C.J. Harris, ‘American Idol’ Alum, Dies at 31

C.J. Harris, a singer who competed on the 2014 season of American Idol, died Sunday at age 31.

The Jasper, Alabama, native was reportedly rushed to a local hospital after suffering a medical emergency, according to Variety, and the Walker County Coroner’s Office later confirmed his death. However, no other details, including cause of death, were given as of press time.

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Harris competed on season 13 of the singing competition, initially auditioning for judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. in Salt Lake City with a rendition of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Soulshine.” After making it through the Hollywood round, the hopeful was voted a Wild Card by the public in the semifinals and earned his way into the live shows with a soulful performance of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me.”

Some of Harris’ most memorable musical numbers during season 13’s live shows included “Radio” by Darius Rucker, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and both “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Gravity” from John Mayer’s 2006 album Continuum. Eventually, the guitarist came in sixth place, being eliminated during Rock ‘n’ Roll / Country Week with dual performances of the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and Zac Brown Band’s “Whatever It Is.”

Harris toured with the rest of the season 13 finalists after Caleb Johnson was crowned that year’s winner over runner-up Jena Irene, and he released his debut single, titled “In Love,” back in 2019. Just weeks ago, Harris kicked off the new year by promising new music was “coming soon” with a smiling selfie on his Facebook page.

The American Idol Instagram account shared a Stories tribute to the late singer on Monday (Jan. 16), writing, “C.J. Harris was an incredible talent, and the news of his passing deeply saddens us. He will be truly missed.”

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Man locked up after stabbing his wife to death in Miami-Dade, police say

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The Palm Beach owner of a Broward towing company got caught being a $130,000 tax cheat

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SZA’s ‘SOS’ Spends Fifth Straight Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

SZA’s SOS spends a fifth consecutive, and total, week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Jan. 21). It earned 125,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 12 (down less than 1%), according to Luminate.

Only four albums have spent at least five weeks at No. 1 since the start of 2022: in order from most recent, SOS, Taylor Swift’s Midnights (five), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (13) and the Encanto soundtrack (nine).

SOS is the first album to spend its first five weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 30 ruled the list for its first six weeks (its total run at No. 1) from Dec. 4, 2021-Jan. 8, 2022.

The last R&B album by a solo woman with five weeks at No. 1 was Mariah Carey’s Daydream, which notched six nonconsecutive weeks from Oct. 21, 1995, to Jan. 13, 1996 (although, the last R&B album by an all-female act to have five weeks at No. 1 was FanMail by the trio TLC, with five nonconsecutive weeks in charge in 1999 [March 13-May 8]).

And, the last R&B album by a woman to spend its first five weeks at No. 1 was Janet Jackson’s janet., which topped the list for its first six frames (June 5-July 10, 1993). (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)

Also in the new Billboard 200’s top 10, YoungBoy Never Broke Again collects his 13th top 10-charting effort, as his first release for Motown, I Rest My Case, debuts at No. 9.

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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Jan. 21, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 18 – one day later than usual, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the U.S. on Jan. 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Five former No. 1s rank at Nos. 2-6 on the new Billboard 200 – and all are non-movers as compared to a week ago. Taylor Swift’s Midnights is No. 2 (81,000 equivalent album units earned; down 31%), followed by Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (57,000; up 1%), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (51,000; down 3%), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (45,000; down 10%) and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (43,000; up 2%).

Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak climbs 8-7 with 33,000 equivalent album units earned (down less than 1%), and Lil Baby’s chart-topping It’s Only Me rises 9-8 with 31,000 (down 1%).

YoungBoy Never Broke Again notches his 13th top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200, as I Rest My Case starts at No. 9 with 29,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 27,000 (equaling 39.59 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 19 tracks) and album sales and TEA units comprise 1,000 each.

I Rest My Case is the rapper’s first release for Motown after a prolific run with Atlantic, including a dozen top 10 efforts (five of which were in 2022). In total, I Rest My Case is the artist’s 28th charting title on the Billboard 200 since his debut on the list in August of 2017.

Rounding out the new top 10 is Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House, which is stationary at No. 10 with 26,000 equivalent album units earned (down 10%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

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Fans Choose Miley Cyrus‘ ’Flowers’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Miley Cyrus‘ new single “Flowers” has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Jan. 13) on Billboard, choosing Cyrus’ uplifting track as their favorite new music release of the past week.

“Flowers” brought in more than 59% of the vote, beating out new music from Bizarrap and Shakira, Sam Smith and more.

The dance-ready, midtempo pop track is the first taste of Cyrus’ upcoming album Endless Summer Vacation, and it’s all about being more than comfortable on her own — and in her own skin — after a breakup.

“I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand/ Talk to myself for hours, yeah, some things you don’t understand/ But I can take myself dancing, yeah/ I can hold my own hand/ Yeah, I can love me better than you can,” she sings.

Trailing behind the pop star’s “Flowers” on the fan-voted poll is Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” with 36% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.

