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The Gone But Not Forgotten Famous Celebrity Death Thread

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  • #76
    ALEX TREBEK - DEAD AT 80

    Alex Trebek -- the revered and beloved "Jeopardy!" host since 1984, whose calm but witty presence was must-see television for millions of Americans -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

    A "Jeopardy!" spokesperson tells TMZ, "Jeopardy is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends."

    The TV icon had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer since announcing the news back in March 2019. He immediately started chemo after the diagnosis but made no plans to retire and continued hosting his game show ... as impressively as ever.

    Trebek powered through for a full year -- despite what he called "massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on" -- because he said he realized giving up on life would be a betrayal to his wife, God and other cancer patients.

    He pointed out the odds of surviving a second year with pancreatic cancer were just 7 percent, but he hoped he'd be able to celebrate that milestone too. Sadly, he took a turn for the worse.

    Alex continued to host "Jeopardy!" ... recently beginning his 37th season, and earlier this year, he shot the epic 'Greatest of All Time' tournament on prime-time television.

    "Jeopardy!" says Alex hosted episodes will air through December 25th. His last day taping in the studio was October 29.

    The shows executive producer, Mike Richards, says, "Working beside him for the past year and a half as he heroically continued to host "Jeopardy!" was an incredible honor. His belief in the importance of the show and his willingness to push himself to perform at the highest level was the most inspiring demonstration of courage I have ever seen."

    After his initial diagnosis, there were several ups and downs for Alex. In May 2019, he announced his tumors had shrunk more than 50 percent, obviously a great sign of progress, but his numbers declined and he began another round of chemotherapy a few months later. Still, he maintained a positive outlook ... and did a lot of good throughout his ordeal.

    His soothing and reassuring voice was on display when he announced having cancer. Trebek -- who was signed to host the show through 2022 -- joked, "Truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host 'Jeopardy!' for three more years!"

    His commitment to the game show was a two-way street. When Alex took a brief medical leave in 2018 to have surgery for blood clots on his brain after a nasty fall, "Jeopardy!" never aired episodes with a guest host. He also suffered mild heart attacks in 2007 and 2012.

    Alex started his career on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961 announcing the news, and quickly gained fame after hosting the high school quiz show, "Reach for the Top."

    He introduced himself to U.S. audiences in 1973 when he hosted a new NBC show called "The Wizard of Odds." That would lead to work on a variety of game shows ... including "High Rollers" with his trademark curly hair and classic 'stache and a brief fill-in stint for Chuck Woolery on "Wheel of Fortune."

    Then, when the "Jeopardy!" gig -- a revival of the old show -- came up, Alex got the call.

    The show gained immense popularity with Alex at the helm ... dominating the evening game show biz along with 'Wheel.'

    Alex -- winner of 6 Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding game show host -- set a Guinness World record in June 2014 for most episodes (6,829) of a game show hosted. Despite his unprecedented and hugely successful run, Alex never viewed himself as a celeb or the "star" of the show. He said as much to Harvey Levin for an episode on "Objectified."

    Alex also told Levin he was seriously considering retirement before signing a contract extension. He seemed serious at the time ... naming 2 potential replacements: L.A. Kings announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

    Important to note ... "Jeopardy!" producers say they are not announcing a new host right now.

    Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Ontario, Canada. He majored in philosophy at the University of Ottawa but he had serious ambitions about a career on TV. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998, but not before running the Olympic Torch in 1996 as it made its way to Atlanta.: https://www.tmz.com/2020/11/08/alex-...reatic-cancer/

    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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    • #77
      Pilot Chuck Yeager Dies At 97, Had 'The Right Stuff' And Then Some


      One of the world's most famous aviators has died: Chuck Yeager — best known as the first to break the sound barrier — died at the age of 97.

      A message posted to his Twitter account says, "Fr @VictoriaYeage11 It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever."

      Yeager started from humble beginnings in Myra, W.Va., and many people didn't really learn about him until decades after he broke the sound barrier — all because of a book and popular 1983 movie called The Right Stuff.

