Fame

Jim McBride, the Grammy-nominated country songwriter who partnered with singer Alan Jackson on songs including “Chattahoochee” and “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow,” died Tuesday. He was 78.

“Jim was a good man and a great and genuine songwriter,” Jackson wrote on Thursday in an Instagram story. “He understood country music and touched many with his songs. Jim and I wrote some of my favorite songs together and I don’t know if my career would have ended up quite the same without his help, inspiration, and encouragement in my early years. Thank you Jim, rest in peace.”

Jackson’s photo showed him and McBride as younger men, smiling and holding ASCAP certificates. In 1994, “Chattahoochee” won the Country Music Assn.’s award for song of the year and they were nominated for the Grammy for country song of the year as well.

“I am in shock. I am devastatingly sad. My phone has been ringing and dinging all day, so I hope my friends will understand I’m just not able to talk right now,” songwriter and close friend Jerry Salley wrote Wednesday on Facebook, noting that McBride died after a fall on Monday. McBride had texted Salley just hours before falling, the latter said.

“I’ll never know why he took a chance to write with me” when they met in Nashville in the early 1980s, Salley wrote, “but man, we hit it off, became instant friends, and loved being in the writing room together. He always brought out the very best in me.”

Though best remembered for his Jackson collaborations, McBride’s songs were also recorded by artists including Conway Twitty, Johnny Lee, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Alabama, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Travis, Toby Keith and Dwight Yoakam.

“We will greatly miss Mr. McBride — may his legacy live on forever,” the Alabama Music Hall of Fame said Wednesday on Instagram. The hall remembered the songwriter as a “beloved Alabamian, songwriter, friend, mentor, and so much more.”

Born Jimmy Ray McBride in Huntsville, Ala., on April 28, 1947, he began writing songs a child, but didn’t get one recorded until much later.

“The songs just started coming in my head and after a while I decided to try it,” he said in an interview published by American Songwriter at the end of 1997. “I just thought I’d write some songs and bring them to Nashville and see what happened.”

He said he was always drawn to anything about music and learned early on that “that little bitty name beneath the song was the person who wrote the song.”

McBride’s first bid sending songs to Nashville didn’t result in instant success. He knew only one guy in town, songwriter Curly Putman, who served as a mentor.

“Curly gave me good advice and he was always very honest. He told me, ‘Unless I’m honest I can’t help you,’” McBride told American Songwriter. “I’d play him a song and he’d tell me what was wrong with it and he was always right. But if there was something there, he would be sure and let me know that I had done something right. And he always encouraged me to get another opinion, but I never did; his opinion was always good enough for me.”

He saw several of his songs performed in the early 1970s on the show “Hee Haw,” but in the mid-’70s he wound up tucking his dreams away and staying at his job with the U.S. Postal Service. Even then, he kept writing songs with Roger Murrah, who would be a Grammy nominee in the early 1990s for “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” recorded by Jackson.

He promised Murrah and others that he would return to Nashville if he got “that big lick.” Then came Conway Twitty, who wanted the song “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn.”

“Roger called me one night and said, ‘I guess you need to pack your bags, we’ve got Conway’s next single,’” McBride told American Songwriter. “I quit the post office the day after Christmas, 1980, and then started work the first of January with Bill Rice and Jerry Foster. The only other writer they had was Roger Murrah.”

Events at that time were bittersweet for McBride, whose mother — his biggest musical influence growing up — died of cancer in 1981. She was buried the same day he was supposed to get his first music award, for “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn.”

That September he had his first No. 1 hit, “Bet Your Heart On Me,” with singer Johnny Lee. And he fine-tuned his songwriting.

“I don’t think I’d ever had a bridge in a song until I moved here,” he told American Songwriter. “Another thing I had to unlearn was that I wasn’t Kristofferson. I cut back on the poetic stuff. I was writing a lot of stuff where every line had to be brilliant. Through the years, I learned to write conversational lines.”

McBride didn’t have a hit single again for six years, until Waylon Jennings recorded “Rose in Paradise,” his last No. 1 track, in 1987.

“I had songs on 14 albums and couldn’t get a single,” McBride told Huntsville’s News19 in 2023. “Randy Travis kinda kicked the door open and Waylon.” After that, McBride said, “Things started picking up.”

