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Sting’s 1993 hit “Fields of Gold” still stands as one of his signature tracks and is celebrated as one of the timeless soft rock classics for its serene melody and poetic storytelling.

More than three decades after its release, the song was named among the 100 Greatest Soft Rock Songs by Amazon Music.

Joining fellow legends like Toto’s “Africa,” The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and others, the curated playlist features  100 of the genre’s most recognizable songs.

Sting, who himself wrote the song, shared how his 16th-century manor house in Wiltshire, England, with a view of golden barley fields, inspired him to create the song.

“In England, our house is surrounded by barley fields, and in the summer it’s fascinating to watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold,” he mentioned in his book Lyrics, as cited by uDiscover Music, adding, “There’s something inherently sexy about the sight, something primal.”

Sting during a performance in Belgium in 1991.

Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

With the field serving as a metaphor for a beautiful setting that creates a nostalgic feeling, “Fields of Gold” explores a love story through the stages of a romantic relationship.

Apart from serving as the song’s inspiration, the 16th-century manor was also the location where Sting recorded the single.

The musician transformed his dining room into a makeshift home studio.

David Sancious, Sting’s session keyboardist and guitarist in the ’90s, described it as “a live, in-the-studio recording.”

“There’s actually no overdubs on it,” he told Songfacts in an interview. “It’s a really simple song. Sting had a pretty simple demo. He played it on guitar for us and said he wanted a really soft synthesizer pad. It’s not meant to sound exactly like a string section or anything; it’s just a really a background. So that’s the four of us – Dominic Miller, Vinnie Colaiuta, Sting, and myself in the studio – and I think the synthesizer was a Roland from back in the day. That was super simple in the studio.”

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Over the years, the song has grown into an enduring masterpiece by Sting.

From its moderate success upon release, with the song peaking at No. 16 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 before eventually reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, “Fields of Gold” was the song that the Beatle legend Paul McCartney wished he had written.

“Paul McCartney says he wishes he had written ‘Fields of Gold,’” Sting mentioned on his Facebook, as cited by Farout Magazine. “There are more than a few of Paul’s that I wish I would have written. To hear this from someone I owe my life to is very special. Thank you, Paul.”

In addition, some of the famous covers of Sting’s song include Eva Cassidy’s stripped-down version, which gained massive posthumous popularity in the late ’90s and introduced the song to a new generation of listeners.

Related: 1967 Hit, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time,’ Was Written in a 19th-Century Spanish Home

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Nothing can rob a room of its aesthetic appeal like clutter. Scattered items can leave spaces feeling disarrayed, but even one stylish storage solution can make all the difference. That’s definitely the case with the Walsunny Bookshelf Organizer, a thoughtfully designed, four-tier shelving unit that adds both function and elegance to your space.

While it typically retails for $85 at Walmart, the shelf is a steal right now for just $35. If you’ve been searching for something that’s polished and makes smart use of your vertical space, this thoughtfully designed bookshelf is a great option that also happens to be a fit for a smaller room.

Walsunny Bookshelf Organizer, $35 (was $85) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

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The sleek structure stands 55.7 inches tall by 10.8 inches wide, with a depth of 15.6 inches. Each shelf supports up to 50 pounds, making the unit ideal for lining up books or displaying plants, framed photos, artwork, and other decorative pieces. A spacious fabric drawer at the bottom keeps smaller items out of sight. Because it’s so sleek, you can place it into narrow spots and snug areas easily. 

It’s built with a robust rubberwood frame for stability, with X-shaped bars at the back providing a robust structural support system. The feet are adjustable, and it comes with a convenient anti-tipping kit to ensure the shelf stays put no matter where you set it up. The trapezoidal silhouette adds a unique element to the overall design.

That aesthetic appeal is where it really shines. The warm, wood-inspired shelves and drawer contrast beautifully with the inky black frame, creating a rustic-meets-artisanal look that will fit nicely into virtually any type of interior layout. Whether you favor a more traditional look or lean contemporary, this will look right at home.

Related: Walmart’s ‘Very Cozy’ $21 Boucle Ottoman Doubles as an ‘Adorable’ Stool and Footrest

One shopper called it “super sturdy,” noting that it really saves space. Another reviewer described it as “beautiful and spacious,” “very pretty,” and “not hard to assemble.” On top of being easy to put together, it weighs just 22 pounds fully assembled — which means it’ll be easy to move from one room to another.

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The murderer is revealed before the detective even walks into the room.

That clever idea has kept Columbo entertaining since Peter Falk first put on the raincoat for NBC’s 1968 television movie Prescription: Murder. The question is never who committed the crime. It is how Lieutenant Columbo will catch someone who appears to have planned it perfectly.

The character existed before Falk took the role. Writers Richard Levinson and William Link introduced Columbo in a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show, with Bert Freed playing the detective. They later turned the story into a stage play as well.

NBC initially hoped to cast Bing Crosby, but he preferred retirement and golf. Falk proved to be the right choice. His Columbo appears distracted as he fusses with his cigar, talks about his unseen wife and wanders toward the door. Then he turns around with another question, usually after the suspect has decided there is nothing to fear.

Link said the raincoat, cigar and hidden intelligence were already part of the character.

“Peter brought the humanity to it and a lot of the humor,” the writer told Fresh Air.

A second TV movie followed in 1971, then Columbo joined The NBC Mystery Movie that September. Its rotating 90-minute slot gave each case time to establish the killer before exploring the slow contest between detective and suspect. A young Steven Spielberg directed the first episode of the regular series, “Murder by the Book.”

The villains were often wealthy, polished and certain that the rumpled lieutenant could not match them. Watching that confidence disappear became the real payoff. Falk won a total of four Emmys for his portrayal of Columbo, while the show earned another for Outstanding Limited Series.

TV Guide placed Columbo among its 60 best series of all time in 2013. By then, it had already returned on ABC, where Falk continued solving new cases years after the NBC run ended.

Its measured pace now feels refreshing, and knowing the killer never weakens the suspense. After 58 years, the fun is still in waiting for Columbo to notice the one detail everyone else missed.

Related: 1968 Charles Bronson Movie, Originally a Box Office Flop, Is Now a Major Hit 58 Years Later

Cue Forrest Gump when it comes to President Trump’s administration because “you never know what you’re gonna get.”

The 80-year-old commander in chief appeared to be fiddling around with AI during his Labor Day weekend trip, posting an apparently AI-generated photo of one of his most famous critics.

Frequent nemesis Rosie O’Donnell got a pass this time around, as fellow octogenarian Robert De Niro was squarely in his scope for the second time in recent months after Trump targeted him with a “Trump Derangement Syndrome” jab in July.

It’s not that the pair haven’t had their fair share of trading barbs before, but the latest Truth Social post appeared completely out of the blue.

