Dan Seals, 61, who was England Dan in the '70s pop duo England Dan and John Ford Coley and later had a successful country music career, died Wednesday night in Nashville of complications from cancer.
With England Dan and John Ford Coley, Seals had hits including "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" and "Nights Are Forever," both in 1976.
His country hits in the 1980s and 1990s included "Bop," "You Still Move Me," and a duet with Marie Osmond, "Meet Me in Montana."
Seals was originally from West Texas and grew up in Iraan and Dallas.
Seals' older brother, Jimmy, was the Seals in Seals & Crofts, who recorded the hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl" in the 1970s.
Until Dan Seals became too ill, the brothers were working as a duo, Seals and Seals.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Jimmy Boyd, the child singer and actor best known for the original rendition of the Christmas novelty hit "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in 1952, has died. He was 70.
Boyd died Saturday of cancer at a Santa Monica convalescent hospital, longtime friend Eleanor Pillsbury said Tuesday.
"I Saw Mommy" shot to the top of the Billboard charts three weeks after it was released. It sold 2 million records in less than 10 weeks. It has since been interpreted by such artists as the Jackson 5, John Mellencamp and Amy Winehouse.
Boyd, who was 13 when he recorded the song, told Time magazine soon after its release that he was surprised by its success.
His TV work included appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the early 1950s and roles in the situation comedies "Bachelor Father" from 1958 to 1961 and "Date with the Angels" in the late-1950s.
Molly Bee, who became an overnight country music star when she recorded the 1952 novelty hit I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, has died in California from complications following a stroke.
Bee died on Saturday at a hospital in Oceanside, her manager, Rick Saphire, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Saphire says Bee was 69 and had been in failing health for several months.
Bee was just 10 when she launched her music career, singing the Hank Williams' classic Lovesick Blues on country star Rex Allen's radio show. Three years later she released I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.
She went on to record a number of hit country songs throughout the 1950s and appeared in several musical comedies in the 1960s.
Although her star had begun to fade by the 1970s, she continued to tour and perform.
The Greek muses incarnate themselves on Earth to inspire men to achieve. One of them, incarnated as a girl named Kira, encounters an artist named Sonny Malone. With the help of Danny McGuire, a man Kira had inspired forty years earlier, Sonny builds a huge disco roller rink.
Neil Diamond stars as Yussel in this tale of a young Jewish cantor who strives to make a career in music. Against the wishes of his rigid father and his loving wife, Yussel travels to California to play his music. Swept up by the excitement, he meets a woman who shares his dream. He grows apart from his family, and becomes confused about what he should ultimately do with his life.
ORANGE PARK, Fla. - Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell, who played on such hits as “Sweet Home Alabama” and survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, died Wednesday. He was 56.
Powell called 911 in this Jacksonville suburb saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead about an hour later, Orange Park Police Lt. Mark Cornett said.
Powell, who had a history of heart problems, missed a Tuesday appointment with his doctor for a cardiac evaluation, and a heart attack is suspected as the cause of death.
The Jacksonville-based band was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students — famously, it took its name from a physical education teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner. Powell joined the group in 1970 and became its keyboardist in 1972, the year before they released their first album, “Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd.”
It became one of the South’s most popular rock groups, and gained national fame with such hits as “Free Bird,” “What’s Your Name” and especially “Sweet Home Alabama,” which reached the top 10 on the charts in 1974. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
The band was decimated on Oct. 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss.
Six people were killed — lead singer Ronnie Van Zant; guitarist Steve Gaines; Gaines’ sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines; as well as an assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot.
Powell received facial injuries in the crash, but eventually recovered. He was the only band member well enough to attend the funerals of those killed in the crash.
Two years after the accident, Powell and fellow members Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Leon Wilkeson formed the Rossington-Collins Band. It broke up in 1982.
In 1987 Johnny Van Zant — Ronnie’s brother — and a new Lynyrd Skynyrd Band went on a tribute tour, and Powell was on hand again in 1991 when the revived version of the band put out a new album, “Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991” and started a tour in Baton Rouge, La., where the band was headed in 1977 when the plane crashed.
Fans who kept their tickets from the canceled 1977 concert were admitted free.
The band’s last album, “Vicious Cycle,” was released in 2003.
