The middle of the Venn diagram between Kate Bush and Metallica fans probably wasn’t all that big at the beginning of 2022. By the end of the year, however, both the English art pop singer and the U.S. metal outfit shared one (stranger) thing in common.
The popular Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things’ fourth season made unexpected resurgent hits out of Bush’s 1985 single “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica’s 1986 thrasher “Master of Puppets.”
“Running Up That Hill” was featured in the first half of the season, which premiered in May. As the favorite song of the character Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink, “Running Up That Hill” helps her — spoiler alert — escape the clutches of the evil Vecna.
Following its placement, “Running Up That Hill” began to run up the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at #3 on the all-genre chart — a career-high for Bush. In Bush’s home country, “Running Up That Hill” hit #1 on the United Kingdom’s Official Single Chart, breaking several records along the way; Bush became the oldest female artist to ever conquer the ranking.
The response to “Running Up That Hill” was so overwhelming that Bush issued several public statements, which was major news for an artist who’d developed a reclusive and press-shy reputation. It even got to a point where Bush gave an actual interview, her first in several years.
When the second half of Stranger Things season 4 premiered in July, it was Metallica’s time to shine. Like “Running Up That Hill,” “Master of Puppets” was featured in a pivotal scene, this time featuring Joseph Quinn‘s beloved metalhead and Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast Eddie Munson, who — again, spoiler alert — shreds the metal classic in an effort to thwart Vecna.
While it didn’t quite match the enormous popularity of “Running Up That Hill,” “Master of Puppets” debuted on the Hot 100 for the first time, peaking at #35 — not bad for a nearly nine-minute metal song in the year 2022.
As Stranger Things was bringing in new fans, the “Enter Sandman” rockers reminded longtime ‘Tallica fans that “everyone is welcome,” no matter how long you’ve been listening.
Stranger Things also sparked renewed interest in Dio thanks to the Eddie character, who wore a patch dedicated to the “Holy Diver” metallers on the back of his denim jacket.
(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors have started looking into public filings by congressman-elect George Santos amid questions about the source of his wealth, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The sources were careful not to characterize this as a formal investigation and stressed that prosecutors, at this stage, are only looking at publicly available filings.
An attorney for Santos referred ABC News to his press team, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, which encompasses New York’s 3rd Congressional District in Queens and Nassau County that Santos will represent, declined to comment.
In 2020 when he first ran for Congress, Santos listed no assets and a salary of $55,000 in his personal financial disclosure report filed as a House candidate.
But his 2022 personal financial disclosure report filed as a candidate subsequently showed his fortunes had drastically changed: He owned assets valued between $2.6 million and $11.25 million, including an apartment in Rio de Janeiro, a checking account and a savings account.
According to the 2022 disclosure, he reported earning millions between January 2021 through December 2022 from his New York-based company, Devolder Organization. He also reported having a car loan worth between $15,001-$50,000.
Santos did not identify any clients of Devolder on his disclosure form and the company does not appear to have a public presence, such as a website. His campaign website previously called it his “family firm,” where he oversaw $80 million in client assets as the managing principal.
According to his campaign disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission, Santos reported loaning his congressional campaign $705,000 between 2020 and 2022, including $500,000 in March 2022 and a last-minute injection of $125,000 in the final weeks of the 2022 election cycle.
Last week, the FEC sent a letter to the Santos campaign asking to properly itemize the $125,000 loan.
His seemingly sudden wealth, along with other discrepancies in his biography that were first reported by The New York Times, drew the attention of congressional Democrats, including New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, who tweeted this week that “George Santos, a former call center employee falling behind on his rent, lent his campaign a staggering $705,000. Where did all that money come from?”
Santos has admitted to fabricating parts of his background, including his education and employment history, and also exaggerating his Jewish ancestry. But he’s insisted in interviews that he’s “not a criminal,” suggesting he was guilty merely of “embellishing.”
“I think humans are flawed, and we all make mistakes,” Santos said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. “I think we can all look at ourselves in the mirror and admit that once in our life we made a mistake. I’m having to admit this on national television for the whole country to see.”
But Santos seemed to backtrack on some of his admissions of actual falsehoods on his resume during the Fox News interview, saying that his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and CitiGroup is “debatable,” saying Link Bridge, a firm he served as vice president for, did “extensive” business with the two Wall Street giants.
