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The Black Keys Drop “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” Ahead of New Album ‘Peaches!’

Eric Alper
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The Black Keys Drop “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” Ahead of New Album ‘Peaches!’

Fourteen albums in and The Black Keys are still operating on their own terms. The GRAMMY award-winning Akron rock duo have released “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire,” the latest single from their forthcoming album ‘Peaches!’, due May 1 via Easy Eye Sound/Warner Records. An official music video is out now, shot at the band’s recent surprise show at Lucinda’s in New York City, where fans lined the streets for an up-close performance that captured exactly what makes this band worth following.

‘Peaches!’ is the band’s fourteenth studio album, a raw and visceral 10-song collection that Dan Auerbach describes as their most natural record since their 2002 debut ‘The Big Come Up’. The project was born during a deeply personal period, with Auerbach’s father in rapid decline from esophageal cancer while staying in Dan’s Nashville home. Patrick Carney, Auerbach’s oldest and closest friend, knew without asking that getting back into the studio was the right move.

The songs on ‘Peaches!’ draw directly from the duo’s obsessive record-collecting habit, which has evolved into an ongoing series of Record Hang DJ-set dance parties. Those sessions sent both men deep into musical archaeology. “I’d look for 45s specifically to play at the record hangs,” Dan says, “but sometimes I’d find a song and think, ‘This might be fun for Pat and me to play live.'” That instinct drives the whole record.

The album’s cover art features an image by iconic Memphis-born photographer William Eggleston, a hero of the band’s who also provided the cover shot for their 2021 album ‘Delta Kream’. Patrick’s brother Michael Carney returns to design and art-direct the package, a role he held on early Black Keys albums, including the GRAMMY-winning ‘Brothers’ cover. “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” follows the previously released single “You Got To Lose” and keeps the momentum building.

The PEACHES ‘N KREAM WORLD TOUR kicks off April 24 in Fort Lauderdale, running through North America and into Europe before wrapping in Canada in October. All supporting acts come from the roster of Auerbach’s own Easy Eye Sound label, with lineups varying by city. Tickets are on sale now.

‘Peaches!’ Tracklist:

  1. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
  2. Stop Arguing Over Me
  3. Who’s Been Foolin’ You
  4. It’s a Dream
  5. Tomorrow Night
  6. You Got To Lose
  7. Tell Me You Love Me
  8. She Does It Right
  9. Fireman Ring the Bell
  10. Nobody But You Baby

PEACHES ‘N KREAM WORLD TOUR Dates:

Apr. 24 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (w/ Miles Kane)

Apr. 26 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle (w/ Miles Kane)

Apr. 27 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle (w/ Miles Kane)

May 01 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz Fest

May 03 – Louisville, KY – The Louisville Palace Theater (w/ Miles Kane)

May 04 – Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium (w/ Miles Kane)

May 05 – Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium (w/ Miles Kane)

May 07 – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre (w/ Miles Kane)

May 08 – Niagara Falls, ON – Fallsview Casino Resort Grand Ballroom (w/ Miles Kane)

May 09 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall (w/ Miles Kane)

May 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount (w/ Miles Kane)

May 12 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount (w/ Eddie 9V)

May 27 – Troutdale, OR – Edgefield Amphitheater (w/ Fai Laci)

May 29 – Carnation, WA – Remlinger Farms (w/ Fai Laci)

May 30 – Carnation, WA – Remlinger Farms (w/ Fai Laci)

May 31 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Jun. 03 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Jun. 05 – Calgary, AB – Spruce Meadows ATCO Field (w/ Jeremie Albino) [SOLD OUT]

Jun. 06 – Calgary, AB – Spruce Meadows ATCO Field (w/ Jeremie Albino) [SOLD OUT]

Jun. 08 – Jackson, WY – Snow King Resort (w/ Fai Laci) [SOLD OUT]

Jun. 09 – Ogden, UT – Ogden Amphitheater (w/ Fai Laci)

Jun. 11 – Stateline, NV – Harveys Lake Tahoe (w/ Fai Laci)

Jun. 12 – Las Vegas, NV – Virgin Hotels Las Vegas The Theater (w/ Fai Laci)

