Arctic Monkeys’ 2014 headline set at Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands, is now streaming, and it’s exactly as good as you remember. Riding the global momentum of ‘AM,’ the Sheffield four-piece commanded a crowd of approximately 65,000 fans through a setlist that opened with the sludgy, unmistakable riff of “Do I Wanna Know?” and never let up, weaving in ‘AM’ cuts like “Arabella” (complete with a Black Sabbath “War Pigs” snippet) and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” alongside early-career anthems “Brianstorm” and “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.” Alex Turner was fully locked into his rock-and-roll swagger mode, and the band matched him every step of the way. It’s one of their finest festival performances on record, and now you can watch the whole thing.
Video: Arctic Monkeys Owned Pinkpop 2014 and This Full Concert Proves It
Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass Crew Are Back One Final Time for “jackass: best and last”
Twenty-five years of broken bones, bad ideas, and genuine camaraderie comes to a head this summer. “jackass: best and last” hits theatres June 26, 2026, and the title says exactly what it means. Johnny Knoxville and the full crew are back for one final run at the big screen, and they’re bringing everything with them.
The film delivers all-new stunts and stupidity alongside the greatest hits from the franchise’s full run. It’s equal parts victory lap and farewell, a joyously raucous celebration of the kind of mischievous chemistry that’s kept this group relevant across a quarter century of willful self-destruction. No other cast could pull this off, and no other franchise has earned a sendoff quite like this one.
Directed by Jeff Tremaine and produced by Tremaine alongside Spike Jonze, Knoxville, and Shanna Newton, the film reunites the complete roster: Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, Rachel Wolfson, Jasper, Dark Shark, Poopies, and Zach Holmes. Paramount Pictures and MTV Entertainment Studios present the film in association with Domain Entertainment, a Dickhouse Production.
“Grab your dumb little buddies, raise your glasses, and come experience the cinematic event that promises to be the last time you’ll ever laugh this hard in a theatre.” That’s the promise. Based on the track record, it’s a safe bet they’ll deliver.
The official trailer is out now. “jackass: best and last” opens June 26, 2026, only in theatres.
SkyDog: The Shoals Experience Debuts This August in the Birthplace of Southern Rock
A new destination music event is coming to one of America’s most storied recording communities. SkyDog: The Shoals Experience debuts August 28-30, 2026, in Florence, Alabama, bringing together live music, food, film, and storytelling at the Renaissance Shoals Resort and Convention Center. Ticket bundles are available now, with additional artists and programming to be announced through the summer.
The lineup already runs deep. Jackson Dean, Marcus King, Maggie Rose, Wet Willie featuring Jimmy Hall, The FAME Gang, Mike Farris, Gary Nichols, Spooner Oldham, Scott Sharrard of Little Feat, Peter Levin of the Gregg Allman Band, and Sons of Legion are all confirmed, alongside a collective of legendary Muscle Shoals session players who shaped some of the most important recordings in rock, soul, and R&B history.
The name SkyDog was the endearing nickname of Duane Allman, and the event is built around his spirit and the wider legacy he helped create in The Shoals. Scott Sharrard, serving as guitarist, vocalist, and musical director for the all-star sets, put it plainly: “This show is about honoring Gregg’s brother Duane and his pioneering musical soul and visionary spirit.”
The Shoals connection runs as deep as American music gets. It was Duane Allman who talked Wilson Pickett and Rick Hall into recording “Hey Jude” at FAME Studios, a moment that helped define what Muscle Shoals could do. “My father, Rick Hall, was part of building that foundation,” said Rodney Hall, co-owner and president of FAME Publishing and FAME Studios. “This event is about honoring that legacy and giving people an elevated way to experience The Shoals.”
Organizers describe the concept as a “cruise ship on land,” with the hotel, convention center, outdoor staging, and surrounding programming designed to function as a single immersive weekend. Beyond the music, SkyDog Shoals includes regional food, books, film, and storytelling across the property, VIP experiences tied to the onsite Caution! Stones Ahead Rolling Stones Museum, and an intimate Sunday brunch to close the weekend.
SkyDog Shoals is a weekend that could only happen in Muscle Shoals. August 28-30 is the date. Florence, Alabama is the place.
