Earlier this year, JOURNEY fired their rhythm section, booting bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith.

And now, they've announced that a VERY famous former member is returning . . . but it's not who you're thinking.

Former "American Idol" judge RANDY JACKSON has been named the band's permanent bassist.  And they've also hired drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist/vocalist Jason Derlatka.

Randy played on Journey's 1986 album "Raised on the Radio" and the subsequent tour.  On Instagram, he said, quote, "The boys are back."

Guitarist NEAL SCHON called Journey an "ever-changing unstoppable force," and said they're entering "a completely new chapter."

 

 

 

 

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Y'all vibe with @journeymusicofficial revival tonight!? The boys are back ????

A post shared by Randy Jackson (@randyjackson) on May 23, 2020 at 9:20pm PDT

A 10-year-old girl in Connecticut is making it her mission to lift the spirits of kids stuck in foster care or homeless shelters during the coronavirus crisis.

CNN reports that Chelsea Phaire has sent out more than 1,500 art kits that include markers, crayons, paper, coloring books, colored pencils, and gel pens as part of Chelsea's Charity, which she co-founded with her parents. 

"Since she was 7, she was begging me and her dad to start a charity," mom Candace tells CNN. "Every couple of months, she would ask, 'Are we starting Chelsea's Charity yet?'

When she was turning 10, she asked us again, and we decided it was time to go for it." They finally launched the organization last August, when Chelsea asked for donated art supplies instead of birthday presents.

While they sent out about 1,000 kits in the group's first five months, they've now sent out another 1,500 just since the pandemic began. "I feel good inside knowing how happy they are when they get their art kits," Chelsea says. "I have definitely grown as a person because of this."

Eddie Murphy unveiled a new character to honor the late Little Richard during Sunday's Feeding America Comedy Fundraiser, USA Today reports.

In a sketch dedicated to Little Richard, Murphy portrayed the fast talking Murray Murray, the greatest soul legend you've never heard of.

"I coined the phrase 'I have a dream' before Martin Luther King. That was actually going to be the name of my album, 'I Have a Dream,'" said Murray Murray. "He liked the way that flowed, with a good hook. He took that and run with it."

The benefit, co-produced by Funny or Die, was hosted by Kenan Thompson, Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, and Byron Allen and featured Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, Kevin Hart, Andrew Dice Clay, and Wanda Sykes--who offered up some funny wisdom about parenting during a pandemic. "Kids, you're only cute on the Zoom call the first time you run into the room," Sykes said. "Every other time after that, we hate you."