GoneTrending

Romy, The xx’s vocalist and guitarist, recently opened up about the status of her forthcoming debut album as a solo artist, after releasing her first single, “Lifetime,” in September 2020.

During a new appearance on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, Romy performed covers of Stormzy’s “Firebabe” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” She also offered her fans some hope that the record is finally closer to being on the horizon.

“It is actually, and I can say this now, very close to being finished,” she said. “And it took a bit longer than I thought, and thank you for being patient.” The singer also revealed that she was “glad we took our time” on crafting it.

However, it might not come out this year, despite the fact that that’s Romy’s current goal.

“I mean, yeah, I really hope so,” she added in the interview. “That’s not in my control, but I’m really excited and it’s been really fun working with the people I’ve worked with on it. And I’m excited for people to hear it.”

As for the future of The xx, she spent time with her fellow bandmates over the holiday break to start writing some new music. The group’s last album was 2017’s I See You, save for a deluxe reissue of Coexist last year.

“There’s so much love there. It’s been really fun to do some new stuff and learn and have a new experiences like this,” Romy concluded.

Jeremy Renner is lucky to be alive following his snowplow accident, according to those close to him. The two-time Oscar nominee was hospitalized after a “traumatic injury” involving a snow plow on January 1st that left him with “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.” Renner was deemed in “critical but stable condition” when he was admitted to the ICU, but he’s healed enough to be sent home, as he revealed on Twitter.

A full recovery may take years, however.

Radar Online reports that Renner’s condition is “much worse than anyone knows.” A source told the outlet, “Jeremy is very aware of the fact that he almost died out there. The right side of Jeremy’s chest was crushed, and his upper torso had collapsed. He also had a bad head wound that was bleeding and a leg injury.”

In fact, he nearly bled out as he waited for help — he had to be airlifted because of the heavy snow — to arrive. “Jeremy was in a lot of pain, and was having difficulty breathing,” the source added. An insider said Renner was conscious enough to realize his dire situation. “He knew he was in bad shape and that he might not make it out of this.”

It may take two years for Renner to get back to “fighting shape,” which is a pretty incredible turnaround considering he was literally crushed by a snowplow. If that happened to me, the only fighting I would be doing is my fighting with roommate at the hospital over which courtroom show to watch on the world’s smallest TV.

(Via Radar Online)

With the first episode of The Last of Us winning over critics and delivering solid ratings, the show is shaping up to be a certified hit for HBO. While it’s not surprising that the network has delivered yet another pop culture juggernaut, it is surprising that a video game adaptation is actually, well, good. That very, very rarely happens. However, if knowing The Last of Us is a video game is holding you back from checking out the series, don’t let it. You do not have to play the game, or know a single thing about it, to dive right into the show.

More than any other video game out there, The Last of Us racked up awards for its rich, dramatic storytelling that unfolded like a prestige drama as you advanced through the infected world. The HBO series is tightly following that same narrative thanks to the involvement of the game creator Neil Druckmann. After watching the premiere episode, we can confirm that the show is emulating the experience of playing the games, and even elevating some of its more dramatic moments, but without the need to press any buttons.

In short, The Last of Us series is taking great pains to be accessible to everyone by unveiling the story exactly like it did in the game. This isn’t like a Marvel movie where you need to know backstories or increasingly convoluted lore. In fact, if you haven’t played the game, you’re at an advantage because you get to watch this gripping tale unfold without already knowing what’s going to happen.

The Last of Us drops new episodes on HBO and HBO Max on Sundays.

Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene were once close colleagues, often spotted together during press conferences on key issues and on the House floor. At least, that appeared to be the case, given their mutual heckling of Biden while he spoke of his dead son, Beau, during the State of the Union address. They also both enjoy referencing 1776, especially in light of the insurrection. Cracks in their relationship began to show, however, last spring, and the resulting fissure has only grown larger after the House Speaker dustup that ended with Kevin McCarthy being declared the “winner” after 15 rounds of voting.

In December, the conflict went increasingly public. Boebert took a televised swing at Greene’s infamous “Jewish space lasers” conspiracy theorizing, and Greene dragged her ex-friend for barely winning reelection in a red-leaning district. The Daily Beast now reports how the House Speaker mess led to angry, loud words being exchanged in a Congressional ladies room. This altercation was apparently witnessed by two people, including Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), who would not elaborate to The Daily Beast, along with a mystery member of Congress, who spilled while staying anonymous:

Greene asked Boebert, “You were OK taking millions of dollars from McCarthy but you refuse to vote for him for Speaker, Lauren?”