      He accomplished the feat in a Bell X-1, a wild, high-flying rocket-propelled orange airplane that he nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis," after his first wife who died in 1990. It was a dangerous quest — one that had killed other pilots in other planes. And the X-1 buffeted like a bucking horse as it approached the speed of sound — Mach 1 — about 700 miles per hour at altitude.

      But Yeager was more than a pilot: In several test flights before breaking the sound barrier, he studied his machine, analyzing the way it handled as it went faster and faster. He even lobbied to change one of the plane's control surfaces so that it could safely exceed Mach 1.

      As popularized in The Right Stuff, Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. But there were no news broadcasts that day, no newspaper headlines. The aviation feat was kept secret for months. In 2011, Yeager told NPR it never much mattered to him. "I was at the right place at the right time. And duty enters into it. It's not, you know, you don't do it for the — to get your damn picture on the front page of the newspaper. You do it because it's duty. It's your job."

      Yeager never sought the spotlight, and was always a bit gruff. After his famous flight in the X-1, he continued testing newer, faster and more dangerous aircraft. The X-1A came along six years later and it flew at twice the speed of sound. On December 12, 1953, Chuck Yeager set two more altitude and speed records in the X-1A: 74,700 feet and Mach 2.44.

      It's what happened moments later that cemented his legacy as a top test pilot. The X-1A began spinning viciously and spiraling to earth, dropping 50,000 feet in about a minute. His flight helmet even cracked the canopy, and a scratchy archive recording from the day preserves Yeager's voice as he wrestles back control of the aircraft: "Oh! Huh! I'm down to 25,000," he says calmly — if a little breathlessly. "Over Tehachapi. I don't know if I can get back to base or not."

      Yeager would get back to base. And in this 1985 NPR interview, he said it was really no big deal: "Well, sure, because I'd spun airplanes all my life and that's exactly what I did. I recovered the X-1A from inverted spin into a normal spin, popped it out of that and came on back and landed. That's what you're taught to do."

      It's more than that, though. Yeager was a rare aviator, someone who understood planes in ways that other pilots just don't. He ended up flying more than 360 different types of aircraft, and retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general. Bob van der Linden of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington says Yeager stood out. "He could give extremely detailed reports that the engineers found extremely useful. It's not just flying the airplane, it's interpreting how the airplane is flying and understanding that. And he understood that, just because he understood machines so well. And was just such a superb pilot."

      Yeager grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, an average student who never attended college. After high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he didn't have the education credentials for flight training. But once the U.S. entered World War II a few months later, he got his chance.

      Van der Linden says Yeager became a fighter ace, shooting down five enemy aircraft in a single mission and four others on a different day. Then he faced another challenge during a dogfight over France. "He got himself shot down and he escaped," van der Linden says. "And very few people do that, and he managed not only to escape. He got back to England and normally they would ship people home after that. And he persuaded the authorities to let him fly again and he did which was highly unusual." In addition to his flying skills, Yeager also had "better than perfect" vision: 20-10. He reportedly could see enemy fighters from 50 miles away and end up fighting in four wars.

      Today, the plane Yeager first broke the sound barrier in, the X-1, hangs inside the Air and Space museum. Museum-goer Norm Healey was visiting from Canada and reading about Yeager's accomplishments. "I loved airplanes as a kid. And Chuck Yeager was always sort of the cowboy of the airplane world. At least that was my perspective when I was young. As I've grown older and now have kids and a family and a wife, I appreciate it much more now, his courage."

      Yeager never considered himself to be courageous or a hero. He said he was just doing his job. A job that required more than skill. "All through my career, I credit luck a lot with survival because of the kind of work we were doing."

      Chuck Yeager spent the last years of his life doing what he truly loved: flying airplanes, speaking to aviation groups and fishing for golden trout in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

      "Gen. Yeager's pioneering and innovative spirit advanced America's abilities in the sky and set our nation's dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement late Monday. "Chuck's bravery and accomplishments are a testament to the enduring strength that made him a true American original, and NASA's Aeronautics work owes much to his brilliant contributions to aerospace science.": https://www.npr.org/2020/12/07/34189...-and-then-some
      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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      • #78
        Leslie West, Mountain Guitarist Who Belted Out ‘Mississippi Queen,’ Dead at 75

        Leslie West, the towering guitarist who created the hard-rock milestone “Mississippi Queen” with his band Mountain, died Wednesday morning. West’s brother, Larry West Weinstein, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone. He was 75. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. On Monday, West was rushed to a hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at his home near Daytona, Florida, where he never regained consciousness.

