Bruno Mars is back in the biz with a new single, a new video, same swag, and we’re happy AF.
After a 4-year hiatus, Mars makes his comeback with “24K Magic,” his first single off of his upcoming third studio album with the same name: “XXIVk Magic.” “You can call it my first single, but I call it the invitation to the party,” teased Mars on social media ahead of the premiere Friday.
Meanwhile, fans on Twitter can’t contain their excitement with Mars’ comeback.
The news sent shockwaves around the world when it was announced that a basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, died on Sunday in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant, a legendary shooting guard for the LA Lakers was just 41 years old and was one of nine victims to have died in the accident. His death has brought together people from a diverse range of backgrounds, but it’s especially painful for Latinos, who were among the first to embrace the Black Mamba and with whom Kobe had a major impact as a member of the Lakers. Fans around the world are left mourning a basketball legend and processing his complicated legacy.
Death of the 41-year-old basketball legend shook communities around the world.
News broke on Sunday that the 41-year-old had died, along with nine others, in a tragic helicopter crash in the hills outside of Los Angeles. The identity of all aboard are still undisclosed at this time, pending further investigation and conversation with next of kin, according to an LA County Sheriff at a press briefing earlier today.
Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa Bryant, and three other daughters – Natalia Diamante, Bianka Bella and Capri Kobe, who is only 7 months old.
While it was unclear who else was with Bryant at the time of his death, TMZ Sports confirmed that his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Maria Onore, was one of the passengers who died in the accident. Gianna and Kobe were on their way to the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks.
Preliminary investigations report that the helicopter went down in dense fog that had grounded most other aircraft in the region.
Credit: Mark Terrill / Getty
Bryant was known to use his helicopter to commute between his home in Newport Beach and the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles. However, for this journey, he was commuting to a sports academy in the Valley.
Los Angeles is known for dense fog and this Sunday morning was no different. In fact, the dense fog had led to the temporary suspension of flights from LAX and most other civilian helicopter operations.
As news of the star’s death spread, so too did the heartfelt messages of loss and grief.
Credit: ABC 7 LA
“[This] is why I don’t wait for tomorrow,” J Balvin wrote. “So many surprises in life that the present escapes us.” Dozens of others weighed in as well.
AOC sent her condolences to the victims and their families in a tweet saying: “Deeply shocked at the news of Kobe Bryant and four others lost today. Sending all my thoughts to their families and loved ones in this devastating moment.“
Bad Bunny had a special message about the super star’s untimely passing.
Credit: BadBunnyPR / Instagram
“I never would have imagined this would hurt so much!” he said. “I still remember the first time I saw a game of basketball at 7 years old with my dad, and it was a game with this genius, and from that day forward he became my favorite player x100pre!! I’ve never mentioned it because it doesn’t necessarily have to do with music, but this man has been an inspiration in many aspects for me to be who I am today. RIP GOAT!!! Rest in PEACE!!!! Thank you for inspiring me so much!! Thanks for so many emotions!!! How sad I feel!!! A legend is gone!! Along with a beautiful child and basketball promise, Gianna… It breaks my soul too know that I was going to meet, and share time, with you soon…”
And Anuel AA shared his take on the tragedy, one that many people could relate to.
“Wow, my hero died,” he said. “This is unbelievable. I’m here crying as if I knew him, heartbroken. Rest in peace, legend, you left a mark on the world. May God continue blessing his family and fill them with strength. Wow what sadness. [Kobe Bryant] your name will live forever.”
Kobe Bryant shared a special kinship with his Latino fans, who he said were the first to embrace him.
Credit: KobeBryant / Instagram
As the tributes pour in, many are remembering the impact Kobe had on LA’s Latino community.
A few years ago, he thanked the Latino community for their support.