SkyDog: The Shoals Experience:
Aug 28 — Florence, AL @ Renaissance Shoals Resort and Convention Center
Aug 29 — Florence, AL @ Renaissance Shoals Resort and Convention Center
Aug 30 — Florence, AL @ Renaissance Shoals Resort and Convention Center
ZHU Takes ‘BLACK MIDAS’ on the Road With the “ON THE MOVE” World Tour
ZHU has a new album out and a world tour to match. The GRAMMY-nominated producer and DJ has announced “ON THE MOVE,” a run of dates across Europe, South America, and North America in support of ‘BLACK MIDAS,’ out now on Broke/BLACKLIZT Sound Syndicate. Artist presale launches Wednesday, April 29 at 10 AM EST via laylo.com/zhu/m/ONTHEMOVE, with general on sale Friday, May 1 at 10 AM local time.
‘BLACK MIDAS’ is a focused, dancefloor-driven statement, deep house and melodic techno built for rooms that move. Tracks like “5STARRR,” “LEVELZZZ,” and “BURN” hit with the kind of atmospheric weight ZHU has been refining since his 2014 breakout “Faded” earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Dance Recording. The album also features collaborations with Mahmut Orhan, GCBestBelieve, THEY., and Joyia.
The “ON THE MOVE” dates kick off May 15 in Bogota and roll through a mix of clubs and festivals that map ZHU’s global reach. Festival slots include Into The Horizon in San Diego, Audioriver in Poland, and Tomorrowland in Belgium. First-time plays include Medusa Club in Medellin, Club Chinois Ibiza, Pacha Munich, The Concourse Project in Austin, and SILO in Dallas. He also returns to London’s The Roundhouse and Turkish clubs La Nouba, Yuzu Beach, and MAGI Beach, where his BLACKLIZT events previously made their mark.
ZHU is encouraging fans to wear all black to “ON THE MOVE” shows, an extension of the immersive BLACKLIZT concept he’s been building for years. This isn’t just a DJ tour. It’s a full atmospheric experience, and ‘BLACK MIDAS’ gives it the right soundtrack.
2026 ON THE MOVE Tour Dates:
May 15 — Bogota, Colombia @ Octava
May 16 — Medellin, Colombia @ Medusa Club
Jun 27 — San Diego, CA @ Into The Horizon Festival
Jul 10 — Lodz, Poland @ Audioriver Festival
Jul 17 — Cetinje, Montenegro @ Monte 1350
Jul 18 — London, England @ The Roundhouse
Jul 22 — Ibiza, Spain @ Club Chinois Ibiza
Jul 24 — Munich, Germany @ Pacha Munich
Jul 25 — Boom, Belgium @ Tomorrowland
Jul 31 — Yani, Cyprus @ La Nouba
Aug 1 — Izmir, Turkey @ Yuzu Beach
Aug 2 — Bodrum, Turkey @ MAGI Beach
Aug 14 — El Paso, TX @ The Elmont
Aug 15 — Chicago, IL @ Navy Pier Open Air
Sep 11 — Brooklyn, NY @ Pacha New York
Sep 25 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
Oct 16 — Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
Oct 23 — Austin, TX @ The Concourse Project
Oct 31 — San Francisco, CA @ Goldbar Distillery Treasure Island
Nov 13 — Albuquerque, NM @ Revel
Nov 14 — Dallas, TX @ SILO
‘BLACK MIDAS’ Track Listing:
MIDAS INTRO
BLACK MIDAS
IN THE WILD with Mahmut Orhan
LEVELZZZ with GCBestBelieve
5STARRR with THEY.
BURN with Joyia
ONE DESIRE
HURTS4ME
WHAT I NEED
KEEP IT MOVING
FIREAWAY
NEW SHOES
TANGIER
RAINDOWN
What an All-In-One AI Studio Looks Like in 2026
By Mitch Rice
If you walked into a working AI creator’s studio a few years ago, the setup would be one large monitor and four browser tabs. Midjourney for images. Runway for video. ElevenLabs for voice. A spreadsheet for tracking what was generated where.
Walk into the same creator’s studio today and the setup looks different. One tab. One workflow. The same image, video, and voice tools, but bundled and stitched together in a way that lets a single creator move at the speed of a small production team.
This is what an all-in-one AI studio actually contains, and how working creators are using each piece.
Image generation across multiple models
The image side starts with model variety. The studio that wins includes the major options each creator might want to reach for:
- A Midjourney-class model for aesthetic baseline
- A Flux 2-class model for prompt adherence
- A Nano Banana 2-class model for fast iteration and editing
- A QWEN-class model for character consistency
- A Seedream-class model for stylized aesthetics
- An Ideogram-class model for images with text
The reason the diversity matters is that no single model wins every shot. The studio that lets a creator pick the right model per generation produces better output than any single-model setup, and the Create Anything with Professional AI Tools framing reflects what creators actually need.