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7 Highlights From L.A. Concert Saluting A&M Records Co-Founder Jerry Moss 

A&M Records has long been admired for being an artist-oriented label. That point was made again and again at “Live at the Music Center: Concert Celebrating A&M Records Co-Founder Jerry Moss,” held on Saturday (Jan. 14) at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

The show was hosted by David Foster and featured live performances by longtime A&M artists Herb Alpert, Amy Grant and Peter Frampton, as well as Dionne Warwick, among others.

The point about A&M’s artist focus was made most vividly in a videotaped recollection from former A&M executive Jim Guerinot, who recalled looking at an A&M artist’s declining sales fortunes and going to Moss with a blunt question. “Why are we even putting out this artist’s 13th record, when it will likely lose money?” he asked. In his telling, Moss’ reply was “It’s because she’s an A&M artist.”

At A&M, it was that simple. The label believed in its artists and put them first. Alpert, who formed A&M with Moss in 1962, talked about that artist focus in his remarks which preceded a performance of his 1968 smash “This Guy’s in Love With You.”

“A&M was really special,” Alpert said. “I know why they [the artists] liked us – We were on their side. I was at RCA [as an artist in the early 1960s]. They treated me terribly. I vowed that if I ever had a record company, it would have to be the artist first.”

In 2020, Moss and his wife Tina donated $25 million to the Music Center to expand access to its programs to people of all backgrounds. This salute was the Music Center’s way of saying thank you for that generous gift, and it was the participating artists’ way of saying thank you for Moss’ belief and support. As Peter Frampton said, “Thank you, Jerry Moss, for my entire career.”

Here are seven highlights from the salute to Jerry Moss:

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Maude Apatow to Make Her Off-Broadway Debut in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Maude Apatow is taking her talents from the small screen to Off-Broadway.

The Euphoria actress will be making her New York stage debut in Michael Mayer’s Little Shop of Horrors revival. She will be appearing in the production from Feb. 7 to April 2 as Audrey, taking over the role from Tony Away winner Lena Hall.

Mayer said in a news release, “I have long admired the emotional intelligence and vulnerability Maude has displayed on television and in film. She’s a natural fit for Audrey.”

He continued, “It delighted me to learn that, as a child, Little Shop was her gateway into her lifelong love of performing, and that this show gets to be her professional stage debut. We’re thrilled to have her become a part of the Little Shop legacy.”

Apatow is most well-known for playing Lexi Howard in Euphoria. In the show’s award-winning second season, she wrote, directed and starred in her own fictional play — and now she gets to star in a real one.

“We are overjoyed to welcome another incredible performer to the show,” Little Shop of Horrors producer Robert Ahrens said. “With her beautiful voice and immense talent, we cannot wait to see Maude light up the stage alongside Matt Doyle’s brilliant portrayal of Seymour.”

The actress recently told The Hollywood Reporter what would be considered “euphoria” for her character of Lexi in the HBO show.

“Freedom from yourself and your thoughts and negative thoughts, negative self-talk,” Apatow said. “Once that’s out of the way, you can realize your full potential, and I think that’ll probably [be] hers: stop attacking herself.”

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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Chrissy Teigen Gives Birth, Welcomes New Baby With John Legend

Happy new year indeed! Chrissy Teigen gave birth and welcomed a new child with John Legend on Friday (Jan. 13), a rep confirms to Billboard.

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The singer-songwriter announced the happy news during a private concert that evening, People was first to report. “What a blessed day,” Legend told attendees, according to the publication. The 12-time Grammy winner also said that though he had spent a lot of time at the hospital and hadn’t gotten much sleep ahead of the event, he felt “energized” after the baby’s birth.

Some who attended the private performance also shared the news of the baby’s birth on Twitter. “@johnlegend just told us he had a baby this morning #congratulations,” wrote one.

The couple have not yet shared any additional details about their newborn.

The joyous arrival of Legend and Teigen’s new baby comes after the cookbook author suffered a pregnancy loss in September 2020. The model revealed at the time that they lost son Jack at 20 weeks after a pregnancy complication. She later shared more details, saying that the couple had learned Jack “would not survive,” and neither would she without medical intervention. “Let’s just call it what it was: It was an abortion,” the star said during Propper Daley’s “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation” summit in September. “An abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance.” Teigen noted to attendees that at the time that the fact it was an abortion shocked her.

In February 2022, she shared that she was undergoing IVF treatment in order to conceive again, but asked her followers to not make comments about if she was pregnant or not.

“I honestly don’t mind the shots … they make me feel like a doctor/chemist … but the bloating is a bi—, so I humbly beg you to stop asking if I’m pregnant because while I know it’s said with excited, good intentions, it just kind of sucks to hear because I am the opposite of pregnant!” she wrote at the time.

Teigen announced her pregnancy news on Instagram in early August 2022 by sharing a series of baby bump mirror selfies. “The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again,” she captioned the post. “1 billion shots later (in the leg lately, as u can see!) we have another on the way. Every appointment I’ve said to myself, ‘ok if it’s healthy today I’ll announce’ but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide I’m just too nervous still. I don’t think I’ll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and I’m feeling hopeful and amazing. Ok phew it’s been very hard keeping this in for so long!”

Legend and Teigen, who tied the knot in 2013, are parents to 5-year-old Luna and 4-year-old Miles.

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