Jun. 13 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl (w/ Fai Laci)

Jul. 16 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed Fairgrounds (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 17 – Saint Paul, MN – Minnesota Yacht Club Fest

Jul. 19 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 20 – La Vista, NE – The Astro Outdoor Amphitheater (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 21 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Zoo Amphitheatre (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 23 – Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 24 – Houston, TX – Lawn at White Oak Music Hall (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 25 – New Braunfels, TX – Whitewater Amphitheatre (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 28 – Clearwater, FL – Coachman Park BayCare Sound (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 29 – St. Augustine, FL – The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre (w/ Eddie 9V)

Jul. 30 – North Charleston, SC – Firefly Distillery Lawn (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 01 – Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 02 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 04 – Newport, KY – MegaCorp Pavilion (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 06 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 07 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle (w/ Eddie 9V)

Aug. 28 – Paris, FR – Rock En Seine

Aug. 29 – Portsmouth, UK – Victorious Festival

Aug. 31 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 01 – London, UK – Brixton Academy (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 04 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS (w/ Robert Finley) [SOLD OUT]

Sep. 05 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS (w/ Robert Finley) [SOLD OUT]

Sep. 06 – Cologne, DE – Palladium (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 07 – Bern, CH – Festhalle (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 09 – Munich, DE – Zenith (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 10 – Milan, IT – Alcatraz (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 13 – Madrid, ES – Movistar Aena (w/ Robert Finley)

Sep. 15 – Istanbul, TR – KüçükÇiftlik Park (w/ Robert Finley)

Oct. 10 – Verona, NY – Turning Stone Resort & Casino (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 11 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 13 – Moncton, NB – Avenir Centre (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 14 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 16 – Laval, QC – Place Bell (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 17 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Oct. 18 – Windsor, ON – Caesars Windsor (w/ Jeremie Albino)

Klive Walker Traces Five Decades of Caribbean Music’s Impact on Toronto

Eric Alper
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Klive Walker Traces Five Decades of Caribbean Music’s Impact on Toronto

Toronto’s musical identity did not build itself. On Tuesday, March 24, author, music historian, and cultural critic Klive Walker presents a sweeping overview of how Canadians with Caribbean heritage have shaped this city through music, from the 1950s straight through to the 2000s. The free event runs from 6pm to 7pm at the Malvern Branch of the Toronto Public Library, 30 Sewells Road.

Walker is the author of ‘Dubwise: Reasoning from the Reggae Underground’, and brings serious scholarly weight to a subject that deserves it. His presentation covers reggae, calypso, hip-hop, and rhythm-and-blues, tracing the key personalities and landmark events that drove Caribbean-Canadian music from community roots into the mainstream. This is not a casual survey. It is a focused, informed look at cultural history that shaped a city.

The scope here is significant. Five decades of music, multiple genres, and the through-line connecting Caribbean heritage to Toronto’s broader sonic identity. Walker maps both the community importance of this music and its powerful outward influence, making the case that these contributions are central, not peripheral, to the story of music in this city.

This is a free public event, with registration available here. For anyone serious about Toronto’s music history, this is not one to miss.

Tuesday, March 24:

6:00 PM – Malvern Branch, 30 Sewells Road, Toronto, ON

Post-Punk Revivalists Cassius Wolf & Das Abs Surface With Urgent New Single “I Can’t Reply”

Eric Alper
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Post-Punk Revivalists Cassius Wolf & Das Abs Surface With Urgent New Single “I Can’t Reply”

Some records take decades to find their audience. Cassius Wolf & Das Abs are proof that the wait can be worth it. The Liverpool post-punk project, formed in 1978 by Cassius Wolf and Don Watson, has released “I Can’t Reply,” the lead single from their forthcoming album ‘An Afternoon in Bedlam’, due May 29, 2026. Built around a throbbing bassline, urgent drum rhythms, and sharp melodic guitar work, the track channels the unmistakable tension of 80s post-punk while feeling immediate and wholly alive.

The song traces the moment a relationship tips from conflict into silence, where communication doesn’t just break down but locks up completely. The repeated refrain of “I can’t reply” is not avoidance. It is paralysis. Lyrically precise and emotionally loaded, it is the kind of track that earns its runtime.

