Thirty years into her career and Mary J. Blige doesn’t seem to be letting up. 2022 has seen the singer drop new music, win awards and take on new projects, among other things. Here’s a recap of her most notable moments:
– On February 11, Mary dropped her 14th album, Good Morning Gorgeous, featuring collaborations with DJ Khaled, Fivio Foreign and Usher. Months later, she launched her tour of the same name with supporting acts Ella Mai and Queen Naija.
– Mary represented for the ladies during the Super Bowl halftime show. She performed “Family Affair” and “No More Drama” at the SoFi Stadium in LA, entertaining fans alongside fellow headliners Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and surprise guest 50 Cent. That same week, she joined DJ Khaled for the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night performances.
– The singer launched the inaugural Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit, which took place May 6-8. The Atlanta festival featured star-studded performances and panels on beauty, tech, finances, entrepreneurship, wellness and more. She also appeared at the Roots Picnic and FunkFest Orlando; she’s closing out the year with a performance at Funkfest Miami.
– Mary was honored with the Billboard Icon Award in May and credited God for her success. She was also named one of TIME’s most influential people. The singer took home the Certified Soul Award at BET’s Soul Train Awards in November and has since been nominated for a few Grammys.
– In June, Mary received the key to Atlantic City while hosting the Together We Rise Inaugural Gala after-party. The following month, she celebrated the 30-year anniversary of her debut album, What’s the 411?, with an exclusive Apple Music performance at New York City’s United Palace.
– The singer also became an author; her children’s book is set to drop in 2023.
With all these accomplishments, it’s no surprise Mary’s one of Google’s Top Trending Artists of 2022.
In January 2022, Elton John resumed his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour for the first time since the pandemic, and continued to add dates and special shows along the way. While he raked in the bucks on the road, he also gave fans a glimpse of what his post-touring career might look like by releasing yet another hit single and entering the metaverse. Here’s a look at his year:
–In January, Elton had to postpone two shows after testing positive for COVID-19. He made a full recovery.
–In March, Elton missed his annual Academy Awards Viewing Party charity benefit for the first time in 30 years because he had a show in Lincoln, Nebraska. A satellite hookup from the show to the party was provided.
–Also in March, Elton announced 11 new North American stadium shows, including his 2,000th U.S. concert: a November 20 show at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium, the site of his historic 1975 shows. That was soon expanded to three Dodger Stadium shows, with the November 20 one marking his final North American gig.
–In May, it was announced that the Dodger stadium shows would be recorded for a Disney+ documentary called Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend.
—In June, Elton helped celebrate Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee with a special performance of “Your Song,” which was projected onto the facade of Buckingham Palace. In September, he mourned her death, writing on Instagram, “I will miss her dearly.”
–In July and August, Elton’s latest musical, a stage version of The Devil Wears Prada, played a limited run in Chicago. In a rare misstep for Elton, it received poor reviews. Elton later said, “It’ll be ready in another year.”
–In July, word came of an Elton John/Britney Spears collaboration, marking her return to music following the end of her conservatorship. In August, it was made official: Elton and Britney were teaming up for a remix of his classic song “Tiny Dancer” called “Hold Me Closer.” When the song arrived on August 26, it was revealed to be a mashup of “Tiny Dancer,” plus Elton’s songs “The One” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”
–In September, “Hold Me Closer” debuted in the top 10, giving Britney her 14th top-10 hit, her first since 2012. It was Elton’s 35th U.S. top-10 hit. It also debuted on top of Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, only the third song ever to do so.
–On September 23, ahead of Elton’s show in Washington, D.C., he was invited to the White House by President Joe Biden and presented with the National Humanities Medal. Elton said he was “flabbergasted” by the honor.
–In October, Elton’s other new musical,Tammy Faye, debuted in London. This one got great reviews, and though it closed in December, it’s likely it will reappear at some point.
–Elton’s November 20 Dodger Stadium show was livestreamed by Disney+ and featured guest appearances by Kiki Dee, Dua Lipa and Brandi Carlile. Just a few days later, Elton traveled to New York City and performed “Your Song” in the middle of Fifth Avenue to help unveil Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday windows.
