Rich Homie Quan, the Atlanta rapper who gained mainstream fame through the trap singles “Type of Way” and “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” has died. He was 34.

Quan, whose legal name is Dequantes Devontay Lamar, died at an Atlanta hospital, the Fulton County Medical Examiner confirmed to The Associated Press. The medical examiner was informed of his death Thursday, said Jimmy Sadler, senior medical examiner investigator. The cause of death was not immediately available, with an autopsy scheduled for Friday.

Quan was one of the biggest names in hip-hop in the mid-2010s. He released a slew of mixtapes before he broke through in 2013 with the infectious “Type of Way.” The song became such a success that several other rappers jumped on the remix, including Jeezy and Meek Mill. He maintained his momentum, appearing on a YG track with Jeezy and releasing the London on da Track-produced song “Lifestyle” through his Rich Gang rap collective that included Young Thug and Birdman.

Quan followed up with “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” a song produced by DJ Spinz and Nitti Beatz. It became his highest charting solo single at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He also featured on Lil Dicky’s viral “$ave Dat Money.”

In 2018, Quan debuted his first and only studio album “Rich as in Spirit,” which mostly went without any features — except for “Think About It,” a single with Rick Ross.

Quan spoke with The Associated Press in 2022 about returning to music after an abrupt hiatus. At the time, the rapper said he was going through litigation with independent label T.I.G. (Think It’s a Game Record), but was prepared to make a comeback.

During that time, Quan ended up in a feud with his old collaborator Young Thug — who along with rapper Gunna — were among a group indicted on charges of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO Act and also accused of participation in a criminal street gang.

Quan said there was no beef between him Young Thug and was open to having a conversation with him if the opportunity presented itself. He said he hated to see Young Thug locked up, adding that rappers were being targeted by law enforcement.

“I wouldn’t say unfairly targeted because at the same time, some of these rappers are putting guns in videos and, you know, it’s like social media — it goes back to the social media thing,” he said.

“I think we showing too much, I think they’re showing too much, you know what I mean. Like that’s the difference in my music, I’ma tell a story but I ain’t going to tell you how I did it,” he added. “It’s still Black art, but we’re definitely being targeted. So that’s why I’m mindful of what I say in my music.”

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Landrum and Dalton reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Gary Gerard Hamilton contributed to this report from New York.

Many will be watching for Taylor Swift to appear in one of the stadium suites, too.

So will she or won’t she? Signs point to “yes.”

According to a report in The Athletic, “a source briefed on the security arrangements at Arrowhead Stadium” said Swift will attend.

And unfortunately, Baltimore fans know what happened the last time she showed up at a Ravens game.

The pop superstar became one of the Chiefs’ biggest fans last season, when she began a high-profile romance with tight end Travis Kelce. He had failed in an attempt to deliver a friendship bracelet at one of her concerts, so Kelce took to social media to invite Swift to a game, and the “Anti-Hero” singer showed up for a September matchup with the Bears.

They continued to see each other throughout the season, whenever Swift was on break from her Eras Tour. The 14-time Grammy winner even made a much-publicized sprint from a stadium show in Japan to Las Vegas in time for the Super Bowl, where she partied with friends such as Blake Lively, enjoyed Post Malone’s performance of “America the Beautiful,” won what appeared to be a beer chugging contest, and then celebrated the Chiefs’ triumph by locking lips with Kelce on the field.

Along the way, Swift became close friends with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany.

During this past offseason, Kelce frequently dropped in on the Eras Tour, even making an on-stage cameo. Swift later said in a social media post she was still “cracking up/swooning over (Kelce’s) Eras Tour debut” before 90,000 screaming fans at Wembley Stadium in London, and that “she was never going to forget these shows.”

Indeed, it has been a busy offseason for both of the superstars.

Swift recently concluded the European leg of the Eras Tour with five consecutive shows at Wembley Stadium, and she is on break until October, when she begins the North American leg with stops across the U.S. and Canada stretching into December.

