Latest news with #Superfly
Express Tribune
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Rick Ross flaunts massive backyard pool inspiring business success and film productions
Rapper and entrepreneur Rick Ross owns one of the largest backyard pools in the United States, located on his 300-acre Atlanta estate, The Promise Land, CNN reports. The massive pool holds about 350,000 gallons of water and requires a four-person crew from Georgia Plaster and Tile to maintain. Speaking to CNN, Ross said he enjoys both his Atlanta pool and Miami's ocean, often swimming during the summer and using the pool for morning meditation. 'I love being in the water… Shout out all the Aquariuses,' he said. Ross has turned his pool into more than a personal retreat. The property has served as a filming location for productions such as the 2018 remake of Superfly and the 2021 sequel to Coming to America. He also hosts an annual car show and pool party, which he says are designed to inspire younger generations by showing what can be achieved through hard work and determination. In addition to leading Maybach Music Group, Ross has expanded his business interests to include multiple Wingstop franchises, a partnership with Luc Belaire sparkling wine, and an investment in Rap Snacks. At a recent pool party, Ross mingled with guests, posed for photos, and poured drinks, creating what attendees described as a welcoming and motivational environment. Brad Baker, who traveled from Greenville, South Carolina, said the rapper's energy is consistently positive and encourages others to build financial success. Ross jokingly calls the pool 'Wet Wet' and credits it as a creative spark. 'That's the ghost writer… There's no way you gonna come out here and not be inspired,' he said.
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Dana Carvey talks 'delicate' process of playing mentally 'compromised' Biden on 'SNL'
Dana Carvey is looking back on the "delicate" process of spoofing former President Joe Biden. The comedian, 70, chatted with Julie Bowen in an episode his "Fly on the Wall" podcast released June 26 about impersonating Biden during the 50th season of "Saturday Night Live." The "Modern Family" star asked Carvey if he has any regrets about the impression "now that you know that Biden is severely diminished," referring to reports about the 46th president's alleged cognitive decline. "I knew that he was compromised mentally," Carvey said. "I mean, it was obvious. But it was a delicate thing in the comedy world. A lot of people did not want to do anything that would ding him in an awkward way." Bowen objected to that notion, shooting back, "But it's comedy!" The "Wayne's World" star agreed and defended the impression by explaining his approach. "If I can make Biden funny to everybody, then I am where I want to be, and to make it funny, it had to be recognizable," he said. Still, Carvey noted there are "certain things I did not include" in the impersonation. He went on to add that it was a "real challenge" to make the Biden impression "acceptable." Carvey's podcast cohost David Spade also argued that it was "easier to make fun of" Biden while he was in office, as opposed to if he were a private citizen. "Once he's president, then he's more fair game," Spade said. Carvey debuted as Biden on "SNL" opposite Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris in September, two months after Biden exited the 2024 presidential race due to concerns about his mental fitness. He continued to play Biden on "SNL" during the lead-up to the election. Dana Carvey talks 'top secret' Biden role on 'SNL': 'I've kept it under wraps for weeks' Carvey, who previously starred on "SNL" from 1986 to 1993, told Bowen he "fell in love" with his Biden impression, which took two years to perfect. The initial versions depicted him as "sweet," but the impression lacked "pop or energy," he explained. Then, Carvey added, "I heard him whisper and yell, and I thought, 'Oh, here we go.'" Dana Carvey's Church Lady returns to 'SNL' with David Spade as Hunter Biden Carvey also revealed that Biden's staff told him they loved the impression and even invited him to the White House for lunch, but the meeting never happened. Carvey previously broke down his role as Biden on his "Superfly" podcast in September, saying he felt there was a lack of Biden impressions out there in comparison to impressions of Trump. "Biden is trickier," he said.