That’s when he met Alan Jackson, with whom he would have four No. 1 hits, “Chattahoochee” being the biggest of them.

“He said, ‘Will you write with me?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s get together,’” McBride told News19. “So, we got together and hit it off just like that. It was like writing with myself, really.”

McBride was inducted into both the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and was a past president of the Nashville Songwriters Assn. International.

But for more than 30 years, that hit song “Chattahoochee” was a part of his life — especially the one line at the beginning where it talks about it getting “hotter than a hoochie coochie” down on the Chattahoochee River, which borders Alabama and Georgia. Everyone wanted to know what that meant, apparently.

“Alan got tired of everyone asking him,” McBride told News19. “He told everybody to call me, and they did. When the county fair would come to town, there was always a side show with the hoochie coochie girls. So that’s what I was thinking. And the deal was if you were a young man, you’d try to get in there before you were 18.”

And why, pray tell?

“They’ll show you a little bit,” he said, “but you’re going to have to pay if you see any more.”

McBride is survived by his second wife, Jeanne Ivey, and sons Brent and Wes from a previous marriage.

Take That are poised to dominate 2026 – and their fans have a lot to look forward to.

As well as their massive 17-date Circus Live stadium tour next spring, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen are just 29 days away from dropping their huge Netflix documentary series.

And bosses at the streaming giant have kindly shared the first trailer for the three-parter, left, exclusively with me. It will be shared on YouTube and across social media today from 10am.

The series will go ahead without Jason and Robbie but fans will see them speaking in never-before-seen interviews and clips from their time in the band.

Insiders told me that nothing was off limits for Mark, Howard and Gary in the documentary, which will see them giving new interviews about the highlights and the heartaches of being part of Take That.

For the opening trailer, Netflix has pulled together some amazing archive footage of the group at the very start of their careers, with Gary heard saying: “Nothing beats being in a band.

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“There’s strength, there’s a buzz.” Mark adds: “From the beginning, there was something within us that wanted to prove something.”

The cameras then cut to footage of the fivesome mucking about backstage, as Jason says: “We were tight among ourselves, like we were kings of the world.”

Elsewhere, a baby-faced Robbie walks into shot and looks at the camera as he says: “We all kiss before the show, in a butch way.”

Discussing the magnitude of what was to come — with Take That landing 20 Top Ten hits including 12 No1s — Howard adds: “I don’t think anything could prepare you for what we were about to take on in the Nineties.”

Netflix has billed the series, which is available to stream from January 27, as “the deeply personal and definitive story of Take That.”

A music insider told me: “Gary, Howard and Mark gave their all for this series.

“Take That was life-changing for all of them but, naturally, with the great highs came great lows.

“So much has been said and written about them, the documentary gives them the chance to say their piece — and no stone is left unturned.

“It really is a must-watch for their fans.”

I can’t wait.

Kim gives kids puppy love

Kim Kardashian pulled off the impossible this festive season – by getting all four of her kids to pose for a snap with her.

She filled her home with snow-covered trees before making North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm smile for the camera. Kim also posed with her mum Kris Jenner and a visiting Santa Claus.

And the kids had a lot to grin about after each were given a Pomeranian puppy, above.

But animal rights organisation PETA blasted Kim’s choice of gift.

Urging people to adopt, not shop, founder Ingrid Newkirk said: “It’s a shame Kim missed the chance to be a spokesperson for shelter pups and is being rightly slammed on social media.”

Tim’s Su-preme gift

Timothee Chalamet got a surprise from one of his heroes as he turned 30 on Saturday.

In a video shared online, Susan Boyle wore merch from the actor’s new movie Marty Supreme to sing Happy Birthday to him.

This month Timothee hailed the Scottish singing sensation, who found fame after dazzling on TV’s Britain’s Got Talent, as one of his greatest Brits, saying: “She dreamt bigger than all of us. Who wasn’t moved by that?”

He seemed chuffed by his special video as he celebrated his milestone.

Sharing it on Instagram, he wrote: “THANK U SUSAN!!!!!!!!”

A dream team for Dermot

Dermot Kennedy has teamed up with Noah Kahan to work on new music, which may well end up on the Irishman’s upcoming third album.

Dermot has been pals with the Stick Season singer for years, but he recently let slip that they have finally got together to record tracks.

In an exclusive interview, I asked Dermot if he had been in the studio with any other artists and he replied: “We did spend a day with Noah Kahan, which was lovely.