Santos continued to defend himself on Fox News, saying he’s “not a fraud” and that he worked “damn hard to get where I got my entire life.”
He told the news outlet Semafor that he made his money in part by matching sellers of luxury goods like planes and yachts with potential buyers and taking a cut. He described Devolder as working in “deal building” and “specialty consulting” and his clients as “high net worth individuals.”
“If you’re looking at a $20 million yacht, my referral fee there can be anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000,” Santos told Semafor.
The site said he did not answer questions about his past clients.
To questions about his Jewish ancestry, Santos, who had once called himself a “proud American Jew” told the New York Post: “I never claimed to be Jewish… I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'”
Separately, the New York attorney general is looking into an animal rescue charity tied to Santos along with an address in Queens where Santos was registered to vote, sources previously told ABC News.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office is also looking into Santos, a spokesman for the office told ABC News.
District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican who was elected a year ago, said in a statement that “the numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning. The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress. No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
While Santos has acknowledged fabricating parts of his resume, after previously pushing back on the scrutiny about his background, he has said he doesn’t intend to resign.
“This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good,” he told the New York Post this week.
Republican leaders in the House have not commented.
Rep.-elect Nick LaLota, a fellow incoming New York Republican, called for an ethics investigation. Another incoming New York Republican representative, Anthony D’Esposito, tweeted that Santos should “pursue a path of honesty” and a “spirit of sincerity.”
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(PHOENIX) — The remains of an Arizona teenager were found a week after he was kidnapped during an armed home invasion, police said Wednesday. A homicide investigation is now underway.
Jesse Sainz-Camacho, 17, was taken from his Phoenix home on Dec. 19 by “two armed suspects,” police said.
The teen’s remains were found on Monday in a rural area of Maricopa County, police said. The Phoenix Police Homicide Unit is currently leading the investigation.
Police responded to the victim’s home around 3:15 a.m. local time on Dec. 19 following an “unknown trouble call,” Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Phil Krynsky said in a statement.
Two men “forced their way into the home” and shot a man who was asleep inside, Krynsky said. They then forced the teen into a dark-colored sedan, which fled in an unknown direction, police stated.
The suspects were carrying a rifle and handgun, according to authorities.The shooting victim, who was not identified by police, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Police have not made any arrests in the case and are seeking two suspects. Local authorities have also released images of one of the suspects, seen carrying a firearm, amid the investigation.
A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and/or indictment of the suspects.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Silent Witness at 480-948-6377.
(ATLANTA) — Carol Yancey of the Atlanta metro area was planning to spend a festive Christmas holiday with her large extended family. But she said the threat of possibly contaminated water in Clayton County ended her holiday plans.
Boil water notices were issued last weekend and this week in Georgia’s Atlanta metro area counties, including Clayton, Butts, Forsyth, and parts of Dekalb, Haralson and Monroe. Freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst and valves to freeze, resulting in little to no water pressure in many homes.
The Environmental Protection Agency has previously said that a loss of water pressure could potentially lead to contamination in the water.
“This is the time you really get the community – the unity in it,” Yancey, a community activist, said. “We’re not waiting on elected officials. We’re stepping up and trying to do what we can – we find out something, we tell somebody else.”
Some Atlanta metro residents affected by the water boil advisory say they learned about the possibility of contaminated water from friends and relatives rather than water authority officials. With many local officials on break during the holidays, these residents say they took it upon themselves to help each other get through the ordeal.
Forsyth county resident Kristen Flory said she found out about the water boil notice from a friend a day after the county issued the advisory on Christmas on the water authority’s website. Forsyth lifted its water boil advisory on Dec. 28.
“I was just in shock that I had to go on their website to find out about the possible contaminants that could be in our water,” Flory said. “They should come out and send out a mass text saying, ‘Hey, just so everyone is aware, we had this happen and you need to boil your water until further notice.'”
Spokespeople for Butts, Forsyth and Haralson counties told ABC News that their agencies used a combination of alerts on their websites, social media posts and press announcements through local radio and TV to inform residents.
Local officials have established bottled water distribution sites for residents in the meantime. Forest Park in Clayton County distributed over 1900 cases of bottled water as of Dec. 27, doling out one case per family, according to Forest Park Mayor Angelyne Butler.
