Earth, Wind & Fire drummer John Paris has been placed in a medically induced coma following what his family has described as a critical medical emergency earlier this month.

Paris, 58, was hospitalized on Aug. 6, shortly before the group was due to perform with Lionel Richie at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The show was postponed minutes before it was scheduled to begin, with the band citing “a medical emergency involving a member of our band.”

The San Francisco Fire Department confirmed that crews responded to a report of a cardiac incident at the venue and transported one person to a hospital in critical condition, though the family has not publicly confirmed the nature of Paris’ condition.

In an update shared to Facebook on Thursday (Aug. 13) by Shelly Clark White, the wife of Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White, the family said doctors placed Paris in an induced coma on arrival at the hospital so they could provide critical care. “From the very beginning, Kathy and daughter Kyla remained by his side,” the statement read, referring to Paris’ wife, musician Kathy Merrick, and their daughter.

The update said Paris briefly regained consciousness at one point, opening his eyes and asking for his wife. After seeing her, he turned to a close friend and joked, “Get me outta here.” The family described the moment as bringing “tears, laughter, hugs and renewed hope,” but said it was short-lived, as Paris soon experienced rising blood pressure and difficulty breathing, prompting doctors to sedate him again so his body could stabilize.

“John’s journey is far from over,” the statement concluded. “There is so much hope that surrounds him.” A GoFundMe campaign established to support Paris and his family has raised nearly $70,000 toward a $75,000 goal, with several of his bandmates among the donors.

Earth, Wind & Fire resumed their tour two days after the postponed show, with former member Sonny Emory filling in on drums. The San Francisco concert has been rescheduled for Sept. 26. Paris joined the band in 2001, playing on studio albums including 2003’s The Promise and 2005’s Illumination, and has also worked with artists including Patti LaBelle and Sheila E.

Formed in Chicago in 1969 by the late Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire became one of the most successful and influential groups in American music, selling more than 90 million records worldwide with a blend of R&B, funk, soul, jazz and pop. The band scored their sole Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with 1975’s “Shining Star,” which also topped the Hot Soul Songs chart and won a Grammy, while enduring hits including “September,” “Boogie Wonderland” and “Let’s Groove” — their biggest Hot 100 hit, at No. 3 — became staples of the era. The group topped the Billboard 200 with 1975’s That’s the Way of the World and Gratitude, won six Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

The band is currently the subject of a Questlove-directed documentary that premiered in June.

Accusations that Selena Gomez duped investors into putting $1.2 million into mental health startup Wondermind are baseless, the star’s lawyer, Mathew S. Rosengart, says after Gomez was named in a lawsuit filed Thursday (Aug. 13). Rosengart will be filing a motion to dismiss claims made in the suit.

On Saturday (Aug. 15), the litigator denied allegations made against Gomez in the statement seen below, which was first published by People. Billboard independently verified the statement with Rosengart.

“The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally. We will vigorously defend these false allegations and indeed are filing a motion to dismiss the baseless claims against her,” Rosengart said.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of five investors — Brent Saunders, Marc Roberts, EJ Solimine, Andrew Resnick and Mark Peikin — who are seeking the return of the money they invested in Wondermind, as well as additional financial damages for alleged wrongdoing by leadership at the company, which they say “quietly collapsed around them” while “not one of its founders, officers, or directors said a word to the investors.”

The group claims that Gomez, Mandy Teefey (Gomez’s mother) and Danielle Pierson (former executive), who co-founded the mental health-focused company in 2021, led them to inves in the company in 2022.

Wondermind was envisioned as a suite of mental health media initiatives, including a digital magazine, a mobile app and a podcast.

The plaintiffs allege they were promised Gomez would be actively involved as Wondermind’s head of marketing, leveraging her huge fanbase and social media following to promote companity initiatives.

The plaintiffs allege Pierson — who no longer works at the company — told them Wondermind had a “potential future valuation” of more than $4 billion, and that she’d generated $40 million a year at her prior media company, The Newsette. They were also allegedly told the company had partnerships in place with JPMorgan and Fidelity, as well as major ad deals and interest in cover story features with stars like Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John and Camila Cabello.

The lawsuit claims pitches turned out to be false, and that the investors only learned “the sheer magnitude of the fraud that the defendants had foisted upon them” when an exposé was published by The Cut last year that painted a picture of an apparently troubled financial state at Wondermind.

“The accounts in the Cut article collectively show that, from the outset, Wondermind had no plan for its future — much less a plan for achieving a multi-billion dollar valuation,” the lawsuit says.

The Cut reported in part that, after speaking with 14 current and former Wondermind employees, they’d learned Gomez distanced herself from the company soon after its launch, that finances were dire due to Teefey’s alleged erratic behavior and substance abuse issues, and that Pierson left Wondermind in 2023 due to a power struggle with Teefey; Pierson’s work at her previous employer was also under scrutiny.

