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Night one of 'Cowboy Carter' is completeEntertainment
Night one of ‘Cowboy Carter’ is completeEntertainment
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Christie Brinkley memoir talks Billy Joel divorce, Peter Cook affair
Christie Brinkley dances as Billy Joel performs ‘Uptown Girl’
Billy Joel’s muse and original “Uptown Girl” Christie Brinkley, danced as he performed the song he wrote about her.
Though this is not the first book with Christie Brinkley’s name on it, it’s the first one that tells the model’s life story.
Brinkley’s past published work includes guidebooks of beauty and fitness secrets, but in “Uptown Girl” (out now from HarperCollins), she brings readers across a tumultuous early childhood with her biological father, her time in Paris just before she was discovered, her decades-long modeling career and her relationship with Billy Joel.
“Uptown Girl” packs a lot in, recounting the 71-year-olds’ four marriages, including the 1994 helicopter crash that led to her third marriage to Richard Taubman. The memoir also offers a first-person perspective into the notorious “model wars” that shaped modern-day agency practices.
Christie Brinkley divorced Billy Joel after drunken disappearances: ‘Booze was his other woman’
Brinkley and Joel were together for 11 years. They remain friends, and share a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, 39. Despite tabloid rumors speculating, Brinkley writes she’s “always believed him” when he said he never had an affair. What broke their marriage, was his drinking, which Brinkley refers to as “his other woman.”
In “Uptown Girls,” Brinkley writes that Joel’s drinking got worse as his career accelerated. He would disappear from family dinner outings to drink at nearby bars and sometimes wouldn’t come home for days, she says. In one instance, Joel threw a chaise longue through a patio door after Brinkley locked the doors to the house, she writes. In another, just before Brinkley asked for a divorce, Joel had a “delusional” drunk outburst, accusing his bandmates of eating a pot of pasta that he had just eaten himself, she says.
Brinkley writes that she “suffered through these incidents alone” because she feared calling the police would lead to a media frenzy.
“I did everything for our marriage, constantly working to make myself, our home, and everything around us into whatever he could possibly want or hope for. I continually told him how much I loved him, making sure he always felt adored and appreciated, because he was,” Brinkley writes. “But his drinking was bigger than the both of us – booze was the other woman, and it was beginning to seem that, he preferred to be with ‘her’ rather than with me.”
Christie Brinkley had no idea who Billy Joel was when they met
Brinkley and Joel met at a dive bar in St. Barts. Though she immediately found him charming, she writes that she had never heard of him, even calling him “Billy Joe” to his face. Luckily, he found it funny, and it became Brinkley’s nickname for him over more than a decade together.
While everyone at the bar referred to him as the “Piano Man,” she thought this meant he “must want to play the piano while others sang.” So when he asked for song requests, she offered herself up to sing “Girl from Ipanema,” “indisputably disappointing the crowd” of Joel fans.
Next in line to sing with Billy Joel at this St. Barts bar? A young Whitney Houston, who asked if Joel would play “Respect” by Aretha Franklin.
Dark side of the modeling industry: Diet fads, Frank Stallone comments on her weight
Though Brinkley is heralded as one of the most famous models of the late 20th century, she writes that she “didn’t think I had what it took to be a model” because she’d been made fun of in childhood for being “chubby” and having “chipmunk cheeks.”
She tried diet fad after diet fad, including only eating fish after Ford Model agency founder Eileen Ford told her to, she says. She includes snippets of old journal entries with her meals, saying they read “like a registry of self-imposed starvation.”
In one instance, when she photographed a boxing match ringside, she recalls Frank Stallone telling her, “You could be really cute if you lost a few pounds.”
‘Uptown Girl’ isn’t just about Christie Brinkley (or Elle Macpherson)
Contrary to popular belief – and despite her starring role in the music video – Brinkley isn’t the original “Uptown Girl” Joel wrote the song about. And though many also believe it’s about his ex, model Elle Macpherson, the song isn’t about her either, Brinkley writes in her memoir.
Joel started writing “Uptown Girl” about several fictional, fantasy girls after a mystery woman started calling him (and a handful of other musicians), talking about how as a “poor, imprisoned rich girl,” she lived in an Upper East Side penthouse and was too beautiful to be seen on the streets with common men. Joel shelved the lyrics until he started dating Brinkley, at which point he said he’d found his “real uptown girl.”