“I have to leave those details up to the Clayton County Water Authority,” Butler said when asked when the water system would return to normal. “We are asking for extreme patience during this time, as the water authority is working on a permanent resolve.”
Water authorities for counties that are still affected told ABC News that boil water notices should be lifted on Dec. 29 or 30 after testing results come in.
On the Clayton County Water Authority website, residents experiencing little to no water pressure are directed to call a phone number to notify the agency. But when ABC News tried to call the number on Wednesday evening an automated message stated that the service was experiencing system problems and was unable to process calls.
“I can imagine how inundated with calls and inquiries that they’re receiving at this time. But no, I have not heard of anything,” Butler said when asked if Forest Park residents have complained about not being able to get through to the Clayton County Water Authority.
Clayton County Water Authority General Manager Bernard Franks did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment about the agency’s ability to respond to residents.
About 3,000 homes and businesses experienced low to no water pressure in Butts County, according to Alyssa Hopson, the Butts County Water Authority’s general manager. Other water authority officials that ABC News reached out to were unsure of the estimated number of homes affected.
The water in Forsyth County was likely not contaminated and the boil water advisories were initiated in an abundance of caution, according to Russell Brown, the county water authority’s director of communications and external affairs.
Yancey, who says she does a lot of community work in Clayton County, believes about half of the people she’s been in contact with in the county are experiencing water pressure issues.
Yancey has normal water pressure in her home, but plumbers had to tear down walls in her neighbor’s house to fix busted pipes and restore adequate water pressure.
“To know that infrastructure can shut you down, shut down the county, the water system,” Yancey said. “It reminds me of what went on earlier this year in Mississippi.”
Yancey is referring to the Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis earlier this year where its 150,000 residents were left with contaminated water and little to no water flow in their faucets after inclement weather debilitated its water infrastructure. Jackson residents are currently dealing with another water boil advisory because of freezing temperatures.
Despite the circumstances, residents in the Atlanta area say they have no choice but to trudge on.
“We’re just trying to make sure we bring awareness to the community at large,” Yancey said. “And we look out for each other because the last five letters of community is unity.”
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. announced Wednesday he has a “serious but curable” form of cancer and will enter outpatient treatment.
“After several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, which is a serious but curable form of cancer. I am about to embark on a course of chemo-immunotherapy on an outpatient basis at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment,” he said in a statement.
Raskin said he anticipates to continue working through the next four months but has been cautioned “to reduce unnecessary exposure to avoid COVID-19, the flu and other viruses.” He also joked that while he anticipated hair loss and weight gain during his chemotherapy, he is hoping “for the kind that causes hair gain and weight loss.”
“With the benefit of early detection and fine doctors, the help of my extraordinary staff, the love of Sarah and our daughters and sons-in-law (actual and to-be) and family and friends, and the support of my beloved constituents and my colleagues in the House, I plan to get through this and, in the meantime, to keep making progress every day in Congress for American democracy,” he said.
“My love and solidarity go out to other families managing cancer or any other health condition in this holiday season—and all the doctors, nurses and medical personnel who provide us comfort and hope.”
According to the American Cancer Society, the type of cancer Raskin has “tends to be a fast-growing (aggressive) lymphoma” but “often responds well to treatment.”
“Overall, about 3 out of 4 people will have no signs of disease after the initial treatment, and many are cured,” the group says.
The diagnosis marks Raskin’s second bout with cancer after he was successfully treated for colon cancer.
First elected in 2016, Raskin has swiftly emerged as one of the most prominent Democrats in the House. A former constitutional law professor, he played large roles in both of former President Trump’s impeachment hearings, experience that recently helped him clinch the top Democratic spot on the House Oversight Committee over a more senior member on the panel. He also serves on the special House panel probing last year’s insurrection.
(NEW YORK) — Southwest customers across the country were left stranded this week, when a growing list of flight cancellations left many desperately seeking alternative travel options in hopes of getting home in time for celebrations, work, their health and more.
A long ride home
Dianne Martinez, 56, is currently driving from Charleston, South Carolina, to Nashville, Tennessee. She’s epileptic, and “only had so many days in medicine” from her stay in Charleston.
