Billie Eilish waited two years to get back on the road, and now that the Happier Than Ever tour is in full swing, she’s here for her fans — in more ways than one.
On Saturday, the singer was performing at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena when she halted the concert mid-show to retrieve an inhaler for a seemingly distressed fan in the audience.
From the stage, Eilish oversaw security as they located the young woman in the pit, reminding the audience members not to crowd her. She quipped: “I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”
The singer did some crowd control of her own, turning to the rest of the arena to soothe their anxieties from the rafters: “Relax, relax, it’s OK. We’re taking care of our people, hold on.” Ready to jump back into the show, Eilish reminded the crowd to get someone’s attention if they needed anything and walked them through a quick breathing exercise before starting the next song.
Artists ensuring crowd safety during their shows has long been a part of being on the road, especially when hundreds of fans fill general admission areas in front of the stage. But in the wake of the Astroworld Festival tragedy, where 10 concertgoers died of compression asphyxia during Travis Scott’s headlining set in November, these crucial moments of pause are more essential than ever before.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