“I’m still an uptown girl in many ways,” Brinkley writes in her memoir. “I’m still the woman whom Billy first met at a dive bar in St. Barts, the one who likes sophistication, culture, and art, but who also likes to take risks, try new things, and shake her hair out on the back of a bike every once in a while.”
How local high school father broke news of Peter Cook’s affair
Brinkley and her ex-husband Peter Cook divorced in 2008 after Cook admitted to cheating on her with an 18-year-old, which Brinkley writes she found out about from the girl’s father, a local police officer.
After giving a commencement speech at Southampton High School in 2006, Brinkley writes that a man approached her and said: “That arrogant husband of yours has been having an affair with my teenage daughter, and he won’t knock it off.”
It took four years before Brinkley and Cook concluded their media-frenzied court battle over custody of their kids.
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].
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How to watch ahead of Sean Combs’ trial
What we know now about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ pre-trial court appearance
Sean “Diddy” Combs was in court for a pre-trial hearing in his federal sex crimes case. What was decided in today’s hearing? Here is what we know now.
Looking to brush up on the Diddy case via a documentary before the rapper’s high-profile trial? There are no shortage of options.
Ever since Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, various networks and streaming services have explored the allegations against him in a series of documentaries. Some lean into commentary from experts to provide context about Combs’ rise and fall, and many include new interviews with members of the hip-hop mogul’s inner circle.
There are more where those came from, too. Another documentary about Combs produced by 50 Cent is in the works for Netflix, without a confirmed release date.
Combs has denied all of the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to all the criminal charges he faces.
Before Combs’ trial begins, here’s a look at the most notable documentaries about his sex crimes case and where to watch them.
How to watch ‘The Fall of Diddy’
Released in January 2025, “The Fall of Diddy” is a documentary series from Investigation Discovery, the network that previously aired the documentary about alleged abuse behind-the-scenes at Nickelodeon, “Quiet on Set.”
“Spanning Combs’ decades-long impact on music and popular culture, from his early days as a talented creative to his 2024 arrest, the docuseries uncovers the insidious and terrifying allegations of sexual assault, abusive behavior, violence and other disturbing claims that lay beneath his success,” according to Investigation Discovery.
Notable moments from the documentary included celebrity makeup artist Mylah Morales claiming she came to the rescue of Combs’ ex-partner Cassie Ventura in the aftermath of a violent argument with the rapper. Ventura accused Combs of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse in a 2023 lawsuit that they quickly settled.
Another episode featured an interview with Phil Pines, Combs’ former assistant, who said he witnessed violence and described an alleged assault at the rapper’s Miami estate.
“The Fall of Diddy” consists of five episodes and is available to stream on Max.
How to watch ‘TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy’
This TMZ documentary clocks in at just over an hour and delves into Combs’ legal woes and the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
“A series of lawsuits and allegations have legendary rap mogul P. Diddy on the ropes,” the description said. “TMZ has the troubling inside story from people who were there.”
The special features interviews with TMZ employees, legal experts and celebrities like Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day, who said his alleged “mistreatment” changed “the course and direction of my entire life.”
“TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy” is available to stream on Tubi.
How to watch ‘Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy’
This feature-length documentary is described as a “raw look at Sean Combs’ journey through exclusive footage and candid interviews” exploring “his rise, controversies and the man behind the music.” It discusses the rapper’s legal controversies as well as his early years coming up in the hip-hop scene.
“‘Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy’ sheds light on his childhood, rise to fame, and recent criminal allegations, challenging viewers to rethink everything they thought they knew about the mogul behind the music — and the mugshot,” the synopsis says.
Revelations from the documentary included former Da Band member Sara Rivers alleging Combs “touched me in a place that he shouldn’t have.” “That was inappropriate, and I felt intimidated,” Rivers said. “I’m definitely nervous. … I haven’t said anything for so long, and it’s built up.”
“Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” is available to stream on Peacock.
How to watch ‘Secret Life of Diddy’
This 43-minute documentary was a special edition of “20/20” and is described as a look at Combs’ “shocking arrest” and “downfall.”
