(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot has jumped to an estimated $510 million.
After players failed to win the top prize on Tuesday night, the amount rose to $510 million, the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot this year. Numbers for the latest prize will be drawn Friday night at 11 p.m. ET.
The cash prize totals $266.8 million.
In July, the jackpot surpassed the massive $1 billion mark for only the third time in the 20-year history of Mega Millions.
The historic $1.34 billion prize was won by an anonymous ticket owner in Des Plaines, Illinois.
The last winning ticket for a Mega Millions jackpot was on Oct. 14. Two ticket winners split a $502 million prize.
Only six Mega Millions jackpots have been won this year. Winning tickets were in California, Florida, New York, Minnesota, Illinois and Tennessee.
Duran Duran‘s John Taylor and Simon LeBon are wishing their fans a happy holiday with special messages posted to their Instagram page.
“It’s Christmas time, it’s the holiday season,” Taylor shares in an audio message posted with a picture of him in a snow globe. “I want to wish everybody who’s listening to this just the best of times this year. Whatever it is you want, you get, and I hope we all have a great year together next year.”
Frontman LeBon added his own snow globe message, sharing, “Yeah it’s that time of the year when we’re all very fluffy, we’re a bunch of snowflakes really aren’t we? Yes because, you know, it’s the end of the year, it’s that festive season, it’s all those different festivals, which I call Christmas, because I’m white, middle-aged and male.”
He offers, “I’m just wishing everybody out there a lovely, happy holidays. Merry Christmas.”
(NEW YORK) — A massive storm is bringing blizzard conditions and icy roads to the U.S. right as the holiday travel rush gets underway.
Cancellations, delayed deliveries and outages
Over 4,800 flights are canceled within, into or out of the U.S. so far on Friday.
FedEx and UPS warned that customers could see delays on Christmas deliveries due to the weather’s impact on major shipping hubs.
More than 1.5 million customers are without power in the U.S. and states of emergency have been declared from South Dakota to New York.
“This is really a very serious weather alert,” President Joe Biden warned Thursday. “Please take this storm extremely seriously.”
Danger on the roads
At least one person is dead from a 50-vehicle crash on the Ohio Turnpike, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
State police, including in New York, Illinois and Michigan, are urging people to stay off the roads.
The Michigan State Police said nine semi-tractor trailers crashed on Interstate 94 in Berrien County, where “visibility is near zero.” A seven car pileup was reported in the same area, according to police.
“There are thousands of our first responders, emergency management personnel and utility crews out working in the elements to keep New Yorkers safe today,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Friday. “I’m asking everyone to stay off the roads this evening as conditions will worsen when temperatures drop across the state later today. Bundle up, stay indoors, and stay safe this weekend.”
Latest forecast
The storm barreled across the Midwest and Great Lakes on Thursday.
Blizzard conditions will continue in the Great Lakes into Friday.
Several feet of snow could drop in Michigan and western New York.
Only a few inches of snow is expected for the rest of the Midwest. But the combination of the snow, wind and brutal cold will make travel extremely dangerous throughout the day Friday.
Meanwhile, heavy rain invaded the Northeast Thursday night, flooding roads from Virginia to New York.
The heavy rain is ongoing in New England.
As the temperature plunges on Friday, roads could turn to ice, so those hitting the road for the holidays should use extreme caution.
The guy who co-wrote Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” apparently has some issues with the way that she’s described the song’s origins and is sharing his version in a podcast.
Speaking with the podcastHot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild,Walter Afanasieff — sometimes called Walter A — discusses his creative collaboration with Mariah, which resulted in hits like “Hero” and “One Sweet Day.” The two also worked together on her 1994 Christmas album, and Walter claims that at some point in the past 10 years, Mariah has changed her story.
He particularly takes issue with how Carey described the song to Billboard in 2017: “This song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.” Walter is calling B.S. on that.
“She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play keyboard or piano,” argues Walter. “She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory … So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale.”
In a recent Amazon documentary, Mariah claims she wrote the melody and all the lyrics on a keyboard in her house, then brought it to Walter in the studio to get the right sound.
Walter disputes this by describing — in minute detail — how he played the music and the chord changes, while Mariah echoed the melody and came up with lyrics, going back and forth “like ping-pong,” he says. And after that, he claims, she would call him at all hours of the night, asking for his opinion on the lyrics.
And while Walter allows that Mariah is a talented and wonderful artist, he says her story just doesn’t add up.
(Walter’s version of how they wrote the song starts at 12:19 into the podcast)
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Nick Offerman happily admits to ABC Audio he “has simple tastes”: “As long as I can keep my circulatory system functioning, a meal of meats and, like, scotch, and … throw in some cruciferous vegetables so that you can live to enjoy more steak and scotch.”
To that end, Offerman recently cooked up something that his beloved Parks and Rec character, Ron Swanson, would love.
His partners at the spirits company Lagavulin released the third installment of his gold-medal-winning namesake scotch, but with a twist.
Offerman said, “I said, what if we just aim towards … perfect the beverage to go with a perfectly grilled rib eye? And that’s what we did. And it turned out pretty great,” he adds with a giggle of Lagavulin 11 Year Offerman Edition Charred Cask.