Wolf and Watson’s origin story runs deep. The two met at school at age 11, later worked together at Liverpool’s legendary club Eric’s, and came of age surrounded by Echo & the Bunnymen, OMD, and The Teardrop Explodes. “I Can’t Reply” was originally written during those early years, then rediscovered through cassette archive recordings and reworked using modern digital production tools. That tension between past and present is the band’s defining quality.

‘An Afternoon in Bedlam’ draws from the darker romantic textures of The Cure and Depeche Mode, alongside the experimental drive of Can and Velvet Underground. Recorded largely from a home studio, the band maintains full creative control across songwriting, production, and visual presentation. The result is a record that sounds rooted in a specific era without being trapped by it.

Wolf and Watson also align themselves with “PCore,” a movement celebrating artists who continue pursuing creative ambitions later in life. Their return is a direct challenge to the idea that artistic relevance has an expiry date. ‘An Afternoon in Bedlam’ arrives May 29.

Nessa Barrett Drops Eight-Track EP ‘Jesus Loves a Primadonna’ With Jesse Rutherford in Tow

Eric Alper
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Nessa Barrett Drops Eight-Track EP ‘Jesus Loves a Primadonna’ With Jesse Rutherford in Tow

Nessa Barrett does not ease you in. The rising dark-pop force has released her new eight-track EP ‘Jesus Loves a Primadonna’ today on Warner Records, and it lands fully formed, immersive, and uncompromising. Alongside the EP comes the music video for “Buffalo 66,” a cinematic dark-fantasy love story starring The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford. Noirish rock, trip-hop textures, and Barrett’s deeply haunting vocals make this one of the most compelling releases of the year so far.

Barrett is clear about what drives the project. “Jesus loves a primadonna is all about love,” she says. “It’s beauty and demise. The villain origin story of every woman who has loved until she cannot love anymore.” That framing holds across all eight tracks, from the Western-tinged opener “West Coast Prayer” through the grunge-y surge of lead single “High On Heaven” to the heavy, bruised closer “Stay With Me.”

“Buffalo 66,” named after the 1998 cult film, sits at the project’s emotional core. Barrett wrote it after connecting with the film’s themes of Stockholm syndrome and toxic attachment. Over swooning guitars and searing strings, she captures the pull of a romance she knows she should leave. It is one of the EP’s most arresting moments, and there are several.

The EP was produced and co-written with Barrett’s go-to collaborators CJ Baran and Arthur Besna, the same team behind her celebrated second album ‘AFTERCARE’, which launched a 50-city world tour. Barrett has nearly 3 billion global streams to her name and over 27 million followers across social platforms. ‘Jesus Loves a Primadonna’ is the next chapter from one of music’s most fascinating emerging voices.

To celebrate the release, Barrett is playing a series of intimate shows in Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Toronto. The Los Angeles and Brooklyn dates are already sold out. Tickets for Chicago and Toronto are available now.

Jesus Loves a Primadonna Tracklist:

  1. “West Coast Prayer”
  2. “Moulin Rouge”
  3. “Black Haired Madonna”
  4. “Venom”
  5. “Buffalo 66”
  6. “High On Heaven”
  7. “Special To You”
  8. “Stay With Me”

Live Dates:

Apr. 03 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Masonic Lodge [SOLD OUT]

Apr. 04 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Masonic Lodge [SOLD OUT]

Apr. 07 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall

Apr. 09 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church [SOLD OUT]

Apr. 11 – Toronto, ON – Winter Garden Theatre

Seether Unveil New EP ‘Beneath the Surface’ and Hit the Road With Staind This Fall

Eric Alper
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Seether Unveil New EP ‘Beneath the Surface’ and Hit the Road With Staind This Fall

Seether have something worth your attention. The multi-platinum hard rockers have announced ‘Beneath The Surface’, a new EP available for preorder now via Concord Records. The digital-only release drops April 17th, and the first single, “Into the Ground,” is out today with a lyric video. This is Seether adding a final, resonant chapter to the campaign surrounding their acclaimed album ‘The Surface Seems So Far’.

