Month: July 2024

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, who sang in the Four Tops for 70 years, has died at age 88, as the last original member of the group. According to Rolling Stone, his family confirmed to the Associated Press that he died of heart failure today.

In a statement, the family wrote, “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our loving husband of 50 years, beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and forever Four Tops, Abdul Kareem Fakir, better known as Duke. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a trailblazer, icon and music legend who, through his 70-year music career, touched the lives of so many as he continued to tour until the end of 2023, and officially retired this year. As the last living founding member of the iconic Four Tops music group, we find solace in Duke’s legacy living on through his music for generations to come.”

The Four Tops was formed in 1953 when its members were students at Detroit’s Pershing High School. The band originally consisted of Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton. Unlike many bands of the time (especially their labelmates on Motown), the lineup remained consistent throughout its tenure until Peyton died of liver cancer in 1997. Benson and Stubbs passed in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and Fakir continued the group after recruiting a new group of vocalists, who have continued performing to this day. Fakir made it a point not to retire; he only stopped performing in 2023 for medical reasons.

In his 2022 memoir I’ll Be There: My Life With The Four Tops, he wrote, “I’m not going to ever retire. The Lord can retire me, but I’m not going to into the dark night quietly. I know I’m not in the fourth quarter anymore. I’m in overtime.” Through their 70 years, the Four Tops became known for a string of hits, including “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” both Billboard No. 1s, and “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got).”

(Spoilers will be found below, so beware.)

Cobra Kai released the first third of the final season last week, and as viewers now know, a high-ranking member of Miyagi-do has now reteamed with former Cobra Kai terror-sensei, John Kreese. He’s back on the scene after springing himself from prison, although the show doesn’t dwell on whether he was fully exonerated by Stingray’s retracted accusations following Terry Silver’s arrest.

Maybe we’ll hear more about those details in the future, but for now, we’ve seen that Kreese is training a new dojo and having hallucinations in the woods, although he did take time out to visit Tory. He tried to sway her back into his fold, and she wasn’t having it, given her knowledge that Kreese had fixed her victory (by bribing a ref) a few seasons prior at the All Valley Tournament. However, the end of Season 6, Episode 5 shows that Tory decided to attend the Sekai Taikai international tournament on the dark side. What prompted this decision? Collider’s Perri Nemiroff asked for clarification on what “Tory thinks she can get from Kreese that she can’t get from the people around her who clearly love her so much,” and here’s how actress Peyton List responded:

PEYTON LIST: That’s a really good question. I think what she can get from him is being his number one, and she can’t be anyone else’s number one.

TANNER BUCHANAN: Just throwing Robby under the bus on that one.

LIST: [Laughs] An authority figure!

That part of the season wasn’t handled in the most nuanced way. Tory had revealed mid-sparring that her mother had passed away, and both Daniel and Johnny decided that the fighting should end because Tory was clearly working something out on Samantha. Tory then stomped off, and nobody went after her, which makes zero sense in the context of Miyagi-do, and Tory apparently never even touched base with her boyfriend, Robby, about her decision to rejoin with Kreese. Generally, Cobra Kai manages to overcome story blips like these due to the show’s heightened sense of reality, but Tory’s actions remained puzzling, until now, that is. Hopefully, more texture will arrive regarding that heartbreaking decision when the show returns in November.

(Via Collider)

After cruising through their first three exhibition games in their tune up for the Paris Olympics, the USA men’s basketball team has found themselves in some perilous positions the last two games. South Sudan had shots in the air to beat the Americans on Saturday, and on Monday night Team USA found itself down three going into the fourth quarter against the reigning World Cup champions in Germany at the O2 Arena in London.

In that fourth quarter, things remained tense as the two teams went back and forth, with Team USA grabbing the lead back thanks to some terrific defense and a relentless downhill attack. Stephen Curry and Devin Booker provided a pair of tough and-1 finishes to put Team USA in front in the fourth.

Then it became the LeBron James show, as the newly announced USA flag bearer put together a bucket-steal-bucket sequence to give Team USA a three-point advantage late.