Kelce and his brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, recently struck a deal reportedly worth nine figures to take their “New Heights” podcast to Amazon’s Wondery. He is due to appear in Ryan Murphy’s murder mystery “Grotesquerie” on FX debuting Sept. 25, and he is hosting “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity” on Prime Video premiering Oct. 16.

Then there’s the fact that the Chiefs, who have won two straight Super Bowls and three in the past five years, are chasing some history beginning Thursday night. No team has ever won the Lombardi Trophy three consecutive times.

Kelce was asked this week how he juggles everything, and he pointed to the Chiefs practice facility — and Arrowhead Stadium, which sits just up the hill and across the parking lot — as his sanctuary, where he is surrounded by his closest friends.

“I just love football and how it takes me away from life,” he explained, “and it gives me something I can feel genuinely happy about. I enjoy coming into the building, working on my craft, getting to understand a new game plan and perfecting that for the people around me. It gives me a purpose to kind of go about my day and to live my life. I have so much excitement doing it.”

Not everything has been smooth for Swift and Kelce this offseason, though.

Last month, Swift canceled three sold-out shows in Vienna after the CIA discovered intelligence that led to multiple arrests of men linked to the Islamic State group. The agency’s deputy director, David Cohen, said “they were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this.”

Then on Thursday, a spokesperson for Kelce denounced a document recently posted online that called into question the authenticity of their romance as “entirely false and fabricated.” The document, carrying the title “Comprehensive Media Plan For Travis Kelce’s Relations Following Breakup with Taylor Swift,” was posted on Reddit but has since been deleted.

It was posted about the same time that Kelce appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show,” where he discussed their relationship.

“She had just been so open to learning the game,” Kelce said. “I think what makes her so good in her profession is that she’s so detailed in every aspect of it, from the words to her music and even the releases and the music videos and everything. She’s just so detailed and a part of it, that I think she was just curious about the profession.”

Kelce even said that Swift had started drawing up some plays for him, though he noted with a smile, “She’s a little biased and just creates plays for me. So we’ll see if they can make coach (Andy) Reid’s office.”

NEW YORK (AP) — A North Carolina musician was arrested and charged Wednesday with using artificial intelligence to create hundreds of thousands of songs that he streamed billions of times to collect over $10 million in royalty payments, authorities in New York said.

Michael Smith, 52, of Cornelius, North Carolina, was arrested on fraud and conspiracy charges that carry a potential penalty of up to 60 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release that Smith’s fraud cheated musicians and songwriters between 2017 and this year of royalty money that is available for them to claim.

He said Smith, a musician with a small catalog of music that he owned, streamed songs created with artificial intelligence billions of times “to steal royalties.”

A lawyer for Smith did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Christie M. Curtis, who leads New York’s FBI office, said Smith “utilized automatic features to repeatedly stream the music to generate unlawful royalties.”

“The FBI remains dedicated to plucking out those who manipulate advanced technology to receive illicit profits and infringe on the genuine artistic talent of others,” she said.

An indictment in Manhattan federal court said Smith created thousands of accounts on streaming platforms so that he could stream songs continuously, generating about 661,000 streams per day. It said the avalanche of streams yielded annual royalties of $1.2 million.

The royalties were drawn from a pool of royalties that streaming platforms are required to set aside for artists who stream sound recordings that embody musical compositions, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, Smith used artificial intelligence to create tens of thousands of songs so that his fake streams would not alert streaming platforms and music distribution companies that a fraud was underway.

It said Smith, beginning in 2018, teamed up with the chief executive of an artificial intelligence music company and a music promoter to create the songs.

Smith boasted in an email last February that he had generated over four billion streams and $12 million in royalties since 2019, authorities said.

The indictment said that when a music distribution company in 2018 suggested that he might be engaged in fraud, he protested, writing: “This is absolutely wrong and crazy! … There is absolutely no fraud going on whatsoever!”

A longtime Baltimore resident, he also composed the score to “Lady Audley’s Secret,” a musical performed at Center Stage and at the Vagabond Players. He was the co-composer of the “The Baltimore Song,” recorded by the Baltimore Men’s Chorus.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Goehring moved to New York City where he worked with other songwriters in the Brill Building, an office structure that contained numerous composer and lyricist offices.

