Latest news with #WalkAway
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Nepo baby son of former world champion shows off ripped physique as he turns 17 - but can you guess who his famous father is?
Muscles and a ripped physique would appear to run in the family of one starlet who showed off his chiselled frame as he celebrates turning 17. Though, that does the teenager a disservice, given the hours he puts in at the gym to achieve the impressive look. The youngster is the son of one of the UK's most infamous loud mouths, who more than backed up his chatter during a career that saw him win world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. Celebrating his offspring's big day, he wrote: My eldest son had just turned 17... and I honestly can't believe how fast the years have flown. 'From a fearless little boy to a focused young man, he's now living on his own and competing full-time on the Spanish tennis circuit since last August. 'I'm incredibly proud of the way he's chasing his sporting dreams with discipline and maturity beyond his years. He's grown into a beautiful young man — inside and out… and at 6'4, he's now officially taller than me (not that I'm bitter about it). 'Big things ahead. Watch this space.' Cassius Haye may have taken the sensible approach not to follow his dad David into the sport of boxing. The teenager is a tennis pro, working his way through the incredibly difficult rigorous tour. Fans were shocked to see how much Cassius has grown and remarked on the comparison to the throwback photo uploaded by Haye. Haye first attracted headlines for his stellar boxing career that spanned 16 years from 2002 to 2018. Following his retirement, his love life saw him grab the headlines once more. The boxer, 44, and his girlfriend Sian Osbourne, 33, have generated huge interest in their 'open' relationship over the years. The couple have been dating since 2020 but in a break with the societal norm of monogamy, the couple have often opened up their relationship to include a third person. The public interest in throuple reached a peak in 2023, when it was reported that David was in a three-way relationship with both Sian and Una Healy, claims roundly denied by the pop star. The rumours were fuelled by the group posting cosy snaps of the trio on holiday in Morroco, both on the beach and while out for an intimate dinner. However, Una later insisted that she was never part of a 'throuple', revealing the only person she was dating was David - although he was simultaneously dating Sian. The Saturdays singer put an end to the unconventional relationship after 'growing tired of the negative attention' it generated. While she then released the song Walk Away in June 2023, about her situation with the long-term couple, and claimed she had been 'hoodwinked.' While later that year, David and Sian were said to be dating actress Helen Flanagan, after she was pictured chatting to to the couple at a Heineken after-party following a boxing event. The mother-of-three confirmed the romance in September last year on Celebs Go Dating, becoming emotional as she admitted she was in love with David. Breaking into tears on the show, Helen explained to Anna Williamson and Dr Tara Suwinyattichaiporn that the relationship got difficult after she struggled with not being the only woman.
Los Angeles Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
MAGA makes its pitch to L.A.'s deep-blue Westside
Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. After Donald Trump's reelection last year, the Democratic Party has been criticized as out of touch, fragmented and rudderless. MAGA Republicans looked to capitalize on that over the weekend with a rally aimed at courting disaffected Democrats in liberal Los Angeles County, meeting in West Hollywood and then marching into Beverly Hills. The Sunday rally, dubbed the 'American Restoration Tour,' was organized by members of the #WalkAway movement, which is encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party. Although Democrat Kamala Harris won California's electoral votes in last year's presidential election, her margin declined from Joe Biden's 2020 victory. And down ballot, voters challenged the Golden State's deep blue reputation by rejecting some progressive efforts aimed at affordable housing, income inequality and criminal justice reform. Given Democrats' current identity crisis, it's not surprising that conservatives, many still riding the high of Trump's victory, are making their pitch and making it here. The rally was held in Beverly Gardens Park, which 'has been the site of frequent demonstrations in support of Trump,' Times reporters Lila Seidman and Seema Mehta wrote this week. 