The EP runs four tracks deep. Two previously unreleased studio cuts, “Into the Ground” and “Proud Daddy,” were pulled directly from the original album sessions, dark and melodic and unflinchingly honest. “Into the Ground” hits with the kind of punishing groove Seether does better than almost anyone in the format right now.

Rounding out ‘Beneath The Surface’ are live recordings of “Lost All Control” and “Judas Mind,” both captured during a SiriusXM Octane session. The performances are raw and immediate, translating introspective songwriting into something visceral and direct. Seether’s chemistry as a live unit comes through without compromise.

Bassist Dale Stewart is enthusiastic about the release. “I’m really stoked about our new EP,” he said. “‘Into the Ground’ really gets me pumped and ‘Proud Daddy’ is one of my favorite songs from the last sessions we did.” That kind of enthusiasm from the band translates directly into the material.

On top of the EP, Seether’s fall tour with Staind, Hoobastank, and Hinder is on sale now, running from September through October across amphitheatres coast to coast. Tickets are available now.

Beneath The Surface Tracklist:

  1. Into the Ground
  2. Proud Daddy
  3. Lost All Control (Live at SiriusXM Octane)
  4. Judas Mind (Live at SiriusXM Octane)

2026 Tour Dates:

Sep. 08 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre

Sep. 10 – Charlotte, NC – Truliant Amphitheater

Sep. 11 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

Sep. 13 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater

Sep. 14 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater

Sep. 16 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

Sep. 18 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center

Sep. 19 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater

Sep. 21 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre

Sep. 23 – Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre

Sep. 24 – Shakopee, MN – Mystic Lake Amphitheater

Sep. 26 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center

Sep. 27 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre

Sep. 29 – Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheater

Oct. 01 – Ridgedale, MO – Thunder Ridge Nature Arena

Oct. 07 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre

Oct. 09 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre

Oct. 10 – Ontario, CA – Toyota Arena

Oct. 13 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre

Oct. 14 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater

Oct. 16 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center

Oct. 17 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Oct. 19 – Austin, TX – Moody Center

Ontario Wants to Cap Ticket Resale Prices. Here’s Why It Matters and Why It’s Hard to Fix.

Eric Alper
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Ontario Wants to Cap Ticket Resale Prices. Here’s Why It Matters and Why It’s Hard to Fix.

You’ve been there.

You log on the second tickets go on sale. You wait in the queue. You refresh. You do everything right. And then they’re gone. Minutes later, the same seats are back online for five times the price.

That’s the moment people feel it. Not just frustration, but something deeper. Like the system was never really built for them. Like access to a concert or a ballgame has quietly become a privilege rather than a reasonable night out.

Ontario is stepping back into this fight. Premier Doug Ford’s government is proposing amendments to the 2017 Ticket Sales Act that would cap resale ticket prices at their original face value. The proposal would apply to anyone reselling a ticket and any platform facilitating the exchange, including Ticketmaster, StubHub, and SeatGeek. On paper, it sounds like a solution. In reality, it is more complicated than that.

Here is why the move matters. At its core, this is about access. When Blue Jays World Series tickets hit thousands of dollars and Taylor Swift seats go for multiples of their face value, live events stop being something ordinary people can plan around. A cap brings things closer to reality. It gives the average fan a genuine shot. It also respects what artists and teams set out to do in the first place. Ticket prices are set with intention. When resellers capture the upside, that value does not flow back to the people who made the event worth attending. And those scalpers have put absolutely nothing into the investment of the careers they’re profiting from. That’s a problem.

The history here is worth knowing. This is not a new conversation for Ontario. The original Liberal government introduced a 50% resale cap in 2017. Ford’s government scrapped it in 2019, with then-minister Bill Walker calling it “unenforceable” and “just a nice soundbite.” That decision aged poorly. The 2025 Blue Jays World Series exposed exactly what an unregulated market looks like, with resale prices drawing widespread criticism and Ford himself calling it gouging. Ontario is now following Quebec’s proposed legislation and a ban the U.K. introduced last year.

