Author: business

Madison Beer talks Justin Bieber friendship for Cosmopolitan cover

Madison Beer is opening up about her traumatic start as a child star.

The “Make You Mine” singer opened up about being dropped by music manager Scooter Braun and her label, the inappropriate comments made about her appearance as a teenager, as well as her longtime friendship with Hailey and Justin Bieber, in a Cosmopolitan cover story published April 28.

Justin Bieber discovered Beer, now 26, after she posted a cover of Etta James’ “At Last” in 2012, and shared it with his former manager, Braun, who signed her. The experience of being signed so young proved to be “disturbing,” including “grown men talking about how I was too sexy” at 14, she said, and a nude photo leak incident at 15. Then at 16, due to a lack of momentum in her career, she said her team dropped her.

Justin Bieber raises eyebrows with another cryptic post on social media

“Literally the same day my manager dropped me, my lawyer dropped me, and my label dropped me. Everything in my life went away within 12 hours,” she told the outlet. “I was 16 and my label was like, ‘Good luck.’ And I’m like, ‘You guys just stole years of my childhood that I’ll never get back.’”

She went from being told she was “going to be the female Justin Bieber, give it a year” to being “dropped on (her) head.”

“I can’t go to college because I’ve been homeschooled,” she continued. “I have a high school degree and nothing else because of my career. My whole family uprooted and moved to Los Angeles with no connections. I have no friends. Are you guys kidding me?”

She said she was suddenly estranged from people who once treated her like family.

“I felt like I was a dollar sign to them and when I didn’t bring in enough money, they didn’t care about me anymore,” Beer said. “Maybe they shouldn’t have signed a 12-year-old without thinking of the consequences of what that was going to do.”

Beer has since spoken out against Braun, who in recent years stopped managing Bieber. “Justin was also only a teenager when I got signed — he hadn’t even experienced his adult life yet,” said Beer. “He’s been through so much, too.”

Justin Bieber is ‘crashing out’ according to fans. What does that mean?

The singer and Bieber remain close, she said, having met the pair around the time they met each other.

“I love him and Hailey (Bieber) very much. I was with them recently and we were like, ‘How special that we’ve known each other for so long,’” Beer said. “I’ve known Hailey since I was 10, and I’ve known Justin since I was 12. We’re still in each other’s lives and now they’re married with a baby.”

April 29, 2025
Beyoncé kicks off Cowboy Carter tour with all aces: Review

INGLEWOOD, CA — A vision in white fringe strutted slowly down a catwalk as pyro popped behind her.

“Can you hear me? Or do you fear me?” she intoned, luminous in her cowboy couture, caramel-hued hair billowing.

Dancers streamed from the sides of the stage, a small city’s worth of precision-footed enthusiasts who bowed and bended to their queen.

“They used to say I spoke, ‘too country.’ And the rejection came, said I wasn’t, ‘country enough,’ ” she sang, snapping the lyrics of “American Requiem.” “They don’t know how hard I had to fight for this when I sing my song.”

And so, the gospel of Beyoncé commenced.

On Monday at SoFi Stadium just outside of Los Angeles, the musical champion unveiled her stadium spectacle in support of last year’s Grammy-lauded “Cowboy Carter” album, the first of five shows at the venue and one that prompted equal cheers for Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, and Oprah Winfrey as they were spotted heading to their seats.

Beyoncé, 43, isn’t circling the globe as exhaustingly as she did with 2023’s Renaissance World Tour, but the 2 ¾-hour, seven-act show she’s created is worth enshrining.

All of what she’s endured since daring to stake a claim in country music with the ambitious “Cowboy Carter” release is alluded to throughout with shrewd artistic strokes.

You want to question her love of her homeland?

Here’s a from-the-gut, lights flashing red, white and blue, words soaring under the potency of her voice rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” paired with the thundering backbeat of “Freedom.”

Beyoncé setlist: All the songs on her Cowboy Carter tour

You think this zig into country instead of the expected zag into more hip-hop-pop-R&B hits is disingenuous?

