Can AM Radio in Cars Be Saved? Bipartisan Bill in Congress Would Force Auto Makers to Keep It, Even as Ford Drops AM From All New Vehicles

Canadian Press Thursday. The blocks, which the company says will last through the month of June, are the test version of a program Meta is threatening to make permanent if Canadian Bill C-18, known as the Online News Act, becomes law. The act would require large tech companies like Meta to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.

Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” is all set for a final lap.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Harrison Ford revealed in a new interview with Esquire magazine that the most common question “Star Wars” fans ask him is who would win a fight: Han Solo or Indiana Jones? It’s a question that has provided fodder for many Reddit discussions and social media debates, but it’s not one Ford ever wants to entertain. As Ford said about his fans: “Well, they usually ask me, ‘If there was a fight between Han Solo and Indiana Jones, who would fuckin’ win?’ And I say [voice rising, fingers drumming], ‘Me, asshole! I don’t want to fucking make shit up like that. I mean, what are you asking me that crap for?’” Ford has played Indiana Jones in five movies, including the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” while his filmography with Han Solo also consists of five movies, including an uncredited cameo appearance in 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” That film marked the end of his Han Solo run, while “Dial of Destiny” will mark the same for Indiana Jones. Despite these iconic characters, Ford often stresses to fans that he is Harrison Ford and not Han Solo or Indiana Jones.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Singer-actor Janelle Monáe will be bringing her “Age of Pleasure” principle to North American theaters and amphitheaters this late summer and fall, with a nearly two-month tour that begins Aug. 30 in Seattle and wraps Oct. 18 at the L.A. area’s YouTube Theater. The Live Nation-backed 26-city tour will follow a couple of months on the heels of Monáe’s first album in five years, “The Age of Pleasure,” which comes out June 9. It’s been preceded by a new single and music video, “Lipstick Lover.” A Verizon presale begins Thursday at 10 a.m. local time, with other targeted presales happening throughout the next week before a general ticket sale one week from today, June 7, also at 10 a.m. local time.

Jay Leno has no plans on slowing down anytime soon!

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic You can easily hear the impact of Tina Turner in the music of Yola, one of the greatest singers of our generation. But it goes far beyond any basic level of influence for this British-bred, now Nashville-based powerhouse. Before becoming a recording artist and Grammy nominee, back in her native U.K., she was a teacher and lecturer in vocal biomechanics who would instruct young singers in how to emulate Turner’s singular voice… or at least how to try. Yola spoke with Variety about Turner, who died May 24 at age 83. These are some of her thoughts, on everything from Tina’s pure technique to the unique challenges she faced as a Black stylist without parallels or filters to her place in genre-bridging musical history.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift and Ice Spice fans in New Jersey were likely feeling they’d amassed some good karma of their own — at least the ones who had made it through the gauntlet to get tickets for Friday’s MetLife Stadium show — as the suddenly dynamic duo gave the audience two doses of “Karma” toward the end of Swift’s long set. One was in the form of a premiere of the video for the song, which went out to the world not very much later. The other was a live performance of the duet, as the new remix’s featured rapper came out on stage to join the headliner for “Karma,” which has ended Swift’s shows each night since the Eras Tour started in April.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift has lived up to her self-proclaimed “Mastermind” status with the Thursday night/Friday morning release of fresh versions of two “Midnights” songs. In one, which she spices up “Karma” with an all-new verse from arguably the hottest rapper of the moment, Ice Spice. In the other, bluntly subtitled “(Featuring More Lana Del Rey),” Swift all but cedes the aural spotlight to the guest artist who was formerly inaudible on the track, Lana Del Rey. Ice Spice makes a few interjections here and there in Swift’s verses in “Karma” — she adds an affirmative “Facts!” after Swift sings, “Karma takes all my friends to the summit” — and she also gets the first and last words in this remix (“Karma is that girl, like” and a concluding “Karma’s gonna hold you down”). Mostly, though, she’s afforded an all-new second verse, with lyrics including: “Karma is your checks by the bounce / Karma is the fire in your house / And she ’bout to pop up unannounced.”

