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.
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Brad Paisley has called Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding “one of the least pretentious weddings he’s ever seen”.
The country star attended the ceremony alongside his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. They joined around 1,000 guests at New York City’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month as the global pop icon married the American football star.
Although the celebration attracted enormous attention and involved tight security and a stunning makeover of the famous arena, Paisley said the occasion never came across as excessive.
“Ironically, (it) was one of the least pretentious weddings that I've ever seen or ever will see,” Paisley told The Associated Press during an interview. “It meant a lot to be (invited). It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Paisley, who chose Swift as an opening performer for his tour when she was a teenager in 2007, said he was delighted to be included in what many considered the biggest celebrity wedding of the year.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you're getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” he revealed.
The musician also explained that guests were not told the wedding’s exact location until the date drew nearer.
“It was really fun to watch the cat and mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it's going to be, we're not gonna say what building... and here's the date. If you're in, we'll tell you more,’” he continued. “I went to my wife, I said, ‘Want to go?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely, we gotta be there!’ So, we did it, it was RSVP yes.”
Other famous attendees included Brad Pitt, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Hugh Grant, Haim and Tom Hanks.