Beyoncé will gladly remind you of her sincerity with a series of clips featuring forebears Chuck Berry, Tina Turner and musicians on the Chitlin’ Circuit alongside current-day news clips smarmily questioning her musical intentions plastered across the towering stage-length video screen.

The majority of the songs – 19 of the 36 she and her ace band supplied – came from “Cowboy Carter.” So while the ricocheting keyboards that open “Formation” prompted a roar from the crowd and the welcome arrival of her most sizzling smash, “Crazy in Love,” instigated a late-show frenzy, this tour isn’t about the Beyoncé of the past two decades, but the musically adventurous chameleon of her last two albums.

That isn’t to say she’s abandoned the gargantuan set pieces and numerous chic costume changes of tours past. If anything, she’s amplified the production, pairing her signature fierce arm movements and hip jutting with a ride across the stadium seated in a flying red neon horseshoe (a fiddle and brass-laden “Daddy Lessons”), riding a glided bull (“Tyrant”) and getting back on the horse(shoe) for a zip to the back of the stadium and a drop into a raised lighted stage (a loose “Cuff It” straight out of a 1970’s disco).

Costume changes were frequent, usually a riff on skin-tight sparkles and cowboy hats, and Beyoncé sported the fashion with her usual stylish grace.

She moves with impressive fluidity, rapidly crossing her ankles with every step as she and her glam squad edge down the stage for “Jolene” (with a spoken word intro from the other queen of everything, Dolly Parton) and engaging in her broken windup doll moves behind a gold photo frame during “Cozy.”

Her stylistic whiplash is impressive, how she can so seamlessly swap personas. The arrival of Blue Ivy, the oldest daughter she shares with husband Jay-Z, during the bass-heavy “America Has a Problem” paired with “Spaghettii” prompted an appreciative bellow from the crowd as on the Renaissance tour, and Beyoncé couldn’t control her smile watching her 13-year-old grab the spotlight.

But from rhyme spitting, Beyoncé can pivot into glistening balladeering and a highlight of the show came during its quietest moment. As she sang “Protector” over a plucked banjo, her female dancers arranged on a pyramid of steps and Blue Ivy behind her, Beyoncé also welcomed 7-year-old daughter, Rumi. The personality-packed kid spent her stage time waving excitedly and hugging her mother tightly, causing Beyoncé to barely finish the song through her tender bemusement.

But those small moments underscored Beyoncé’s evolution not only as a singer and songwriter, but as a person. The career retrospective that played before she took to the stadium sky for a ride in a car during “16 Carriages” reminded fans of her tribulations as much as her triumphs.

About an hour into the concert, just before “Desert Eagle” introduced the fourth act of the extravaganza, a stylish Western film played, featuring Beyoncé and a craggy cowboy in a shootout. Her nemesis unloads a hail of bullets, but they bounce off her and fall harmlessly to the ground, once again proving that Beyoncé is bulletproof.

April 29, 2025
Billy Idol talks touring with Joan Jett, new documentary and album

Billy Idol knows he’s taken too many risks.

Whether overindulging in drugs and alcohol or seriously injuring himself after speeding through a stop sign on his Harley Davidson, there have been more than a few moments to warrant reflection.

His upcoming documentary, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead,” premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival June 10, and its bracing title is hardly hyperbole.

“I’m lucky to be here,” he tells USA TODAY. “If I was doing today what I was doing in the ‘80s, I would be dead. A lot of people didn’t make it out.”

Idol, who will turn 70 in November, has learned to temper his penchant for excess, crediting exercise, a good diet and trying to remain “California sober” as his supporting behaviors.

He’s also tried to instill some self-discipline, abiding by the rule of, “If I do anything too much, don’t carry on the next day.”

Why Billy Idol tempered his wild side

Along with the documentary, this year includes other high-profile activities for Idol. He has a thoughtful new album, “Dream Into It,” which released April 25, and a lengthy tour with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, which kicks off April 30 in Phoenix and rolls through the U.S. and Europe through Sept. 25 in Los Angeles.

Idol met longtime friend Jett after a Germs/Dead Kennedys concert at the Whiskey a Go Go in 1978, when his then-band, the respected punk outfit Generation X, was doing a round of publicity.