The first source said Greene was in a stall and, upon coming out, confronted Boebert about taking money from McCarthy for her re-election and then turning against McCarthy when it came time to vote. The Colorado Republican was allegedly unaware that Greene was also in the bathroom at the time.

“That’s when Lauren said, ‘Don’t be ugly,’” the first source said, before she — in the words of this source — “ran out like a little schoolgirl.”

In response to The Daily Beast digging into this story, Boebert reportedly cut off communication, very fast, when asked about the incident. Whereas Greene ignored a request for comment, and Rep. Dingell responded, “What happens in the ladies room stays in the ladies room.” Sounds bad, not to mention very dramatic, and it’s further evidence of a fractured GOP going into 2023.

(Via The Daily Beast)

HBO has big expectations for The Last of Us, and while the series premiere didn’t get House of the Dragon-sized ratings, it got dang close.

“When You’re Lost in the Darkness” brought in 4.7 million viewers across all platforms, including HBO and HBO Max. “That figure trails only House of the Dragon’s nearly 10 million among HBO series premieres in the past decade-plus,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Other than the Thrones prequel, the last HBO show with a larger opening-night audience for its debut was Boardwalk Empire (4.81 million) in 2010.” Boardwalk Empire lost viewers after the Martin Scorsese-directed premiere, while House of the Dragon held strong — what will The Last of Us do?

“We are thrilled to see fans of the series and game alike experience this iconic story in a new way, and we extend our gratitude to them for helping to make it a success,” said Casey Bloys, HBO and HBO Max CEO. “Congratulations to Craig [Mazin], Neil [Druckmann], and the brilliant cast and crew who worked tirelessly to bring this show to life. We look forward to fans around the world enjoying the rest of the season.”

It’s early, but between the strong ratings and critical admiration, The Last of Us could join Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Succession, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, The Wire, and Deadwood among HBO’s finest Sunday night offerings.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Over the past couple months or so, nepotism (specifically “nepo babies,” or people who have allegedly derived benefit from famous/successful relatives who came before them) has been a hot topic of discussion. Now, Noel Gallagher, whose daughter Anaïs is a photographer and model, has chimed in.

NME notes that in an interview with Absolute Radio this morning (January 17), Noel said of Anaïs, who has professionally photographed her father and other artists like Yungblud and Inhaler:

“My daughter, she follows me around with a camera and she films me and all that. She did a film about the making of the [upcoming High Flying Birds] album [Council Skies]. I guess you want to keep things close to home, but they have to be good at what they do. She’s good at what she does. She’s not just wandering around, pointing a camera going, ‘Muh there’s my dad’: she is great.

It’s not the worst thing in the world if you get your kids working for you. They’re cheap, do you know what I mean? My lads are too busy scratching their balls and scouring TikTok for nonsense to worry about, ‘Dad, can I be your bass player,’ or anything like that.”

Last November, Anaïs spoke about nepotism with Daily Mail, saying

“I would be tone deaf and irresponsible if I didn’t admit to how privileged my life has been and how much of a leg up my upbringing has given me. I’m really, really, extremely grateful for the situation my parents have been able to give me, and I’ll be grateful until the day I die. Whether it’s being able to attend university or have job opportunities, I’m incredibly grateful for everything they’ve given me. […]

There is justification around the hiring of nepotism babies. I think it’s not justified as an attack on somebody personally, and whether they themselves are a hard worker, because you don’t truly ever know anyone. I actually don’t think it’s kind to pass judgement on anyone you don’t know and to be mean about them. But I do think there needs to be a push to hire people who are incredibly deserving, and they may not come from a background when they have all the contacts. I think that is up to employers, I don’t think the pressure should be on the nepotism babies not to go up for the jobs, but it should be on the employers to do the right thing and the right research, and consider who is the right candidate for the job. […]

I don’t feel pressure from outside because nobody can truly know how hard you work or anything like that. I don’t feel that much pressure. My parents don’t put that much pressure on me to be super, super successful, they just put pressure on me to be a hard worker and have good morals and be grounded and kind. I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself not to take anything for granted and be respectful and work hard, but I’m not bothered about whether people think I’m deserving or undeserving. There’s always going to be people out there who have a negative opinion of you.”

Drake is wealthy, and if that wasn’t obvious based just on his long-running musical success, he takes every opportunity to show it off, whether he’s sharing big bets or buying an amusement park. Now, his new video for Her Loss highlight “Jumbotron Sh*t Poppin” is more of the same.