Interview subjects include Tiffany Red, a friend of Ventura. In the documentary, Red, who wrote a letter supporting Ventura’s abuse allegations in 2023, alleged she witnessed Combs being “explosive” and rageful around Ventura.
“My sense was that everyone around him was afraid of him,” Red said.
The special is available to stream on Hulu.
Contributing: Edward Segarra, Anika Reed
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See 2005 throwback to ‘Alone’
‘American Idol’ judges discuss working with Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood reflects on how “Idol” is different 20 years later while Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan discuss the judges’ decision-making.
Carrie Underwood is giving “American Idol” fans a blast from the past.
The “Jesus, Take the Wheel” singer, 42, kicked off the April 27 episode of “American Idol” by delivering a show-stopping performance of the song “Alone,” made famous by Heart, just as she did on the show 20 years earlier.
“What an incredible way to kick off the show, with a throwback to an iconic 2005 ‘Idol’ performance,” host Ryan Seacrest said, and viewers were hit with a wave of nostalgia.
“I remember watching you sing this 20 years ago my senior year of college!” one fan commented on Underwood’s Instagram page. “It made me love that song so much, hearing your repeat of it was even more amazing.”
Underwood memorably sang “Alone” on “American Idol” in 2005, delivering what fans consider to be one of the greatest performances in the show’s history. At the time, judge Randy Jackson praised it as “one of your best performances yet.” Simon Cowell, meanwhile, was even more effusive, predicting, “Not only will you win this show, you will sell more records than any other previous ‘Idol’ winner.”
In a behind-the-scenes video shared on the “American Idol” YouTube channel, Underwood remembered being worried at the time that the judges would hate her choice of song, given she was known as a country singer.
Reacting to Cowell’s comments 20 years later, Underwood also reflected, “What an incredible prediction, from me thinking, ‘I’m going to sing this song, oh my gosh, they’re probably going to hate it, but I’m going to do it anyway,’ and then to get that reaction.”
She added, “On one hand, I think at the time, I thought ‘this is amazing,’ and then about five seconds later, I thought, ‘I have a target on my back now. Everybody’s going to hate me.'”
Underwood, who did go on to win “American Idol,” also read a journal entry from 2005, where she wrote that she was “really surprised” by Cowell’s prediction.
On Instagram, Underwood shared side-by-side photos showing her 2005 and 2025 performances along with the caption, “Then & Now…👀.” She also wrote in another post that she “can’t believe we brought #Alone back 20 years later last night!”
The singer kept the nostalgia going on the April 28 episode of “American Idol” by wearing the same dress she wore when she won the competition in 2005. “2005 fit check,” she said in an Instagram video. “Still fits!”
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Top moments from 3-hour concert
LOS ANGELES — Beyoncé brought her country music album “Cowboy Carter” to the stage, and it was a night full of family, politics, tradition — and of course soaring vocals, incredible costumes and masterful dancing.
Fans decked out in Western attire packed SoFi Stadium for opening night of the Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit Tour on April 28.
The album came out more than a year ago, and aside from a brief NFL halftime performance on Christmas Day, Beyoncé hadn’t performed it live.
That changed as the music came bucking to life in Los Angeles while Beyoncé soared over the crowd in a giant horseshoe, rode a mechanial bull and shared sweet moments with her daughters onstage.
The show spanned nearly three hours and 39 songs — and that’s counting mash-ups as a single song. The night marked just the first of Beyoncé’s 32 stadium shows in nine cities across the U.S. and Europe.
Here are the top moments from opening night of the “Cowboy Carter” tour.
Find Beyoncé concert tickets
A family affair
Beyoncé promoted her daughter Blue Ivy Carter from a featured dancer to a full-time member of the dance crew, and her younger daughter made her first onstage appearance, as well.
Blue, 13, made her debut on the 2023 Renaissance World Tour in Paris and also danced with her mom during the Beyoncé Bowl halftime show. This time around, she stayed onstage for most of the night.
When she took center stage for “America Has a Problem” early in the set list, the crowd went wild and Beyoncé grinned with pride.
Later, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter, 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.
A message for America
Beyoncé started the concert the way she started the album: with “Ameriican Requiem” followed by her Beatles cover “Blackbiird,” a song inspired by the Civil Rights Movement.