–By November, Elton’s tour had grossed just under $750 million, ranking it as the second-highest-grossing tour of all time, behind his pal Ed Sheeran‘s Divide tour.
–Also in November, Elton entered the metaverse via a collaboration with the popular online game platform Roblox. Titled Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, the virtual experience let fans enjoy an interactive world inspired by Elton’s life and legacy.
–In December, Elton announced that his final United Kingdom show would be a headlining performance at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival.
Dove Cameron is one of the performers on the LA party portion of ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve withRyan Seacrest, airing December 31 at 8 p.m. ET — and she says it’s “inconceivable” to her that she would get to perform on a show that’s so “iconic.”
“It blows my mind,” Dove told ABC Audio during rehearsals for the show. “It’s, like, when you grow up watching something so iconic, I think it’s one of the mainstays of, ‘One day when I’m…an adult…I’m gonna do that!’ But it’s not really anything you wholeheartedly believe is going to be a part of your life in any real way…so…it’s kind of inconceivable!”
While Dove indeed grew up watching New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, she wasn’t able to do it at her own house.
“I grew up in the woods without cable, so…I would watch New Year’s Rockin’ Eve at friends’ houses and, like, my aunts’ and uncles’ [houses],” she laughed. “But it wasn’t something that we had in our home because we literally had rabbit ears and, like, one local news channel.”
Dove’s performance on the show will be one last highlight in a year that was full of them: She was named Best New Artist at the VMAs and the AMAs, and scored a big hit with “Boyfriend.” But she’s got plenty of New Year’s resolutions for 2023.
“I mean, number one on my mind is finally getting my debut album out there ’cause it’s been a long saga,” she explained. “I’m very excited about that. And also, personally speaking, just finding time for consistent therapy once a week…[it’s a] huge, huge thing for me because I think in my line of work, it’s really difficult to do.” (
(JACKSON, Miss.) — Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a local state of emergency Tuesday after cold weather damaged the Mississippi capital’s water system last week.
Jackson — long plagued with water problems — issued a boil-water advisory on Christmas Day until further notice because of the broken system.
Describing the situation as the “worst case scenario,” Lumumba called on city residents to report leaks to aid in repair efforts and to shut off water taps to preserve water pressure.
“There is no way to prevent what is happening to our water treatment facilities,” Lumumba said during a press conference Tuesday. “We do not control mother nature.”
According to Jackson officials, the city’s water system lost pressure because of unidentifiable breaks in its distribution system, resulting in some parts of Jackson experiencing little to no water pressure.
The city’s main water treatment facility, the O.B. Curtis Water Plant, and the J.H. Fewell Water Treatment Plant are working to increase production to reestablish pressure, officials said in a boil water alert.
“Our crews are all busy today working to restore pressure,” Jackson’s communications director Melissa Payne told ABC News on Monday in an emailed statement.
“We continue to struggle to return pressure to the water system,” officials said in a press release Monday. “We are producing significant amounts of water and pushing that into the system, but the pressure is not increasing — despite those efforts at the plants.”
Lumumba was unclear about whether the water posed a risk to residents, instead describing the boil water notice more as a technicality due to EPA rules, which require a boil water notice when water pressure reaches below a certain level.
“When it drops below that threshold, that does not mean that they’ve been having trouble out of the plant in terms of the treatment of the water,” he said. “It means that when pressure goes below a certain threshold, it is our requirement by the EPA [and] the State Department of Health to issue a city-wide boil water notice.”
The city’s most recent boil-water advisory impacts all surface water connections and excludes customers using its well systems.
Historic flooding in Mississippi in August damaged a major pump at the O.B. Curtis Water Plant, which left around 150,000 of the city’s mostly Black residents without drinkable water.
The water crisis highlighted residents’ years-long plight with the city’s ongoing water issues and raised questions about how Jackson came to be in this situation and what the long-term plans were to fix the issue.
In November, the U.S. Department of Justice reached an agreement and filed a new complaint with Jackson over the city’s alleged mismanagement of its water system.
Through its agreement with the City of Jackson, the DOJ will establish a third-party monitor to ensure that water in the city is safe to drink.
(BALTIMORE) — When John Gelinne Sr. and his son saw a small plane crash-land into an ice-covered creek near their Maryland home on Monday morning, they immediately jumped into action.
