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This article originally appeared on 4.10.20 via The Conversation

Fifty years ago, when Paul McCartney announced he had left the Beatles, the news dashed the hopes of millions of fans, while fueling false reunion rumors that persisted well into the new decade.

In a press release on April 10, 1970 for his first solo album, “McCartney,” he leaked his intention to leave. In doing so, he shocked his three bandmates.

The Beatles had symbolized the great communal spirit of the era. How could they possibly come apart?

Few at the time were aware of the underlying fissures. The power struggles in the group had been mounting at least since their manager, Brian Epstein, died in August of 1967.

‘Paul Quits the Beatles’

Was McCartney’s “announcement” official? His album appeared on April 17, and its press packet included a mock interview. In it, McCartney is asked, “Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?”

His response? “No.”

via The Daily Mirror

But he didn’t say whether the separation might prove permanent. The Daily Mirror nonetheless framed its headline conclusively: “Paul Quits the Beatles.”

The others worried this could hurt sales and sent Ringo as a peacemaker to McCartney’s London home to talk him down from releasing his solo album ahead of the band’s “Let It Be” album and film, which were slated to come out in May. Without any press present, McCartney shouted Ringo off his front stoop.

Lennon had kept quiet

Lennon, who had been active outside the band for months, felt particularly betrayed.

The previous September, soon after the band released “Abbey Road,” he had asked his bandmates for a “divorce.” But the others convinced him not to go public to prevent disrupting some delicate contract negotiations.

Still, Lennon’s departure seemed imminent: He had played the Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Festival with his Plastic Ono Band in September 1969, and on Feb. 11, 1970, he performed a new solo track, “Instant Karma,” on the popular British TV show “Top of the Pops.” Yoko Ono sat behind him, knitting while blindfolded by a sanitary napkin.

In fact, Lennon behaved more and more like a solo artist, until McCartney countered with his own eponymous album. He wanted Apple to release this solo debut alongside the group’s new album, “Let It Be,” to dramatize the split.

By beating Lennon to the announcement, McCartney controlled the story and its timing, and undercut the other three’s interest in keeping it under wraps as new product hit stores.

Ray Connolly, a reporter at the Daily Mail, knew Lennon well enough to ring him up for comment. When I interviewed Connolly in 2008, he told me about their conversation.

Lennon was dumbfounded and enraged by the news. He had let Connolly in on his secret about leaving the band at his Montreal Bed-In in December 1969, but asked him to keep it quiet. Now he lambasted Connolly for not leaking it sooner.

“Why didn’t you write it when I told you in Canada at Christmas!” he exclaimed to Connolly, who reminded him that the conversation had been off the record. “You’re the f–king journalist, Connolly, not me,” snorted Lennon.

“We were all hurt [McCartney] didn’t tell us what he was going to do,” Lennon later told Rolling Stone. “Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it! I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record…”

It all falls apart

This public fracas had been bubbling under the band’s cheery surface for years. Timing and sales concealed deeper arguments about creative control and the return to live touring.

In January 1969, the group had started a roots project tentatively titled “Get Back.” It was supposed to be a back-to-the-basics recording without the artifice of studio trickery. But the whole venture was shelved as a new recording, “Abbey Road,” took shape.

When “Get Back” was eventually revived, Lennon – behind McCartney’s back – brought in American producer Phil Spector, best known for girl group hits like “Be My Baby,” to salvage the project. But this album was supposed to be band only – not embroidered with added strings and voices – and McCartney fumed when Spector added a female choir to his song “The Long and Winding Road.”

“Get Back” – which was renamed “Let it Be” – nonetheless moved forward. Spector mixed the album, and a cut of the feature film was readied for summer.

McCartney’s announcement and release of his solo album effectively short-circuited the plan. By announcing the breakup, he launched his solo career in advance of “Let It Be,” and nobody knew how it might disrupt the official Beatles’ project.

Throughout the remainder of 1970, fans watched in disbelief as the “Let It Be” movie portrayed the hallowed Beatles circling musical doldrums, bickering about arrangements and killing time running through oldies. The film finished with an ironic triumph – the famous live set on the roof of their Apple headquarters during which the band played “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down” and a joyous “One After 909.”