Along with touring together, Jett joins him on the new album’s melodic rocker “Wildside.” Idol confirms that even as age and wisdom have quelled his demons, some personality traits are inescapable.

“I most definitely still have a wild side,” he says. “There’s still the guy who doesn’t mind risking things, just trying to keep it in check. The guy who is willing to move to another continent to start his life again or gamble his future a lot of the time.”

But Idol enforced moderation in his routine after having kids. Brant, Willem and Bonnie are all adults now and Idol is a gleeful grandfather of four, aged 2 to 5.

“I’m the head of the family,” he says proudly.

Billy Idol loved working with Avril Lavigne: ‘She nailed it’

The latest single from “Dream Into It,” a loose concept record with songs sequenced to track the different phases of Idol’s life, is “’77,” a punchy blast of caffeinated pop-rock featuring Avril Lavigne.

Idol said daughter Bonnie is a massive fan of Lavigne – “We were in a restaurant and Avril was there and my daughter was fan girling over her,” he recalls with a laugh. Idol says he always appreciated her music.

“The way she sang this song, she really nailed it. She’s fantastic. It’s been a lot of fun doing promotion with her,” he says.

For the upcoming tour, Idol will have guitar consigliere Steve Stevens alongside him, his faithful collaborator since the early ‘80s breakout smashes “Rebel Yell,” “White Wedding,” “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy.”

“When I met him, I realized I could do anything because he could (play) anything,” Idol says, agreeing that Stevens has been the main constant in his musical life. “We grew up with eclectic records and it opened that door for me. We could do ballads or rockers and we’re still making eclectic music.”

Billy Idol thanks fans who stuck with him ‘through thick and thin’

Idol and Stevens – whose shock of ebony hair is almost as iconic as Idol’s platinum spikes (“I dry it upside down,” Idol says is the key) – were nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, but missed the cut.

Idol didn’t know if he’d join the 2025 class at the time of this interview, but was unruffled when pondering the outcome.

“If I don’t get in, it wouldn’t be the end of the world because there’s always another year,” he says. “But if we do, it’s a chance thank your fans. They’re the reason you’re here and they stuck with you through thick and thin – and believe me, some parts of it were thin! – and that’s the reason I’m still going.”

April 29, 2025
Jeremy Renner accident discusses in memoir: Listen to audio clip

Jeremy Renner didn’t want to write a book.

That’s the essence of the opening paragraphs of his new memoir “My Next Breath” (out now from Macmillan), which recounts the “Hawkeye” actor’s serious injury in a 2023 snowplow accident.

Renner was crushed under a 14,000-pound snowplow after trying to prevent the machine from sliding toward his nephew. Renner suffered more than 30 broken bones, a collapsed lung and his left eye was “squeezed out of its orbital socket,” he writes in the book. In “My Next Breath,” Renner writes that he didn’t want to relive the “incident and its violence, nor the ramifications,” but that he realized the accident had a continued “ripple effect” on others.

USA TODAY listeners can hear an exclusive audiobook clip, including real footage from the 911 calls neighbors made after the accident.

Listen to Jeremy Renner narrate snowplow accident in ‘My Next Breath’

“My Next Breath” spares no details when it comes to Renner’s injuries, but beyond the gruesome bits, Renner offers an intimate look at his physical and mental recovery following the accident.

Throughout several chapters, he weaves his own perspective of the accident with flashbacks from his family’s New Year’s Eve celebration and earlier memories. In this audiobook clip provided exclusively to USA TODAY, neighbors Barb Fletcher and Rich Kovach call 911 after Renner’s nephew ran to their house for help. Fletcher, who is medically trained, runs outside with towels, cradling Renner’s head and applying pressure to stop the bleeding while Kovach talks with the dispatchers.

During this, Renner, who also hosts the Disney+ vehicle rebuilding docuseries “Rennervations,” recalls keeping his breath regulated and “problem-solving” as he lay awaiting help.

“In my agony, I still maintain a kind of blind hope. Despite what had just happened, and with each breath in thrall to the fear that this is where the story ends, I still find in myself a level of what I can only describe as optimism,” Renner writes. “Though my body is completely smashed, my eye hanging out, every breath an agonizing push-up from the depths of drowning, still my mind manages to delve into a kind of instinctual problem-solving.”