“Oh Beyhive, it feels so good to be on this stage,” she said at the end of the 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 say thank you to my fans for allowing me to make this album. Thank you giving me the creative liberty to challenge myself.”
Beyoncé has written that she was inspired to make “Cowboy Carter” because of a chilly reception she received from the country music industry earlier in her career.
The phrase “never ask for permission for something that belongs to you” appeared onscreen.
For her third song of the night, she chose the national anthem, followed by “Freedom,” the theme song of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. She wrapped up the night’s first act with “Ya Ya” — “Whole lotta red in that white and blue.”
Soaring vocals and viral dance moves
Beyonce’s voice alone provided some of the most mesmerizing portions of the night.
Early on, a set moved smoothly between “Alligator Tears,” “Just for Fun,” “Protector” and “Flamenco.” Later, Beyoncé stood alone in a showstopping dress to sing a haunting rendition of “Daughter.”
The diva also made sure to mix in some lighthearted moments, including a viral dance for “Buckin'” and a “II Hands II Heaven” routine by Drea Kelly. She also rode a mechanical bull during “Tyrant” and soared over the crowd twice — in a horseshoe and a red convertible.
An epic groove
Nearly two and a half hours after she took the stage, Beyoncé took the crowd home with her record-breaking hit “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
The fun anthem may have seemed like the perfect way to end the night, but instead Beyoncé outdid herself over and over, taking the crowd on a funky ride through “Crazy in Love,” “Heated” and “Before I Let Go.”
For her second to last song, Beyoncé soared above the crowd in a car belting “16 Carriages.”
She thanked fans for sharing the first show of the tour with her before singing “Amen” in front of a Statue of Liberty replica wearing a bandanna over her mouth.
“I feel so overwhelmed,” she said.
So do we, Bey.
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Country singer is still making music
Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson!
The country music icon turned 92 on April 29 (though Nelson celebrates two birthdays: he was born April 29, just before midnight, but his birth was recorded on April 30).
His storied career from a young musician in Abbott, Texas, to American staple has been marked by a wide discography, having released an astounding 154 albums both solo and collaboratively – the most recent of which, “Oh What a Beautiful World,” was released April 25 and reinterprets songs by fellow country musician and Texan Rodney Crowell.
The outlaw country star is also known for his activism, as one of the leading celebrity voices in support of marijuana legalization and biofuels, and is a continued advocate of American farmers.
Willie Nelson photos: From young country music star to American legend
Willie Nelson health: Country musician still touring, wife blasts report on son caring for them
Despite a number of health concerns over the years – including battles with emphysema, pneumonia and COVID-19 – Nelson has also continued to perform live, most recently at his annual Luck Reunion on his ranch outside of Austin. Nelson is again set to host his annual Fourth of July picnic concert this summer.
Nelson’s wife, Annie D’Angelo, recently responded to a report stating their son Lukas Nelson was “taking care” of them.
In a post from cable TV channel AXS TV on Instagram, the outlet posted a photo of the three and wrote that Lukas “makes sure mom & dad are comfortable,” but incorrectly stated D’Angelo’s age.
“Hey @axstv why would you take a photo from someone else’s feed (my friend @marthacasselbodell ) & then make stuff up?” she commented April 18. “I still take care of my husband (Lukas has always been there for us as has his brother @particlekid ) and love it. Then you claim our incorrect ages. Don’t do that Just ask.”
D’Angelo, 68, and Nelson have been married since 1991.
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Ziggy Marley thinks that the mixed response to 'Bob Marley: One Love' is fittingEntertainment
Ziggy Marley thinks that the mixed response to ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ is fittingEntertainment
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Madison Beer talks Justin Bieber friendship for Cosmopolitan cover
Scooter Braun deactivates Instagram after Justin Bieber unfollows
Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s longtime manager, deactivated his Instagram account after Bieber unfollowed him.
unbranded – Entertainment
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.
“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.”
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.”
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Beyoncé kicks off Cowboy Carter tour with all aces: Review
Beyoncé praised by artists ahead of 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards
Beyonce’s album “Act II: Cowboy Carter” has celebrities on the yellow carpet of the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards raving about her new country music.
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.”
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.