The Beatles – Don’t Let Me Down

www.youtube.com

The album, released on May 8, performed well and spawned two hit singles – the title track and “The Long and Winding Road” – but the group never recorded together again.

Their fans hoped against hope that four solo Beatles might someday find their way back to the thrills that had enchanted audiences for seven years. These rumors seemed most promising when McCartney joined Lennon for a Los Angeles recording session in 1974 with Stevie Wonder. But while they all played on one another’s solo efforts, the four never played a session together again.

At the beginning of 1970, autumn’s “Come Together”/”Something” single from “Abbey Road” still floated in the Billboard top 20; the “Let It Be” album and film helped extend fervor beyond what the papers reported. For a long time, the myth of the band endured on radio playlists and across several greatest hits compilations, but when John Lennon sang “The dream is over…” at the end of his own 1970 solo debut, “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” few grasped the lyrics’ implacable truth.

Fans and critics chased every sliver of hope for the “next” Beatles, but few came close to recreating the band’s magic. There were prospects – first bands like Three Dog Night, the Flaming Groovies, Big Star and the Raspberries; later, Cheap Trick, the Romantics and the Knack – but these groups only aimed at the same heights the Beatles had conquered, and none sported the range, songwriting ability or ineffable chemistry of the Liverpool quartet.

We’ve been living in the world without Beatles ever since.

Tim Riley is Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director for Journalism, Emerson College

This article was originally published by The Conversation. You can read it here.

This article originally appeared on 05.14.18

Seaside Heights is a town on the Jersey Shore: a place synonymous with Snookie, The Situation, and a heaping helping of fist-pumping.

So you probably wouldn’t be judged for thinking it’s not a place of overwhelming inclusivity. In this case, though, you’d be wrong.

Let’s set the scene: It’s a spring night during prom season and deliriously happy high schoolers are sauntering down the boardwalk on their way home from a night they’ll never forget.

As couple after couple passes by one particular rooftop bar, some bros overlooking the scene are screaming at couples to kiss. And then there’s a pause.

Walking down the street is a gay couple in matching tuxedos (adorable). They’re holding hands (adorable).

But here’s the thing — as openly gay “Good Morning America” producer Mike Del Moro noted on Twitter (where he live-tweeted this occurrence), they’re doing it in a town “where — not so long ago — young men would shout the word ‘f****t’ out their car window as we’d stroll along the boardwalk.”

Del Moro, who was on the boardwalk with his mother and boyfriend, was instinctively nervous for the couple.

That makes total sense. Even in an ultra-liberal center like San Francisco, I’ve been harassed for holding hands with my husband. So in a place like Seaside Heights, Del Moro definitely had cause for concern.

What happened next, though, was a heartwarming step in the direction of progress.

Let’s let Del Moro’s tweets do the talking:

u201cLast night, while out for Motheru2019s Day with our families (read: getting some late-night ice cream because treat yourself!) we noticed a group of rowdy bros gathered on a rooftop bar obnoxiously yelling u201cKISS HER!u201d in unison at every apparent couple that passed by.u201d

— Michael Del Moro (@Michael Del Moro)
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u201cItu2019s prom season here, so at that time of night youu2019ll see high schoolers in their formal attire. As we walked by the rooftop bros, an adorable teenage gay couple passed us in perfectly fitting midnight bue tuxes, matching pink ties, holding hands.u201d

— Michael Del Moro (@Michael Del Moro)
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u201cI looked at Alec (my boyfriend), my mom, my sister, and stopped to make sure the couple was okay as they walked by… worried that something might happen. The rooftop crew quickly switched from u201cKISS HER!u201d To u201cKISS HIM!u201du201d

— Michael Del Moro (@Michael Del Moro)
1526142620

u201cAfter some hesitation, the young men kissed… and let me tell you: both the rooftop crew and everyone else on the boardwalk just went absolutely wild for them and we all breathed a sigh of relief.u201d

— Michael Del Moro (@Michael Del Moro)
1526142620

Del Moro makes it clear this occurrence doesn’t mean that “everything’s fine.”

It’s just one instance. But it is movement. And, as Del Moro notes, “it’s an encouraging moment for young LGBTQ folks out there.”

For the teens at the center of the story, the moment was worth every second.

You know how the internet works, so it won’t surprise you that the happy couple was immediately found, identified, and lauded for being out in a place where being authentically yourself can become dangerous.

