Demi Lovato & More Artists Join Climate Change Human Rights Campaign

Demi Lovato is speaking up for climate justice goals…

The 31-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress is among the artists releasing statements urging leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to support climate justice goals.

Demi LovatoLovato is part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, a campaign that links climate action and human rights. Other artists participating include Cyndi LauperCarole King and Annie Lennox.

The campaign will benefit from the artists’ combined social media followings of more than 300 million, with the goal to build support for United Nations Human Rights climate justice goals. Rob Thomas will add his voice to the campaign in the coming days.

The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance addresses climate change through the lens of human rights, coalescing input from human rights experts, scientists, corporate leaders, NGOs, academics, advocates and people around the globe in the fight for rights-based climate action to preserve the future of humanity and the planet. The organization is partnered with the United Nations Human Rights, one of the U.N.’s major divisions.

All four artists released statements supporting the campaign via Instagram.

“By working together and supporting rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” Lovato wrote, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”

“Climate change is the SINGLE BIGGEST HEALTH THREAT FACING HUMANITY,” Lennox wrote. “The impacts are already harming health through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, food insecurity, and pressures on mental health. Every year environmental factors take the lives of 13 million people… Climate change is a huge challenge, yet there ARE MANY SOLUTIONS. These solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment.”

“The impacts of climate change are now being felt in all countries, yet not all people are being impacted the same way,” wrote Lauper. “Climate change is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable women, children and marginalized people of the world most.”

“By working together and supporting inclusive, rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” wrote King, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”

The social media campaign precedes a press conference from the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance and United Nations Human Rights in Dubai at COP28 on December 8.

The press conference will include Recording Academy president Panos A. Panay and Chantel Sausedo, the Recording Academy’s vp of artist relations, who together will discuss the organization’s goals of using music to promote climate justice and rights-based climate action.

The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit will be held at the University of Oxford from September 11-14, 2024 and end with the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Concert. The lineup for the event will be announced at a later date.

Carlos Santana to Perform Alongside Rob Thomas at “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert”

There’s more than a walk in the (Central) park in Carlos Santana’s future…

Amid concern over the Delta coronavirus variant, a mega-concert in Central Park to celebrate New York City’s reopening will go forward as planned next month, with performers including the 74-year-old Mexican-American guitarist/musician.

Carlos Santana

Santana, considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time, will perform alongside Rob Thomas. The pair teamed up in 1999 for Smooth“, a dynamic cha-cha stop-start number co-written and sung by Thomas of Matchbox Twenty and laced throughout with Santana’s guitar fills and runs. “Smooth” spent twelve weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming in the process the last No. 1 single of the 1990s.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joined music industry legend Clive Davis, who is co-producing the concert, for a press conference to unveil the details of what de Blasio promised will be a “historic,” “blockbuster” event. Officially titled “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert,” the event is set for August 21 at 5:00 p.m., it will be broadcast live globally on CNN and 80% of tickets will be free.

While de Blasio initially proposed having vaccinated and unvaccinated sections, he said that attendees will be required to present proof of vaccination.

“New York City is back,” de Blasio said. “You can see it, you can feel it, and it’s time to celebrate on the Great Lawn.”

The lineup, which includes many New York natives, so far spans Jon BatisteAndrea Bocelli, Kane Brown, LL Cool J, Elvis Costello, Earth, Wind & Fire joined by Lucky Daye and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Cynthia Erivo, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Hudson, Wyclef Jean, Journey, The Killers, Gayle King, Don Lemon, Barry Manilow, The New York Philharmonic, Polo G, Carlos Santana joined by Rob Thomas, Paul Simon and Patti Smith duetting with Bruce Springsteen.

“As a born, bred and true New Yorker, I well know how resilient we are and how New York always comes back,” Davis said. “I cannot think of a more appropriate way to celebrate this than an unforgettable concert in the most special venue in the world: the Great Lawn at Central Park. My team, along with our partners at Live Nation, has been hard at work for weeks curating what I submit to you will be a once-in a lifetime event […] It will celebrate a spectacular range of musical genres, styles and eras while including some of the most iconic artists in the history of modern music.”

