If Covid Cancels Super Bowl Halftime Show Dr. Dre Could Lose Millions

Dr. Dre could lose millions of dollars on the Super Bowl, by betting on himself.

In December we reported the NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation announced five hip-hop icons will unite to headline the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar are slated to take to the stage to perform together for the first time in their careers at the show, and Dr. Dre has sunk millions of his own dollars into the production.

Now TMZ is reporting, that thanks to a clause in Dre’s insurance for the event, that if the show is canceled the legendary rapper and producer will be out of luck regarding recovering his funds.

The Communicable Disease Exemption, dating to the SARS outbreaks in the early 2000s, exempts insurance from paying out in the event of a cancelation resulting from a similar outbreak of a virus or bacteria.

It has been a provision in many insurance packages since those outbreaks and ensures Dre’s insurance will not cover a coronavirus-related cancelation, and with cases surging around the nation as the pandemic rages on — it seems likely that would be the cause of any cancellation.

"We're gonna give you the greatest performance you've ever seen in hip-hop history."@SnoopDogg previews the upcoming #SBLVI #PepsiHalftime Show. pic.twitter.com/Pt2hrGucWd

— NFL (@NFL) January 4, 2022

Luckily enough for Dre, there are currently no indications that the Super Bowl nor its halftime show will be canceled now. The NFL has been looking at replacement venues for the game, but an NFL spokesperson told NBC Los Angeles recently that the game will take place as scheduled.

Force MDs Jessie D Dead at 57

Photo Credit @jessieleedaniels Instagram

Jessie Lee Daniels, a founding member of the Force MDs, has passed away at the age of 57.

The death of Daniels, aka Jessie D, was announced late Tuesday on the pioneering hip-hop and R&B group’s official Facebook page.

“He ate, sleep [sic] and breathe music everyday,” the post read.

“Please put a heart up for him. He was loved!!!!!!!!!! To the family, friends and fans today we lost a real talent. Our condolences goes out to his siblings, kids and the Force MDs."

Formed in Staten Island, New York, the family group rose to fame in the early 1980s propelled by their unique combination of doo-wop and acapella sung over hip-hop beats that became the foundation of the New Jack Swing movement.

Originally named the Fantastic L.D.s, before switching to Force MCs and eventually settling on Force MDs, which stood for musical diversity, the group was comprised of brothers Stevie D., Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy, and Rodney “Khalil” Lundy, along with their uncle Daniels. In later years their friends Trisco Pearson and Charles “Mercury” Nelson from the Mariners Harbor projects on Staten Island joined the group.

The Force MDs were best known for their hits “Love is a House,” “Itchin’ For a Scratch” and “Tender Love.” Daniels sang lead vocals for the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-penned “Tender Love” which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was featured on the soundtrack of the groundbreaking hip-hop movie “Krush Groove” in 1985.

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The group which released six studio albums together, the last being “The Reunion” in 2000, has had its music live on in part because of heavy sampling by other artists.

"Tender Love" was sampled in the 1996 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony hit "Days of Our Livez", and Alicia Keys, The Backstreet Boys, Kelly Rowland, Marques Houston and Marsha Ambrosius are among those who have made covers of the song.

The group also lent its vocals to several tracks on Ghostface Killah’s iconic solo debut ‘Ironman" in 1996.

Daniels is the fifth member of the group, which former President Barack Obama revealed was on his Air Force One iPod playlist in a 2009 interview, to pass.

Charles “Mercury” Nelson died from a heart attack in 1995. Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1998, and Trisco Pearson died of cancer in 2016. DJ Dr. Rock, one of the group's former DJs, passed away in 1996 from natural causes.

George Floyd’s Niece, 4, Shot While Sleeping in Houston Home on New Year's Day

Photo Credit: Floyd Family Handout 

George Floyd’s four-year-old great-niece is in stable condition after surviving a New Year’s Day gun attack on her family home.

Arianna Delane, the daughter of his niece, Bianca Williams, whose mother is George's sister, LaTonya — was hit in the torso when a hail of bullets was unleashed into her Houston apartment at around 2:50 a.m. Saturday.

Delane, who was one of four adults and two children at the home when the shooting occurred, was hit in the torso. Her father, Derrick Delane, told Houston’s ABC 13 that his daughter was asleep in the bed when she was shot.

This is 4-year-old Arianna. She was front and center at the marches and rallies in her Uncle George Floyd’s case.

On Saturday around 3 a.m., her father tells me she was asleep in her bed when someone fired several shots at their apartment. Arianna was hit in her torso. pic.twitter.com/Cpo1oFwase

— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) January 4, 2022

“My daughter jumped up and said she had been hit,” said Delane of Arianna, who suffered from a punctured liver, lung, and had several broken ribs because of the shooting. “I [saw] the blood, the bleeding, and I grabbed her.”

Arianna, along with her family, was front-and-center at several rallies and marches to call for justice for her uncle’s death. Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds in May 2020, was convicted of murder in June 2021 and sentenced to over 20 years in prison.

The Houston Police Department said in a statement that there is no suspect description or motive in the shooting.

“The investigation into the senseless shooting of the 4-year-old female at 3322 Yellowstone Boulevard on Saturday morning (January 1) continues to move forward,” HPD Chief Troy Finner said. “I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs Investigation. I ask the city to continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible.”