Selena Gomez drops huge career shock

ENTERTAINMENT

More than a decade after breaking onto the music scene, Selena Gomez has suggested her next album will be her last.
The US pop star, 31, made the revelation during an interview on the SmartLess podcast, claiming she has “one more album” left in her. She cited being “tired” as the reason for wanting to limit her workload.
“I do feel like I have one more album in me, but I would probably choose acting,” Gomez said of her future.
While not a trained singer, Gomez has enjoyed immense success as a performer, with her music career kicking off in line with her breakout role in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverley Place, which aired from 2007 until 2012.
“Disney is, it’s safe to say, a machine and, in a way, forcefully require that I know how to sing so I could sing the theme song. They know how to package someone and make it a whole triple threat thing,” Gomez continued.
“I wanted to be an actress, I never really intended on being a singer full-time but apparently that hobby turned into something else.
“I started having a lot of fun with music and then touring was really fun. But the older I get, the more I’m kind of like, I would like to find something to just settle on.”
Gomez, who is one of the most followed people on Instagram with 429 million followers, has released six studio albums across her career – three with her band Selena Gomez and the Scene and three as a solo artist – the latter three each debuting at Number 1 in the US.
In December, Gomez said on social media she was set to release a new album – her first since Rare (2020) – within two months.
The star, who debuted her new relationship with music producer Benny Blanco just before Christmas, also runs her own cosmetics company, Rare Beauty, which she founded in 2019.
As for her chosen career route of acting, Gomez again featured in the successful Disney+ series Only Murders in the Building, which dropped its third season in October.
She’s next set to appear on the big screen in the upcoming musical comedy thriller Emilia Perez, which co-stars Zoe Saldana and Edgar Ramirez and is slated for release some time this year.
– Celebrity Life

Disney’s Coco voice actor Ana Ofelia Murguía dies aged 90

Ana Ofelia Murguía, the Mexican actress who voiced great-grandmother Mama Coco in the Oscar-winning Disney Pixar animation Coco, has died aged 90.
She had a key part in the film about a Mexican boy who crosses to the Land of the Dead, uncovering family secrets while trying to become a musician.
The movie highlights the Day of the Dead and celebrates Mexico’s culture. Its National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature said her career was “vital for the performing arts of Mexico”.
One of Coco’s most memorable moments was the scene where Mama Coco and her great-grandson Miguel sing Remember Me together.
He sings: “For even if I’m far away I hold you in my heart,” and she joins in to sing: “Until you’re in my arms again… Remember me.”
The film is set during the Day of the Dead festival held each year in South American countries, including Mexico, celebrating the cycle of life and death. – BBC

Actor Renner almost died last New Year’s Day

In the year since Jeremy Renner, pictured, almost lost his life in a freak New Year’s Day accident, the Marvel star has proved himself just as much a superhero offscreen.
It was on New Year’s Day 2023 that the “Avengers” actor was crushed near his Nevada home while trying to stop his snow-removal tractor from sliding and hitting his adult nephew.
The accident broke several of Renner’s bones including eight ribs broken in 14 places, an eye socket, a knee, along with a collapsed lung and his liver pierced from a rib bone.
Renner literally came close to death as his doctor said at the time that the snowplow came within millimeters of hitting a vital organ or major nerve.
Since that traumatic time, Renner appears to have been making the most out of his second chance.
He recently confirmed that he has a new album coming out. Earlier this month, he shared what appeared to be the cover to an album titled “Wait” to his Instagram, and in the caption he referred to it as a “New musical diary — story of life, death, recovery, all things learned along the way.”
– CNN

Singer shares major update amid shock split

AJ McLean announced that he and his estranged wife, Rochelle, are divorcing after being separated for “over a year now.”
The Backstreet Boys member made the stunning announcement on New Year’s Day, telling fans that they’ve decided to call it quits after “hoping for reconciliation.”
“It is with deep love and respect that we have made this decision,” their joint statement read, as per Page Six.
“Our focus now is moving forward in the healthiest possible way with friendship and co-parenting our girls at the forefront of this next chapter.”
The former couple concluded their message by thanking their fans for respect and privacy.
Although the Quit Playing Games With My Heart crooner, 45, now confirmed that he and Rochelle, 42, have been apart for more than a year, McLean only announced their separation after 11 years of marriage in March 2023.
“Marriage is hard but worth it. We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future,” they said in a statement at the time.
“The plan is to come back together and continue to nurture our love for one another and our family. We ask for respect and privacy at this time.”
However, multiple sources close to the pop star later told Page Six that McLean and Rochelle had been separated for months prior.
“They were living apart since at least January,” one insider revealed. “AJ left their marital home.”
A second source, meanwhile, told Page Six the duo’s break-up “was a long time coming” and that “there is more to the story.”
– news.com.au

Actor found dead in South Korea

Actor Lee Sun-kyun, pictured, of the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite” has died, South Korea’s emergency office confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Lee was found dead in a car in a central Seoul park, it said. Police earlier said an unconscious Lee was discovered at an unidentified Seoul location.
South Korean media outlets including Yonhap news agency reported that police had been searching for Lee after his family reported him missing after writing a message similar to a suicide note earlier Wednesday. According to the news agency, a charcoal briquette was discovered in the passenger seat of the car.
– AP