        Released in 1970 on Mountain’s debut album, Climbing!, “Mississippi Queen” was two and a half minutes of boisterous bliss built around West’s burly yowl and guitar blasts and drummer Corky Laing’s completely unironic cowbell. One of those never-say-die songs of the classic-rock era, “Mississippi Queen” has been featured in countless soundtracks, TV shows (The Americans, The Simpsons), and in Guitar Hero III. In an interview with Guitar Player earlier this year, West said the song “has just everything you need to make it a winner. You’ve got the cowbell, the riff is pretty damn good, and it sounds incredible. It feels like it wants to jump out of your car radio. To me, it sounds like a big, thick milkshake. It’s rich and chocolatey. Who doesn’t love that?”

        A contemporary of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix, West was respected for his versatile playing (from fingerpicking to metallic power chords) and was revered by a new generation of guitar players who followed. In 2011, Eddie Van Halen told Rolling Stone that West and Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore were among his biggest influences: “Leslie West has this incredible tone in Mountain,” Van Halen said.

        Born Leslie Weinstein on October 22nd, 1945, West grew up in the New York area — Manhattan, Long Island, and Forest Hills, Queens — and was a founding member of the Vagrants, a blue-eyed soul garage band of the mid-Sixties. The group (which also included his brother Larry on bass) scored two minor hits — “I Can’t Make a Friend” and a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” (released just ahead of Aretha Franklin’s titanic version) — before West left the band. A turning point, he once said, was seeing Cream at the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East) in 1967. “My brother said to me, ‘Let’s take some acid before we go,’ ” West told Blues Rock Review in 2015. “So we took LSD and all of a sudden the curtain opens up and I hear them playing ‘Sunshine of Your Love,’ and I see Eric Clapton and his buckskin jacket. I said, ‘Oh, my God, we really suck.’ After that, I started really practicing and practicing.”

        With the help of Cream producer and bass player Felix Pappalardi, who met West when he was producing the Vagrants, West made a solo album, Mountain. Mountain also became the name of the band the two men formed — “because I was so fat!” West later joked.

        West was known for electric-shock white blues riffing, but could also play more fluid melodic lines (as heard in Mountain’s “Nantucket Sleighride” and his solo in their “Theme for an Imaginary Western”). “The thing that most impressed me when I started was how, with Clapton, you could identity his sound like a signature,” West told the L.A. Times in 1990. “I wanted to have a sound you could identify like that. I was never a speed player. I tried to capitalize on my vibrato. I hope I’m regarded as a melodic guitar player, not someone up there going ‘weinie, weinie,’ all night long.”

        When Cream disbanded in 1968, a new generation of even more muscular guitar-based bands were ready to pick up where they left off. Mountain loomed particularly large, and not merely due to West’s bulky size and head of frizzy hair. Reviewing an early Mountain show, one critic described him as a “300-pounder dressed in blue velvet, suede, and snakeskin.”

        The original incarnation of Mountain scored a high-profile appearance at the Woodstock festival — on the second day, between Canned Heat and the Grateful Dead. “I think I had the most amplifiers of anybody there,” West told Rolling Stone in 1989. “It was paralyzing because that stage, that setting, was some kind of natural amphitheater. The sound was so loud and shocking that I got scared. But once I started playing, I just kept going because I was afraid to stop.” West also contributed some unreleased parts to the Who’s Who’s Next.

        Although Mountain garnered a large following, the group broke up in 1972. Taking his Cream roots to a new level, West formed a Cream-style power trio with Mountain drummer Corky Laing and Cream’s Jack Bruce. The group released three albums and sold out New York’s Carnegie Hall, but in 1974, West reformed Mountain for two more records.

        The following year, West formally went on his own with his album The Great Fatsby, a musically varied album that showcased softer sides of his style and also, in its title, poked fun at his weight issues. The album featured “High Roller,” co-written by West with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; Jagger also played guitar on the track. The album failed to elevate West into a star solo act, and over the next few decades, he would alternate between solo albums and touring and recording with different versions of Mountain.

