2022 will go down as the year that put Lainey Wilson on the map.
The Country Music Association named her Female Vocalist of the Year the very first time she was nominated and crowned her New Artist of the Year, as well. Earlier, the Academy of Country Music agreed, bestowing both New Female Artist and Song of the Year honors for “Things a Man Oughta Know.”
“It’s been a ride, I’ll tell you that,” the Louisiana native reflects. “Everything that we put on our list of things that we wanted to accomplish, we have done that plus more — even when it comes to getting a tour bus.”
“We finally got a tour bus in June,” she continues. “And oh my gosh, it’s just so many wonderful blessings. I’m really having to learn how to dream a little bigger, you know, like, all the things that felt so far away are really not.”
Lainey also branched out into acting, taking a role in season 5 of Yellowstone, the series that first shined a spotlight on her music. And her small-screen dreams don’t end there.
“I wanna be on SNL, I want to do things like that,” she tells ABC Audio. “No matter what, songwriting’s always gonna be my number one, because that’s what got me here to begin with. But yeah, I want to do that.”
“You know, I’m going out on my first headlining tour next year and planning on selling that thing out. We’re gonna do it,” she predicts.
Lainey kicks off her Country with a Flare Tour on January 4 in Spokane, Washington.
When is a year in music NOT dominated by Taylor Swift? While it’s true that most of her activities were confined to the latter half of 2022, she still managed to take over the news cycle, even inspiring what seems to be a reckoning of the entire concert ticket industry. Here are just a few of Taylor’s many, many accomplishments in 2022:
–On May 18, Taylor was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts from New York University and delivered the commencement address, to boot, complete with an Easter egg that nobody noticed until after the fact. She told the graduates, “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out,” which was later revealed to be a lyric on the song “Labryinth” from her album Midnights, announced three months later.
–In June, Taylor did a Q&A at the Tribeca Film Festival about All Too Well: The Short Film and in September, she did the same at the Toronto International Film Festival, leading to speculation that she was campaigning for an Oscar nomination for the project. In Toronto, she said that she’d love to direct a feature film.
–In August, Taylor became the first artist ever to win Video of the Year three times at the MTV VMAs, taking home the trophy for All Too Well: The Short Film, and only the second artist to win best direction twice for directing their own videos. But the biggest surprise that night was Taylor announcing that a new album was coming on October 21. A few hours later, she confirmed it would be called Midnights.
–In September, Taylor was named Songwriter of the Decade at the Nashville Songwriters Association International, where she performed the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” and discussed her songwriting process.
–In October, records shattered with the arrival of Midnights. Debuting at number one, it was the first album to sell over 1 million copies in a week since Taylor’s own Reputation in 2017. Taylor is now tied with Barbra Streisand for the most number-one albums for a female artist: 11. Also, songs from Midnights took over the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, making Taylor the first artist ever to do so.
–The lead single from Midnights, “Anti-Hero,” gave Taylor her ninth number-one hit and made her the only solo artist to have had five singles debut at number one. The song reigned atop the Hot 100 for six weeks until it was dethroned by Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
–In November, Taylor received four Grammy nominations and won six American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year, bringing her career AMA total to 40.
–Also in November, Taylor announced her 2023 Eras Tour. When she put the tickets on sale, a record 2 million were sold in a single day. But the process itself was a nightmare, with many fans finding themselves unable to purchase tickets despite having the correct access codes. Other fans reported the Ticketmaster website crashing and enduring hourslong waits.
An angry Taylor called out Ticketmaster for letting her and her fans down, and though the ticketing giant apologized, the damage had been done. The Senate’s Anti-Trust Committee announced it’d be holding hearings regarding Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly; a number of fans filed a class-action lawsuit; and the entire concert ticket industry was called into question.
–In December, Taylor was named Billboard‘s Top Female Artist of 2022. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for her song “Carolina” from the film Where the Crawdads Sing and announced that she’d be directing her first feature film based on an original script she wrote. “Carolina” also made the Oscar short list for Best Original Song.
It always hurts when our favorite musicians pass away, and 2022 was no exception, with several beloved artists leaving us this year.
It was a year that started with a great loss: on January 20 Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, died at the age of 74. Although no cause of death was ever announced, he had been plagued with health issues in recent years. He also reportedly had COVID before his death, although it was never confirmed he died from it.