EXCLUSIVE: The biggest deal thrashed out so far at this year’s Cannes market is nearing completion with Amazon Prime Video set to pre-buy international rights — excluding Germany — to Liam Neeson action sequel Ice Road 2: Road To The Sky in a pact pegged around $17M.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Global Citizen has announced another all-star concert aiming to help force a real effect on world poverty and climate change, this one set to stream live from Paris’ Champ de Mars on June 22 and featuring Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste, Lenny Kravitz and H.E.R., with additional special appearances by Ben Harper, Finneas and Mosimann. The Live Nation-produced event, “Power Our Planet: Live in Paris,” will be held before a ticketed audience and streamed from in front of the Eiffel Tower on the Global Citizen channel on Amazon’s Twitch, with further broadcast or streaming partners to be announced in the coming weeks. The location wasn’t chosen just for its scenic value. The Summit for a New Financial Pact is being held in Paris on June 22-23, and Global Citizen’s stated hopes are that the concert will help compel World Bank President Ajay Banga, the U.S. government’s Janet Yellen and all the G20 Nations to take action on loosening up funds for less developed nations to deal with climate change.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic In response to public and political pressure, the Ford Motor Company has announced that it will keep installing AM radio in new vehicles after all. Previously, the manufacturer had been on record as saying there was no compelling need to maintain the AM band in any of its forthcoming models — a stance that other carmakers had taken with electric cars but not extended as a policy to all vehicles. That had made Ford particularly a target amid growing controversy over the increasing move to eliminate AM and new congressional legislation designed to make it mandatory in all new models. Jim Farley, Ford’s CEO, announced the reversal in a social media statement.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic All these decades on, Paul Simon is still looking for angels in the architecture. Maybe especially now; he’s 81 and, like many of his contemporaries, thinking about end-of-life issues both spiritual and corporeal. The observations in his quietly stunning new album, ”Seven Psalms,” reflect a sort of consummate maturity: There aren’t many more stages of ripeness you can move on to, in this life, beyond the one where a hard out looms. “Psalms” is a collection of songs with concerns in the past, present and (maybe) future, with Simon briefly looking back at some bridges burned; looking presently at how little the topical concerns that divide us seem to matter in the face of mortality; and looking ahead to see… well, to see if there is an ahead, as afterlife concerns remain as murky in old age as they did in youth.

The battle for gender equality in the cinema industry is gaining ground but victory is a long way off, representatives of Time’s Up! UK, L.A.-based org ReFrame, France’s Collectif 50/50 and Brazil’s Mulheres group told a panel in Cannes on Friday.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The ASCAP Pop Music Awards honored “Stay,” by the Kid Laroi featuring Justin Bieber, as the org’s pop music song of the year Thursday night. That number came out on top as the performing rights organization calculated the most-played affiliated songs of the past 12 months, with results for the 40th annual awards revealed at a private party held for members at Yamashiro in Hollywood. The org’s interest in “Stay” is via ASCAP member Bieber, one of the co-writers on the smash. The song spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-2022. Dr. Luke was named the songwriter of the year, largely for his participation in hits that have continued to do well off Doja Cat’s 2021 album “Planet Her,” primarily “Need to Know,” “Woman” and “You Right.” The success of Latto’s “High Energy” and Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” also contributed to the producer-writer achieving the highest number of plays for the year.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Rhino Records is launching a quarterly series of limited-edition vinyl releases intended to appeal to LP-loving audiophiles, with records that are cut directly from analog sources by one of the most revered names in the mastering business, Kevin Gray. The first two releases in the Rhino High Fidelity series, both out today, are the Cars’ self-titled debut album from 1978 and John Coltrane’s 1964 album “Coltrane’s Sound.” It won’t be a high-volume series: The releases will be limited to 5,000 numbered copies, with only two new titles issued per quarter. Each catalog album will have lacquers cut by Gray from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl, with glossy, fold-out, “tip-on” jackets in the old-school style and supplemental printed inserts with modern essays or interviews.

In “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the sturdy lark, positioned precariously in the liminal space between commerce and taste, there are the familiar callbacks, the big set pieces, the cracking bullwhip, dashing fedoras, nefarious Nazis, exotic locales, old friends and new faces. Something, however, is missing.

Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart made a rare red carpet appearance Thursday at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of .The couple glowed as they smiled for the cameras at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. Ford wore a classic tuxedo while Flockhart donned an elegant raven black sleeveless V-neck tulle gown with velvet trim and bow detailing from Zuhair Murad's pre-Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A film rendering of the two-night 90th birthday tribute to Willie Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl in April will be coming to movie theaters sooner rather than later. “Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90” will appear on the big screen across the U.S. for three nights, with an initial showing on June 11 followed by repeat screenings on June 13-14. The running time is being described as “two hours plus,” which means editors have a big job on their hands cutting down the more than six hours of music that transpired April 29-30 at the Bowl, with very little overlap of material between the two nights. A lot of artists who appeared at one or both shows will necessarily not make the cut.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic At his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony Friday, Blake Shelton was both celebrated and shamed by three guest speakers that have loomed large in his life over the last dozen years, as “The Voice” host Carson Daly thoroughly roasted him, wife Gwen Stefani waxed lovestruck (still), and former fellow judge Adam Levine split the difference. Shelton did not refrain from comic comments of his own. He mentioned that, as an aspiring singer from Oklahoma, getting a star on the Walk of Fame had not been primary among his career goals. “It was just never on my radar,” he told the assembled crowd on Hollywood Blvd. “I had a dream of being a country singer and hearing myself on the radio one day, and I never, ever thought that that path would lead me here. … So, like, this is shocking to me that this even happened. … I’ve been telling people for the last few weeks that I’m getting a Hollywood Square. ”

Two family-focused media companies are joining forces, with Sony-owned subscription streaming outlet Pure Flix set to merge with cable and FAST programmer Great American Media.