Jeremy Renner explains his return to acting, ‘Mayor of Kingstown’

Jeremy Renner says his return to the “Mayor of Kingstown” set was “part of his recovery” after his near-death snowcat accident.

Jeremy Renner memoir recounts ‘tiny, monumental’ mistake that led to accident

In “My Next Breath,” Renner recalls not setting the parking brake on the snowplow as “an innocent, critical, life-changing moment” and a “tiny, monumental slip of the mind would change the course of my life forever.”

Renner attempted to jump across the snowplow’s tracks and into the cab and press an emergency stop button to prevent it from crushing his nephew, but he missed the leap and instead ended up under the machine.

“Nothing after that moment could yet be imagined,” he writes.

New memoirs: Listen to Julianne Moore narrate new Joan Didion

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].

April 29, 2025
Crossword Blog & Answers for April 29, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Nature Trail
Constructor: Bill Conner

Editor: Anna Gundlach

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

IPA (2D: Beer like Ninkasi’s Tricerahops) Ninkasi is a brewery in Eugene, Oregon. It is named after the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and fermentation. Ninkasi’s Tricerahops is a Double IPA. Although I wasn’t familiar with Ninkasi or Tricerahops, I guessed the answer was either IPA or ale. Many IPA’s have punny names, so that enabled me to guess correctly.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

ERIC (16A: “The Time Traveler’s Wife” star Bana) The Time Traveler’s Wife is a 2009 movie based on Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 book of the same name. ERIC Bana portrays Henry DeTamble, the time traveler of the title, who sporadically travels through time, though he is unable to control the timing or destinations of his travel. Rachel Adams portrays Clare Abshire, the titular character. I have not seen this movie, though I have read the book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

DIAZ (18A: “Charlie’s Angels” star Cameron) The 2000 movie Charlie’s Angels continued the story of the TV series of the same name that aired from 1976-1981. Cameron DIAZ, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu work as private detectives in Los Angeles. The three reprised their role in the 2003 movie Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. John Forsythe, who provided the voice of the unseen Charlie in the original TV series, reprised his role for the movies.

ENID (29A: “Queen Wheat City” of Oklahoma) ENID, Oklahoma has earned the nicknames of “Queen Wheat City” and “Wheat Capital,” not for the production of wheat, but for its storage. The ENID Terminal Grain Elevators Historic District, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, consists of nine concrete grain elevators built between 1928 and 1954.

IRONMAN (51A: Difficult long-distance triathlon) An IRONMAN triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.22-mile run (i.e. a marathon). The time limit to complete this triathlon is generally 16 or 17 hours.

ERIE (55A: Great Lake that flows into Niagara Falls) The Detroit River carries water from Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair into Lake ERIE. Water drains from Lake ERIE into Lake Ontario via the Niagara River and Niagara Falls. Our crossword friend ERIE is having a good month; this is its third appearance so far in April.

OPERA (57D: Musical performance with 24-Down) and ARIA (24D: Divas’ chances to shine) An ARIA is an OPERA solo.

SIAM (62A: Thailand’s name until 1939) Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia. Historically the country was known as SIAM. The country’s name was officially changed to Thailand in 1939, then changed back to SIAM in 1946, and once again changed to Thailand in 1948. The capital of Thailand is Bangkok

WAGON (64A: Red “Calvin and Hobbes” vehicle) Ah, the delightful Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Waterson’s comic strip about six-year-old Calvin and his tiger companion, Hobbes. This clue immediately brought to mind an image of Calvin and Hobbes in their red WAGON careening down a hill.

TENS (65A: Hamilton bills) Alexander Hamilton, who was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is featured on U.S. TEN-dollar bills.

STL (66A: City east of KCMO) Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO) is located on the west side of Missouri, along the Missouri-Kansas border. St. Louis, Missouri (STL) is located on the east side of Missouri, along the Missouri-Illinois border. The two cities are connected by U.S. Interstate 70. Fun fact: Columbia, Missouri – where I went to high school – is also located along Interstate 70, approximately halfway between STL and KCMO.

