Decades later, gay country pioneers Lavender Country return

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter two years of pandemic-induced shutdown and Omicron-postponed reopenings in December and January, Iridium, the downstairs music club in New York’s Times Square known as the “home of Les Paul,” is finishing the second week of its grand reopening, which launched on March 1 with a performance by the Harlem Blues Project, followed by four shows with a fiery jazz-rock band led by guitarist Mike Stern (featuring the great Randy Brecker on cornet), blues guitarist King Solomon Hicks, veteran folksinger Tom Rush and tonight and Saturday, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and jazz guitarist Larry Carlton, including sets focused on his extensively 1970s work with Steely Dan.The unusually intimate (for New York, anyway) 170-capacity downstairs club, which has updated its cleaning procedures and air-filtration system, returned with a full menu (including entrees like “The Les Paul” burger and the plant-based “Jerry Garcia”) a robust wine list and many (potent) specialty cocktails. The club is also launching Iridium Underground, a new series focused on emerging artists, next week with Brooklyn-based guitarist-producer Mario and the Mood.

Christopher Vourlias From the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker David France (“How to Survive a Plague”) could sense the scale of the threat looming on the horizon. A long-time health reporter who has spent decades documenting the battle against HIV and AIDS, he also knew that it would be up to science to lead the world from the brink of an unprecedented human catastrophe.The race to develop and rollout a COVID-19 vaccine has been the defining story of recent memory, and it was the director’s need to document “the great unseen work” performed in laboratories across the world that led to his latest feature, “How to Survive a Pandemic.” “This is the largest scientific undertaking of our lifetimes,” France tells Variety, “and it deserved to be chronicled.” “How to Survive a Pandemic,” which world premieres this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, is a kaleidoscopic portrait of the world’s response to COVID-19 told through the eyes of leading scientists, lawmakers, activists, healthcare workers, and everyday figures on the pandemic’s frontlines.

fan favorites Ariela and Biniyam are returning for season 9, and in the trailer that dropped on Thursday, the drama between Ariela and Biniyam's sisters leads to a jaw-dropping moment.Ariela and Biniyam had plenty of issues to work through during their journey that started on, but are deciding to stay together. In the trailer, 31-year-old Biniyam, who hails from Ethiopia, decides to go to New York City to be with 30-year-old Ariela and he comments that it's «a new world» for him.

Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, sent a letter to the judge ahead of Jussie Smollett's sentencing in his disorderly conduct case and implored the judge to have mercy on the actor and find an alternative to incarceration.In the letter, dated Feb.

NEW YORK -- Melissa Etheridge says the star-studded Love Rocks NYC benefit, the annual concert for the nonprofit God’s Love We Deliver, is exactly the kind of fundraiser she wanted to join.“I’ve wanted to be involved in this wonderful, wonderful project that has just done so much for so many for so many years,” the Grammy-winning “I’m the Only One” rocker said.This year’s Love Rocks, which takes place at The Beacon Theatre in Manhattan on Thursday night, boasts enormous star power – including headliners Etheridge, Keith Richards, with his “other” band The X-Pensive Winos, Mavis Staples, and others, as well as hosts including Kiefer Sutherland and Mario Cantone. But for Karen Pearl, God’s Love We Deliver’s president and CEO, what this one night generates for her group year-round is what makes it even more special.After two years of audiences limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event is back at full force.

Conrad Janis, a prolific character actor of TV, film and stage who had already become immediately recognizable even before landing his signature role opposite Robin Williams and Pam Dawber in the hit ’70s sitcom Mork & Mindy, died March 1 in Los Angeles. He was 94.

Al Pacino is opening up about his breakthrough role in "The Godfather" 50 years since its release. Pacino, now 81, rocketed to stardom after his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1972 mafia film, a role he landed after having participated in just one movie prior, 1971's "The Panic in Needle Park." He was, however, a rising star in New York theater at the time and a recipient of a Tony award. Although he will always be known as the legend who played Michael Corleone, Pacino said when director Francis Ford Coppola approached him about taking on for the role, he didn't take it seriously.

Warner Mack was a country singer and songwriter known for hits including “Is it Wrong (For Loving You)” and “The Bridge Washed Out.”Mack was just 13 years old when he wrote the song that would become his first hit. But he didn’t record “Is it Wrong (For Loving You)” until almost 10 years later, in 1957. Mack made it to the top ten of the country music chart with his debut single, and “Is it Wrong (For Loving You)” became a standard of the genre, charting again in cover versions by Webb Pierce in 1960 and Sonny James in 1972.

Once a doctor, always a doctor. Sarah Drew made it clear that her season 17 appearance on Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. April Kepner might not have been her final bow.

Ellise Shafer Ryan Adams has announced his first show since he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in 2019. Set for May 14, the concert will take place at New York’s Carnegie Hall — in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage — and is presented by Metropolitan Entertainment. Adams revealed the details via an Instagram story.In February 2019, the New York Times reported that seven women, including Phoebe Bridgers and Adams’ ex-wife Mandy Moore, said that he offered to help them with their careers and then began to pursue them romantically.

Huntergirl definitely impressed the “American Idol” judges during Sunday’s 20th season premiere.

Katy Perry is hitting the streets of New York City!

As the surge of Covid infections in December and January due to the Omicron variant continues to recede, media and entertainment companies are starting to update their return-to-office plans.

Drew Barrymore is putting in the work. The actress says she is proud of herself for working up the courage to start dating again, and while her first try didn’t go as expected, Drew is definitely making progress.During a recent episode of ‘The Drew Barrymore Show,’ the host detailed a recent encounter she had with a man she saw while going on a walk in New York City.The Hollywood star said she was in Central Park over the weekend and noticed a man who “was really cute,” so she decided to start following him.“I was wearing a full balaclava so the only thing that’s out is my peepers,“ she explained, adding that she approached the mystery man and said, “Hi, I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”Drew asked him if he was single, to which he responded hesitant, so she asked “are you gay?” adding that she has “no gaydar” and because she is “so gay man adjacent and everyone around me is gay and I always fall for the wrong guy.”So when the man said “no,” she went on to remove her hood and balaclava, however he didn’t recognize her.

Rihanna, 33, looked thrilled as she glowed during her latest outing with A$AP Rocky. The pregnant singer and the rapper took the time to enjoy a meal together at Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica, CA and she wore a long red leather coat-style dress with a hood and matching strappy open-toe shoes. She also rocked hoop earrings and classic makeup that included a red shade of lipstick.

Kerry Chater, the bassist and co-founder of ’60s hitmakers Gary Puckett & the Union Gap who went on to score multiple country hits as a songwriter, has died. He was 77.

dangerous and possibly unconstitutional “Don’t Say Gay” bill gathers nationwide attention and condemnation – making it more likely to be passed and signed into law by Republican governor and rumored 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, another Republican is dusting off his own “Don’t Say Gay” bill to push his “Christian values” agenda.Tennessee state Rep. Bruce Griffey says if schools are forcing him to teach Christian values at home because they won’t teach them in the classroom, they should not be allowed to “promote” what his legislation calls “LGBT issues or lifestyles.”“The state of Tennessee is not allowed to teach my daughters Christian values that I think are important and they should learn, so I teach those at home,” Rep.

Emily Longeretta “Law & Order” is bringing back yet another familiar face. While NBC previously announced that Sam Waterston and Anthony Anderson will both be reprising their roles of D.A.