Mr. Goehring told The Sun in 1982 he had personally pitched “Lipstick on Your Collar” to Ms. Francis during a visit her home. He arrived unannounced at her New Jersey residence and demonstrated the song at her personal piano. It became a gold record.

“Lipstick,”  went on to be popularized by Ms. Francis and covered by Terri Dean, Petula Clark, and others. He also wrote “Half Heaven – Half Heartache,” recorded in 1962 by Gene Pitney and “Suppose,” recorded in 1967 by Elvis Presley. He also composed for Dion, the Platters and Barbra Streisand.

He moved to Baltimore and had a home near Lake Montebello in Northeast Baltimore.

In 1966 Mr. Goehring was the composer for Donald Seale’s adaptation of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s novel, “Lady Audley’s Secret,” which opened at Center Center in 1966.

The Sun’s theater critic, R.H. “Hal” Gardner, wrote “‘Lady Audley’s Secret’ must be regarded as a triumph for Center Stage.” He praised the adaptation of the mid-Victorian novel into a musical comedy and Mr. Goehring’s score for its “Gilbert and Sullivan quality.”

The musical later revived in New York City off-Broadway in 1972 and at the Vagabond Players in Fells Point in 1989.

“George had the sunniest personality. He had the sweetest disposition,” said a friend, Alan Sea, a former Baltimore Magazine editor. “George also played an important role in the gay musical community of the 1980s, when he was the piano accompanist for the Baltimore Men’s Chorus.”

In 1992 Mr. Goehring was shot in the hand by a U.S. postal agent during a botched drug raid at his home. He settled a lawsuit against the Postal Service for $150,000.

“He was treated at the Union Memorial Hospital hand clinic,” said Mr. Sea. “Miraculously, he was playing the piano again after a few weeks.”

Mr. Goehring also operated an antiques store in Waverly. He collected tobacco tins and once scored a collecting coup when he found a tin box that traded on the name of Babe Ruth — a Bambino brand tin.

More recently, Mr. Goehring assembled a revue of his songs, titled “My Life in the Brill Building,” which he performed at multiple Florida venues.

“George loved playing his music and was still entertaining the people in his assisted living home only a few weeks ago,” said Mr. Sea.

His partner — and later husband — Dennis O’Brien, died in 2023.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget,” died Monday at 88.

Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret told news outlets.

Moret told The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was supposed have had an aortic valve replacement but was too weak for the surgery. “I always thought he would pull through,” his son told the entertainment trade, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

In his long career, Darren acted, sang and built up a successful behind-the-scenes career as a television director, helming episodes of such well-known series as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” In the 1980s, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the television cop show “T.J. Hooker.”

But to young movie fans of the late 1950s, he would be remembered best as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy in the smash 1959 release “Gidget.” Dee starred as the title character, a spunky Southern Californian who hits the beach and eventually falls in love with Moondoggie.

“I was in love with Sandra,” Darren later recalled. “I thought that she was absolutely perfect as Gidget. She had tremendous charm.”

The film was based on a novel that a California man, Frederick Kohner, had written about his own teenage daughter and helped spur interest in surfing — one that influenced pop music, slang and even fashion.

For Darren, his success with teen fans led to a recording contract, as it did with many young actors at the time, among them Tab Hunter and Annette Funicello. Two of Darren’s singles, “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty,” reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. (“Goodbye Cruel World” also appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical film, “The Fabelmans.”) Other singles included “Gidget” and “Angel Face.”

Darren was the only “Gidget” cast member who appeared in both its sequels, 1961’s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Dee was replaced by Deborah Walley in the second film and Cindy Carol in the third. (“Gidget” later became a television show, launching the career of Sally Field. )

“They had me under contract; I was a prisoner,” Darren told Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “But with those lovely young ladies, it was the best prison I think I’ll ever be in.”

As a contract player at Columbia Studios, Darren appeared in grown-up films, too, including “The Brothers Rico,” “Operation Meatball” and “The Guns of Navarone.”