Johnny Van Zant was devastated by Powell’s death. Hearkening back to the deaths of other members of the band, he said: “Maybe it is just the destiny of Lynyrd Skynyrd. We’ve played before millions and millions of people and it’s been a wonderful ride and a bumpy one too.”
Van Zant said Powell had been a roadie for the band when his brother heard him playing the keyboard.
“Nobody knew he could play the keyboard,” Van Zant said.
Earlier this year, Powell and the band took a four-day cruise on a ship out of Miami with “4,000 crazy Skynyrd fans,” said Van Zant.
The band had recorded several songs for a new album and had upcoming gigs, which will be canceled, Van Zant said.
Howard Kramer, curatorial director at the Rock and Roll Hall, said Powell “was a phenomenal piano player. The band may be able to get another piano player, but they will never replace Billy Powell.”
“He was one of the best piano keyboardists, rock ’n’ roll keyboardists, of our lifetime,” said Ross Schilling, the band’s manager.
Hank Williams Jr. said: “I will truly miss Billy. We have all lost one of our best rowdy friends.”
LONDON (AP) -- British singer-songwriter John Martyn, whose soulful songs were covered by the likes of Eric Clapton, died Thursday. He was 60.
Martyn's official Web site said the musician, who lived in Ireland, died Thursday morning. It did not give a cause of death.
A skilled guitarist and earthy vocalist influenced by folk, blues and jazz, Martyn performed with — and was admired by — musicians including Clapton, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Phil Collins.
Collins said Thursday that Martyn had been "a great friend."
"He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we'll never see the likes of him again," Collins said.
Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy near London in 1948, but grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.
He took up the guitar in his teens, moved to London and released a series of enduring albums, including The Road to Ruin " and "Solid Air," regarded by some critics as one of the best British albums of the 1970s.
Martyn never became a household name, but his songs were praised by critics and highly regarded by other musicians. One of the best known, "May You Never," was recorded by Clapton and a host of other artists.
Martyn had a reputation as a hell-raiser, and acknowledged that alcohol and drugs had sometimes led him into trouble.
"I've been mugged in New York and luckily I fought my way out of it," he told the Daily Mirror newspaper last year. "I've been shot a couple of times as well, but I just lay down and pretended to be dead.
"I guess I'm hard to kill."
Martyn had suffered health problems in recent years, and in 2003 had a leg amputated below the knee because of a burst cyst. He continued to perform, appearing at last year's Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.
Last month, Martyn was named an OBE — Officer of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to music.
There was no immediate word on survivors or funeral plans.
KINGSTON, N.Y. - The man known as "Fathead," jazz sax player David Newman, has died at the age of 75 after a long, storied career.
Newman made a name for himself as a tenor sax soloist, but also played with legendary acts like the Ray Charles band, Herbie Mann, Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 for his work with Art Blakey and Dr. John.
Manager Karen Nemman says the jazz musician died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer in a Kingston, N.Y., hospital.
According to his Web site, Newman spent 12 years with the Ray Charles Band beginning in 1954. He began as the baritone sax player and became the star tenor sax soloist.
"The King" has been gone for more than 30 years, but that hasn't stopped fans from gathering to celebrate his birthday each year - often times by chowing down on one of the "Hound Dog" crooner's favorite foods: peanut butter.
Presley, who was born Jan. 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Miss., would have been 74 today. He died at Graceland – the Memphis mansion that has become a shrine – on Aug. 16, 1977.
There is an annual birthday ceremony at the historic house, but fans all over the country are toasting the "Heartbreak Hotel" crooner's special day in unique ways too.
Here are some options for those who aren't goin' to Graceland – including a tasty snack option right here in New York City. Our suggestions:
Watch the party online: Fans can tune in to www.elvis.com to watch a live Webcast of the birthday party planned at Graceland
Eat a PB, B & H: Go to Peanut Butter & Co. at 240 Sullivan St. in Greenwich Village and order "The Elvis." The shop offers what's said to have been Presley's favorite sandwich described as such: "A grilled peanut Butter sandwich, stuffed with bananas and honey. Try it with bacon for that extra indulgence. Long live the King!"