She drove Tuesday for roughly 10 hours after a three-hour wait to get a rental car because there were no available Southwest flights to Nashville for days, she said, and prices had skyrocketed on flights on alternative airlines.
“We were looking at the other airlines and it was like $2,000, $3,000 for a flight,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
She stayed in a hotel halfway through the traffic-filled drive home Tuesday night, because “the $600 I am spending is cheaper than any other airline was offering and I need to get home.”
Martinez is a small business owner, and has been able to have her work covered by her staff – however, she said she’s one of the lucky ones: “I know a lot of people have jobs that they have to go back to … It just sucks because it’s [Southwest’s] poor planning.”
“They need to get their act together because like, we all planned around this,” Martinez said. “[Southwest] can’t blame it on anything but [themselves] at this point.”
Missed work and lost money
Derek Wood, 51, from Los Angeles, California was flying back from his brother’s house in San Francisco.
What should have been less than a two-hour flight turned into an hourslong ordeal.
“The flight time was delayed and delayed and delayed and then I think a little bit after noon, they finally told us it was canceled even though they said that the plane was just coming back and forth between LA and San Francisco, both places which are unaffected by weather,” Wood said.
He said he was shuffled between long lines as he and others waited to rebook their tickets, and seemingly “overworked employees” traded off responsibilities.
He managed to rebook through the airline’s app and trekked back to his brother’s house to wait.
Just a few hours later, “the flight today that I rebooked myself on was also canceled.” He finally booked himself a roughly nine-hour train and bus ride back home to get home several days later than expected.
He works from home, but as a genealogist, he can’t do much of his work without the resources he needs back at his house.
“Those are days of work that I was hoping to perform and bill for the end of the month, which – that money is gone and additional money that I have to spend because it’s two, three additional nights [of paying for daycare for] my dog, which adds up,” Wood said.
He continued, “I’m sure that there are many people who are in a way worse situation than I am.”
Close calls
Andy Lalwani, 27, was trying to get from Washington, D.C. to Chicago, Illinois to see his boyfriend’s family for the New Year.
However, his Thursday flight was canceled two days in advance.
He had to buy a ticket from another airline that cost more than double the price of his Southwest ticket to confirm that he’ll be able to make it to the celebration on time.
“This outdated tech and outdated operations they’ve been using has just been like funneling and trickling down to like this moment,” Lalwani said. “It makes you have a distrust in the future to ever fly with Southwest. Like how is anyone supposed to feel comfortable if something happens in the future similar to this, that their flight is going to be safe and secure?”
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a video statement Tuesday that he is “truly sorry” for the airline’s failures over the holiday weekend, praising the airline’s employees, who he said “are showing up in every way,” as the airline grapples to catch up after canceling thousands of flights.
“We’re focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle,” he said.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Thirty-seven people have died in Erie County, New York, after a historic winter storm slammed Buffalo.
Fatalities including people found in cars, people found outside and cardiac events from shoveling or blowing snow, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
Monique Alexander
Among those killed was 52-year-old Monique Alexander, a Buffalo woman who doted on her three grandchildren, said her daughter, Casey Maccarone.
Alexander went out on Christmas Eve and never returned, Maccarone told ABC News.
“She never said where she was going, just that she would be right back,” she said.
“My mother was the rock of our family,” Maccarone said in a statement.
“You could count on her for anything, she was the caretaker every time someone needed them,” she said. “During the holidays she would even cook for neighbors or strangers who she knew didn’t have families, because she cared that much.”
William Clay
William Clay died on Dec. 24, which was his 56th birthday, his sister, Sophia Clay, told ABC News.
He was “an avid reader” and “very religious” and read his Bible every day, his sister said.
“There’s people in this world that can quote the Bible but it’s not in their hearts — he’s one of those people that it was in his heart. He spoke it, he lived it,” Sophia Clay said.
William Clay is survived by family including his son and two grandchildren.
“He was a great brother, he was a great grandfather, he was a great friend,” Sophia Clay said.
Abdul Sharifu
Abdul Sharifu, who died in the storm on Christmas Eve, would have turned 27 on Jan. 1, his cousin said.
His wife is pregnant and is due in about one week, The Buffalo News reported.
Sharifu, a refugee from the Congo, was known as someone who helped others around the neighborhood, the newspaper reported.