The two military men grabbed their kayaks and made their way out to the downed plane, which had landed in Beards Creek in Edgewater, not far from Lee Airport. They used shovels to propel themselves across the iced-over creek, as their paddles were rendered useless by the frozen water.
As the single-engine Piper Cherokee plane sank, the pilot was able to exit and stood on the wing while waiting for help, Maryland State Police said.
When the father and son reached the pilot, he was standing waist-deep in the freezing waters.
Gelinne Sr. said he told the pilot, “‘Get out of the water, just get out of the water and just hold tight.'”
“I just pick-axed backwards and got my kayak back out of the ice and he was out of the water,” Gelinne Sr., a retired naval officer, told Baltimore ABC affiliate WMAR.
Anne Arundel County Police Officer Elizabeth Myersalso also responded via kayak, using a screwdriver to skim across the ice. Body-camera footage shows her reaching the scene of the crash as the 71-year-old pilot, who was the sole occupant of the plane, is hanging on to Gelinne Sr.’s kayak.
A Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police vessel then reached the scene and took the pilot to an awaiting ambulance, police said. He was transported to a local hospital and received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, though the preliminary investigation indicates that the plane’s engine began sputtering “moments after the pilot took off from Lee Airport,” state police said.
“Witnesses told police they heard the sputter and shortly thereafter, they heard the plane crash into Beards Creek,” state police said in a statement.
The Gelinnes thought the plane was going to hit their house — until it landed in the creek.
“He recognized he was in trouble and he banked it hard left,” Gelinne Sr. told WMAR.
The father and son suspect the pilot saved lives with this maneuver.
“He probably saved himself and some houses around him, too,” John Gelinne Jr. told WMAR.
The kayakers were not injured in the rescue operation. Gelinne Jr., a U.S. Marine, was left impressed by his father’s actions.
“I’m sore, so I’m sure he’s pretty sore as well,” Gelinne Jr. told WMAR.
First responders hailed the Gelinnes for their quick thinking and likely life-saving actions in getting to the pilot quickly and pulling him partially out of the freezing water. Anne Arundel County Fire Department Lt. Jennifer Macallair called their efforts “heroic.”
Though Gelinne Sr. told WMAR he doesn’t see it that way.
“I look at it just as someone who saw something that needed to do something,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — New York Rep.-elect George Santos did, as promised, share some of his story on Monday in an interview with The New York Post, admitting that he lied about portions of his background while running for Congress.
Still, he vowed to take his seat in the House next week and do work on behalf of his district.
“I am not a criminal,” he said in the interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
Santos, who initially pushed back on the “defamatory” scrutiny of his background, sought to play down fabricating his biography, saying he was “embellishing.”
He defended his actions in a separate interview with WABC radio that was also published on Monday.
“I’m not gonna make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate on their resumes,” Santos said. “I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that.”
As The New York Times first reported earlier this month, some of Santos’ claims about his education, career and charity were disputed by public records and the schools and companies he said were involved.
In the Post interview, Santos admitted that he never graduated from college, despite publicly saying that he earned a degree from Baruch College.
The National Republican Congressional Committee website, which had a biography on Santos, also stated that he worked for companies such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. But Goldman Sachs and Citigroup spokespeople told ABC News that they have no record of Santos ever being employed.
Santos now insists he did business with the two large financial institutions as vice president of a company called Link Bridge. Santos told the Post that he stated his work experience “poorly.”
Santos was also accused of lying about his family history, having previously said that his mother was Jewish and her parents escaped persecution during World War II and resettled in Brazil. But The Forward, a Jewish news outlet, reviewed genealogical information and found that Santos’ maternal grandparents were born in Brazil.
During the Post interview, Santos said he’s “clearly Catholic” but maintained that his grandmother told stories about being Jewish and later converting to Catholicism.
“I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish,'” Santos said.
Santos is the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House. He said in a USA Today interview in October that he’s “never had an issue with [his] sexual identity in the past decade.” But reporting this month also found court records indicating that he had been married to a woman and they divorced in 2019, before a previous run for Congress.
Santos told the Post that he was married to the woman for about five years, from 2012 until his divorce in 2017.
