Florida-born singer-songwriter had major hits with Swingin’, Seminole Wind and Straight Tequila Night
John Anderson, the traditionalist US country singer whose extensive body of work included five No 1 hits on the country charts, has died aged 71.
The news was announced on social media by his family, who said: “To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countless lives. To us, he was so much more. He was the heart of our family, the one who made us laugh, loved us fiercely and made every ordinary moment feel special.”
Faith No More are finally coming back to Portugal – 17 years after their last concert in the country. The influential American rock band has been confirmed for NOS Alive
The director of Yung Lean's viral "Storm" video says AI made his work look "lame."
Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images
The director behind Yung Lean's "Storm" video said AI copies made him consider quitting filmmaking.
Romain Gavras said AI imitations of "Storm" on social media made his work look "lame."
The original video, released in April, has amassed more than 40 million views on YouTube.
The director behind Swedish rapper Yung Lean's viral "Storm" video says AI almost drove him from filmmaking.
In an interview with Vulture published on Tuesday, Romain Gavras said he was disheartened by the wave of AI-generated copies of the music video.
Gavras directed the video for "Gener8ion," an audiovisual project he runs with French producer Surkin.
The video, which has amassed over 40 million views since its release in April, follows Lean as a bully at a boarding school before the boys he has been tormenting break into an elaborate dance sequence around him during a class photo.
In September, social media users began using AI to remake the dance scene from "Storm," swapping Lean and the schoolboys for a wide range of new characters, including animals and celebrities.
"My daughter sent me the first one I saw," Gavras said. "She was like, 'Look, this dog is doing it.'"
It was funny for a while, he said, but the novelty soon wore off as the copies seemed to spread everywhere.
"It made me sad for all the people who put in so much work on our video," Gavras said. "A trend like this can make even good work look lame. Part of me wanted to quit filmmaking, move back to Greece, and become an olive farmer."
Gavras said he wasn't trying to make any commentary on AI, but when people started calling "Storm" the kind of video AI couldn't pull off, he found himself drawn into the debate.
"The tech people were like, 'Oh yeah? AI could never?' Then they started replicating it. So we were forced into this conversation. It's a nightmare," Gavras said.
He added that he has turned down a few AI companies that have approached him about licensing the video.
"There's an economic model coming that we didn't want to be a part of," he said.
However, even as AI-made versions of his work proliferate online, Gavras said the technology can imitate elements of the video but has yet to create anything with the same originality or human spark.
"They're missing the swagger of Yung Lean. He looks like a dangerous baby. There's something in the imperfection of humanity, and the interior life of someone who dances or even someone who just smokes a cigarette, that's not quite there yet," he said.
Last month, Lean and the dancers performed the choreography at the MTV Video Music Awards. A video of the performance has since racked up nearly 14 million views.
Gavras is not the only filmmaker who has weighed in on the impact of AI on creative work. Other major Hollywood directors have raised similar concerns: Guillermo del Toro has said AI could rob future filmmakers of the chance to learn their craft, while Tim Burton has said it strips away the humanity behind art.
Hay casos documentados en los que un gran depredador ataca a otro. Leones y hienas se atacan mutuamente. Recientemente, se grabó a orcas cazando al gran tiburón blanco. Los biólogos saben de lobos matando a coyotes en Norteamérica o jaguares a ocelotes en Suramérica. Pero lo que han descubierto en Doñana es doblemente sorprendente: un mamífero carnívoro como el lince ibérico yendo a por otro gran depredador del parque, el milano negro, un ave rapaz. Lo más llamativo es que, después de una convivencia pacífica durante décadas, los linces han empezado a cazar rapaces. Todo indica que los humanos tienen mucho que ver.
Rachel Chinouriri is moving faster than people can pigeonhole her. On a pop-focused album two, she explores her party girl persona — and everything that was hiding beneath it
Zach Bryan notched another impressive career accomplishment.
Bryan is one of the biggest names in music, and his career has reached rarified air. The country music icon is capable of selling out stadiums wherever he goes, including internationally.
The song, which was released in 2019, has 1,000,455,459 plays on Spotify as of publication. You can give it a listen below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
"Heading South" follows "Something in the Orange" and "I Remember Everything" for songs from Bryan to reach at least a billion streams on Spotify.
Whiskey Riff reported that only a total of 21 country music songs have ever pulled off the accomplishment.
Pumping out great music that dominates the charts isn't the only thing Bryan is currently doing. He's launching his "Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs" tour in 2027.
The tour will take the popular singer across America, Canada and Australia. Best of luck to anyone trying to get tickets.
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