“I’ve been a fan of his for a long time.”

Last month, Outnumbered singer Dermot announced a huge UK and Europe arena tour, which will begin in May.

And he told how his sleep pattern became “extremely irregular” while working on his forthcoming album.

He said: “There were days where I might start at night and go until all hours.

“When the mood feels right, you do it.”

Lily Allen stocked up on Britney Spears-themed cigarette lighters from Pittsburgh-based artist Jegan Mones, on her recent US trip.

The Smile singer loved the products so much she later returned to the store to buy others emblazened with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

Sounds like Lily is paying homage to fellow reformed party girls in her own way.

Adele is rolling in the dosh

Adele banked £158,000 a week last year, despite not having released an album since 2021.

Her pop empire is run by A Adkins Touring, Melted Stone and Melted Stone Publishing and new accounts filed over Christmas reveal she added £8.2 million to her business riches over the year in 2024.

But that doesn’t include earnings from her money-spinning ten-date residency in a purpose-built venue in Munich, or the final 32 dates of her Las Vegas residency, which ended in November last year.

Even at a modest £100 per seat, the Munich gigs would have raked in £75million in ticket sales alone.

And although her Vegas residency saw Adele, above, performing in a smaller venue, she will still have made millions.

There was a six-year gap between her last two records, so maybe there won’t be too much longer to wait before Adele pops up to say Hello once again.

Sam plays NYE safe

He’s had a cracking year with a new album and his biggest headline show yet but Sam Ryder won’t be opening the champagne on New Year’s Eve.

The singer is headlining the 40th annual London Parade on New Year’s Day, appearing in a line-up featuring 8,000 other performers, and he’s planning to play it safe in the run-up.

In an exclusive chat, he told me: “I love New Year’s, but love an early night more. Pre-gig prep like sleep and rest are super-important to me, so I’ll see in the New Year with friends, family and a few mocktails.”

The London Parade will be shown on London Live and on YouTube from 12pm.

Sam, right, continued: “We have an hour-long set so a decent amount of time to ring in the New Year in style.”

Next summer, Sam will take the lead in an 11-week run of Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium – and is also penning tunes at his new home in Nashville.

He added: “We’ve got the busiest year coming up so I want to get into the most positive space.”

Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, whose 113 worldwide victories were the most of any player from Japan, died Wednesday in his home country after a battle with colon cancer, the Japan Golf Tour said. He was 78.

Ozaki was revered in Japan, a big hitter with a sense of style who won 94 times over 29 years on the Japan Golf Tour, the last one coming at the 2002 ANA Open when he was 55.

He rose to No. 5 in the world ranking in 1996 at age 49. Ozaki often got overlooked for never winning outside Japan except for the New Zealand PGA Championship. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

“He is an indispensable, one-of-a-kind figure in discussing men’s golf, both now and in the future,” the tour said in a social media post.

Ozaki competed in 49 majors, his best finish coming in the 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill when he finished three shots behind Curtis Strange. He played the Masters for the 19th and final time in 2000 when he was 53 and tied for 28th.

Isao Aoki was the first Japanese player in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and Hideki Matsuyama became the first to win a major at the 2021 Masters. Both were inspired in some fashion by Ozaki, the pioneer in a nation now obsessed with golf.

Ozaki won the Japan Open five times and the Japan PGA Championship six times. He led the Japan Golf Tour money list a record 12 times, including five in a row from 1994 through 1998. He won his final money title in 2002, when he was 55.

When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ozaki said his one regret was not playing more outside of Japan.

“But I dedicated my life to Japanese golf and am extremely grateful the voters thought I was worthy of this honor,” he said upon his election. He received 50% of the vote on the International ballot.

Ozaki was looked upon as the Arnold Palmer of golf in Japan with his powerful swing, charisma and sense of style, often wearing silk shirts and baggy pants. And his skill was not limited to just golf. He played the guitar and had three songs reach the pop charts in Japan, according to the Hall of Fame.

His first love was baseball, and he spent three years pitching professionally before turning to golf. That was evident when Ryo Ishikawa, who won his first Japan Golf Tour title at age 15, spoke of Ozaki’s influence. Ishikawa said he would visit Ozaki about 10 times a year to get advice.

