General Motors announced recalls of more than 8.4 million vehicles worldwide, most of those for faulty ignition switches.
The sum of vehicles recalled Monday amount to the company’s largest single day of recalls this year. In addition to the ignition switch recalls, the automaker is recalling vehicles for faulty wiring and fasteners.
via General Motors recalls 8.4 million vehicles | fox4kc.com.
Beyonce won three awards, including best female R&B/pop artist, and video of the year for “Drunk In Love.” Pharrell won best male R&B/pop artist.
Multiple award-winner Pharrell Williams opened the show at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles with special surprise guest Missy Elliott. The duo performed “Come Get It Bae,” off Pharrell’s 2014 album, “GIRL.”
via Pharrell and Beyonce win big at 2014 BET Awards – CBS News.
They don’t care if he’s on the run! In their highly-anticipated joint On the Run Tour, Beyonce and Jay Z featured the mugshots of celebrities as background visuals. HOVA included his own mugshot, Tupac’s, Diddy’s, 50 Cent’s, Robert Downey Jr.’s, Russell Brand’s, and even Justin Bieber’s.
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A fan tweeted a collage of the mugshots, writing, “Justin’s mug shot makes an appearance at Beyonce & Jay Z’s ‘On the Run Tour.’ Wonder if he’s excited lol.” The Grammy nominee retweeted the picture.
via Beyonce, Jay Z Show Justin Bieber’s Mugshot in On the Run Tour Footage – Us Weekly.
Beyoncé Knowles (No. 1) topped Forbes’ 15th annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the world’s most powerful celebrities (“The Celebrity 100 List: The Full List,” p. 14) for the first time since she debuted on the list in 2004. LeBron James (No. 2), the NBA’s top player, who just opted out of his contract with the Miami Heat to explore other options, moved up to No. 2 from the 16th spot last year. Dr. Dre (No. 3), who moved up from the 63rd spot, earned $620 million in 2014, which is more money earned in the past 12 months than any other celebrity in the history of the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Oprah Winfrey (No. 4) fell to fourth place from the top spot last year, primarily because the three people ranked above her on this year’s list currently have more influence and power. Despite Oprah’s decline in rank, her OWN cable network became cash-flow positive in 2013, and she was instrumental in making Lee Daniels’ The Butler a success. Ellen DeGeneres (No. 5) is a returnee to the list, and moved up from the tenth spot, rounding out the top five.
This year, once again, musicians ranked high on the list. Musicians can earn a lot of money when they go on tour and are successful in using social media to leverage their brand, which is an important part of our fame metric. Thirteen of the top 25 on the list were musicians, including Beyoncé Knowles (No. 1), Dr. Dre (No. 3), Jay Z (No. 6), Rihanna (No. 8), Katy Perry (No. 9), Bon Jovi (No. 13), Bruno Mars (No. 13), Miley Cyrus (No. 17), Taylor Swift (No. 18), Lady Gaga (No. 19), Kanye West (No. 20), Calvin Harris (No. 21), and Bruce Springsteen (No. 25).
Notable newcomers to the 2014 list include musicians Bruno Mars (No. 13), One Direction (No. 28), Pharrell Williams (No. 38), Avicii (No. 47); actors Bradley Cooper (No. 48), Matthew McConaughey (No. 52), Vin Diesel (No. 66); television actors Jon Hamm (No. 89), Bryan Cranston (No. 88), Kevin Spacey (No. 74); personality Jimmy Fallon (No. 45); actresses Amy Adams (No. 81), Natalie Portman (No. 100); television actresses Kerry Washington (No. 93), Kaley Cuoco (No. 99); athlete Kevin Durant (No. 33); model Kate Upton (No. 94); and author Veronica Roth (No. 95).
#R8 pic.twitter.com/fEDxaBvQ9L
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 30, 2014
Remember to buckle up and plan ahead for your drive this week and holiday weekend. Drive safe. #ArriveAlive pic.twitter.com/FIigvDeDvS
— MoDOT (@MoDOT) June 30, 2014
Facebook has secretly manipulated the feelings of 700,000 users to understand ’emotional contagion’ in a study that has prompted anger and forced the social network giant on the defensive.
For one week in 2012, Facebook tampered with the algorithm used to place posts into users’ news feeds to study how this affected their mood, all without their explicit consent or knowledge.
