Cher appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week to promote the first volume of her memoir, offering fans a glimpse into her life and her six-decade career.

During the candid conversation, she reflected on her partnership with Sonny Bono, shared the story behind her iconic driver’s license, and revealed unexpected anecdotes from her legendary journey.

Reflecting on her relationship with Sonny, her former husband and musical partner who first rose to fame with her as the duo Sonny & Cher in the 1960s, Cher shared how their professional collaboration shaped their lives.

“Doing the show kept us together because on the show we had so much fun,” she told Kimmel. “We were equal. That was… I mean, I loved it. We worked so well together, and it really kept us closer longer than I really wanted.” Starting with their breakthrough hit “I Got You Babe” in 1965, Sonny & Cher became one of the defining musical acts of their era.

Their humor and chemistry later transitioned seamlessly into television, making The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour a staple of 1970s entertainment, even as their personal relationship faced challenges.

Cher also spoke about a man who helped her leave Sonny, calling him a pivotal figure during that period. “He was very instrumental in helping me to leave Sonny,” she said. “He was a really good person… I mentioned his whole name [in the memoir], so I wonder how does he feel about it.”

In a lighter moment, Cher discussed the process of obtaining a driver’s license that features only her first name. “I don’t have a last name, so it just says Cher on my driver’s license,” she explained. “You have to prove that someone could know you, like the populace could know you by that name. It’s not easy.”

Kimmel later challenged Cher with a rapid-fire question segment, where she revealed more about her offbeat experiences. She admitted to trying jury duty but was dismissed for being “too distracting.” “The judge kicked me out after 10 minutes,” she said with a laugh.

She also confessed to playing a video game just a month ago but remained tight-lipped about the details. When asked about visiting Costco, she hesitated before replying, “I think once,” eliciting laughs from the audience.

The conversation turned to Cher’s friendship with former President Jimmy Carter, as she recounted their first dinner together on his first night in the White House. She revealed Carter’s passion for rock and roll, noting that Gregory and the Allman Brothers Band raised the initial funds for his campaign. “He called me one time and asked me to do something on the Johnny Carson show,” Cher said. “Johnny Carson did not like me, had me thrown out of a party… but I didn’t like him either, so it didn’t make any difference.”

Cher’s memoir, Part One, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and remained in the top spot for four non-consecutive weeks, cementing her impact not just in music and film, but in storytelling as well. Her influence on the Billboard charts is undeniable, with her groundbreaking hit “Believe” topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1999 and earning her a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. “If I Could Turn Back Time,” another fan favorite, remains a defining anthem of the late 1980s.

As fans eagerly anticipate the second volume of her memoir, slated for November, Cher joked, “I haven’t even started it.”

At the end of the interview, Cher left the audience laughing as she told Kimmel, “You’re a lot nicer and funnier than I thought you would be.”

An Australian construction company has issued an apology following the demolition of a Sydney home that once housed future AC/DC members Angus and Malcolm Young.

The house, which had been located at 4 Burleigh Street in the Western Sydney suburb of Burwood, was reportedly razed in late 2024 following a sale in February 2023 for AUD $5.8 million.

In 1963, the Young family moved to Australia from Scotland, first staying at the Villawood Migrant Hostel. It was here that a teenaged George Young met his future musical collaborator, Dutch migrant Harry Vanda.

Together, they would form The Easybeats in late 1964, with their signature song “Friday on My Mind” being regarded as one of Australia’s most enduring working class anthems. Released in 1966, the track would reach No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1967. The pair’s wildly-successful Vanda & Young partnership would also result in writing “Love is in The Air”, which reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 after being recorded by the unrelated John Paul Young in 1977.

The Young family moved to the Burleigh Street address in 1965 after time spent at other houses in the suburb, with brothers Angus and Malcolm honing their musical talents while living there. In 1973, the pair would co-found AC/DC, who have since become one of Australia’s most successful rock exports of all time. George would also play in the group’s early lineups, eventually taking on production duties for their first records alongside Vanda.

The legacy and importance of the address to the Sydney community had been recognized numerous times over the years. In 2013, the house was listed on the National Trust Register of Historic Houses, and in 2024 the local Burwood Council commissioned a mural of Angus and Malcolm by artist Claire Foxton which is still visible on the side of 12 Burleigh Street.

