Cindy Choek

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Kavinsky on his return and a new collaboration with The Weeknd: “It’s happening soon”

Kavinsky has spoken to NME about what to expect from his long-awaited second album, ‘Reborn’ – as well as news that a new collaboration with The Weeknd is on the way. READ MORE: Drive at 10: the story behind its moody, synth-laden soundtrack The French electro-pop pioneer, real name Vincent Belorgey, announced details of his first album in nine years last week along with the single ‘Zenith’. Kavinsky will now release ‘Reborn’ on March 25 via Fiction / Virgin Music France, marking his first full release since his 2013 debut ‘Outrun’ (which featured his breakthrough track, the Drive-featuring ‘Nightcall’). While faithful to his electro-pop roots, Kavinsky explained how the sound was more expansive and bolder with lush, futuristic electronic soundscapes. “The first album was really an album from its era,” Kavinsky told NME. “Listening to it now, it sounds like it was from back-in-the-day. With this new album, I tried to record something more timeless.” Advertisement He continued: “It’s a much warmer sound, a more laid-back, less excited sound. If you compare the last album to driving a fast car, this is more about driving the car slowly. With the previous album, you couldn’t open the window! It wasn’t a part of any master-plan, it was… Read More →

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Adele promises her Las Vegas residency shows will “absolutely 100 per cent” happen this year

Adele has promised her fans that her Weekends with Adele residency in Las Vegas will “absolutely 100 per cent” happen this year. READ MORE: Adele-ageddon! ‘30’ marks lockdown four for music The singer was due to start the residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on January 21, with the run of shows extending through to April. However, Adele postponed the gigs the day before the opening night of her residency, telling her fans in a video message that her show wasn’t ready. Advertisement “We’ve tried absolutely everything we can to put it together in time and for it to be good enough for you, but we’ve been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and COVID,” she said. Weekends with Adele has yet to be rescheduled. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adele (@adele) Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, which airs on BBC One tonight (February 11), Adele moved to reassure her fans that her Vegas residency will still be taking place in 2022. “It has to happen this year because I’ve got plans for next year,” she told Norton (via BBC News). “Imagine if I have to cancel because I am having a baby!” Speaking about why she… Read More →

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Liam Gallagher’s new song ‘Moscow Rules’ will feature Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig

Liam Gallagher has confirmed that Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig will feature on his upcoming new solo album ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ on a track called ‘Moscow Rules’. READ MORE: Liam Gallagher swaggers towards summer with new Dave Grohl-featuring song ‘Everything’s Electric’ The follow-up to Gallagher’s 2019 LP ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ is set for release on May 27, and was previewed recently by the single ‘Everything’s Electric’. ‘Everything’s Electric’ was co-written by Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, and Gallagher has now confirmed that Koenig is another big-name contributor to the record. Advertisement Speaking to Jasper Leijdens on the KINK IN TOUCH WITH podcast this week, Gallagher revealed that the Vampire Weekend frontman features on a track called ‘Moscow Rules’. “Ezra plays some mad instruments on a song called ‘Moscow Rules’,” Gallagher said. “We wrote that one together with Andrew [Wyatt].” Liam Gallagher. CREDIT: Greg Williams/Press The official tracklist for ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ has yet to be announced, but you can pre-order the record here. Gallagher performed his latest single ‘Everything’s Electric’ live for the first time earlier this week at this year’s BRIT Awards. The former Oasis frontman is set to tour this year in support of ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’, including two sold-out gigs at Knebworth…. Read More →

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Here’s a trailer for the new ‘Rip It Up And Start Again’ documentary