Boston Globe
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Jonathan Mayers, a founder of the Bonnaroo music festival, dies at 51
Mr. Mayers grew up outside New York City, and after graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1995 got his start in that city's storied music scene. He worked with Tipitina's, the nationally famous music venue, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, known as Jazz Fest. In 1996, he joined Rick Farman, Kerry Black and Richard Goodstone to found Superfly, a music promotion company. Their first concert, in New Orleans, featured the Meters, a venerable funk band; saxophonist Maceo Parker; and the Rebirth Brass Band. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Bonnaroo started in 2002, the result of Superfly's partnership with Ashley Capps, of concert promotion company AC Entertainment, and Coran Capshaw, founder of Red Light, a music management and promotion company. The festival's name was inspired by the Dr. John 'Desitively Bonnaroo,' meaning roughly 'a really good time' or 'good stuff' in Louisiana slang. Advertisement Without the help of newspaper, television or radio advertising, the Bonnaroo organizers sold some 70,000 tickets to the three-day event (it later expanded to four), held on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn. Bonnaroo was a virtual Woodstock for the jam-band set, with performances by the likes of Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, the band Widespread Panic and Trey Anastasio of Phish. Advertisement The following year's festival expanded the offerings, with appearances by James Brown, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Jamaican reggae group Toots and the Maytals, and New York noise-rockers Sonic Youth. With most festivalgoers camping on-site in the remote location about an hour from Nashville, the vibes were good. 'Music fans at rock festivals are, by and large, abused by sound, security, visibility, parking, aggressive advertising and ugly surroundings,' music critic Ben Ratliff wrote of that year's event in The New York Times. 'But the organizers of the Bonnaroo festival -- built on jam-band rock and expanding that genre beyond recognition -- are aiming much higher.' Ratliff added, 'This is mostly a festival of backpackers: the world of peaceful collegiate rebellion.' Bonnaroo was an 'escape from reality,' Mr. Mayers said in a 2014 interview with Tastemakers Music Magazine: 'You're not going back home; you're totally immersed in the experience. It kind of feels like summer camp to me.' It has since become an institution, with recent incarnations featuring Post Malone, Stevie Nicks, Tool and Kendrick Lamar. (This year's gathering was canceled midway through because of heavy rains and flooding.) For three years, starting in 2005, Superfly and AC Entertainment also ran a Las Vegas variation called Vegoose, held over Halloween weekend. The festival, which had its own wedding chapel and lured an array of bands including Daft Punk, Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine, drew 35,000 or so spectators to various locations in the city. In 2008, Mr. Mayers and Superfly partnered with Another Planet Entertainment, based in Berkeley, Calif., to create a new festival called Outside Lands. Advertisement Radiohead, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Jack Johnson headlined the first year's gathering, which sold more than 130,000 tickets and grossed $11.1 million, according to a 2023 article posted by concert data company Pollstar. 'When you're enveloped in the fog, it feels like you're a million miles away from everything,' Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica, which headlined the festival in 2012 and 2017, was quoted as saying in the article. Headliners in recent years have included Tame Impala, Lizzo, Green Day and Sabrina Carpenter. Mr. Mayers also ventured into comedy. He and the Superfly team partnered with Comedy Central in 2017 to produce Clusterfest, an indoor-outdoor comedy and music festival in San Francisco featuring heavyweights like Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman and Kevin Hart. The event was held again in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, Mr. Mayers left Superfly. The next year, he sued his ex-partners, accusing them of breach of contract and fraud. His lawsuit was dismissed in 2023. No information about his upbringing or survivors was immediately available. 'When we launched Bonnaroo in 2002, almost no one thought a rock festival was a smart thing to do in the United States,' Capps said in an interview. 'There had been some great festivals, like Woodstock, and of course a history of jazz and bluegrass festivals, but rock festivals had a mostly checkered past. 'The fact that it sold out in 10 days by word of mouth -- it was a game changer.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Jonathan Mayers, a Founder of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, Dies at 51