News broke of the house’s demolition in late December, with outrage from both fans and the local community reaching the Burwood Council, who defended the demolition despite the presence of the address on the National Trust.

“As it is not heritage listed or protected under local or state legislation, and because The National Trust is a community-based, non-government organisation, with no statutory authority, the property does not have enforceable protections,” the Council stated.

“Burwood Council remains committed to finding new ways to celebrate the Young family and the area’s rich musical heritage.”

Per reports, the purchase and demolition of the house were initiated by local construction company Burwood Square Pty Ltd , who had also purchased the adjoining property with the intent of redeveloping the location into a AUD $28.75 million residential site

However, in a statement from Burwood Square general manager Leon Kmita (published via The Herald Sun), the company has shared their regret for the demolition, claiming they were unaware of the cultural importance held by the house.

“We regret that the previous long-term owner did not share this vital part of the property’s background with us,” Kmita said. “Learning about this connection after our plans were already underway has shocked us. We are genuinely sorry for this oversight.”

According to Kmita, the Burwood Square team are in the process of attempting to salvage materials so they can create a “special space” for fans of AC/DC to “gather to celebrate the band’s enduring legacy”.

“On behalf of the team at Burwood Square, I want to convey our heartfelt regret … we now recognise how deeply this location resonates with the AC/DC community and fans worldwide,” Kmita continued. “We feel a strong responsibility to honour AC/DC’s legacy and to make amends to all the fans who hold this band in such high regard.

“While we cannot change the past, we are dedicated to celebrating this significant part of their story,” he added. “To the global fanbase of AC/DC, please know that we hear you, appreciate your deep admiration for this legendary band, and are devoted to making this right.”

New York rapper Ice Spice has used the penultimate show of her current touring schedule to share a brief apology for a controversial appearance at an Australian festival last week.

Ice Spice has spent the new year period in Australia, where she was booked to perform at a couple of festivals, including the Beyond the Valley festival in the state of Victoria, and three legs of the Wildlands Festival in capital cities Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

The Brisbane edition of Wildlands took place on New Year’s Eve, just one day ahead of Ice Spice’s 25th birthday, and as one of the headliners, the musician was scheduled to perform in the 10:30pm – 11pm slot. While her spot was reportedly brought forward by five minutes, Ice Spice was ultimately 30 minutes late to the stage, and didn’t appear before the crowd until 10:55pm.

Due to the festival’s tight scheduling ahead of the evening’s celebrations, Ice Spice was only able to perform two songs – including “Deli” and “Princess Diana” – before her microphone was cut off during “In Ha Mood”.

“At 11.01pm – they gave her an extra minute – they cut the mic and you heard the collective sigh from the crowd,” journalist and podcaster Brenton Larney told The Guardian. “They’d been waiting for a while and they get two songs?

“So that was a bit ridiculous and it was just really disrespectful how she walked off, she was laughing, they tried to give her flowers for her birthday and she just shrugged them off,” he added, noting that it seemed as though the musician “didn’t want to be there”.

Though initially silent in the aftermath of the festival, organizers later addressed the situation via their Instagram comment section, explaining that Ice Spice’s microphone had to be cut off to ensure the rest of the festival – which included a countdown from U.K. duo Chase & Status – ran to time.

“We understand that Ice Spice’s delayed arrival caused some disappointment,” the festival stated. “Managing a stacked festival means that we have to be extremely firm with set times. We had a strict curfew of 12:30 and need to ensure that the final act went on stage on time, so everyone could enjoy the New Year’s Eve countdown.”

While Ice Spice was herself silent following the event, the musician returned to the stage on Saturday (Jan. 4) to perform at the Perth leg of the festival, where she briefly addressed the situation ahead during her set, as local radio station Youth Jam have reported.

“I’m sorry guys, surely y’all can forgive me,” she was quoted as saying. “It was my birthday and it takes a long time to look like a Barbie.” The statement was ostensibly shared as a brief lead in to her next song, the Nicki Minaj collaboration “Barbie World”.

Ice Spice wrapped up her current touring plans the following day (Jan. 5) with a performance in Adelaide, closing out the global tour in support of her debut album, Y2K!. The record received largely positive reviews from critics and reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The surviving members of Canadian progressive rock outfit Rush have reflected on their final tour, sharing their regrets that the tour didn’t extend to the likes of the U.K. and Europe.

