MTV: The news that actor Corey Haim, 38, was found dead on Wednesday morning (March 10) of an apparent drug overdose has left the late Hollywood icon’s family, friends and fans in mourning. Although Haim’s career had been relatively quiet in recent years, the actor was a steady presence on the big screen throughout the 1980s, starring alongside talents such as Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and longtime friend and collaborator Corey Feldman. In memory of the late actor, MTV News has compiled a timeline of Corey Haim’s career in Hollywood from his first roles in “Firstborn” and “Silver Bullet” to […]
RIP: Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous Dead By Own Hand
NEW YORK TIMES: Mark Linkous, a singer-songwriter whose music, released under the name Sparklehorse, was renowned in the indie-rock and alt-country worlds for its dark, allusive themes and fragile beauty, committed suicide on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 47. He shot himself in the heart in an alley outside a friend’s home, said his manager, Shelby Meade. Lt. Greg Hoskins of the Knoxville Police Department confirmed that the police responded to a call at 1:20 p.m., and that Mr. Linkous was pronounced dead at the scene. According to his family, Mr. Linkous owned the gun that he used. MORE […]
RIP: J.D. Salinger, ‘Hermit Crab Of American Letters’
TIME: Take the austere little paperbacks down from the shelf and you can hold the collected works of J.D. Salinger — one novel, three volumes of stories — in the palm of one hand. Like some of his favorite writers — like Sappho, whom we know only from ancient fragments, or the Japanese poets who crafted 17-syllable haikus — Salinger was an author whose large reputation pivots on very little. The first of his published stories that he thought were good enough to preserve between covers appeared in the New Yorker in 1948. Sixteen years later he placed one last […]
RIP: Howard Zinn, Man Who Challenged The Rule That ‘History Is The Consensus Of The Empowered’
HOWARD ZINN: “Once we decided, at the start, that our side was the good side and the other side was evil …… we did not have to think any more. Then we could commit unspeakable acts and it was all right.” NEW YORK TIMES: Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist ”A People’s History of the United States” became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts and a favorite of such celebrities as Bruce Springsteen and Ben Affleck, died Wednesday. He was 87. Published in 1980 with little promotion and a first printing of 5,000, ”A People’s History” […]
RIP: Kate McGarrigle Dead At 63
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Canadian folk singer and songwriter Kate McGarrigle, best known for performing with her sister Anna, has died of cancer. She was 63. McGarrigle’s brother-in-law, Dane Lanken, said the singer died at her Montreal home Monday night surrounded by her sisters, Jane and Anna, and her children, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, also singers. He said McGarrigle had been battling cancer since the summer of 2006. He said the cancer started in her small intestine and spread to her liver. Kate and Anna, known as the McGarrigle Sisters, began their careers performing at Montreal coffeehouses in the 1960s with a […]
RIP: Teddy Pendergrass Dead At 59
ABC NEWS: Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and ’80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59. The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son said. “To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,” his son said. “He will live on through his music.” Pendergrass suffered […]
BREAKING: Jay Reatard RIP
SWEET OBLIVION: Jay Reatard, Pitchfork Fest 2008, photo by TIFFANY YOON UPDATE: According to the Fox Memphis, “Memphis Police are searching for a possible suspect in Wednesday’s death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard at his Cooper-Young home. Officers were called to the 900-block of Meda around 3:30am and found 29-year old Jimmy Lindsey, Jr., also known as Jay Reatard, dead on arrival. The Homicide Bureau is handling this as an ongoing investigation.” MORE MATADOR: We are devastated by the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard. Jay was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and […]
RIP: Vic Chesnutt Killed By Death
EW: A statement on Constellation Records’ official site reads in full: “Surrounded by family and friends, Vic Chesnutt died in Athens Georgia this afternoon, Friday 25 December at 14:59. In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic’s absence unfathomable. We will make more information available according to the wishes of Vic’s family and friends.” It’s an unspeakably tragic end to Chesnutt’s story. Left in a wheelchair by a car accident at age 18, Chesnutt went on to build […]
RIP: Actress Brittany Murphy Dead At 32
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Los Angeles police have opened an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of actress Brittany Murphy. Police have been dispatched to Cedars-Sinai and to the Los Angeles home where Murphy, 32, went into cardiac arrest earlier today. Police sources emphasized that their inquiry was preliminary, adding they could not say whether it would point to any criminal conduct. [Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the house was located in West Hollywood.] L.A. city firefighters responded to a call from the home in the 1800 block of Rising Glen Road. Murphy was transported to Cedars-Sinai […]
RIP: Public Option Taken Off Life Support
HUFFINGTON POST: The public health insurance option died on Thursday, December 10, 2009, after a months-long struggle with Senate parliamentary procedure. The time of death was recorded as 11:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Its death had been rumored numerous times over the past year, but the public option repeatedly and defiantly battled back. The Senate’s insistence on 60 votes, combined with President Obama’s decision not to intervene on its behalf, eventually proved overwhelming. The public option leaves behind a Medicare buy-in for people aged 55-64, an expansion of Medicaid, a quasi-public option for those under 300 percent of the poverty […]
RIP: Jack Rose, Kensington Bluesman, Dead At 38
SPINNER: Jack Rose, a renowned Philadelphia-based acoustic guitarist, has died of a heart attack at 38, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. Rose was considered instrumental in bringing ragtime into the modern era and transforming it into something that was both referential and original. But as a self-taught player proficient on the guitar, including the 6-string, 12-string and lap steel, he brought a wide range of influences to his music. Explaining his process in a 2007 interview, Rose said his favorite music was “anything that’s pre 1942; Cajun, Country, Blues, Jazz all that stuff… that’s my favorite kind of music.” Rose […]
RIP: Al Alberts Dead At 87
[Video: 6 year old Melissa Lynn sings “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” on Al Alberts Showcase – November 1985] INQUIRER: Mr. Alberts rose to fame in the 1950s as one of The Four Aces, whose hits included “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Stranger in Paradise” and the Jule Styne number “Three Coins in a Fountain.” But generations of Philadelphians knew him as “Uncle Al,” a tuxedoed fatherly figure with a white pompadour, blinding smile and infinite patience, as he gave screen time to young singers, hoofers, and comedians on Saturdays. The program started on Channel 48 in 1968 […]
RIP: Al Martino, South Philly Crooner, Dead At 82
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Singer Al Martino, who played the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in ”The Godfather,” died Tuesday afternoon at his childhood home. He was 82. Starting in 1952, Martino was known for hit songs including ”Here in My Heart,” ”Spanish Eyes,” ”Can’t Help Falling in Love” and ”Volare.” Besides acting in the Marlon Brando classic ”The Godfather,” Martino sang the 1972 film’s title score, ”The Love Theme From The Godfather.” His Fontane character is a singer and occasional actor and is the godson of Brando’s Mafia boss character, Don Vito Corleone. MORE DAILY NEWS: “He was the […]