As coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, famous actors, athletes and politicians have begun to test positive for the virus. Celebrities going public with their diagnoses has helped with destigmatization, and has put a face to the virus.
Many celebrities have shared the news of their diagnoses via social media and news conferences, and have been offering frequent updates on their symptoms and conditions.
Here is a complete list of public figures that have tested positive as of the afternoon of March 18.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Image via Tom Hank’s Instagram.
Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first to go public with their diagnoses. The Academy Award-Winning actor and his wife, went public about their diagnosis in a statement on March 11 while they were in Australia.
“We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,” Hanks said on his Instagram. “Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
They have since been released from hospitalization and are in self-isolation in order to avoid spreading the virus to others, and are “taking it one day at a time.”
Idris Elba
This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I’m doing 👊🏾👊🏾 No panic. pic.twitter.com/Lg7HVMZglZ
The actor posted a video on social media on Monday to announce that he had tested positive for coronavirus. “Listen, I’m doing Ok,” he said in the video, alongside his wife Sabrina. “I didn’t have any symptoms,” he added. Elba decided to get tested after he learned he had been in contact with someone who tested positive.
Rachel Matthews
Image via Rachel Matthew’s Instagram.
Actress Rachel Matthews best known as the voice of Honeymaren in Frozen II, shared her diagnosis via Instagram on Monday. The actress has been in quarantine since testing positive. “I’m feeling better,” she said. Matthews has been providing daily updates on her symptoms the past seven days, which have included sore throat, fatigue, shortness of breath, fevers, and loss of appetite.
Kristofer Hivju
Image by Getty Images, via Kristofer Hivju’s Instagram.
The “Game of Thrones” actor made the announcement that he had tested positive for the virus, along with his family, in an Instagram post on Monday. They have all remained in self-isolation since. “We are in good health-I only have mild symptoms of a cold,” he said. “Together we can fight this virus and avert a crisis at our hospitals.”
Olga Kurylenko
Image via Olga Kurylenko’s Instagram.
Actress Olga Kurylenko is best known for her role in the 2008 James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” and the “Magic City” television series. She posted on Instagram on Sunday to share the news that she had tested positive for the virus. “I’ve actually been ill for almost a week now,” she said. “Fever and fatigue are my main symptoms.” Kurylenko is still unaware of how she contracted the virus.
Kevin Durant
Image via Drake’s Instagram.
On Tuesday, the Brooklyn Nets announced that four of their players had tested positive for coronavirus, but refrained from naming who. Kevin Durant, went on to reveal that he was on of the four that had been infected. “Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” he said. “We’re going to get through this.”
Rapper Drake has reportedly been in self-quarantine since Durant tested positive. The two were seen hanging out last week.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Image Via Hudson-Odoi’s Instagram.
The Chelsea Football Club player tested positive for the virus, and said on Instagram on Friday that he had recovered, but is still following health guidelines, including isolating himself from others. “I’m feeling good and hope to see you all soon,” he captioned his video.
Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell
Image Via Rudy Gobert’s Instagram.
Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, stars of the Utah Jazz, became the first NBA players to test positive for coronavirus, leading the league to freeze its season. Gobert apologized for making light of the health crisis before his diagnosis. “I was carless and make no excuses,” he said in an Instagram post.
Mitchell told “Good Morning America” that he feels “fine” and has not shown any symptoms. He went on to say that the test was unpleasant and made him cry. In an Instagram post, Mitchell said he hopes that everyone is educating themselves and “realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well-being of those around them.”
Francis Suarez
Image via Francis Suarez’s Instagram.
Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, has become the first US elected official to test positive for coronavirus. “I feel completely healthy,” Suarez said in a video message. Mayor Suarez will remain in isolation, while governing the city remotely from home.
Suarez like other public figures has been posting daily updates on his condition. He has described a mix of symptoms including congestion, aches and cold sweats. The mayor decided to self-quarantine himself after he had been in close contact with a top advisor to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has also tested positive for the virus.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
Image Via Sophie’s Instagram.
The wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement from the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday it said, “She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild.” Trudeau himself has not shown any symptoms and will remain in self-isolation with his family, and work from home for the next 14 days.
Fiona Apple has been telling her fans that a new album is on the way for months now. Last Fall she teased a 2020 release date, in January she said she’d be ready “in a few months,” and earlier this month fans rejoiced when she finally announced she’d completed the long awaited LP.