After setting the internet abuzz by appearing noticeably different stepping off Air Force One for his weekend golf trip, the prez spent the holiday weekend floating “New America” as a new name for New Mexico and appearing to use AI to give the impression De Niro had joined Team MAGA with a T-shirt reading “TRUMP IS MY PRESIDENT.”

Trump captioned it, “Even this jerk is beginning to get it!”

Related: Trump Administration Debuts Online Cooking Show, Focused on Healthy ‘$5’ Meals

De Niro has been a staunch critic of Trump dating back to his first presidential run in 2016, controversially telling a get-out-the-vote campaign at the time, “He talks how he’d like to punch people in the face? Well, I’d like to punch him in the face.”

After Trump won the election, however, De Niro acknowledged that he had to “respect the position.”

Trump’s Truth Social post has garnered nearly 14,000 likes thus far, and the comments for the right-leaning platform are all over the map—from more AI-generated memes with former President Biden donning a “Trump” hat to other commenters simply agreeing that De Niro is a “jerk.”

In 1990, Ecuadorian-born singer Gerardo burst onto the mainstream music scene with his Spanglish smash hit “Rico Suave.” The catchy pop-rap was a Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot Rap Songs charts, and the Latin sex symbol was suddenly everywhere, from massive stages to The Oprah Winfrey Show, flaunting his six-pack abs, flowing hair, and megawatt smile.

But the one-hit wonder struggled to keep the momentum going after “Rico Suave” faded from the charts in 1991. So, he eventually put on a shirt and became a successful A&R exec for Interscope Records, launching the careers of other Latin artists, including Enrique Iglesias, per Rolling Stone.

But wearing a shirt wasn’t the extent of Gerardo Mejia’s transformation. In 1992, the heartthrob met his future wife Kathy, a model and recently crowned Miss West Virginia, and that began his shift from the stage to the pulpit.

Gerardo admitted to WOWK-TV in 2025 that “at the demise of my celebrity, I met, in Mexico, my wife now, Kathy Mejia. At the beginning, it was just about her outer beauty, and in time, you know, I just knew she was a beautiful soul, and she was meant to be for me.”

The couple welcomed three daughters. However, the two eventually separated because he was still trying to hold on to what he called his “‘Rico Suave’ lifestyle,” noting that it was “tough” being a family man while also being known as the “Latin lover” who used to sing about how women couldn’t “handle a man like me, that’s why I juggle two or three.”

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Gerardo eventually made the decision to leave fame behind, and he reunited with Kathy, who had already left Los Angeles for Ashland, Kentucky. In 2015, he moved there, too, and they started House of Grace Church, where he transformed from being known as a sex symbol to being known as “Pastor G.”

Of reconciling, Kathy told WOWK that it took “choosing to forgive a lot, every day.” She continued, “I’m so much happier now than I’ve ever been, which is crazy, because when we were young, we thought we were in love, but now we know. Now we really know.”

Today, the flowing hair is gone, and the abs are a little less defined, but at 61, Gerardo still gives his fans what they want now and then, posting shirtless pics as recently as July 31.

Meanwhile, the church has grown, which Gerardo is sure was divinely inspired, telling WOWK, “This was not just me and her who started this out. I mean, God has brought people into our fold.”

He marveled at how he’s now “able to speak from the pulpit” and be “accepted” by his congregation, despite his past: “I get to be myself.”

Part of Gerardo’s mission is to be a safe place for anyone in the community, and he prides himself on his church being a “congregation of youth, motorcyclists, those with addiction problems, homeless, older folks, professionals, blue-collar workers and Hispanics,” per Outreach magazine.

“A church is not a church if it’s not affecting the community,” he told the outlet. “If there’s no change, nothing’s happening, and I know there are needs here.”

Taylor Swift sitting atop the charts is basically old news at this point. When The Life of a Showgirl dropped in 2025, it landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its very first week. The album’s tracks also swept the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with “Opalite” and “Fate of Ophelia” both claiming the No. 1 spot.

But here’s what is news: Swift, 36, just hit No. 1 on the U.S. Country Radio Chart for the first time since “Begin Again” back in 2013. The song responsible? “I Knew It, I Knew You” — the track she wrote specifically for Toy Story 5.

In the three months since its release, the song has been on a record-breaking streak. On June 5, Apple Music announced that it was the biggest country single of 2026 on the platform, and that it broke Apple Music’s all-time record for biggest soundtrack single ever, based on first-day streams.

The leap from No. 4 to No. 1 just happened, and the country music star opened up about the song on Sept. 5 during the iHeartCountry House Party on Bob 94.9.

“I love that the lyrics of this song are really being delved into by the fans,” Swift said. “There are several lyrics that have more than one meaning to them. You only have so long in a song to convey, surmise, and sum up this entire film that people just watched. Sometimes you’ll try to have a double meaning in a line.”

She broke down the opening lines as an example: “The word daze is spelled ‘d-a-z-e’ in the lyrics, but you could also, if you wanted to, think of it as days, ‘d-a-y-s.’ You could perceive it as that. I thought of it as like a childhood daze — you look back, and you see this sort of blurry, beautiful memory that’s kind of blurry at the edges,” Swift explained.

It’s a small detail, but it’s also exactly the kind of thing that makes Swift’s songwriting so endlessly re-listenable — fans have spent months picking apart every line of “I Knew It, I Knew You,” and now, thirteen years after her last country radio No. 1, she’s proven that the genre that made her a star hasn’t forgotten her either.

On Sept. 7, 1943, Gloria Gaynor was born in Newark, N. J., and she went on to become known as the Queen of Disco. Today, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, the music legend celebrates her 83rd birthday.

Born into a musical family, the artist was exposed to singing at a very young age. Her father played the ukelele and guitar and sang professionally in nightclubs with a group called Step ‘n’ Fetchit, while her brothers formed an all-male vocal group. “There was always music in our house,” Gaynor wrote in her autobiography I Will Survive: The Book (2014).

Despite not being allowed to perform with her brothers because she was a girl, “All through my young life I wanted to sing, although nobody in my family knew it,” Gaynor admitted. Following in her dad’s footsteps, she eventually began to hit the stage at nightclubs before signing with Columbia Records in 1971.

With signature hits like “Never Can Say Goodbye” (1974), “Let Me Know (I Have a Right)” (1979), “I Am What I Am” (1983), and perhaps the most iconic, the No. 1 smash “I Will Survive” (1978)—one of the best-selling singles in history to date, having sold over 15 million copies worldwide—Gaynor’s powerhouse vocals transformed songs into global phenomena that transcended generations, cementing her as a timeless icon.

Decades after starting her career, she returned to the industry with the hit record I Wish You Love in 2002. The two singles released from the album, “Just Keep Thinking About You” and “I Never Knew,” both topped Billboard‘s Hot Dance Music/Club Play.