'Although much of the affluent Westside skews liberal, Beverly Hills is home to neighborhoods that repeatedly voted for Trump,' they noted. The rally drew a few hundred attendees and began as a march in the city of West Hollywood. Diners in the LGBTQ+ enclave who gathered for brunch and drag queen performances got a different show as Trump supporters marched along Santa Monica Boulevard. The MAGA march was met with a slightly larger number of counterprotesters, who gathered nearby, yelling, 'No KKK! No fascist USA! No Trump!' The event stayed mostly peaceful, my colleagues reported, other than a small fight and an arrest at the rally in Beverly Hills. There was a common thread linking many of the speakers, Seema and Lila reported: 'former liberals who felt disenfranchised by the Democratic Party and became full-throated Trump supporters.' That included actress Natalie Beisner, who said she voted for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but rethought her political views in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Beisner told the crowd that she was called racist and selfish for raising concerns that protesters against the murder of George Floyd were allowed to gather en masse but she was not allowed to be with her grandmother as she died. 'These people refused to acknowledge that I might have an honest reason for disagreeing with them. There was no conversation,' Beisner said. 'So I walked away from the Democrat Party because for the first time in my life, I connected my suffering directly to Democrat policies.' Also among the rally's speakers was former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, now based in San Diego, where he hosts a political show. 'They are the movement that allowed this great state to burn,' Gaetz told the crowd, referring to Democrats. 'They are the movement that turned what was paradise over to the homeless and illegal aliens.' Democratic defectors to the MAGAverse would be welcomed 'with a patriotic embrace,' Gaetz added. One thing that didn't come up during the rally: the Department of Justice's investigation into Gaetz for allegations of child sex trafficking, which did not lead to charges. Gaetz resigned from Congress in November and withdrew himself from consideration to be U.S. attorney general after his nomination by then-President-elect Trump. The House Ethics Committee reported late last year that it had found evidence that Gaetz abused drugs and paid for sex with a minor during his tenure in Congress. 'Disrupt, break, defund': Trump's imperial first 100 days LAFD's DEI bureau drew the right's ire. It's now on the chopping block Trump's support is dropping nationwide and across demographics, polls show What else is going on Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here. Can $1,000 a month help more students land nursing careers? An L.A. pilot effort says yes. L.A. Community College District is giving more than 200 low-income students $1,000 a month in unrestricted income in hopes of keeping them enrolled and helping deliver a more diverse and multilingual healthcare workforce. Other must reads How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Going out Staying in Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they're important to you. Today's great photo is from Times photographer Myung J. Chun at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Have a great day, from the Essential California team Ryan Fonseca, reporterAndrew Campa, Sunday reporterKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorChristian Orozco, assistant editorKarim Doumar, head of newsletters Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I feel as though I've been in chains': the bittersweet life of lovers rock legend Mari' Pierre
In December 1978, Marie Pierre was at No 1 in the UK reggae chart with the lovers rock classic Walk Away, a beautiful tearstained lament on a troubled relationship. Her 1979 debut album Love Affair, powered by another enduring scene song in Choose Me, remained one of Trojan's best-selling albums well into the 1980s; Pierre, with her crystalline multi-octave voice, seemed destined to follow her contemporary, Silly Games singer Janet Kay, into mainstream pop-reggae success. But in the 46 years since, Pierre has never released another album. A career that promised so much has – despite TV work and successful backing singing gigs with Robert Plant, Donna Summer and Chaka Khan – been one of frustration and thwarted ambition. Misfortune, mistrust and mistreatment, personal and professional, have sidelined her. 'I feel as though I've been in chains,' she says on a video call. 'I've been anchored for no good reason.' Pierre (born Marilyn, and now spelling her name Mari') grew up in Clapham in south London, one of six siblings. Her parents had moved from Guyana in the 1950s, where her 'quite strict but lovingly strict' father had been a well-known musician and tap dancer under the stage name Little George. Pierre's career started without his knowledge: 'He felt I was still of a tender age and knew what the music industry might expose me to.' When she was 14, her boyfriend Syd – her soon-to-be husband, whom she had met on the bus in a game of truth or dare – came to pick her up for a date. He was impressed when he heard her singing in the bath. 