NEWS
CMA Explains COVID-19 Protocol Following Charley Pride’s Death a Month After Attending CMA Awards
Maren Morris, a triple winner at the awards, was one of the first to question how Pride had been infected. She tweeted, “I don’t want to jump to conclusions because no family statement has been made, but if this was a result of the CMAs being indoors, we should all be outraged. Rest in power, Charley … F— this f—ing year.” “We need answers as to how Charley Pride got covid,” Mickey Guyton wrote, bringing the discussion to her Twitter page. The CMA Awards were held at Music City Center in Nashville, attended only by performers, nominees and selected guests sitting at socially distanced tables. In an interview with Billboard after this year’s CMA Awards — an event that had a number of artists, including Florida Georgia Line, Lee...
Great Scot! Scotland Gives Its Snowplows—All of Them—Hilarious Names
Every holiday season, American children can keep tabs on Santa’s deliveries by way of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the United States’s missile defense tracking site buried in the Cheyenne mountain outside of Colorado Springs. The watchful folks of NORAD, who otherwise spend their time waiting to alert us all of incoming missiles, hellfire, and other terrifying air and sea threats, instead use America’s formidable aerospace detection equipment to “track” Santa Claus and his sleigh as it hopscotches around the country on Christmas Eve. In Scotland, there is no NORAD Santa Tracker—instead, children (or, well, anyone) there can follow along with the Trunk Road Gritter Tracker, a real-time, Scotland-wide snowplow tracer. It’s tru...
Frank Amadeo, President of Estefan Enterprises, Dies at 57: ‘You Are Irreplaceable’
“In the great journey that is life, few people appear [that can be counted on] in sad moments and in moments of joy,” wrote Emilio Estefan on Instagram. There are not enough words to express the great love and gratitude that we have for Frank Amadeo. A key man in our lives. You are irreplaceable.” Although Amadeo wasn’t Latin, he was raised in Miami and fell in love with the music of Miami Sound Machine in the group’s early days in the 1980s. Amadeo was program director at Miami pop radio station Y-100 when he first heard “Dr. Beat,” a boisterous dance track built on Latin percussion and rhythm patterns and brash Latin horns with English vocals, courtesy of Gloria Estefan. His support on the station was instrumental in pushing the track to the top of the charts. Beyond the single, Amadeo b...
Ashanti Tests Positive for COVID-19 Ahead of ‘Verzuz’ Battle With Keyshia Cole
Ashanti revealed she tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before her Verzuz battle against Keyshia Cole. The pair were set to face off Saturday night (Dec. 12). Ashanti, who says she’s feeling well, indicates that she’s still trying to make her side of the event happen from home. “Hey y’all I can’t believe I’m saying this but I tested positive for COVID-19. I’m ok and not in any pain. I’m actually down to do the verzuz from my house… we’re tring to figure it all out!!!” wrote Ashanti in a note on Instagram shortly after 6 p.m. ET. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat...
Charley Pride’s Biggest Billboard Hits: ‘Kiss an Angel Good Mornin” & More
Pride, who hailed from Sledge, Miss., played professional baseball before committing to a career in country music and signed to RCA Records in September 1965. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. Pride leaves a bounty of hits of legendary status. Between 1967 and 1988, he posted 29 No. 1s among 52 top 10s on Hot Country Songs. He also notched 12 No. 1s among 27 top 10s on Top Country Albums. Here is a recap of Pride’s 40 biggest hits on Hot Country Songs. Charley Pride’s 40 Biggest Billboard HitsRank, Title, Peak Position, Year 1, “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” No. 1 (five weeks), 19712, “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” No. 1 (three weeks), 19693, “Is Anybody Goin’...
Ashanti & Keyshia Cole Discuss Their Postponed ‘Verzuz’ Battle & ‘Getting Our Flowers’ on IG Live
But even after Verzuz co-creators Swizz Beatz and Timbaland officially postponed it, Ashanti took to her own Instagram Live on Saturday to openly discuss her positive COVID status. She later teased Cole to join her IG Live, and the two R&B queens talked about how their upcoming battle would celebrate the new year and deliver us from 2020, which Ashanti described as “the year of the devil.” “We’re gonna do it for the ladies, how the fellas just did it last week,” Cole said in reference to Gucci Mane and Jeezy’s record-setting Verzuz battle on Nov. 19 that kicked off season two. And as Ashanti wrote earlier this month to promote their battle, “women empowerment” will remain at the core of the celebration — not just amongst the heartbroken women who’ve found consolation ...