Away from music, she also acted on-screen in a few small roles during the ’90s, guest-starring on The Wayans Bros, That ’70s Show, and Ally McBeal.

Gaynor was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2018, according to the Opry. She received a Kennedy Center Honor in December 2025 for her lifetime achievements as a 2x Grammy-winning disco pioneer.

Across social media, fans marked the occasion with posts celebrating “a true legend who proved that soul and strength are eternal.”

Next, Original Member of Iconic ’60s Motown Girl Group From Detroit Turns 83

I love a viral food trend, especially when it involves turning something ordinary into something different and fun to look at. I also have a long history of making fun creations with fruit, so when I started seeing the viral dot fruit salad all over my feed, I knew there was a very good chance I was going to try it.

The trend feels like the perfect marriage of two things I already love: peak late-summer fruit and the viral dot cake trend, where desserts are covered in tiny, colorful dots. Except instead of frosting, this version uses itty-bitty spheres of fresh fruit.

I dug deep into my old food stylist kit and pulled out a teeny-tiny melon baller that I haven’t touched in years. I chose watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines and kiwi for a mix of colors, flavors and textures and then I got to work…

…which brings me to another thing that intrigued me about this dot fruit salad recipe: the dressing! Fruit salad doesn’t necessarily need dressing, but I loved the idea of leaning into the sweet-and-tart flavors with fresh lemon or lime, honey and maple syrup. It makes all that ripe summer fruit taste even brighter and turns a bowl of tiny fruit balls into something that feels like an actual composed dish.

Eye-catching? Absolutely. But there was one thing I didn’t anticipate: just how long I’d be standing there with that tiny melon baller. Here are my honest thoughts about the entire experience.

Related: I Tried the Viral 2-Ingredient Berry Cobbler—and It’s the Easiest Summer Dessert Ever

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

What Exactly Is the Viral Dot Fruit Salad?

The viral dot fruit salad is a fruit salad made entirely of teeny-tiny spheres of fresh fruit.

Instead of chopping watermelon, melon, kiwi and other fruits into chunks, you use a very small melon baller to scoop out little dots. Once they’re all mixed together, the different colors create an almost confetti-like effect.

It’s essentially the fruit salad version of the dot cake trend, and it’s incredibly satisfying to look at; which probably explains why it works so well on TikTok and Instagram. The finished bowl is colorful, whimsical and definitely has that “wait, how did you make that?” factor.

Related: The Secret Ingredient for the Best-Ever Berry Salad

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

The Reality Check: How Long Did It Actually Take?

Here’s where this TikTok trend lost me a little.

I was interrupted a few times while making it, but all in, it took me more than two hours to melon ball the fruit this small. And I wasn’t making enough fruit salad to feed 50 people.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

Because the melon baller is so tiny, you’re essentially scooping each individual bite of fruit one little sphere at a time. Watermelon and cantaloupe moved fairly quickly, but once I got to the nectarines and especially the kiwi, things became much more tedious.

So yes, it’s beautiful, but you’re going to have to work for it.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

Ingredients Needed

I saw so many variations of this recipe, but I went for the fruits I saw the most which were:

• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Nectarines or apricots
• Kiwi

And then I mixed together some citrus juice, honey and maple syrup to make a sweet and tart dressing.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

You can absolutely swap in whatever fruits you like, but after testing this myself, I’d recommend choosing fruits that are firm enough to hold their shape while still being soft enough to scoop.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

The Rules for Scooping Perfect Fruit Spheres

If you’re going to attempt a melon baller fruit salad, technique matters.

Grab your teeny-tiny melon baller and insert it deeply enough into the fruit that the entire scoop is submerged. If you only skim the surface, you’ll end up with half-spheres instead of those perfect little dots.

Once the melon baller is in the fruit, twist your wrist and arm in one smooth motion to carve out the sphere. Don’t just drag the scoop across the surface.

And be prepared for some trial and error. Some fruits are naturally well suited to a melon baller. Others? Not so much.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

How To Make the Viral Dot Fruit Salad

Start by washing and prepping all of your fruit. Cut the watermelon and cantaloupe open so you have plenty of flat fruit surface to work with. Halve the nectarines and remove the pits, cut the tops of the kiwis.

Using a very small melon baller, scoop tiny spheres from each fruit, working your way across the flesh and trying to keep the balls as uniform as possible. Transfer all of your fruit spheres to a large bowl as you work.

Continue scooping until you have your desired amount of fruit…or until you can no longer look at your melon baller without feeling personally victimized by it.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

For the dressing, whisk together fresh lemon or lime juice, honey and a drizzle of maple syrup. Taste and adjust until you have a balance of sweet and tart that you like.

Pour the dressing over the fruit balls and very gently toss everything together so you don’t crush the more delicate pieces.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until chilled.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

The Verdict: Is the Viral Dot Fruit Salad Worth It?

Unfortunately, I’m going to say no on this one.

It was SO time-consuming, and it turns out many fruits simply don’t like being balled the way a melon does. I couldn’t believe how little usable fruit I was able to get out of seven kiwis, and there were tons of awkward scraps and weird shapes left behind. I had purchased mangos for this as well, but they were too soft to even scoop into tiny balls.

Courtesy Jeanette Donnarumma

I did turn my leftover watermelon into juice, so that helped reduce some of the waste, but this still didn’t feel like the most efficient way to use beautiful summer fruit.

That said, I don’t think the entire concept needs to disappear. It was fun to eat, my kids loved it, it was almost like eating fruit cereal! I would try it again but maybe next time, make a version with a normal-size melon baller and stick with cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon. You’d still get that colorful fruit ball salad effect without spending hours creating hundreds of microscopic spheres.

As for my baby melon baller? After more than two hours of digging through fruit, I think she’s going back into retirement.

The viral dot fruit salad definitely falls into the category of cool to look at, fun to eat, but way too time-consuming and wasteful for me to make again.

Adorable? Yes. Worth spending an afternoon on? Sadly, no.

Up Next:

Related: I Tried the Viral Blueberry Grilled Cheese and It’s Basically a Charcuterie Board in Sandwich Form

Some songs feel far older than they really are.

Lefty Frizzell recorded “Long Black Veil” in Nashville on March 3, 1959, only days after first hearing it. Written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, the murder ballad tells its entire story from beyond the grave.

Its narrator is accused of killing a man beneath the town hall light. He could save himself by revealing that he spent the night with his best friend’s wife, but he refuses to expose their affair. He is hanged, leaving the woman to mourn him in secret beneath a long black veil.