However, the Germans would not go away quietly, finding some big buckets from Franz Wagner (18 points) and Andreas Obst (14 points), and cut the lead back down to one on a lob from Dennis Schröder (13 points, 10 assists) to Daniel Theis (13 points).

But as was the case on Saturday night, LeBron was there to bail out the Americans. James buried just their sixth made three of the night at the right time to push the lead back out to four.

After Germany’s Andreas Obst missed a clean look at a three and then bounced a floater off the rim on the ensuing possession, it was LeBron’s turn to put the game on ice as he just physically overpowered the Germans, getting inside and patiently going up for a strong finish at the hoop.

James finished with a team-high 20 points, with six rebounds and four assists, and his late game takeover has become something of a habit after doing the same to South Sudan to prevent a massive upset on Saturday. It’s probably not ideal that Team USA has needed the 39-year-old James to carry them to wins down the stretch in exhibition action, but it’s certainly a nice luxury to have that option at your disposal.

Germany was just not quite able to produce enough offense late in the game, as they missed some good looks (none better than the Obst three that went begging with a chance to pull within one) but also found it difficult to get inside against the size and length of the USA roster. That figures to be a theme going forward, as teams are going to bomb away from three and hope to beat Team USA that way, because you can’t consistently get to the rim against the American defenders. That said, there is danger for Team USA with that as the strategy against them, because they seem allergic to taking threes themselves and the math game is going to go against them a lot of nights — on Monday, they were 6-of-17 from three while Germany was 13-of-45.

Still, they have an incredible advantage inside and will wear on teams, and as we’ve seen the last two games, they also have something no other nation has, which is LeBron James to close things out.

Netflix got into the sports documentary game back in 2021 with its Untold series. Everything from the Malice at the Palace to the BALCO scandal have been put under the spotlight as part of the series, and on Monday, Netflix announced that three new docs are coming out later this year.

Topics from the NFL, college football, and soccer will be covered, and three individuals — former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, former Michigan football analyst and the centerpiece of their 2023 sign-stealing scandal Connor Stalions, and ex-USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo — are the focal points of each of the three documentaries. Each of them will be released on a Tuesday, with the first one, The Murder of Air McNair, hitting the platform on Aug. 20. Sign Stealer will be released a week later, while Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer comes out on Sept. 3. There is no word on whether there will be any more Untold episodes this year.

The Untold series dates back to 2021, when Netflix released Untold: Malice at the Palace. Five documentaries were released in the series’ first year, with four more coming out in both 2022 and 2023. The last one to hit the streaming platform came in 2023, when Untold: Swamp Kings told the story of the Florida Gators from 2005-09 under Urban Meyer.

Glen Powell is everywhere these days, and yet he somehow didn’t know about Brat Summer, so he’s clearly got a lot on his mind. The actor/Brisket’s dad has been tornadoing around the globe to promote Twisters, but that doesn’t stop him from working on other things simultaneously, including the potential Top Gun installment alongside his good buddy Tom Cruise. These two never stop working!

Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast when they were asked which will come sooner: a Normal People follow-up or another Top Gun sequel. Powell seemed locked in. “I mean I have a date.” Edgar-Jones then confirmed that there has been no news regarding another Normal People season. Sorry, Paul Mescal hive, but he’s busy, too.

The interviewer pressed further about Top Gun 3, but Powell didn’t reveal any more secrets. “Absolutely not. We should go to the next question,” he joked before Tom Cruise could even have a chance to helicopter in and steal Powell away from the audience.

Top Gun: Maverick hit theaters in 2022 and became the first significant post-pandemic blockbuster. The success only increased Tom Cruise’s love of movies even more.

Earlier this year, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that another Top Gun is in the works with Cruise, but it might take some time until it lands in theaters. “You never know when it’s going to get made because Tom is so busy. He’s doing Mission: Impossible right now, he’s got a picture after it. Hopefully, we’ll get a screenplay that he loves, and we’ll be back in the air again.,” the producer explained. The next M:I film is slated for a May 23, 2025 release.