ODIN (7D: Ruler of Valhalla) In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic hall over which the god ODIN rules. In Norse tradition, half of those who die in combat go to Valhalla after they die, while the other half go to Fólkvangr, a field ruled over by the goddess Freyja.

AROMA (11D: What might make a cartoon character float to the kitchen) This is such a fun clue. I was immediately able to visualize this image.

SEVEN (36D: Number that shares a key with &) I solved this crossword at my computer, and yes, I did glance at my keyboard to discover this answer.

KOREA (39D: Where bibimbap is from) Bibimbap is a rice dish that originated in KOREA. It consists of white rice topped with sautéed or fermented vegetables, chili pepper paste, soy sauce, and sometimes an egg and sliced meat.

CURIE (48D: First two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie) Marie CURIE was also the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Marie CURIE’s two Nobel Prizes are in different fields. In 1903, she shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband, Pierre, and physicist Henri Becquerel, for developing the theory of radioactivity. (Fun fact: Marie CURIE coined the term radioactivity.) In 1911, Marie CURIE won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the elements polonium and radium. Always happy to see a woman scientist in the puzzle.

ROME (52D: Trevi Fountain’s city) The Trevi Fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi, is the largest Baroque fountain in ROME, Italy. It has been featured in several movies, including Roman Holiday (1953), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).

ROW (60D: Column crosser) It seems almost wrong to clue ROW in this way when it’s a Down answer instead of an Across answer… I’m kidding, but the thought did make me chuckle.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

I’M ONLY HUMAN (20A: “Nobody’s perfect”)

GO ASK YOUR MOTHER (38A: Parent’s buck-passing phrase, sometimes)

JUST A SECOND (53A “Be right with you”)

NATURE TRAIL: The word NATURE can be placed after the last word of each theme answer to form a new phrase: HUMAN NATURE, MOTHER NATURE, and SECOND NATURE.

I enjoyed the fact that all three theme answers today are conversational phrases. One could even make an argument that they are all phrases a parent might say. That doesn’t have anything to do with the theme; it’s just where my mind went! Thank you, Bill, for this delightful puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
April 29, 2025
All the songs on her Cowboy Carter tour
INGLEWOOD, CA — It’s been a year since Beyoncé dropped arguably her most ambitious album yet, and now she’s bringing “Cowboy Carter” to life.
With a few pops of pyro and a strut down a catwalk in a white-fringed getup, country couture Beyoncé kicked off her 32-date stadium tour April 28 at SoFi Stadium just outside of Los Angeles with “American Requiem.” Beyoncé’s five shows at the venue add to her record-breaking resume: She now holds the record for the most performances at the 70,000-capacity stadium, where she played three nights on her Renaissance World Tour in 2023.

The opening night of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter spectacle – the fifth all-stadium tour of her decorated career – drew heavily from her lauded album, with 19 of the 36 songs played during the 2 ¾-hour show coming from the career opus that won album of the year at this year’s Grammys.

Beyoncé delivered with tight choreography, voguish costumes, cameos from daughters Blue Ivy and Rumi, and even a mechanical bull.

Along with her California performances, Beyoncé will play multiple shows in Chicago and East Rutherford, New Jersey before heading to Europe in June and returning to the U.S. for a pair of shows in her Houston hometown and Washington, D.C., four concerts in Atlanta and a final double shot in Las Vegas July 25-26.

Here are all the songs Beyoncé performed at her Cowboy Carter concert:

“Cowboy Carter” tour review: Beyoncé is fearless, flawless at LA kick off concert

Beyonce Cowboy Carter setlist

“American Requiem”

“Blackbiird”

“The Star-Spangled Banner”

“Freedom”

“Ya Ya”

“America Has a Problem”

“Spaghettii”

“Formation”

“My House”

“Diva”

“Alliigator Tears”

“Just For Fun”

“Protector”

“Flamenco”

“Desert Eagle”

“Riiverdance”

“II Hands II Heaven”

“Sweet Honey Buckiin’”

“Jolene”

“Daddy Lessons”