Just two days after TMZ erroneously reported his death, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis passed away October 28 at his home in Mississippi. He was 87.
And on November 30 music fans were left shocked when Fleetwood Mac co-lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Christine McVie died at the age of 79. Her family shared that she died “peacefully at [the] hospital” after “a short illness.” While paying tribute to her bandmate and friend, StevieNicks revealed that she hadn’t known McVie was ill until a few days before her death.
Here’s a list of the many music figures who died in 2022, in chronological order:
Blood, Sweat & Tears co-founder Dick Halligan died January 18 from natural causes in Rome, Italy. He was 78.
Don Wilson, the last surviving member of the instrumental surf rock quartet The Ventures, died January 22 of natural causes at the age of 88.
Ian McDonald, of King Crimson and Foreigner, died February 9 from cancer at the age of 75.
Procol Harum’s founder and lead singer, Gary Booker, died February 19 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.
Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan died February 22 at his home in Killarney, Ireland. He was 57.
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was found dead March 25 in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia, the night before the band was to headline the Estéreo Picnic Festival. He was only 50.
Re Styles, former vocalist for The Tubes, died April 17 at the age of 72.
Randy Rand, the bassist and co-founding member of ’80s glam metal band Autograph, died in late April.
Yes drummer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Alan White passed away May 26 after a short illness. He was 72.
Andy Fletcher, keyboardist and founding member of Depeche Mode, passed away May 26 at the age of 60. He died after suffering an aortic dissection while at home.
Alec John Such, the original bassist for the rock band Bon Jovi, died June 4 of natural causes at the age of 70.
Seals and Crofts’ Jim Seals passed away June 6 after suffering a “chronic ongoing illness.” He was 80.
Jerry Allison, best known for being the drummer with Buddy Holly‘s band The Crickets, died from cancer on August 22, nine days before his 83rd birthday.
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis, aka The Killer, passed away October 28 at his home in Mississippi. He was 87.
Dan McCafferty, the original lead singer for the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, died November 8. He was 76.
Guitarist Wilko Johnson,best known for his work with the ’70s British band Dr. Feelgood, passed away November 21 at the age of 75.
Fleetwood Mac’s co-lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Christine McVie died November 30 after a short illness. She was 79.
The Rascals drummer Dino Danelli passed away December 15 at the age of 78.
Rick Anderson, bassist and co-founding member of the band The Tubes, passed away December 16 at the age of 75.
Just 16 months after Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts passed away, his wife, Shirley Watts, died December 16 at the age of 84.
Terry Hall, lead singer of the influential British band The Specials, died December 18 at the age of 63. In addition to his work with that band, he also co-wrote The Go-Go’s debut single, “Our Lips Are Sealed,” with his then-girlfriend, Jane Wiedlin.
Nicky Youre is one of the performers on the LA party portion of ABC’s Dick Clark‘s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, airing December 31 at 8 p.m. ET. And far from being upset about having to work on New Year’s Eve, the “Sunroof” singer says he can’t imagine anything better.
“It’s my favorite time of the year, so I would love to do nothing more than music, because that’s my favorite thing to do right now. So if I can do this every year, I’d be all for it,” he told ABC Audio during rehearsals for the show.
Nicky called being part of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, now in its 51st year, “definitely just a big honor,” adding, “I’ve seen the names that have done it before, and to imagine myself up there was the craziest feeling. So I’m just, like, stoked and blessed and I hope everyone enjoys it.”
Nicky says if he wasn’t performing on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which will also feature performances from everyone from Duran Duran, New Edition and Jax to Dove Cameron, Lauren Spencer Smith and Armani White, he’d be out with friends or “making classic holiday cookies and pies and stuff like that” with his sister.
As for New Year’s resolutions, Nicky says the ones he made last year certainly came to pass.
“I usually just make a list of, like, 10things I want to do that year, whether it’s, like, working out a couple times a week. Putting out new music was one for last year,” he notes. “Quitting my full-time job was last year, which I was able to do. I think that wasthe thing I was most proud of.”
Nicky’s goal for 2023 is to put out new music so he’s not just the “Sunroof” guy.
It always hurts when our favorite musicians pass away, and 2022 was no exception, with several beloved artists leaving us this year.
It was a year that started with a great loss: on January 20 Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, died at the age of 74. Although no cause of death was ever announced, he had been plagued with health issues in recent years. He also reportedly had COVID before his death, although it was never confirmed he died from it.