An official extended trailer for the new Rip It Up And Start Again documentary has been released. The forthcoming film is based on Simon Reynolds’ 2005 book of the same name, which offered the reader “a big-picture view of the entire post-punk period” between 1978-1984. READ MORE: The least punk things John Lydon has ever said The doc was directed by Nikolaos Katranis and Russell Craig Richardson and features new interviews with the likes of Jah Wobble (PiL), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Ana da Silva (Raincoats) and Mark Stewart (The Pop Group). Rip It Up… will also include rare live performance footage. A release date has not yet been confirmed. Advertisement An extended 16-minute preview of the film begins with a selection of old photographs and archival videos from the post-punk era. The video ends by displaying the full list of contributors to the project. Additionally, the clip reveals that Rip It Up… will contain music by Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and more. You can watch the trailer in full over on Brooklyn Vegan. An official description of the original ’05 book reads: “In this, the first book to take a big-picture view of the entire post-punk… Read More →

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Rick Rubin announces debut book ‘The Creative Act: A Way Of Being’

Rick Rubin has announced his debut book, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being. The acclaimed music producer and Def Jam Records co-founder will publish the title in early 2023, The Guardian reports. READ MORE: 12 reasons why Rick Rubin’s an almighty badass The Creative Act… is said to be a non-fiction title focusing on the process of creativity. “I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art,” Rubin explained in a statement. “Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.” Advertisement According to UK publisher Canongate, the upcoming release delves into “the principles of creativity for creators of all kinds, including people in their everyday lives” while offering readers “revelatory insight into the mysterious process of making stuff great”. An exact release date for The Creative Act: A Way Of Being is yet to be confirmed. Rubin, 58, co-founded Def Jam Records as a teenager, later teaming up with Russell Simmons. It became one of the most influential labels of all time, releasing music by the likes of LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. As a producer, Rubin has earned credits on albums such as… Read More →

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Bop Shop: Songs From Pusha T, LØLØ And Maggie Lindemann, Madison Rose, And More

The search for the ever-elusive “bop” is difficult. Playlists and streaming-service recommendations can only do so much. They often leave a lingering question: Are these songs really good, or are they just new? Enter Bop Shop, a hand-picked selection of songs from the MTV News team. This weekly collection doesn’t discriminate by genre and can include anything — it’s a snapshot of what’s on our minds and what sounds good. We’ll keep it fresh with the latest music, but expect a few oldies (but goodies) every once in a while, too. Get ready: The Bop Shop is now open for business. LØLØ and Maggie Lindemann: “Debbie Downer” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40VoK2xID34 Last month, singer-songwriter LØLØ made a bold declaration on TikTok: “In 2022 we’re taking sad & weird and making it hot.” True to promise, she teamed up with fellow pop-rocker Maggie Lindemann to create “Debbie Downer,” a catchy, 2000s nostalgia-soaked anthem for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. Delivered in a cadence that evokes the Clovers and Toros chants from the iconic cheer flick Bring It On, ”Debbie” reclaims insults that LØLØ says she’s had lobbed at her from a former friend. The music video stays true to the cheerleading concept with a… Read More →

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Foxes, Introverted Pop Star, Dances Back Into The Spotlight

By Jack Irvin Foxes didn’t plan to take six years off between albums, but following the release of her most recent full-length project, 2016’s All I Need, the U.K. singer-songwriter born Louisa Rose Allen was in need of a reset. Ever since bursting onto the scene as the vocalist on Zedd’s Grammy-winning 2012 single “Clarity,” which dominated dance floors globally and scored Foxes a record deal with Sony Music, she felt pressured to recreate its success with more EDM tracks. The musician recalls playing her synthpop debut album, 2014’s Glorious, for American label representatives before it dropped and being told, “This isn’t going to work. We need 12 ‘Clarity’s” — which she had no intention of creating. “I wrote my first album in a bedroom,” Foxes tells MTV News from her East London home. “I didn’t expect to suddenly have to make a record that must be played on the radio or sell millions of copies.” Unlike many other musicians who’ve faced creative differences with their record companies, Foxes refused to compromise her artistic vision and remains proud of both albums. But after a half-decade of operating in the major-label system, during which she also toured with Pharrell and Coldplay, she… Read More →

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Watch Lucy Dacus perform from a couch due to herniated discs