Davis, who was raised in Brooklyn, is co-producing alongside Live Nation. Restauranteur Danny Meyer, the recently-appointed chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation board of directors, is also involved, as is Universal Hip-Hop Museum executive director Rocky Bucano.

“We’re so honored to be part of this event,” added Live Nation regional president Geoff Gordon. “I too have goosebumps after hearing that, even though we’ve been involved in lining this up. Live music has the unique ability to bring us all together, which is really what we’re doing. There’s nothing like a live music experience.”

Tickets for the concert go on sale on Monday, August 2 at 10:00 a.m. EST on the new NYC Homecoming Week website, and the Great Lawn has a capacity of 60,000. The 20% of tickets not designated as free are VIP tickets available for purchase. De Blasio said that event workers will be checking for proof of vaccination as attendees enter, with more details to come. Asked by a reporter whether the vaccination requirement means the concert is for attendees aged 12 and over only, de Blasio said, “right now, that’s a fair assumption.”

The event will cap off a reopening celebration dubbed NYC Homecoming Week, during which the City of New York will host concerts in each of the five boroughs starting August 14, leading up to the Great Lawn spectacle on the 21st. The lead-up concerts will be held Aug. 16 at Orchard Beach in The Bronx; Aug. 17 at Richmond County Bank Park in Staten Island; Aug. 19 at Brooklyn Army Terminal in Brooklyn; and Aug. 20 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.

Ruby Cruz to Star in the CW’s “The Lost Boys” Pilot

Ruby Cruz is a Lostcause…

The Latina actress has been cast opposite Branden Cook and Lincoln Younes in The Lost Boys, the CW’s retooled pilot from Heather Mitchell and Rob Thomas based on the 1987 Warner Bros. movie.

Ruby Cruz

In The Lost Boys, written by Mitchell and Thomas and directed by Marcos Siega, a mother and her Gen Zsons, one played by Cook, move to the seaside town where she grew up, they discover there’s a sinister reason the local cool kids sleep all day, party all night, never grow up and never get old. Family bonds are tested as the brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a mythological struggle. Based on the 1987 cult classic that revolutionized how we think about vampires.

Cook plays Garrett, the older of the two brothers who have moved with their mom to the North Carolina seaside community. He’s a version of the Michael character in the movie, which was played by Jason Patric.

Younes plays Benjamin, the charismatic leader of the gang of vampires in the town. It is a version of the David character played in the movie by Kiefer Sutherland.

Cruz plays Elsie, a version of Jami Gertz’s character Star in the movie, who sparks a little romance with the new guy in town, Garrett.

Cruz is best known for playing a young Lizzy Kaplan on the second season of Hulu’s Castle Rock. She’s in production on HBO Max’s Mare of Easttown with Kate Winslet

Freddie Prinze Jr. to Star in the CW’s Untitled Nancy Drew Pilot

Freddie Prinze Jr.is reporting for (daddy) duty…

The 43-year-old part-Puerto Rican actor has been cast as a lead opposite Kennedy McMann in the CW’s untitled Nancy Drew pilot inspired by the classic mysteries about the brilliant young sleuth. 

Freddie Prinze Jr.

The project hails from Josh Schwartzand Stephanie Savage’s Fake Empireand CBS Television Studios.

Written/executive produced by Noga Landau, Schwartz and Savage and directed by Larry Teng, the untitled Nancy Drew project centers on 18-year-old Nancy Drew (McMann) and is set in the summer after her high school graduation. She thought she’d be leaving her hometown for college, but when a family tragedy holds her back another year, she finds herself embroiled in a ghostly murder investigation — and along the way, uncovers secrets that run deeper than she ever imagined.

Prinze will play Nancy’s dad, Carson Drew, a dynamic attorney who has become estranged from Nancy following the recent death of his beloved wife. But his attempts to reconnect with his daughter run aground when Nancy’s murder investigation reveals unsettling secrets from Carson’s own past.

In the 2007 movie starring Emma Robertsas Nancy Drew, Carson Drew was played by Tate Donovan.

In addition to McMann and Prinze Jr., Tunji KasimLeah LewisMaddison Jaizaniand Alex Saxonare set as series regulars in the pilot.

Prinze Jr. recently wrapped shooting a role as one of the two male leads on the CBScomedy pilotI Mom So Hard from former2 Broke Girlsexecutive producer Michelle NaderRob Thomasand Warner Bros. Television

His other recent television credits include voice roles in Star Wars Rebels and Robot Chicken.

