Month: August 2021

This year was primed to be a return to live shows after a year that saw almost none of them. But those who were hoping to see Fleetwood Mac’s lead vocalist Stevie Nicks perform live will have to wait until at least 2022. The singer took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that she is canceling her planned performances for 2021 due to rising COVID-19 cases across the country.

“These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made,” she wrote in her message. “I want everyone to be safe and healthy and the rising Covid cases should be of concern to all of us. While I’m vaccinated, at my age, I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the 5 performances I had planned for 2021.” She added, “Because singing and performing have been my whole life, my primary goal is to keep healthy so I can continue singing for the next decade or longer. I’m devastated and I know the fans are disappointed, but we will look towards a brighter 2022.”

Nicks was set to perform at the Jazz Aspen Festival in Colorado and BottleRock Napa Valley in California during Labor Day weekend. Her next scheduled performance was Austin City Limits, where she would sing both weekends of the festival, namely October 1-3 and October 8-10. Nicks was also slated to appear at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in October, but festival organizers announced over the week that the showcase would be postponed until next spring.

Chris Stapleton will replace Nicks at Bottleneck while subs for her stints at the Jazz Aspen and Austin City Limits festivals will be announced soon.

On Tuesday, New Yorkers were greeted with a genuine surprise: Andrew Cuomo actually resigned, a week after a report concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women. Many expected that the soon-to-be-former governor, known for never backing down, would drag things out over months. But he didn’t, to widespread surprise. But the move left some verklempt. One of them was another famous New Yorker, Alec Baldwin.

“Regardless of what you think of Cuomo, this is a tragic day,” the eldest Baldwin brother tweeted. “Party politics in this country draw ambitious but ultimately isolated, even socially maladjusted men and women who, given the current cancel culture, will likely have their shortcomings exposed and magnified.”

It was certainly a unique response to a politician resigning over sexual misconduct allegations. Apparently he found sympathy for an “isolated, even socially maladjusted” person alleged to have misused his considerable power. He also repeated one of Cuomo’s defenses: that this was, he argued, a simple case of “cancel culture” unfairly coming for him.

It’s not the first time the 30 Rock alum has railed against “cancel culture.” Back in March, he posted a video to Instagram in which he drew a strange analogy between being driven from polite society over misdeeds and…well, just read it:

“It’s like a giant, mile-long net and you’re catching a lot of people, more than a few who deserve it, and more than a few who don’t. Or they don’t deserve to have their careers and their lives destroyed.”

Baldwin’s tone deaf response earned a lot of reactions on social media.

Reminder: One never has to tweet.

Sharife Cooper falling to the second round was one of the big surprises on the night of the 2021 NBA Draft. But despite his slide, the Atlanta Hawks’ rookie already is making his presence felt at Summer League.

Cooper hit a buzzer beater on Tuesday afternoon at Cox Pavilion to help the Hawks beat the Pacers. The play came in a scramble, as Skylar Mays missed his own attempt and Max Heidegger collected the rebound after Pacers forward Cassius Stanley tried to throw the ball off of Jalen Johnson’s foot. Heidegger found Cooper in the corner and he cooly pulled up for three at the buzzer, giving Atlanta a 84-83 win.

Cooper finished with a team-high 21 points for the Hawks and was 5-for-8 on three-point attempts. Along with Johnson (who had 18 points and 10 rebounds) Atlanta is getting some strong play from from its two rookies. Cooper, who signed a two-way deal after slipping to the second round, arguably has been the best player Atlanta roster so far and came up big when an opportunity fell into his lap.