They’re Theodore Vidal and Colin Beyers, boyfriends who couldn’t be more happy that things are changing in their town.

Speaking to BuzzFeed, Vidal, who revealed that he had been bullied after he first came out, said their encounter with the strangers on the rooftop was completely unexpected. “It was so surprising that these guys were supporting us,” Vidal said. “Especially after what I’ve gone through.”

“It’s an area where you normally would get discriminated against and the fact that those guys cheered us on was shocking,” Beyers told BuzzFeed. “It’s one of those small victories that makes the hard times worth it.”

Speaking with me over direct messages, Vidal said that all the positive attention had made him and his boyfriend feel “welcome in the world,” which is not always the case for LGBTQ youth. “It’s made such an impact on me.”

This is a reminder that things are getting better in small ways every day.

Admittedly, the story — however heartwarming — is still pretty problematic. Quick PSA to all dudes on roofs: Please stop screaming at people to kiss each other.

Catcalling is a bad idea regardless of why you’re doing it, and there’s no reason to put undue pressure on young people of any gender to kiss each other in public. And while this moment turned out great, it could have definitely been awkward or even upsetting.

That said, we shouldn’t let those imperfections take away from the fact that this story proves LGBTQ acceptance is making real strides against toxic masculinity and bigotry.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when gay couples can walk around without being jeered at or celebrated. In the meantime, though, this feels like a step in the right direction.

“It’s moments like what happened at Seaside that give me hope and make all the hardships worth it,” Beyers told me. “It’s funny, because we really didn’t do anything; all we did was be ourselves in front of some drunk people.”

Hey, that kind of bravery is often more than enough.

This article originally appeared on 05.03.18

Remember your senior yearbook quote?

I remember mine. Like you (probably), I spent weeks wracking my very teenage brain about something special and clever to put down.

And then I had it: My school’s quote had to do with what students’ future plans were and, thinking myself particularly smart and charming, I’d written, “Mark plans to outwit cartoon animals.” Not that great, right?

But it got even worse. Because my handwriting was so bad, the person in charge couldn’t read what the heck I’d written. And so I spent the next two weeks trying to explain to anyone who’d listen that “Mark plans to go out with cartoon animals” was an embarrassing typo that did not at all speak to my social interests.

Sometimes yearbook moments don’t turn out right. But one student recently got her clever quote completely perfect. She nailed it.

I hesitate to use the word “internet icon” more than once or twice a month — they come and go so fast! — but if anyone deserves the title, it’s Krysta Montoya, an 18-year-old from New Mexico who went all in on her quote. I promise you, it is very good.

If you’re not familiar with “Grey’s Anatomy,” it’s that show about the hospital you probably shouldn’t go to because everyone’s too busy fighting and staring at each other sexily to actually save lives. (Sorry, but it’s true.)

And because it’s so rife with drama, this heavily coded message could be about any number of truly fantastic events that have happened in the show’s many seasons.

Does it refer to the time that Christina Ricci unexpectedly showed up as a guest star? Or the time there was a ghost haunting the hospital? Or the time — OK, I might be remembering this incorrectly — someone actually stole a heart so she could keep the man she loved alive?

This quote is about so much more than that. And it’s actually a beautiful message of self-love and acceptance.

No, you don’t need to go through the entire series for the answer (could be fun, though). After people started asking, Montoya revealed on Twitter what the line actually meant.

And here’s what I mean about it being iconic: It’s meaningful, but it’s also sassy AF, which is what the kids are saying these days, I think.

u201cJust because everyone keeps asking me what my quote is. Here ya go.u201d

— Krysta Annud83eudee0 (@Krysta Annud83eudee0)
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The scene is one in which character Erica Hahn realizes she’s a lesbian. But Montoya wasn’t using the quote to come out — or, as “Queer Eye” culture expert Karamo Brown would say, “let people in.” Montoya, who often posts tweets of herself and her girlfriend, has been open about her sexuality since her freshman year.

But an opportunity to reaffirm herself using her favorite show? She wasn’t going to let that pass by.

“I chose this as my quote because I feel some people do not accept who I am. I just wanted to basically make a bold statement,” she told Business Insider. “I’ve lost some friends over my sexuality, but my family has always supported me.”

