "My Head & My Heart."  O.K., it came out in 2000, but close enough.

Other smashes you'll hear include Jennifer Lopez's "Waiting for Tonight," Cher's "Believe," C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and, of course, "What Is Love" by Haddaway.

Part of the fun, is, of course, seeing how many songs you recognize, but here's a handy list:

La Bouche, "Be My Lover"
Haddaway, "What Is Love"
ATC, "All Around the World"
Alice Deejay, "Better Off Alone"
C+C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
Snap!, "Rhythm Is a Dancer"
Vengaboys, "Boom Boom Boom Boom"
Sonique, "It Feels So Good"
Cascada, "Every Time We Touch"
Eiffel 65, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)"
Robin S, "Show Me Love"
Jennifer Lopez, "Waiting for Tonight"
Ace of Base, "Beautiful Life"
Cher, "Believe"
Crystal Waters, "Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee La Da Da)"
CeCe Peniston, "Finally"

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rachel Murray/Getty Images for TargetBecause they're silver and concave, the plaques that Spotify gives to artists for racking up one billion streams of one of their tracks have inspired some musicians to turn them into dinner plates.  Now Maren Morris is jumping on that bandwagon.

On her socials, Maren wrote, "Said I'd do it," alongside a black-and-white video of herself cooking mac 'n cheese, dumping it on her plaque, and eating it while wearing a fancy dress.

"thanks for a billion streams on The Middle, y’all," she wrote, referring to her Grammy-nominated smash hit with Zedd and Grey. "And thank you @spotify for the multi-purpose plaque."

"The Middle," released in 2018, was a top-five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys in 2019.

In 2018, Taylor Swift invited Maren to join her onstage to perform "The Middle" during the Arlington, TX stop of her Reputation Stadium Tour.  Maren can currently be heard singing on the song "You All Over Me" on Taylor's newly released Fearless (Taylor's Version) album project.

said I’d do it. 🖤🤍

thanks for a billion streams on The Middle, y’all. and thank you @Spotify for the multi-purpose plaque. 💿 pic.twitter.com/8fuH6IHZPc

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) April 9, 2021

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Randall SlavinMatchbox Twenty's first foray into the world of NFTs -- the new technology that allows people to own a unique piece of digital content -- has worked out pretty well.

Interscope RecordsWhen you're done listening to all 27 tracks on Taylor Swift's latest release, Fearless (Taylor's Version), you can check out all these other new songs as a palate cleanser:

Pink has teamed up with soulful British singer/songwriter Rag'n'Bone for a duet, "Anywhere Away from Here." He says, "It’s an honor to have Pink on this record and I’m so glad she is able to be a part of it."

Doja Cat has released a new collaboration with SZA, "Kiss Me More," along with a colorful video starring Grey's Anatomy actor Alex Landi.  It's from her hotly-anticipated new album Planet Her, due later this year.

Gwen Stefani has teamed up with red-hot rapper Saweetie for a remix of her single "Slow Clap."  There's also an exuberant high-school-themed video directed by Sophie Muller, who was also behind the camera for No Doubt's classic clip "Don't Speak."

DJ & producer Imanbek, who turned Saint Jhn's "Roses" into a hit, has teamed up reggae superstar Sean Paul and Sofia Reyes for a new song called "Dancing on Dangerous."

Surfaces, the who went RIAA double Platinum with "Sunday Best, is back with a new song and video, "Wave of You."

AJ Mitchell has released a new single called "Stop" from his long-awaited debut album, Skyview, which will reportedly finally drop this year.

Canadian singer/songwriter Forest Blakk has added none other than new mommy Meghan Trainor to his sweet ballad "If You Love Her," making for a melodic duet.

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesJustin Timberlake has lined up his next acting gig for Apple TV+.

Deadline reports the 40-year-old singer/actor has been tapped to play Gong Show host Chuck Barris for an as-yet-untitled hour-long drama series.

The show will be based on Barris’ 1984 memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he claimed his job as a game show creator and host in the ‘60s and ‘70s was just a front for his real job as a CIA assassin. Barris created such game show classics as The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game.

The book was previously made into a 2002 film of the same name that was directed by George Clooney and starred Sam Rockwell as Barris.

Justin’s new role comes on the heels of his other Apple TV+ project, the film Palmer, which was released in January.

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Photo By The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards/Getty Images for GLAADLast night at the GLAAD Media Awards, Sam Smith was named Outstanding Music Artist, but Katy Perry, who presented them with the honor, took the opportunity to sum up the past year in a way that we all could relate to.

"Music helped us get through this very difficult time, when not much else did," Katy said in her remarks. "I mean, our fabulous clothes? They just stayed on the hangers while we lived in sweats every single day."

"Some of us even went up a couple of sizes -- I did, I also had a baby," she noted. "And the sex dried up! Yeah!"

"Well, I hope it all comes back, but maybe not that baking bread thing, that was kind of a weird thing," Katy continued. She then went on to salute all the incredible music artists who "gave us moments of hope, happiness, resilience and even just plain ol' escapism."

Accepting the award from London, Sam noted, "I'm so honored to be receiving this this year...it really means a lot to me. This has been such a tough year for everyone....and for me, music has remained this constant force of unity throughout the world for people."

"Looking at this category tonight...these are the albums that have got me through this year," they said. "So I just want to raise a cup of tea -- have a tea party -- for everyone in this category."

Among the artists who Sam beat in that category: Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Adam Lambert, Ricky Martin and Halsey.

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Filip Custic @filipcustic1The “Satan Shoes” saga has come to a close.