The researchers wanted to see if the number of positive or negative words in messages the users read determined whether they then posted positive or negative content in their status updates.
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‘Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness,’ the study authors wrote.
‘These results indicate that emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions, constituting experimental evidence for massive-scale contagion via social networks.”
Pharrell kicked off the pop-minded show with a rendition of “Come and Get It Bae,” which might be the only track from G I R L that he’s yet to bring to the entire late-night TV circuit. Following that, Missy Elliott came to the stage for a surprise performance of her own “Pass the Dutch,” which enlisted the “Happy” singer as a hype man of sorts.
Lil Wayne (performing his recent singles “Krazy” and “Believe Me”), Nicki Minaj, Robin Thicke, August Alsina, John Legend, and Jhene Aiko all held down the middle part of the telecast with solid sets. Piped in from a recent stop on their “On the Run” tour, Beyoncé and Jay Z closed the program with a stunning delivery of “Partition,” which featured a new verse from Jay at the beginning.
The BET Awards were doing well, as far as performers go. But one man instantly got the audience on their feet on arrival: Chris Brown, who performed his hit single “Loyal” for the first time on a huge stage since being released from jail. Lil Wayne and Tyga joined him.
Wayne made his second appearance of the night for his opening verse. Wearing a red hat, matching plaid jacket, sunglasses and jeans, Brown earned the biggest cheers of the night up to that point as a surprise, unannounced performer.
via Chris Brown Surprises at 2014 BET Awards with ‘Loyal’ | Billboard.
Passengers say a United Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Kansas after an evacuation slide deployed during the flight, filling part of the cabin.
Mike Schroeder says he was flying from Chicago to Orange County, California, late Sunday when he heard a hiss and pop. He says he turned around and saw the plane’s emergency evacuation slide inflating inside the plane.
via United plane’s evacuation slide deploys mid-flight, lands in Kansas | St. Joseph Post.
“What I want the world to know about Nicki Minaj is when you hear Nicki Minaj spit, Nicki Minaj wrote it,” the rapper said.
Nicki Minaj then insisted she meant, “No, no, no shade, no, no, no shade” with her comments. But the way she said that, combined with the face she made during her speech, makes us think she really did intend to slam rappers like Iggy Azalea. It’s rumored that Azalea uses ghost writers on her records, though this has not been confirmed.
Floyd was on the red carpet Sunday afternoon for the BET Awards when he got word his kids were in a bad crash in L.A. Floyd happened to be on the phone with Bieber at the time and told the singer how bummed he was that he was on the red carpet and not there for his kids.
Bieber happened to be in an SUV not too far away from the crash and jumped into action, racing to the scene.
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We’re told it was a multi-vehicle collision … several cars and a motorcycle. The kids were not seriously injured — one had a busted lip — and Bieber tried comforting them by playing his new music for them.
Bieber was then allowed to put the kids in his SUV and drove them to Floyd … then returned to the accident scene to inform cops the children were with the boxer.
via Justin Bieber Comes to Rescue After Car Crash Involving Floyd Mayweather’s Kids | TMZ.com.
One of Rimada’s recent projects is this portrait in-progress of Lana Del Rey. Rimada used a photo of the songstress as a reference and attached a dope skeletal body to her head with blue and read flowers where most of her internal organs should be, and a grim half-heart, half-skull in her chest above what appears to be a martini glass. The portrait is wildly inventive and stunning, and we can’t wait to see the finished product.
Perrie Edwards made One Direction fans very happy. The Little Mix singer posted a shirtless selfie of her fiancé Zayn Malik on her Instagram account sending 1D fans into a frenzy.
The photo shows Malik sans shirt wearing a red beanie and showing off his many tattoos. Edwards captioned the pic, “Oooo ello”
Edwards, 20, and Malik, 21, have been engaged since last year. The two are pretty comfortable in front of each other since becoming serious. Edwards said recently she doesnt wear makeup in front of him and even farts in front of the 1D singer.
It is pop star Ariana Grande’s birthday today (June 26). The “Problem” singer has turned 21 today and celebrated the eve of her Birthday in Disneyland with Minnie Mouse. “Spending my last few days as a non 21 year old in one of my favorite childhood places with my favorite people,” the singer wrote with a cute picture of hers on Instagram.