“Bodyguard”

“II Most Wanted”

“Cuff It”

“Tyrant”

“Thique”

“Levii’s Jeans”

“Daughter”

“I’m That Girl”

“Cozy”

“Alien Superstar”

“Texas Hold ‘Em”

“Crazy in Love”

“Heated”

“Before I Let Go”

“16 Carriages”

“Amen”
April 29, 2025
Beyoncé shares sweet moments onstage with daughters Blue Ivy, Rumi

LOS ANGELES — Blue Ivy Carter is back onstage alongside her mom, Beyoncé, at her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit Tour. And her little sister, Rumi Carter, made an appearance, as well.

Blue took center stage for “America Has a Problem” early in the set list as the tour kicked off April 28 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

The crowd went wild as the 13-year-old danced front and center while the other dancers stayed back. Beyoncé grinned as the audience screamed.

Later, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi, 7, appeared alongside her mom onstage for the first time ever during “Protector.”

The song features sentimental lyrics like, “Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own/ I will be your projector.”

Blue, Rumi and Beyoncé ended the song standing together as they shared smiles with one another. Following the performance, a montage of Beyoncé and her children appeared on the screen, leaving fans in tears.

This is the second tour where Blue has appeared as a backup dancer. She made her debut on the 2023 Renaissance World Tour in Paris. She also danced with her mom during the Beyoncé Bowl NFL halftime show on Christmas Day 2024.

The Los Angeles concert kicked off a total of 32 stadium shows on her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour. The nine-city tour will span the U.S. and Europe with the grand finale taking place in Las Vegas on July 26. She’s set to make history with her scheduled tour dates, including by playing the most dates at SoFi Stadium of any artist.

Live updates: Beyoncé kicks off her ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour

Beyoncé tour set list: Every song played in first ‘Cowboy Carter’ concert

Find Beyoncé concert tickets

Beyoncé first announced the tour the night before the 2025 Grammy Awards, where she took home the award for best country album and the night’s top prize album of the year for “Cowboy Carter.”

Of course, she first released the 27-track project in March 2024. It has since made history and broken multiple records. As Beyoncé’s first country album, she deliberately featured country legends and emerging Black country artists alike.

Beyoncé last toured in 2023 for her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour. It began May 10 in Stockholm, Sweden, and concluded Oct. 1 in Kansas City, Missouri, with Beyoncé performing a total of 56 shows.

The tour followed the release of her seventh studio album, “Renaissance.” The 2022 project earned her four Grammys including best dance/electronic music album, making her the most decorated artist in the awards’ history. She later announced the album was the first part of a three-act project, making “Cowboy Carter” the second.

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April 29, 2025
Beyoncé opens tour with songs about America, including national anthem

LOS ANGELES — Beyoncé made a grand entrance during the debut of her “Cowboy Carter” tour, opening the show with “Ameriican Requiem” before serenading the crowd with her Beatles cover “Blackbiird” and the Star Spangled Banner.

Then she kicked the energy up a notch with her anthem “Freedom” and “Ya Ya.”

The 35-time Grammy winning singer wore an all-white getup paired with a cowboy hat and chaps as she entered the stage.

Before she walked onstage, singers dressed in all red sang to the lively crowd.

“Oh Beyhive, it feels so good to be on this stage,” she said at the end of her first song. “I want to thank all of those who came before me that allowed me to be on this stage today. I want to thank you to my fans for allowing me to make this album. Thank you giving me the creative liberty to challenge myself.”

Live updates: Beyoncé kicks off her ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour

Beyoncé tour set list: Every song played in first ‘Cowboy Carter’ concert

Find Beyoncé concert tickets

The night marked Beyoncé’s first of 32 stadium shows on her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour. The nine-city tour will span the U.S. and Europe with the grand finale taking place in Las Vegas on July 26. She’s set to make history with her scheduled tour dates, including playing SoFi Stadium more times than any other artist.

Beyoncé first announced the tour the night before the 2025 Grammy Awards, where she took home the award for best country album and the night’s top prize album of the year for “Cowboy Carter.”