After battling breast cancer for decades, Olivia Newton-John lost her fight and passed away August 8 at the age of 73. The singer-actress had been in remission for more than 20 years when her cancer returned in 2017.
Just two days after TMZ erroneously reported his death, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis passed away October 28 at his home in Mississippi. He was 87.
And on November 30 music fans were left shocked when Fleetwood Mac co-lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Christine McVie died at the age of 79. Her family shared that she died “peacefully at [the] hospital” after “a short illness.” While paying tribute to her bandmate and friend, Stevie Nicks revealed that she hadn’t known McVie was ill until a few days before her death.
Here’s a list of the many music figures who died in 2022, in chronological order:
Rosa Lee Hawkins, an original member of the New Orleans R&B vocal trio The Dixie Cups, best known for their song “Chapel of Love,” died January 11. She was 76.
Ronnie Spector, former lead singer of the Ronnettes, passed away January 12 at the age of 78 after a short battle with cancer.
Blood, Sweat & Tears co-founder Dick Halligan died January 18 from natural causes in Rome, Italy. He was 78.
Don Wilson, the last surviving member of the instrumental surf rock quartet The Ventures, died January 22 of natural causes at the age of 88.
Sly Johnson, best known for his 1967 classic “Different Strokes,” died February 6 at the age of 85.
Procol Harum’s founder and lead singer, Gary Booker, died February 19 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.
Guitarist Joe Messina, an original member of the Motown session musicians known as The Funk Brothers, died April 4 in Northville, Michigan, at age 93.
1960s teen idol Bobby Rydell, best known for hits like “We Got Love” and “Wild One,” passed away April 5 from complications from pneumonia. He was 79.
Re Styles, former vocalist for The Tubes, died April 17 at the age of 72.
Earth, Wind & Fire saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk died April 24 after a long illness. He was 71.
Oscar-winning composer Vangelis, best known for his Chariots of Fire score, died May 17 at the age of 79. He passed away at a French hospital, where he was being treated for an undisclosed illness.
Yes drummer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Alan White passed away May 26 after a short illness. He was 72.
Alec John Such, the original bassist for the rock band Bon Jovi, died June 4 of natural causes at the age of 70.
Seals and Crofts’ Jim Seals passed away June 6 after suffering a “chronic ongoing illness.” He was 80.
William “Poogie” Hart, the lead singer of legendary Philadelphia soul group The Delfonics, died July 14 at age 77.
Sam Gooden, an original member of the soul group The Impressions, died of a heart attack on August 4 at the age of 87.
Olivia Newton-John lost her decadeslong battle with breast cancer on August 8. She passed away at her home in California at the age of 73.
Motown great Lamont Dozier, one-third of the songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland, passed away August 8 at the age of 81.
Jerry Allison, best known for being the drummer with Buddy Holly‘s band The Crickets, died from cancer on August 22, nine days before his 83rd birthday.
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis, aka The Killer, passed away October 28 at his home in Mississippi. He was 87.
Singer and actress Irene Cara, who starred in and sung the title song of the movie Fame, and topped the charts with the Flashdance tune “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” died November 25 at the age of 63.
Fleetwood Mac’s co-lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Christine McVie died November 30 after a short illness. She was 79.
The Rascals drummer Dino Danelli passed away December 15 at the age of 78.
Rick Anderson, bassist and co-founding member of the band The Tubes, passed away December 16 at the age of 75.
Just 16 months after Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts passed away, his wife, Shirley Watts, died December 16 at the age of 84.
Terry Hall, lead singer of the influential British band The Specials, died December 18 at the age of 63. In addition to his work with that band, he also co-wrote The Go-Go’s debut single, “Our Lips Are Sealed,” with his then-girlfriend, Jane Wiedlin.
Thom Bell, one of the members of “The Mighty Three” architects of the Philadelphia soul sound, which also included Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, passed away December 22 at the age of 79.
Melissa Rivers hopes to see in 2023 more unity in society — and less junk food on her plate.
Speaking to ABC Audio, the comedian laid out what she hopes to achieve in 2023. “Get more sleep! Finally commit to that workout routine. Yeah, same as everybody,” she joked, adding she’ll also cut out processed foods and “make sure I do cardio three to four days a week.”