Dill set out to write what he called an “instant folk song.” He drew from reports of an unsolved murder witnessed beneath a streetlight in New Jersey and the story of a veiled woman who visited silent-film star Rudolph Valentino’s grave. Wilkin helped him finish the plot, then brought the new song to a meeting with Frizzell.

Frizzell’s brother David later recalled the recording session in an essay preserved by the Library of Congress.

“Lefty didn’t just sing ‘The Long Black Veil’ that day, Lefty performed ‘The Long Black Veil’ that day,” he wrote.

The recording became a country hit, but the song soon traveled far beyond its original release. Johnny Cash included “Long Black Veil” on his 1965 album Orange Blossom Special, then gave it an especially memorable performance before inmates on 1968’s At Folsom Prison. Cash’s low voice and spare delivery suited a narrator carrying his secret to the gallows.

The song also found a home in folk, rock and bluegrass. The Band recorded it for Music From Big Pink, while Joan Baez, Burl Ives and many others made it part of their own catalogs. Rolling Stone later included it among the 40 saddest country songs of all time.

In 2019, Frizzell’s original recording entered the National Recording Registry. Nearly seven decades after it was cut, “Long Black Veil” still sounds like a tale handed down for generations, which is exactly what Dill hoped to write.

Related: 1972 Country Song, Covered by Reba McEntire, Became a Career-Defining No. 1 Hit

For Benmont Tench, the path to rock history required walking away from a very different future.

The longtime Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist turned 73 on Sept. 7. Before helping launch the legendary band in the 1970s, however, Tench was a college student who made a life-changing decision to leave school behind and return to his native Florida to play music with Tom Petty.

Born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1953, Tench began playing piano as a child and crossed paths with Petty while the two were still young musicians. After graduating from high school, Tench enrolled at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Music soon pulled him back home.

“I loved music from the day I was born, and from the moment that I seriously decided, ‘I’ve got to figure the piano out,” Tench told The Big Takeover. “I didn’t love practicing scales. I didn’t love trying to learn to sight read a classical piece. But I loved music, I loved making music, and I loved trying to write songs. So I knew I wanted to be a musician and/or a songwriter from a very early age. I didn’t know that I could actually make a living at it, but The Beatles showed up at the right time, and suddenly everybody had a band, and some of them were making it.”

Tench left college to join Petty’s band Mudcrutch, which also included future Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. The group eventually headed to Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, but its initial run proved short-lived. Mudcrutch released a single before breaking up in the mid-1970s.

The setback ultimately led to something much bigger.

Tench and Campbell joined Petty, guitarist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch to form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1976 and included future classics “Breakdown” and “American Girl.”

Tench’s keyboards became a crucial ingredient in the band’s sound.

Rather than constantly competing with the guitars, his piano and organ could slip around Petty’s vocals, adding everything from subtle flourishes to instantly recognizable hooks. His playing can be heard across the Heartbreakers’ catalog, including albums such as Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises, Southern Accents and Full Moon Fever, Petty’s solo debut on which several Heartbreakers contributed.

His talents also made him one of rock’s most sought-after session musicians.

Outside the Heartbreakers, Tench has recorded with an extraordinary range of artists, including Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Aretha Franklin, and The Rolling Stones. He eventually stepped forward with his own music as well, releasing the solo album You Should Be So Lucky in 2014.

“The Heartbreakers record songs quickly but we take our time in how long a period of time we have to sift over the songs because we have our own studio,” Tench told 13th Floor. “We have a little rehearsal space that has a good recording set up and a good sounding room. So we can go back and say, ‘Not sure about that one let’s try it again,’ But I literally had eleven days in which I had the studio, the producers and the musicians [to record You Should Be So Lucky]. So we had to go ahead and do it. It was really fun.”

Tench and his fellow Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, cementing the legacy of the band he helped build.

At 73, Tench’s career makes that early decision to leave college look particularly consequential. What began as a young keyboardist heading home to play in a Florida rock band ultimately became more than five decades of music history.

Related: 1978 Rock Song, Lasting Over 18 Minutes, Became a Major Hit for Toronto Band

Throughout the late ’60s and early ’70s, Canadian icon Joni Mitchell had established herself pretty convincingly as a titan of singer/songwriter music. With albums like her debut “Song to a Seagull” or her masterpiece “Blue,” Mitchell had proven her skills as a beautiful voice that could tear you apart with her lyrics. Heading into 1974, Mitchell had one more trick up her sleeve, and that was to become somewhat of a pop star with her most successful song yet, “Help Me.”

“Help Me” comes off of Mitchell’s most successful album to date, “Court and Spark.” Standout single “Help Me” landed Mitchell her only top ten appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a song that remains one of her most celebrated to this day, with it making an appearance on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list at spot 464.

The song is also a favorite of Prince, who was a consistent fan of Mitchell’s music. He would end up referencing the song in his 1987 song “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” where the Joni Mitchell song gets a shoutout as the titular character’s favorite tune.

Both songs share a major thing in common which is that they are both excellent. Of course, I’ll give the attention to “Help Me” here, which is one of my favorite soft rock tracks to come out of the ’70s. The song is pure golden sunlight. It’s the exact sound of the sun cascading over your skin with the windows down going forty miles an hour on your way to a day at the beach. There’s a warmth and happiness a lot of ’70s music captures so well, and “Help Me” is an incredible example of that.

Mitchell would go on to experiment more and more on some of the jazzier elements found on “Court and Spark,” which would eventually lead her to create my favorite album of hers, “Hejira,” which I may write about some day. One thing is for certain, when she wants to, Joni Mitchell can really put together a groove.

Related: 1975 Bob Dylan Classic, Ranked one of the Greatest Albums Ever, Invented the Break-Up Album

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There are only a handful of film franchises that can say they influenced pop culture and movies as much as Star Wars has. From its state-of-the-art special effects for the time, to its storylines and characters who are still quoted heavily today, no one was really doing it like George Lucas’ Star Wars films in the late ’70s and ’80s. And as you can imagine, demand for toys connected to a space opera adored by kids was through the roof—and has never really diminished since.

From the moment Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope came out in 1977, the merchandising opportunities were endless. And, again, toys for the new franchise were a no-brainer. The most notable toys to come out of this franchise at the beginning were from Cincinnati-based toy company Kenner, which created 3.75-inch-tall action figures of the legendary Star Wars characters. 

The demand was famously so huge for these toys that by Christmas of 1977, they were offering vouchers—their Early Bird Certificate Package—for their Star Wars figurines, per Ohio Magazine, which ended up saving the legacy of Star Wars action figures. Toy experts previously told Parade that Kenner’s Star Wars toys were not just one of the most popular toys of the 1970s, but of the 1980s as well.

With the massive success of these figurines, it makes sense that Kenner wanted to up the ante with the second film, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. But one prototype from this batch of toy ideation went on to live in infamy, never to be sold to children, but instead meant to break a Guinness World Record by 2026 for $1.3 million.

