Free Republic

The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, declared a state of emergency in the capital city, Lima, on March 18. The decree, which came amid a wave of violence, gives the police and military full control of the security situation there for a period of 30 days. Peru is no stranger to emergencies of this kind. Only last year, in September 2024, Boluarte’s government declared a 60-day state of emergency in 12 districts of the capital. The rationale for declaring the emergency now, as in the past, remains the same: to address the threat posed by criminal gangs. The latest emergency...

A Russian singer accused of donating to the Ukraine army and calling President Vladimir Putin an “idiot” fell to his death from a window this week — just moments after authorities raided his apartment. Vadim Stroykin, 58, plunged to his death from the 10th floor of his St. Petersburg apartment building on Wednesday after cops came to interrogate him about the alleged donations and other claims of extremism, local news outlet Fontanka reported. Authorities said the British-educated musician and radio host was last seen alive when he went to his kitchen to get water during the police search, according to...

Grammy-nominated singer Anita Bryant, who gained attention for her opposition to gay rights in the U.S., died from cancer at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Dec. 16, The New York Times reported. She was 84. "May Anita's memory and her faith in eternal life through Christ comfort all who embraced her," her family wrote in an obituary that appeared in The Oklahoman. Bryant, born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, began performing at six by making appearances on local TV and radio. By the time she was 12, she had her own show, "The Anita Bryant Show," on WKY, the Independent noted....

Country singer Brantley Gilbert’s wife, Amber, welcomed their third child on a tour bus in the middle of his concert on Friday. ... The “Tattoos” singer had just started his set when he received word that Amber was in labor. He’s seen running to be by his wife’s side as she was giving birth inside the tour bus. The video shows the bundle of joy as Gilbert is on the phone with his mother to tell her the good news. “You got a new grandbaby,” he tells her. The singer goes on to call his wife “a freaking savage.” After...

Taylor Swift has hit back at Donald Trump's apparent acceptance of her 'support' in his race for the White House, with insiders claiming she believes the Republican has 'lost it.' The Presidential candidate, 78, shared AI-generated posts on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday night suggesting he has gained the support of the Grammy-winner, 34, and her fans, known as 'Swifties.' Trump wrote 'I accept' alongside deepfake images showing women wearing shirts emblazoned with 'Swifties For Trump,' as well as a poster of the singer dressed like Uncle Sam and urging her fans to vote for the GOP...

This young lady has a voice that will take you back to early 50s. Humble, she started singing in her church choir and gained a following on TikTok. Dark hair, blue eyes and cute as can be. All you need is a scotch on the rocks sitting in a smokey nightclub and soak it al in.

Steve Lawrence, who sang hits like "This Could be the Start of Something Good" and "Go Away Little Girl" as part of the pop duo Steve & Eydie with wife Eydie Gormé, has died. He was 88 years old. Lawrence died from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease, said Susan DuBow, a spokesperson for the family.

The singer turned her experience at the 1969 concert into "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)," a top-10 hit in 1970Singer Melanie Safka, who turned a 1969 performance at Woodstock into a hit song and a five-decade career, died Tuesday at the age of 76. Safka’s death was announced on her Facebook page with a letter from her three children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred: Dear Ones, This is the hardest post for us to write, and there are so many things we want to say, first, and there’s no easy way except to say it… Mom passed, peacefully, out...

Sinead O’Connor, the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer, has died at the age of 56, according to The Irish Times. She released 10 studio albums during her record-setting career. Her rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” was named the number one world single in 1990 at the Billboard Music Awards. The won a Grammy the following year for her album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.” O’Conner changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 after she decided to convert to Islam. The Irish songstress hitmaker in January 2022 lost her 17-year-old son, who she said, “decided...

Anyone interested in getting to know a well known singer in other parts of the world - and getting more popular here in the States? Simply known as "Dimash" His full name is Dimash Qudaibergen Dimash is a 6'3" (only putting that in there because I thought he was on the shorter side - and was amazed he was that tall), 29 year singer/composer from Kazakhstan with a 6-octave and 2 semitones voice. (A2 to D8 with a highest whistle tone of G7) He's is university trained in classical and contemporary music, has performed songs in 13 languages and plays...

