Category: News

The hit Harry Styles single “As It Was” has spent a lot of time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year, but it hasn’t had a ton of consecutive weeks on top. It spent its first week (the chart dated April 16) on top; got knocked out by Jack Harlow’s “First Class;” spent two more weeks at No. 1; got dethroned by Future, Drake, and Tems’ “Wait For U,” later enjoyed another four frames atop the chart; and last week got ousted by Drake and 21 Savage’s “Jimmy Cooks.”

Well, it turns out “As It Was” is one of the most resilient songs in chart history: On the new Hot 100 chart dated July 9, the Styles single is one again back at No. 1 for an eighth total week.

This is the fourth total stint at No. 1 for “As It Was,” which actually ties the all-time record for most separate trips to the top. In that regard, it now stands alongside Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (from 2019 to 2022), 24kGoldn and Iann Dior’s “Mood” (in 2020 and 2021), and Drake’s “Nice For What” (2018).

Meanwhile, new to the top 10 is Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” which debuted at No. 15 last week and now, in its first full week of tracking, has risen to No. 7. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is also sticking around, as it rises from No. 9 last week to No. 6 this week.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

July 4, 2022 will be remembered as a day of sorrow. Throughout the country, many Americans woke up to the news that at least six people had been killed and dozens more injured when, shortly after 10:15 a.m. ET, a gunman began shooting into the crowd of families and revelers who had gathered for what should have been a celebratory Fourth of July parade in the picturesque Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois.

Approximately 45 minutes earlier, at 9:30 a.m., The NRA had sent out a tweet reminding its followers (and anyone else who unfortunately stumbled across it) that the reason Americans have an Independence Day to celebrate at all is because of men with guns.

They then followed that tweet up with this:

Approximately 12 hours later, Philadelphia’s Parkway Fireworks were interrupted by yet another active shooter situation:

Yet through it all—and yes, even right now—The NRA’s tweets remain posted. While it’s very likely that the posts had been previously scheduled, that they opted to leave them up while the country mourned yet another deadly mass shooting speaks volumes about the gun-lovin’ organization’s frequently indecorous manner, which almost seems to have become part of their mission statement.

The only other statement The NRA has made sense the deadly attack is a woe-is-us retweet:

Which indicates that someone was behind the Twitter controls at some point and could have easily either deleted the earlier sentiments, given the violence that erupted shortly after they were sent, or issued a statement lamenting the loss of life. That they chose neither should hardly be surprising.

In 1999, just over a week after the massacre at Columbine High School, The NRA chose to forge ahead with a previously planned event in Denver, less than 15 miles from where the violence had occurred. In May, the group held its annual “meeting of the mindless” over Memorial Day weekend in Houston, Texas just days after a teenager killed 21 people—including 19 children—a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, with both Ted Cruz (who got heckled after his speech) and Donald Trump (who danced his way offstage) in attendance.

As of July 5, 2022—just a little over halfway into the year—there have been a total of 351 mass shootings in America, which have claimed the lives of more than 400 people and injured more than 1,300 individuals. But The NRA, with its only tweet since the tasteless early morning messages from July 4, seems to be suggesting that they are victims, too.

Miley Cyrus has often shared her mixed feelings toward her breakout television series, Hannah Montana. While the series took its toll on her, it was also rough on her younger sister, Noah.

Ahead of her upcoming debut album, The Hardest Part, Noah Cyrus spoke with Rolling Stone about her anxiety, which spawned into an addiction to Xanax. In the interview, she mentioned that her anxiety stemmed partly from growing up in a family that was constantly under the spotlight — especially when Miley was on Hannah Montana.

“I had a really hard time being a part of a public family, and I struggled a bit with that, because it wasn’t exactly my first choice,” said Noah. “I had a hard time with people coming up to me and saying, ‘Are you Miley Cyrus’ little sister,’ or, ‘Are you Hannah Montana’s little sister?’ I did not like that, and it stripped me of my own identity for a long time.”

Noah revealed that there were times she’d reply “no” when asked if she was related to Miley.

As a child, Cyrus enjoyed riding horses at Far West Farms in Los Angeles. Training under acclaimed rider Nick Karazissis allowed her a reprieve from unwanted attention.

“Obviously, I had a family that was split up a lot,” Noah said. “Here I had something so permanent. […] They would always make sure that when I came here I was Noah. I wasn’t a Cyrus, I was just Noah.”

The Hardest Part is out 9/16 via Columbia Records. Pre-save it here.

