Good as Hell

Houston's superstar Lizzo brings the juice in her dazzling homecoming at Toyota Center

About damn time.

Chart-topping, international pop sensation, and hometown hero, Lizzo, finally played the massive show her fans patiently waited to see at Toyota Center on Wednesday, October 26.

And it was good as hell.

It’s been nearly three long years since Lizzo — born Melissa Viviane Jefferson — was set to perform what would have been the biggest show of her stratospheric career at RodeoHouston in early 2020. That performance was cancelled along with everything else due to the COVID-19 pandemic and when the rodeo eventually returned in 2022, organizers and Lizzo’s team couldn’t make schedules work.

That made her two-hours-plus appearance Wednesday night a de facto victory lap, her legions of diehards filling the arena to the rafters.

The evening also served as a tribute to the 34-year-old Lizzo’s years growing up in southwest Houston, attending Alief Elsik High School, and later University of Houston where she studied music. A true rags to riches story, she moved to Minneapolis to pursue her career as a recording artist, struggling for years as a quirky alternative rapper before embracing funk, soul, and disco and garnering massive acclaim as a multiple Grammy, Emmy, and BET Award winner.

It was a classy touch to see the Alief Elsik Rams Marching Band performing in front of the building before the show.

Not surprisingly, based on Lizzo’s messages of female empowerment throughout her catalog, women made up the vast majority of the crowd, dressed in wild outfits, bedazzled sequins, and colorful boas.

After pulse-building sets from rappers Saucy Santana and fast-rising “Big Energy” star Latto, Lizzo kicked off the night with “The Sign” from this year’s No. 2 hit album, Special. The crowd instantly gravitated to the charismatic entertainer dressed in a suggestive pink jumpsuit as she rose from under the stage in front of a fantastic all-female, five-piece backup band that kicked out the jams all night long.

“Houston mother****ing Texas!” Lizzo screamed at the end of the song, the decibels ratcheted well past healthy levels. That kicked into “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” and its indie keyboard riff, Lizzo’s Big Grrrls dancers showing off with choreographed twerking moves.

The impossibly louder response following that song was one of a few moments when the star performer became emotional in front of the hometown crowd, turning around to show the Houston skyline lovingly painted onto her wig.

“I am not going to cry tonight — that is the goal,” Lizzo declared hopefully. “[But] we gonna be acting out. It’s a home show, honey!”

Love was a big theme throughout the night — loving each other, self-love, body love, Black love, female love, LGBTQIA+ love, love gone wrong — at times it felt like a self-help convention with Lizzo directing the crowd through positive affirmations. Not that it was a surprise to anyone who watched the recent Lizzo-produced, Emmy Award-winning reality competition series, Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.

Not coincidentally, “Tempo,” the Missy Elliot featuring song from the No. 4 hit 2019 album, Cuz I Love You, featured a solo dance by Houston influencer, fashion model and Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls star Sydney Bell.

Highlights included the Cardi B-guesting “Rumors,” which alluded to the online chatter that has been surrounding Lizzo online, including her supposed relationship with Captain America himself, Chris Evans. Cuz I Love You highlight and break-up song, “Jerome,” had Lizzo showing off her powerful vocal pipes on a therapy couch.

The Special title-track had her tearing up again to extended applause, showing how much the night meant to her.

Much like Lady Gaga’s show at Minute Maid Park last month, Lizzo used her platform to talk politics. “Naked” featured visually striking projections onto her bodysuit, ending with “My Body My Choice” in bold letters, drawing a hugely positive reaction from the female-centric crowd.

After “Everybody’s Gay,” she alluded to the negative punditry from right-wing conservatives when she recently played James Madison’s crystal flute (yes, this was a whole thing), an opportunity provided by the Library of Congress. (Read our story here.)

She followed that by imploring the crowd to participate in the upcoming elections:

“We have an opportunity to vote for the people who are passing these laws that are supposed to be protecting us,” she said, everyone staying in their seats. “Because human rights should be a necessity. It shouldn’t be politicized, it should be a given, the bare f***ing minimum, so please go vote.”

She later took a moment to acknowledge the Alief Elsik marching band in attendance, recalling her time at the high school and giving a shoutout to her mother, who was also in the building.

She then asked for the house lights to be brought up and proceeded to thank almost every single section of the arena for 10 minutes, telling us all, “I see you," as happy audience members flashed on the big stage screens.

The triple-punch combo of the record-breaking No. 1 track “Truth Hurts,” “I Love You Bitch,” and always great “Good As Hell” concluded the set with massive singalongs, Lizzo vocals not necessary. And perhaps the most fun moments came when she busted out her flute on “Coldplay” and encore bangers, “Juice” and No. 1 disco throwback, “About Damn Time.”

Perhaps the greatest thing about Lizzo’s talent besides her otherworldly charm and friendly sincerity was her ability to distill the best of multiple musical genres that cover a wide diversity of tastes, providing something for everyone to enjoy. She’s claimed to be a closet Radiohead fan in high school, and she is obviously influenced by Beyoncé, ‘70s funk, soul, and disco.

All of this made for a varied and accessible set in what was one of the more enjoyable performances of the year.

“This is the place I’m from, this is the place I call home,” she said, 713 pride on full display. “I just want to remind you how special you are. I want you to take this feeling home with you and I know I sound like a broken record, but I love you, you are beautiful, and you can do anything!”

Setlist
“The Sign”
“2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)”
“Soulmate”
“Phone / Grrrls”
“Boys” (with intro from Heart of the Sunrise by Yes)
“Tempo”
“Rumors”
“Fitness” (band played live, Lizzo on tape)
“Naked”
“Jerome”
“Break Up Twice”
“Doo Wop (That Thing) ” (Lauryn Hill cover)
“Special”
“I'm Every Woman” (Chaka Khan cover)
“Like a Girl”
“Birthday Girl/Happy Birthday”
“Everybody’s Gay” (followed by band introductions)
“Water Me”
“Cuz I Love You”
“If You Love Me”
“Coldplay”
“Truth Hurts”
“I Love You Bitch”
“Good as Hell”

Encore
“Juice”
“About Damn Time”

Photo by Marco Torres

The Houston native proved why she's No. 1 for so many across the globe.

RIP, Chuck

Actor Chuck Norris, star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' dies at 86

Courtesy photo

Chuck Norris, star of "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died at 86.

Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.

“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”

After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris' character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”

“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion has taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012's “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He's due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.

Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun -- and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”

Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.

“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the fact book. “I am flattered and humbled.”

That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.

The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”

President Donald Trump's supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief's decision to seize Venezuela's sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”

Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president's 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.

Norris has five surviving children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.

Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.

“I don't age. I level up,” he wrote.

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