By the mid-’60s, when Darren appeared in “For Those Who Think Young” and “The Lively Set,” his big-screen acting career was almost over. He appeared in just a handful of movies after the 1960s ended, last appearing in 2017’s “Lucky,” directed by John Carroll Lynch.

But he remained active on television, appearing as a lead on the sci-fi show “The Time Tunnel” in the late 1960s, and doing guest spots and small recurring roles in TV shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Fantasy Island.”

Darren was a series regular for four seasons of the William Shatner-starrer “T.J. Hooker” in the 1980s. While appearing on the show, he noticed that no director was listed for an upcoming sequence and asked if he could try out for it.

“When it was shown, I got several offers to direct,” he told the New York Daily News. “Soon I was getting so many offers to direct, I kind of gave up acting and singing.”

For almost two years, Darren directed episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Hunter,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and other series. He returned to acting in the 1990s with small roles in “Melrose Place” and “Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.”

Darren was born James Ercolani in 1936 and grew up in South Philadelphia, not far from such fellow teen idols of the 1950s and ’60s as Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Singing came easy to him, and at 14 he was appearing in local nightclubs.

“From the age of 5 or 6 I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, or famous maybe,” he said in a 2003 interview with the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida. He noted that such luminaries as Eddie Fisher and Al Martino had lived in the same area as he did, “a real neighborhood. It made you feel you could be successful, too.”

According to a 1958 Los Angeles Times profile, he got a break when he went to New York to get some pictures taken and the photographer’s office put him in touch with a talent scout.

He was soon signed by Columbia Pictures, and the newspaper said that after a few appearances, his fan mail at the studio was running “second only to Kim Novak’s. … The studio now feels that the young man is ready to hit the jackpot.”

Darren married his first wife, Gloria, in 1955 and together had Moret, an “Inside Edition” correspondent and former CNN anchorman. After a divorce he married Evy Norlund, who came to the U.S. as the Danish entry in the Miss Universe contest. They had two sons, Christian and Anthony.

He was also the godfather of Nancy Sinatra’s daughter A.J. Lambert. Sinatra, his “For Those Who Think Young” co-star, posted The Hollywood Reporter obituary on her X page, with a broken heart emoji.

___

Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary.

BERLIN (AP) — The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence that disrupted the planning and led to arrests, the agency’s deputy director said.

The CIA notified Austrian authorities of the scheme, which allegedly included links to the Islamic State group. The intelligence and subsequent arrests ultimately led to the cancellation of three sold-out Eras Tour shows, devastating fans who had traveled across the globe to see Swift in concert.

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen addressed the failed plot during the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit, held this week in Maryland.

“They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said Wednesday. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”

Austrian officials said the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man, was inspired by the Islamic State group. He allegedly planned to attack outside the stadium, where upwards of 30,000 fans were expected to gather, with knives or homemade explosives. Another 65,000 fans were likely to be inside the venue. Investigators discovered chemical substances and technical devices during a raid of the suspect’s home.

Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, previously said help from other intelligence agencies was needed because Austrian investigators, unlike some foreign services, can’t legally monitor text messages.

The 19-year-old’s lawyer has said the allegations were “overacting at its best,” and contended Austrian authorities were “presenting this exaggeratedly” in order to get new surveillance powers.

Swift broke her silence about the cancellations last week after her London shows had concluded.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”

She thanked authorities — “thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she wrote — and said she waited to speak until the European leg of her Eras Tour concluded to prioritize safety.

“Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she wrote.

Swift’s publicist did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

Concert organizer Barracuda Music said it canceled the three-night Vienna run that would have begun Aug. 8 because the arrests made in connection to the conspiracy were too close to showtime.

The main suspect and a 17-year-old were taken into custody on Aug. 6, the day before the cancellations were announced. A third suspect, 18, was arrested Aug. 8. Their names have not been released in line with Austrian privacy rules.

The shows in London, the next stop after Vienna, came on the heels of a stabbing at a Swift-themed dance class that left three little girls dead in the U.K. In a statement issued after the Southport attack, Swift said she was “just completely in shock” and “at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.” News outlets reported that Swift met with some of the survivors backstage in London.