Nike has settled its lawsuit against MSCHF, the design company that teamed up with Lil Nas X to create a reimagined devil-inspired Air Max 97.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Nike and MSCHF agreed to a voluntary recall of the “Satan Shoes,” as well as the “Jesus Shoes” MSCHF sold in 2019.

"If any purchasers were confused, or if they otherwise want to return their shoes, they may do so for a full refund," Nike said according to EW. "Purchasers who choose not to return their shoes and later encounter a product issue, defect, or health concern should contact MSCHF, not Nike."

MSCHF sold 665 pairs of the sneakers for $1,018 each within minutes, but had been saving the 666th pair for a giveaway. The shoes were tied to Lil Nas X’s music video for his song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Lil Nas was not named as a defendant in the March 29 lawsuit.

"... Having already achieved its artistic purpose, MSCHF recognized that settlement was the best way to allow it to put this lawsuit behind it so that it could dedicate its time to new artistic and expressive projects," an attorney for MSCHF told EW.

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesIt's been over a decade since Liam Payne shot to stardom as part of the pop band One Direction and he's learned a lot since then.  

Speaking with Glamour UK, the 27-year-old singer opened up about the advice he would give to his younger self at the beginning of his career.  

"I think just have more fun and relax a little bit," the "Strip That Down" singer shared. "I think I was a very serious child, one of those man-childs, I was a man in a child's body pretty early on."

"And I think I would have avoided that stage, to be honest with you," he added. "To enter One Direction as that difficult, because it just meant that I got completely a different job to everybody else."

Essentially he was the "grown-up," which Liam called "boring."

"I should have just larked around and thrown plates out the window and stuff," he continued and when asked if that meant more rock and roll, he clarified, "Well, I mean at the start, and then later on a bit less rock and roll."

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

John Shearer/AMA2019/Getty Images for dcpThere's been an arrest in the case involving the home invasion at Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's home in LA last month, TMZ reports.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ that a suspect was arrested on Thursday after cops followed up a call they got about a trespassing case at a house in another area.  When they found that individual, he had a key on him, which reportedly was to Shawn's Mercedes G-Wagon. 

During the break-in at Shawn and Camila's, TMZ had reported that the thief entered through a window, grabbed Shawn's car keys and made off with the car.  The vehicle was later found parked on a residential street and returned to Shawn.

According to TMZ, the suspect has been booked on burglary and grand theft auto charges.

Neither Shawn nor Camila have publicly commented on the incident or the report.

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pooneh GhanaBritish band Glass Animals has been releasing records since 2012, but their current single "Heat Waves" is their first-ever to make it onto Billboard's Hot 100 chart, not to mention their first on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart.  And nobody is more surprised by the song's success than, well...the members of Glass Animals themselves.

"This song being on these pop radio stations is just such a surprise," says Glass Animals drummer Joe Seaward. "Everything's such a lovely surprise. You just never feel jaded, I think, is the nice thing, 'cause everything's always a bonus."

The band's frontman, Dave Bayley, tells ABC Audio why the success of "Heat Waves" -- coming as it did in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic -- means a "huge amount" to the band.

"We haven't actually been able to go overseas, but this song has kind of traveled and sort of done that for us," he notes. "We feel very lucky to have had that, it's pretty amazing."

As for why "Heat Waves" has become their breakthrough hit, Joe believes it's because the song's combination of "upbeat, exciting music" and "remorseful, mournful lyrics" reflects our present moment in time.

"It's quite sad," notes Joe. "I think that that resonates quite strongly with what's been happening to people in the last year."

"Heat Waves" appears on Glass Animals' new album, Dreamland, a concept album about Dave Bayley's childhood.  He's hoping that new fans who've discovered the band through "Heat Waves" will now be inspired to give Dreamland a try.

"Maybe it'll lead people to listen to the album, which was very much written and made as an entire entity, as an entire world," says Dave, adding, "I think you can say a lot more when an actual album is greater than the sum of its parts."

By Josh Johnson & Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Beth GarrabrantTaylor Swift’s hotly anticipated re-recording of her 2008 album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), arrives April 9.  Here are five fascinating facts about the project:

5. Taylor is re-recording her albums because she was famously unable to buy back the master recordings of her first six albums from her former record label.  The ownership of those masters then changed hands several times, but after failing to reach a deal, Taylor decided to simply re-record the albums. By offering fans new versions of those songs, she's literally taking money out of the pockets of the executives who now have the rights to her work.

4. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) features 27 tracks: Re-recordings of the original album’s 13 songs, six songs from the Fearless Platinum Edition, the movie soundtrack-only song "Today Was a Fairy Tale," six never-before-released “From the Vault” songs, and a remix of "Love Story (Taylor's Version)."

3. Taylor had her original duet partner on the song "Breathe," Colbie Caillat, return to re-record that song for the project.  She also invited her country superstar friends Maren Morris and Keith Urban to add vocals to a few of the “From the Vault” songs. She plans to add "From the Vault" extras to all of her re-recorded albums.

2. The original version of Fearless has sold more than 10 million copies since its release in 2008.  It features the hits "Love Story," "You Belong With Me," "Fifteen" and "White Horse."

1. Fearless was named Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammy Awards, making Taylor, at age 20, the youngest artist ever to win that award. Her record stood until 2020, when 18-year-old Billie Eilish broke it with her album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

You cracked the codes and guessed all the From The Vault titles. 👏👏👏 Here’s the full track list, my friends. pic.twitter.com/lC3awlRmm2

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 3, 2021

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.