“Jumbo used to be a baseball player, so he always tried to teach me the link from pitching or hitting to golf,” Ishikawa said in 2010 interview with the Associated Press. “Jumbo wanted me to hit the ball far.”

Ozaki traveled with an entourage when he did play outside Japan in the majors, usually renting a house and bringing a sushi chef so his people would feel at home.

He has two younger brothers who also played on tour, Naomichi (Joe) and Tateo (Jet).

Ozaki played in the 1996 Presidents Cup, partnering with Vijay Singh to beat the American duo of Fred Couples and Davis Love III. He qualified for the 1998 team but decided against the trip to Australia, and his brother, Joe, played instead.

Ferguson writes for the Associated Press.

Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, Jamal Crawford, the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, Bruce Pearl and Kelvin Sampson were among the first-time nominees announced Friday that will be considered for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next year.

Also among the notable first-time nominees: Elena Delle Donne and Joe Johnson as players, and Mike D’Antoni as a contributor.

Nearly 200 players and teams were on the list unveiled by the Hall, including some finalists that fell short of enshrinement in the 2025 class — Jennifer Azzi, who was a member of that 1996 U.S. women’s team that won gold at the Atlanta Games. Azzi is a nominee again as an individual this year.

“The candidates for the Class of 2026 have each left an indelible impact on the game of basketball,” said John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Through defining performances, influential leadership, and achievements that helped elevate the sport on the national and international stage, this year’s ballot recognizes those whose legacy continues to shape how the game is played, coached, and celebrated.”

Finalists are typically announced at NBA All-Star weekend in February. The 2026 class will be unveiled April 4 at the NCAA Final Four, with enshrinement weekend Aug. 14 and 15 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Mass.

Other finalists a year ago who are back on the ballot include Gonzaga coach Mark Few; NBA legends Marques Johnson and Buck Williams; and Jerry Welsh — who coached Potsdam in upstate New York to NCAA Division III titles in 1981 and 1986.

Molly Bolin, the first player signed by the Women’s Professional Basketball League, is back as well, as is former Serbian professional player and longtime coach Dusan Ivkovic — already a FIBA Hall of Famer.

Doc Rivers, the only NBA coach with more than 1,000 wins who isn’t yet in the Hall of Fame, is a nominee again, as are Amar’e Stoudemire and legendary broadcaster Marv Albert.

Some teams that will also be considered include the 1936, 1972 and 1976 U.S. Olympic men’s teams; the 1982 Cheyney State team coached by C. Vivian Stringer that lost to Louisiana Tech in the inaugural NCAA Division I women’s national championship game; the Kentucky Wesleyan men’s teams that won three Division II national titles in a four-year span during the late 1960s; and the 1963 Loyola Chicago men’s team that won the NCAA title and broke racial barriers in the sport by using as many as four Black starters.

Long Beach City College’s performing arts center is officially being named after Long Beach legend and LBCC alumna Jenni Rivera.

Last week LBCC’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name the new facility the Jenni Rivera Performing Arts Center.

“This naming recognizes not just an extraordinary performer, but a daughter of Long Beach whose voice and spirit transcended borders,” said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, president of LBCC’s board of trustees in a press statement. “Jenni Rivera inspired millions through her music, resilience, and advocacy. We are proud that future generations of artists will learn and create in a space that bears her name.”

Jenni Rivera Enterprises will donate $2 million over the next 10 years to the LBCC Foundation, with the bulk of the funds going toward scholarships and education programs, the Long Beach Post reported.

“Our family is deeply honored that Long Beach City College has chosen to memorialize Jenni in this extraordinary way,” said Jacqie Rivera, Rivera’s daughter and CEO of Jenni Rivera Enterprises, in a press release. “Long Beach shaped who Jenni was — as an artist, a mother, and a woman — committed to her community. Knowing that young performers will grow, train, and find their creative voice in a center that carries her name is profoundly meaningful to us.”

The performing arts center, which is scheduled to open in spring 2026, is the second honor the “Inolvidable” singer has received from LBCC. Earlier this year, Rivera was inducted into the LBCC Hall of Fame alongside actor/activist Jennifer Kumiyama and attorney Norm Rasmussen.

Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, attending Long Beach Poly High School in the 1980s, where she got pregnant as a sophomore. She later graduated from Reid Continuation High School as class valedictorian. She went on to attend LBCC before transferring to Cal State Long Beach to get a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

She immediately put that degree to use as a real estate agent, while simultaneously working at her father’s recording studio and record label.

