JOHN PRINE passed away yesterday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 73. He was hospitalized in March and spent 12 days in intensive care. He’s survived by his wife Fiona and their three children. John started as a folk singer in the ’70s . He and Steve Goodman co-wrote the David Allan Coe classic “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”, but John chose to be uncredited because he considered it a novelty song.
Many celebrities have donated hundreds of thousands to coronavirus relief .-some have tossed in a million or two – Oprah offered up $10 million -and some billionaires have ear-marked $100 million. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is blowing them ALL out of the water, with a $1 BILLION donation. He said, After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. Jack is also the founder of Square .- the company that does those mobile credit card readers for small businesses. He’s 43, and worth around $3.3 billion. He added, “Why now? The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now.”
BRAD PAISLEY and his wife KIMBERLY WILLIAMS-PAISLEY seem to have a pretty solid marriage, and this may be why. When he gets on her nerves, she ties him up and puts duct tape over his mouth. She posted a “day 26 of quarantine” video where she says things have been hard, but she finally turned a corner. She walks through the house showing their inventory. “Look, I’ve got soap, I’ve got fresh towels, I have hand sanitizer, there’s a little wine left in my glass. Dogs have been fed, we got extra supplies we need.” When she gets to the pantry she takes a quick shot of Brad who’s tied-up and on the floor. There’s duct tape over his mouth, and he’s moaning like a hostage. Then she points the camera back at herself and says,Yeah, I think I finally figured it out. So stay home everybody. Do what you need to do to get through this.”
The star of the Netflix true-crime docu-series, Joe Exotic, will participate in a new Investigation Discovery series. Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic will go deeper into the life of Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin. A press release said the new show will be “the investigation you didn’t get to see, revealing secrets only Joe knows… and the search to answer the one question every person in America is asking: is Carole Baskin responsible for the disappearance of her husband, Don Lewis?” Carole Baskin is refusing to appear in the episode. She has claimed the Netflix docu-series is full of ‘lies and innuendos’, and said that she wasn’t approached and wouldn’t participate. “It’s going to be a live episode, kind of like a reunion. Netflix didn’t contact me to be a part of that.”
Disney Parks are closed as the coronavirus health crisis continues. However, the company is trying to give fans their fix anyway they can. On its official blog, Disney Parks shared a recipe for recreating their beloved Disney churros at home. Disney’s food and beverage coordinator said, “Being a big fan of Disney Parks snacks myself, this has inspired us to share one of my favorite recipes so you can continue creating Disney Magic Moments.”
Several stars have seen boosts in sales following the ACM Presents: Our Country broadcast. Billboard reports that the songs performed during the Sunday night show saw a collective 21,000 downloads in the U.S., compared to the 7,000 downloads the songs had the day before. Two of the biggest sales jumps were rewarded to a pair of duets. Kane Brown and John Legend‘s new collaboration, “Last Time I Saw Sorry,” saw an increase of 4,000 downloads after the broadcast, while Blake Shelton‘s duet with Gwen Stefani on “Nobody but You” scored 2,000 downloads. Miranda Lambert‘s “Bluebird” rounds out the top three, earning 1,000 downloads. Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and Thomas Rhett were among the many other performers who submitted virtual performances of such songs as “Wasted Time,” “Drinking Alone,” “Most People Are Good,” “What I’m Leaving For” and “Be a Light,” respectively, from their homes for the CBS broadcast that took the place of the original ACM Awards date. The ACMs have been moved to September 16.
LUKE BRYAN has decided to “keep everyone safe” by postponing his upcoming tour. It was supposed to launch May 28th – but NOW it’ll kick off July 10th in Orange Beach, Alabama. “What an incredibly confusing and scary time our world is facing right now, and it’s important we continue to follow the guidelines we have been given and do our part to keep everyone safe. We are choosing to stay home at this time.” He’s also pushing back the release of his new album, “Born Here, Live Here, Die Here”. Instead of April 24th, it’ll be August 7th. On different note: He posted a video on Instagram of a prank he played on his wife. She’s riding her bike on the driveway and he’s behind her in his car telling his passenger that “she’s about to get train horned.” Then he lets loose with said horn and it’s so loud she loses control of the bike and tumbles to the grass.
This week, Luke Combs released the music video for “Does to Me,” featuring Eric Church, and several of Combs’ fans found themselves starring in the clip. The video premiered on Monday and was made up of social media posts fans had submitted after a call from Combs.”Does to Me” is all about a regular guy recounting his life, explaining that while certain moments might not mean much to others looking in, they’re everything to him. Combs enlisted his fans to submit moments in their own lives that are important to them. “When we started getting things ready for the ‘Does to Me’ music video, I knew I wanted my fans to be involved, so I had them share things that might not mean a lot to others, but did to them,” he explained in a tweet that kicks off the video. “Does to Me” is the latest single from his album What You See Is What You Get,
THOMAS RHETT shaved off his beard. He posted a pic and captioned it, “First time in five years I’ve shaved my beard off. I immediately feel 10 years younger.”
Dr. Phil has a few home remedies for pandemic-related stress building up in your body under quarantine. He says the first thing ya gotta do is acknowledge life is pretty messed up and stressful right now — then, make a daily conscious effort to deal with it. The good news from the doc is you just need a very basic exercise — 10 seconds of tensing up, 10 seconds of relaxation. He also recommends breathing in for 3 seconds and exhaling for 6 to release tension and relieve physical stress. Seems almost too simple, but Phil told us the mental stress that comes from self-isolation is a very real, and potentially debilitating, thing — so take time to relax and breathe. Oh, and when your mind starts racing … make sure you’re thinking about the right kinda stuff.
ALANIS Morrisette has three kids . . . ranging from 8 years old to 8 months old. And she calls her method of teaching “UN-schooling”. She says, “Unschooling is child-led education. So if there’s some agenda like, ‘Let’s play with these magnet tiles,’ and my daughter is like, ‘[ I want to put glitter on that thing and cut the tree and put the thing,’ boom . . . we do that.” She adds, “I basically get inside their eyeballs. I’m constantly watching their eyes and what they’re pulled toward, and then we do the deep dive – create pods all over the house – here’s where the spelling area is, and here’s where the fake animals are. There’s probably a better definition of unschooling, but there’s no rigidity to it.” There are also no set hours. “If my son is going to bed late on tour and he asks me three really huge, existential questions, there’s no, ‘Ah, we’ll talk about it in the morning.’ That is the moment. Unschooling is 24/7.” It sounds like Alanis started “un-schooling” her kids pre-quarantine. The interview is in the May issue of “Health” magazine.
HARRY STYLES is selling a new T-shirt, with the proceeds going to the fight against the coronavirus. On the front it says, “Stay Home. Stay Safe. Protect Each Other”. And on the back it says, “This T-Shirt Fights COVID-19. Treat People With Kindness.” TAYLOR SWIFT gave $3,000 to a longtime fan who lost TWO jobs due to the coronavirus. Baseball Hall of Famer CAL RIPKEN JR. launched a campaign to help feed children all over the nation.
Taran Noah Smith is 36. Mark from “Home Improvement”.
Robin Wright is 54. Jenny in “Forrest Gump”, Princess Buttercup in “The Princess Bride”, and Claire Underwood on “House of Cards”.
Julian Lennon is 57.
John Schneider is 60.