ANKARA, Turkey -- A court in Istanbul on Wednesday handed Turkish pop singer Gulsen a 10-month suspended sentence after convicting her of “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke about Turkey’s religious schools, the country's state-run news agency reported. The singer-songwriter was briefly jailed last year for the joke she made during a concert, when she quipped that the “perversion” of one of her musicians came from attending a religious school.

Folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian icon who Bob Dylan once referred to as a "rare talent," passed away in Toronto on Monday. Lightfoot was 84 years old. Representative Victoria Lord confirmed that Lightfoot died at a Toronto hospital early Tuesday morning, but did not elaborate on his cause of death. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quick to offer tribute to the musician on Twitter.

The date: January 28, 1972. The occasion: a White House gala celebrating the 50th anniversary of Reader's Digest magazine. The entertainment that night: the wholesome Ray Conniff Singers. The president quipped, "And if the music is square, it's because I like it square!" But what happened next was anything but square. One of the women on stage held up a sign reading "Stop the Killing," and said, "President Nixon, stop bombing human beings, animals and vegetation. You go to church on Sundays and pray to Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ were here tonight, you would not dare drop another bomb....

Popular contemporary Christian singer Amy Grant has defended her decision to host a same-sex wedding at her farm after some Christian leaders criticized the move as an endorsement of sin.Grant, well-known for singing contemporary Christian hits such as “Mary Did You Know” and “Breath of Heaven” in addition to mainstream pop music, reacted to the backlash she has received for her decision to host her niece’s same-sex wedding in a statement to People Magazine published Monday.“I never chase any of those rabbits down the rabbit hole,” she said.“I love my family, I love those brides. They’re wonderful, our family is...

Avid Celine Dion fans gathered outside of Rolling Stone headquarters in Midtown Manhattan on Friday, protesting the magazine for excluding the five-time Grammy Award-winning diva from its “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time” list. Video shows protesters chanting and singing outside the headquarters, carrying signs that read messages like “How could you forget Celine?” and “Rolling Stone, you’ve hit an iceberg.” The list, which was released on New Year’s Day, has caused some social media uproar for excluding some big industry names, most notably Dion.

Irene Cara, the iconic ’80s singer and actress best known for the soundtrack hits to the films “Flashdance” and “Fame” has died. She was 63. Her publicist announced Cara’s death Saturday morning, saying in a statement Cara died in her Florida home. The cause of death is unknown and will be released when more information is available, the spokeswoman added.

The global economy is at risk of crippling hyperinflation and “extraordinary” conditions that could prompt the worst financial crisis since World War II, according to major hedge fund Elliott Management. Elliott Management, led by famed billionaire investor Paul Singer, warned clients that extreme conditions present in the current economic landscape have “made possible a set of outcomes that would be at or beyond the boundaries of the entire post-WWII period ... The letter also cautioned that economies around the world are “on the path to hyperinflation” — a term referring to uncontrollable acceleration in the cost of daily necessities. While...

A 22 year-old rapper has been arrested on suspicion of shooting and killing six people at a July 4 parade in an affluent Chicago suburb. Robert 'Bobby' Crimo III was intercepted by cops in North Lake Forest, Chicago, after 7pm local time Monday evening when cops saw the silver Honda Fit he was last seen driving. Dramatic photographs from the scene show the suspected mass-murderer - who posted creepy clips about shooting massacres online - being pinned to the ground face-down by police. Cops say Crimo opened fire from a rooftop, into a crowd who at first confused the sound...

The suspect in the shooting deaths of six people at a July 4th parade in the affluent Highland Park suburb of Chicago has been identified as 22-year-old Robert 'Bobby' Crimo III also known as Awake the Rapper. The shooter - who remains at large - is said to have opened fire from the roof of what was an outdoor outfitting store, picking off people in the crowd who at first confused the sound of gunshots with Independence Day fireworks. Crimo is from of the Highland Park area. He is believed to be driving a 2010 silver Honda Fit with Illinois...

MEXICO CITY — Vicente Fernández, an iconic and beloved singer of regional Mexican music who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández, died on Sunday. He was 81. Fernández was known for hits such as “El Rey,” and “Lástima que seas ajena,” his command of the ranchera genre and his dark and elegant mariachi suits with their matching wide-brimmed sombreros.