The Vienna plot also drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Cohen on Wednesday praised the CIA’s work in preventing the planned violence, saying that other counterterrorism “successes” in foiling plots typically go unheralded.

“I can tell you within my agency, and I’m sure in others, there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley,” he said, referring to the CIA headquarters. “And not just the Swifties in my workforce.”

The record-smashing tour is on hiatus until the fall.

NEW YORK (AP) — Martin Shkreli, once dubbed “Pharma Bro” for boosting the price of a life-saving drug, was ordered by a federal judge Monday to turn over all copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s unreleased “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” album to his lawyers by Friday.

Judge Pamela K. Chen in Brooklyn wrote that Shkreli must produce all copies of what is sometimes referred to as the world’s rarest album and report the names of anyone he distributed the music to by Sept. 30, along with any revenues he received from it.

In June, Shkreli was sued by a cryptocurrency collective that bought the only known copy of the album for $4.75 million.

The collective, PleasrDAO, accused Shkreli of retaining digital copies of the album in violation of their deal and disseminating them widely among his social media followers.

PleasrDAO attorney Steven Cooper said in a statement that Chen’s ruling was “an important victory for our client.”

He added: “We are pleased that Judge Chen recognized that immediate relief was necessary to thwart the continuing bad acts of Mr. Shkreli.”

Lawyers for Shkreli did not immediately comment.

The Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” before putting a single copy of the 31-track double album up for auction in 2015 on the condition that it not be released publicly. The multiplatinum hip-hop group wanted it viewed as a piece of contemporary art.

Shkreli bought the album for $2 million before he was convicted of lying to investors and cheating them out of millions of dollars in two failed hedge funds he operated.

In 2021, “Once Upon a Time is Shaolin” was sold to satisfy some of Shkreli’s court debts.

Shkreli was released from prison in 2022 after serving much of a seven-year sentence.

Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a federal judge Monday to throw out a lawsuit from a music producer who accused the music mogul of a broad pattern of sexual abuse and other misconduct.

The lawsuit filed in February by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones — one of many filed against Combs in the past year — is overrun with “tall tales,” “lurid theatrics,” “legally meaningless allegations” and “blatant falsehoods” whose intent is only to “generate media hype and exploit it to extract a settlement,” according to the motion to dismiss filed in federal court in New York.

The case fails to establish that Jones has standing to sue, does not include essential details including times and places of the incidents described and “fails to make a single viable claim,” according to the motion.

Several lawsuits alleging sexual and other abuse against Combs had already been filed when Jones sued in February, but the circumstances surrounding the hip-hop star have grown more dire since.

In March, simultaneous raids on Combs’ homes in Florida and California led to the revelation that he was the subject of a federal criminal sex trafficking investigation that is ongoing.

And in May, CNN aired 2016 hotel security video that showed him punching, kicking and dragging the R& B singer Cassie, who was his protege and longtime girlfriend at the time. The incident closely matched a description in a lawsuit she filed in November that was settled the following day but set off intense scrutiny of Combs.

A few days after the video’s airing, Combs posted an apology video on social media saying he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.”

Jones’ sprawling lawsuit, which also names Combs’ son and several of his business associates as defendants, describes a year he spent in the music mogul’s life in Los Angeles and Miami in the process of producing an album in 2022 and 2023.

Jones says he witnessed — and in many cases captured on audio — hundreds of hours of illegal drug and sexual activity by Combs and the people surrounding him. Combs’ Monday motion says it is “replete with farfetched tales of misconduct” but “contains very few allegations relating to Jones other than an allegation that Combs failed to pay the producer for his work.”

The suit is an attempt to turn that commercial dispute into a broad criminal conspiracy run by Combs, without providing evidence of any significance, Combs’ filing says.

Jones also alleges that Combs tried to groom him for sex, groped him, made him solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

But the motion from Combs’ lawyers says “Jones fails to plead the most basic facts, such as where and when any purported instance of assault occurred or what allegedly transpired,” and fails to provide evidence that Jones was coerced in a way that would make him a victim.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Jones and Cassie have done.