The response to the quote has been overwhelming. And Montoya’s using the opportunity to spread the word about living your best life.

Overall, Montoya is surprised by the reaction she’s gotten. She says that she chose to code her message so school officials wouldn’t cut it from the yearbook, but she didn’t really expect anyone else to care. “A lot of friends I don’t talk to came out and told me how cool and awesome it was!” Montoya tells Upworthy.

As for her peers who may not be so accepting? Montoya isn’t bothered. Though she told BuzzFeed that her statement was bold in that it threw subtle shade at those who have never accepted her sexuality — some, she’d said, told her she’d be dating a guy by senior year — she believes that one can’t live and die by the acceptance of others.

“I don’t really need anyone’s acceptance, just my family’s,” she says. “I’m happy with who I am. If my peers don’t believe so, that’s their choice.”

And she’s got a message for others who might be struggling with their own identities or figuring out how to be themselves: “Live your life, be happy,” she says. “You are not living in this world to make anyone else happy but yourself. You deserve to be you, and you deserve to be the happy version of you.”

Man, that would make a great senior quote, too.

Taylor Swift currently sits atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Anti-Hero” and the Billboard 200 chart with Midnights. The demand for her 2023 The Eras Tour was so overwhelming that the Justice Department reportedly launched an investigation into Ticketmaster’s handling of the presale, and a Congressional hearing was scheduled. So, Swift making The Hollywood Reporter‘s “2022 Women In Entertainment Power 100” is wildly unsurprising.

For the list, Swift was asked which fictional character with which she identifies, and she went with a Game Of Thrones legend who was definitely on her “Vigilante Sh*t.”

“Arya Stark,” Swift said. “I realize I don’t know how to use a sword, and I’ve never had to rise up from near death to go on an epic revenge mission — but I have been in the music industry for over 15 years, so…”

Stark was portrayed by Maisie Williams, who presented Swift with the Global Icon award at the 2021 BRITs.

“Anyone who knows me at all knows that Game Of Thrones is my life, so the fact that Maisie was here to present this, I wanna grab you. I can’t. We’re social-distancing. Thank you so much for coming here to do this,” Swift said in her acceptance speech.

Swift was also asked by THR who in Hollywood she’d like to trade places with, and the 11-time Grammy winner chose the acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro. “Imagine having that imagination, that visual vocabulary and that astonishing body of work,” she said. “To have such a diverse storytelling range but to somehow put your distinctive artistic fingerprint on every film. And yet, it feels like he’s still so curious and enthusiastic about his work. I can only imagine that a day in his mind would be fascinating.”

Swift’s sentiment about del Toro extends to herself. She wrote and directed her acclaimed All Too Well: The Short Film starring Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink. She continued to flex her directorial chops in her Midnights era with videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Bejeweled.”

The Warriors and Jazz met on Wednesday night with both teams playing without key contributors, as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Lauri Markkanen, and Mike Conley Jr. were all sitting out, which only proved to even things out in what became a closely contested game.

The two teams traded leads in the first half before Utah took control in the third quarter, with the Warriors fighting back to take a two-point lead in the final minute of the fourth. With 30 seconds to play, the Jazz had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but saw Jordan Clarkson get shutdown by Jonathan Kuminga, who blocked a midrange jumper attempt and then corralled the loose ball. Clarkson, seemingly frustrated with not getting a call on the play, wrapped up Kuminga and hacked at him, leading to a bit of a skirmish with teammates on both sides pulling the two away from each other.

The referees concluded Clarkson’s swipe down on Kuminga constituted a Flagrant 2 foul and the Utah star guard was ejected, with Kuminga and Malik Beasley each earning offsetting technical fouls. That seemed like it would be the decisive moment of the fourth quarter, but the Jazz did not allow that to happen, as they pulled back within one with just under seven seconds to go and then forced a steal on a wild play (that seemed like there was maybe a foul in there) leading to a Simon Fontecchio bucket to put Utah on top in a stunning win.

That takes some sting out of the Flagrant 2 call, which had Jazz fans quite upset, and now the no-call on the inbounds pass will become the new controversial officiating decision at the end of this game.