Video generation that pairs with the images
The video models follow the same pattern. The major options bundled together:
- Kling for cinematic shots
- Veo for action and motion-heavy work
- Wan for talking-head and dialogue
- Pika and Runway for short cutaways
- Higgsfield for cinematic atmosphere
- Sora 2 for photorealistic scenes
The connecting tissue is the character preserve workflow that lets a character generated in the image side carry into the video side. The same face shows up across image and video shots, which is the workflow that single-tool stacks could never quite handle.
Voice tools that complete the deliverable
The third leg is voice. ElevenLabs-class voice cloning. Multi-voice TTS for dialogue scenes. Voice direction tools for emotional inflection. The voices generated in the studio drop into the video tools without leaving the workflow.
For talking-head video, this matters more than it sounds. A creator generating a talking-head AI avatar in Wan and a voice in ElevenLabs separately needs to manually sync them. A creator generating both in the same studio can lock the avatar to the voice and have lip sync handled automatically.
Editing tools across modalities
Generation is only half the work. The studios that win include the editing tools that the working creators actually use:
- Inpainting to fix small problems in generated images
- Outpainting to extend a frame
- Regional prompts to direct different parts of an image differently
- Video timeline editing for trimming and assembling shots
- Voice editing for splicing and refining audio
The pattern is that any output worth keeping needs some editing. A studio without editing tools forces the creator to export, edit elsewhere, and re-import. That round trip kills speed.
Project organization that scales
Working creators do not produce one piece at a time. They produce projects with dozens or hundreds of assets, often across multiple deliverables, often over weeks. The studio that wins includes project structure that scales with that:
- Project folders with their own asset libraries
- Tagging and search across assets
- Version history so you can roll back when an edit goes wrong
- Templates for repeated shot types
The flat asset bucket model breaks down past a hundred assets. The studios that have invested in the organization layer are the ones working creators have stayed with.
Render queue and parallel generation
The single largest workflow speed unlock is the ability to queue many renders at once across many models. A creator planning a video might queue 30 shots: 5 cinematic to Kling, 8 action to Veo, 6 talking-head to Wan, 11 cutaway to Pika. All at once. The studio runs them in parallel, the creator goes to lunch, and the renders are done by the time they’re back.
The studios that have built real queueing systems unlock a different kind of working pace than the studios that still process generations one at a time.
Pricing that bundles intelligently
The economics matter. A creator subscribing to the major image, video, and voice tools individually might spend $200-300 per month and still not have everything in one place. A studio that bundles all of them at $100-200 per month is both cheaper and more functional.
The pricing works because the bundled studios negotiate volume access to the underlying models. The savings get passed through.
Workflow integrations
The best studios include integrations with the tools that sit upstream and downstream of generation. CapCut and DaVinci for compositing. Adobe Premiere for long-form. Notion or Asana for project management. The friction points where creators previously copy-pasted assets between tools are the friction points the studios have worked to remove.
The character thread that holds it together
The single feature that ties everything together is character consistency. A character generated once should:
- Appear in any image generation that needs them, with the face within tolerance
- Carry into video shots with the same face
- Pair with a consistent voice in any audio work
- Maintain identity across project sessions, weeks apart
Studios that handle this well make serial content viable. Studios that don’t force creators to either accept drift or do enormous manual work to maintain consistency.
This is the structural shift. The all-in-one studios that have caught on are the ones that solved the cross-modal character problem. Once that works, every other workflow benefit compounds. The creators who have moved to this stack are producing more output faster than the creators still juggling separate tools, and the gap is widening.
Data and information are provided for informational purposes only, and are not intended for investment or other purposes.
Simple Plan Are Bringing Their Pop-Punk Legacy to Niagara Falls This December
Simple Plan are coming to the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino on Saturday, December 19, 2026, and it’s the kind of booking that makes a lot of sense. One of Canada’s most enduring rock exports, playing one of the country’s top-ranked venues, right before the holidays. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 1 at 10:00 a.m. through ticketmaster.ca.
