SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — Move over, “Gangnam Style.” YouTube has a new top-viewed video of all time.
Wiz Khalifa’s video for “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth became the site’s most-watched video Monday and has more than 2.896 billion views as of Tuesday. That’s about 2 million more than the video for Korean rapper Psy’s 2012 smash “Gangnam Style,” which held the most-viewed title for five years, YouTube said.
Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” sits in third place, more than 250 million views behind the leaders.
Puth reacted with surprise on Twitter , noting that he joined YouTube in 2007 hoping to make a video that would hit 10,000 views. Puth also earned a congratulatory message from YouTube star Tyler Oakley, who called the feat “legendary & epic.”
Wiz Khalifa said in a statement that he’s happy the song has been able to “inspire and impact so many lives.”
“See You Again” was released in 2015 as a tribute to late “Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker.
Book Of Michelle Obama Photographs Coming In October
NEW YORK (AP) — Books of Obama photographs will be in the news this fall.
A collection of White House pictures of Michelle Obama is coming out Oct. 17, Ten Speed Press told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Chasing Light” will feature 150 color shots and personal commentary by White House photographer Amanda Lucidon.
“Mrs. Obama is a source of light and inspiration in my life,” Lucidon said in a statement issued through Ten Speed, a Penguin Random House imprint. “She was a mentor to me and so many people around the world. The work she has done with young people, especially girls and underserved youth, has helped me realize that I want to spend my life helping others reach their fullest potential.”
“Chasing Light” arrives three weeks before “Obama: An Intimate Portrait,” a book of Barack Obama pictures by White House photographer Pete Souza. Souza has built a wide following on social media by posting shots of Obama that contrast dramatically with images from Donald Trump’s administration.
Kermit The Frog Will Have A New Voice After Actor Steps Down
NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a frog in a lot of throats across the country as news has circulated that Kermit the Frog is getting a new voice.
ABC News and The Hollywood Reporter report that Steve Whitmire has left his role giving life to the iconic Muppet. Whitmire has voiced the character and made the character move since Muppets creator Jim Henson’s death in 1990.
A Muppets Studio spokeswoman tells the outlets that longtime Muppets performer Matt Vogel will be taking over the role. Vogel has voiced such characters as Big Bird, Robin the Frog and The Count.
Representatives for Disney, which owns Muppets Studio, didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday about the motivation behind the move.
In addition to Kermit, Whitmire had voiced grumpy critic Statler, Rizzo the Rat, the always-startled Beaker and other characters for the Muppets.
Children’s TV shows have survived changes in key cast members before, most notably when Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from “Sesame Street” in 2012 amid allegations he sexually abused underage boys. Elmo is now performed by Ryan Dillon.
Kermit made his debut in a 1955 television comedy called “Sam and Friends,” which aired locally in Washington, D.C., but he looked more lizardlike back then. Kermit was fashioned from an old coat belonging to Henson’s mother and was named after one of Henson’s childhood friends.
Henson and his 2-foot-tall puppet joined “Sesame Street” in 1969. “The Muppet Show” followed in 1976 and ended its run in 1982.
Whitmire and Kermit were inseparable for years, with the two making TV appearances on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” ”30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live” and in films like “Muppets Most Wanted” and “The Muppets” in 2011.
Vogel took over voicing the Count when “Sesame Street” regular Jerry Nelson died in 2012 and soon took over many of Nelson’s characters. Vogel told the fan site The Muppet Mindset that he found it most difficult to replicate the Robin voice. “The voice is so much like Jerry’s that it makes it nearly impossible to get there. Sometimes the more ‘character voice’ it is, the easier it is to do,” he explained.