Of course, she first released the 27-track project in March 2024. It has since made history and broken multiple records. As Beyoncé’s first country album, she deliberately featured country legends and emerging Black country artists alike.

Beyoncé last toured in 2023 for her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour. It began May 10 in Stockholm, Sweden, and concluded Oct. 1 in Kansas City, Missouri, with Beyoncé performing a total of 56 shows.

The tour followed the release of her seventh studio album, “Renaissance.” The 2022 project earned her four Grammys including best dance/electronic music album, making her the most decorated artist in the awards’ history. She later announced the album was the first part of a three-act project, making “Cowboy Carter” the second.

April 29, 2025
2 sent home after tear-filled performances
Hardly any of the Top 12 “American Idol” contestants could get through their performances without shedding a tear. And Jelly Roll wasn’t immune to these heightened emotions, either.
Though the theme of April 28’s Episode 13 had the aspiring stars paying homage to iconic “Idol” moments over the decades, the contestants took the opportunity to perform songs that reflected how far they’ve come in their journeys.

Under Season 3 winner Fantasia’s tutelage, the lucky dozen dug deep to inject their struggles and emotions into songs once covered by their “Idol” predecessors.

By the end of the night, the fan vote resulted in the first platinum ticket winner of the season being eliminated. Here are the highlights from Episode 13, and which contestants made it into the Top 10.

Catch up on the last episode: These 2 singers were eliminated in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame week

Kolbi Jordan pays homage to ‘American Idol’ runner-up to Katharine McPhee

For Tulsa’s Kolbi Jordan, Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is what “inspires me to keep going,” she tearfully said in a pre-taped interview.

The song choice, inspired by Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee’s 2006 performance, showcased Kolbi’s impressive vocal range to its fullest extent. As she delivered a song that clearly meant so much to her, Kolbi actually achieved a feat that the “Idol” judges are always throwing around (but rarely apply, in my opinion).

She made a nearly 90-year-old track her own.

As Kolbi delivered the opening lines, a single tear streaked down her cheek. Later, her finale left Jelly Roll cradling his face in his hands in disbelief. Lionel Richie was also in awe as he said, “What the hell was that? That was divine.”

Luke Bryan reiterated the sweeping praise: “That was like somewhere over a supernova way out in the galaxy.”

Carrie Underwood opens up: Judges made ‘concessions’ choosing Top 14 saves

Jamal Roberts makes Fantasia cry with Tom Odell cover

Jamal Roberts went from hardly being able to introduce himself to icon Fantasia to making her cry during rehearsals. The Grammy winner told Jamal, “I don’t know your story but the way you sing, I know there is one.”

With no flashy production elements in sight during his performance, Jamal – seated on a stool at the mic stand – captivated the crowd. Even as he did something as simple as singing “heal, heal, heal,” he infused Tom Odell’s “Heal” with all of the pain and emotion in his being.

After the closing notes, silence reigned as Jamal slowly got up from his stool. Carrie Underwood glanced around, looking lost in her awe, and following the crowd’s applause, Richie repeated a compliment he’d delivered earlier in the episode: “divinely guided.”

Who went home on ‘American Idol’?

Ché did not earn enough votes to crack the Top 10 after his slowed-down rendition of the Robyn anthem “Dancing On My Own.”

Unfortunately for Filo, the massive fan support in the audience that drove him to tears earlier in the episode didn’t translate into a Top 10 spot. He became Season 23’s first platinum ticket winner to be sent home.

Who is in the ‘American Idol’ Top 10?

John Foster

Josh King

Jamal Roberts

Mattie Pruitt

Thunderstorm Artis

Slater Nalley

Gabby Samone

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April 29, 2025
Gibbs’ love story in peril before first kiss

Spoiler alert: This story includes plot details from the April 28 “NCIS: Origins” season finale.

The “NCIS: Origins” love story between young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez (Mariel Molino) might be tragically over, even before the first kiss.

The “NCIS” prequel series has flirted with the budding romance between Dominguez and circa-1991 NIS agent Gibbs, who is still reeling over his wife and daughter’s murder.