We have 105 demos. But we’ve been writing on the road since “Night Visions” came out two years ago – it’s not like we went home and wrote 100 songs. We’re pretty much losers and we don’t go out very much. So we’ll be in a city in a hotel room and … the person in the next room will be banging on the wall screaming “Stop singing, it’s 2am!” But I’m singing into my computer and some of those vocals will make the next record. We’ve bought a house in Vegas, that we’ve renovated it into a studio so we didn’t have to worry about budgets or anything. We told the record label it will be out when it’s ready.
via Imagine Dragons Discuss ‘Battle Cry,’ Breaking Records & Making New Music | Billboard.
Justin Bieber got a Tumblr, joining the world of endless scrolling, reblogging and a whole bunch of people with the wackiest imaginations who all seem to get each other. He released Joker.Tattoo to the world on Friday (June 27), but fans were fairly quick to notice that all his posts were just repurposed photos from his Instagram and Shots accounts.
It’s a sexy selfie-off! Selena Gomez, 21, posted a super sultry pic to her Instagram on June 27, just one day after Justin Bieber posted a sexy pic of his own. Are Selena and Justin showing off for each other in front of the world?
Selena’s no stranger to sexy selfies, but this newest one may have been her sexiest yet! With her full lips open in a slight pout, she gave the bedroom eyes to her iPhone — and to Justin? On June 26, Justin posted a pic stitch of his gym progress, and he was looking more muscular than ever.
via [PIC] Selena Gomez’s Sexy Selfie: For Justin Bieber? Shows Off Sultry Pout – Hollywood Life.
The 21-year-old singer will take center stage in Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour in July. The two-hour special focuses on her June 13 concert in Barcelona, Spain and her June 15 performance in Lisbon, Portugal, and takes a behind-the-scenes look at Cyrus, her music and fans.
“There are few recording artists with the global success achieved by Miley Cyrus,” NBC alternative programming president Paul Telegdy said in a statement. “This unique special will offer an exclusive peek on how she engages with her crew and fans at one of her hugely popular concerts.”
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The Bangerz tour comes to a close October 23 in Perth, Australia.
Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour airs Sunday, July 6 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
via Miley Cyrus ‘Bangerz’ documentary to air on NBC – UPI.com.
Helmet-clad French electronic band Daft Punk are coming to the small screen with a one-hour documentary made by BBC Worldwide Production France. Canal Plus, a French premium pay channel, commissioned the project, which is slated to air in 2015.
via Need To Know: Daft Punk Documentary Is In The Works – MTV.
This year 20 new stars join the FORBES Celebrity 100, a ranking of the most powerful celebrities based on earnings and fame. One of the biggest new names on our list is Pharrell Williams.
The prolific Williams has been everywhere these past two months. He had a hand in the two biggest hits of last summer, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” Although both of those songs came with their share of controversy, few could find fault with Williams’ followup song, “Happy.” Written for the film Despicable Me 2, “Happy” could be heard everywhere over the past few months. Williams had (arguably) the best moment at the Academy Awards ceremony in March when he jumped into the audience singing ‘Happy” and stars like Amy Adams and Lupita Nyong’o jumped up to dance with him.
We estimate that Williams earned $22 million between June 2013 and June 2014. We expect those earnings to go even higher next year though with a stronger touring schedule that reflects his growing popularity.
via Forbes Celebrity 100 Sneak Peek: Pharrell Williams And Bradley Cooper Debut On The List.
A typical lightning flash is about 300 million Volts & 30,000 Amps; a household current is only 120 Volts & 15 Amps. #lightningsafety
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) June 27, 2014
Don’t laugh, but the discovery of the oldest known human poop is offering valuable scientific insight into the life of Neanderthals who lived in Spain some 50,000 years ago.
Scientists said on Wednesday they found five samples of human fecal matter at an archeological site called El Salt, in the floor of a rock shelter where Neanderthals once lived.
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Analysis of the samples provided a new understanding of the diet of this extinct human species, offering the first evidence that Neanderthals were omnivores who also ate vegetables as part of their meat-heavy diet, they said.
via Oldest human poop study says Neanderthals ate their veggies – World – CBC News.
So much for a gentleman’s agreement. On a day when both teams could have eased into the Round of 16 with a draw, the United States and Germany battled fiercely and physically for first place in the Group of Death. The Americans got through to the next round, although surely not how they had planned after a 1-0 loss to Germany.