“The information unearthed in this article proved not only that the company was, and is, in a state of financial calamity; it proved that the defendants’ representations about the company’s operations, personnel and financial prospects were a fiction. There was no legitimate enterprise in the works, much less a lucrative one,” Thursday’s lawsuit alleges.

Teefey denied allegations of company mismanagement, and said Wondermind remained viable, when The Cut article went to publication last year. “I started Wondermind because I wanted to help people with mental illness. It’s unfortunate that a few disgruntled employees with an ax to grind can spread lies about me and distort the truth. Even more disappointing that the media is willing to amplify their lies,” she said.

Frozen 3 is officially underway, and excitement is already snowballing over the franchise’s new music.

The third installment of Disney’s blockbuster franchise was announced Friday (Aug. 14) at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California, where stars Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad reunited onstage to tease new music ahead of the animated film’s 2027 theatrical release.

Bell and Menzel, who voice sisters Anna and Elsa, respectively, took the stage at Honda Center to belt out a rendition of “Frozen Heart,” while Gad performed a new Olaf love song called “Ooooh, Samantha.”

The trio also offered a sneak peek at the story for Frozen 3. Bell revealed that Anna will finally marry her “mountain man” Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff), while Menzel teased that “love is in the air for everyone.” Bell then playfully asked, “Everyone? Even Olaf?”

Gad noted that his snowman character’s love story is like “one snowflake in a blizzard of other snowflakes,” while Menzel said that their characters will be “far from Arendelle” and facing a threat “more wild and dangerous than anything else” they’ve encountered so far.

Disney also revealed that Oscar-winning songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez will return to write new music for Frozen 3. Jennifer Lee and Trent Correy will direct the film, which is set to hit theaters on Nov. 24, 2027.

The first two Frozen films have been major box-office hits. The 2013 original grossed $1.28 billion worldwide, while 2019’s Frozen II topped it with $1.45 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The original Frozen soundtrack also became a major chart success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2014 and spending 13 weeks atop the chart that year.

The film’s signature anthem, “Let It Go,” performed by Menzel as Elsa, spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 5 for five weeks. The song won the Oscar for best original song and the Grammy for best song written for visual media.

The Frozen II soundtrack likewise reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2019.

The Greatest Showman is heading to London’s West End.

On Friday (Aug. 14), Disney Theatrical Group announced that the stage adaptation of the hit 2017 film will open at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in spring 2027.

The announcement follows the production’s sold-out world premiere run earlier this year at Bristol Hippodrome. The news was revealed during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The West End production will star Oliver Tompsett as P.T. Barnum, with Samantha Barks as his wife, Charity Barnum. The principal cast also includes Ben Joyce as Phillip Carlyle, Vajèn van den Bosch as Jenny Lind and Malinda Parris as Lettie Lutz. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The musical is based on the 2017 film starring Hugh Jackman as Barnum, who goes from being unemployed and struggling to creating a spectacular circus that eventually grows into the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The film’s soundtrack became a major commercial success, spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2018. The album features songs performed by the film’s cast, including Jackman, Barks, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams and Keala Settle.

The movie’s “This Is Me” also won the Golden Globe for best original song in 2018.

The West End production will bring back the film’s signature songs, including “The Greatest Show,” “A Million Dreams,” “Come Alive,” “Rewrite the Stars,” “Never Enough” and “This Is Me,” while introducing new music created specifically for the stage musical.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the film’s songs, will return to write the stage production’s score. Tim Federle is penning the book, while Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph, according to Variety.

Hundreds of fans lined the streets of a seaside Welsh village on Saturday (Aug. 15) to bid farewell to late singer Bonnie Tyler as her coffin was brought home.

The Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star, beloved worldwide for her 1983 chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” died last month in a hospital in Portugal. She was 75.

Tyler was hospitalized in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency intestinal surgery.

Locals and fans from around the United Kingdom and beyond took to the streets of Mumbles, near the city of Swansea, to see the hearse, which carried her coffin, draped in a Welsh flag. Dozens waited outside the singer’s former home or left floral tributes there.

“She was always coming home and making sure that she came back to her fans in Wales,” said Carys Edwards, 18. “Her songs really did touch a lot of people here in Wales; we loved her a lot.”

Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins, a coal miner’s daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Skewen, Wales, about 7 miles outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers.

The singer earned three Grammy nods and in 2013 represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in 19th. She was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II, thanks mainly to “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

The ballad shot to the top of the charts in Britain and the United States and has had more than 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017, 2024 — and most recently during this week’s solar eclipse.

She was also known for other hits including “It’s a Heartache” and “Holding Out For a Hero,” from the soundtrack of the film Footloose.

A celebration of Tyler’s life for family and friends will take place at a church in Swansea on Monday (Aug. 17), before the singer makes a final journey through her hometown of Skewen.