The Montreal-formed quartet have accumulated over 10 billion streams worldwide and built a catalog that’s held up across two decades of pop-punk. Their 2002 multi-platinum debut ‘No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls’ launched with “I’d Do Anything,” “I’m Just A Kid,” “Addicted,” and “Perfect,” and the hits kept coming from there. “Welcome To My Life,” “Summer Paradise,” and “Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me?)” are the kind of tracks that still move rooms full of people.
“Simple Plan has been a defining force in Canadian rock, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino this December,” said Cathy Price, Vice President of Marketing and Resort Operations for Niagara Casinos.
The OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino holds 5,000 and is ranked the number one venue in Canada based on size. For a band that’s headlined main stages around the world, it’s a fitting room. December 19 is going to be a good night.
Show Details:
Simple Plan Saturday, December 19, 2026 Showtime: 8:00 PM OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON Tickets on sale Friday, May 1 at 10:00 AM via ticketmaster.ca
Bring Me The Horizon Bring “POST HUMAN: NeX GEn – The Third Ascension Program” to North America This Fall
Bring Me The Horizon are heading back to North America, and this run is a long time coming. The BRIT and GRAMMY-nominated Sheffield outfit have announced “POST HUMAN: NeX GEn – The Third Ascension Program,” a nine-date headline tour spanning Canada and the U.S. this fall. Support comes from Motionless in White and The Plot in You.
The dates matter beyond the scale. This marks the band’s first performances in nearly 15 years in select Western Canadian cities, a gap that makes stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg feel genuinely significant. The Canadian run kicks off September 20 in Vancouver and works its way east before crossing into the U.S. for dates in Grand Rapids and beyond.
The tour expands on the fully immersive live universe the band has been building throughout the POST HUMAN era, a high-impact, multi-sensory experience blending cutting-edge visuals, cyberpunk aesthetics, and relentless energy. If you’ve seen what they’ve been doing on the current global run, you already know what’s at stake.
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 1 at 10 AM local time at BMTHofficial.com/live. An artist presale runs Wednesday, April 28 at 10 AM local for 36 hours, followed by a Spotify presale Thursday, April 30 at 10 AM local for 12 hours. VIP packages are also available, including premium tickets, early entry, exclusive merch, and access to a curated display of rare and archival band items.
The Third Ascension Program tour announcement comes alongside news that the band’s seminal 2006 debut ‘Count Your Blessings’ is getting a full re-recording for its 20th anniversary. ‘Count Your Blessings | Repented’ arrives July 10 on vinyl, CD, and streaming, with Sykes and guitarist Lee Malia joined by Buster Odeholm on mixing. The album will also be celebrated live at Outbreak Festival in Manchester on July 10.
Bring Me The Horizon have sold over 7.2 million albums worldwide and hold multiple UK No. 1 records. The Third Ascension Program is the next chapter in a live show that keeps raising the bar.
2026 Tour Dates:
POST HUMAN: NeX GEn – Ascension Program 2
Tues Apr 28 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Weds Apr 29 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
Fri May 1 — Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
Sat May 2 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Mon May 4 — Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
Tues May 5 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
Thurs May 7 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Sat May 9 — Daytona, FL @ Welcome to Rockville
Mon May 11 — St Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
Tues May 12 — Kansas City, MO @ T Mobile Center
Weds May 13 — St Paul, MN @ Grand Casino Arena
Fri May 15 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
Sat May 16 — Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Festival
Festival & International Dates
Jun 3–6 — Solvesborg, SE @ Sweden Rock Festival
Tues Jun 9 — Kraków, PL @ Tauron Arena
Fri Jun 12 — Hradec Králové, CZ @ Rock for People
Sun Jun 14 — Nickelsdorf, AT @ Nova Rock
Thurs Jun 18 — Clisson, FR @ Hellfest
Sat Jun 20 — Dessel, BE @ Graspop
Jun 24–27 — Oslo, NO @ Tons of Rock
Thurs Jun 25 — Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhell
Jun 25–27 — Seinäjoki, FI @ Provinssi
Jun 26–28 — Helsinki, FI @ Tuska
Thurs Jul 2 — Ferrara, IT @ Ferrara Summer Festival
Fri Jul 10 — Manchester, UK @ B.E.C. Arena (Outbreak Presents: Count Your Blessings | Repented)
Fri Aug 14 — Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
Sat Sep 5 — Rio de Janeiro, BR @ Rock in Rio
POST HUMAN: NeX GEn – The Third Ascension Program
Sun Sep 20 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Weds Sep 23 — Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
Thurs Sep 24 — Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
Sat Sep 26 — Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre
Weds Sep 30 — Quebec City, QC @ Videotron Centre
Fri Oct 2 — Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre
Sat Oct 3 — Hamilton, ON @ TD Coliseum
Tues Oct 6 — London, ON @ Canada Life Place
Thurs Oct 8 — Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
Bella Kay Drops Guitar-Driven New Single “Promise?” and She’s Just Getting Started
Bella Kay has a new single out, and it hits exactly the way you’d want it to. “Promise?” is a guitar-driven anthem that builds into a soaring, cathartic bridge, raw and emotionally precise in the way that’s become her calling card. The Texas-born singer-songwriter is 20 years old and already operating at a level most artists spend years trying to reach. Listen here.