Donald Trump’s been dealt a lot of bad cards lately, and not without good cause. But Tuesday’s one-two punch had to hurt. A grand jury found two companies part of the Trump Business guilty on 17 counts of tax fraud and other crimes. Mere hours later, Herschel Walker because the latest Trump-backed candidate to flame out. With the former he had to worry about a financial apocalypse. With the latter, he’s worried that the GOP will finally kick him to the curb.

On Wednesday’s edition CNN’s OutFront, reporter Kristen Holmes reported that Trump is down at Mar-a-Lago just “stewing” about his fate with the party he once dramatically bended to his will:

“The aides, advisers and allies that I’ve talked to are deeply concerned … They had hoped for a Walker win, obviously. But Walker wasn’t just endorsed by Trump. He was heavily recruited by Trump. Trump is the one who actually pushed him forward. And they had hoped that if he won, this would stop these calls for new Republican leadership, particularly after so many of Trump’s picks failed in the midterms. And they also hoped that it would breathe some sort of new life and energy into what has really been a lackluster launch of a 2024 campaign. And now they are fearful that it’s going to do just the opposite because of this loss, that it’s actually going to boost the demand for people to challenge Trump in 2024.”

Holmes then revealed that one person close to Trump has decided to support someone else based on his “losing scorecard.” Indeed, this person told Holmes, “Donald’s got his problems right now, and they are so numerous that I don’t think he can win, and I want to back a winner.” Some have told Holmes that he’s gone from the King Midas of the party to a “killer” with whom no one wants to be associated.

“Now, this is all coming on the heels of what has been a really bad three weeks for the former president,” Holmes explained. “And we’re told it’s not lost on him. He has been at Mar-a-Lago, he is stewing. He is calling allies, he is calling advisers. He is talking about those verdicts in New York.”

Of course, when has Trump ever had to really pay for the consequences of his actions? Even though more and more Fox News hosts are turning on him, many are still lying low, afraid to mention him but also afraid to sever ties lest his fortunes miraculously improve. In other words, don’t write him off just yet, even if the hits keep coming.

You can watch Holmes’ segment in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)

Lots of great festivals are slated for 2023 — from Coachella and Rolling Loud to When We Were Young Fest and The Hangout Festival. Like Coachella, New York’s Governors Ball is still yet to announce their lineup. They also haven’t revealed information about tickets yet, but it looks like these details should arrive soon.

Earlier this year, they unveiled their roster of artists on January 25 alongside a pre-sale. The general sale was then two days later on January 27. Hopefully this means that next year’s will be announced around the same time, and it’s likely that the lineup and pre-sale will arrive at the same moment. Come the end of January, be prepared. Maybe even have their website bookmarked, and keep their Twitter handy.

The festival is taking place at Citi Field stadium from June 9 to 11. It was canceled in 2020 after announcing performers like Tame Impala, Missy Elliott, Vampire Weekend, and Miley Cyrus. But it returned strong in 2021 with headliners like Billie Eilish, ASAP Rocky, J Balvin, and Post Malone. This year’s was also a success, featuring headliners such as Kid Cudi, Halsey, and J. Cole. Halsey pleased the audience with a passionate cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” which experienced a resurgence in the spring after it played a crucial role in the plot of Stranger Things.

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

There are a lot of ways to get fouled playing basketball, but typically, you are not expected to get kicked in the face while on the court. It takes someone messing up pretty tremendously to end up with a foot to the face but, unfortunately for Jordan McLaughlin, that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night against the Pacers.

McLaughlin caught a ball in the corner and pump-faked a shot, getting Isaiah Jackson to fly by on a late closeout. However, as McLaughlin took a dribble to reset for an actual three-point attempt, Jackson’s right heel caught him square on the jaw for one of the oddest (and more painful) fouls we’ll likely see all season.

The good news is McLaughlin was alright, more stunned than shaken up after having his jaw clipped by Jackson’s foot, and it maybe only made him stronger as he would hit a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter that tied the game at 90 going to the final period.

Adam Levine had a September to forget. The Maroon 5 vocalist was at the center of a very bizarre cheating scandal after a model named Sumner Stroh took to TikTok to allege that she and Levine had an affair. Screenshots showed Levine asking if he could name his forthcoming child, his third with wife Behati Prinsloo, after Stroh. Other women followed in Stroh’s footsteps, sharing flirty DMs allegedly from Levine, which prompted a memefest.