The Pam & Tommy star and husband of Megan Mullally says he shares the wealth from his “benevolent relationship” with the company.
“As soon as you get a job on any show … as soon as you can afford to buy whatever you want … everyone starts sending you free s***.”
He adds with a laugh, “Like the whole time that you need the free stuff, you don’t get it because it’s being sent to Brad Whitford.”
So when he partnered with the brand, he found himself at an impasse. “They said, ‘How many cases of Lagavulin can we send you?’ And I thought, ‘Now, this is more like it.'”
But he added with a laugh, “I … immediately realized the last thing I need is a garage full of scotch … I have a happy marriage. I have a work ethic. And I have, you know, a relatively clean bill of health. So when they do send me a box of scotch, I usually give it to my friends.”
L- Jon Bon Jovi; R- Jesse Bongiovi; Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Hampton Water
Jon Bon Jovi and his son Jesse Bongiovi will face off against each other live on Instagram the day after Christmas to determine which one of them is this year’s “Pink Pong” champion.
Yes, it’s just regular ping-pong, but it’s dubbed “Pink Pong” after the duo’s acclaimed Hampton Water brand of rosé wine. On social media, Hampton Water posted a video of Jesse presenting his father with a wrapped gift that contains the “championship cup,” on which the winner’s initials have been engraved for 2020 and 2021. It appears as though Jon has beaten his son for the last two years.
“Here ya go b*****s! Defending champ!” Jon brags, showing off the trophy.
When Jesse announces that the 2022 match will take place on December 26, Jon whispers, “You don’t scare me.” But Jesse writes in the comments, “It’s so on! Old man’s going down!”
Pearl Jam is giving fans a little gift for the holidays. The band announced that their 2016 Live in Philadelphia Ten show will be available to stream for free for all Prime Video subscribers.
The concert is available through January 1 on Prime’s The Coda Collection video channel.
The show, which took place April 29, 2016, at the Wells Fargo Center, saw Pearl Jam kick off the concert by playing their debut album, Ten, in its entirety. Its 32-song set also featured covers of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” The DeadBoys’ “Sonic Reducer” and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” as well as the Neil Young track “Throw Your Hatred Down” and the Lost Dogs track “Bee Girl.”
Jackson Dean earned his first chart-topping hit with “Don’t Come Lookin’” — but the very same day he found out the song had gone to number one, he wound up having to ask friends to “Come Lookin’” for him: his car broke down during a road trip.
“The irony of it all is not lost on me,” Jackson told People. “Celebrating a song about getting lost and not coming back, and then immediately having my truck break down and needing someone to come lookin’ for me?”
The singer’s breakdown happened in Kentucky while he was on his way back home from a Thanksgiving trip. Though he was initially frustrated, he quickly remembered to keep perspective.
“I had the No. 1 song in the country, and really, what could I possibly be upset about?” he recalls thinking.
Plus, as he waited around for help to arrive, he accomplished a very important task. “I spent that time making phone calls to all of the people on my team, and thanking them for their hard work and belief in me,” the singer continues.
“Don’t Come Lookin’” comes off of Jackson’s Greenbroke album.
The holidays can be stressful, but one star has figured out a way to beat the pressure — and it’s baked into her Christmas Day tradition.
Vivica A. Fox, who was recently seen in VH1’s original movie A New Diva’s Christmas Carol, tells ABC Audio she makes it a full December 25, but takes time for herself in between events every year.
“On Christmas Day, I usually start out the day having breakfast with my godson,” she says. “Then from there I go to the Beverley Hot Springs, get a massage, chill in the waters. Then I go to my manager’s house, and we watch the NBA games all day and have lunch. Then that usually takes me into the evening, where I go for a UNO tournament and fish fry.”
Of the unique self-care routine on the big day, Vivica laughs, “Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Got to have that. The massage is well needed because I’ve made it through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. All in one — all in, what, a month? Jeez.”
Oliver Tree has released a deluxe version of his latest album, Cowboy Tears.
The expanded collection, dubbed Cowboy Tears Drown the World in a Swimming Pool of Sorrow, includes a total of 11 bonus tracks, some of which were co-produced by Travis Barker. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.
Tree has also premiered the video for the Cowboy Tears track “Suitcase Full of Cash,” which is streaming now on YouTube.
The original Cowboy Tears, Tree’s sophomore follow-up to 2020’s Ugly Is Beautiful, was released in February. Tree followed the album with the single “Miss You” featuring Robin Schulz.
Here’s the track list for Cowboy Tears Drown the World in a Swimming Pool of Sorrow:
“I Hate You”
“Placeholder”
“Mind Control”
“Wasteland”
“Battleship”
“Sunshine”
“Replacement”
“Oxymoron”
“Crash Test Dummy”
“The Exploding Man”
“A-Okay”
“Cowboys Don’t Cry”
“Swing & a Miss”
“Freaks & Geeks”
“Doormat”
“Suitcase Full of Cash”
“Cigarettes”
“Balloon Boy’
“Things We Used to Do”
“California”
“Get Well Soon”
“Playing with Fire”
“The Villain”
“Cowboy Tears”
