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When you think of classic movie nerds or warm-hearted TV dads, one familiar face might come to mind. Robert Carradine built a career playing characters who were quirky, kind, and unforgettable. Now, fans and loved ones are mourning the actor, who has died at 71.

According to Deadline, Carradine died following what his family described as a “valiant struggle” with bipolar disorder. The outlet reported on Monday, Feb. 23, that he took his own life.

His family shared a statement with Deadline, writing, “It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away.”

The statement continued, “In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon on light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby’s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder. We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness. At this time we ask for the privacy to grieve this unfathomable loss. With gratitude for your understanding and compassion.”

Carradine made his film debut in 1972 in The Cowboys, starring opposite John Wayne. Just a year later, he appeared in Mean Streets, directed by Martin Scorsese.

In 1978, he starred in Coming Home alongside Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. The film focused on the lasting effects of the Vietnam War on veterans and won an Academy Award.

But many fans best remember him for comedy. Carradine became a pop culture favorite as Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds franchise. He also appeared in Escape from L.A. opposite Kurt Russell.

A new generation came to know him as Sam McGuire, the caring dad on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire and in The Lizzie McGuire Movie from 2001 to 2004.

After his death, Hilary Duff shared a tribute on Instagram on Monday, Feb. 23. Posting photos from the Lizzie McGuire set, she wrote, “This one hurts.”

“It’s really hard to face this reality about an old friend,” Duff continued. “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering. My heart aches for him , his family, and everyone who loved him. 💔.”

Jake Thomas, who played Lizzie’s younger brother Matt, also posted a tribute. “My heart hurts today,” he wrote. “I was fortunate to know Bobby for most of my life. And he was one of the coolest guys you could ever meet. Funny, pragmatic, sometimes cranky, always a little eccentric. He was a talented actor, musician, and director. But more than anything, he was family.”

Thomas continued, “I have many fond memories being with him and his family throughout my life. Good moments, challenging moments, and lots of laughs between. I looked up to him growing up. And later in life, I came to realize he thought I was pretty neat, too. So I guess I was doing something right in his eyes. My heart is with Marika and Ian. Rest easy, Bobby. Love you — ‘Jaker.’ “

Carradine came from a long line of actors. His father, John Carradine, was known for films like The Grapes of Wrath and Stagecoach.

His half-brother David Carradine starred in the TV series Kung Fu and later appeared in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2, directed by Quentin Tarantino.

His brother Keith Carradine has appeared in Pretty Baby and the TV series Dexter. Keith is also the father of Martha Plimpton, known for Raising Hope, The Goonies and Running on Empty.

Speaking with Deadline, Keith said the family hopes more people will learn about bipolar disorder.

“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” Keith told the outlet. “It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day. We will take solace in how funny he could be, how wise and utterly accepting and tolerant he was. That’s who my baby brother was.”

Robert shared daughter Ever Carradine with ex Susan Snyder, and daughter Marika Reed Carradine, and son Ian Alexander Carradine, with his ex-wife Edie Mani. Carradine and Mani divorced in 2018.

He is survived by his children, grandchildren, brothers, nieces and nephews.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

Social Distortion will release a new studio album in May. This marks the band’s first batch of original music since 2011’s Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. Frontman Mike Ness says the project is done and set for a spring launch.

Ness spilled details about the album backstage at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2025 event in Los Angeles, according to cleveland.com. The first single should arrive this month.

The record arrives after Ness went through serious health issues. Doctors found stage-one tonsil cancer in 2023. Surgery and treatment followed, which meant he had to relearn how to speak and sing.

The group started back in 1978 and helped build the punk rock genre while mixing punk with rockabilly, country, and other American roots sounds. After hitting it big with 1983’s Mommy’s Little Monster, the band came roaring back in the late 1980s with catchier tunes that pulled in more listeners through albums like Social Distortion and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell.

“Ness and ‘Social D’ never went away. They’ve been active on tour and a new album is most welcome,” said Peter Chakerian, life and culture editor. “It seems like the right time to be hearing from them.”

Mike Ness has jumped back into touring after getting better. His health problems made him stop performing and work to regain trust in his voice.

The band has kept playing shows despite the gap between studio releases. The 15-year wait between albums stands as one of the longest stretches in their story. Fans can get concert tickets and stay on the lookout for info on their future album on the band’s official website.

River Rouge police pulled over dozens of drivers Monday night. However, they didn’t write tickets. Instead, officers gave out $25 gas gift cards. The city launched Operation Give Back for the first time, with Mayor William Campbell working alongside the public safety department to distribute 30 cards before the holidays.

“They’ll feel like they’re getting a ticket and instead of giving them a ticket, we’ll give them a gas card in our community,” Campbell said. “(It’s) just a small token of our appreciation to them.”

Body camera footage captured what happened. Officers walked up to vehicles with flashing lights before revealing the actual reason for the traffic stops.

“You did nothing wrong. Today, we’re giving cards away for $25 gift cards,” Detective Joshua Smith told a driver during one stop.

Sotirios Arapakis, interim director of public safety, said this program holds personal meaning for him. “It’s important to me because I grew up here in the city of River Rouge. I do believe you should give back to the community you work for, let alone having the privilege to serve the community I grew up in,” Arapakis said.

Maurice Cooper-Johnson of River Rouge was among those stopped. “I’m a little surprised right now. I was like dang, what could I have done? I don’t know what I did,” Cooper-Johnson said.

Marquetta Copland, an Uber driver from Detroit who was completing a ride, feared the worst when officers pulled her over. She thought she was in trouble. “My heart was beating because I was taken aback a little bit because I said, that’s not for me because I did nothing wrong,” Copland said.

Jeanie Jaggers said the card came at a meaningful time. She plans to use it to visit family during the holidays. “This helps me a lot because I’m on disability, so I’m going to use this for my gas that I really need to go see my grand kids this weekend,” Jaggers said.

Several officers and the mayor put in their own money to fund the giveaway. City officials said they hope to repeat this program next year.

Manowar will launch the Kings Of Metal Fighting The World Tour 2027 with 21 concerts throughout Germany. This tour follows their Blood Of Our Enemies Tour, which honored Hail To England and Sign Of The Hammer.

Each concert features rotating setlists. One performance delivers the complete Kings Of Metal album from start to finish, while the next presents Fighting The World in its entirety alongside extra songs.

The band started in 1980 in upstate New York. Bass player Joey DeMaio and singer Eric Adams are the only original members still performing.

Fighting The World dropped in 1987, and Kings Of Metal arrived in 1988. Both records contain fan favorites, including “Fighting the World,” “Defender,” “Hail and Kill,” and “Warriors of the World United.”

DeMaio shared news about the re-recording of Sign Of The Hammer, which hit its 40th anniversary in 2024. “We recorded everything. We listened. And we weren’t satisfied,” he wrote on his website. “The sound wasn’t there yet. It wasn’t the crushing, earth-shaking power we demand from ourselves. … So what did we do? We took apart our studios, tried new equipment configurations. We recorded again. … Could we have rushed it out? Sure. But that’s not who we are.” 

The band performed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 30, 2024. That concert was their first U.S. show in ten years.

An exclusive presale for Army Of Immortals members opens on Nov. 21 and closes on Nov. 25. General ticket sales will start on Dec. 2 through Eventim.de and Manowar’s website. A small number of Ultimate Fan Experience upgrades will be available.

Five Finger Death Punch and BABYMETAL climbed to the top of the Japanese iTunes Metal Chart with their joint single, “The End.” According to Ghost Cult Magazine, it became the first song with Japanese lyrics to crack the Top 5 at US Rock radio. On the Japanese All-Genres Chart, it reached #18.

Ivan Moody and Zoltan Bathory appeared with the Japanese metal act at their sold-out Intuit Dome show in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 1. The artists received a plaque to mark the cross-cultural achievement.

In Ghost Cult Magazine, Bathory said, “This was such an amazing way to celebrate a collaboration that turned into a chart-topping moment for both of us. We’re working on our 10th studio album right now, and with the 20th-anniversary world tour coming up, we were already planning to go back to Japan … a place that’s always shown us so much love. … Maybe we’ll even share a stage with BABYMETAL.”

Su-Metal, the vocalist for the Japanese group, recalled that BABYMETAL and Five Finger Death Punch performed at the same festival overseas in 2015. “I sang Japanese lyrics inspired by the original lyrics of ‘The End,’ and spent a lot of time experimenting to find the voice that best fit such a deep, cool track,” said Su-Metal. “My favorite moment is the flow from ‘Negai o kakete’ into the break, where my voice is gradually engulfed by Ivan’s growl — it gave me chills.”

“The End” is the first single from Five Finger Death Punch’s Best Of — Volume 2 album. It contains 16 re-recorded classics and previously unreleased live versions of “Wash It All Away,” “Wrong Side Of Heaven,” and “Jekyll and Hyde.”

The band assembled the two-volume greatest hits collection in response to their former label’s sale of the original song masters. It happened without the band’s knowledge or any chance to reclaim the recordings. The group re-recorded fan favorites across both volumes from scratch. Tracks like “Sham Pain,” “Blue On Black,” “Trouble,” and “Burn MF” got renewed intensity while honoring those who helped create the originals.

Earlier this year, Best Of — Volume 1 led with the 2025 version of “I Refuse.” It hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in July. This record was part of their 20th-anniversary celebration.

Tyketto will release its sixth studio album, Closer To The Sun, in March 2026 through Silver Lining Music. The group revealed the signing on Oct. 29. This marks their comeback after they almost called it quits during the pandemic.

The five musicians are Danny Vaughn on vocals, Harry Scott Elliott on guitar, Ged Rylands on keyboards, Chris Childs on bass, and Johnny Dee on drums. Silver Lining Music represents acts like Europe, Uriah Heep, Saxon, Michael Monroe, Soen, and Diamond Head.

“Many years of hard work ground to a complete halt when Covid first hit us all, and it was really touch and go as to whether or not Tyketto would continue,” said Danny Vaughn in a press release, as reported by Metal Talk. “Since our return in 2023, the band has been on a steady upward trajectory, with more fans coming out to see and support us than ever before.”

Danny Vaughn started the band and sings lead. They broke into the hard rock scene in 1987 and released their first album, Don’t Come Easy, through Geffen Records in 1989. After that debut, they put out four more studio albums and toured across the globe.

In August, Danny Vaughn told Euro Weekly News that he was pumped about what’s coming. “I’m buzzing about our new album — it’s going to be a fan favorite. We just finished mastering it, and it drops in March. A tour is planned, along with some big festivals.”

The singer writes lyrics and melodies while other musicians send in music ideas. “It’s a team effort in that everybody is submitting music to me, and I’m just keeping it all in files,” he said per Myglobalmind in late 2024. “I get to decide what’s TYKETTO and what isn’t.”

He talked about how he works. “I tend to want to be the guy that always does the lyrics and melody because I have to believe in what I’m singing.”

Closer To The Sun arrives in March 2026, with tour dates and festival shows coming after that. Fans can get more info on the band’s website.

Crayola just dropped some very important crayon news: the world’s favorite crayon color has officially been decided. And yes, you’re about to have opinions.

After polling people in 183 countries — basically everyone with access to a coloring book — Crayola revealed that our collective favorite crayon color is Cerulean blue.

That’s right, the very same shade that Meryl Streep uses to verbally body-slam Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. (“It’s not just blue, it’s Cerulean.”)

The crayon color coming in second is Robin’s Egg Blue, followed by Wisteria Purple. So basically, if you dumped a handful of your childhood crayons on the table, the winners are the ones that look like they belong in a late-’80s Miami condo next to a glass coffee table and a pink flamingo lamp. This whole palette screams “Golden Girls chic.”

Now, if you’re wondering where the earthy, moody tones like Burnt Sienna or Raw Umber landed… let’s just say they didn’t even make the podium. Which is a crime. Burnt Sienna is the color of school art projects, dog fur, and dignity. It deserved better.

Crayola also broke it down by generation, and the results prove that blue runs deep. Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X all love Cerulean. Baby Boomers went a little rogue with Purple Heart. And the kids coloring outside the lines today? They’re all about Sky Blue.

Fun fact: Blue has been dominating the crayon world for decades. Back in 1993, it was already number one. By 2000, six shades of blue made the Top 10. So yeah, blue clearly owns the box.

But still — Burnt Sienna, if you’re reading this, we see you. You may not be the world’s favorite, but you’ll always be the underdog hero of every third-grade self-portrait and cardboard diorama. Stay strong, you beautiful brownish-orange masterpiece.

At The Sylvee in Madison on October 3, Garbage rocked a full house during their Happy Endings tour. The show marked their first return to Wisconsin’s capital since 2018, and it was sold out.

Back in their birthplace, they mixed fresh tracks with hits from their Smart Studios days. The band hit the stage after a seven-month delay. A planned June show at Breese Stevens Field fell through when smoke from Canadian fires filled the air. On Facebook, the band announced, “Our 8th album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, is out now. Stream, watch, or buy.”

While billing this as their final major tour, they hinted at future intimate performances in Madison. The crowd erupted at this news.

The group’s roots date back to Madison in 1994. Smart Studios chiefs Butch Vig and Steve Marker joined forces with bassist Duke Erikson, a musician known for his work with Spooner. Mid-concert, Erikson stopped to honor Dave Benton with a raised glass. His old Spooner bandmate lost his fight with sarcoma in September. Benton’s final stage appearance came during a July reunion at Atwood Music Hall.

The night proved electric. Madison’s music fans showed up in force, wrapping their hometown heroes in waves of support. Three decades on, the bond between the band and the city stays strong, even as they wind down their touring schedule. You can view upcoming concert dates and purchase tickets at Garbage’s website.