Pink announced last week that she and her three-year-old son had contracted the coronavirus. Though she’s been battling the illness for several weeks, the singer is now on the road to recovery. In a recent interview, Pink opened up about how the virus has affected her and her son’s health.

In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the singer recounted to the host how she first discovered she was sick. “At a certain point around March 18, March 19, March 20, when his fever was staying and going up. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t breathe,” she said. Pink described how she “couldn’t function” without her nebulizer respirator. Though she’s battled with lifelong asthma, the singer hadn’t needed to use a nebulizer respirator in thirty years. “And that’s when I started getting really scared,” she said.

At the time of the interview, Pink said she and her son were beginning to recover from the virus. But the singer said there was a time where she felt helpless: “It was terrifying at one point, then I got sick. In hindsight, it all makes sense. But when it’s happening, it’s such a weird experience that you just don’t put it together until after the fact.” She added: “This is the scariest thing I’ve ever, ever been through in my whole life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Pink addressed some backlash she faced over being able to secure a test:

“I think testing is really, really important. It’s really controversial to people that I was able to get my hands on a test. I would say two things to that: I would say you should be angry that I can get a test and you can’t. But, being angry at me is not going to help anything, it’s not going to solve the issue of the fact that you can’t get your hands on a test. You should be angry about that. And we should work together to try and change that. And number two: Tell me anybody with a sick three-year-old that if they could get their hands on a test wouldn’t take it. And if they say that, I’m calling bullsh*t.”

Watch the full interview above.

Today, Lil Nas X is officially 21 years old, but it’s unlikely he’ll be hosting a grand birthday celebration given the current state of the world. Instead, he’s making the best of the situation by doing what he does so often and joking around on Twitter.

The “Old Town Road” rapper has known the coronavirus pandemic would impact his birthday for some time now. A few weeks ago, he shared a video on Twitter that he captioned, “spending my birthday alone in quarantine and that’s ok.” The video was of a house (the one from the cover of American Football’s 1999 self-titled album) with flashing lights seen through the windows before the clip cuts to a shot of SpongeBob SquarePants laying face-down on the floor inside as fast dance music plays.

Then, late last month, he shared a video captioned, “practicing throwing myself a surprise party since imma be in quarantine on my birthday.” The clip shows Lil Nas X opening a door and acting shocked when people in the room shout, “Surprise!”

Not long after the clock struck midnight this morning, Lil Nas X, with an Elmo doll in his lap, blew out the candles on his birthday cake, which was actually just a slice of bread with a single candle in it. Shortly following that, he re-created the aforementioned American Football video but with himself and Elmo taking the place of SpongeBob. “Quarantine birthday turn up,” he wrote. Lastly, he capped off his late-night celebration by sharing a photo of himself holding a handful of vitamin gummies and wrote, “it’s my 21st can u blame me !?,” followed by a smiling devil emoji.

Lil Nas X also recently commemorated the one-year anniversary of his “Old Town Road” remix with Billy Ray Cyrus, sharing a video of them in the studio and writing, “1 year ago today i dropped a remix to old town road with billy ray cyrus. i knew it would be successful but DAMN did it change EVERYTHING! can’t express how much this song has done for me. thank u to everybody who made this happen!”

Hayley Williams is going at it as a solo artist these days, but that doesn’t mean she’s doing what she does alone. Even a solo artist relies on a big support system, and she honors those people in the video for her latest Petals For Armor offering, “My Friend.” The video shows her mostly in the studio working on Petals For Armor, and she is joined in these and other moments by her Paramore bandmates, “My Friend” co-writer Joey Howard, “My Friend” producer Taylor York, and Brian J. O’Connor, her hair stylist and make-up artist.

These aren’t the only partners Williams has had in her solo journey. She recently linked up with Boygenius members Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus for Petals For Armor track “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris.” Speaking of Bridgers, Williams also recently performed a cover of “Smoke Signals” and shared the video on Instagram. The performance was dedicated to a friend experiencing an unfortunately family situation, and she also addressed Bridgers, saying, “im sorry for butchering your beautiful guitar parts. and also, this is just a perfect song.”