TJ Warren has played in just four games over the last two seasons, including missing all of last year, with stress fractures in his left foot, which derailed what was a breakout 2020 campaign in Indiana.

As Warren has been sidelined, the Pacers have launched a rebuild and when Warren hit free agency this summer, there was plenty of mystery about his medicals and what his market might be. On Tuesday, word emerged that Warren had agreed to a one-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, as he’ll hope to get healthy and prove himself next season before hitting free agency again in 2023.

Warren was terrific in 2020, particularly in the Bubble, but never got a chance to back that up. His health will dictate a lot about what comes next in his career, but he’ll also be beholden to what happens on the Nets roster between now and camp, as Brooklyn looks to figure out trades for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Aside from the disaster happening on the star front, the Nets have actually had a decent start to free agency, inking Patty Mills and Nic Claxton to two-year deals that provide solid value and now adding a buy-low candidate in Warren who could be a real contributor if he can get healthy.

Alex Jones is off his f**king rocker. This is, of course, nothing new for Jones. But in the Fourth of July speech he gave on Infowars, Jones made it clear that he believes there are evil aliens among us—or that someone spiked his holiday punch with some sort of hallucinogen.

As Raw Story reports, Jones seemed to be channeling Bill Pullman’s fictional President Thomas Whitmore from Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day movie when he warned Infowars viewers about the dangers we’re currently facing:

I declare this July 4, 2022 to be a Declaration of Independence against the alien force on this planet today waging war against humans and our biology and our very future. [It] is attempting to exterminate the majority of us and force the minority that’s left to merge with AI computers and become cyborg sex slaves of Satan.

While not quite as rousing as Pullman’s “We will not go quietly into the night!” address—which, oddly, was recently played for Marjorie Taylor Greene during the hearing to determine whether she could lawfully seek reelection, and Donald Trump once stole, much to Pullman’s annoyance—Jones does deserve some credit for finding a way to shove aliens, technology, and Satan into one conspiracy theory. Way to go, Alex.

As Sarah K. Burris wrote for Raw Story, “It’s unclear where Jones got this information as it hasn’t appeared on the QAnon message boards yet nor has anyone posted photos online of UFOs or alien invasions.” There’s also the possibility, of course, that he thought Independence Day was a news report. According to Burris:

An actual documentary done by CNN on Alex Jones cited some of those he grew up with. One of his childhood friends recalled Jones being obsessed with Satan, and at times, he claimed, seemed like he was possessed.

“He would talk in tongues a lot and get into these trances,” said Bo Durham, who grew up with Jones outside of Dallas, Texas. Jones was later forced to move from the city after he nearly killed another student, the documentary said.

Randy Talley, a teacher and football coach at the school, was also interviewed for the same documentary. While he claimed he does not believe in “witchcraft,” he did note that Jones “could turn his tongue black and mouth black and he would stick his tongue out and shake his head as though he were possessed.”

(Via Raw Story)

Keanu Reeves being a lovely, wholesome dude is the stuff of legends, so it’s no surprise that folks are lining up in droves for his latest act of kindness. While arriving in New York City on July 4th, the actor was approached by an exciting young fan who couldn’t help but pepper Reeves with questions. According to TV producer Andrew Kimmel, who snapped a photo of the sweet moment, Reeves was nothing but pure class as he answered every single question, and even fired back some of his own.

Kimmel provided a play-by-play of the wholesome moment, and he wasn’t kidding around when he said Keanu handled a barrage of questions, and couldn’t have been nicer about it:

Kid: Why were you in London?

KR: Filming a documentary.

Kid: I saw online you were at the Grand Prix (pronouncing the x)

KR: Yes, the Grand Prix (in a French accent, without correcting him). F1! Race cars!

Kid: Do you drive?

KR: Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles.

Kid: Do you live in NY?

KR: I live in LA.

Kid: How long are you gonna be in New York?

KR: Four days! No… five. Five days!

Kid: Why are you in NY?

KR: Gonna see a broadway show!

Kid: What broadway show?
KR: American Buffalo! Mamet!

Kid: Where are you staying in NY?
KR: Midtown!

By this time the kid was running out of questions, so Keanu started grilling him Why were you in Europe? What galleries did you go to in Paris? What was your favorite?