The new track follows her February 2026 EP ‘a couple minutes out,’ which produced the breakout hit “iloveitiloveitiloveit.” That song earned an American Music Awards nomination for Song of the Summer, landed on the Billboard Hot 100, and has racked up over 250 million streams and 2.2 billion TikTok views across 1.2 million creates. It’s also climbing at pop radio right now.
Before that, there was “The Sick,” the viral ballad that surpassed 175 million streams and generated over 2 billion TikTok views. Kay’s catalog is young and already stacked with moments that connect. Her writing pulls from heartbreak, alienation, and survival, delivered with a vulnerability that doesn’t feel performed.
She recently wrapped a U.S. run supporting Maisie Peters, and the live show is clearly catching up to the streaming numbers. This May, she launches sold-out European and UK headline dates, followed by her first U.S. headline tour this summer, with multiple dates already sold out before she even arrives stateside.
Later this fall, she joins Noah Kahan as support on his UK and Ireland arena tour, her largest performances to date. She’ll also make festival debuts at The Great Escape, All Things Go, and Lollapalooza. “Promise?” is out now and worth your full attention.
2026 Tour Dates:
EU / UK Headline & Festival
May 6 — Amsterdam, NL @ Tolhuistuin [SOLD OUT]
May 8 — Paris, FR @ Les Etoiles [SOLD OUT]
May 10 — Dublin, IE @ Academy Main Room [SOLD OUT]
May 12 — London, UK @ O2 Academy Islington [SOLD OUT]
May 15 — Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape (Festival)
May 17 — Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 3 [SOLD OUT]
May 19 — Berlin, DE @ Prachtwerk [SOLD OUT]
May 20 — Cologne, DE @ Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld [SOLD OUT]
North America Headline & Festival
June 4 — Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall [SOLD OUT]
June 6 — Toronto, ON @ All Things Go (Festival)
June 10 — New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg [SOLD OUT]
June 13 — Austin, TX @ Brushy Street Commons [SOLD OUT]
June 16 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy [SOLD OUT]
July 30 — Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza (Festival)
UK & IE Supporting Noah Kahan (Arena Tour)
Nov 5 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
Nov 6 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
Nov 9 — Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
Nov 10 — Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
Nov 13 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
Nov 14 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
Nov 17 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
Nov 19 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
Nov 21 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
Nov 22 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
Nedra Talley Ross, the Last Surviving Ronette and Voice Behind “Be My Baby,” Dies at 80
Nedra Talley Ross, the last surviving founding member of The Ronettes, died on the morning of Sunday, April 26, 2026, at her home in Virginia Beach. She was 80, and with her passing, the curtain closes on one of the most influential girl groups in pop history.
Born Nedra Yvonne Talley on January 27, 1946, in Manhattan, she began singing as a child alongside her cousins, sisters Ronnie and Estelle Bennett. They performed at sock hops and bar mitzvahs, calling themselves the Darling Sisters, then Ronnie and the Relatives, before landing on the name that combined pieces of each of their own: The Ronettes. It was a fitting origin for a group that always felt like something built from the inside out.
Their 1963 audition for producer Phil Spector changed everything. “Be My Baby,” co-written by Spector with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the most recognizable opening drum beats in recorded music. The hits kept coming: “Baby I Love You,” “Walking in the Rain,” and “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up” all charted, and their sole album, 1964’s ‘Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes,’ cemented their place in pop’s upper tier.
The Ronettes’ reach was staggering. They toured the UK, where the Rolling Stones served as their opening act. Keith Richards later wrote that they were “the hottest girl group in the world.” They joined the Beatles on their final world tour in 1966, a fact made even more remarkable by the backstage details: Talley Ross took lead vocals alongside Estelle on that tour, as Phil Spector had forbidden Ronnie, by then his partner, from performing.