        West’s health had been an issue for many years. In the mid-Seventies, he moved to Milwaukee to kick a heroin habit. In a 1990 interview, he said it had been 10 years since he had “stopped fooling with narcotics.” In the mid-Eighties, he was diagnosed with diabetes — his lower right leg was amputated due to complications from the disease — and promptly lost 85 pounds, dropping to 200. But his weight fluctuated over the years.

        In the years that followed, West continued working: He was a regular on Howard Stern’s radio show, recorded solo records, and took a few stabs at acting, including in 1986’s The Money Pit. Mountain continued on and off with different lineups, and the band released an album of Bob Dylan covers, Masters of War, in 2007; Ozzy Osbourne sang lead on the title remake. Attesting to West’s stature, his 2011 album, The Unusual Suspects, included contributions from Slash, Billy Gibbons, and Zakk Wylde, and West’s last album, Soundcheck, featured Peter Frampton.

        Other than “Mississippi Queen,” “Long Red,” a slice of psychedelic blues from Mountain, remains one of West’s lasting legacies. A drum beat from a live recording of the song, played by N.D. Smart, has been sampled by numerous rap acts, including De La Soul, the Game, ASAP Rocky, and, most notably, Kanye West in “The Glory” and Jay-Z in “99 Problems.” ”There was something about that song that appealed to rappers,” the guitarist told Blues Blast magazine in 2015. “I’ve got six different platinum albums on my wall from all these different guys sampling my stuff. When I wrote that song in 1969, there was no hip-hop. It just so happens that song has a hip-hop beat.” West’s legacy extends well beyond hip-hop, though; numerous bands have covered his material, most recently Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin remaking “Mississippi Queen” earlier this month for their “Hanukkah Sessions.”

        West, who had moved to Florida last month, is survived by his wife, Jenni Maurer; the couple married onstage at a Woodstock 40th anniversary concert in 2009. Of his own mixture of blues and metal, West told The Morning Call in 2000, “It’s like being a chef. You might use the same ingredients as everyone else, but it’s how you put them together. You end up with your own style.”: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-dead-1106777/
        Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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        • #79
          Pierre Cardin: French Fashion Designer Dies At 98


          French designer Pierre Cardin, who extended his brand far beyond the fashion world, has died at age 98. The son of Italian immigrants worked with luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and Christian Dior before launching his own fashion house, drawing on his love for futuristic design.

          Cardin's family announced his death to Agence France-Presse Tuesday. The French Académie des Beaux-Arts also issued several statements mourning his passing.

          "Immense sadness," the academy's secretary general Cyril Barthalois said via Twitter, adding, "Equally great joy of having known him" through the academy.: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/29/95106...ner-dies-at-98

          Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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          • #80
            Dawn Wells, Mary Ann on ‘Gilligan’s Island,’ Dies at 82/Dawn Wells, Mary Ann on 'Gilligan's Island,' has died of complications from COVID-19 at 82


            Dawn Wells, who found fame as pigtailed castaway Mary Ann Summers on the 1960s hit sitcom Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday morning in Woodland Hills, Calif., of complications from COVID-19, publicist Harlan Boll has announced. The actress was 82 years old.

            “America's favorite castaway, Dawn Wells, passed peacefully this morning, in no pain, as a result of complications due to COVID, at the age of 82,” Boll said in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment. The statement, which lists her time of death as 7:30 a.m., also notes that “there is so much more to Dawn Wells than Mary Ann.”

            Born in Reno, Nev., on Oct. 18, 1938, Wells competed in beauty pageants as a young woman, going on to be named Miss Nevada in 1959 and representing her home state in the 1960 Miss America pageant. That same year, she graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in theater arts and design.

            Hollywood soon beckoned, leading to a string of appearances in shows including The Roaring 20s (which marked her acting debut), 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, Bonanza, The Joey Bishop Show and The Cheyenne Show. She also had minor roles in the films Palm Springs Weekend and The New Interns.