Her father, Pedro Rivera, was a noted singer of corridos. In the 1980s he launched the record label Cintas Acuario. It began as a swap-meet booth and grew into an influential and taste-making independent outfit, fueling the careers of artists such as Chálino Sanchez. Jenni Rivera’s four brothers were associated with the music industry; her brother Lupillo, in particular, is a huge star in his own right.

She released her first album, “Somos Rivera,” in 1992, launching a prolific career that was tragically cut short when Rivera and six others were killed in a plane crash in Mexico on Dec. 9, 2012.

The self-proclaimed “Diva de la Banda” was a self-made star with a veritable rags-to-riches story. She was a true trailblazer, a U.S.-born woman who took up plenty of space in the male-dominated world of música mexicana.

In 2015, Long Beach city officials honored the singer’s legacy by bestowing her name on a park in Long Beach. On display along a brick wall at the Jenni Rivera Memorial Park is a 125-foot-long mural honoring Rivera’s life and heritage.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame also honored Rivera with a star in 2024, which her five children accepted on her behalf.

“One of my mom’s favorite exes used to work in this vicinity. We would come and check in on him and she always dreamt — I remember sitting in the car, in her Mercedes, and she always dreamt, ‘I’m gonna have my star here one day,’” Rivera’s daughter Jenicka Lopez said at the star unveiling ceremony.

“I thought it was impossible after she passed away, but God has a beautiful way of proving people wrong.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump has affixed partisan plaques to the portraits of all U.S. commanders in chief, himself included, on his Presidential Walk of Fame at the White House, describing Joe Biden as “sleepy,” Barack Obama as “divisive” and Ronald Reagan as a fan of a young Trump.

The additions, first seen publicly Wednesday, mark Trump’s latest effort to remake the White House in his own image, while flouting the protocols of how presidents treat their predecessors and doubling down on his determination to reshape how U.S. history is told.

“The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement describing the installation in the colonnade that runs from the West Wing to the residence. “As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself.”

Indeed, the Trumpian flourishes include the president’s typical bombastic language and haphazard capitalization. They also highlight Trump’s fraught relationships with his more recent predecessors.

An introductory plaque tells passersby that the exhibit was “conceived, built, and dedicated by President Donald J. Trump as a tribute to past Presidents, good, bad, and somewhere in the middle.”

Besides the Walk of Fame and its new plaques, Trump has adorned the Oval Office in gold and razed the East Wing in preparation for a massive ballroom. Separately, his administration has pushed for an examination of how Smithsonian exhibits present the nation’s history, and he is playing a strong hand in how the federal government will recognize the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Here’s a look at how Trump’s colonnade exhibit tells the presidential story.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden is still the only president in the display not to be recognized with a gilded portrait. Instead, Trump chose an autopen, reflecting his mockery of Biden’s age and assertions that Biden was not up to the job.

Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election and dropped out of the 2024 election before their pending rematch, is introduced as “Sleepy Joe” and “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Two plaques blast Biden for inflation and his energy and immigration policy, among other things. The text also blames Biden for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and asserts falsely that Biden was elected fraudulently.

Biden’s post-White House office had no comment on his plaque.

Barack Obama

The 44th president is described as “a community organizer, one term Senator from Illinois, and one of the most divisive political figures in American History.”

The plaque calls Obama’s signature domestic achievement “the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable Care Act.”

And it notes that Trump nixed other major Obama achievements: “the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal … and ”the one-side Paris Climate Accords.”

An aide to Obama also declined comment.

George W. Bush

George W. Bush, who notably did not speak to Trump when they were last together at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, appears to win approval for creating the Department of Homeland Security and leading the nation after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But the plaque decries that Bush “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”

An aide to Bush didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Bill Clinton

The 42nd president, once a friend of Trump’s, gets faint praise for major crime legislation, an overhaul of the social safety net and balanced budgets.

But his plaque notes Clinton secured those achievements with a Republican Congress, the help of the 1990s “tech boom” and “despite the scandals that plagued his Presidency.”

Clinton’s recognition describes the North American Free Trade Agreement, another of his major achievements, as “bad for the United States” and something Trump would “terminate” during his first presidency. (Trump actually renegotiated some terms with Mexico and Canada but did not scrap the fundamental deal.)