“I dated women in the past. I married a woman. It’s personal stuff,” he said.
“I’m very much gay,” he said. “I’m OK with my sexuality. People change. I’m one of those people who change.”
Some discrepancies in Santos’ background were not addressed, such as a claim that he ran an animal charity.
According to an archived version of his campaign website, Santos previously said he ran a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Friends of Pets United. But a search on the IRS’ website did not find a listing for a charity under that name.
Other lawmakers weigh in
Democrats have seized on the controversy, calling for Santos to resign.
“GOP Congressman-elect George Santos, who has now admitted his whopping lies, should resign,” California Rep. Ted Lieu tweeted on Monday, pushing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to call a vote to expel Santos if he does not step down.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, also tweeted that Congress should expel Santos, which would require a two-thirds vote, and that his actions should be investigated by authorities.
“It’s an open question to me as to whether this is the type of individual that the incoming majority should welcome to Congress. That’s a question from Kevin McCarthy at this point in time,” New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the incoming House minority leader, told reporters last week.
Also last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said she was looking into a number of issues raised about Santos.
The matter had not advanced to an investigation but was rather characterized as a review of the claims raised in news reports and by Santos’ political opponents, ABC News reported. The attorney general has a particular interest in charities and charitable giving and about political fundraising.
Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, initially declined to comment on the attorney general’s involvement, saying he hadn’t heard from her office. After the Post interview was published this week, Murray referred ABC News to Santos’ press team, who did not immediately respond to further questions.
Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph G. Cairo Jr. said in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday that Santos “has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters and everyone who he represents in Congress.”
“I am deeply disappointed in Mr. Santos, and I expected more than just a blanket apology,” Cario said.
He said that Santos’ contrition could be earned through a conservative legislative record.
“He must do the public’s will in Washington. Residents want him to deliver tax relief and pass laws that will make our neighborhoods and our nation safer,” Cario said. “What’s more, George Santos will have to continually prove that he has learned his lesson.”
Republican lawmakers have mainly remained silent on Santos. However, fellow New York Rep.-elect Nick LaLota released a statement asking the ethics committee to investigate.
“House Republicans like me are eager to be sworn in and focus on our commitment to America and our respective districts. Yet over the last few weeks, I have heard from countless Long Islanders how deeply troubled they are by the headlines surrounding George Santos,” LaLota said.
“As a Navy man who campaigned on restoring accountability and integrity to our government, I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” he said.
Another incoming Republican New York representative, Anthony D’Esposito, also released a statement condemning Santos’ actions but did not echo a call for an ethics investigation.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted in defense of Santos on Tuesday, arguing that the “left” was being disingenuous.
“The left doesn’t care about lying. … I’m glad George is being honest with his district now and look forward to seeing how George legislates & votes,” she tweeted.
ABC News has reached out to Republican House leaders Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik and Steve Scalise for comment multiple times and they have not responded.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The House Ways and Means Committee is expected on Friday to release six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, from 2015-2020, sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
The returns will be entered into the congressional record during a pro-forma session on Friday beginning at 9 a.m., the sources said. Pro-forma sessions typically last only a few minutes.
A formal release will also come from the committee, which has already released a summary of some of the information from the records, including the annual taxes Trump paid.
Committee members voted 24-16 last week to release the documents after sensitive information — like bank account numbers and Social Security numbers — had been redacted, a process which is still ongoing.
Trump has long fought to keep his tax records private — though the courts ultimately ordered the Treasury Department to turn over his documents to the congressional committee, which had been seeking them since Democrats retook the House majority in 2019.
The committee had requested six years’ worth of Trump’s returns as part of what it said was an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents.
Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told reporters last week that the panel found there was no ongoing audit of Trump’s tax returns during his presidency until the committee requested them, despite an IRS requirement that tax returns filed by a sitting president or vice president are subject to audit.
Neal said the audit only began in 2019 after he requested the returns and said the audits of the requested returns were never completed.
Trump has accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses, claiming the probe is just a politically motivated fishing expedition. But the committee said the documents were critical for drafting “legislation on equitable tax administration, including legislation on the President’s tax compliance.”