But here is the part politicians do not always say out loud. The market does not sit still. This is a global, digital marketplace. Tickets move across platforms, across borders, and through private networks that no provincial law can easily reach. When caps go into place, activity does not disappear. It shifts. Group chats, social media, and back-channel deals become the new marketplace. Fraud risk goes up. Transparency goes down. Fans end up navigating a space with fewer protections than the regulated platforms they left behind. A cap will push resellers toward unregulated platforms and drive primary ticket prices higher if resale competition disappears entirely.

That last point gets at the real issue. The scalper is not the root of the problem. The root is supply, demand, and the concentration of power in primary ticketing. A small number of companies control how tickets are sold, where they go, and at what price – and the artist has every right to charge what they think the market will bear – this is fine. But until that structure changes, the pressure does not go away. It finds a new outlet. So yes, this proposal matters. It signals that someone is paying attention and that pricing ordinary fans out of live events is not acceptable. Ford’s government also says it will strengthen protections against fake tickets and address unfair service charges, both of which are long overdue, except the latter is how platforms and ticketing agencies make their money to run the complex systems, so that’s a gimme.

But this is not a silver bullet. It is one move in a much larger game. The fans who log on at the right moment, do everything right, and still get shut out deserve better than a partial fix. They deserve a system that was designed with them in mind from the beginning.

25 Things You Probably Never Knew About Chuck Norris

Eric Alper
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25 Things You Probably Never Knew About Chuck Norris

The world lost Chuck Norris on March 19, 2026. He was 86. In the days since, tributes have poured in from fans who grew up watching him fight his way through action films and eight seasons of Walker, Texas Ranger. But behind the legend, the memes, and the roundhouse kicks, there was a life full of details most people never knew. Here are 25 of them.

1. He was born Carlos Ray Norris. He picked up the nickname “Chuck” while stationed at Osan Air Base in South Korea during his United States Air Force service in the late 1950s.

2. He described himself as nonathletic as a kid. Shy, scholastically mediocre, and deeply introverted, his transformation into one of the world’s most feared martial artists was anything but inevitable.

3. His father was largely absent. Ray Norris went on drinking binges that lasted months at a time, leaving Chuck to grow up with his Irish-Cherokee mother raising three boys largely on her own.

4. He lost his first two martial arts tournaments. Before becoming a champion, he dropped decisions to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen. He used those losses to get better.

5. He held the Professional Middleweight Karate championship for six consecutive years. He won the title in 1968 by avenging an earlier defeat to Louis Delgado, and never looked back.

6. He won Black Belt magazine’s Fighter of the Year award in 1969. That same year he won karate’s triple crown for most tournament wins. He retired from competition undefeated.

7. Bruce Lee personally invited him to appear in Way of the Dragon (1972). The two developed a genuine friendship and working relationship while Norris was still primarily known as a martial arts competitor.

8. Steve McQueen told him to take acting seriously. McQueen was one of Norris’s martial arts students. He saw potential in his instructor and encouraged him to start classes at MGM.

9. His celebrity karate clients included Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, and Donny and Marie Osmond. While building his film career, he ran a chain of karate schools and trained some famous names.

10. Good Guys Wear Black (1978) was self-distributed. No studio would touch it. Norris and his producers rented the theaters themselves, took the box office receipts directly, and turned a $1 million budget into over $18 million in ticket sales.

11. He was the first successful homegrown American martial arts film star. Before Norris, American cinema had relied on Hong Kong imports. Good Guys Wear Black changed that equation permanently.

12. Code of Silence (1985) genuinely surprised the critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it a potential breakout picture, praising Norris’s restrained performance as a departure from his earlier work. It opened at number one.

13. By 1990, his films had collectively grossed over $500 million worldwide. He was regularly compared to both Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood during this period.

14. Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) directly inspired Walker, Texas Ranger. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars and predicted the character of J.J. McQuade would become a future classic. He was right.

15. Walker, Texas Ranger ranked in the Top 20 on CBS for two separate seasons. The show ran eight seasons, continued in syndication on the Hallmark Channel, and remains one of the most-watched action dramas in American television history.