For the Pacers, first round pick Chris Duare finished with 21 points while shooting 8-for-19 from the field and 5-for-10 from three. Cassius Stanley, Indiana’s second round pick last year, added 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

It’s been almost two years since Earthgang shared their debut album, Mirrorland. Sine then, the Atlanta rap duo, comprised of Wowgr8 and Olu, hasn’t exactly been quiet. They made multiple contributions to Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreamers III and Spillage Village’s Spilligion, on top of sharing several loose singles and doing other guest appearances. Their latest release comes as a tribute to the legendary neo-soul singer Erykah Badu. The track, which is simply titled “Erykah,” is carried by a soulful sample of what appears to be her 2010 track “Window Seat.” Along with the new song, the rappers dropped a calming video that shows a relaxing day at the beach.

The new song is the latest in what’s been an active year for the duo. They recently called on Coi Leray for a remix of “Options” with Wale, as well as “Aretha,” a soulful account of their highs and lows over the last year. There’s also been a remix of Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle.” In it, they explain why the duo’s sophomore album Ghetto Gods was delayed.

“Release date is what I’m waiting on / Interscope gotta crunch the numbers,” Olu raps. “This industry is flooded with mindless muddles cause lies sell / The ugly truth might not bring in the money / Don’t they know it’s real sh*t the people want? / A pause from the pill-pop subscription joint.”

You can watch the video for “Erykah” above.

Wale is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Click to download here.

Tony B. Throwing It All Away

On the newest edition of PYAG, Anna Hossnieh from the Ethnically Ambiguous podcast and Deckheads on Twitch joins Matt & Vince to talk about The Sopranos season five, episode six “Sentimental Education.”

The episode, penned by Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, feels personal. Everyone thinks AJ’s teacher, Mr. Wegler, is gay because he reads stuff like Madam Bovary, so Weiner is like, oh yeah? Well this guy everyone thinks is gay just because he likes literature? Guess what, he’s shtupping your wife, Tony.

Also Tony B. throws his fresh start away for twelve thousand dollars and Anna points out that Carmela’s view of AJ’s intelligence is so low that she’s worried he won’t get into Arizona State. Take that, Sun Devils, you’re AJ-level dumb.

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-Description by Brent Flyberg.

After the top three free agent point guards (Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Conley) signed, the next tier of point guards figured to be in for lucrative paydays from those that missed out on one of the veteran All-Stars on the market. Dennis Schröder is in that group, and after turning down a 4-year, $84 million extension from the Lakers last season, many were curious if he did enough to build his value to get an offer bigger than that in free agency.

Schröder had a solid, yet unspectacular first season with the Lakers, averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on 43.7/33.5/84.8 shooting splits that were more akin to what he produced in Atlanta rather than in his breakout season with the Thunder in 2019-20. His defense remains a plus (when on a good team and he’s engaged), so his value in free agency was likely going to come down to whether there was a team (or teams) that believed he could regain the shooting efficiency from OKC with them.

On Tuesday, we learned that Schröder would be headed to the Boston Celtics on a one-year deal that will pay him just under $6 million.

Boston had popped up in recent days as a potential landing spot for Schröder. The team could use someone who can give them solid point guard minutes after they traded Kemba Walker, and while he might not be a long-term answer, Schröder presents a solid option to line up alongside Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum. Conversely, this gives Schröder a chance to go play for a team on a one-year deal and show that he deserves to get a longer deal next summer.

Lionel Messi became a Paris Saint-Germain player on Tuesday after days of speculation following the news that he would leave FC Barcelona. The greatest player of his generation arrived in the French capital earlier in the day and was officially unveiled at the Parc de Princes after the club teased the move on its social media accounts throughout the day.

“I am excited to begin a new chapter of my career at Paris Saint-Germain,” Messi said in a statement. “Everything about the club matches my football ambitions. I know how talented the squad and the coaching staff are here. I am determined to help build something special for the club and the fans, and I am looking forward to stepping out onto the pitch at the Parc des Princes.”

Messi’s first press conference with the club will occur on Wednesday, and ESPN reports that his two-year contract with an option for a third year is expected to pay him somewhere in the range of €30-35 million. With the No. 10 shirt that he wore at Barcelona belonging to Neymar, Messi will wear the number 30 as a member of the Parisians.