'I didn't realise he was in the house,' Pierre laughs. 'Once we went out, he said: 'I've got to introduce you to my sister's boyfriend, because he has a band, and they rehearse in a basement.' The sister's boyfriend was Dennis Bovell, still at school himself but starting the road to his illustrious career as a reggae and dub pioneer with his first band, Matumbi. Bovell became an important figure in Pierre's life: a musical teacher who 'was like a big brother'. 'She was like family – very close and very dear to me,' says Bovell. 'And she's always been a very powerful singer.' Pierre would sneak into Bovell's all-boys school in disguise to lay down tracks in the school studio, including her first key song Cry, released under the name Angelique. 'He got me a hat and a jacket and some trousers,' she says. 'Nobody knew that I was a girl. He did say to me: 'Don't open your mouth!' We had a good rapport. He got me and I got him. He stretched me: I couldn't sing like that before him. He protected me, and I felt secure around him.' Pierre was gaining confidence. After a spell rehearsing with Billy Ocean above a bingo hall in Dalston, east London ('Billy used to see me home and stay for dinner – he loved my mum's cooking') she joined three-piece vocal group Super Pack, who played American army bases in the UK with the Stylistics and Fontella Bass and spent two years performing in Switzerland. By the time she returned home, she had married Syd: 'We were best friends, young sweethearts.' But all wasn't well. Pierre wrote Walk Away after a fight: Syd had stormed out, leaving her at home with their baby, and she was watching a Bette Davis film. 'And she said something that just resonated with me: 'You were the cause of all of my tears but you never wiped one of them away.'' She scribbled down the lyric, came up with a melody and took it to Bovell, who in turn took Pierre to Trojan Records. 'I envisioned it as a soul song. But Dennis converted it to lovers rock.' Bovell was helping pioneer the lovers rock sound, a gentler, more romantic take on British reggae. Love Affair, now enjoying a new reissue for the first time in 30 years, is still considered one of the genre's high points; Pierre co-wrote several songs to go with Bovell's tracks and lush production. 'A great record', says Bovell. As the title suggests, many songs are not about romance but infidelity: Syd had had an affair. 'They're all based on true stories,' Pierre says. '[The affair] was damaging, because she was my best friend. I'm no longer sorry. It's all wisdom. If you don't live it, you'll never know it.' Did Syd ever hear the songs? 'Oh, he knew, yeah. There was the big guilt trip. But once bitten, twice shy.' Even before the album's release, issues mounted. Pierre says she was not properly credited by Bovell for some tracks on Love Affair; Bovell says that isn't true. Pierre says she was also refused permission to release material she had recorded at about the same time: 'Everyone was earning theirs, but I was sitting on the sideline faithfully waiting.' Bovell counters: 'If they weren't released, it was because they weren't ready.' What is clear is that parts of the lovers rock scene itself didn't treat Pierre well: lacking support and taken advantage of, she has been ripped off by promotors over the years. 'At one point she said: why am I doing this?' says Bovell. And with Bovell's eclectic career taking off as he worked with a host of artists such as the Pop Group and the Slits, it left Pierre somewhat lost without her mentor. 'I just felt that I couldn't work with anybody else but him,' she says. 'Because I trusted him implicitly.' 'We kind of grew apart,' Bovell says, admitting that even though he took Pierre to play shows in the US and Japan, he became too busy to record with her. 'She didn't particularly want to work with other producers. And I couldn't just work with her alone – I had to go and get my career.' The situation knocked not so much Pierre's confidence, but her trust in the industry. 'I haven't really had any faith in anybody else since,' she says. That goes for romantic relationships, too. She calls Syd: 'My first love, and my last. I've been out and dated. But wisdom has taught me I don't want the extra baggage.' After some failed collaborations, Pierre took to backing singing and TV work in the 1980s, including singing the theme tune to Channel 4's popular sitcom Desmond's. She also performed gigs as Damaged Daughters, a three-piece that included the 80s soul singer Princess. There were frequent gigs as in-house singer on The Terry Wogan Show and Channel 4's Club X, where she sang with Donna Summer, Chaka Khan and Randy Crawford. Most notably, she sang on Robert Plant's 1988 album Now and Zen. She didn't know who Plant was when she got the call, but did such a good job that Plant sent her a platinum disc as a thank you. 