Month: September 2023

Taylor Swift has shared the titles of the bonus tracks that will appear on her re-recorded album, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”.  Swift recruited Google, who instructed Swifties to solve puzzles in order to reveal the “From The Vault” tracks. Google announced the collaboration on Tuesday, writing on their official blog post: “You’ll be helping Swifties around the world get out of the woods (or unlock the vault) as everyone collectively solves 33 million puzzles. And that’s how it works, that’s how you get the vault track titles!”  Google later tweeted: “Swifties, we made it out of the woods! Bridges, built Codes, cracked Vault, opened #1989TaylorsVersionVault”

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” will be released in October with the surprise tracks: “Is It Over Now?,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk” and “Suburban Legends.” Swift revealed the songs on social media on Wednesday (September 20): “It’s a new soundtrack. Here are the back covers and vault track titles for ‘1989’ (my version). I can’t wait for this one to be out, seriously. Thank you for playing along, sleuthing, puzzling, and making these reveals so much chaotic fun (which is the best kind of fun, after all).”  The fifth “Vault” track (that was not previously shared by Google) is titled “Slut!”

Swift shared during a performance on Aug. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles that she would release a newly recorded version of 1989, and wrote on social media at the time it would feature five vault songs: “To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”

1989 was originally released in 2014 and featured 13 tracks and 16 songs on a deluxe edition. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will feature 21 songs, including the five previously unreleased songs. The original 1989 album, which was co-written with Max Martin, went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and earned Swift 10 Grammy nominations, with Grammy wins for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Music Video for “Bad Blood.”

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Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert have called it quits after seven years of marriage.

Taylor, 32, posted on social media: “AHT AHT! Not too much on my bestie! In all fairness, Iman and I are separated and have been for a while. To be 1000% clear, ‘infidelity’ ain’t one of the reasons for our departure. We are still the best of friends, great business partners and are one hell of a team when it comes to coparenting our 2 beautiful children. Most importantly we are FAMILY & in the 10yrs together, 7yrs married we ain’t ever played with or about THAT. We just keep y’all asses out the group chat lol, which is the reason we’ve been able to successfully & peacefully separate without all of the outside noise.”  Taylor said she decided to share the breakup news to “quiet the narratives that have gotten a little out of hand .. It’s unfair to all parties involved.”

Taylor and Shumpert, 33, first met at a party in 2011. They were friends for years before they started dating in 2014, and were engaged one year later.  Taylor and Shumpert welcomed their first child, daughter Iman “Junie” Tayla Jr., in 2015 and tied the knot in 2016. They welcomed their second daughter, Rue Rose, in 2020.

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Rihanna, 35, and A$AP Rocky, 34, have unveiled the first photos of Riot Rose, their second baby boy, joining big brother RZA, 16 months.  Photographer Diggzy shared the carousel of photos to his Instagram page with the caption: “It’s a FAMILY thing . Welcome to the World Riot Rose ” He also shared additional snaps of the family in his Instagram Stories.

The family of 4 posed for a series of photos, showing Rihanna holding baby Riot while Rocky carries RZA on his shoulders. RZA is shown wearing the newly released FENTY x Puma Avanti, and Rihanna is also photographed carrying her newborn alone as she leans up against a car,  with additional pictures showing the couple playing with Riot on a blanket.

Rihanna revealed her second pregnancy during her headlining Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show performance, and confirmed that she was expecting through a British Vogue cover story featuring her family, which was released days after the performance. Rihanna gave birth to her first son, RZA Athelston Mayers, in May 2022. The couple’s new son’s name appears to be a reference to “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n),” a 2023 track from A$AP Rocky.

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3x Daytime-Emmy winning actor Billy Miller, who starred the soaps The Young & the Restless, All My Children and General Hospital, has died at the age of 43. Miller’s 44th birthday would have been on Sunday. Miller’s manager confirmed the news to Variety in a statement, which read: “The actor was struggling with manic depression when he died,” without offering more details about the Texas native’s death.

Soap opera journalist Michael Fairman first broke the news, citing an unnamed source close to Miller, as well as a representative for the actor’s Los Angeles restaurant, The Belmont. Miller played Richie Novak on ‘All My Children’ (2007-2008), Billy Abbott on ‘The Young and the Restless’ (2008-2014) and Jason Morgan/Drew Cain on ‘General Hospital’ (2014-2019).  His other prime-time credits include Suits, Ringer, Ray Donovan, Justified, CSI: NY and most recently on the AppleTV+ series, Truth Be Told.

A message on the Y&R X (formerly Twitter) feed said: “Billy Miller was a talented man with a heart of gold and always lit up the scene with amazing performances. He will be sorely missed. Our deepest sympathies to his family and all who loved him.”

General Hospital’s executive producer Frank Valentini also expressed his condolences at the news: “I am devastated to hear news of the incredibly talented Billy Miller’s passing. On behalf of the entire @GeneralHospital family, our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.”

Miller is survived by his mother, Patricia, sister Megan, brother-in-law Ronnie, nephew Grayson and niece Charley.  His management team said that donations can be made in his memory to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

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As Drew Barrymore announced she had changed her decision to resume her talk show amid the writers strike, ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’ and ‘The Talk’ also have delayed their returns.

A CBS spokesperson told Variety in a statement Sunday: ‘The Talk is pausing its season premiere scheduled for September 18. We will continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date.’ The series, which first hit the air in 2010, features co-hosts Jerry O’Connell, Sheryl Underwood, Natalie Morales, Akbar Gbajabiamila and Amanda Kloots. The Talk last produced new episodes before the writers strike commenced May 2. Picketers were outside of a rehearsal show outside of the Studio City, California facility where it is filmed last week, according to the outlet. Sources told Variety that The Jennifer Hudson Show, which was slated to debut its second season Monday, also paused production amid the ongoing labor dispute

Barrymore’s initial decision to return to the air without her three union writers and with picketers outside her studio was met with pushback on social media. Barrymore drew criticism for taping new episodes of her daytime talk show despite the ongoing strikes, but has since changed course and said she’ll wait until the labor issues are resolved before returning to the air. She posted on Instagram: ‘I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show´s premiere until the strike is over. I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today.’  AA CBS Media Ventures spokesperson said in a statement: ‘We support Drew’s decision to pause the show´s return and understand how complex and difficult this process has been for her.’ 

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com