Cabello Reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs Chart with “Bad Things”

It’s a special first for Camila Cabello

The 19-year-old Cuban American singer and former Fifth Harmony member and Machine Gun Kelly have reached the summit on BillboardPop Songs radio airplay chart with “Bad Things.”

Camila Cabello

Cabello and Machine Gun Kelley’s collaboration climbs 2-1 on the list dated February 18.

Cabello reigns in her second visit as a soloist. A year ago, she reached No. 10 with Shawn Mendes on I Know What You Did Last Summer.

As a member of Fifth Harmony (from 2012 until this past December), Cabello charted seven Pop Songs entries, including “Work From Home” (featuring Ty Dolla $ign), which led for two weeks in June 2016.

Cabello, thus, joins an elite troop of artists who’ve topped Pop Songs (which launched in 1992) both as a soloist and as part of a group.

Here’s Cabello’s fellow group-to-solo successes below.

Justin Timberlake (eight Pop Songs No. 1s) / *NSYNC (two)
Beyonce (six) and Kelly Rowland (one) / Destiny’s Child (two)
Adam Levine (two) / Maroon 5 (nine)
Gwen Stefani (two) / No Doubt (three)
Fergie (one) / The Black Eyed Peas (three)
Wyclef Jean (one) / Fugees (one)
Nate Ruess (one) / fun. (one)
Rob Thomas (one) / matchbox twenty (one)

Also for “Bad Things” on Pop Songs: It reigns more than 17 years after the song that originally provided its chorus hit No. 8 on the chart: Fastball‘s “Out of My Head.”

Santana’s “Smooth” Named the Top-Ranking Track of the First 20 Years of Billboard’s Adult Pop Songs Chart

Carlos Santana has smoothed his way into the history books…

The 68-year-old Mexican musician, considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time, has the top-ranking track of the first 20 years of Billboard‘s Adult Pop Songs radio airplay chart.

Carlos Santana

Santana’s single “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas, is the ranking’s top all-time track, thanks largely to its record 25 weeks at No. 1 in 1999-2000.

The song placed as the second-biggest title of the Billboard Hot 100‘s first 57 years, as ranked in November 2015. Chubby Checker‘s iconic “The Twist” took the top spot.

The Nielsen Music-based Adult Pop Songs chart, measuring songs’ weekly plays on adult top 40, or hot AC, radio in the U.S., premiered in the Billboard magazine dated March 16, 1996.

The top all-time Adult Pop Songs titles and artists rankings are based on actual performance on the weekly Adult Pop Songs chart, from its launch through the survey dated March 12, 2016. Titles are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates over various periods. Artists are ranked based on the combined point totals, as outlined above, of all their Adult Pop Songs chart entries.)

Here’s a look at the top 10 songs on the Adult Pop Songs Greatest of All Time chart are:

1, “Smooth,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas
2, “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” Train
3, “Wherever You Will Go,” The Calling
4, “How to Save A Life,” The Fray
5, “Counting Stars,” OneRepublic
6, “Unwell,” Matchbox Twenty
7, “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz
8, “You And Me,” Lifehouse
​9, “All For You,” Sister Hazel
10, “Hanging By A Moment,” Lifehouse

Shomi Acquires Streaming Rights to Rodriguez’s “Jane the Virgin”

Life is but a stream for Gina Rodriguez in the Great White North…

Canada’s Shomi has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to The CW‘s Jane the Virgin series, starring the 29-year-old Puerto Rican actress, in a deal that bypasses broadcast.

Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin

The licensing agreement with CBS Studios International follows Shomi grabbing the first window rights to another CW show, Rob ThomasiZombie, as part of a deal with Warner Bros.

“Once our exclusive period is up, the studio is free to license these titles for linear broadcast exhibitions on a second window, but no Canadian broadcaster will have these titles before us, or during our exclusive window,” Marni Shulman, head of content and programming at Shomi, told The Hollywood Reporter about the CBS distribution deal.

The Canadian streamer, a joint venture between Rogers Media and Shaw Media, launched last week as Canadian broadcasters compete against streaming goliath Netflix Canada. Shomi earlier agreed to a deal with Sony Pictures Television to acquire the exclusive streaming rights to The Blacklist, which landed on Netflix stateside as a first window.