The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, previously said in a statement that “Ways and Means Democrats are unleashing a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond President Trump, and jeopardizes the privacy of every American.”
(NEW YORK) — More than nine months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.
The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.
The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.
The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.
The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.
The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.
Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three
A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.
A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”
Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.
The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.
(NEW YORK) — The nation’s airports have been mired by holiday travel chaos, as several major airlines have cancelled or severely delayed thousands of flights nationwide due to dangerous weather conditions, staffing issues and system meltdowns.
Many travelers are left wondering what their rights are during extreme flight delays and cancellations.
On Tuesday afternoon, data from Flight Aware showed that nearly 3,000 flights had been canceled within, into or out of the U.S., while more than 3,500 had been delayed, after a rough Monday for flying.
Southwest Airlines alone canceled at least 70% of its flights Monday and 62% on Tuesday and Wednesday.
What are your rights?
Under federal law, consumers are entitled to a refund if the airline cancels a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel.
Consumers are also entitled to a refund if an airline “made a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and the consumer chooses not to travel,” according to the Department of Transportation (DOT).
The hang-up — DOT has not defined what constitutes a “significant delay.” According to the agency, whether you are entitled to a refund depends on multiple factors, including the length of the delay, the length of the flight and “your particular circumstances.”
In most cases, airlines will first offer you a travel voucher for future travel, Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, told ABC News earlier this year.
“You do not have to click there and accept that travel voucher, because under federal law you’re entitled to a full cash refund,” Keyes said. “You may have to call the airline and demand to get that cash refund rather than the voucher.”
Keyes also said to contact the party you booked your travel with, whether that be the airline itself or a third-party like a travel agency.
“You have to go through whoever you booked your flight with. And so, if you booked it with a third party with an online travel agency, that’s who you’re going to have to chat with,” Keyes said. “The best practice is actually to book directly with the airline if the price is the same. Because when things go wrong, when they’re delays or cancelations, it’s far simpler.”
There are situations, however, where consumers are not entitled to a refund. According to DOT, travelers who purchase nonrefundable tickets, but are unable to travel for a personal reason, such as being sick or late to the airport, are not entitled to a refund.
What if your flight is oversold and you’re denied boarding?
On occasion, airlines may bump passengers from a trip when the flight is oversold. In cases such as this, airlines must first ask passengers to give up their seats voluntarily in exchange for compensation, according to DOT.
There is no limit on the amount of money or vouchers the airline can offer you, and passengers are free to negotiate.
If there aren’t enough volunteers in these situations, airlines can select passengers and involuntarily bump them off the flight. If you’re one of the unlucky few, the airline is required to compensate you in certain situations — including if the passenger had a confirmed reservation, the passenger checked into their flight on time, arrived to the gate on time, and if the airline cannot get you to your destination within one hour of your flight’s original arrival.
What if you decide to change your flight?
Consumers should know most U.S. carriers did away with change fees during the pandemic — meaning if you decide to change your flight, you’ll only have to pay the difference in fare.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — A mom is facing charges after she allegedly left her newborn in a tent in the freezing-cold New Hampshire woods, according to authorities.
At about 12:30 a.m. Monday, the Manchester Fire Department was dispatched to a reported pregnancy problem, and a woman told responders she gave birth prematurely in the woods, the department said.
Police and fire crews searched the area where the woman directed them but couldn’t find the baby, Manchester police said.
Crews spent about one hour looking for the newborn, but “the search was hampered by inconsistent information,” according to the Manchester Fire Department.
“After nearly an hour, the mother revealed the true location of the baby and led officers to the area,” the police department said.
Searchers found the newborn uncovered on the floor of a tent, the fire department said. The baby had been born that night, according to Manchester police spokesperson Heather Hamel.
The wind chill — what temperature it feels like — plunged to just 6 degrees that night. The baby was taken to a hospital and is “doing well,” Hamel told ABC News on Tuesday.
The mother, Alexandra Eckersley, 26, has been charged with felony reckless conduct, according to police. She was also facing an unrelated warrant for endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
Any baby up to one week old can be anonymously left at a New Hampshire fire station, as long as staff is there, the fire department said. Hospitals, occupied churches and occupied police stations also fall under the state’s Safe Haven law.