Prior to her headline show at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre last night (February 10), Lucy Dacus suffered two herniated discs. Rather than cancel the show, however, she performed the entire set while lying down on a couch. READ MORE: Lucy Dacus talks NME through her ‘Firsts’ She clued fans in on the situation just hours before the show begun, sharing a photo of herself lying down with the caption, “Sup, I have two herniated discs and the only way I’m not in pain is laying down SO tonight’s show I will be singing from a couch, I am both sorry and also pleased to offer this most humiliating and hilarious moment to you good people of Detroit.” “I am telling myself I am punk for this,” she joked in a Tweet, to many responses agreeing earnestly. I am telling myself I am punk for this please do not say otherwise I'm fragile pic.twitter.com/qpdu6rOUCq — Lucy Dacus (@lucydacus) February 10, 2022 Advertisement Despite being forced to deviate from her usual performance style, Dacus gave the sold-out crowd a riveting performance, with her vocal skills as sharp as ever. Take a look at some fan-shot footage from the gig below: View this post… Read More →

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BLACKPINK’s Rosé covers Coldplay, Oasis in celebration of her birthday

BLACKPINK’s Rosé has unveiled three new live studio covers in commemoration of her 25th birthday. READ MORE: ‘Snowdrop’ review: a bastardisation of the struggle of a nation The Korean-Australian vocalist surprised fans with three new “live studio” acoustic covers of songs by Coldplay, Neck Deep and Oasis on her personal YouTube channel today (February 11), in celebration of her 25th birthday. The first, which dropped in the early hours of February 11, was a cover of Coldplay’s 2008 hit ‘Viva La Vida’. “I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing / Roman Cavalry choirs are singing / Be my mirror, my sword and shield / My missionaries in a foreign field,” the K-pop idol sings, while reading the lyrics off her phone. Advertisement It was followed by a truncated version of Neckdeep’s 2015 single ‘December’, as well as a tender and slowed-down rendition of Oasis’ 1995 classic ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. For all three covers, Rosé is notably joined by The Black Label producer LØREN on the guitar. The three live studio renditions are the latest covers Rosé has released, with theprevious one being a cover of ‘Wildfire’ originally by Cautious Clay in December, which she had uploaded to her personal… Read More →

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Blur to celebrate 25th anniversary of self-titled LP with Tim Burgess listening party

Tim Burgess has announced that he’ll be hosting a special 25th anniversary listening party tonight (February 10) for Blur‘s self-titled 1997 album. READ MORE: The best things we’ve learned from Tim Burgess’ Twitter ‘listening parties’ The Charlatans’ frontman has been hosting listening parties for a multitude of albums on Twitter since the UK went into its first coronavirus lockdown back in early 2020. This afternoon he announced that Blur members Alex James and Dave Rowntree, as well as producer Stephen Street will be joining him and his followers tonight for a listening party to celebrate the band’s fifth album turning 25. Advertisement ‘Blur’ was originally released on February 10, 1997, and featured the singles ‘Beetlebum’, ‘On Your Own’, ‘M.O.R.’, and the iconic anthem ‘Song 2’. It topped the UK charts, was certified platinum, and it became the band’s most successful album in the US where the Britpop scene had been largely unsuccessful. “Join @alexjameshq, @daverowntree and @streetstephen for Tim’s Listening Party to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ‘Blur’ (self-titled album) tonight at 9pm GMT over on @LlSTENlNG_PARTY #Blur25,” Burgess tweeted about the event. Join @alexjameshq, @daverowntree and @streetstephen for Tim’s Listening Party to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ‘Blur’ (self-titled album) tonight at 9pm GMT over… Read More →

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Rapper Razzlekhan and her husband arrested for allegedly laundering billions in cryptocurrency