Watch the “My Friend” video above.

Petals For Armor is out 5/8 via Atlantic. Pre-order it here

Hayley Williams is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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In all the big numbers and chaos and heartbreaking stories of the pandemic, it’s easy to miss the one-on-one connections that are happening through it all. Yet we need these stories to remind us of what it is we are fighting for—the beautiful human experience we’re all a part of.

An ER physician, Dr. Halleh Akbarnia shared one such story about a COVID-19 patient on Facebook this week, and it’s just…well, you’ll see.

Working in emergency medicine for nearly 20 years Dr. Akbarnia has seen it all. “I’m used to the daily grind of heart attacks, gunshots, strokes, flu, traumas, and more. It’s par for the course in my field,” he wrote. Yet nothing has made me feel the way I do about my ‘job’ as this pandemic has—that knot-in-the-pit–of-your-stomach sensation while heading into work, comforted only by the empathetic faces of my colleagues who are going through the same.”

The veteran ER doc then described his experience treating of one of his COVID-19 patients, “Mr. C.” and seriously, you might want to grab a tissue for it.

Akbarnia wrote:

“I met my patient, Mr. C., on my first real ‘pandemic’ shift, when what we were seeing that day was what we had been preparing for. He was classic in his presentation, his X-ray findings, his low oxygen levels… we just knew. And he was the nicest man I had met in a long time. Gasping for breath, he kept asking if we needed anything, and that it would all be okay. He told us he was a teacher but that he was learning so much from us, and how much he respected what we were doing. The opposite could not be more true.”

“We had to decide how long we would try to let him work through this low oxygen state before needing to intubate him. His levels kept falling and despite all our best efforts it was time to put him on the ventilator. He told us he didn’t feel great about this, ‘but Doc, I trust you and am putting myself in your hands.’ That uneasy feeling in my stomach grew even more in that moment. But he, with his teacher’s steady voice, kept me grounded, where I was supposed to be. I saw his eyes looking at me, seeing the kindness in them, even as we pushed the medications to put him to sleep. To say this was an ‘easy’ intubation is an understatement. It was not. He nearly left us a few times during those first minutes, but he kept coming back. We fought hard to keep him with us. The patience and strength of my team that day, truly remarkable.

I handed him over to my friend and colleague, Dr. Beth Ginsburg, and her team in the ICU, and her calming voice reassured me that they had it from here. And then for the next twelve days, I waited and watched his progress, knowing the statistics, and how sick he was when he got to us. They did their magic, and just yesterday my new friend Mr. C was extubated. I decided to go ‘meet’ him again.

Mr C. was in the COVID stepdown unit, recovering, without family. Nobody was allowed to visit him; even worse, his wife had been home alone in isolation for the past fourteen days, too. My heart broke thinking of how that must have been for her. I cautiously went into his room, donned in my PPE, and when he saw me, he stopped for a second. A moment of recognition.

I introduced myself. ‘I’m Dr. Akbarnia, Mr. C. I was the last person you saw in the ER. You told me you trusted us to get you to this side. Looks like you did just fine.’ He started to cry. He said, ‘I remember your eyes.’ And I started to cry. What he didn’t know is that, at that moment, I realized that we do what we do exactly for people like him, for moments like these. His strength, his kindness, his calming words to me meant everything. At that moment, my heart (which had been beating over 100 bpm since this pandemic began) finally slowed down.

I sat down and we talked. I told him that while he is here, we are his family. He will always have a place in my heart. And whether he knows it or not, he will be my silent warrior and guide as I take care of every patient, COVID or not. He will fuel me until the day I hang up my stethoscope.”