BBNaija winner Laycon to release debut album next year
BBNaija Lockdown winner Olamilekan Agbeleshe aka Laycon has announced his plans to release his debut album in 2021. Laycon made the announcement to his fans during his GOtv Iconic tour in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, a few days ago. During a meet and greet session at the Ebong Uko hall, Monty Suites, Laycon dropped the news to the excitement of many of his fans. During his two-day tour of the city, Laycon paid a courtesy visit to the Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong, at the Ministry’s Headquarters at Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat, Uyo. He continued his tour with media rounds at the city’s top radio stations and then a town storm where he met up with fans at Ikot Ekpene road and Abak road before making an appearance at the opening ceremony of the Christmas Village in the stat...
Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin Drop Mountain Cover for Third Night of Hanukkah
Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters producer Greg Kurstin started a new holiday tradition this year: covering a song by a Jewish artist every night of Hanukkah. They kicked off the Hanukkah Sessions Thursday night with a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” and followed it with Drake’s “Hotline Bling” on Friday. To celebrate the festival of lights’ third night, the duo took on Mountain’s 1970 hard rock classic “Mississippi Queen.” Despite it just being Grohl and Kurstin, the duo nail the version that would have made Leslie Weinstein, er Leslie West, proud. “Talk about making a mountain out of a mohel … named Leslie Weinstein at his bris, the singer of our next band built a wailing wall of guitar as Leslie West. Check out our take on a track from Leslie’s monolithic ...
Hyundai Is Buying That Terrifying Robot Dog Company
Hyundai Motor Company has inked a $1.1 billion deal to acquire a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics, the robotics company you probably know as the maker of those unsettling four-legged robots that terrify and delight YouTube browsers. (And which you can buy for just shy of $75,000—or more for enterprise versions.) Those quadrupeds as a whole likely have little to do with Hyundai Motor’s automotive aspirations, but you can bet the automaker is after the robots’ software. You see, Boston Dynamics long ago mastered the creation of walking, running, leaping, and all-around horrifying legged robots. It also works on autonomy—with those robots possessing autonomous capabilities not unlike, well, self-driving cars or factory vehicles. That AI capability looms large in Hyundai&#...
For Half a Million Dollars, You Can Buy This Jet-Engined Volkswagen Beetle
Got a hole in your garage and another one in your wallet? We’ve found a great way to fill the first one with the money pouring out of the second: Ron Patrick’s street-legal, jet-powered Volkswagen New Beetle is up for sale on Craigslist. If you have $550,000 and a few extra gallons of kerosene, you can be the big hit at your local cruise-in! Patrick built this ultimate rear-engine conversion while he was studying for his PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. His reason for adding a jet to his bug? “In California, new cars have biennial smog inspections so if you modify the engine, it is likely to fail and you won’t be able to drive it on the street. There are some exempt engine modifications, but none that will allow you to add 1,350 horsepower to ...
Charley Pride, Country Music’s First Black Superstar, Dies From COVID-19 Complications
Charley Pride, country music’s first Black superstar died on Dec. 12 of COVID-19 complications, at the age of 86. Pride’s death was confirmed in a statement from his publicist The singer is the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Pride recorded 52 Top 10 country hits, won three Grammy awards, and became RCA Records’ top-selling country artist between the years 1967 and 1987. In 1971, he received CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award. Pride performed live for the last time just a month ago — on Nov. 11 — during the CMA Awards show at Nashville’s Music City Center. He played his 1971 hit “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” with Jimmie Allen. “We’re not color blind yet, but we’ve advanced a few paces along the path and I like...
Get a Sneak Peek of Doja Cat, Lewis Capaldi & Tones and I Performing at YouTube Streamy Awards
Creators like Bretman Rock, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, David Dobrik, James Charles, Camila Loures, Casey Neistat, Dream, LaurDIY, MrBeast, Mark Rober, MatPat and Stephanie Patrick, Rebecca Zamolo, Shalom Blac, Tabitha Brown and ZHC will make appearances at the star-studded event. Past Streamys winners Juanpa Zurita, Kyle Exum, Lilly Singh, Liza Koshy, Marques Brownlee, NikkieTutorials and PatrickStarrr will give out the first-ever Streamys Creator Honors. Check out the performance first look above, and tune into the YouTube Streamys, hosted by Trixie Mattel and Katya, at 9 p.m. ET on youtube.com/streamys. The YouTube Streamy Awards are produced by dick clark productions, which is owned by MRC Entertainment, the parent company of Billboard. You Deserve to Make Mone...