            But it was Gilligan’s Island, which hit TV screens in 1964, that cemented her TV star status. Her character Mary Ann, the Kansas farm girl who found herself shipwrecked with six other passengers of the ill-fated SS Minnow, remains a pop-culture icon and Halloween costume favorite more than 50 years after the show ended in 1967. (With Wells’s death, Tina Louise, who played movie star Ginger, becomes the show’s last surviving cast member.)

            Wells — who auctioned off her character’s famous denim shorts and gingham blouse in 2005 for more than $20,000 — would reprise the girl next door role in multiple reunion specials as well as in shows like Baywatch and ALF. In 1993, she published Mary Ann’s Gilligan’s Island Cookbook and released What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life in 2014 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the sitcom’s debut.

            Wells continued to act post-Gilligan’s, with film credits including The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Return to Boggy Creek and Super Sucker. She starred in dozens of musical theater productions, including her own one-woman show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1985. She also had guest spots on TV shows such as Growing Pains, Roseanne and, more recently, The Bold and the Beautiful, and appeared as herself on Girlfriends and RuPaul’s Drag U. Her last acting credit is a guest voice role, in 2019, in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, and had recently announced on Facebook that her 1997 fishing series, Dawn Wells: Reel Adventures, would soon be made available on Amazon Prime.

            Wells also made headlines off-screen in recent years. In 2008, her mug shot went viral following a marijuana-related arrest. A decade later, in 2018, it emerged that she was struggling to pay for her health-care bills after taking a fall and requiring rehabilitation. A GoFundMe page started by a friend drummed up nearly $200,000 in donations, prompting the actress to thank fans for their “kindness and affection.”

            “I don’t know how this happened. I thought I was taking all the proper steps to ensure my golden years. Now, here I am, no family, no husband, no kids and no money,” Wells, who was married to Larry Rosen from 1962 to 1967 and had no children, told Fox News at the time.

            Wells’s Facebook features a recorded video message of her sending Christmas greetings fans posted just days ago.

            “I know I will have a new appreciation in a simple gathering of college friends at a coffee shop a few months from now,” she wrote in a comment underneath her video. “Please find joy amidst the pandemic and be cognizant of our overwhelmed first responders. Let’s not let our actions make a bigger burden for them. I am thankful and in awe of the dedication of our health care professionals.”

            Wells is survived by her stepsister, Weslee Wells. According to Boll, no memorial services are scheduled at this time and in lieu of flowers, donations are requested to The Elephant Sanctuary, The Shambala Preserve and the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum.: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...205111175.html

            Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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            • #81
              Hall of Famer Henry "Hank" Aaron dies at 86



              Hall of Famer and one-time home run king Atlanta Braves legend Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron passed away this morning at the age of 86. He leaves behind an indelible legacy on and off the baseball diamond.

              Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1934, the son of Herbert and Estella Aaron. He played in sandlots and started his pro career in the Negro Leagues in 1951. He made his way through the minor leagues until age 20. Aaron then made his Major League Debut and started his 23-year-career with the then-Milwaukee Braves.

              He recorded his first of 755 home runs on April 23, 1954 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. His first season saw him finish fourth in the rookie of the year voting as he hit .280 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs. It was just the start of what became one of the most legendary careers in baseball history.

              By the time he was in just his fourth season, he hit 44 home runs, drove in 132 RBIs and won the National League MVP award. The 1957 season started a lengthy run that saw Aaron hit at least 25 home runs in every season until 1973. During this time, Aaron and the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta where Aaron became a living legend on the field.

              It was the 1974 season that saw Aaron smash his way into the national consciousness. On April 8, 1974 Hammerin’ Hank, as he was known, crushed a 1-0 pitch from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing over the left field wall at Fulton County Stadium and broke Babe Ruth’s long-time home run record of 714 home runs in a career.


              Aaron would play a few more seasons before calling it a career on October 3, 1976. He immediately transitioned into a role with the Braves as director of player development, a position he held until 1989. He then became a senior vice president for the Braves, a title he held for decades.

              Aaron remains baseball’s runs batted in leader with 2,297 and total base leader with 6,856. Hammerin’ Hank finished his career with 755 home runs, an all-time record that stood for decades until Barry Bonds passed him and finished with 762 home runs. His #44 jersey was retired by both the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers.