Apple opened up in an interview with The New Yorker on Monday (March 16), about her fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters. In the expansive profile she reveals that the album’s title came from a line she heard from Gillian Anderson‘s character in the British crime drama, The Fall. Her character, a lead detective, calls for the bolt cutters to unlock the door to a room where a young girl has been tortured. “Really, what it’s about is not being afraid to speak,” she told writer Emily Nussbaum.
The album was recorded at her home studio in Venice Beach over the past few years, with the 13 tracks being described as “raw and unslick” and “percussion heavy.”
The article teases songs like “The Drumset is Gone,” “Ladies,” “On I Go,” and “Newspaper,” which features vocals from her sister Amber on a lyric that goes like “It’s a shame, because you and I didn’t get a witness, we’re the only ones who know!” The title track features harmonizing vocals from supermodel Cara Delevingne.
The track “For Her,” was written shortly after Brett Kavanaugh‘s Supreme Court nomination hearings and features the line, “Good Mornin’!, Good Mornin’! You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in.”
Apple also recalls her experience quitting cocaine after “one excruciating night” several years ago at Quentin Tarantino‘s house with the director and her then boyfriend Paul Thomas Anderson. “Every addict should just get locked in a private movie theatre with QT and PTA on coke,” she jokes, “and they’ll never want to do it again.”
The album still has no official release date, but we hope we get to enjoy it some time soon. Her 1999 album When the Pawn Hits... will be reissued on vinyl, replacing its original Paul Thomas Anderson-shot cover art. Read the entire New Yorker article here.
Don Toliver has proven himself to be one of the most promising and fastest rising Hip-Hop stars today. His much anticipated debut album Heaven or Hell, finally arrived and we couldn’t be anymore excited.
Heaven or Hell serves as the follow up to his 2018 mixtape Donny Womack. Since his 2018 mixtape, the Houston Rapper has gained more mainstream attention due to co-signs from Eminem, The Weeknd, and Travis Scott, who signed Toliver to Cactus Jack Records in August 2018.
Heaven or Hell spans 12 tracks and includes features from Sheck Wes, Offset, Quavo, and Kaash Paige, and boast productions credits from Mike Dean, WondaGurl, and Frank Dukes. The LP includes titles such as “After Party,” “Cardigan,” “Can’t Feel My Lungs,” and previously released “Had Enough” and “No Idea.”
Throughout the LP Toliver takes listeners on a journey of retrofuturistic R&B and psychedelic Cactus Jack Trap. One of the album’s standout tracks is “Euphoria,” which features Travis Scott and Kaash Paige. The melodic hip-hop track will take you on a euphoric trip, that lives up to it’s title.
Toliver will be supporting the Weeknd on his After Hours North American Tour, alongside Sabrina Claudio.
Harry Styles and his touring band stopped by NPR for an intimate Tiny Desk Concert featuring songs from his album Fine Line. The former One Direction member stripped things down in his peaceful and melodious four-song-set, that highlights his intimate songwriting abilities.
Styles, who is wearing a powder blue sweater with a chicken on it, and his band kicked the set off with an acoustic version of his song “Cherry.” Before jumping into his song “Watermelon Sugar,” he gives us some background and explains that the song was written during the tour for his debut album in 2017, during his day off in Nashville.
“It’s probably the longest it’s ever taken me to finish a song,” he went on to explain. “We kind of liked it when we first had it and then I really hated it for a long time and it kind of came back and it seemed to kind of kept coming back into the mix.” The songs title came from the Richard Brautigan book of the same title.
Styles goes on to describe the song as describing the “initial euphoria” that comes along with new love. The feeling and excitement can be felt from the unplugged version’s funky arrangement of a triple-acoustic guitar and angelic backing vocals coming from the band’s drummer, keyboard player, and rhythm guitarist.
Before playing “To Be So Lonely,” Styles introduced his guitarist and collaborator Mitchell Rowland whiling describing how the song was made, including the sad bit about everyone singing along the loudest during the line about him being an “arrogant b—–d.” The song has become a hit on the TikTok app.
The set ends with the song “Adore you,” which Styles says is about a fish. The song is actually similar to his previous songs about those first initial feelings that come with a new relationship.
Styles will begun his tour for “Fine Line” on June 26 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Styles is scheduled to perform three back-to-back shows at Madison Square Garden in New York, from July 6th through the 8th.