16. He was the special outside enforcer at the WWF’s 1994 Survivor Series. During the Casket Match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna, he delivered a roundhouse kick to an interfering Jeff Jarrett. In character. At a wrestling event.

17. The Chuck Norris Facts meme was created by someone else entirely. Ian Spector launched the satirical facts in 2005. Norris himself said he found some of them funny, and named his personal favorite: that they wanted to add his face to Mount Rushmore, but the granite was not hard enough for his beard.

18. The meme phenomenon produced six books, two video games, and multiple television appearances. Norris leaned into it publicly, reading the facts on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and visiting troops in Iraq partly on the strength of the cultural phenomenon.

19. He founded Kickstart Kids in 1990. The program uses martial arts training to build discipline and self-esteem in at-risk middle and high school students, keeping them away from drug-related pressure. He supported it actively for the rest of his life.

20. He was made an honorary United States Marine in 2007. Commandant General James T. Conway presented the honor during a dinner at the commandant’s residence in Washington, D.C.

21. Texas Governor Rick Perry named him an honorary Texas Ranger in 2010. His brother Aaron received the same honor alongside him.

22. He was a New York Times bestselling author multiple times over. His books ranged from martial arts instruction to autobiography to Christian western fiction to political commentary.

23. He had a daughter he did not know about for decades. Dina, born in 1962, was the result of a relationship during his Air Force years. The two met for the first time in 1990. He publicly acknowledged her in his 2004 memoir, Against All Odds: My Story.

24. His younger brother Wieland was killed in Vietnam in 1970. He was a private in the 101st Airborne Division, killed on patrol in the defense of Firebase Ripcord. Norris dedicated his Missing in Action films to his memory.

25. Days before his death, he posted video of himself sparring with a trainer. He turned 86 on March 10, 2026. He was still training. That was Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris, Martial Arts Icon and Walker, Texas Ranger Star, Dead at 86

Eric Alper
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Chuck Norris, Martial Arts Icon and Walker, Texas Ranger Star, Dead at 86

Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86. His family confirmed the news in a statement posted to his official Instagram account, saying he passed surrounded by family and at peace. The nature of the medical emergency, which occurred in Kauai, Hawaii, was not disclosed. Earlier in the week, he had been training with friends, and by multiple accounts was in good spirits right up until the end.

Born Carlos Ray Norris on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma, he grew up in modest circumstances, describing his childhood as difficult and marked by an absent, alcoholic father. He joined the United States Air Force in 1958, was stationed in South Korea, and it was there that he began training in Tang Soo Do. That decision changed everything. By the late 1960s, he had won the Professional Middleweight Karate championship, held it for six consecutive years, and earned Black Belt magazine’s Fighter of the Year award.

His path to Hollywood came through Bruce Lee. The two developed a friendship and working relationship, and Lee cast Norris as the villain in 1972’s Way of the Dragon. The film grossed an estimated $130 million worldwide and launched Norris toward mainstream stardom. Friend and student Steve McQueen pushed him to take acting seriously, and Norris made good on that advice. Good Guys Wear Black (1978), shot on $1 million, made over $18 million at the box office and established him as the first successful homegrown American martial arts film star.

Through the late 1970s and 1980s, Norris built one of the most consistent box office careers in action cinema. He became the leading star of Cannon Films, headlining Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985), The Delta Force (1986), and Code of Silence (1985), widely regarded as one of his strongest performances. By 1990, his films had collectively grossed over $500 million worldwide.

In 1993, he took on the role that would define him for a generation of television viewers. Walker, Texas Ranger ran for eight seasons on CBS, ranked among the Top 30 programs from 1995 to 1999, and continued in syndication long after its run ended. He reprised the role in a 2005 television film and remained closely associated with the character for the rest of his life. His final major film appearance came in The Expendables 2 (2012).

In 2005, Norris found an entirely new audience when the Chuck Norris Facts internet meme exploded in popularity. The satirical “facts,” exaggerating his physical toughness and larger-than-life persona, resulted in six books, two video games, and widespread cultural reach he embraced with good humor. He was photographed reading the facts on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and repeatedly leaned into the phenomenon rather than distancing himself from it.