Levine addressed the allegations with TMZ, admitting that he “used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner” but denied engaging in an affair. That could have been the end of it, and it more or less was, but the internet never totally forgets.

According to Google’s “Year In Search 2022” report, Levine was the most-searched musician or band this year. The top five is rounded out by Mary J. Blige, Lil Tjay, Kendrick Lamar, and Migos. The top-five most-searched people overall were Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Amber Heard, Antonio Brown, and Kari Lake.

Blige took part in the Emmy-winning Super Bowl LVI halftime performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium alongside Lamar, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Snoop Dogg. Lil Tjay was shot seven times in Edgewater, New Jersey this June, resulting in emergency surgery and one week spent unconscious. The Bronx rapper made a full recovery. Lamar returned with Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, his first album since 2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN.

Migos were in the news cycle heavily — first because Offset departed the Atlanta trio, and then because Takeoff was tragically shot and killed on November 1. His alleged killer was arrested last week and is being held on $2 million bond.

See the full Google report here.

Aaron Carter died on November 5 at his California home. TMZ first reported that the 34-year-old former child pop star was found unconscious in his bathtub, and The Los Angeles Times reported days later that an initial autopsy could not determine his official cause of death. Public tributes have been pouring out since, including from Carter’s teenage girlfriend Hilary Duff. Nick Carter and Angel Conrad, two of his siblings, expressed their grief. Nick also honored Aaron while performing with the Backstreet Boys in London.

Today, December 7, would have been Carter’s 35th birthday. Conrad, his twin sister, didn’t let the day go by without recognizing her unfathomable loss and announcing the Songs For Tomorrow benefit concert.

Conrad’s vulnerable caption reads as follows:

“I want to start by sharing how much I appreciate all the birthday wishes. While today is incredibly tough, I am overwhelmed by your love and support… thank you from the bottom of my heart. Almost 11 years ago, I lost my sister, Leslie. I remember feeling broken, confused, and I questioned how I was going to continue on without her in my life… And now, over a decade later, I am forced to once again deal with the extreme grief of the death of a sibling. This time, it’s my beloved twin, Aaron. We had an indescribable bond… and now… he is gone.

“It feels unfair… I feel too young to carry the weight of losing two of my siblings. When we lost Leslie, I was blindsided and shocked. With Aaron, however, we had tried everything. In fact, I spoke with him two days before he passed, and I begged, once again, for him to let us help. I did not know that would be the last time that I would ever hear his voice. And now, I sit here on our birthday, trying to navigate this unimaginable loss because of untreated mental illness and the addiction that it led to.

“Aaron dying was the worst day of my life. I have loved him since we were born… it feels like a piece of my soul is gone. And yet, despite all this pain, his passing has lit a fire within me. I feel a calling and responsibility to help other families and continue the conversation to further break the stigmas that surround mental illness. And so, with the support of family and friends, we are planning a benefit concert to raise awareness for mental health, with 100% of proceeds being donated to @onoursleevesofficial. To learn more, please click the link in my bio to see how you can support the critical work of On Our Sleeves by attending ‘Songs For Tomorrow’ January 18, 2023, in West Hollywood, CA. I have learned the pain never goes away and keep telling myself that it is one step at a time. I am hoping you can join me for this crucial next step… in memory of Aaron.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lance Bass will co-host the event.

In mid-November, Nick Carter shared that a donation fund had been created in Aaron’s memory for On Our Sleeves (as noted by THR), an organization aimed at supporting children’s mental health.

Before his tragic passing, Carter had publicly dealt with a string of mental health issues. He appeared on The Doctors several times between 2017-19 to address his addiction to prescription pills and huffing. During a 2019 appearance, he said that he had been diagnosed with acute anxiety, manic depression, multiple personality disorder, and schizophrenia.

Taylor Helgeson, Carter’s manager, told Page Six last month that Carter “looked thin” and “like he needed to be taking care of him” in the days before his death. “He didn’t seem okay physically … [but] mentally, he was the most excited I’ve seen him in months,” Helgeson added.

Carter had entered an outpatient recovery program in September in an effort to regain custody of his son, Prince, whom he shared with his on-and-off fiancée, Melanie Martin.

More information about Songs For Tomorrow, including ticket availability, can be found here.