These snippets of human connection—so small in the grand scheme of things, yet so powerful on an individual level—are truly the embodiment of why we’re all making the sacrifices we’re making. Thank you, Dr. Akbarnia and Mr. C., for the beautiful reminder.

To help pass the endless hours in isolation (Iron Man and Nebula had it easy compared to what we’re currently going through), James Gunn recently hosted a #QuarantineWatchParty for Guardians of the Galaxy. Throughout the evening, he shared behind-the-scenes facts about the 2014 movie, including what he told Karen Gillan when she joined the cast (“When I hired @karengillan, I told her her role in this movie wasn’t that big but if everything went according to plan she’d become a Guardian. Seeing how evil she is here it’s hard to believe her huge turn! I’m a complete sucker for redemption arcs”) and whether he faced any blowback from Marvel about the Jackson Pollock line (“Some… until it got the biggest laugh in the movie in an early screening”).

Gunn also revealed his favorite scene in the movie. It’s when Drax comforts Rocket following Groot’s death. “My favorite moment in the movie. I cry every time I see it (I’m teary now),” he tweeted. “It’s probably the first time Rocket has ever experienced physical tenderness in his life and the way he sinks into and accepts it kills me and makes me love Drax.” There are many reasons to love Drax, played by Dave Bautista (who Gunn had to fight for, which is the first time someone who looks like Gunn has ever to had fight for someone who looks like Big Dave), but this might be the best reason. This scene is a bummer, but it has a happy ending when Groot is reborn as Baby Groot.

If you missed Gunn’s live-tweeting, cheer up: another Marvel director, Taika Waititi, is hosting a “screening party” for Thor: Ragnarok on Thursday, April 9 (hey, that’s today!), at 4 p.m. PST on Instagram Live. He’ll be doing a “live commentary with at least one special guest,” who isn’t in the movie, Waititi tweeted. I hope it’s Darryl.

19-year-old singer/songwriter Mxmtoon got her start as a musician while following a prompt to create a song for a high school class. Her knack for music eventually culminated with her debut EP Plum Blossoms and her 2019 debut album The Masquerade. The singer has since teased a new era to fans by unveiling a series of singles. But Thursday, Mxmtoon announced her forthcoming EP Dawn with the thoughtful track “Lessons.”

“Lessons” follows her introspective number “Quiet Motions.” On the new track, Mxmtoon reflects on all that she’s learned in the last few years. “Thought I had it all just figured out / But I’m slowing down with questions now / It’s okay to step back and look around,” she croons.

A self-professed “over-thinker,” Mxmtoon described the inspiration behind “Lessons” in a statement:

“My mind constantly runs rampant with questions about myself, my relationships, and my place in the world. One thing I’ve tried to be better at as the years have gone by though, is letting go. The ability to let yourself live in the moment rather than worrying all the time can be difficult, but to remember that each day is simply an opportunity to grow and learn is a lesson we all have to face. Life is full of teachable moments, and allowing yourself the space to make mistakes and to become better from those is vital. “lessons” serves as a reminder to be kind to yourself, to trust your instincts, and live life with purpose. it’s not easy to remember this at all points in life, but my hope is that this song can leave this sentiment echoing in your brain, at least for a little while.”

Listen to “Lessons” above. Below, find Mxmtoon’s Dawn cover art and tracklist.

1. “Fever Dream”
2. “Used To You”
3. “Lessons”
4. “Quiet Motions”
5. “1, 2”
6. “No Faker”
7. “Almost Home”

Dawn is out 4/22 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

After weeks of negotiations and uncertainty between the NBA and its players, the league is expected to pay its players in full next Wednesday, April 15, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Because of a little-known section in the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the NBA Players Association known widely now as the “force majeure” clause, the league is entitled to withhold player salaries if games are canceled due to a major disaster such as a pandemic. That put 1/92.6th of players’ salaries in jeopardy in the event of the remainder of the NBA season being canceled. According to this breakdown by Jeff Siegel at Early Bird Rights, the league’s math accounted for the average remaining regular season games among all teams plus the mean playoff games per team (5.6).

