Ringo Starr’s phone rang Wednesday (July 7) at noon on the dot.

At the time, the legendary Beatles drummer was standing on a cement slab in Beverly Gardens Park in front of the 800-pound “Peace & Love” sculpture he donated to the city of Beverly Hills in 2019. Surrounded by friends, collaborators like Joe Walsh and family including wife Barbara Bach to celebrate his 81st birthday, Starr answered the Facetime call but promptly announced he had to return by explaining, “I’m a little busy.” The crowd erupted in laughter even though the main event had been completed seconds earlier.

Starr, who has been flashing the peace sign since the 1960s, has carried on with a more formal tradition that started in 2008 that finds him celebrating his birthday by promoting peace and love around the world at precisely 12 p.m., no matter the time zone. On Wednesday, the musician did just that in front of a small set of journalists and photographers and two dozen or so fans who gathered behind a barricade on the Santa Monica Boulevard sidewalk.

“Peace and love. Peace and love,” proclaimed Starr, clad in black Adidas track pants and sneakers paired with a denim jacket and a black T-shirt emblazoned with a rainbow-colored hand flashing the peace sign. “Even Joe Walsh got out of bed for it.”

It was a nice day for it, too, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 90210 hovering in the upper 70s. Starr arrived at the event around 11:40 a.m. and hustled through a series of interviews on the press line to make the noon deadline. He shared his enthusiasm for being able to attend such an event after an extended period of COVID-19 lockdowns, which forced him to cancel several tours. Starr still managed to release a five-track EP in March, Zoom In, and has another one ready to debut in September.

But as for Wednesday, his schedule included sharing a meal with family and friends and dedicating the rest of his 81st birthday to the theme of the day. “Spreading some peace and love today,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “This is a full peace and love day in our house.” And, perhaps, returning that phone call. “It’s Jason,” he announced to the crowd, referring to his son, one of three children. “Love you, J.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Nick Cannon welcomed his seventh child in July — his fourth baby in the last year — and he opened up to the City Girls about his decision to expand his family.

The “Twerkulator” rappers stopped by Cannon’s radio show to talk about their latest music video, their 2021 BET Awards performance, and how they deal with social media trolls. The 40-year-old host understands that online hate, especially when people were scratching their heads about his growing family. Cannon welcomed his seventh child and first with Alyssa Scott on June 23, a son named Zen. He and Abby De La Rosa welcomed twin boys named Zion Mixolydian and Zillon Heir a week earlier on June 14, while he and Brittany Bell welcomed their second child together, a daughter named Powerful Queen, in December of last year.

Cannon poked fun at himself about the number of baby mamas he has, saying, “I’m like a seahorse out here with how I’m procreating,” before he stopped horsing around and set the record straight. “I’m having these kids on purpose. It ain’t no accident!” he said in his defense.

“If you’re having these kids on purpose, then it’s nothing I can tell you about your life. ‘Cause I don’t want anybody telling me shit, so just be the best you,” JT replied, after she previously advised Cannon to “wrap it up.”

He has three more children: 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey and 3-year-old son Golden Sagon with Bell. Cannon told the City Girls that he knew exactly who he did and didn’t want to have children with. “Trust me, there’s a lot of people I could’ve gotten pregnant that I didn’t. The ones that got pregnant are the ones that was supposed to get pregnant,” he declared.

Yung Miami chimed in with a similar “YOLO” sentiment as JT’s, saying, “I don’t give a f— what nobody says, I’m going to live my life ’cause if I die, I want to be able to say I lived my life to the fullest. ‘Cause we only get one chance here.”

See Cannon and City Girls’ conversation about his kids around the 10-minute mark below.

As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar.

As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we have been speaking with Severin regularly to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. (Read the last installment here and see the full series here.)

What has changed for you since we last spoke?

Neumos and Barboza opened on July 1. It was all locals and people who work for us. We had Charm the Nomad downstairs [at Barboza] which was a massive underplay for her. It sold out in, I don’t know, a week. She is killer. Upstairs we did this band Spirit Award, which is our assistant GM who is in like 17 bands. Folks from Real Estate, Deep Sea Diver and the Shins came and played. It sounded like it was pretty amazing.  

You weren’t there? 

I couldn’t be there. I can’t stand right now and there is nowhere to sit. But seeing the big line outside and hearing people talk about that – that’s what we do. That’s what we’ve done for half of my life. Literally half my life I have thrown shows and then I haven’t been able to for the last 476 days. We were closed for 476 days. Nothing can ruffle my feathers anymore if we can make it through this.  

Are there still capacity limits for your venues? 

No.  

Do people have to wear masks? 

Nope. You have to have proof that you’re vaccinated or you have to wear a mask. You just have to have a picture of your card. Our vaccination rate in King County and Seattle is super high, but people come from outside of Seattle and it makes people feel more comfortable. It makes us feel more comfortable. But yeah, it is back to 100%. It is going to be weird seeing people be shoulder to shoulder again after so long.  

Any news from the SBA about your Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application? 

[Laughs] I had a friend yesterday tell me how tired I looked. I am so tired and so frustrated. I know that [the SBA] is trying, but it is hard to just accept that it’s so screwed up. The fact that tier 2 and tier 3 people are getting paid before tier 1 is just not okay. (Ed. Note: Tier 1 applicants lost 90% or more of their revenue in 2020, while tier 2 and 3 lost 70% and 25%, respectively.) Now they say they are going to focus and only look at tier 1 applications, but it’s like, “How were you not already doing that?” That was part of the plan. We lost 90% of our income for a year. How do you go and fund somebody who has only lost 50% or even 75%? Everybody needs help, but there are some people who need more help. There are people who are going to close. I hear about it everyday. Then people are getting declined and it sounds like a mistake. The SBA is very apologetic and they sound like they are really trying, but it’s not rocket science.  

Do you personally know venues that have received their funds? 

Lots. I think it’s up to 20% of venues have been either told that they have money coming or have gotten money. (Ed. Note: According to the SBA site, just over 4,220 applicants have been granted awards, which comes out to roughly 28% of the 14,884 applications submitted.) Lots of people I know have gotten it who have really needed it. We celebrate every single one. But then there are people I helped apply and they applied way later than I did. I’m just baffled. [Laughs] Just tell me it’s coming. Just let me know so I can let that stress go.