Thousands of people across the globe have been diagnosed with Coronavirus or COVID-19. As the virus continues to spread, many nations and states have declared states of emergencies, with some even going into lockdown. As the pandemic continues to grow in the US, organizers of large public gatherings are being forced to make a decision on whether or not to cancel or postpone their scheduled events. Major entertainment industries such as broadway, music, and sports have been forced to pull the plug on their events as states have begun to prohibit the gathering of large amounts of people. Governor Cuomo of New York has decided to close all places with a legal occupancy of 500 people or more. Places such as Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Avant Gardner, Webster Hall, Brooklyn Steel, Terminal 5 and more, will be closed until further notice.
Yesterday (March 12), was probably one of the heaviest days, as festivals, concerts, and music festivals seemed to be getting cancelled or postponed left and right. All Live Nation and AEG tours have been postponed until further notice. EDC Las Vegas will continue with their plans for May 2020, but officials are monitoring the situation day by day. Festivals such Lollapaloozza, Bonnaroo, Tomorrowland and Governor’s Ball which are all set to take place between June and July have not made comments yet.
It’s truly a sad time for the music world (and the world in general of course) as we are at the brink of festival season. Here is a list of festivals, shows, and tours that have been cancelled or postponed so far (as of the morning of March 13).
Festivals:
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: April 10 to 12, April 19 to 19 postponed to Oct. 9 to 11, Oct. 16 to 18
Beyond Wonderland SoCal: March 20 to 21, postponed until June 19 to 20.
South by SouthWest: March 13 to 22 cancelled
Ultra Music Festival: March 20 to 22 cancelled
Tomorrowland Winter: March 14 to 21 cancelled
Bassnectar’s Deja Voom: March 25 to 28 cancelled
Get Lucky Fest: March 13 to 14 cancelled
StageCoach: April 24 to 26, postponed until Oct. 23 to 15.
Big Ears Festival: March 26 to 29 cancelled
Days of Summer Cruise Fest: June 28 to July 1 cancelled
BPM Miami Festival: postponed
Treefort Music Festival: March 25 to 29, postponed until Sept. 23-27
Concerts & Tours:
Billie Eilish, Where Do We Go World Tour: postponed March dates
Blood Orange: cancelled March 2020 North American dates
Maluma, Maluma 11:11 WORLD TOUR 2020: Cancelled remaining European dates.
Kayzo, spring tour: cancelled
Jauz, Dangerous Waters Tour, remaining dates: postponed until further notice
Action Bronson: postponed upcoming tour dates.
Dan + Shay: postponed Spring tour leg.
Bob Dylan: Japan dates postponed until further notice
Iggy Pop, France Tour: postponed until further notice
My Chemical Romance, Japan Tour: postponed until further notice
Rage Against the Machine, first leg of tour: postponed until further notice
Pearl Jam, North American Tour: postponed until further notice
Madonna, Madonna X Tour: cancelled
BTS, Map of the Soul Tour-Seoul: cancelled
Green Day, Asian Tour: postponed until further notice
Zac Brown Band, remains dates: postponed until further notice.
Yes, US dates: cancelled
Rezz, Relentless Beat: cancelled
Ekali, select shows: cancelled
Wilco: postponed until further notice
Carlos Santana, Miraculous 2020 Tour, European leg: cancelled
Pussy Riot: postponed until further notice
The Who, UK and Ireland Tour: postponed until further notice
Courtney Love & Melissa Auf der Maur: postponed
Chris Stapleton: postponed next two weeks of dates
Kendrick Lamar has revealed he has a new project in the works, but it’s not what most fans were expecting. While most of us were hoping for a new album, Lamar has instead shared with us a teaser for his new company pgLang, with frequent collaborator Dave Free.
The Compton rapper made the announcement with a series of post as well as with a 4 minute visual mission statement. The short film is written and directed by Free and stars Lamar, Baby Keem, Yara Shahidi, and Jorja Smith, and features new music from Baby Keem, Florence Welch, and Kamasi Washington. “When you are identified with something your are not, it always leads to suffering and unhappiness,” a distorted voice tells us.
Upon visiting their website, we continue to learn that pgLang is a “service company,” specializing in music, film, television, art, books, and podcasts. Their mission is to deliver “stories that speak to many nations, many races, and many ages.” PgLang is a company comprised of writers, singers, directors, musicians, and producers that are breaking formats when building ideas to make them real.
“We embrace the idea of anarchy and challenges that make us stronger,” the statement continues “pgLang is focused on using our experiences, and nurturing our many collaborators, to build stories that are equally accessible and engaging and then fitting them within the best media.”
That is all Lamar has provided us with so far, but Free further explained that “in this overstimulated time, we are focused on cultivating raw expression from grassroots partnerships.”
