Underwood releases gospel album
Carrie Underwood has always made hits that speak directly to her faith, from “Jesus Take the Wheel” to “Something in the Water.” Now the seventime Grammy winner has her first album of gospel music called “My Savior” released Friday, just in time for Easter on April 4.
“I’m lucky enough that I feel like I’ve been making spiritual music along the way in my career,” Underwood said. “I love the sassy stuff, and I love to get an attitude and get dressed up and do all that stuff. But it’s so nice to be able to sing songs like this.”
Recording the songs that she sang in church growing up in Oklahoma was always on the list of albums she wanted to make.
Underwood will perform the new album during a livestream event on Easter Sunday via her Facebook page. Donations will benefit Save the Children.
Ja Rule sells Fyre fest painting:
Hip-hop star Ja Rule has reportedly auctioned off a portrait of the Fyre Media logo for $122,000 through the rapper’s venture, KickFlip, which offers artists and holders of valuable art the opportunity to monetize their work using cryptocurrency.
The 48-by-60-inch oil paint portrait was created by Tripp Derrick Barnes and relocated to Ja Rule’s New Jersey mansion when Fyre Media’s New York headquarters shuttered.
The 2017 Fyre Festival, which Ja Rule co-founded, led to a series of events that resulted in co-founder and promoter Billy McFarland receiving a six-year prison sentence for defrauding festivalgoers.
Actors join monologues: Mandy Moore, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Beth
Leavel, Jessica Hecht and dozens of other actors are teaming up to talk about periods. “Period Piece” will consist of 36 monologues by 36 different playwrights delivered over three performances streaming on April 12, 19 and 26.
“More than half of the people in the world experience periods, yet they’re still taboo to talk about,” said Tony Award-winning producer Tracey Knight. “Not only are these stories funny, heartbreaking and eye-opening, but my partners and I are hopeful that they’ll also help to destigmatize menstruation.”
Spielberg donates Genesis Prize money:
Steven Spielberg said Thursday that he will donate his $1 million Genesis Prize to 10 nonprofits that are working for racial and economic justice. The film director and his wife, actor Kate Capshaw, will match
those donations with $1 million of their own.
In February, Spielberg received Israel’s prestigious 2021 Genesis Prize in recognition of his contribution to cinema, his philanthropic works and his efforts to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.
“America is facing a crisis, and our responsibility is to act now,” Spielberg said in a statement, adding that Judaism and Jewish history provide “the ethical precepts commanding us to work for a more just and equitable world.”
March 27 birthdays:
Actor Julian Glover is 86. Actor Jerry Lacy is 85. Director Quentin Tarantino is 58. Actor Talisa Soto is 54. Actor Pauley Perrette is 52. Singer Mariah Carey is 52. Actor Elizabeth Mitchell is 51. Actor Nathan Fillion is 50. Singer Fergie is 46. Actor Brenda Song is 33. Singer Halle Bailey is 21.