              On August 1, 1982, Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. In 1999, the 25th anniversary of Aaron breaking the home run record, Major League Baseball established the Hank Aaron Award that is given to the best overall hitter in each league. He later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush and was inducted as a Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society in 2010. In 2016, Aaron was presented with the Order of the Rising Sun, one of Japan's highest honors for his work with the World Children's Baseball Fair.

              But Aaron was more than just a baseball player. He fought through horrendous racism in the deep south throughout his career and even received death threats while he was making his historic pursuit of Ruth’s record. All the while, he remained humble and continued to power through every hurdle that was in front of him.

              In his bio from the Hall of Fame, a quote from the greatest boxer ever, Muhammad Ali accompanies it that reads Hank Aaron was, “The only man I idolize more than myself.” A fitting tribute to towering man who left his mark on the baseball field, society, and the fabric of America.: https://www.cbs46.com/news/hall-of-f...e85006da2.html
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              • #82
                Mary Wilson, Co-Founder of the Supremes, Dies at 76

                Vocalist Mary Wilson, who co-founded the Supremes as a 15-year-old in a Detroit housing project and stayed with the fabled, hitmaking Motown Records trio until its dissolution in 1977, died on Monday night at her home in Las Vegas. She was 76.

                Wilson’s longtime publicist, Jay Schwartz, reported that she died suddenly. The circumstances of her death were not immediately revealed. Funeral services will be private because of COVID, he said, but there will be a public memorial later this year.

                “I was extremely shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of a major member of the Motown family, Mary Wilson of the Supreme,” said Berry Gordy in a statement Monday night. “The Supremes were always known as the ‘sweethearts of Motown.’ Mary, along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, came to Motown in the early 1960s. After an unprecedented string of No. 1 hits, television and nightclub bookings, they opened doors for themselves, the other Motown acts, and many, many others. … I was always proud of Mary. She was quite a star in her own right and over the years continued to work hard to boost the legacy of the Supremes. Mary Wilson was extremely special to me. She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be deeply missed.”

                Just two days prior to her death, Wilson put up a video on her YouTube channel announcing that she was working with Universal Music on releasing solo material, including the unreleased album “Red Hot” she recorded in the 1970s with producer Gus Dudgeon. “Hopefully some of that will be out on my birthday, March 6,” she said in the video. She also promised upcoming interviews she had done about the Supremes’ experiences with segregation that she said were forthcoming in honor of Black History Month.

                Wilson had been highly visible in 2019, when she appeared on the 28th season of “Dancing With the Stars” and released “Supreme Glamour,” her fourth book.

                Wilson had been preparing to spend some of the year joining in celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Supremes, still the most iconic female singing trio of all time.

                Those immediately weighing in at the late hour to pay homage to Wilson ranged from Questlove to KISS’s Paul Stanley. “OMG! Mary Wilson of the Supremes has died suddenly,” tweeted Stanley. “I was just on a Zoom call with her Wednesday for about an hour & never could have imagined this. So full of life & great stories. Absolutely shocked. Rest In Supreme Peace Mary.”

                With lead vocalist Diana Ross and founding member Florence Ballard (and with Ballard’s replacement Cindy Birdsong), Wilson appeared on all 12 of the Supremes’ No. 1 pop hits from 1964-69; during that period, the act – the biggest of Motown’s vocal groups thanks to their silken sound – charted a total of 16 top-10 pop singles and 19 top-10 R&B 45s (six of them chart-toppers).

                If Ross became renowned as the group’s international superstar and Ballard, who died prematurely at the age of 32 in 1976, came to be memorialized as its tragic figure, Wilson was its steady, omnipresent and outspoken driving force — though many view her as little more than a supplier of the backup hooks that supported Ross’ lead work.

                Much more: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/...er-1234903764/
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                • #83
                  ^related



                  Diana Ross & the Supremes: 10 of the best: https://www.theguardian.com/music/mu...10-of-the-best

                  Diana Ross & The Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together


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                  • #84
                    Spencer Silver, who helped invent the Post-it Note, dies at age 80

                    The inventor of the adhesive used on the Post-it Note has died, according to the company 3M, which produces the product, and his published obituary.