The move comes less than a week after it was announced that the ongoing financial crisis at Barcelona, the only club for which the Argentine has played in his professional career, would make it untenable for Messi to stick around. Immediately after the announcement, PSG was viewed as the betting favorite to acquire his services. The club’s financial might, aspirations to win Champions League (which Messi shares), and collection of players with whom Messi is familiar — Neymar was a teammate at Barcelona; while Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria, and Leandro Paredes are national team compatriots — made it a natural fit.

PSG’s made a habit of bringing in talent regardless of whomever else is on its roster, but while the team has Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as the fulcrums of its attack, Messi is the kind of player for whom any sort of pre-determined plan goes out the window. The trio should, in theory, work in any sort of left-to-right orientation, as all three are chance creation monsters who are more than capable of setting up or finishing opportunities as they see fit. The team spent plenty of money this summer, largely on free transfers, to build up a squad fully capable of winning Champions League, the final trophy that has evaded the Parisians since Qatari Sports Investments acquired it back in 2011. Messi, meanwhile, has failed to lift that trophy since 2015.

Questions still exist in defense (particularly when teams opt to attack down the left channel) and in the midfield (which has plenty of talent but needs to figure out how it wants to play and whether that is the optimal way to use whatever talent it has on hand). But if those things figure themselves out — and, to be clear, the overwhelming likelihood is that they will — PSG is going to be the clear-cut favorite to win every single trophy it sets out to win this year. He’s been a player PSG has wanted to land for years, and now, that’s coming to fruition and we’ll get to see whether all that work will be worth it.

“I am delighted that Lionel Messi has chosen to join Paris Saint-Germain and we are proud to welcome him and his family to Paris,” PSG chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi said in a statement. “He has made no secret of his desire to continue competing at the very highest level and winning trophies, and naturally our ambition as a club is to do the same. The addition of Leo to our world-class squad continues a very strategic and successful transfer window for the club. Led by our outstanding coach and his staff, I look forward to the team making history together for our fans all around the world.”

On Tuesday, a week after a report concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he was resigning. It was an unexpected move from someone notorious for always putting up a fight and never backing down. And while questions arise over what the future brings for the state he’s lorded over since 2011, some took a moment to think about the woman who once tried to unseat him three years back.

That person, of course, is Cynthia Nixon, the actress and activist, who ran against Cuomo in the 2018 primaries. During her campaign, she accused him of coming up short on such topics as income inequality, renewable energy, health care, mass incarcerations, New York City’s long-suffering subway system, and more. She was not only an NYC icon, thanks to Sex and the City; she was a longtime New Yorker, and she had real and daring ways to fix an oft-broken metropolis.

It didn’t work out; Nixon received only 34% of the vote to Cuomo’s 66%. But she did succeed in pushing the centrist-ish Cuomo a little farther towards the progressive left.

Then again, her defeat also left New Yorkers with Cuomo. He was praised — including by himself — for his handling of the pandemic, which saw the state, and especially New York City, avoiding what could have been an apocalyptic catastrophe. His actions were very far from perfect; while defending himself against sexual harassment allegations, he also had to fight claims that he’d mishandled nursing homes, which saw large number of COVID-related casualties.

But now Cuomo’s on his way out. And now that he is, people on social media reflected on what they could have had had the sometime Miranda Hobbes taken his job.

Nixon’s campaign was often plagued with derisive media coverage, which looks even worse given the trajectory of her opponent’s career.

Clearly, some said, Nixon wouldn’t have done what Cuomo did.

Some imagined that she was pretty angry on this big day.

Others argued that she’s probably doing pretty well.

Some pointed out that another, aborted Cuomo term is not the only thing New Yorkers would have avoided had more voted for Nixon.

Cuomo will be replaced by Kathy Hochul, who will become the state’s first female governor. Meanwhile, Nixon is stuck making a revival of Sex and the City.

Others looked on the bright side: Nixon could always run again.