“You know, for as different as we all like to think we are, we’re all really the same. We all want to be healthier. We all want to achieve those work goals. We all want to eat better,” Rivers continued. She said another thing people have in common with health-inspired resolutions is that they typically “last for all of six weeks.”
As for what everyone should leave behind in 2022, the Fashion Police star wants to see less extremism. “The pendulum needs to start swinging back to the middle on everything,” she said.
“I believe that most Americans and most people in the world live in the middle. Everyone’s not out to the far left or the far right,” noted Rivers.
Rivers also hopes people, especially the younger generation, stop getting their news from social media. “It is not fact-checked … You can’t believe everything you read,” she warned. “Every day there’s a new conspiracy theory or some new kind of hate speech.”
She advised that instead of turning exclusively to TikTok or Instagram, “Read two different newspapers or different newsletters” to learn what’s happening in the world.
There’s one more thing Rivers wants to do in 2023: host presidential biographer Jon Meacham and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on her Group Text podcast. She also shared it wouldn’t hurt to welcome George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Barack Obama to her show, too.
(JACKSON, Miss.) — The city of Jackson, Mississippi — long plagued with water problems — issued a boil-water advisory on Christmas Day until further notice.
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.”
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.
(NEW YORK) — Airlines have canceled thousands of flights in what has become a Christmas nightmare for so many, as winter storms and staffing issues continue to cause havoc across the U.S.
Most major airlines have canceled or delayed thousands of flights, with Southwest Airlines canceling at least 70% of its flights Monday — more than 2,600 — due to a reported system meltdown. The airline has also canceled 60% of its flights for Tuesday.
On Christmas Day, 42% of Southwest’s flights were canceled and 48% were delayed, according to data from FlightAware. As of Monday night, data showed that nearly 4,000 flights had been canceled within, into or out of the U.S., while more than 7,700 had been delayed.
Jay McVay with Southwest Airlines said Monday night that “the sheer size of the storm” nationwide affected all major airports.
“It’s just the fact that this one started West swept east and impacted almost every single one of our largest airports that put us in a position where we struggled to recover, and we struggled to get our flight crews and airplanes where they needed to be,” McVay said from Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
Capt. Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said in a statement earlier Monday that the ordeal has “been catastrophic.”
“It’s been a failure at every level at Southwest. Our pilots, our front-line employees have worked under enormous stress to try to get our passengers from A to B, but we were dealt a really bad hand as far as Southwest is concerned,” Murray said, in part, adding that their “processes,” information technology or infrastructure “just wasn’t there to support the operation.”
“And, unfortunately, our customers are bearing the brunt of it,” Murray added.
Angry Southwest customers took to Twitter on Monday, sharing their frustrations over the delays, cancellations and long hold times to speak to customer service agents.
“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” Southwest said in a statement posted online. “And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.”
Southwest said it is working to “address the wide-scale disruption” by repositioning its crew and planes, which were all in the wrong spots.
ABC News spoke with three stranded travelers — one staying overnight at an airport in Boston until her new flight, one stranded in Chicago after his flight got canceled and one driving with a stranger to make it to his Disney Cruise in Tampa after flight issues.
Each traveler blamed delays on staffing rather than the weather.
ABC News reached out to American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta and United to learn about how staffing is impacting their current delays and cancellations.
“I wanted to fly home for Christmas,” Laetitia Duler, who was flying home to San Francisco from Boston for the holiday, told ABC News. “As soon as I entered the line, they were just like, ‘your flights canceled. Like, bye.'”
Eric Jernigan was trying to fly from Jackson, Mississippi, to Tampa, Florida, for a Disney cruise when his Delta flight was canceled because of a lack of crew, he told ABC News.
He and five others decided to drive to Florida after getting stuck at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.
The city of Buffalo, New York, initiated a travel ban as blizzard conditions moved into the area.
According to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and local officials, 29 people have died in the state following the aftermath of an enormous lake-effect snowstorm.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport announced Monday that it will be closed until Wednesday as its crews work “around the clock” to get the airport back up and running.
ABC News’ Cherise Rudy contributed to this report.
(PIERCE COUNTY, Was.) — The search continued Monday for vandals who targeted four power substations on Christmas Day in Pierce County, Washington, setting fire to at least one of the facilities and knocking out power to more than 14,000 utility customers, authorities said.
Two of the break-ins were at Tacoma Public Utilities substations and two others were at a Puget Sound Energy station, according to the sheriff’s office in Pierce County, which encompasses Tacoma.