Heather Morgan, AKA the rapper Razzlekhan, has been arrested along with her husband over their alleged involvement in laundering 119,754 stolen bitcoin. Morgan and Ilya ‘Dutch’ Lichtenstein were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday (February 8) after they were accused of conspiring to launder cryptocurrency, which was allegedly stolen after a hacker broke into the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in August 2016 and initiated over 2,000 unauthorised transactions. Those transactions were valued at $71million (£52.3m) in bitcoin at the time of the alleged theft, but are now valued at over $4.5billion (£3.3billion). US Department of Justice officials said in a statement that they have since seized over $3.6billion in cryptocurrency (94,000 bitcoin) linked to that hack. Advertisement The department’s legal complaint alleges that Lichtenstein and Morgan “employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques” for the bitcoin, and the couple now face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering – which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison – and conspiracy to defraud the US, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. As The Guardian reports, Anirudh Bansal, a defence attorney for the couple, described the charges as “thin” and added: “I don’t think you’ll find that billions of dollars… Read More →

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Raveena Cracked Open Her Soul For Asha’s Awakening

By Dani Blum Raveena needs you to believe that you’re the only one who can heal yourself. The kaleidoscopic R&B singer-songwriter is adamant about this, anchoring her chin on her hand on the other side of the Zoom call, blinking at the bright pixels and saying, again, that nobody else can create your happiness. She knows. She’s tried. Raveena went to the mountains every two or three days for the first stretch of quarantine in Los Angeles in 2020 and communed with aliens, or God, or both (she views these as “two sides of the same coin.”) She spends the first part of each day with 20 minutes of meditation, 20 minutes of yoga, and 5 minutes of writing down her affirmations and what she’s grateful for, a routine she developed when she got COVID-19 in December. She’s been focusing on herself, connecting to her ancestors, feeling, she says, like her soul cracked open. For the last two years, the work she’s put into her second album, Asha’s Awakening, out February 11, paralleled the work she put into herself. She weaves healing through each tingling track; she also makes a point of celebrating herself. “Our inner most self is bliss,”… Read More →

Introducing the Deluxe Ultimate Music Guide to The Byrds

BUY THE BYRDS ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE HERE When some years ago Roger McGuinn connected with Uncut to talk about the band’s latest box set – 2006’s There Is A Season – he was reminded of an early guest at the band’s 1965 recording sessions: Bob Dylan. Dylan – then as much songwriter selling his wares as lightning rod for twentieth century culture – had arrived, essentially, to pitch the band his song “Mr Tambourine Man”. David Crosby apparently wasn’t keen on the time signature, or seemingly on much else about it – though the band were ultimately convinced by its writer to give it a shot. Advertisement Dylan hung around, and was still there when the band got the song down completely, turning it from a delicate acoustic piece into something which seemed to hover somehow, powered by its own ethereal forces of guitar and harmony, becoming the “magic swirling ship” emerging from Dylan’s tumbling words. As McGuinn recalled it, Dylan asked “What’s that?” He no longer recognised his own song. This kind of transformative power is part of the magic of the Byrds. Folkies who had bent an ear to the Fab Four’s British invasion, the band had a… Read More →

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How Rodeos And Farmers Markets Helped Gayle Find Her Voice

Her Instagram bio declares her an “emo alphabet girl,” but Gayle grew up making country music. Or at least, that’s where she started. At 17 years old, the Nashville-based artist still has many years of growing up ahead of her. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the cheekily titled “ABCDEFU,” her power chord-aided single that’s currently sitting at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The electric guitars that mark “ABCDEFU” help accentuate the kiss-off the chorus revels in — hint: focus on the final two letters in the title — and the raw emotion in the song likely helped its rise up the chart. That was bound to happen for Gayle, who kicked off her career in music at age 10 growing up in Dallas before relocating to Nashville and playing every kind of non-glamorous music spot in between. “Farmers markets, rodeos, cheap-seller conventions, a lot of parking lots,” Gayle, the MTV Push artist for February, says. “When I started going to Nashville, I started getting exposed to different genres. I found myself going for more alternative, pop-leaning things.” With her spiked top and dark eyes, Gayle now boasts an aesthetic that complements her jagged rock songs… Read More →