Reeves even stopped to take a photo with Kimmel who, like any human being with a soul, couldn’t pass up a chance to snag a selfie with Keanu:

After Kimmel posted the sweet Keanu moment on Twitter, people went absolutely nuts as the interaction went instantly viral. Keanu’s kindness was just the salve folks needed during some, let’s be honest, pretty dark times:

(Via Andrew Kimmel on Twitter)

The only thing better than a new James Cameron movie is a James Cameron quote about a new James Cameron movie. The director of two of the three highest-grossing movies ever vowed that his Avatar sequels will make you “sh*t yourself with your mouth wide open.” He also called it a “certainty” that the original Avatar would re-claim its top spot over Avengers: Endgame on the all-time box office hit (he was correct).

The latest memorable James Cameron quote:

“The trolls will have it that nobody gives a sh*t and they can’t remember the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie. Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just shut the f*ck up right now.’ So I’m not worried about that.”

That’s Cameron speaking to Empire about people who saw Avatar when it was released in 2009, claiming that they can’t remember anything about Avatar because it’s not good, or something. I’m an Avatar defender (not that a movie that made $2.8 billion needs defending), but to be fair, I had to look up that Sam Worthington played Jake Sully, and of course Zoe Saldana was Neytiri. It’s been 13 years since Avatar — a lot’s happened since then. I saw Jurassic World: Dominion three weeks ago, and I can barely remember that Chris Pratt’s character name is… I want to say Chad? That sounds right. Chad.

Avatar: The Way of Water comes out on December 16

(Via Empire)

Earlier this year, Joe Rogan caused a situation in the music world, as artists like Neil Young, David Crosby, and others finally had enough of Rogan’s controversial podcast on Spotify, so much so that they took their music off the streaming platform.

Over the weekend, though, some fans noticed that Crosby, Stills & Nash music had returned to Spotify. As for why that happened, Crosby says it’s about money and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. A fan on Twitter asked Crosby about CSN’s Spotify return and Crosby answered, “I don’t own it now and the people who do are in business to make money.”

Billboard notes that according to a source, the band will donate proceeds from streaming to COVID-19 charities “for at least a month.”

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s discography is also currently on Spotify, although certain songs from the band’s albums appear to be unplayable. Young’s solo albums remain off of the platform entirely.

Meanwhile, Crosby recently shared the music he most enjoys while on the road, tweeting, “What do I listen to in the car ? Alison Krauss and Union Station …a lot. James Taylor …constantly. Marc Cohn …Join The Parade. CPR. Solo stuff. Beatles, Stones , Who. Weather Report. Miles. The Puppy.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Over the weekend, The Strokes brought their talents to Denmark’s Roskilde Festival. The showcase kicked off on June 25 and concluded July 2 with performances from Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Tyler The Creator, Haim, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, Idles, and more. While many hoped that The Strokes’ performance would be smooth sailing, that didn’t seem to be the case as the band’s lead vocalist, Julian Casablancas, was hit with criticism for his part of the set. Concerns and criticism about Casablancas’ performance were shared all over social media, and after a while, he caught wind of it and took to Instagram to respond.

“I’m not tuned into twitter things enough to know what some confused fan thinks or pretends they know, but i’m fine… far as i know,” Casablancas wrote in a now-deleted post according to Stereogum. “People been asking me weiiird questionnns – ahh the dumb side of social media… Lame-Os running around so hard and free.”

He continued, “PS the concerns and questions are kind and fine! it’s the strangers announcing /acting like they know some sh*t that’s dumb. (weird questions not the dumb side haha).”

Casablancas’ Roskilde Festival performance comes after he sold his share of The Strokes’ catalog to Primary Wave for an undisclosed amount. His solo material and work with The Voidz were not included in the deal.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Politico has released the first trailer for Unprecedented, Alex Holder’s upcoming three-part documentary about Donald Trump and his family during the 2020 presidential campaign, including footage from the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee. You can watch it below.

In the trailer, Donald Trump Jr. vows to “make liberals cry,” Ivanka Trump jokes about borrowing a dog to draw attention away from a line on her dress, Eric Trump is just kind of there, and Donald Trump is obsessed about a glass of water on a table next to him. (What is it with him and water?) “Witness the 3-part documentary event… With exclusive access… To the most controversial family in the world… Gaining power is easy… Surrendering it is not,” it reads. (The Trump / Succession parallels are unmistakable.)

Here’s more:

Holder’s cameraperson joined the crowd as it marched on the Capitol. “We’ve got to get the roaches out, all of them,” a protester yells straight to camera as he appears to motion toward Congress. Next up is a montage of scenes from the frontlines as the rioters breach the Capitol and police in riot gear are attacked.

The trailer ends with Trump asking, “Do you miss me yet?” (No.)

Unprecedented (which is reportedly making the Trumps very anxious) premieres on Discovery+ sometime the summer.

(Via Politico)