Meanwhile, Powell will be working on the film Huntington from John Patton Ford and then shooting The Running Man with Edgar Wright this fall, so he has a solid work queue for the next few years. But his most important job? Being a father to Brisket. That comes first.

(Via IndieWire)

The 2024 Olympics kick off this Friday in Paris, and one Olympian was given the well-wishes of a luminary supporter, Cardi B. The Bronx rapper gave Sha’Carri Richardson a heartfelt sendoff, writing a touching message calling Richardson a “superhero” alongside a video clip of the two superstars meeting up to get their nails done together.

“Wishing @itsshacarri sooooo much luck!!” Cardi wrote. “You bought so much emotion out of me because your words and your spirit is so powerful. Seeing your growth after people tried to turn their back on you is so inspirational to me.. You are more than just a athlete, you are a SUPERHERO and I can’t wait to see where the next 10 years take you because you already a legend.”

In the clip, part of NBC’s Olympic coverage rollout, Cardi tells Richardson to her face why she appreciates her so much. “You stand out, because the fastest woman in the world, she’s a real lit girl… I’m really, really proud of you. Because you came back stronger than ever with your talent. You have evolved.” Richardson reciprocated the positivity, praising Cardi for her own resilience and encouraging her to finish that next album. You can watch the cilp below.

For the past few months, the NBA’s impending new national TV rights deal has lingered as a secondary storyline underneath the Playoffs, Draft, and beginning of the offseason. Late last week, the league’s Board of Governors approved a new 11-year, $76 billion rights deal that would keep ESPN as their lead partner but add NBC and Amazon as new partners, bringing NBA games to national TV every night of the week.

The odd network out was TNT, which initially balked at the NBA’s asking price during the exclusive negotiating window and was not willing to meet the league’s asking price after. However, they have a matching rights clause in their current deal, which meant after the NBA approved the deal, it got sent back to TNT Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery to give them a chance to match. On Monday, TNT Sports released a statement confirming they were matching one of the deals, with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand bringing word it will indeed be the Amazon package.

“We’re proud of how we have delivered for basketball fans by providing best-in-class coverage throughout our four-decade partnership with the NBA. In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties.

Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.

We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them. This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years.

Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”

Now it’s up to the NBA whether they accept TNT’s match or if they try to reject it and battle it out in the courts. The league has made it clear they want to get in with a streamer in this new rights package, and now it could come down to what is legally defined as a matching offer. Financially, TNT can match, but the NBA could posit that they cannot match what Amazon can provide the league. According to Marchand, the league plans to decline the package to keep Amazon around and could try to work out a different deal with TNT or a settlement.

While TNT has the contractual right to match an offer, per its current contract, the NBA is expected to decline the network’s right to take the agreed-upon Amazon package, sources briefed on the NBA’s plans said. The league’s preference is to honor the $1.8 billion per year contract it agreed to with Amazon.

We’ll find out soon if this becomes a court battle of semantics or if the two sides can work out a separate fourth deal — which would then offer fans some hope that Charles Barkley will do an about face on his retirement announcement and stick around with Inside the NBA long-term.

There are certain horror movie scenes that stick with audiences forever. The chestburster in Alien. The exorcism in The Exorcist. The ending of The Blair Witch Project. I was too young (and/or not alive) to see any of those films in the theater, but a scene that stays with me is the alien in M. Night Shyamalan‘s Signs. Stripped of context, it’s not even that scary! But I’ll never forget the screams I heard in the theater during my opening weekend screening when that dang alien walked across the screen (“vamanos!”) at a birthday party.

And Shyamalan is laughing at our terror. Over the weekend, the director tweeted, “This Brazilian fan really made me laugh,” along with a photo where he’s standing next to a fan holding a sign showing the alien from Signs. It reads, “Thanks For The Childhood Trauma.”

Thanks… or pay my therapy bill? One of the two.