No arrests have been announced.
The vandalism came amid a string of similar sabotage incidents across the country, including several in the Northwest, and follows a bulletin issued last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning that critical infrastructure could be among the targets of possible attacks by “lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances.”
“It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems,” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The substation attacks unfolded Sunday between 2:39 a.m. and 7:21 p.m. local time, authorities said. In all four episodes, the saboteurs broke into the fenced-off power stations and deliberately damaged equipment, according to the sheriff’s office.
Officials initially said three power stations were vandalized, but early Monday morning they said a fourth substation was damaged in a deliberately caused fire near the city of Graham, cutting power to homes in Kapowsin and Graham.
“The suspect(s) gained access to the fenced area and vandalized the equipment which caused the fire,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “All law enforcement agencies in the county have been notified of the incidents and will be monitoring power substations in their area.”
Power was restored to most customers affected by the attacks by Monday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
Tacoma Public Utilities reported about 7,300 customers in the southeast of Tacoma were affected by the vandalism. Puget Sound Energy said nearly 7,700 of its customers lost power.
Power was restored to all customers by Monday afternoon, Puget Sound Energy said. Tacoma Public Utilities said later Monday night that all customers were back online but to be prepared for possible outages amid windy conditions overnight.
“Unfortunately, the impacts to our system from today’s deliberate damage are more severe in some places than initial testing indicated,” the company said Sunday. “Some customers will be restored closer to 8 AM tomorrow. We appreciate your patience as we respond to this intentional vandalism to our system.”
“We know this incident has impacted many people’s holiday celebrations, and our crews are working hard to get power safely restored to all customers as quickly as we can,” it added.
Earlier this month, two electrical substations were shot up in North Carolina, causing tens of thousands of customers to lose power and prompting local officials to declare a state of emergency. No one was arrested in the attacks.
(SAN RAMON, Calif.) — An arrest has been made following an incident of anti-Asian hate that occurred in California’s East Bay over the Christmas holiday weekend.
San Ramon Police Chief Denton Carlson announced the arrest of suspect Jordan Douglas Krah in a tweet Monday evening. Krah, a Denver, Colorado resident, is facing hate crime charges and is currently in custody at Martinez Detention Facility in Martinez, California, the chief said.
“The San Ramon Police Department strives to ensure everyone in our community feels safe and welcome. We will continue to take swift and diligent legal action against acts of hate to help create an inclusive place for all to live, work and visit,” the department said in a press release.
On Christmas Eve, Arine Kim and her friend Elliot Ha were eating at an In-N-Out Burger in San Ramon when they were approached by a man who cornered them with racist insults.
The pair were recording a TikTok video and trying menu items when he approached, calling them “weird homosexuals,” before returning to make other bigoted remarks about their race and ethnicities.
“I personally couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it was real, it was so random,” Ha, who initially responded with nervous, shocked humor, told San Francisco ABC station KGO.
“It’s a fear response, so you’re nervous and you don’t know what to do in that situation but to laugh it off,” Kim said, adding that she was grateful for Ha’s humor at the time.
In the video, Ha said he had never experienced anything like that before. For Kim, however, this was an unfortunate reminder of hate speech she’s encountered in the past.
She told KGO that this was not the first time she’d been attacked with racist slurs and epithets.
In the video, Kim said the man stared at them from outside the restaurant for a while, prompting them to have the fast food restaurant’s staff escort them to the parking lot over fears of being followed.
Only a few miles away in Danville, a woman named Abigail Hailili said she was met with similar comments on Christmas morning.
A spokesperson for the San Ramon Police Department said in a statement to ABC News Monday afternoon that the department had made significant progress in its investigation of both incidents. It remains unclear whether the two incidents are related. The department has asked for the public’s help in identifying both perpetrators.
With a rise in violence against Asian Americans across the country, advocates have launched initiatives to make necessary change.
“It’s the realization this is real and that affects people you know, you love, that are close to you,” Ha told KGO. “That’s why people are finding ways to spread awareness, because it’s an issue that does matter. It’s a real thing and people need to be aware of it.”
Reported anti-Asian hate crime events in the state increased by an alarming 177.5% from 2020 to 2021, according to the California Department of Justice’s Hate Crime in California report, released in June. Many other incidents go unreported.
