By : Lucas Shaw Source : Bloomberg One day in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, concert promoter Dan Fife was stuck at home when he came across a photo in Pollstar magazine of Mads Langer, a Danish singer-songwriter, performing at a drive-in theater. The image of the socially distanced show gave Fife an idea. His company, Awakening Events, typically promotes about 350 concerts a year. But at the moment everything was at a standstill due to the coronavirus. Eager to get his employees back to work, Fife and his team tracked down...
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By : Keith Caufield Source : Billboard John Mayer’s Sob Rock rules Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as the singer-songwriter’s latest studio set debuts atop the list (dated July 31). The set sold 61,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending July 22, according to MRC Data -- the biggest debut sales week for an album in nearly two months, since Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour started with 72,000 copies at No. 1 (June 5-dated chart).  read more...
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By : Jeannie Ortega Law Source : The Christian Post The Los Angeles Freedom Experience concert headlined by Justin Bieber over the weekend was lauded as a major success by singer Kari Jobe who told fans that what they experienced at the event was "the presence of God." The 1DayLA charity event brought together 20,000 volunteers across Southern California to give back to their communities. Following a day of service, volunteers were invited to attend a worship concert hosted by Jason Kennedy of E! News and led by pop star...
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By : Branwen Jeffreys and Katherine Smith Source : BBC A vivid picture of sexual assaults and harassment in teenagers' lives has been laid bare in recent months but parents rarely speak about the emotional turmoil they face. Here, two of them tell their stories.  read more...
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By : Alana Mastrangelo Source : Breitbart Mark Zuckerberg believes the coronavirus pandemic has created a new opportunity for Facebook to grow. His plan involves incentivizing churchgoers — who have become familiar with virtual services over the past year due to lockdowns — to permanently move their religious worship online.  read more...
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By : Tyler McCarthy Source : Fox News Kanye West is currently living inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta until he finishes work on his 10th studio album "Donda." A representative for the performer said Monday that West planned to remain inside the stadium while working to complete the album following a star-studded listening session that took place there Thursday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. read more...
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By : Gil Kaufman Source : Billboard  Billie Eilish will make her Disney+ debut on Sept. 3 with the concert special Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles. The singer's upcoming album, Happier Than Ever, will drop on July 30, and according to an announcement on Thursday (July 22), the special will feature intimate performances of every song from the 16-track collection in sequential order for the first and only time. read more...  
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By : Sarah Molano Source : CNN Teenagers who have close, secure relationships with their families are more likely to extend empathy to their peers, according to a new study. More specifically, when teens feel safe, supported by and connected to parents or other adult caregivers, they are better equipped to pass the empathy they receive on to others. "I don't think teens in particular like being told what to do, and I don't think it's going to work to tell teens they should empathize with other people," said Jessica Stern,...
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By : Tim Elmore Source : Growing Leaders It all started when April, Christine’s youngest daughter, was five years old. Christine knew April would be their family’s last baby and wanted to document each milestone and comical moment of her childhood. By the time she was ten, April was avoiding photo ops; shying away from the camera. By 13, when she had a phone of her own, April witnessed on social media just how much mom had posted on both Facebook and Instagram. She felt violated. Eventually, as a teen, April requested her mom...
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By : Paul Grein Source : Billboard  The Recording Academy’s bombshell announcement in April that it’s disbanding its nominations review committees means that, for the first time in 27 years, voting members will have the final say on the nominations in the Big Four categories. The change makes the Grammy nominations even harder to predict than usual. That’s because the committee’s patterns — striving for gender, genre and racial diversity and generally steering clear of legacy, deceased and controversial...
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By : Associated Press Source : Billboard A judge allowed Britney Spears to hire an attorney of her choosing at a hearing Wednesday (July 14) in which she broke down in tears after describing the “cruelty” of her conservatorship. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny approved Spears hiring former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who called on Spears’ father to immediately resign as her conservator.  read more...
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By : Will Horner and Jeffrey T. Lewis  Source : Wall Street Journal Global coffee prices are climbing and threatening to drive up costs at the breakfast table as the world’s biggest coffee producer, Brazil, faces one of its worst droughts in almost a century. Prices for arabica coffee beans—the main variety produced in Brazil—hit their highest level since 2016 last month. New York-traded arabica futures have risen over 18% in the past three months to $1.51 a pound. London-traded robusta—a stronger-tasting...
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By : PRRI Staff  Source : PRRI Seven in ten Americans (70%) identify as Christian, including more than four in ten who identify as white Christian and more than one-quarter who identify as Christian of color. Nearly one in four Americans (23%) are religiously unaffiliated, and 5% identify with non-Christian religions. read more...
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 Little known fact… interlinc’s long-term webmaster Gawain Reifsnyder is a killer guitarist who formerly played with Take 6. His backporch salute to the Star Spangled Banner on Sunday needed to get far far beyond his neighborhood and his wife’s post…. So here it is… Pass it along and send Gawain a note to info@interlinc-online.com
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By : Roger Friedman Source : Showbiz 411 What year is it again? Over the weekend, Queen’s Greatest Hits went to number 1 on iTunes. Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” is number 2. read more...
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