Shyamalan is currently on the road promoting his upcoming movie, Trap. The filmmaker described it as “What if The Silence of the Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?” which is the best movie pitch since James Cameron changed “Aliens” to “Alien$.”

Trap, which stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill, opens in theaters on August 2. Watch the trailer below.

Warning: spoilers for the Love Island USA season finale below…you’ve been warned.

All good things must come to an end. Just like Barbie Summer and Brat Summer (and, eventually, Glen Powell Summer), Love Island Summer is officially over. But it’s not about the show, about the friendships we’ve made and ruined along the way.

Love Island USA became a massive hit for Peacock this summer, so the streamer is looking to bring all those viewers back for a follow-up reunion, Bravo-style. But Ariana Madix will probably be dressed better than Andy Cohen.

After the finale aired on Sunday, it was revealed that Serena and Kordell won the season by winning the hearts of American voters and Odell Beckham Jr fans. The other finalists were Leah and Miguel, JaNa and Kenny, and Nicole and Kendall.

The season six reunion will bring some of the islanders back together to hash out some of the unresolved drama that went on during and after filming. Love Island UK used to do similar specials, though this is the first time USA has been given a follow-up. The Love Island USA season 6 reunion will be available on Peacock on August 19 at 9 p.m. ET, though it hasn’t been confirmed who exactly will be returning. So what will they talk about?!

Since leaving the Villa this weekend, each islander has finally returned to social media to express their shock at gaining hundreds of thousands of social media followers while they were deserted on that island for the last month. We’ll get a chance to see if the islanders are all still best friends after the dust finally settles a bit and they get to rewatch.

This also means that they get to see the thousands of TikTok edits of Kaylor so maybe that will change their perspective on things?

You can stream all 36 episodes of Love Island USA season six now on Peacock.

Peso Pluma delivered one of Uproxx’s “Best Performances” from Coachella 2024 sets, and the Grammy-winning música Mexicana star is treating fans to ace performances with his ongoing Exodo tour.

Most recently, Pluma brought Exodo to Moody Center in Austin, Texas on Friday, July 19. The below setlist comes via setlist.fm. Study it ahead of his remaining dates, beginning with Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Tuesday, July 23.

Peso Pluma’s Exodo Tour Setlist

Act 1

1. “LA PATRULLA” (live debut)
2. “LA DURANGO”
3. “ME ACTIVO” (with Jasiel Nuñez) (live debut)
4. “AMG” (Gabito Ballesteros cover)
5. “Rubicon”
6. “Siempre Pendientes” (Peso Pluma & Luis R. Conriquez cover)
7. “ICE” (live debut)
8. “14 – 14” (live debut)

Act 2

9. “Luna”
10. “Lagunas”
11. “Bye”
12. “Por Las Noches” (Nicki Nicole cover)
13. “RELOJ” (live debut)
14. “SANTAL 33” (live debut)
15. “Ella Baila Sola” (Eslabón Armado & Peso Pluma cover)

Act 3

16. “MALA” (live debut)
17. “Quema” (Ryan Castro cover)
18. “QLONA” (Karol G cover)
19. “La Bebe” (Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma cover)
20. “TOMMY & PAMELA” (live debut)
21. “PUT EM IN THE FRIDGE” (live debut)
22. “Plebada” (El Alfa & Peso Pluma cover)

Act 4

23. “Nueva Vida”
24. “Los Talibanes Del Prieto” (Los Plebes del Rancho de Ariel Camacho cover)
25. “HOLLYWOOD” (Live debut)
26. “Rosa Pastel” (with Jasiel Nuñez)
27. “PRC”
28. “El Gavilán” (Peso Pluma & Luis R. Conriquez cover)
29. “Gavilán ll” (with Tito Double P)
30. “La People” (with Tito Double P)
31. “LA PEOPLE II” (with Tito Double P)
32. “Zapata”

Final Act

33. “El Azul” (Peso Pluma & Junior H cover)
34. “BELANOVA” (with Tito Double P) (live debut)
35. “Lady Gaga”
36. “VINO TINTO” (live debut)
37. “TEKA”