Read on for the story of the 1979 Kenner Star Wars Rocket-Firing Boba Fett action figure prototype and how it went on to be worth lots of money, breaking two records in two years.

Related: This 1950s Outdoor Toy Was Responsible for Thousands of Emergency Room Visits, But Stayed on Shelves for 3 Decades

How an Unreleased ‘Star Wars’ Toy Hit a Record-Breaking $1.3 Million Sale 2015 — A quality-graded and authentic rocket from a version of the Rocket-Firing Boba Fett action figure prototype that was never released in 1979.

Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

In August 2024, a very rare variation of the Kenner Star Wars Rocket-Firing Boba Fett action figure prototype from 1979 broke a record and set a Guinness World Record for the most expensive Star Wars action figure sold at auction. The figurine sold at Goldin Auctions for $1,342,000 and set another record for the highest price ever paid for a toy, action figure and non-prop Star Wars item.

We’ll explain more in a bit, but this was the only “J-slot” model of this toy to ever make it to auction, and as Guinness World Records reported, only 30 prototypes were ever made of this version.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, another version of the Kenner Boba Fett rocket-firing toy prototype sold for $525,000 back in May 2024, which broke the record at the time for the most valuable vintage toy. As UPI reported, this version was the Kenner 1979 “L-Slot” Rocket-Firing Prototype Boba Fett, which was one of 70 prototypes originally made.

Due to safety issues, neither one of these versions was actually mass-produced and sold to kids (or rather mailed to them, but more on that later, too). Even though 30 Boba Fett action figures are still rare for the “J-slot” model, it is thought that only three of them still exist. And the toy that was sold in April is the highest-grade out of the three, meaning it’s in the best condition.

Related: Historian Says This Gaming System Was the ‘Most Iconic’ Invention of the ’90s

Kenner’s ‘Star Wars’ Figures Were Some of the Most-Sought After Toys in the ’70s and ’80s A similar “Early Bird Certificate Package” for ‘Star Wars’ toys in 2005, mimicking Kenner’s original voucher program in 1977.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

If you were alive in the late ’70s, then you probably remember the hype around Kenner’s Star Wars action figures. They were so popular that Hasbro—who acquired Kenner in the ’90s—revived a handful of the retro toys in 2019, per Entertainment Weekly.

In a previous article on the most popular toys of each decade, avid collector of toys, video games and arcade machines, Scott Zillner—who is also the owner and founder of Toy Wizards—said that Kenner’s Star Wars figurines took over the toy landscape at the time.

“No toy has had more control over kids’ imaginations and their parents’ wallets,” he stated. “This single line conquered toy aisles for decades. Its small scale allowed the line to sell action figures and accompanying vehicles at affordable costs for every kid to have armies in the backyard.”

With Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back set to premiere in May of 1980, Kenner made plans for new toys they could launch along with the new movie. At the time, no one could have predicted the cult following that bounty hunter Boba Fett would have, but since he was appearing for the first time in this film and had a unique design, it made sense for the toy company to create a figurine for this character.

So in 1979, as Smithsonian Magazine reported, they set out to make a small Boba Fett figurine that had working missiles it could fire (made of plastic, of course). Kids wouldn’t be able to just show up to a store and buy it, though; the company wanted to use it as a giveaway prize that incorporated a similar concept to their certificate program. Kids would have had to purchase at least four other Star Wars action figures and provide proof-of-purchase seals to get the mailer giveaway. 

Jacob Miles, a former Kenner engineer who worked on their Star Wars toys, told Heritage Auctions that they made their action figures so small so that “a kid would want to have all of them.” But with a figure so tiny—again, 3.75 inches tall to be exact—the missiles would have to be even smaller. And this proved to be a safety issue and choking hazard for the children they were meant for, ultimately dooming the toy as a mass-produced product.

Related: The Force Is Strong With These 101 Most Epic ‘Star Wars’ Quotes Ever

Arthur Sidey/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

The Choking Hazard Controversy—Why Kenner Pulled the Rocket-Firing Figure

Boba Fett is a bounty hunter introduced in The Empire Strikes Back when Jabba the Hutt (and the Galactic Empire) sets a bounty on Han Solo’s head. He was mysterious—with a helmet that kept his face disguised in the only two movies he appeared in during the original trilogy—and just overall a cool character. So it’s no wonder he gained so many fans even though he only said a few lines between Episode V and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. 

And even though Boba Fett’s story has been thoroughly fleshed out now, thanks to several other Star Wars series and movies that show nearly every stage of Boba’s life, his appeal is still there and still considered cool as heck. This is maybe most evident in the fervor with which fans love Pedro Pascal’s “Mando”—aka Din Djarin in The Mandalorian—whose armor is designed in the same tradition of Boba Fett’s original look (his “father” was a Mandalorian named Jango Fett). 

Fett had a jet pack that could launch missiles as well as wrist gauntlets that did something similar. With a character as alluring as Boba Fett, and with such a fun weapon, Kenner wanted to create a toy that was more than just a figurine kids could use their imaginations with. They wanted to bring his rocket-firing capabilities to life. But that spelled doom for the figurine.

Kayleigh Davies—an antiques and collectibles specialist at Auctionet who specialized in toys for 15 years—recently listed this figurine to Parade as one of the most dangerous 1980s toys. 

“This is a toy that was never actually released, but I meet many people who claim to remember playing with it,” she shared. “Rocket-firing Boba Fett was advertised heavily on Star Wars toy packaging before his release, but the missiles were a choking hazard, and the final version had them fixed in place so they could not be fired. It was disappointing for the children who were eagerly anticipating the figure, but much safer.”

Related: Take Your Quiz Night to a Galaxy Far, Far Away With 103 ‘Star Wars’ Trivia Questions & Answers

J-Slot vs. L-Slot: The Technical Detail That Made This Figure Worth Millions

According to Goldin, the figurine that was sold for over $1.3 million was the Kenner 1979 J-Slot (Version 2) Rocket-Firing (Mailer) Prototype Boba Fett, and has a different firing mechanism than the L-Slot version. Reportedly, 100 prototypes were made, with 70 of them being the L-Slot model and 30 being the J-Slot ones. 

The L-Slots used the same mechanism that a competing Battlestar Galactica toy by Mattel had, and in January of 1979 it was recalled after a four-year-old child died from inhaling or swallowing one of the missiles, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). This happened while Kenner was “rigorously” testing the Boba Fett toy. So these were deemed “too unsafe,” and they had hopes that the J-Slot models would be safer and “harder to misfire the missile.”

Spoiler: it wasn’t safer. And due to the accumulating cost of creating these prototypes, on top of how much risk there was for harm to kids, Kenner just killed the project altogether. They instead made a Boba Fett action figure with his missile “welded” to his back.