Minnie John thought she heard a familiar voice before she opened her eyes and wondered if she’d fallen asleep watching TV. But she wasn’t at home, she was in the middle of Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. The voice was indeed familiar, though, which she discovered once she finally came to.

John had been hiking a difficult trail in the park with her family over the weekend when she became too fatigued to continue. She didn’t want her family members to miss out on the site they had been hiking towards, which was still 15 minutes away, so she insisted that they continue on while she rested on the side of the trail. It wasn’t terribly hot and there was a cool breeze, so she figured she’d be fine.

The last thing she remembered was sitting down on a rock with her head in her hands.

John told the story on Facebook in three parts, but the final post is where it gets fun.

“Next thing I hear someone with a familiar voice kept asking me questions,” she wrote. “I wondered if I might be watching TV. My eyes were closed and they said I will be fine and they were cleaning my face and bandaging me up.”

She continued:

“I heard that familiar voice saying I am going to be ok, a doctor is cleaning me up. After so many more questions and sticking gooey things in my mouth, giving me electrolytes, they lifted me up as I opened my eyes and set me back on that rock, that face looked so familiar again and I asked her again if I knew her or was she famous and the doctor said yes. As my eyes started to focus more, she smiled and took her hair tie off and shook her hair for me to figure out. Her sister the doctor asked me to guess and I told her I just hit my head, I can’t remember. She said smiling ‘Modern Family’ and I said of course!”

John said she told Bowen she was “so beautiful,” then Bowen introduced her to her sister, Annie, who happened to be a doctor. The guide they were with had seen John fall from the rock, and they had everything on hand to clean up her wounds. The group also used John’s phone to call her family and some ran ahead to find them.

“Such wonderful men and women, selflessly giving of themselves!” wrote John. “God bless them!”

No one expects to pass out while they’re on vacation, much less wake up to a famous actress and her sister giving them medical care. John told CNN that Bowen and her sister “were so down to earth, so genuine, so sweet: Not at all how you might expect a big actor or a big doctor to be — which they are. They were just so humble, so loving.”

She asked if she could have her picture taken with them, and Bowen said, “Of course,” before giving John a hug and posing for a photo.

“I knew I’d never meet them again but I appreciated and admired the human part of what they did — selfless, not selfish,” John told CNN. “We tend to forget the daily kindnesses we encounter. We’re blind to everything around us and don’t imagine that people will be so good, kind and caring.”

John is okay, but battered a bit from where she fell and hit her face and glasses. Despite ending up with a fractured nose and five stitches at Moab Regional Hospital, doctors say she was lucky.

What a delightful ending to a potentially tragic event.

It takes guts to take on a song that was made famous by a powerhouse voice, and most people honestly shouldn’t be that gutsy. You want to sing a Mariah Carey song? Good luck. Celine Dion? Rethink it. Whitney Houston? Oh, honey. Just no.

So the idea of a guy with a lone guitar smashing a rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” complete with some of Whitney Houston’s vocal stylings—especially a guy in a flannel shirt singing live on a small stage—just seems so unlikely. And yet that’s exactly what Josh Weathers did in 2011 when he performed the song at Dallas’s Kessler Theatre. With a capacity of 150 to 500, few people got to actually see this performance live, but thankfully the theater posted it on YouTube, where it’s had more than 2.6 million views.

Weathers explains before singing the song that his mom had loved the movie soundtrack for “The Bodyguard,” which included “I Will Always Love You.” He said it was his mom’s birthday that day, and though she was no longer here he wanted to sing it for her. And that he did, with simple beauty, power, and emotion.

Just watch:

Josh Weathers at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, Texas

www.youtube.com

Weathers has incredible control of his vocals in this song that’s notoriously difficult to sing. And while the Whitney Houston version includes a sweeping orchestral arrangement behind it as it reaches the most powerful sections, Weathers only has his lone guitar. And it works. That chord change. That falsetto. Phew.

Here’s to talented and skilled musicians constantly blowing us away.