Jonathan Mayers, a founder of the Bonnaroo music festival, a star-studded annual extravaganza held on a poplar-dotted Tennessee farm, and Outside Lands, a three-day musical gathering in the foggy mists of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that has been called a love letter to its host city, has died. He was 51. His death was confirmed in a social media post by Outside Lands. The post did not say where he died or cite a cause. Mr. Mayers grew up outside New York City and, after graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1995, got his start on that city's storied music scene. He worked with Tipitina's, the nationally famous music venue, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, known as Jazz Fest. In 1996, he joined Rick Farman, Kerry Black and Richard Goodstone to found Superfly, a music promotion company. Their first concert, in New Orleans, featured the Meters, the venerable funk band; the saxophonist Maceo Parker; and the Rebirth Brass Band. Bonnaroo started in 2002, the result of Superfly's partnership with Ashley Capps, of the concert promotion company AC Entertainment, and Coran Capshaw, the founder of Red Light, a music management and promotion company. The festival's name, inspired by the Dr. John song 'Desitively Bonnaroo,' meaning roughly 'a really good time' or 'good stuff' in Louisiana slang. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jonathan Mayers, Concert Promoter and Bonnaroo Co-Founder, Dies at 51
Jonathan Mayers, a concert promoter who co-founded the music festivals Bonnaroo and helped create Outside Lands as a principal at Superfly Entertainment, has died. He was 51. The cause of death is as yet unknown. The news arrives as the three-day Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is set to kick off Thursday with headliner Luke Combs. More from The Hollywood Reporter Doechii Calls Out Trump's "Ruthless Attacks" Amid L.A. Protests in BET Speech: "What Type of Government Is That?" Thank You, Sly Stone Diddy's Ex Passed Out After Reading Cassie's Lawsuit Describing "Freak-Off" Orgies The New York City native founded Superfly Presents as a marketing and event company in 1996 with partners Kerry Black, Rick Farman and Richard Goodstone, co-creating events such as the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival with Another Planet Entertainment and Bonnaroo, held since 2002 on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Mayers' first job was working with New Orleans' legendary Tipitina's and the city's Jazz Fest. Superfly then went on to stage its first concert with the Meters, Maceo Parker and Rebirth Brass Band during Mardi Gras. Mayers partnered with AC Entertainment's Ashley Caps, Paradigm agent Chip Hooper and Red Light manager Coran Capshaw to launch Bonnaroo. Featuring headliners like Phish's Trey Anastasio and members of the Grateful Dead and annually drawing crowds of more than 70,000, it has become the model for the modern music festival. Superfly launched Vegoose festival in Las Vegas in 2005, then partnered with Another Planet to launch Outside Lands in San Francisco's fabled Golden Gate Park. In 2017, Mayers partnered with Viacom and Comedy Central to produce a comedy festival dubbed Clusterfest, which included the likes of Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah. Mayers' innovative promotion approach included re-creating sets from iconic TV shows like Seinfeld, The Office and The Daily Show offering immersive fan experiences, including a Friends pop-up of one of its sets in New York, Boston and Atlanta. Mayers left Superfly in August 2021 and sued his ex-partners in early 2022, accusing them of breach of contract and fraud for underestimating the value of his ownership in the company. The lawsuit was dismissed in January 2023. Since leaving Superfly, Mayers worked on Core City Detroit, a project which sought funds to invest in the inner city, creating a music campus with entertainment experiences for the public. His longtime friend, Dayglo Presents and Brooklyn Bowl founder Peter Shapiro, told The Hollywood Reporter: 'People use the word visionary a lot in our business, but Jonathan Mayers was the real deal when it came to imagining what something new could be. It takes courage to lean into doing something that could crash and fail. And that is how Jonathan Mayers broke down real barriers and created some next level music festivals that impacted a generation of fans, bands and promoters.' Another Planet Entertainment issued a statement describing Mayers as 'a bright light, always pushing new and creative ideas in the entertainment space. Everyone in the Another Planet family will miss him dearly.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