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Here’s what Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ would sound like as a Slipknot track

A savvy heavy metal fan has brought together two of the genre’s most iconic bands, Metallica and Slipknot, to demonstrate how easily they can crossover. As reported by Loudwire, heavy metal fanatic Pete Cottrell – whose channel sees the Briton reinterpret songs and riffs of many bands, among other audio oddities – posted a video to YouTube titled ‘What if Slipknot sounded like Metallica?’ With a focus on ‘Enter Sandman’ – the opening track of Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album – Cottrell’s video demonstrates how with a little technological tweaking and a good ear, a Metallica classic can be made to sound almost exactly like Slipknot. Advertisement Firstly, Cottrell points out the contrasting styles of both bands; “Metallica is more old school, with everything from ’80s thrash to modern rock ballads,” he says. “Slipknot is more modern and frantic and brutal.” Cottrell then shares some of the key things that helped him transform ‘Enter Sandman’ into something closer resembling a Slipknot track, starting by changing the tuning from E to B – making it “sound darker and more menacing”. Cotterell then adjusted the tempo, taking the original song from 120bpm (beats per minute) into a more rabid 190bpm that echoes Slipknot’s potency…. Read More →

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Lil Uzi Vert pleads no contest, sentenced to three years probation in assault case

Lil Uzi Vert (aka Symere Woods) has pleaded no contest to a 2021 assault case – wherein he’s alleged to have struck his ex-girlfriend and threatened her with a firearm – and has been sentenced to three years of probation. TMZ broke the news on Sunday (February 5), reporting that Woods appeared in court to strike a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. By pleading no contest to “one count each of felony assault with a firearm and misdemeanour injury to a girlfriend”, Woods accepts his conviction, but denies admission of guilt. In addition to his three-year probationary period, Woods must commit to one year of treatment for mental health and substance abuse and 52 weeks of domestic violence counselling. He’s also been ordered to pay his accuser (ex-girlfriend Brittany Byrd) restitution, and is subject to a 10-year criminal protective order. It’s reported that prosecutors had initially pinned Woods with three felony charges – assault with a firearm, criminal threats and domestic violence – as well as a misdemeanour charge for carrying a loaded firearm. By virtue of Woods’ plea deal, he avoids substantial jail time for these charges. At the time of writing, Woods is… Read More →

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Eminem is reportedly bringing the first deaf rappers to the Super Bowl’s halftime performance

Eminem is reportedly set to make history at next weekend’s Super Bowl LVI, bringing out the first deaf artists to perform during the game’s prestigious Halftime Show. READ MORE: The biggest moments from The Weeknd’s Super Bowl half-time show As reported by the Detroit Free Press, local rapper Sean Forbes – alongside colleague Warren (WaWa) Snipe, both of whom are deaf – will join Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar for the performance, which is set to go down at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Sunday February 13. It’s reported that Forbes and WaWa will perform interpretations of the headliners’ songs in American Sign Language (ASL), marking the first time the NFL have incorporated ASL into a halftime performance. Described as “an elevated accessibility experience”, the renditions are due to be made available through the NBC Sports website and app. Advertisement Though it’ll be his first time performing for the Halftime Show, WaWa made his Super Bowl debut last year, joining Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church to perform the US national anthem. Ahead of that performance, the artist told The Washington Post that he would “listen to the music over and over to get a feel of the… Read More →

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Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp host a ‘White Wedding’ in latest Sunday Lunch cover