In the April 28 Season 1 finale (now streaming on Paramount+), Gibbs’ sniper killing of the drug lord Pedro Hernandez, to avenge his family’s death, reemerges with catastrophic consequences for Dominguez and Gibbs. There are twists, “NCIS” canon fodder, a tantalizing near-kiss, heartbreak and even more questions to be answered in Season 2 next fall.

“We leave this as a cliffhanger for everyone,” says executive producer Gina Lucita Monreal, who joins fellow exec producer David J. North in breaking down the Season 1 finale.

‘NCIS: Origins’ Gibbs Austin Stowell got Mark Harmon reality check: ‘Are you ready for this?’

Dominguez and Gibbs stop their first ‘Origins’ kiss

Mark Harmon narrates the series as retired Gibbs, in the role the “NCIS” star played for nearly two decades. Harmon, also an executive producer, set the tone with his fireside monologue in the “Origins” premiere: “This is a story I don’t tell. This is the story of her.”

That pronoun signifies Dominguez, as the finale (titled “Cecilia,” Lala’s full first name) makes abundantly clear.

The season-long will-they-won’t-they chemistry between Dominguez and Gibbs explodes after the out-of-the-blue investigation into Hernandez’s death brought by Dominguez’s good friend, military police investigator Lara Macy (Claire Berger).

Rather than pull Dominguez and mentor Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) into a planned coverup, Gibbs ends the investigation by taking the fall. He digs up the buried rifle he used to shoot Hernandez and hands it over to Macy.

Relieved by resolution, Gibbs finds Dominguez in the swimming pool she often trespasses in at night, sheds most of his clothes and dives in. The duo has the steamiest water clinch that doesn’t end in a kiss in TV history. The lip lock stops short, centimeters away.

“We talked a lot about whether we should let that kiss happen or not. We wanted to get them to the point where they both wanted it to happen. We brought them to the edge,” Monreal says. “But Gibbs couldn’t let that happen, because that kiss would have been tainted with the enormous news he had to tell her. He knew that would change everything.”

When Gibbs tells Dominguez that he has turned over his rifle to Macy to take the fall, it definitely ends the love vibe. She leaves the pool disgusted, saying, “I’m done.” No first kiss.

Dominguez fills in ‘NCIS’ mystery: Why Macy dropped Gibbs’ case

But she’s not done. Unbeknownst to Gibbs, Dominguez falsely implicates herself in Hernandez’s killing to convince her friend, Macy, to drop the case. “She put it all on the line for Gibbs,” North says.

Dominguez’s move fills in “NCIS” series lore. Macy appears in Season 6 of “NCIS” (played by Louise Lombard), working with the Office of Special Projects, and reveals that she had dropped the Hernandez case against Gibbs. But Gibbs never knew why, which viewers discover in “Origins”: Dominguez bailed him out.

Gibbs meets his future wife, Diane

Packing up his family photos in his house, future love steps in. Gibbs meets his red-headed real estate agent, Diane (Kathleen Kenny). On “NCIS,” Gibbs’ second wife (there were four, with three divorces and one death) was red-haired Diane Sterling (Melinda McGraw).

“Gina and I knew, from our first conversation, we wanted to tell the love story of Gibbs and this character Lala,” North says. “We sat there on the phone, and were like, ‘He’s got to get married three other times.’ So here we are, sticking to canon.”

Does Lala die on ‘NCIS: Origins’?

Tragedy plays a hand as Dominguez speeds over to Gibbs’ house to tell him about her success with Macy. With Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” playing on the stereo, she flips her Jeep trying to avoid a young girl who runs into the street. The final moments show a motionless Dominguez, blood coming from her nose, restrained by her seat belt in the overturned car.

Harmon’s somber voiceover says Dominguez was “coming to tell me she had saved me. I would only find out later what she did for me. But that’s not what made me love her. I loved her all along. I still do.”

Whether Dominguez survives is the biggest finale cliffhanger.

“We’ll have to wait until Season 2 to find the fate of Lala,” says North. “We’ve gone into her story and why it’s the story of Lala. That story will continue to be told. But she’s already saved Gibbs. The Gibbs we come to know on ‘NCIS’ wouldn’t have ever existed without Lala.”

April 29, 2025