The video is presented as a slice-of-life look into three days of Drake’s life. Well, it looks like he packed a lot into those 72 hours. Perhaps most notably, he took time to show off a ton of jewelry. HipHopDX notes that some of the wares come from an online auction Pharrell hosted last October, in which he sold off his personal jewelry and other items. Spotted in the Drake video were “a 14K three-tone N.E.R.D pendant chain ($2,184,000), a white gold brain pendant chain ($725,000) and a skateboard pendant chain ($103,750),” and the publication estimates Drake flexed about $3.3 million worth of Pharrell’s old jewelry overall.

Elsewhere in the video, we get appearances from Mike Tyson, Lil Baby, and French Montana. Drake also nods to the gamers watching by prominently showing off a golden Sony PSP (that handheld video game console from the 2000s, in case you forgot) at multiple points.

Check out the “Jumbotron Sh*t Poppin” video above.

LL Cool J is up to big things. A few days ago, he tweeted: “Should I do a biopic?” and stirred up conversation about who would play him. Now, he’s taken to Twitter again to talk about what else he’s been up to, which includes highly anticipated music finally arriving soon.

“I’m competing with myself on this new album,” he wrote on the app. “Wait til you hear this MF. This year B. It’s coming.” He also posted about his 55th birthday, sharing photos from a celebration as well as a video of DJ Z-Trip giving him a present — a custom art piece. LL’s last album was 2013’s Authentic, so this is great long-awaited news.

Speaking of big things, last month, he announced the ‘Rock The Bells’ cruise, running from November 13-17 this year and including performances from Trina and Trick Daddy. “It took 50 years, but it’s finally here! This Cruise is for Hip-Hop because you deserve it,” he wrote on Instagram. “The Rock The Bells Cruise: A Hip-Hop Experience is setting sail in 2023. We’re dropping the lineup at the top of the new year, but put $100 down to reserve your cabin today or sign up to be the first in line.”

The Dallas Cowboys were absolutely dominant against the Buccaneers on Monday night in Tampa, as Dak Prescott and the offense were unstoppable after a couple of ugly early drives, scoring four touchdowns on four straight possessions to end the first half and start the second half. On the other side of the ball, the defense was pitching a shutout through the early third quarter, picking Tom Brady off in the red zone on their lone trip inside the 20 — the first such pick by Brady since 2016 in the playoffs.

However, because this is the Cowboys, there must always be one thing that leads fans to have a minor crisis of faith, and kicker Brett Maher stepped into that role in an historic way on Monday night. Maher missed the extra point after all four touchdowns from Dallas, causing a Peyton Manning meltdown on the Manningcast after the third, setting an NFL Playoff record in the process as the first player to ever miss three in a game, and is the first kicker since at least 1932 to miss four in a game.

The first two were nearly identical kicks that missed wide right, while the third was an overadjustment he hooked to the left.

That setup some serious drama when he stepped up for the fourth after the Cowboys went on another TD march to start the third quarter. This time, Maher went back to the right and found additional insult by hitting the upright and bounding away to the right for his fourth miss.

It was truly unbelievable to watch, as it was the kicking equivalent of someone getting the yips. It was painful to watch but something you just couldn’t look away from, as every time he trotted out on the field you couldn’t help but be glued to the screen to see if it’d happen again. The good news for Maher, if there can be any on the worst night of his career, was the Cowboys were bludgeoning the Bucs and, at least through three quarters, it didn’t feel like the missed kicks would be costly to the team, just an unbelievable footnote in what should become a win.

UPDATE: He would finally get redemption on the fifth attempt, knocking it through to put Dallas up 31-6 in the fourth quarter.

Late last year, Brockhampton officially broke up, but not before dropping two albums in the time span of two days. First came the highly anticipated seventh LP The Family, then was the surprise record TM. They’re already hard enough to keep up with, especially when it comes to the beloved member Kevin Abstract, who’s apparently never slowing down.

The artist told GQ in a new interview that he has a lot of ambitions and goals for this year, including putting out a solo LP. “I want to put an album out this summer,” he said. And that’s not it — he also mentioned a tour and venturing into new artistic mediums, such as film and TV, which his friends do.

Abstract was actually the only member of Brockhampton on The Family. About the new Brockhampton records and the breakup of the band, Abstract wrote in a letter, “The members of the band began to move our separate ways and focus on our individual careers and passions. With this project, a few of us were inspired to make something new that would bring closure to the past and set the table for all of us to finally be able to explore our individual futures.”