Gary Coleman Dies at 42

Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 - May 28, 2010) was an American actor, best known for his childhood role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (19781986). He was described in the 1980s as "one of television's most promising stars." After a successful childhood acting career, Coleman struggled financially later in life. He successfully sued his parents and business adviser over misappropriation of his assets.

Coleman died May 28, 2010 after a fall in his Utah home from which he suffered a intercranial hemorrhage and slipped into a coma. Life support was terminated when it became clear that he was not going to recover.

Posted By admin on 2010-05-28 16:21:15.0 | comment? | Reads: 356 |

Michael Jackson Dies at Age 50

(CNN) June 25, 2009Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest. A Los Angeles fire official told CNN that paramedics arrived at Michael Jackson's home after a 911 call. Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles Thursday morning. Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said. Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m. Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center. Asked specifics of the patient's condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws. The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the "King of Pop." Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his "Thriller" is one of the best-selling albums of all time

Posted By admin on 2009-06-25 16:46:29.0 | 2 comments | Reads: 1885 |

Isaac Hayes Dies at age 65

Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film "Shaft," has died, sheriff's officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday. Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department. Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff's department said. No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement. Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio's backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.

He released his first solo album in 1967, and his 1969 follow-up, "Hot Buttered Soul," became a platinum hit. In 1971, the theme from "Shaft" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and won an Academy Award for best original theme song. The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme. Hayes won a third Grammy for pop instrumental performance with the title track to his 1972 "Black Moses" album. From the late 1990s through 2006, Hayes provided the voice of "Chef" for Comedy Central's raunchy animated series "South Park," as well as numerous songs. The role introduced him to a new generation of fans, but he left after the show lampooned his own religion, the Church of Scientology. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. In a CNN interview at the time, Hayes credited his success to "adjusting and constantly evolving, expanding and trying to stay as young as I can." The new generation of popular musicians, he said, "could use a little more substance like we had in the day."

"They're standing on our shoulders. Some of them don't realize [it] because they sample me so much," he said. Hayes credited his role on "South Park" with expanding his fan base, and said that he had almost passed on the job. "I started to walk out. I thought it was a Disney thing. I [had] never heard of this thing," he said. But his agent persuaded him to tape some episodes. "Toward the opening I started having trepidations -- 'Oh my god, what have I done? I've ruined my career.' But when it aired, the ratings went through the roof," he said. A 1992 visit to the royal family in Ghana was a life-changing experience for Hayes, he said. "I went back on speaking engagements and encouraged African-Americans to go to Africa [to] interact socially, culturally and/or economically," he said.

Posted By admin on 2008-08-14 12:53:26.0 | 10 comments | Reads: 3541 |

Bernie Mac Dies at age 50

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died in a Chicago-area hospital from complications due to pneumonia. He was 50. The Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated performer had suffered from sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the organs of afflicted persons. "Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital," Danica Smith, his publicist, said Saturday in a statement from Los Angeles. Smith said no other details about Mac's death were available. Mac had said the condition went into remission in 2005.

He had recently been hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia. Mac's big-screen credits include "Ocean's Eleven," "Bad Santa," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers." He had his own series on Fox in the U.S. "The Bernie Mac Show" had more than 100 episodes broadcast between 2001 and 2006. It earned the comedian critical and popular recognition. Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He had told interviewers entertaining came naturally to him. "Wherever I am, I have to play," Mac said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show." Mac told CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman in 2007 that he planned to retire soon. "I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," he said. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977." Mac recently became embroiled in controversy when he made a surprise appearance at an event for Barack Obama, the U.S. Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee. He ended his act with what some considered off-colour remarks and received a rebuke from the Obama campaign. Despite some controversies, Mac was considered one of the great comedic performers in Hollywood. He was part of "The Original Kings of Comedy," a 2000 documentary about black standup comedy stars. "The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," comedian Steve Harvey told CNN on Saturday

Posted By admin on 2008-08-14 12:49:22.0 | 13 comments | Reads: 3240 |

Bo Diddley dies at age 79

Bo Diddley has died after months of ill health. According to spokeswoman Susan Clary, the legendary singer and performer died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla. Diddley suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation. Diddley was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat. A Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Diddley had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards.

Posted By admin on 2008-06-02 19:08:23.0 | 10 comments | Reads: 3455 |

Buddy Miles Dies at age 60

February 27, 2008; Band of Gypsys' cofounder, who also played with David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, and George Clinton, passes away at 60. Buddy was a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 until Hendrix's death in 1970. During his career Miles played on more than 70 albums, and appeared with musicians such as Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Barry White, Prince and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Part of Miles's appeal as a rock musician was his physical appearance.

