Elton's Farewell
Elton John is ending his touring career with a bang! The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour has officially become the highest-grossing concert tour ever. It first kicked off in 2018 and has since grossed $817.9 million after performing in 278 shows, according to Billboard. John surpassed Ed Sheeran's 2019 The Divide Tour, which raked in $776.4 million. But it's not over yet, as the shows will continue through July 2023.
Lil Wayne on Road
Also in touring news, Lil Wayne announced a slate of shows set for Spring 2023. The Welcome to Tha Carter tour is set to kick off in Minneapolis in April and will run through May with the final show in Los Angeles. The news comes days after the Recording Academy revealed that Wayne would be one of four recipients of its Global Impact Award at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
DC Cinematic Universe
The DC Universe is kicking it into high gear with a newly announced full slate of films and shows. DC Studios heads James Gunn, co-CEO with Peter Safran, unveiled the 10 projects in a new first chapter which he called "Gods and Monsters," with the titles being connected to each other in the same universe (unless otherwise labeled like Matt Reeves' The Batman). Some of the new titles revealed include the film Superman: Legacy, to be written by Gunn and slated for a July 2025 release, and TV projects Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Lanterns.
Listeners have come to expect their podcasts free of charge. But Pocket Cast has still managed to become one of the leading podcast platforms as a paid app. The company was recently acquired by NPR, WNYC Studios, and WBEZ Chicago, in a move that CEO Owen Grover told Cheddar will only move the medium forward.
President Trump's longtime ally Roger Stone was arrested Friday in connection with Robert Mueller's Russia probe. The FAA reported delays at several major airports across the U.S. because of an increase in employees taking sick leave at air traffic control centers. And Lois Backon, head of Corporate Partner Marketing for JPMorgan Chase, tells Cheddar how the bank partners with celebrities to share their financial planning tips.
The consequences of political gridlock in Washington hit hundreds of airline passengers who experienced sweeping delays at major East Coast airports on Friday, just hours before President Trump agreed to a deal that would reopen the government temporarily.
The star of Netflix's "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo" is inspiring viewers to de-clutter and slim down their homes and closets, and perhaps their shopping bags, too. "It's a feel-good show, so not only are viewers connecting with it and then inspired to purge their closets, but also to rethink their spending habits altogether," Rachel King, editor at Fortune, told Cheddar Thursday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
Cord cutters, rejoice! YouTube TV, Google's ambitious live-television streaming service, is going nationwide. The platform will soon add 95 new markets, making it available to 98 percent of U.S. households, Google announced Wednesday ー just one of several major announcements in the streaming industry this week.
Major players in retail and tech are shaking up the health care industry with massive consolidation. But just as some new unions in the industry are forming, others have shown signs of instability. Amazon, a player that seems to dominate any field it enters, is well positioned to exploit those weaknesses and find itself at the top of another industry once again.
The fifth and final season of the dark romantic comedy "You're the Worst" debuted on Jan. 9, and star Aya Cash couldn't be more upset about it. "Just bitter, no sweet," Cash told Cheddar Thursday. "What's sweet about it? I'm like, 'I lost my job, I loved that job, all my friends.' Just sad, just crying alone in my apartment."
Get ready for an extra dose of pop culture on your Twitter feed. "Power Star Live" will showcase the top viral trends, best clapbacks, and top celebrity news curated by the show's viewers. Comedian Jessie Woo, who co-hosts the show, stopped by Cheddar to share her take on what's trending now.
Even as e-commerce explodes, and digitally native brands appear to control nearly every segment of retail, legacy mall brands like American Eagle are finding that their most important customers ー teenagers ー are gravitating to an old-fashioned in-store experience. "Unlike millennials, the majority of Gen Z kids would rather shop in a physical store," said Chad Kessler, American Eagle's global brand president. "We're seeing a return to wanting to interact with people."