His plaque ends with the line: “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!”

An aide to Clinton did not return a message seeking comment.

Other notable plaques

The broadsides dissipate the further back into history the plaques go.

Republican George H.W. Bush, who died during Trump’s first term, is recognized for his lengthy resume before becoming president, along with legislation including the Clean Air Act and Americans With Disabilities Act — despite Trump’s administration relaxing enforcement of both. The elder Bush’s plaque does not note that he, not Clinton, first pushed the major trade law that became NAFTA.

Lyndon Johnson’s plaque credits the Texas Democrat for securing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 (seminal laws that Trump’s administration interprets differently than previous administrations). It correctly notes that discontent over Vietnam led to LBJ not seeking reelection in 1968.

Democrat John F. Kennedy, the uncle of Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is credited as a World War II “war hero” who later used “stirring rhetoric” as president in opposition to communism.

Republican Richard Nixon’s plaque states plainly that the Watergate scandal led to his resignation.

While Trump spared most deceased presidents of harsh criticism, he jabbed at one of his regular targets, the media — this time across multiple centuries: Andrew Jackson’s plaque says the seventh president was “unjustifiably treated unfairly by the Press, but not as viciously and unfairly as President Abraham Lincoln and President Donald J. Trump would, in the future, be.”

Donald Trump

With two presidencies, Trump gets two displays. Each is full of praise and superlatives — “the Greatest Economy in the History of the World.” He calls his 2016 Electoral College margin of 304-227 a “landslide.”

Trump’s second-term plaque notes his popular vote victory — something he did not achieve in 2016 — and concludes with “THE BEST IS YET TO COME.”

Meanwhile, the introductory plaque presumes Trump’s addition will be a White House fixture once he is no longer president: “The Presidential Walk of Fame will long live as a testament and tribute to the Greatness of America.”

Brown and Barrow write for the Associated Press. Barrow reported from Atlanta.

Simon Cowell is making a second series of his boyband documentary to follow December 10 as they try to make it big.

It means the group’s brand new fans will have a front row seat to everything that’s happened since cameras stopped rolling on The Next Act.

The six-part series followed Simon through auditions and recording studio bootcamp as he selected seven boys for the group.

The second run will pick up where it left off and show December 10 heading to Nashville to record new music, prepare for launch and take their first steps towards fame.

Simon Cowell: The Next Act has dominated the top three on Netflix since its launch last Wednesday.

A source said: “There was a quiet hope that a show about finding a boyband would be as popular now as it was back in the days of The X Factor, but everyone has been thrilled by the reception because of course the whole world of entertainment has totally changed since then.

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“Following December 10 for a second series is a no brainer.

“They’re rocketing online and already have a strong fan base, and a camera crew has been following them pretty much since series one wrapped.”

The lads officially began their journey today (mon) when they launched a new music video on YouTube – their cover of N*Sync’s Bye Bye Bye.

The group are Cruz, 19, Danny, 16, Hendrick, 19, John 17, Josh, 17, Nicolas, 16 and Sean, 19.

But there’s been another big character behind The Next Act’s success with viewers – the newly-minted Mrs Cowell.

Fans have loved seeing Lauren Silverman’s personality shine as part of the fly-on-the-wall scenes at home with Simon and their son Eric.

The source added: “The whole show has been a real boost for the whole family really, Simon is back doing what he loves and he’s been happy to reveal a little more about who he really is behind closed doors.

“Production firm Box To Box are back shooting the content for series two and it’s hoped Netflix will be on board to stream the next chapter of The Next Act.”

It comes after Simon told The Sun last week that he’s confident the boys will be a success.

Simon revealed December 10 had chosen the name themselves because it was the release date of the documentary

Iris eyes easy life

No wonder top model Iris Law is enjoying a lie down after a stellar year on the catwalk.

She has walked in Victoria’s Secret’s fashion show and fronted campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Knwls and Zara.

But Iris, the daughter of Sadie Frost and Jude Law, isn’t just taking it easy, she was reclining on the sofa for a shoot for Los Angeles-based fashion brand Casablanca.

She is one of the most in-demand women in fashion, so I’m sure we will see a lot more of her in 2026.

Thor-t I’d be actor

THOR superhero Chris Hemsworth became “obsessed” with being an actor at a young age. 

