RNews offers you a summary of the week’s latest international entertainment news.
Taylor Swift is breaking records (again).
33-year-old pop sensation Taylor Swift’s reissue of her 2010 album, Speak nowhit global playlists with a bang.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) broke two Spotify records in a matter of days. After the album was released on Friday 7 July, it became the album that was listened to the most times in a single day on this streaming giant. It also became the most popular country album and currently reigns as the most streamed country album.
This is Taylor’s third reissued album, featuring Fearless (Taylor’s version) and Red (Taylor’s version) which hit the playlists in 2021.
Speak Now (Taylor’s version) ‘s 22 tracks took a total of 22 places on the Spotify US top-50 and 17 on the global top-50 on Monday. Dozens of her songs, from her new album and other albums, are on iTunes’ top-100, as well as on the Billboard top-100 and -200.
“Cruel Summer”, a song featured on her 2019 album, Loveris also ruling playlists after she released it as a single in June.
She is currently busy with a world tour that will probably break another record. The Erastour is ever popular and is sold out in every country she performs. It is predicted to soon cross the $1 billion mark, making it the most successful music tour ever.
Paper in Aretha Franklin’s bank actually will
A handwritten document that was found in one of Aretha Franklin’s couches a year after her death was her will all along.
A jury in Michigan in the USA decided earlier this week that this document, which caused a family dispute, is indeed a legal will.
The new will was drawn up in 2014, while the one that was considered the legal will until now was signed in 2010.
Aretha died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76 in Detroit, Michigan. A document with handwritten messages was found by a family member in Franklin’s house in a notebook between the sofa’s cushions in 2019.
There was immediately a dispute about which document should be her legal will. After five years, a court has finally decided that the youngest one is legal.
“I am very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be fulfilled. We just want to breathe now; it was a long five years for my family and children,” Kecalf Franklin, one of Aretha’s children, said after the court case.
Kevin Spacey begins testifying
The famous American actor Kevin Spacey took his place in the witness stand this week.
The 63-year-old House of Cardsactor faces 12 charges of sexual offenses and sexual assault. The court case already started two weeks ago in a court in London.
A jury heard the testimony of four alleged male victims before Spacey himself began to testify. Among other things, it was alleged that Spacey groped three of the men in an indecent manner and performed a sexual act on the fourth without consent.
Spacey maintains he is innocent. However, if he is found guilty, he faces possible jail time.
Britney Spears’ memoir on the way
The Woman in meBritney Spears’ long-awaited memoir, will hit the shelves on October 24 this year.
“It’s coming, my story, on my terms… finally,” the 41-year-old singer said on social media.
10.24.23 https://t.co/TTW2sQKl5X pic.twitter.com/66yE7Zccr4
— Britney Spears ???????? (@britneyspears) July 11, 2023
Spears inked the book deal in February of last year, shortly after her guardianship ended. The book promises to be a candid account of Spears’ experience in the entertainment industry.
Additional sources: CNBC, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety
