It’s really happening, isn’t it? Call it a cruel punishment from God, call it nature balancing itself after a fantastic year of country music in 2025 that featured breakouts from the likes of Zach Top, The Red Clay Strays, Stephen Wilson Jr. and more on a large scale, call it whatever you want, it looks like we’re getting incredibly close to a full-fledged reunion from the likes of Florida Georgia Line. It should go without saying at this point that FGL was once one of the most successful duos in the history of the genre, scoring nothing short of era-defining hits in the 2010s with the likes of the diamond-certified, “Cruise,” along with other smashes such as “This Is How We Roll,” “Stay” and the Bebe Rexha collaboration, “Meant to Be.” Of course, Florida Georgia Line remain as the poster boys for “bro country,” the era in the 2010s which was defined by the most shallow lyrics known to man, Nickelback-lite production and ultimately a whole lot of clichés that the genre still gets flack for such as heavy emphasis on drinking, tan legs swinging off of pickup truck beds and pretty much anything you associate with the worst country music has to offer. Keep in mind, Florida Georgia Line wasn’t the only offenders during this era, names like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Chase Rice, Sam Hunt, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen and more also dominated and further perpetuated the “bro country” era in the 2010s with many such as Owen and Rice trying their best (and succeeding) to distance themselves from the era later in their careers. The reason FGL ultimately get the most flack, at least today, is simply because they were the biggest. Thankfully, around the mid 2010s, and often thanks in part to Chris Stapleton’s meteoric rise at the 2015 CMA Awards, “bro country” slowly but surely died off. Though its remnants can still be felt on the radio and at large today (there’s no denying some of Morgan Wallen’s biggest hits bear resemblance to the era), it’s stranglehold on the genre is all but dead. One reason for this, in my opinion, was Florida Georgia Line’s eventual breakup in 2022. If you recall, there was a lot of speculation that the duo split due to political differences between the two after Hubbard unfollowed Kelley on social media during the 2020 election. (Hubbard and his wife Hayley supported Joe Biden, while Kelley and his wife Brittney supported Donald Trump). The duo denied that their split had to do with politics, but it became clear that it was a nasty breakup between the two when both began telling their side of the story. Hubbard, the “Georgia” half of FGL, made an appearance on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast featuring Will Compton and Taylor Lewan last year, where he confirmed that he wasn’t speak much with his former bandmate and saying that the split caught him by surprise: “For me it was really unexpected. But BK came to me and said, ‘Man I’m really feeling like I want to do a solo thing.’” He also revealed that he tried to talk Kelley out of it, with the duo even going to therapy together to try to work through their issues. But turns out Kelley was adamant about it, though he still wanted to keep Florida Georgia Line together. Hubbard wasn’t going to do that though, and basically gave him an ultimatum: It was either FGL or solo, but not both. “I don’t have capacity to do two careers. And also it’s going to get super sticky. When we’re writing songs, who are we writing for? When we got two show offers, an FGL date and a solo date, what are we taking? I’m like, I don’t even logistically see how that would work, much less emotionally.” Well it turns out that, although Hubbard said he didn’t want them to pursue solo careers apart from FGL, he had actually gone behind Kelley’s back and recorded a song with Tim McGraw amidst the social unrest of 2020 – and when he told Kelley about the song, he also informed him that they would be performing it at Biden’s inauguration. “Tyler had solo music out before I even did. Before we even got our fifth album out, he had released a couple songs, he had played Biden’s inauguration which was a huge look to be a solo act with Tim McGraw. He released another song. I didn’t start releasing music ’til April… He was rockin’ at radio immediately, top of January of 2021 and I didn’t get music out ’til April and then the album in June.” And Kelley says he was blindsided by Hubbard’s decision to make the first step to go solo with “Undivided,” the duet with Tim McGraw: “Surprised. Shocked for sure. I thought we had a deal about what the plan was. Going back to my main thing, is protecting FGL. I didn’t think that was a good look, if I’d have done it or if he did it.” Of course, that was already quite a few years ago, and recently, there has been heavy speculation that FGL was finally planning a reunion, thanks in part to the pair posing together, both individually and with their wives, at this year’s CMA Awards back in November. Undoubtedly, this all could have been a simple exchange/get-together on a night filled with hundreds of the biggest names in the genre over the past decades. However, Hubbard added an incredible amount of fuel to the fire regarding a potential FGL reunion last month. Appearing on the Human School Podcast, hosted by Miles Adcox, he’d reveal that he and Kelley are actively trying to repair their relationship. However, he would note that the rebuild of their relationship does not directly correlate with a complete reunion and subsequent release of new music from Florida Georgia Line. “It doesn’t have to be what it was, and it doesn’t have to equal FGL doing anything, but we need to repair…and spend some time together face to face. And just walk and talk and hang, and go fishing or get a guitar out…I’m excited for that, because yeah, it feels like, at this point, enough time has gone by. What’s happened has happened. But there hasn’t been any real repair at all, so what I’m hungry for, is… let me get my friend back.” Later in the podcast, he’d also note that they were planning on going on a hike in the near future to get a jumpstart on repairing their relationship. “I hadn’t spoken to BK a lot in the last couple of years, but we’re going on a hike next week, so the way I see it is, I have a desire for that friendship. I miss the guy I was partners with for 10 years. I miss my old roommate, my best man at my wedding, and if nothing else, we should have a relationship”. Well, it looks like that hike happened today. Taking to Instagram this afternoon, Kelley uploaded a Reel of himself in the woods captioned, “After going on the hike with T-Hubb” which quickly transitioned to a video of actor, Jon Hamm, dancing in a club along with “Cruise” playing in the background at the end of the Reel. The post’s caption also read: “Solid hike” View this post on Instagram Again, this could all simply be two former friends and colleagues (who at one point were at the top of their respective genre) finally putting their differences aside and rekindling their relationship. However, something tells me that we’re getting dangerously close to a full-fledged reunion from Florida Georgia Line in the near future. Ironically, this comes at a time where there’s seemingly a vocal minority of both people online and artists such as Lauren Watkins, all of whom are seemingly missing the era of “bro country.” While it seems pretty baffling to someone like me, there’s no doubt that there will always be a market for that subgenre of country. Only time will tell if FGL will make their glorious (or should I say inglorious) return to country music, but all signs are pointing to a reunion in the near future. While we wait, let’s thank God for the likes of Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and the laundry list of superstars who have defined the genre in their absence.The post Brian Kelley Adds More Fuel To The Florida Georgia Line Reunion Rumors By Posting Video Of His Hike With Tyler Hubbard first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The repetition of the number 4 is often looked at as a message from the universe.

A fundamental part of Pink Floyd’s sound, guitarist and singer David Gilmour created some of the most memorable guitar parts in the history of music. He appeared on 14 albums released by the band, including those that helped make Pink Floyd one of the best-selling groups of all time, with an estimated 250 million records sold worldwide. It is not easy to determine which are the band’s best albums, but David Gilmour has already revealed which ones he considers the greatest. The 2 Pink Floyd albums David Gilmour said are the best "Dark Side of The Moon" (1973) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3sP6AXKuYg "Dark Side of the Moon" is the first album David Gilmour said to Weekend Knack that was one of Pink Floyd’s best, both textually and musically. "I can clearly remember that moment of sitting and listening to a whole mix (of the album), all the way through and thinking 'Oh my God, we really done something fantastic," he said in the documentary about the album. Curiously, it was an album where his creative tensions with Roger Waters started to rise, since they didn't agree on how the record should be mixed. “I wanted Dark Side to be big and swampy and wet, with reverbs and things like that. And Roger was very keen on it being a very dry album. I think he was influenced a lot by John Lennon's first solo album (Plastic Ono Band), which was very dry. We argued so much that it was suggested we get a third opinion. We were going to leave Chris (Thomas - producer/engineer) to mix it on his own, with Alan Parsons engineering. And of course on the first day I found out that Roger sneaked in there. So, the second day I sneaked in there." David Gilmour continued: "And from then on, we both sat right at Chris' shoulder, interfering. Luckily, Chris was more sympathetic to my point of view than he was to Roger's. There's creative tension and there's total egocentric megalomaniacal tension, if you like," David Gilmour told Guitar World in 1993. Although the record appears on the charts to this day, Gilmour has expressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of it. “I had some criticisms of Dark Side Of The Moon. It’s kind of ludicrous in a way to have criticisms of an album that was so successful. But I did voice them at the time." "I thought that one or two of the vehicles carrying the ideas were not as strong as the ideas that they carried. I thought we should try and work harder on marrying the idea and the vehicle that carried it, so that they both had an equal magic, or whatever, to them." he said in an interview with Classic Rock in 2002. "Dark Side of the Moon" begins and ends with a heartbeat. It's not a real one and as Gilmour said once, it wouldn't be good for the person if it was. "I think that (idea) came in quite a while before the end and it's done on a tom tom. It's not a real heartbeat. You'd be in deep trouble if that was your heartbeat (laughs)," he told Paul Rappaport in 2011. "Wish You Were Here" (1975) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uiVpxDuAhc&pp=ygUmc2hpbmUgb24geW91IGNyYXp5IGRpYW1vbmQgY3Jvc2J5IG5hc2g%3D The second one is the follow-up "Wish You Were Here", which he reaffirmed many times that is his favorite one. "For me, Wish You Were Here is the most satisfying album. I really love it. I mean, I'd rather listen to that than 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Because I think we achieved a better balance of music and lyrics on 'Wish You Were Here'. Dark Side went a bit too far the other way – too much into the importance of the lyrics. And sometimes the tunes – the vehicles for the lyrics – got neglected. To me, one of Roger's failings is that sometimes, in his effort to get the words across, he uses a less-than-perfect vehicle," he said in an interview with Guitar World in 1993. However, it was not easy to find the right direction after the enormous success of "Dark Side of the Moon". It took the band some time to regain focus, but once they had a few strong songs, everything came together quickly. "We were clueless (when making the album) for a long time. We were faffing about blindly trying to find a way forward. That sort of blindly wandering about not knowing what we were doing was what helped to create what came with 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond' and the whole 'Wish You Were Here' album." David Gilmour continued: "That started quite painfully, it was difficult and we didn't know what we were doing. But by the time we were adding in those other songs 'Welcome to The Machine', 'Have a Cigar', we were working on all cylinders, I would say." Roger Waters originally wanted to develop the songs that later became "Dogs" and "Sheep", but Gilmour was initially opposed to the idea. "We had some arguing about that for a while. But he was right and I was wrong, not the first time. (Then) we went on with 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond', split it in two, to open and close the album. It seemed to work," Paul Rappaport in 2011. The album's title-track became a highlight of both Pink Floyd’s concerts and David Gilmour’s solo shows over the years. Although Gilmour performed the song many times, he said that the emotion he feels when playing it's still the same. "(The title-track) must be fairly specifically about Syd (Barrett) but applies to so many other things. It has an emotional depth and it's sort of fairly universal, I think. I suppose you could say that we haven't done quite as many concerts as people like the Stones, (Yet, I performed the title track so many times live). Still resonates, still has its meaning, it means that to me every time I sing it. It's a brilliant, a very, very good combination of music and words that seems to capture something," David Gilmour said in an interview featured on "The High Resolution Remasters," edition of the album.The post The 2 Pink Floyd albums David Gilmour said are the best appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a soaring inaugural address on Thursday in front of thousands of New Yorkers and political luminaries including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, laying out what he called audacious plans to govern the city with a focus on working-class New Yorkers.

Freshly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, promoted "collectivism" over "rugged individualism" during a speech on Thursday, and prominent conservative figures nationwide responded by sounding the alarm about collectivist ideology.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani became New York City's mayor on Thursday, vowing during a public swearing-in ceremony on the steps of City Hall to enact an aggressive agenda aimed at making the nation's largest city more affordable for working people.

The "cat distribution system" works in mysterious ways. The system refers to the phenomenon that cats seemingly "choose" their owners by appearing in people's lives at the right time, as if by some preordained fate. You'll find social media, which already favors cat-related content, awash with stories of folks who were magically bestowed with a feline friend…especially during kitten season, when there's an abundance of teeny tiny fur babies searching for a home.That’s exactly what happened to Robert Brantley of Louisiana, except in his case, he got far more than he bargained for. This is a story of the cat distribution system on steroids.Brantley was on his way to work and spotted a tiny white and gray kitten trying to get across the street. Like any kind human might, he stopped his car to bring the kitten to safety. In fact, he writes in an Instagram post, his wife had been wanting a cat for their farm so he figured he might as well rescue the little guy and bring him home.But things got complicated as he was scooping up the little thing, when several more kitty cat siblings came running out of the nearby grass. Brantley writes that he was "ambushed by the mob." Most adorable mob ever. See on Instagram In all, Brantley counted 13 kittens. He had only planned on adopting one of them, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to leave the others behind.His kindness was much needed, too, considering humane societies and shelters are even more over-capacity in need of support from foster families during litter seasons, which starts in early spring and lasts throughout the summer.In a follow-up video, Brantley's wife donned the cleaned up kitties in their Sunday best to have a photoshoot in her makeshift studio, in hopes that a purrfectly adorable picture would entice potential owners. One kitten could even be seen sporting a bow tie while the others climbed around the enclosure patiently awaiting their turn. Who could resist? See on Instagram Since making his epic rescue, it looks like all the cats have been rescued, minus one, which they've named Scout. But Brantley is still very much a "kitten wrangler" according to his Instagram. - YouTube www.youtube.com May more people take Brantley’s lead to foster the kittens or puppies they find if they have the means. Although, with kittens under 8 weeks old, it is advised to actually leave them be, if found outdoors, as it's likely their mother (who is their best caregiver) is nearby. In these circumstances, it's best to wait several hours, or even a full day, to see if the mother returns. She could only be temporarily gone while searching for food, or even waiting for the humans to leave. One helpful tip from Alleycat.org: sprinkle flour near the kittens’ nest. If the mother cat returns, she will leave paw prints.Of course, there are times when newborn kittens will in fact need to be taken in and looked after, during which they'll need "round-the-clock care to survive," according to Alleycat.org. If you find yourself in this situation, contact your local shelter to see if they participate in a Wait Until 8 program, which provides tools and instructions, like kitten care kits, to ensure a kitten’s caregiver has everything they need.The cat distribution system might seems magical (and it is!), but it still requires real effort from us humans.This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

Heartbreakingly, there are hundreds of thousands of kids in the United States in foster care, and a severe shortage of capable families willing to permanently adopt them. The situation might even seem hopeless for young kids as they start to get older and become less "desirable" to adopt. But it's never too late to find your family. That's the heartwarming message being shared by Leah Paskalides and the daughter she adopted in 2021, then-19-year-old, Monyay.But this is no ordinary adoption story.At the age of 11, Monyay was placed into a foster care group home. The pain of having to go through life without a family was always difficult, but it hit hard in her senior year of school. "My senior year is when I went through one of those, 'I don't want to do it anymore, I'm done,'" she told ABC News.Monyay finished school a year early and used the extra time to volunteer with foster children like her. But she faced a tough road ahead, as she was about to turn 18 and officially age out of the system.Children who age out of foster care face multiple challengesAccording to the Children's Home Society of Minnesota, the 23,000 children who age out of foster care every year without families face many challenges. There are very few support systems in place for these now-adults. Without the watchful eye and help of their foster family and case workers, only 3% earn a college degree, half will develop a substance abuse problem, 60% of boys are convicted of crimes, and 70% of girls become pregnant before the age of 21. - YouTube www.youtube.com After Monyay turned 18, it looked like she would have to enter the real world as an adult without any support. But then her caseworker and mentor from the Safe Children Coalition stepped up.Leah had always wanted to adopt Monyay, but it was a conflict of interest with her work. "She always said, 'I wish you could adopt me, wish you could adopt me,' and I couldn't because of the job and then I was watching a documentary where the person had been adopted as an adult, and I had never really heard of it," Leah said.After seeing a documentary about a man who was adopted as an adult, Leah decided that she wanted to adopt Monyay. “I told her that I saw it and asked if it was something she would want, and she said yes,” Paskalides recalled, according to Foster the Love. “I wanted to make sure she knew that she had somebody who loved her and who would have done this years ago and still would as an adult.”It was important for Monyay to have a real family"It was important to me that she knew that she was wanted by somebody, that somebody loved her," Leah told Fox 13. "I could say that as many times as I want, but actions speak louder than words." On Tuesday, April 27, 2021, a judge signed the paperwork making the adoption official."Being told 'no' so many times, to hear that 'yes' and to hear them pronounce her as my mom, it's something that's like, oh my gosh, this is for real," Monyay told Fox 13.As part of the adoption proceedings, the question lingered: which last name would Monyay like? When the 18-year-old announced it would be "Paskiledes," both mom and new daughter began sobbing."I would have adopted her six years ago, it was held back emotions that just came out," Leah told People. The pair's story captured hearts all over the world when news and other media began sharing their tale. - YouTube www.youtube.com "A family is made of love. Love knows NO color or age. Congratulations," a YouTube commenter wrote."This will bring so much healing to the young lady. There's something about being wanted and knowing that someone wants you and loves you exactly as you are. That's what our parents are supposed to give us before we learn to give it to ourselves," added another.The funny thing is the two didn't hit it off at first. Years ago, when Leah was first assigned her case, Monyay didn't like her. "She told me what she was going to be doing and helping me out with my case, and I didn't like her; she'll tell you that," said Monyay. But over the past nine years, the two forged an unbreakable bond. “I met her, and I saw a lot of myself in her,” Paskalides said. “Once she trusted me, we just clicked.”"She was very motivated and had aspirations for a future, and so I knew she just needed support," Leah said. "She was always a kid that did not deserve to go through life without a support system of a family."This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

Does the number 23.5 mean anything to you? It sounds random, but it's a relatively famous number that refers to the degree Earth tilts on its axis as it rotates around the sun. The fact that the Earth is not standing "straight up," so to speak, is responsible for a number of fascinating phenomenon in how we experience the sun's light and warmth.When our respective portions of the Earth are tilted toward the sun, we receive more heat and longer daylight hours. But some areas of the globe are situated in such a way that Earth's tilt can cause much more dramatic swings. The Arctic, famously, has a "Midnight Sun" where the sun does not fully set for around two months in the summer. The effect can also be experienced to a lesser degree in lower portions of the Northern hemisphere, including Alaska.One woman recently documented her experience living through North Pole, Alaska's "darkest day of the year," which falls on December 21.The Winter Solstice has the Northern hemisphere away from the sun, so North Pole, Alaska (not the true North Pole, as in, where Santa Claus lives) receives only a small window of sunlight. Though it's not the true North Pole, North Pole, Alaska has fun with the whole Santa thing.By Dylan Avery/Wikimedia CommonsEmily, who goes by FBX Foodie on TikTok, shared a video on December 21, 2025 where she begins by standing outside in the pitch black.. at 7:30am, or about the time the sun should be risen or well on its way in much of the rest of the world.The self-described "Florida Girl", who recently moved to Alaska with her husband who is stationed there on military duty, has been sharing her journey in acclimating to a very different climate. And that's putting it mildly. The couple is currently a year into a 4-year assignment.Not only is the sky pitch black, the temperatures are frigid. In the morning, when she began filming, the temperature was around -40 degrees Fahrenheit. By 8:40, nothing has changed. Everything is still dark and extremely cold.About an hour later, a crack of light is just barely visible. "This is kind of what I call blue hour," she says. "It's not pitch black outside but it's not necessarily daylight either. We still have about an hour and a half until sunrise."By 10:36, the sun is creeping over the horizon, like the early dawn hours anywhere else. Just a few short hours later at 1:25pm, the sun is visible in the sky! But just as soon as it appears, hovering low and orange like a sunset, it's already on its way down. Shortly before 5pm, the day is "over" and pitch black returns. @fbxfoodie Happy Winter Solstice! Glad we will be slowly but surely gaining more daylight ❤️ #fairbanks #northpole #alaska #alaskalife #lifeinalaska Though many people have heard of Alaska's strange solstices, over 5 million viewers were stunned to see just how short the day really was in North Pole, Alaska."i would be so depressed" one commenter wrote."I would have absolutely zero motivation" added another."Why are you outside?" someone asked, justly."I just wouldn’t get out of bed. A heated blanket would hate to see me coming" one person joked.Other viewers noted that the conditions seemed prime for sleep and relaxation. If you're someone who needs complete darkness for a good night's sleep, you'd love it in North Pole, Alaska.In a series of follow-up videos, Emily answered some of the many, many questions she got after her video went massively viral. @fbxfoodie Replying to @Silklight24 answering a few common questions from my last videos, like why do I live here, how do I get around, how warm it gets, etc.! #alaskalife #fairbanks #northpole #alaska #lifeinalaska "Why would anyone want to live there?" - Emily says that, though she doesn't exactly live there by choice herself, a lot of people who don't mind the cold really love Alaska's wide open spaces and small communities, along with virtually no traffic and a much slower way of life. You have to put up with some wonky winters and maybe a little too much sunlight in the summer, but for many, it's well worth it. There's also a lot of natural beauty, with Alaska being one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights and home to some of the best hiking and adventuring around."How do you keep your house warm?" - Emily shares that her house has a normal thermostat like you'd find anywhere else, but that her home is heated with oil instead of natural gas. "It's about $3.75 to $4 a gallon and we're burning through about six gallons a day in this really extreme temperature.""Does society function normally in the dark?" - The short answer? Yes. "We don't work around the sun, which would be pretty limiting in the winter." Emily says most businesses and schools are still open even in the extreme cold and snow. She says school didn't even close when her town got over 10 inches of snow overnight.It's really hard for people in the "lower 48" to imagine what daily life must be like during the winter with extremely limited daylight hours. People who live in Alaska, of course, have found ways to adapt to the extreme conditions.Some parts of Alaska are in near-compete darkness for about two months in the winter, while the sun rarely and barely sets during the summer.For starters, buildings and cities are designed to fit the extreme conditions. Insulation is a top-priority so residents can survive -40 degree temperatures, and pipes are buried and insulated as much as possible to keep from freezing. Air conditioners, strangely, are key, too: Even though Alaskan summers don't get that hot, the heavily-insulated buildings and the low angle of the sun can heat up indoor environments in a hurry.Blackout curtains are a must in the summer for sleeping, but otherwise, Alaskan-based climatologist Dr. Brian Brettschneider tells Fox Weather that residents absolutely love the constant sunlight. "Imagine going fishing at midnight, or playing basketball at 11 p.m., or a hiking traverse through the middle of the night? The only complaints you'll hear are about it not lasting long enough."The winter is more challenging. Vitamin D supplements and sun lamps help some residents keep their spirits and energy up in the darkness, but Alaskans report that winter is often a time for slower living and "hibernation." Living in northern Alaska might not be everyone's cup of tea, but whether you're born there, stationed there, or decide to move there by choice, there's a lot of adventure and beauty to be found in the frigid environment.