Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ A month after announcing on Instagram that she was pregnant, pop singer Britney Spears has posted an update saying that she had a miscarriage, writing: “We have lost our miracle baby.” “Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along,” said the message, which was posted to Spears’ Instagram account Saturday afternoon and attributed to her and her partner, Sam Asghari. “However we were overly excited to share the good news.” When Spears, 40, let it be known that she was pregnant, her announcement was seen by many as a declaration of agency after being freed from a conservatorship that had governed her life since she was in her 20s. During court proceedings last summer that stemmed from her request that the conservatorship be dissolved, Spears said she had not been allowed to remove an IUD. Spears announced that she was pregnant on April 11, posting a photograph of pink flowers on Instagram and writing: “So I got a pregnancy test. … I am having a baby.” She described having experienced depression during a previous pregnancy and said that this time she would be staying in more and doing yoga each day. The message posted on Spears’ Instagram Saturday expressed gratitude for fans’ support. “Our love for each other is our strength,” it added. “We will continue trying to expand our beautiful family.”
■ Kendrick Lamar will be taking his long-awaited fifth studio album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” on tour. The 14-time Grammy winner announced the global arena tour on Friday, which will extend from North America to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The 65-date tour kicks off July 19 in Oklahoma City and wraps up on Dec. 16 in Auckland, New Zealand. Lamar will be joined by his cousin and “Family Ties” rapper Baby Keem at all the shows, while Tanna Leone, who is also featured on “Mr. Morale,” will be joining Lamar on select dates, according to promoter Live Nation. The 34-year-old artist’s double LP was released Friday and is his first record after winning a Pulitzer Prize for 2017’s “Damn.” The 18-song album is split in two halves. It’s also Lamar’s final album with Top Dawg Entertainment — the Los Angeles hip-hop and R&B label that he helped turn from a regional underground faction to a global force. Lamar started a new company, pgLang, with former TDE executive Dave Free.