Other than what was captured on the hotel security video with Cassie, Combs has broadly denied the allegations in the lawsuits against him.

“Let me absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he said in a post in December.

Some six months after his headlining halftime performance at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in February, Usher played for an audience that included high-profile guests like Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

Scott, who referred to this year’s Super Bowl as the “Usher concert in Las Vegas” after the Ravens’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, and Moore posted to social media video and photos of themselves enjoying the show.

“That moment when one of the world’s best performers comes to one of the world’s best cities,” Moore, who attended the concert with his wife, Dawn Flythe Moore, and their two kids, wrote in an Instagram post that showed Usher giving the governor a shout-out from the stage and meeting the family backstage.

Scott attended the concert with his new wife, Hana Pugh, and later posted about a gift he had made for Usher: a pair of custom-designed roller skates from Baltimore shoe artist Akio Evans.

Usher also headed out to enjoy some Baltimore eats. The pop star dined at Twist Fells Point, a restaurant serving American cuisine with a Mediterranean influence. The eatery, owned by chef Jose Molina, posted on its social media about the Sunday afternoon visit but did not dish about Usher’s menu choices.

Bri Familiare, manager and host for Twist, said the pop icon stopped by for brunch “out of the blue.” She said someone from Usher’s team called and asked about a private table, but on a Sunday afternoon, the restaurant was full.

Without knowing who was coming to dine, she asked if they could wait 10 minutes. When Usher arrived with a small group, Familiare recognized him.

“I said, ‘Oh, it’s you. Nice to meet you.’ And I shake his hand. And he was extremely, very, very nice.”

By then, Familiare had managed to clear out most of the restaurant, and eventually, Usher had the whole room.

She said Usher ordered the huevos rancheros: two sunny-side up eggs on fried corn tortillas with refried black beans, ranchero sauce, cilantro, avocado and queso fresco.

“He was very down to earth, very humble and kind. He treated everyone with respect,” Familiare said. “And he thanked everyone before he left.”

“It was one of those things where fate is involved,” she said. “And nobody noticed him.”

Ongoing: Usher

See Usher, the Grammy-winning pop icon and recent Super Bowl headline act, perform for his “Past Present Future” tour at CFG Bank Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., this weekend in back-to-back shows. Usher is known for such hit songs as “Yeah!,” “U Got It Bad,” “More” and more. Ticket prices start at $297.  cfgbankarena.com/event/usher-past-present-future-2/

Friday and Saturday 8 p.m.

Ongoing: Shock-O-Con 2

Can’t wait for Halloween for a scare? You should go to Shock-O-Con 2 at the STAR Centre, 700 Congress Ave., Havre de Grace, this weekend. Check out horror novels at the Vampire Library, take a selfie at the haunted cabin at “Evil Dead the Musical Set” experience, free yourself from the “SAW”-themed escape room and more. Tickets cost $35 for a day pass and $70 for a weekend pass. Dates and times are Friday 1 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. starcentremd.com

Friday-Sunday

Ongoing: ‘Young Blood: Exhibition’

See exceptional work from recent Master of Fine Arts graduates at the “Young Blood: Exhibition” at the Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St. The free event provides a platform and outreach program for these transitioning students. Dates and hours are Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. mdartplace.org/exhibitions

Through Sept. 7

Friday: Imagine Dragons

Prepare to rock out at the “Imagine Dragons: Loom World Tour” at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The Grammy-winning rock band is known for hit songs “Radioactive,” “Believer,” “Demons,” “Thunder,” and more. Ticket prices start at $59.50. merriweathermusic.com

Friday 7 p.m.

Saturday: National Dog Day

Pets and their human companions are invited for a day of fun at the National Dog Day Festival at The Rotunda, 711 W. 40th St., Baltimore. Admission is free. There will be games, photos, food and drink for all. PAWS-Ports will be sold at the door for $8 and the proceeds will benefit the Maryland SPCA. The rain date is Sunday, Aug. 25. rotundabaltimore.com

Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.