Close to ten years on from their final run of shows, Rush bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson spoke to Classic Rock magazine about the group’s last gigs, apologizing to the British and European fans who didn’t get a chance to see them perform live.

“I’d pushed really hard to get more gigs so that we could do those extra shows and I was unsuccessful,” Lee said of the band’s R40 Live Tour. “I really felt like I let our British and European fans down. It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, but Neil [Peart] was adamant that he would only do thirty shows and that was it.

“That to him was a huge compromise because he didn’t want to do any shows. He didn’t want to do one show.”

Rush’s R40 Live Tour kicked off in Tulsa, OK in May 2015, and featured a total of 35 shows across the U.S. and the band’s native Canada, ending in August of that year. Ultimately, while Rush’s dedicated fanbase called out for more dates to be added, these would become the final performances from the veteran band. Despite releasing their final album, Clockwork Angels, in 2012, Rush’s dissolution wasn’t confirmed until the death of longtime drummer Neil Peart in January 2020.

While Lee would detail the band’s final tour in his 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life, he admitted to being very cautious in regard to how he discussing Peart’s death, but strived to be as candid as he could so as to give Rush’s audience the closure they wanted about the band’s end.

“I just kind of felt I owed an explanation to them, the audience,” Lee explained. “It’s part of why I went into the detail I did about Neil’s passing in the book, was to let fans in on what went down. That it wasn’t a straight line.

“This is how complicated the whole world of Rush became since August 1 of 2015 until January 7th of 2020 when Neil passed. Those were very unusual, complicated, emotional times. Fans invested their whole being into our band and I thought they deserved a somewhat straight answer about what happened and how their favourite band came to end.”

Lifeson also expressed his disappointment about Rush being unable to tour some of their favourite markets as part of their final run, noting that while Peart’s scheduling demands and health issues made further shows impossible, an additional “dozen or so” dates may have made the surviving members “a bit more accepting”.

“There was a point where I think Neil was open to maybe extending the run and adding in a few more shows, but then he got this painful infection in one of his feet,” Lifeson added. “I mean, he could barely walk to the stage at one point. They got him a golf cart to drive him to the stage. And he played a three-hour show, at the intensity he played every single show.

“That was amazing, but I think that was the point where he decided that the tour was only going to go on until that final show in LA.”

Having formed in Toronto in 1968 by Lee, Lifeson, and original members John Rutsey and Jeff Jones, Rush began to find widespread fame throughout the ’70s, with Peart replacing Rutsey following the recording of their 1974 self-titled debut.

While much of Rush’s touring was confined to the U.S. and Canada, the U.K. was their next most popular market, with European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands following behind. Curiously, Rush rarely ventured beyond these territories, with countries such as Australia never hosting the band on their shores.

Will Smith sent Matrix fans into a frenzy on Monday morning (Jan. 6) when he shared an Instagram post that appeared to be teasing his role in the next installment of the popular film franchise.

However, insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that Smith will not be joining Warner Bros. and director Drew Goddard’s The Matrix 5, which was confirmed to be in development in early 2024.

In his post, Smith revealed how he passed on the starring role of Neo in the original 1999 sci-fi classic, directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski — complete with Matrix-inspired digital font over a black screen that reads: “In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in ‘The Matrix.’ Smith turned it down,” his Instagram video, written in third-person, reads. “He chose ‘Wild Wild West,’ believing it was a better fit for him at the time. But the question remains: What would ‘The Matrix’ have been like with Will Smith as Neo?”

See the post here.

While Smith will not be taking on the role of Keanu Reeve’s leading character, there is a chance that the teaser post is music related. Smith has not released a studio album since 2005, but he’s been teasing a return to music, including dropping a new single, “Work of Art,” which features his son, Jaden Smith, as well as rapper Russ. In April, Smith made a surprise cameo during J. Balvin’s Coachella set, followed by the live debut of his gospel-tinged song “You Can Make It” at June’s BET Awards.

He also discussed an upcoming album — tentatively titled Dance in Your Darkest Moments — in a May 2024 interview, saying, “Over the past year and a half, I’ve been in the studio. I have a project that is the most personal and powerful music project I’ve ever done. The idea of the music is, ‘Dance in your darkest moments.’” In July, Smith signed to Slang Music Group, home to Big Sean, Mira Black, Niki Lynette, Savvy & Mandy and Syleena Johnson.