With a win, a tie and a loss, the Americans got through to the knockout round on goal differential as Portugal beat Ghana 2-1. The U.S. and Portugal both finished with four points in the group, but the Americans had a better goal differential (0) to Portugal’s minus three.
via U.S. loses to Germany, still advances to World Cup knockout stage | USA Today World Cup.
The most Americans in seven years will travel by car over the July 4 Independence Day holiday and they’ll be paying for the most expensive fuel since 2008 with credit cards, according to a forecast by AAA.
About 34.8 million people plan to drive 50 miles or more from home during the five days ending July 6, up from 34.1 million last year and the most since 2007, Heathrow, Florida-based AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization, said in a statement. Gasoline pump prices are the highest level for this time of year in six years, AAA data show.
via July 4 holiday weekend to see most drivers in 7 years, AAA Says – chicagotribune.com.
One Direction brought Wimbledon to a halt as fans and punters swarmed the gates for their arrival.
Heartthrobs Niall Horan and Liam Payne, flacked by security, squeezed through the huge crowds around Gate 13 at the All England Club.
Parents: Be a role model. 57% of teens have seen a parent talk on the phone while driving. http://t.co/yDHXOpV1Gf pic.twitter.com/sPeZZHqOUu
— Safe Kids Worldwide (@safekidsusa) June 23, 2014
One Direction‘s Niall Horan was injured after a show in the Netherlands last night (June 25) after being hit by a shoe thrown by a fan hit him in the leg.
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“Also guys!” he tweeted. “Can you limit what gets thrown on stage please! Coz somethin thrown at me tonight! Hit my knee! A lot of pain from it!”
Horan added that while he didn’t want to sound like he was complaining, he said that he had only had an operation on his knee a few months ago — “I still get a bit of pain and I’m very scared about it.”
via One Direction’s Niall Horan Injured After Concertgoer Throws Shoe at Him « Radio.com.
On Wednesday, she was crowned the new RIAA Gold & Platinum Program’s top digital artist of all time with 72 million digital singles sold, which includes downloads and on-demand streams. That’s 20 million more than any other artist.
“Katy Perry is a force to be reckoned with in music,” said RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman during a ceremony at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. “We are honored to recognize Katy as the most successful digital artist in Gold & Platinum Program history. She embodies all that makes a true global superstar: the musical talent, the extraordinary drive and genuine charisma, and an intrinsic connection with her fans.
The pop princess this week took Washington by glittery storm, performing twice at the Verizon Center, hanging with “QT” Joe Biden — and, we learned today, visiting the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery to visit “Cupcake Katy,” the painting of her by New York artist Will Cotton.
KP dropped by Wednesday night before her second D.C. show and snapped a selfie with the painting (ooh, sooo meta).
No word on whether Perry also visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, which this week debuted a likeness of her, too.
via Katy Perry loves art … if it features Katy Perry – The Washington Post.
Look, I’m not trying to be dramatic, but you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing and look at Rihanna’s spread for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. The cover story–I’m not kidding–is “The New Modesty: How To Cover Up In Style” and it’s starring “Rihanna of Arabia.” This is a fashion spread that features Rihanna–queen of my heart and the woman who wore a dress made of crystals to the CFDA Awards–in modest, covered-up pieces.
via Rihanna Covers Up (Stylishly) For ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ Arabia | MTV Style.
This evening, Jay Z and Beyoncé kicked off their record-setting North American stadium tour, aka “On the Run”, in Miami. The dynamic duo ran through a mammoth 42-song set, featuring songs from just about every era of their respective careers. Among particular highlights, Beyoncé filling in for Justin Timberlake on “Holy Grail”; Jay’s new remix of Beyoncé’s “Partition”, and a tribute to Michael Jackson during “Love On Top”.
via Jay Z and Beyoncé kick off On the Run Tour with massive 42-song setlist | Consequence of Sound.
The 15-track LP has sold 166,000 more copies in its first week of release than any other debut album by a UK male artist in the 23-year history of Soundscan.
“IN THE LONELY HOUR IS OFFICIALLY NUMBER 2 IN AMERICA!! I am overwhelmed and truly touched. Thank you to everyone who has purchased it xx,” he tweeted. He later added: “We made history x.”