                    Spencer Silver was 80 and died May 8 at his home, the family’s obituary said.

                    Silver was working in a company lab in 1968 when he discovered a unique adhesive formula, according to 3M. The adhesive allowed notes to be easily attached to surfaces, removed and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue like other glues.

                    Silver looked for several years for a practical use for the adhesive, calling it a “solution waiting for a problem to solve”. In 1974, his colleague Art Fry came up with the idea of using the adhesive to prevent paper bookmarks from falling out of his hymnal when he sang in church.

                    The product was originally called the Press ‘n’ Peel memo pad in 1974, but it wasn’t brought to the market until 1977 and didn’t really take off until 1980, when it was renamed the Post-it Note. It’s now one of the top-selling items in 3M’s consumer products division.

                    Silver retired as a corporate scientist in 1996 and earned 37 patents during his time at 3M. He also won several awards, including the 1998 American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention, according to the company.

                    Silver is survived by his wife of 56 years, Linda, a daughter and two grandchildren.: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-inventor-dies

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                    • #85
                      Bidens announce death of their German shepherd, Champ



                      President Biden and first lady Jill Biden’s German shepherd Champ died this week.

                      The president and first lady said in a statement Saturday that Champ “passed away peacefully at home.”

                      “He was our constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family,” the statement said.

                      “Even as Champ’s strength waned in his last months, when we came into a room, he would immediately pull himself up, his tail always wagging, and nuzzle us for an ear scratch or a belly rub. Wherever we were, he wanted to be, and everything was instantly better when he was next to us,” it added.: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...erd-champ-dies
                      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                      • #86
                        Reading this thread makes me feel like an old codger

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                        • #87
                          more than likely are
                          Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                          • #88
                            ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill Dead at 72

                            ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, who played with the Texas blues-rock trio for over 50 years, died Tuesday at age 72. His rep confirmed the musician’s death, but said a cause of death was currently unknown.

                            “We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, Texas,” surviving members Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard said in a statement. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature, and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.’ You will be missed greatly, amigo.”

                            John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival tweeted a remembrance of his own: “We are devastated to hear about Dusty’s passing. We were so blessed to share the stage with the great Dusty and ZZ Top many times, and if that wasn’t rock & roll heaven, I don’t know what is. The show we did together just last week would be his last. So heartbreaking.”

                            Hill wasn’t ZZ Top’s original bass player, but he joined shortly before they cut their debut LP, ZZ Top’s First Album, in 1971, and remained a pivotal part of the group through their most recent albums and tours. Throughout all that time, the lineup stayed just Hill, Gibbons, and Beard, making them one of the most stable acts in rock history.

                            “It’s a cliché and sounds so simplistic, but it’s down to the three of us genuinely enjoying playing together,” Hill explained to Classic Rock in 2010. “We still love it, and we still get a kick out of being onstage. We also have enough in common to maintain a bond between us but sufficient differences to keep our individuality. And after all this time, we all know what winds up the others and what makes them the people they are.”

                            Hill grew up in Dallas, Texas, and began playing bass when he was 13. “Most bass players are guitar players first,” he told writer Gary Graff in 2016. “I wasn’t. I was a singer and I came home from school and there was a bass guitar there, and I played a bar that night. It wasn’t very good, but I kind of learned how to play on stage and whatnot, and embarrassment is a great motivator.”

                            He joined ZZ Top shortly after they signed a deal with London Records. Early records ZZ Top’s First Album and Rio Grande Mud failed to generate much traction, but they finally connected in 1973 with Tres Hombres thanks to the hit single “La Grange.” That same year, they opened up for the Rolling Stones in Hawaii. “People would look at us onstage, drop their jaws, and moan,” Hill told Rolling Stone in 1974. “In the end, though, we’d just blow them away and they’d scream for us to come back. We’d feel kind of funny with the Stones watching us from behind, waiting for us to finish.”

                            The follow-up albums weren’t as successful and the band took a three-year break following the release of 1976’s Tejas, during which Hill took a job at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. “I just wanted to feel normal,” Hill said in 2019. “I did not want other people to think that I thought I was full of myself, but the main thing is that I didn’t want to start feeling full of myself. So I did it to ground myself.”