The group split in 1967, partly due to Spector’s increasingly controlling grip on their career, and partly because Talley Ross had found a deeper calling in Christian music. She married DJ and media personality Scott Ross that same year and moved to Virginia. In 1978, she released ‘Full Circle,’ a solo contemporary Christian album produced by her husband, with guitarist Phil Keaggy backing her throughout.
The legal fight that followed the group’s breakup was long and grueling. The Ronettes spent decades pursuing Spector over unpaid royalties, eventually winning a court order for $2.6 million in 2000. It was a hard-fought recognition of what their music had always been worth.
In 2007, Keith Richards introduced The Ronettes at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. “They could sing their way right through a wall of sound,” he said. “They touched my heart right there and then, and they touch it still.” The group performed three songs, including “Be My Baby,” to a standing ovation. Talley Ross and Ronnie performed without Estelle, who was present but not well enough to sing.
Those who knew Talley Ross described her as someone who never let stardom reshape who she was. Her son Ryan, sitting beside her during one of her final interviews in Cleveland earlier this year, put it simply: “She would talk to anybody. She was nice to everybody. She never really thought of herself as a star in that sense. She was always a mother, and a sister, and a cousin and a wife.”
Estelle Bennett died in 2009. Ronnie Spector died in 2022. Talley Ross outlasted them both, and carried the story forward with grace. She is survived by her four children.
Mariclare Costello, Beloved Actress of “The Waltons” and Cult Horror Classic, Dies at 90
Mariclare Costello lived a life that moved between stages, screens, classrooms, and communities with the same quiet authority. The actress, born February 3, 1936, in Peoria, Illinois, died April 17, 2026, in Brooklyn, at the age of 90. She leaves behind a career of remarkable range and a legacy that extended well beyond any single role.
Most audiences knew her as Rosemary Hunter on CBS’s The Waltons, where she appeared in 15 episodes across the show’s first five seasons. Her character, the schoolteacher who eventually married the Rev. Matthew Fordwick (John Ritter), was warm and grounded, exactly the qualities Costello brought to everything she did. “I had the greatest time with Richard Thomas and John Ritter,” she recalled in a 2011 interview. “We laughed from the beginning of the day until the end of the day.”
Horror fans claimed her just as firmly. Her turn as Emily Bishop in the 1971 cult film ‘Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,’ a hippie-vampire who rises from a lake in a wedding dress, remains one of the genre’s most haunting performances. It’s the kind of role that follows an actress forever, and Costello wore it well.
Her theatrical roots ran deep. She studied improv with Viola Spolin at Catholic University, earned her master’s in Theater and Education, and performed for President Kennedy as Nerissa in a production of ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ In 1964, she was among just 30 actors selected for the original Lincoln Center Repertory Company, where she originated the role of Louise in Arthur Miller’s ‘After the Fall,’ directed by Elia Kazan, opposite Jason Robards.
Broadway followed, four times over, including a 1970 revival of ‘Harvey’ alongside Jimmy Stewart and Helen Hayes, and an early production with Stacy Keach. She was a lifetime member of The Actors Studio, and trained alongside Jerome Robbins, James Earl Jones, Faye Dunaway, Hal Holbrook, and Austin Pendleton.
Her television work spanned decades. She appeared in ‘Ordinary People,’ ‘The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension,’ ‘Raid on Entebbe,’ and episodes of Ironside, Kojak, Lou Grant, Murder She Wrote, Chicago Hope, and Judging Amy. In 1974, she played the wife of Martin Sheen’s title character in the Emmy-winning telefilm ‘The Execution of Private Slovik.’ Each credit was another proof of her versatility.
After her on-screen career wound down, she poured that same energy into teaching. She led the drama program at St. Paul the Apostle Elementary School in Westwood, directed at Loyola High School and Loyola Marymount University, and led a theater group at Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. Her basement was filled floor to ceiling with costumes and props. Her productions, by all accounts, were works of extraordinary care.
She met her husband, actor Allan Arbus, in an acting class taught by Mira Rostova. They fell in love rehearsing a Dorothy Parker one-act, moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, and married at home in 1977 after twelve years together. Arbus died in 2013. The last production she saw was ‘Waiting for Godot,’ directed by her daughter Arin at Theater for a New Audience.
Costello is survived by her daughter Arin and her partner Ethan, granddaughter Bird, step-daughters Amy and Doon, and her nieces and nephew.