There is a phenomenon called “Rocket Fett Syndrome,” where many Star Wars fans swear they owned a rocket-blasting Boba Fett figurine from 1979. However, again, that isn’t true, and none were ever sold. As Goldin reported, only Kenner employees had access to these prototypes and “only a few” left the sphere of the Kenner Quality Control team.

So, much like this galaxy far, far away, the idea of kids actually playing with a rocket-firing Boba Fett toy ended up just being pure (science) fiction.

Up Next:

Related: This Toy Defined Summer 1998—and Still Flies Off the Shelves Today

Sources:

• Scott Zillner is an avid collector of toys, video games and arcade machines, as well as the owner and founder of Toy Wizards.
• Kayleigh Davies is an antiques and collectibles specialist at Auctionet who has specialized in toys for 15 years.

Just three weeks after the death of her father, actress Gwyneth Paltrow met Chris Martin, the lead singer of the group Coldplay. While the pair began dating and growing closer, they would often listen to Coldplay music, which became a source of comfort for Paltrow. The song “Fix You” was inspired by Martin’s longing to continue to help her through her grief, and even composed parts of it on a keyboard gifted to Paltrow by her late father.

All four members of Coldplay contributed to writing the song, drawing inspiration from “Grace Under Pressure” by Elbow and “Many Rivers to the Cross” by Jimmy Cliff. The song was included on their album X&Y and released as a promotional single.

Following the song’s release in September of 2005, Martin called “Fix You,” “probably the most important song we’ve ever written.”

On the UK singles chart, “Fix You” peaked at number four but stayed on the charts for more than 122 weeks. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 59 and also charted on Billboard’s Pop 100 and Hot Digital Songs. The song also charted in Australia and Ireland, as well as the UK and the United States.

Over the years, “Fix You” has been subject to widespread acclaim from music publications and critics. Rolling Stone included it in their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” and Xfm included it on their list of “The Xfm Top 1000 Songs of All Time.”

A certified power ballad, “Fix You” has been included in multiple iconic performances and memorials. Coldplay performed the song at the One Love Manchester benefit concert in 2017 for victims of the Manchester bombing, and following Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ death, the band performed the song at a private service for the businessman.

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Related: 1989 Award-Winning Linda Ronstadt Cover Is Still a Beloved Hit 37 Years Later

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Swapping your summer clothes over for fall looks like a fairly easy task on paper — until all those chunky sweaters, thick jeans, jackets, and cold-weather layers need somewhere to go. A stack of tank tops barely takes up a shelf, but one oversized knit can seemingly claim half of it. 

Before resorting to stuffing sweaters under the bed, consider adding the Chvans Armoire Wardrobe Closet. Walmart has it on sale for $130, down 45% from its usual $240 price. The freestanding wardrobe gives clothes and accessories another place to live while bringing “farmhouse style” to a bedroom, guest room, or mudroom.

Chvans Armoire Wardrobe Closet, From $130 (was $240) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

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At 72.8 inches tall, 31.5 inches wide, and 19.7 inches deep, this armoire makes the most of vertical space while maintaining a relatively compact footprint. The upper compartment has a hanging rod for shirts, dresses, jackets, trousers, and cardigans, with additional open space underneath for handbags, folded jeans, shoes, or storage bins.

Below the hanging compartment are two separate drawers, each measuring 29.9 inches wide by 13.3 inches deep and 9.8 inches high. Their nearly 30-inch width provides plenty of room for bulkier folded pieces like sweaters and sweatshirts, while pajamas, workout clothes, scarves, hats, or other accessories could also be divided between the two drawers. Keeping hanging and folded storage together also eliminates the need to find room for both a separate garment rack and an additional chest of drawers.

Chvans Armoire Wardrobe Closet, From $130 (was $240) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

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The door is designed to make the cabinet more practical in tight spaces. Rather than a single large hinged panel that requires significant clearance in front, the folding, sliding barn-style door moves along the cabinet and folds as it opens. Magnetic closures help hold it securely shut, while the paneled front, metal hardware, and wood-grain finish give the functional storage piece a farmhouse look. It comes in white, black, and brown, making it easy to coordinate with existing bedroom furniture.

There are several smaller functional details built in, too. A USB-rechargeable motion-sensor light inside automatically turns on when the wardrobe is opened and switches off when it’s closed, illuminating the interior. Height-adjustable feet help stabilize the cabinet on slightly uneven flooring, while an included anti-tip kit allows anchoring for additional stability. The cabinet is constructed from medium-density fiberboard and arrives with numbered components, assembly tools, and step-by-step instructions to simplify setup.

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While it’s an obvious fix for limited closet space, this armoire’s usefulness isn’t limited to clothes. In a guest room, the hanging rod and drawers give overnight visitors somewhere to actually unpack. In an entryway or mudroom, it could become a dedicated coat closet with space for winter accessories. You could even turn it into a linen cabinet, hanging tablecloths or garment bags above and keeping extra sheets, blankets, and towels below.

Dubbed “stylish” and “spacious,” shoppers were “thrilled” with the quality of this furniture piece. “It’s sturdy and well-made, and thanks to its shelves, drawers, and hanging racks, it’s very practical for organizing clothes,” one shopper wrote. 

Related: Wayfair Has a 5-Drawer Dresser for 71% Off With ‘Plenty of Storage’ for Bulky Fall Sweaters and Jeans

Sweater weather shouldn’t mean sacrificing every last inch of closet space. Shop the Chvans Armoire Wardrobe Closet for $130 at Walmart while it’s 45% off and give all those fall layers room to breathe!

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As Autumn brings chilly crispness to the air, shifting from summer’s brightness into fall’s introspection, the astrological weather also shifts. If you were born in April, May, or November, this fall 2026 may be bringing the life-changing luck you’ve been waiting for.

Which Birth Months Attract the Spotlight in Autumn 2026?

Check the month you were born for insights below.

COMPATIBILITY: People Born in This Month Are Most Likely to Clash With You

April: It’s Time to Choose Yourself

If you were born in April, prepare for clarity. Autumn invites you to embrace meaningful self-liberation. A peak astrological activation occurs for you when the Harvest Moon on September 26 arrives. The universe urges this birth month to make a profound choice as the road forks into two potential roads. While you’re a fiery person, used to taking action, this autumn actually calls you inward. Getting radically honest about what you actually want versus what you’ve been told you should want might seem intimidating. However, on the other side is rooted authenticity.

The Harvest Moon traditionally illuminates what’s ripe and ready to gather. For Aries and Taurus natives born in April, the harvest is you. Your needs, your boundaries, your authentic desires. September’s full moon illuminates the part of you that asks: “Am I living for me, or for their approval?” The answer you receive is life-changing. You’ll explore options that ripple forward through the rest of the season, reshaping how you move through the world.