Beyond film and television, Norris was a prolific author, a New York Times bestselling writer of books on martial arts, philosophy, Christian western fiction, and autobiography. In 1990, he founded Kickstart Kids, an organization using martial arts training to build discipline and self-esteem in at-risk youth, a cause he supported actively for the rest of his life. He was named an honorary United States Marine in 2007 and an honorary Texas Ranger in 2010.

His family’s statement captured the man behind the legend plainly: “To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family.” Chuck Norris is survived by his wife Gena O’Kelley, his children Mike, Eric, Dakota, Danilee, and Dina, and 13 grandchildren.

5 Movies That Rock

Eric Alper
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5 Movies That Rock

You don’t watch these movies. You feel them.
They get in your bones, your speakers, your memory. You don’t just hear the music, you remember where you were when it hit.

There are a lot of music movies. Biopics, documentaries, concert films. Some are fine. Some are forgettable. A few stay with you. The ones that get it right understand that music isn’t background. It’s the story.

Here are five that rock.

Almost Famous
This is the one people come back to. Not because of the plot, but because of the feeling. The bus scene. The chaos. The quiet moments when a kid realizes the world he dreamed about isn’t quite what he thought. It captures the space between fandom and reality. That space is where a lot of people live.

Stop Making Sense
You put this on and suddenly you’re in it. No distractions. No gimmicks. Just performance, building piece by piece. It shows what happens when a band is completely locked in. There’s no distance between the stage and the audience. That’s the point.

Purple Rain
This one is bigger than the screen. The songs carry the story. The attitude carries everything else. It’s messy, emotional, loud, vulnerable. You don’t separate the music from the movie. You can’t. That’s why it works.

School of Rock
People underestimate this one. They think it’s just fun. It is fun. But it’s also about discovery. About what happens when someone finally hears themselves and believes it. It reminds you that music isn’t reserved for a few people. It’s there for anyone willing to pick it up.

This Is Spinal Tap
It’s funny until you realize how real it feels. Every band has lived some version of this. The small gigs, the ego, the confusion, the moments that go completely off the rails. It gets the absurdity right. That’s why it lasts.

These movies don’t just show music. They understand it.

They understand the hunger. The joy. The awkwardness. The late nights. The idea that somewhere, somehow, a song can change everything.

That’s what makes them rock.

What Makes A Great Interview Guest From A Publicist’s Perspective

Eric Alper
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What Makes A Great Interview Guest From A Publicist’s Perspective

Everybody wants press. Everybody wants coverage. Everybody wants the moment where someone finally listens.

But here’s the truth. Getting the interview is one thing. Showing up for it is everything.

I’ve seen artists with massive hits fall flat in interviews. I’ve seen unknowns walk in and light up a room. The difference isn’t fame. It’s presence. It’s awareness. It’s understanding what this moment actually is.

So what makes a great interview guest?

  1. They Tell Stories, Not Answers
    No one remembers answers. Everyone remembers stories.
    The best guests don’t respond like they’re filling out a form. They bring you into a moment. A studio at 2 a.m. A breakdown. A breakthrough. A weird, funny, human detail. That’s what sticks. That’s what gets replayed. That’s what gets written about.
    If you’re just answering, you’re replaceable. If you’re storytelling, you’re unforgettable.
  3. They Listen As Much As They Talk
    A great interview isn’t a monologue. It’s a rhythm.
    The best guests hear the question behind the question. They react. They stay present. They let the conversation breathe.
    Too many people show up with talking points and steamroll through them. You can feel it instantly. It’s rigid. It’s disconnected. It doesn’t land.
    The magic happens when someone is actually in the moment. When they’re having a conversation, not delivering a pitch.
  5. They Know Why They’re There
    This is the one most people miss.
    You’re not just there to promote something. You’re there to connect. To give the audience a reason to care. To leave a mark.
    The best guests understand that every interview is an opportunity to deepen the story. Not repeat it. Not recite it. Expand it.
    They know what matters. They know what they want people to feel. And they leave just enough space for people to lean in.

That’s the difference.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about saying the “right” thing. It’s about being real, being present, and giving people something they didn’t expect.

Because at the end of the day, nobody remembers the press release.

They remember how you made them feel.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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