Enjoy a cupcake! Crumbs Bake Shop in NYC has created an Elvis cupcake combining the King's favorite flavors (well, not the bacon). They describe the confection as "a banana flavored yellow cake filled with banana cream topped with a swirl of banana butter cream and peanut butter frosting."
Or, if you happen to be in Beverly Hills, the Sprinkles bakery is also offering a limited edition banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting named "The King."
Legendary American singer and actress Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer aged 81 on Christmas Day (December 25), 2008.
Most famous for singing the 1963 Christmas hit "Santa Baby", Kitt was also an actress and singer in New York musicals and cabaret shows.
Born on January 17, 1927 in North, South Carolina, Kitt also scored a UK Top 40 hit with "Where Is My Man" in 1984 and also with Broknski Beat with the track "Cha-Cha Heels".
Kitt throughout her career was nominated for Tony, Grammy and Emmy awards, winning two Tonys in 1978 and 2000 for roles in the musicals Timbutktu! and The Wild Party, respectively.
Working with the legendary Orson Welles in 1950's 'Dr Faustus', Welles famously described Eartha as "the most exciting woman in the world".
Kitt was also famous for playing the role of Catwoman, in the 60s Batman television series.
She took over the role of Catwoman for the third season of the 1960s Batman television series,
Kitt wrote three autobiographies in her lifetime; Thursday's Child (1956), Alone with Me (1976), and I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989).
DETROIT (AP) — Ron Asheton, the guitarist for the Stooges whose raw sound helped inspire the first generation of punk musicians, has died. He was 60.
Asheton was found at his Ann Arbor home early Tuesday morning by police officers after they were called by an associate who had not heard from him in several days, said city police Sgt. Brad Hill.
There were no signs of foul play, and the death appeared to be of natural causes, Hill said.
Asheton was a founding member of the Stooges, the influential protopunk band formed in Ann Arbor in 1967, along with his brother, Scott.
Lead singer Iggy Pop called Asheton "my best friend" in a statement Tuesday, and the band expressed shock at his death.
"For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not," the band said in a written statement. "As a musician Ron was The Guitar God, idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him."
Asheton's powerful, distorted guitar on songs like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "T.V. Eye" was a hallmark of the group's sound. His "technically adept but also beautifully raw" style was heavily influenced by free jazz and created "beauty out of noise," said Brian Cogan, a punk-music historian at Molloy College on New York's Long Island.
"He invents the template for punk-rock guitar," Cogan said. "He's the one who allows Johnny Ramone and the guys in the Dictators to play the way they do."
When he was named the 29th greatest guitarist of all time in 2003 by Rolling Stone, the magazine described Asheton as "the Detroit punk who made the Stooges' music reek like a puddle of week-old biker sweat."
After recording three albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Stooges split and Iggy Pop went on to a successful solo career. Asheton played guitar for bands including the New Order, New Race, Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival.
In 2003, Asheston reunited with the rest of the Stooges and a new album, "The Weirdness," was released in 2007.
Russ Gibb, who owned Detroit's legendary Grande Ballroom and gave the Stooges their first major show there in 1968, said Asheton was a gentleman in all of their dealings.
"Wherever he is today, it's a better place because he's there," Gibb said Tuesday. "He was a gentleman musician. The musicland that you and I live in has lost something today and wherever musicians go, they're better today because he's there."
Ronald Asheton was born July 17, 1948, in Washington, D.C.
He is survived by his sister Kathy and his brother Scott, who is The Stooges' drummer.
Originally posted Friday January 02, 2009 03:05 PM EST
Andre Young Jr.
Dr. Dre's son, Andre Young Jr., died from an overdose of heroin and morphine, the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner confirmed to PEOPLE on Friday.
"This case has been closed, it's been ruled an accident due to morphine and heroin intoxication," coroner spokesman Larry Dietz told PEOPLE. The drug test results had been pending for four months.
Young, 20, was found unresponsive by his mother, Jenita Porter, 40, in their Woodland Hills, Calif., home on the morning of Aug. 23.
Paramedics pronounced Young – who was remembered by friends as an optimistic young man – dead at the scene.
Porter told investigators that her son had been out with friends that night, and she recalled hearing him snoring around 5:30 a.m.
"Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son," the rapper's publicist Lori Earl previously said in a statement. "Please respect his family's grief and privacy at this time."
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