On the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast he said: “Once I locked into the idea that I was going to become an actor, it was an absolute obsession.  

“There was no doubt that was what I was going to do. There was a naivety about the reality of how difficult that was going to be.  

“But I guess it was sort of an escapism.” 

If you’re bored of the same old festive tunes, check out Christina Aguilera’s brand new festive album Christmas In Paris.

It was created in the French capital this year and celebrates the 25th anniversary of her album My Kind Of Christmas.

Lead single Someday At Christmas was recorded at the Eiffel Tower and the album is out now.

Judi hero Jagger rolls up

With a stellar acting career and a little black book packed with some of the biggest names in showbiz, it’s amazing to see Dame Judi Dench still gets starstruck.

Her friend Gyles Brandreth organised for Sir Mick Jagger to come on stage to surprise her as she was interviewed about her career, inset, at London’s Sondheim Theatre.

The former Bond actress was stunned by her idol’s appearance.

Sharing snaps of the moment online, Gyles said: “I’ve been working in the theatre for nearly 60 years and I’ve never known a moment quite like it.

“As a surprise, I invited Sir Mick Jagger on to the stage. Dame Judi Dench told me it was her dream to meet him.

“He was amazing: she was overwhelmed. Yesss.”

He added of the legendary Rolling Stones frontman: “He kindly made her dream come true. What a night.”

Huge congratulations to Essex lad Sam King who has just completed 79 marathons in 79 days for brain injury charity Headway UK.

I told you about Sam’s challenge last month after one of his pals got in touch to tell me about his feat.

And after adding five extra marathons on to his challenge, Sam has now set a new world record for the most consecutive ultramarathons run by a male – completing 79 in 79 days.

Sam took on the challenge to raise money for Headway UK, after they supported his mum when she suffered a life-changing bleed on her brain.

He’s now just short of his £74,000 fundraising target so if you want to get involved and donate, check out his Instagram @fatboysking.

Madge ‘n Guy reunite for Rocco

MADONNA and Guy Ritchie put aside their differences for the sake of their son Rocco.  

The former couple, who were last pictured together in 2008 – when they divorced – were proud as punch to support Rocco’s art exhibition in London. 

Rob Reiner was known to millions as a TV actor and film director.

But the Brentwood resident, known for the classic films “Stand by Me” and “When Harry Met Sally,” was also a political force, an outspoken supporter of progressive causes and a Democratic Party activist who went beyond the typical role of celebrities who host glitzy fundraisers.

Reiner was deeply involved in issues that he cared about, such as early childhood education and the legalization of gay marriage.

Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, were found dead inside his home Sunday, sparking an outpouring of grief from those who worked with him on a variety of causes.

Ace Smith — a veteran Democratic strategist to former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Jerry Brown and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — had known Reiner for decades. Reiner, he said, approached politics differently than most celebrities.

“Here’s this unique human being who really did make the leap between entertainment and politics,” Smith said. “And he really spent the time to understand policy, really, in its true depth, and to make a huge impact in California.”

Reiner was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that successfully led the fight to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. He was active in children’s issues through the years, having led the campaign to pass Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created an ambitious program of early childhood development services.

Proposition 10 was considered landmark policy. Reiner enlisted help in that effort from Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, and his own father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.

“He wanted to make a difference. And he did, and he did profoundly,” Smith said.

Reiner was also a leading backer of Proposition 82, an unsuccessful measure that would have taxed the wealthy to create universal preschool in California.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had known Reiner since he was a state lawmaker in the 1990s, worked with him on Proposition 10 and was impressed with how Reiner embraced the cause.

“He was a man with a good answer. It wasn’t politics as much as he was always focused on the humanity among us,” Villaraigosa said. ‘When he got behind an issue, he knew everything about it.”

“Just a really special man. A terrible day,” the former mayor said.

Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that she was “heartbroken” by the day’s events, saying Reiner “always used his gifts in service of others.”

“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” the mayor said.

“I’m holding all who loved Rob and Michele in my heart,” Bass said.

Newsom added, “Rob was a passionate advocate for children and for civil rights — from taking on Big Tobacco, fighting for marriage equality, to serving as a powerful voice in early education. He made California a better place through his good works.”

“Rob will be remembered for his remarkable filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity,” the governor said.