Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Luke Combs leads the 2024 ACM
Awards nominations
Luke Combs leads the nominees for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nods to his name, it was announced Tuesday.
For a fifth year in a row, he’s up for both male artist of the year and the top prize, entertainer of the year.
The 59th annual ACM Awards will take place on May 16 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.
Combs’ eight nominations includes a first-time nomination for Tracy Chapman. His cover of her “Fast Car” is up for song of the year, a category that recognizes songwriters and publishers in addition to artists. Last year, Chapman’s 1988 song won song of the year at the Country Music Awards for Combs’ cover, making her the first Black songwriter to win in the category.
At the 2024 ACM Awards, Megan Moroney and Morgan Wallen closely follow Combs’ nominations with six each, while Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson are tied with five.
Jordan Davis and Jelly Roll have four nominations.
This is Jelly Roll’s first-time receiving ACM nominations; he’s up for entertainer of the year, male artist of the year, single of the year (for “Need a Favor,” which won big at the CMT Music Awards last week), and music event of the year, for “Save Me” featuring Wilson.
The last time a musician was up for entertainer of the year in his first round of ACM awards nominations was Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992.
Women were left out of the top category save for Wilson. Few women have been awarded the title: Miranda Lambert received it in 2022. In 2020, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the title, the first time ever for a tie and the first time a woman had won the category since Taylor Swift in 2012.
Also nominated for entertainer of the year are Wallen, Kane Brown, Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton.
In 2021, Wallen was declared ineligible by the ACMs after he was caught on camera using a racial slur. In 2022 and 2023, he received four nominations. On Monday, he was arrested after police say he threw a chair off the rooftop of a newly opened six-story bar in downtown Nashville.
No women are nominated in the artist-songwriter of the year and single of the categories. Kelsea Ballerini’s “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)” is the only album performed by a woman in the album of the year category.
It also includes Combs’ “Gettin’ Old,” Stapleton’s “Higher,” Johnson’s “Leather,” and Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time.”
The 2024 ACM Awards will stream on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. EDT. A red carpet feed will become available on Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch and Amazon Live at 7 p.m. EDT.
Rare copy of
Superman comic sells for $6M
NEW YORK | A 1938 copy of the comic that first “introduced Superman to the world” has sold for a record-setting $6 million, the auctioneer that handled the purchase said last week.
According to Heritage Auctions, the rare copy of Action Comics No. 1 was sold to an anonymous buyer on Thursday. The $6 million price tag makes the book the most expensive comic to ever sell at auction, the action house added.
Heritage Auctions hails Action Comics No. 1 as “the most important comic ever published” — noting that the Superman who first appeared in the 1938 spring issue “remains remarkably like” the version still seen in comic strips and on the big screen today. In addition to the Man of Steel’s first appearance, the book also introduced central love interest Lois Lane.
A report from comic book grading service Certified Guaranty Company, cited by Heritage Auctions, estimates that there are only 100 surviving copies of Action Comics No. 1 today — out of 200,000 that were printed by National Allied Publications, the predecessor to DC Comics.
The copy sold last week, which comes from the Kansas City Pedigree, has a “Very Fine+” CGC rating of 8.5 — with only two other unrestored issues of grading higher, Heritage Auctions noted.
Although not as high as $6 million, other rare copies of Action Comics No. 1 have also gone for millions at auction in recent years, including a 6.0-rated issue that sold for $3.56 million through ComicConnect last year.
Thursday’s record sale surpasses the previous titleholder of the most expensive comic book to ever be sold — which was a copy of another Superman-starring comic, Superman No. 1, that sold privately for $5.3 million in 2022, according to CGC.
The Action Comics No. 1 sale was part of a four-day comic auction event that featured several big-name superheroes and rare comics featuring them. The event realized more than $28 million by its end on Sunday, according to Heritage Auctions.
George Lucas to receive honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival
George Lucas will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival next month, festival organizers announced Tuesday.
Lucas will be honored at the closing ceremony to the 77th French film festival on May 25. He joins a short list of those to receive honorary Palmes. Last year, Harrison Ford, a regular leading man for Lucas in “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” was awarded one. Other recent recipients include Michael Douglas, Tom Cruise, Forest Whitaker and Jodie Foster.
“The Festival de Cannes has always held a special place in my heart,” Lucas said in a statement. “I was surprised and elated when my first film, ‘THX-1138,’ was selected to be shown in a new program for first time directors called the Directors’ Fortnight. Since then, I have returned to the festival on many occasions in a variety of capacities as a writer, director and producer. I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me.”
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25. The closing ceremony, during which the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, will be awarded to one of the films in competition, will be broadcast in France on France Télévisions and streamed on Brut.
Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to hit No. 1 on Billboard country albums chart
NEW YORK | Beyoncé has made history once again. Her latest album, the epic “Act ll: Cowboy Carter”, hit No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception.
The album also topped the all-genres Billboard 200, marking her eighth No. 1 album. According to Luminate, the industry data and analytics company, “Cowboy Carter” totaled 407,000 equivalent album units, a combination of pure album sales and on-demand streams, earned in the U.S. in its first week.
As a Black woman reclaiming country music, Beyoncé stands in opposition to stereotypical associations of the genre with whiteness. Conversation surrounding Beyoncé’s country music explorations began when she arrived at the 2024 Grammy Awards in full cowboy regalia — making a statement without saying a word. Then, during the Super Bowl, she dropped two hybrid country songs: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” eventually leading to the release of “Cowboy Carter.”
In February, “Texas Hold ‘Em” reached No. 1 on the country airplay chart, making her the first Black woman to top that chart as well.
—From AP reports