All of that is likely still on the table, as this week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league was not inclined to declare anything about the rest of the 2019-20 season until May at the earliest. Still, it has to be seen as a reason for optimism on the part of players (who want their money) and fans (who want to watch basketball sooner rather than later) that the league is forking over full paychecks on April 15. After all, Charania’s report comes just days after he also reported the league was considering withholding 50 percent of salaries to smooth out the pay decrease as much as possible.

The worst-case scenario here would be for the NBA to get ahead of itself, over-pay players, and then have to ask for the money back. Based on reporting from Marc Stein of the New York Times, players with front-loaded payment structures were already prepared for that possibility, so from any angle, another paycheck going out in full from the NBA signals more optimism about pro basketball returning in the United States than there was even earlier this week.

Perhaps the tune from the White House regarding America’s relative success in “flattening the curve,” as well as reported governmental support for MLB’s plan to return to action, have given the NBA confidence that it can do the same, or maybe Silver and the league office are just buying themselves time to formulate an agreement with the NBPA.

The trilogy is now complete. All three of Future’s 2015 mixtapes are now available for streaming with the final inclusion of 56 Nights, Future’s collaborative tape with DJ Esco which capped off a run that included Monster and Beast Mode. With both of its predecessors finally delivered to DSPs, 56 Nights finally joins them and makes Future’s fan-favorite three-mixtape run available through official channels. Previously, the only song from 56 Nights available for streaming was “March Madness.” Now, the only song missing is “Trap N****s,” which may have been left off for sample clearance reasons, as we’ve seen with Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap.

Now that all of Future’s old projects are available for streaming — at least, the ones that fans have been clamoring over for the past half-decade — Future is back to the business of promoting his upcoming album. Earlier this week, he revealed that the project’s title would be the same as its first single, Life Is Good, while also addressing the unfortunate passing of Juice WRLD and the revelation that Juice first tried drugs because of Future’s music. “I’m heartbroken by the whole thing,” he admitted. “My intention was just to be me. I’m just being me and what you get from it is what you get from it, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want no one to go through anything to harm they self or to bring death to they self and Juice WRLD is a touchy situation.”

Stream 56 Nights now on all DSPs.

As the coronavirus continues to spread and hospitals find themselves short on supplies, many musicians have offered their support. Lizzo recently bought lunch for healthcare workers across the country to thank them for their service and DJ Khaled partnered with non-profit organizations to provide protective gear to hospital workers in Florida. Now, Halsey is offering her support. The singer announced she’s donating a huge number of masks to hospitals in California.

Halsey shared her announcement on social media, saying she is “in awe of the medical workers on the frontlines” and explained how she worked with an organization to provide a whopping 100,000 FDA-approved masks to hospital workers:

“Every single day I am in awe of the medical workers on the frontlines. Their determination, selflessness and empathy is the single greatest example of our capacity to love and survive as humans. I am beyond privileged to be self isolating in my home, without the fear and obligation of essential work employment. Without a sick family member to care for. A child to feed. A financial crisis to navigate. So I tried to find a real way to make a difference.

I have acquired and purchased 100,000 FDA certified 3 ply masks (with the help of Orange International Inc who sourced the masks for me from a factory in Guangzhou, China) These masks will be distributed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Providence Saint Joseph, LAC+USC Medical Center, and Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital; for the medical professionals and non medical hospital staff who are working to put a stop to this pandemic and help millions of strangers they will never meet. Please continue to stay home, if you can. If you are on the frontlines, my heart is with you. And I will be continuing the fight to help you get the support and resources you need.”

Along with the considerable donation of protective masks, Halsey said she’s also making a cash donation to the organization Give Directly. The charity organization provides financial assistance to vulnerable households in at-risk communities, many of whom are single mothers. The singer urged fans to donate to the organization as well.

Read Halsey’s full statement above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.