In what has been a monumental year for Katy Perry, the singer will continue her dominance in pop music this summer as she begins the North American leg of her Prismatic World Tour. In support of her fourth studio album, Prism, which was released late last year, the “Roar” singer is scheduled to play 67 North American dates through mid-October. Perry shows no signs of letting up soon, either. Over the course of her five-month run in North America, the average price for Katy Perry tickets is currently $252.60 on the secondary market, a higher tour average than both Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s upcoming On the Run Tour and Lady Gaga’s ArtPOP Ball World Tour, according to TiqIQ.
Hip-hop royal couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé are set to kick their collaborative tour off later this week and have a current tour average of $231.64 for On the Run tour, 8.3% lower than Perry’s current run of shows through the U.S. and Canada. Lady Gaga tickets have a tour average of $197.04 over her current tour, which is 22% lower than Perry’s North American leg. Perry is scheduled to play 46 more shows than Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who will play just 19 shows in the U.S. and two shows in France from June-September. Gaga has 78 shows scheduled across five legs until late-November.
via Prices For Prismatic Tickets Could Cement Katy Perry As Queen Of Pop.
Chrissy Teigen, 28, on having kids:
“We’re not really thinking about it yet. Most of my friends have kids actually, and basically, nobody ever says, ‘I wish I would have had them earlier!’ So at this point, I’m having a lot of fun playing with my friends’ babies. I think I’ve seen my best friend’s kids all week, every day this past week. I love hanging out with them, and it’s nice being able to hold them then pass them over when they start crying.”
via John Legend And Chrissy Teigen ‘Not Really Thinking About’ Kids.
Frankie Grande is competing on Season 16 of Big Brother, and he’s off to a good start — he won head of household! Eight of the 16 houseguests moved in on the June 25 premiere, and we bet the remaining eight players (who move in on the June 26 episode) will be keeping their eye on Frankie, now that he’s the early frontrunner.
But they won’t be envious of his A-list connection. Frankie, 28, who is a self-proclaimed reality TV addict, isn’t telling his houseguests that Ariana is his little sister — yet. In his confessional, the YouTube star did reveal that he’s Ariana’s brother, but he added that he won’t be sharing that bit of information with the contestants. However, he’s nervous that his opponent Paolo may find out since she’s a NYC-based DJ who runs in the same social circles of the rich and famous.
via ‘Big Brother’: Ariana Grande’s Brother Wins Head Of Household On Season 16 Premiere – Hollywood Life.
We already know that Ariana Grande will follow up her #2 smash “Problem” with Zedd collab “Break Free,” which is out July 2. (How did “Problem” not go to #1 yet? Oh, right — “Fancy.”) But Ari has hinted at yet another big release date in the near future as well. On Twitter earlier this week, the sneaky tweetstress posted the following: “#8DaysUntilBreakFree #61daysuntil…………………. ;)”
And now, with the Internet being the Internet, speculation has kicked into high gear that the second hashtag above (which was posted on June 24) means that Grande’s sophomore album will be out on August 25. Traditionally, however, new albums are released on Tuesdays in the States, so that would put Ariana’s maybe-release-date at August 26 here.
“A lot of people seem to think that all teenagers are super-misguided and not at all ambitious,” she added.
“Such a high proportion of the people my age I know are super-driven, super-focused and super-creative in a way I haven’t seen a lot of adults being.”
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“People should stop worrying about their daughters. I don’t see a female without clothing as a terrible influence. There are worse things. Shooting people. Glorifying violence.”
Praising Rihanna, who she described as “magnetic”, Lorde said: “You can’t not look at Rihanna. I would buy anything Rihanna sold me. The way Rihanna embodies being a sexual woman … She’s so fearless and confident, I just love her.”
With the U.S. team needing a tie or victory to secure a place in the knockout round, all eyes will be on the field in Recife, Brazil. A small, but torrential rain storm has caused travel problems, with fans reportedly having difficulties getting around. However, the pitch apparently is OK.
via Will Ferrell, torrential rains hit ahead of U.S.-Germany World Cup game | The Kansas City Star.
NEVER walk thru flood waters! MT @BenSmithBBC: US fans abandoning vehicles and walking to stadium in Recife pic.twitter.com/1A5MwDqLHC
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) June 26, 2014