From his command post behind his drum kit he held audiences spellbound with his Stars-and-Stripes shirts, high-brushed Afro hairstyle, massive frame and engaging smile. Born George Allen Miles on September 5 1947 at Omaha, Nebraska, Buddy took his nickname from the drummer Buddy Rich and was considered something of a child prodigy, playing drums in his father's jazz band, the Bebops. George Sr had played upright bass with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon. As a teenager Buddy Miles played in a variety of bands, including Ruby and the Romantics, the Ink Spots and the Delfonics. In 1967 he formed Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield, guitarist with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

When Electric Flag broke up after their second album, Miles formed the Buddy Miles Express. This was the era in which the demarcation between black and white artists in rock music began to be broken down (Jimi Hendrix himself was the first black musician to become a "white" rock star), and Miles was part of this process. He had met Hendrix in Canada when both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early 1960s. As Hendrix started to include guest artists on his recordings, he invited Miles to participate, and Miles played with him on two tracks on the influential Electric Ladyland album (1968). Later their friendship led to various collaborations, Hendrix producing the Buddy Miles Express release, Electric Church, in 1969. Soon afterwards Miles joined Hendrix in the short-lived group, Band of Gypsys. A notable feature of its line-up was that all the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix and was seen as a move towards reconnecting with his soul roots. Perhaps the group's best known album was Live at the Fillmore East, which featured Billy Cox on bass guitar; it was recorded on New Year's Eve 1969, the last night of the 1960s.

But a month later, when Hendrix appeared to suffer a (probably drug-related) breakdown on stage (there were suspicions that someone had spiked his drink), Miles was fired by Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffery. Although the Band of Gypsys was wound up, Miles continued to work with Hendrix until his death in September 1970. Miles went on to produce other records under his own name. Soon after Hendrix's death he re-recorded Them Changes, a song he had written and recorded with the Band of Gypsys. It became his signature song, and later featured on a live record he made with Carlos Santana. Signed to the Casablanca record label, Miles released the album Bicentennial Gathering Of The Tribes, an echo of his friendship and collaboration with Hendrix, who had Native American blood. In the late 1970s Miles was sent to prison after being convicted of theft, serving his sentence at the California Institution for Men at Chino and at San Quentin - at both institutions he formed his own bands. He was released in 1985, and the following year found work singing in the highly popular California Raisins Claymation advertising campaign (the California Raisins were a fictional R&B group); he was also lead vocalist on two California Raisins albums of 1960s R&B covers. He rejoined Carlos Santana as a vocalist on Santana's album Freedom. In 1999 Miles appeared on Bruce Cameron's album, Midnight Daydream, featuring the former Hendrix musicians Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell, as well as Jack Bruce and others. In 2006 Miles released a final live album, The Band Of Gypsys Return, the result of a reunion with Billy Cox to re-record songs from the original live album of 1970. Buddy Miles is survived by his partner, Sherrilae Chambers.

Posted By admin on 2008-03-02 19:47:39.0 | 11 comments | Reads: 3165 |

Dancing In September

Best black film since 'City Of God?' - By Mark Ruffin Dear Friends, I have just seen what I believe to be the most poignant and touching black film since "City Of God." But unlike that three time Academy Award nominated classic, this film was lost in the shuffle, It's called "Dancing In September", and it came out in 2001, a year before "City of God." I bought this DVD for $3.99 in my local Super-Store and it turns out it is priceless. What really irks me is how this movie fell through the cracks, and why it did probably has to do with Hollywood bulls--t politics more than anything else. I won't ruin it for you except to say I feel, without question, this is the best black movie ever made on the topic of African-Americans and television.

 For sweetning, on top of having a title borrowed from lyrics from an Earth, Wind & Fire song, 80% of the soundtrack traces the history of EW&F, even a track from the original group. And that's not the only very subtle nuance that makes this film important, powerful and slick. Like most black movies that Hollywood don't have the balls to make by themselves, some prominent black people paid to have it made including Danny Glover, Stan Lathan, Robert Gulliame and Chicago's own Abe Thompson and his late wife Laurna. I laughed, I cried, I reminisced, I danced and I was shocked. As was the case when I saw "City of God," "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Crash," I want to tell the world about this film. Unfortunately, unlike those movies, you can't see it on the big screen. It was made in 2001 and I can only HOPE it's at your favorite video store. If not, maybe try the throwaway bargain bins at a big chain, which is how I found it. In the year when Hollywood gave us crap like "Atl," "Get Rich or Die Trying," and "Phat Girlz" it was refreshing to see a powerful and meaningful black movie. I just want more people to see it, and after you see it, I bet you'll want to tell people about it.

Posted By admin on 2007-09-04 00:00:00.0 | 17 comments | Reads: 4305 |