'It's proudly hanging on my wall. And I felt more humbled and well received getting that from Robert Plant because all the years I've been in the business, I haven't received that recognition from my own.' By the time she finished a 12-year run fronting Supremes tribute act the SOS Band, she was disillusioned again, and her only shows over the last decade have been lovers rock reunion nights. 'But it's not what I really want to do. I could be doing that and earning, but why? Unless I've got new material?' Pierre has a positive disposition – 'I don't get consumed with bad feelings or malice' – but everything has clearly taken a toll. 'I felt those knocks,' she says. 'I feel that happiness or joy is only for a moment, because you don't know who's waiting around the corner to steal that from you.' She also suffers from arthritis, and is going through an emotionally painful, costly, lengthy probate dispute with some family members. 'It's affecting my creativity. I'm not finding the joy in life.' But it might not be too late. Days later, Pierre rings me to say our interview 'just made me think, well, let's do this'. She contacted Bovell; not only did they 'have a heart to heart', he sent her some tracks, old and new, to work on with a view to releasing an EP. 'Because we're like a family, we can start as we desire,' Bovell says. 'I've invited her to do her lyrical magic, because she does come with some really good lyrics.' Pierre also got in touch with some old connections: they are planning to go into the studio in the spring. 'All I had to do was contact certain people, and, boy, were they ready to go.' She sounds so happy. 'So, it's not the end of Mari' Pierre,' she says. 'I'm back on the horse and willing to ride!' The reissue of Love Affair is out now on Cherry Red
Chicago Tribune
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Concert by Dina Bach planned at St. Charles Public Library
Local singer, songwriter and pianist Dina Bach will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, in the Carnegie Community Room at St. Charles Public Library, 1 S. Sixth Ave. in St. Charles. The event, which is part of the library's Sunday Concert Series, is open to the public and free to attend. Bach released her first full-length album, 'Walk Away,' on Aug. 10. Her music has aired on WGN Radio, Radio One Chicago, NPR's WNIJ and WLBC, library officials said. Her musical influences range from Sara Bareilles and Norah Jones to Carole King and Frank Sinatra, and she has performed at many Chicago venues including House of Blues, Joe's Bar, Elbo Room, SPACE Evanston and sang the national anthem before a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, event organizers said. For more information, go to or call 630-584-0076. CASA Kane County holding volunteer open house CASA Kane County will host a volunteer open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, at Village Squire, 480 S. Randall Road in South Elgin. CASA Kane County is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, dedicated to advocating for children who have experienced abuse or neglect and are subsequently placed in foster care, officials with the organization said. It recruits, trains and supervises volunteers who serve as a child's voice throughout the duration of their case in juvenile court, according to CASA officials. At the Thursday event, participants can explore volunteer opportunities with CASA, discover ways to contribute through donations and more. For more information, email Sandie C. at sandiec@ DuPage Care Center selling balloons for Valentine's Day The DuPage Care Center is holding its annual Valentine's Day balloon fundraiser to help brighten the rooms and hallways of its residents. Balloons are being sold for $5 through Feb. 13 to be delivered on Valentine's Day, DuPage County officials said in a news release. In the past, the community has purchased nearly 1,000 heart-shaped helium balloons to help decorate the center for Valentine's Day, the release said. 'Every year, we hear incredible stories from the residents about how this event lifts their spirits,' Greg Schwarze, chairman of the county's Human Services Committee, said in a statement. 'It's a wonderful way to let our friends at the Care Center know how much we appreciate and cherish them.' Proceeds will benefit the resident recreation fund, which provides programs and activities to improve the residents' quality of life, the release said. Balloons can be purchased online at For more information, call Linda Gray at 630-784-4303 or email