RELATE?: The Most Magnetic Birth Months Ranked

May: The Emotional Truth Emerges

The Hunter’s Moon on October 26 is a major turning point for those born in May. This full moon illuminates what you’ve been shelving in favor of what looks good on paper—the job that pays well but doesn’t feed your soul, the relationship that’s “fine” but doesn’t make you feel alive, the version of yourself you’ve been performing.

Known to cut through illusion, the Hunter’s Moon invites these Taurus and Gemini natives to confront a crescendo of suppressed dissatisfaction early on. Sit with that feeling that something needs to shift. Honor that you’re outgrowing old patterns. Fall asks you to prioritize what fulfills you deep down over what impresses people. The universe is handing you a permission slip to explore uncharted territory.

MORE: Your Birth Date, Your Signature Wine

November: Discomfort First, Alignment After

November-borns, your “autumn luck” is more complex—and ultimately more rewarding. As you enter the final month of autumn, Mercury retrograde and Venus retrograde will be active in your astrological life. This isn’t a time to launch projects or expect smooth waters. Rather, expect healthy friction. Restlessness may make you antsy. While pent-up frustration may feel, well, frustrating, it’s this feeling that gives you permission to overhaul everything weighing you down at once.

Don’t resist the shift. Your fall divine timing asks you what and who actually align with your core values. By mid-November, as these retrogrades begin to wind down, you’ll notice something: the misalignments are becoming impossible to ignore, and that’s exactly what you need. The universe gifts you a birthday gift: a new relationship with your true purpose and path. The discomfort is temporary. The clarity that follows lasts, bringing long-term growth and expansion.

UP NEXT:

When Arnold Palmer first started mixing lemonade into his iced tea at home back in the 1960s, he probably had no idea he was creating what would become one of the most recognizable drinks around. The combination sounds almost too simple: refreshing iced tea, bright lemonade and the perfect balance between the two. But sometimes the best things really are that easy.

Brands have been canning the stuff for years, making it super easy for anyone to grab that crave-able tea and lemonade combo. Palmer actually inked a deal with one company back in the early aughts to sell the beverage with his name, but others simply call their products with a nod to the ingredients. Think something like the Half & Half or Lemonade Iced Tea. And one such brand has found a way to make the drink a tad healthier while remaining delicious … and it’s available in Target.

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Halfday’s line of prebiotic iced teas are now available in roughly 1,100 of the big box store’s locations, as well as on Target.com. It also introduced a new flavor as a Target exclusive—the Strawberry Half & Half, which is a fruitier take on the lemonade-and-tea combo. It’s perfect for when you want to mix things up a little without straying too far from your favorite drink.

Halfday Prebiotic Iced Tea Strawberry Half & Half

Target

The Strawberry Half & Half isn’t the only thing that’s new—Halfday also introduced a lineup of 12-ounce slim cans which I personally love because they fit so compactly into my little beverage fridge. The shorter, regular-size Halfday cans are also 12 ounces each, so you aren’t missing out on any product at all.

Related: Sam’s Club Just Stocked a New Mouth-Watering Baking Must-Have That’s Packed With Fall Flavor

How Is It Healthier?

I’m as big a skeptic as anyone when a brand promises to deliver on a healthier version of something classic. For starters, the cans have less than five grams of sugar and 35 to 40 calories, which is fairly modest compared with many sweetened teas and other sugary canned drinks. But there’s also six grams of prebiotic fiber in each can, which can help support gut health by providing fuel for beneficial bacteria in your digestive system. All of this without losing the classic taste you know—having tried many of the flavors, each is delicous.

Essentially, if your usual go-to beverage is loaded with added sugar and doesn’t offer much nutritionally, swapping it for something with less sugar and some added fiber is a an upgrade. And you still get the familiar sweet-and-tangy taste of iced tea rather than feeling like you’ve settled for something virtuous but boring.

Related: Costco’s 5-Piece Stoneware Floral Baker Set Is Full of Farmhouse Charm

Morgan Freeman’s 1995 movie Seven continues to stand the test of time and remains a standout psychological crime film decades after its release.

In a ranking released by Collider, the publication ranked the eight Most Genius Mystery Movies of All Time, featuring films that left viewers guessing as they pieced together the clues.

Sitting at No. 8, Seven is a critically acclaimed thriller classic directed by David Fincher that offers a deeper examination of human depravity and the darker side of society rather than simply focusing on catching a serial killer.

The film follows the story of near-retirement senior detective Lieutenant William Somerset, played by Freeman and his co-detective, David Mills, a newly transferred detective played by Brad Pitt,  who are tasked with investigating a series of chilling murders linked to the seven deadly sins and eventually tracking down the serial killer known as John Doe.

Lead stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in the film “Seven.”

via Getty Images

The film’s unexpected ending reveals that the murders were part of John Doe’s trap, which he carefully planned from the beginning.

He positioned himself as “Envy” and provoked Mills into killing him, thereby making the younger detective embody “Wrath” and completing his twisted seven-deadly-sins plan.

According to producer Arnold Kopelson, he initially opposed Seven’s shocking finale but eventually agreed to it after realizing that it was necessary for the story to work.

“We attempted many different endings and none worked,” he told Entertainment Weekly, adding, “It needed this horrendous event to kick off the last sin, wrath.”

Moreover, the producer recalled how the director assured him that the ending would not include explicit imagery, such as showing Tracy’s head, but would instead leave much of the horror to the audience’s imagination.

Released in September 1995, Seven achieved mainstream success at the box office, grossing over $329 million worldwide against a production budget of $33 million, as cited by Box Office Mojo.

Decades after the film’s debut, Seven has remained an iconic film in cinematic history.

On platforms such as Rotten Tomatoes, the David Fincher-led movie received positive reviews from critics, earning an 84 percent Tomatometer score, which represents the percentage of positive reviews from professional film and TV critics.

Related: 88-Year-Old Morgan Freeman’s Latest TV Appearance Has Fans Noticing the Same Thing

Influencers have become a regular presence at major sporting events, but the 2026 US Open exposed an awkward question that comes with giving creators professional access: If they’re credentialed alongside journalists, should they also be expected to follow similar standards of conduct?

This question comes after Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, who made headlines earlier in the tournament with an Allen Iverson-inspired look, were among the players who complained about distracting behavior during the US Open. According to The Independent, the US Open also credentialed 100 content creators alongside traditional journalists and broadcasters this year. 

There’s no evidence that every disruption players experienced came from influencers, but the situation highlights a much bigger issue with the increasingly blurry line between creators and traditional media.

Related: Venus Williams Questions US Open After Record-Late Match Starts at 12:13 A.M.