Shomi is also streaming repeats of U.S. TV hit shows like 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, DaVinci’s Demons and Black Sails. It also has content deals signed with Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Starz Digital Media and BBC Worldwide North America.

It’s the latest international deal for Rodriguez’s critically acclaimed series.

Last month, CBS Studios International and U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 sealed the deal on a licensing agreement for the exclusive first window, free-to-air broadcast rights to new critically acclaimed comedy Jane the Virgin.

Rosa Advances to the Next Round on NBC’s “The Voice”

Daniel Rosa lives to sing another day on NBC’s The Voice

During Monday night’s episode, the 21-year-old Latino singer faced off against Alexis Marceaux in what their coach Cee Lo Green considered a battle round of indie singers.

Daniel Rosa

Prior to performing Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me” in front of a studio audience, Rosa appeared quite nervous rehearsing the song with Marceaux  in front of Green and guest mentor Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty.

“I didn’t know what to think about the song because it’s very not me,” said Rosa after his rehearsal. “The nerves kind of came back again and I wasn’t really happy with that.”

But Thomas was able to look past Rosa’s issue to see something special in the Riverside, California native.

“I love Daniel. Obviously he has confidence issues, but that lack of confidence is the vulnerable part of him that comes out in his voice,” raved the Matchbox Twently front man. “And that’s really hard to find.”

Following Rosa’s head-to-head performance with Marceaux, coach Adam Levine couldn’t help but feel the love.

“Man, Daniel, I just love how you sing with all of your soul,” said Levine. “It’s like a physical reaction in you, it’s really genuine.”

Meanwhile, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera both believed Marceaux had won the round.

“Work on turning your performance out to your audience,” advised Aguilera to Rosa. “Because I wanted to engage so much with you.”

But in the end, the decision came down to Green…

“I did see improvement in both of you,” said the “Forget You” singer, who admitted having a stronger connection with Rosa. “But Daniel, his voice affects me in a kind of way; it hurts me in such a good way.”

And that’s all it took for Green, who admitted to being flawed in a fantastic way, to pick Rosa to advance to the Knockout Rounds.

Aguilera Encounters an Olympic Icon in New “The Voice” Promo

Christina Aguilera and her fellow The Voice coaches are getting into the Olympic spirit…

The NBC singing competition returns for on September 10, and the network is hoping to build buzz for the third season during coverage of the London Games with an Olympics-themed promo.

Christina Aguilera

The 31-year-old half-Ecuadoran American singer and Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green all step out of insta-iconic red chairs in the clip, which features the four judges fighting in a hotel lobby.

Levine and Shelton get involved in some hand-to-hand combat, while Green, looking fashionable in a bright-yellow ensemble, shows off his best karate chop.

The four coaches eventually make their way to a hotel room where they spot a man singing. But he’s not just any man.

“Wow, it’s Bruce Jenner from The Kardasians,” says Levine.

“I also won a gold medal. ’76. Montreal,” says the former Olympic decathlete.

The third season of The Voice will feature a collection of new aspiring singers looking for their big break, and also some new mentors to help them along the way. Aguiler, who is currently at work on new music, will be joined by Green Day’s Billy Joe Armstrong. The other mentors this season include Rob Thomas, Mary J. Blige and Michael Buble.

The Voice premieres Monday, September 10, on NBC.

Aguilera Selects Green Day’s Armstrong as a “Voice” Mentor

Christina Aguilera is going green (day) on The Voice this season…

The 31-year-old half-Ecuadorian American singer—currently at work on a new album—will be joined by Green Day frontman Billie Jo Armstrong on the upcoming season of NBC’s hit singing competition series as a mentor on Aguilera’s team, according to the network.

“We are ready to rock out in Season 3!” read a post to the show’s Twitter feed.

Armstrong joins previously announced mentors Rob Thomas, Mary J. Blige and Michael Buble, who will be guiding singers in the early rounds of the competition alongside coaches Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, respectively.

Previously, Aguilera worked with Sia Furler in The Voice’s first season and Jewel and Lionel Richie in the second season.

The Voice premieres on September 10 at 8:00 pm ET on NBC.