“Latino fans are important to me, because when I arrived [in Los Angeles] they were the fans who most passionately embraced me,” he said. Bryant added that his Spanish was “not that good,” but this appeared to have been a modest assessment, as he routinely conducted full-length interviews in Spanish, which endeared him even more to Latino fans. He said that he was inspired to learn the language because of his wife and because his Latino fans “mean everything” to him. He told Univision in a separate interview that he learned Spanish through watching telenovelas with his family.
However, Bryant’s story wasn’t one without its blemishes. He was accused of sexual assault in 2003.
Credit: Jerome Nakagawa / Flickr
Bryant’s sexual assault case was another scandal that rocked the sport’s world and his own image. The charges brought against him were serious. He was accused of raping a hotel employee while at a Colorado resort – a claim that he denied saying the sexual encounter was consensual. The case was eventually settled out of court, according to The Guardian.
As much of the world is still in shock regarding the untimely loss of such an iconic man, his success as a basketball great will live on.
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There’s already so much stardom packed into one Super Bowl half time show with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performing, that it’s hard to think how they’re supposed to condense it into a half hour show. To make things even more interesting, the internet has been wondering, who’s appearing on stage as a guest. And there’s already a fan favorite. Here’s everything you need to know.
How will they cram so much superstardom into such a 30 minute-long performance?
There’s already enough talk about this year’s Super Bowl performance. Are JLo and Shakira really not getting along in the days leading up to their show? Which hits will they be performing? And now, most recently, who will be joining the two Latinas in the watched-by-the-entire-world program? Twitter just voted and if it’s any indication of what’s coming, it should be interesting.
Their performance at the big game has special meaning for J-Lo and Shakira.
During an interview with ET Canada, the two expressed their excitement to be representing the Latino community. “I love that the Super Bowl has two women performing this year, that they have two Latinos performing this year,” J-Lo said in the interview that aired last September. “This is a marker of a new time, not just for the NFL but for the country.” “I’m honored, I’m humbled, to be next to J-Lo, representing the Latino community,” Shakira added. “It’s such an important force in the United States,” added Shakira.
The world was astonished when it was announced in 2019 that not only would Jennifer Lopez be headlining the halftime show, but also Shakira.
Both Latinas are two of the biggest names in music on one worldwide stage. And sharing the stage on this occasion seems to have been producer Jay-Z’s idea, so how could Lopez and Shakira say no? The two women spoke with ET Canada at the time of the announcement in 2019. Lopez said, “I love that it’s in Miami, it is a very Latino town.”
Who does Twitter think should join Lopez and Shakira on the halftime show stage?
Almost immediately after J Lo and Shakira announced they were co-headlining the event fans started buzzing that Pitbull is a MUST-HAVE guest on the stage too. Turns out some big wigs in Miami feel exactly the same way.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Pitbull’s camp has had talks with J Lo’s team and the NFL about making the guest appearance happen.
Pitbull in Talks with J Lo, Miami VIPs Pushing for Super Bowl Guest Spot https://t.co/Hqozz7bK3r
More than that, TMZ reported that honchos at Hard Rock Cafe International are pushing for Mr. Worldwide to get on the stage—Remember, the game’s being played at Hard Rock Stadium.
Everyone’s aware of the groundswell to have an authentic Miami artist to rep the city—and the obvious choices are Pitbull or Gloria Estefan.
Will Gloria Estefan make an appearance on stage during the Super Bowl 54 halftime show?
One Twitter user wrote: “Shakira is already bringing out JLo as a guest so that’s enough” another even speculated: “Beyoncé!” —do they want the stage to explode from all that star power? Tweeters also threw out Camila Cabello’s name a couple of times, as well as Gloria Estefan’s yet again.
It’s looking pretty likely the guest will be Pitbull.
Both singers have recorded duets with him, he’s from Miami, and he puts on a good show.
By now, the singers have laid out the songs they’ll be performing and the electrifying performances they have in store for the millions who’ll be watching. The fact that they have 30 minutes, tops, to do it all is even more bonkers.
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