Entertainment News Roundup: Bon Jovi album '2020' asks 'questions' about pandemic; Mac Davis, who wrote 'In the Ghetto,' dead at 78 and more

In a statement posted on Facebook late on Tuesday, manager Jim Morey said Davis, whose family announced earlier this week that he was critically ill following heart surgery in Nashville, Tennessee, was surrounded by his wife Lise and three sons when he died.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Bon Jovi album '2020' asks 'questions' about pandemic, race, police

Jon Bon Jovi hits the hot-button social issues of America in "2020", his 15th studio album - the coronavirus pandemic, race relations, and police violence - but he says he's asking questions, not taking sides. "I say it's topical instead of political... that I don't take sides," he told Reuters TV. But he added: "I tried to consider myself a witness to history. And if I was just witnessing history, I could write down the facts and maybe I could pose a question. But that's where I wanted to leave it."

Country singer/songwriter Mac Davis, who wrote 'In the Ghetto,' dead at 78

Mac Davis, a singer, songwriter and television personality who wrote hit songs for several country music stars after his breakout song, "In the Ghetto," was recorded by Elvis Presley, has died at 78, his manager said. In a statement posted on Facebook late on Tuesday, manager Jim Morey said Davis, whose family announced earlier this week that he was critically ill following heart surgery in Nashville, Tennessee, was surrounded by his wife Lise and three sons when he died.

David Attenborough leads call for world to invest $500 billion a year to protect nature

British broadcaster David Attenborough on Wednesday led a campaign by conservation groups for the world to invest $500 billion a year to halt the destruction of nature, saying the future of the planet was in "grave jeopardy". Attenborough, whose new film "A Life on Our Planet" documents the dangers posed by climate change and the extinction of species, made his statement as the United Nations convened a one-day summit aimed at galvanising action to protect wildlife.

Harry Potter flies in London, playing Quidditch over Leicester Square

A statue of Harry Potter, flying a Nimbus 2000 broom over the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, was unveiled on Wednesday in London's Leicester Square. The bronze statue, which shows Potter, played by Daniel Radcliffe, is just a few steps from where the film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" had its world film premiere in November 2001.

Scorsese, Eastwood say U.S. movie theaters may not survive pandemic

Oscar-winning film directors James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese joined forces with movie theater owners on Wednesday in an appeal for financial help, saying they feared for the future of the industry. In a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, they said the coronavirus pandemic had dealt a devastating blow to movie theaters and that without funds "theaters may not survive the impact of the pandemic."

Creator of beloved Argentina cartoon character Mafalda dies at 88

Argentine cartoonist Quino, the creator of Mafalda, the inquisitive and quick-witted girl who used humor and irony to call for greater democracy in the crisis-prone country, has died at the age of 88, his editor reported Wednesday. Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known as Quino, recently suffered a stroke and, despite the fact that doctors managed to temporarily stabilize him, his condition worsened, local media reported.

Show must go on as Queen and Adam Lambert release first live album

Grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, rock band Queen release a live album on Friday to cheer up "stuck at home" fans that showcases highlights of concerts from Rio to Sydney over the past seven years. It will be the first live offering to feature singer Adam Lambert, the former "American Idol" contestant who tours with the band as a replacement for flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991.

Helen Reddy, singer of feminist anthem 'I Am Woman', dies at 78

Singer Helen Reddy, whose 1972 song "I Am Woman" became a global feminist anthem, died in Los Angeles aged 78 on Tuesday, her family said. "Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever," the family wrote on her official Facebook account.

(With inputs from agencies.)