Anndel Taylor
Anndel Taylor, 22, got stuck in the snow when leaving work on Dec. 23, according to her sister, Tomeshia Brown. Taylor sent a video to a family group chat around midnight that night; the next morning, calls to Taylor went unanswered and the family later learned of her death, Brown said.
Taylor, who grew up in Charlotte, moved to Buffalo in the summer of 2021 to take care of her father, Brown said.
“She was the most kind-hearted and loving person,” Brown said in a statement. “She went to take care of him, but also build a career so she can take more care of her family here in Charlotte. That was her main focus: go back to school, help her dad…She came to visit every chance she could.”
ABC News’ Christopher Looft, Lena Camilletti and Layla Ferris contributed to this report.
Taylor Swift‘s Midnights continues to make waves in the music world. It’s the first album since 1987 to sell more vinyl copies than CDs in the United Kingdom.
The Guardian reports Midnights has sold an impressive 800,000 copies on vinyl. It previously set the all-time record for biggest single-week vinyl sales after 575,000 copies flew off the shelves in its first week of release.
As for why fans snatched up so many vinyl copies, it could be due to Taylor’s creative marketing ploy in which she released four different-colored versions of the album. Each vinyl had one-fourth of a clock face printed on the back of its jacket — so collecting all four created a clock. Taylor also craftily sold the hands of the clock to complete the illusion.
Vinyl sales are enjoying a renaissance in the U.K., while CD sales continue to decline. In 2021, vinyl sales grew nearly 25%, whereas CD sales fell by about 4%.
The outlet predicts there will be a wider gap in those sales numbers. We will find out for sure next week, when figures for 2022’s sales are released.
Fancy New Year’s Eve bashes not your thing? If you prefer to spend December 31 on the couch in your PJs chowing down on takeout, here’s a roundup of which performers will be ringing in the new year on TV:
On NBC, Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will feature Miley Cyrus and her godmother, Dolly Parton, presiding over performances from Latto, FLETCHER, Sia and Rae Sremmurd, as well as Miley herself. SNL’sChloe Fineman, Sarah Sherman and the Please Don’t Destroy trio will also appear. That show starts at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT and also streams on Peacock.
On CNN, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen — who may or may not get drunk this year – will host New Year’s Eve Live starting at 8 p.m. ET with Usher, Ellie Goulding, Patti LaBelle, REO Speedwagon, Ava Max, Tenacious D and more. Jean Smart, Cheri Oteri and Don Lemon are also part of the festivities.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC has been going for more than 50 years and it keeps getting bigger: This year, Ryan Seacrest and Liza Koshy are counting down to 2023 in Times Square, but there will also be countdowns from New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Disneyland and Los Angeles. Performers range from Dove Cameron, Nicky Youre, Armani White and Finneas in LA to Fitz & the Tantrums, Shaggy, Ciara, Lauren Spencer-Smith and Halle Bailey in Disneyland to BTS‘ J-Hope, Duran Duran, New Edition and Jax in Times Square with Seacrest. That starts at 8 p.m. ET and also streams on Hulu+ Live TV.
And if country music is your jam, CBS has New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash with massive stars like Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Keslea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Zac Brown Band and Jason Aldean, as well as Elle King, Sheryl Crow, Flo-Rida and rocker Steve Miller. That starts at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will also stream on Paramount+.
Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock has shared a statement regarding drummer Jeremiah Green‘s cancer diagnosis.
News of Green’s condition first broke over the holiday weekend with a Facebook post from the drummer’s mother reading, “Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer. He’s is [sic] so strong and so brave and hanging in there!”
In an Instagram post early Wednesday, Brock writes, “Some of you may have already heard, but I figured it would be good to hear the news directly from our camp. Jeremiah was diagnosed with cancer a short while ago, and he’s currently in treatment.”
Brock adds that the treatment “seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference.”
“Jeremiah, as am I, are believers in the power of positive energy, so if you would be so kind as to send ‘good vibes'( to quote Jeremiah) in the direction of Jeremiah and his family, that’d be great,” the post concludes.
News of Green’s diagnosis comes after he missed a number of shows on Modest Mouse’s recent 25th anniversary The Lonesome Crowded West tour.
Green is a founding member of Modest Mouse, along with Brock and bassist Eric Judy. He’s remained with the band since, save for a yearlong absence between 2003 and 2004.