                            During the downtime, Hill and Gibbons grew long beards. And when they remerged in 1979 with Degüello, they scored a massive hit with “Cheap Sunglasses.” But it was 1983’s Eliminator that turned ZZ Top into MTV superstars. Singles “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” and “Legs” were inescapable and remain classic rock radio staples to this day. And even though their success began to fizzle out in the Nineties, the band never stopped touring and always maintained a huge following. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 by Keith Richards.

                            Hill remained a quiet presence through it all, rarely granting interviews and letting Gibbons serve as the group’s mouthpiece. When he did talk to the press, he hinted at a darkness that few fans saw. “There have been any number [of low points in my life], but I never discuss them in public,” he said in 2010. “They’re not for the public to pick over and dissect. All I will say is that you have to have the right attitude to these downturns. You have to go through the low points to appreciate the highs in life.”

                            Over the past few years, Hill endured a hip replacement surgery and a shoulder injury. The group was forced to cancel a few shows, and they played with a replacement earlier this month when Hill was forced to head back to Texas to deal with a hip issue.

                            While his cause of death is unknown, he did say in 2010 what he’d like to see written on his tombstone. “It may sound morose, but you never get younger,” he said. “I’ve come up with some ideas, and then rejected them all. There’s an inscription on a wooden marker over a grave in Boot Hill that says: Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a .44. No Les. No more. I like the humor in that.”: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-obit-1203694/

                            Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                            • #89
                              should have added a video to the post above......
                              Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                              • #90
                                Kool & The Gang Saxophonist Dennis Thomas Dead at 70

                                Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, longtime saxophonist and co-founding member of the legendary funk outfit Kool & The Gang, has died at the age of 70.

                                The band announced Thomas’ death Saturday, revealing that he “passed away peacefully in his sleep” in New Jersey. No cause of death was provided.

                                “An original member of Kool & The Gang, Dennis was known as the quintessential cool cat in the group, loved for his hip clothes and hats, and his laid-back demeanor,” the group said in a statement.

                                “A huge personality while also an extremely private person, Dennis was the alto saxophone player, flutist, percussionist as well as master of ceremonies at the band’s shows. Dennis’ prologue featured on the groups 1971 hit, ‘Who’s Gonna Take the Weight’ is legendary and an example of his showmanship. Dee Tee was the group’s wardrobe stylist who made sure they always looked fresh. In the band’s early days, Dennis also served as the ‘budget hawk,’ carrying the group’s earnings in a paper bag in the bell of his horn.”

                                Thomas’ tenure with Kool & The Gang dates back nearly 60 years, when, in 1964, seven Jersey City, New Jersey teenagers — brothers Ronald “Khalis” Bell and Robert “Kool” Bell and their friends “Dee Tee,” Spike Mickens, Ricky Westfield, George Brown, and Charles Smith — formed a band first called the Jazziacs; the band — now an amalgamation of funk, soul and R&B influences — would adopt the Kool & The Gang moniker in 1969, the same year they released their self-titled debut album.

                                Thomas featured on every Kool & The Gang album from their formation to their upcoming 25th studio album Perfect Union; Dee Tee’s alto saxophone can be heard on hits like “Ladies Night,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Too Hot” and “Celebration.” Thomas also sang backing vocals as well as the occasional lead, like on Light of Worlds’ “Rhyme Tyme People.”

                                In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, the Bells credited Thomas with playing an instrumental role in the band’s hit “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight.” “The intro to [that song] is Dennis,” Ronald “Khalis” Bell said. “At the time, we were all searching for spirituality and stuff like that, so D.T. is the one who came up with that announcement on the song.”

                                Last month, Thomas took part in Kool & The Gang’s July 4th concert at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. “Sadly, this was Dennis’ farewell appearance with the band,” the band added Saturday.

                                Following the death of fellow saxophonist Ronald “Khalis” Bell in 2020, Thomas was one of three surviving members of the original Kool & The Gang; only Ronald “Kool” Bell and drummer-keyboardist George Brown remain from the band’s 1964 formation.: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-obit-1209126/

                                Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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