Media Credentials Come With Expectations

A media credential isn’t simply a better ticket. Journalists receiving professional access are generally expected to understand where they can record, which areas are restricted and how to cover an event without interfering with it.

Influencer culture operates differently. Creators are often rewarded for making themselves part of the content, capturing exclusive footage and producing something compelling enough to stop people from scrolling.

That doesn’t make their work less legitimate. In fact, it’s likely part of why events want them there. Creators can reach millions of people on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, including audiences that may never consume traditional sports coverage.

But organizations can’t invite creators into professional media spaces without clearly defining what that access requires.

Influencers don’t need to become journalists. Their jobs are different. Professional conduct, however, is another matter. Rules about equipment, filming and behavior that could interfere with an event can reasonably apply to anyone carrying professional credentials.

And organizations have some responsibility here, too. If they’re actively courting creators for their audiences, they need to make those expectations clear rather than assuming everyone understands standards developed inside traditional journalism.

Related: Beloved Mom Influencer Known as Mama A Dies at 26 — What Happened?

The Line Between Influencers and Journalists Is Disappearing

Wimbledon has chosen a different approach. The tournament does not plan to introduce an accreditation category for influencers or content creators, The Independent reported, and its entry conditions restrict equipment such as ring lights that could interfere with spectators’ enjoyment.

But simply keeping creators outside traditional media spaces may become increasingly difficult.

Journalists now build personal brands and large social media followings. Traditional publications produce TikToks and Instagram Reels. Meanwhile, independent creators can have audiences larger than established media outlets.

The lines have already blurred.

That’s why the US Open controversy is bigger than tennis etiquette. The media industry has expanded to include people who don’t fit the traditional definition of a journalist, while many of the systems surrounding professional access were built for an earlier era.

The solution doesn’t have to be excluding influencers or expecting them to become journalists. But if organizations are going to credential both groups, they need clear standards for what professional access means.

The US Open didn’t create the collision between influencer culture and traditional media. It just made the unresolved problem much harder to ignore.

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Randy Travis officially has new music on the way. The country music legend announced on Friday, Sept. 4, that Same Old Way, a Warner Records Nashville release, is due out Nov. 13, marking Travis’ first album with new material in 18 years.

Taking to Instagram to share the news with fans, the Country Music Hall of Famer’s team wrote, “Following his 2013 stroke, fans and music industry insiders alike weren’t sure that a project like this would ever be possible again, but Randy continues to make history, and this album is living proof of that.”

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According to the team, Same Old Way is a collection of previously unreleased recordings spanning Travis’ career from 1986 to 2013, before Travis suffered a near-fatal stroke. To give fans a sneak peek into the album, they released the album’s title track on the same day as the record announcement (hear it below).

Penned by Travis with his longtime producer and friend, Kyle Lehning, it’s the only song the two have written together, and the first time Lehning has had a major songwriting credit.

“Lehning uncovered the tracks on this album after years of them being locked away in the vault,” the team shared. “He assembled, remixed, and remastered the recordings with Randy’s input, giving the world 12 more original Randy Travis songs and bringing back his iconic, irreplaceable voice that still holds to this day.”

In addition to the title track, Travis has thus far released “Fish On” and “I Don’t Care” from Same Old Way.

“We can’t wait for you to take a listen to the iconic, authentic voice of Randy Travis,” the team added, “and be sure to pre-save the album to be one of the first to listen when the album comes out!”

Preorder and presave are available at randytravis.com.

Related: ’70s Rock Legends Announce Massive Edition of 1975 Classic With 92 Unreleased Tracks

Colson Whitehead has spent the past several years chronicling the hustlers, criminals, dreamers, and strivers of Harlem across decades of a changing New York City. Now, he’s bringing that story to an end.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner returned this summer with Cool Machine, the third and final installment in his acclaimed Harlem Trilogy. Published on July 21, the novel brings furniture salesman and sometime fence Ray Carney back for one last adventure, and has already landed on BBC Culture’s list of the best books of 2026.

“Figuring out the characters early meant that I knew how people walked and talked from the first 100 pages,” Whitehead told The Harvard Gazette. “So 900 pages later, I know who Ray is, I know who Pepper is. That was very fun. You want to keep it fresh, which can be hard when there are nine different stories. I had to ask: Am I repeating myself? Is the 10th heist we see still exciting? How do I make it exciting? How do I go big in the ’80s? I had a list of names that I was assembling for eight years, all these character bits, character names, descriptions, moments of interaction, and really accumulating so much content. It was different in that way because I had a real volume of material that accumulated over time.”

Cool Machine picks up several years after 2023’s Crook Manifesto.

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This time, Whitehead moves the action into the 1980s, dividing the story among three periods: 1981, 1983, and 1986. New York is undergoing another transformation, with real estate development and Wall Street wealth beginning to reshape the city while many longtime residents experience a very different reality.

Carney has ostensibly found stability.

His furniture business is thriving, but when his wife, Elizabeth, can’t secure a bank loan to open a travel agency, he decides to pull off one last heist. The decision draws him back into the criminal world he has repeatedly tried, and failed, to leave behind.

His formidable longtime associate Pepper returns as well. In another section of the novel, Pepper ventures into the East Village art and club scene after accepting a bodyguard job, while the final portion finds Carney confronting unfinished business connected to his late cousin Freddie.

The book closes a story Whitehead began with Harlem Shuffle in 2021. That novel followed Carney through the 1960s, while Crook Manifesto moved into the increasingly turbulent New York of the 1970s. Together, the three books use crime stories to trace more than two decades of change in Harlem and across the city.

“[Carney] grew up poor and has these dreams of being solidly middle class, being a good family man, having a nice home, having a legit business,” Whitehead told NPR. “But there’s a voice in the back of his head that’s always saying, let’s do some crimes. And so over the trilogy, he embraces, he runs away from that voice. And in the third book, the final book, he’s, you know, trying to integrate these two different halves of himself.”

Cool Machine also arrives with an extraordinary literary pedigree. Whitehead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice, first for 2016’s The Underground Railroad and again for 2019’s The Nickel Boys. The Underground Railroad also earned the National Book Award.

With Cool Machine, Whitehead brings another ambitious chapter of his career to a close.

“In Cool Machine, we do get some of the structural corruption, but it’s also an epilogue in a way,” Whitehead told Defector. “I’m wrapping things up. I’m dealing with the fallout from Freddie’s death in the first book, and saying goodbye to Carney and Pepper and the supporting cast. While we are dealing with a more structural malfeasance in the third section of Cool Machine, it is also a return to various themes and ideas from the early part of the series so that we can say goodbye.”

Its inclusion among BBC Culture’s best books of 2026 suggests the Harlem Trilogy is ending much as it began, with one of America’s most decorated novelists turning New York’s criminal underworld into something much bigger.