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox, have shared a cover of Billy Idol’s ‘White Wedding’ – check it out below. READ MORE: Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp’s 10 best lockdown covers – ranked! The cover is a part of the pair’s ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series which has become a viral hit during lockdown and returned for 2022 last week with a Ramones cover. Launched in 2020, the series has so far seen the couple share renditions of songs by Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, The Prodigy, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and many more through Willcox’s YouTube channel. Advertisement “It’s a Nice day to start again…. Flowers anyone?” the description for the new cover reads. Check it out below. Willcox revealed last February that her Sunday Lockdown Lunch video series started because her husband, King Crimson‘s Robert Fripp, was having withdrawals from performing. “He hated being on camera at first, but he was moved profoundly by getting messages saying our films, like us performing Swan Lake, saved their lives,” Willcox told NME last year of the impact of Sunday Lunch. “It’s that British thing of laughing in the face of adversity. Slowly, that evolved into us playing rock songs. “What’s incredible is Robert has never played that kind of… Read More →

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Lupe Fiasco re-releases ‘Hustlaz’ and announces NFT plans

Lupe Fiasco‘s heavily bootlegged track ‘Hustlaz’ has finally hit streaming services just as the rapper prepares to launch his own range of NFT releases. READ MORE: Burning Banksys and rubbish tweets: these are the most WTF NFTs so far The track originally appearing on 2006’s ‘Lupe The Jedi’ mixtape as ‘Hustlaz Due’, and was originally due to appear on his album ‘Food & Liquor’ before a leak of the album saw it disappear off the version that was eventually released. “I’m just a rose in weeds/And I rolls with reasons to stay on this road I lead,” Lu raps on the second’s second verse. “Til’ I leave with what I sow, my sole in these, leave my son with the sum of what I sold in deeds, I’m foldin’ y’all, probably headed for the pin like bowling balls, kept it directed at the pen and wrote it for y’all.” Advertisement Listen to ‘Hustlaz’ below. Before Lupe releases his next album, ‘Drill Music In Zion’, the rapper has detailed his own NFT range on the way – branding it as “LFT” (Lupe fungible token, presumably). Holders of the LFT can participate in the “meta-narrative” surrounding the new album, will have first access… Read More →

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Donald Trump is performing DJ sets at Mar-a-Lago this weekend

Donald Trump is embarking on an unlikely new venture in his post-presidential life, performing two DJ sets at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. Mar-a-Lago is a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, which has been owned by Trump since 1985, when he bought it for $10milllion (£7.4m). He turned the mansion into the Mar-a-Lago Club – a private members’ club – in 1994. According to New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, a notice was sent out to members of the club on Wednesday (February 2) announcing two dinner events this weekend. “Great music will be played during dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, with President Trump playing the role of disc jockey,” the memo read. Advertisement “The music will be amazing, it will be lots of fun, and will go until the late evening. For those who will be unable to be seated, the bar will be open for drinks. We look forward to seeing everyone again very soon!” The notice was signed “President Donald J. Trump”. Here’s a note that was sent to Mar-a-Lago club members this week, advertising the former president as disc jockey. pic.twitter.com/shfLBPOPU1 — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 4, 2022 Trump will not be sharing his playlist on Twitter… Read More →

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BTS’ Jimin discharged from hospital after appendicitis and COVID-19 treatment

BTS’ Jimin has been discharged from hospital after undergoing surgery on his appendix and treatment for COVID-19, Big Hit Music has confirmed. The singer was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and tested positive for COVID-19 in January, with surgery required on his appendix. READ MORE: BTS live in LA: a euphoric return to live performance for the K-pop juggernauts In a statement posted to the agency’s fan community platform Weverse, Big Hit informed fans that Jimin had recovered from the virus and that his quarantine had come to an end today (February 5). Advertisement “Jimin was tested positive for COVID-19 and diagnosed with acute appendicitis on Sunday, January 30 and underwent surgery on Monday, January 31,” the statement read. “He has since received inpatient care and tested negative on his PCR test before being discharged from the hospital. CREDIT: Weverse/Big Hit Music “Jimin showed no extraordinary symptoms during his hospital stay. He had a mild sore throat at the time of his admission but has since completely recovered. We also received word from the medical staff that his surgical site is quickly healing without any issues. Jimin is currently recuperating after being discharged from the hospital.” It continued: “We would like to… Read More →