Category Archives: Celebrity/musician deaths

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: James Gandolfini 1961 – 2013

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James Gandolfini. photo: Barry Wetcher

 

Like everyone else, I am shocked to hear the death of “The Sopranos” star James Gandolfi who is most famous for his role as, Tony Soprano. I haven’t watched the whole series of, “The Sopranos”, I only saw the first season ’cause I have it on DVD. I was meaning to catch up with the rest of the show soon. I was planning on getting HBO GO for the Ipad and I’ll be able to watch, “The Sopranos”, on there. The Sopranos was a great show, though, even if I haven’t watched the whole thing yet.

I also remembered Gandolfini in several movie roles especially the Coen Bros. movie, “The Man Who Wasn’t There”. I also remembered him in “8MM” w/ Nicolas Cage. He was also in “Get Shorty” and “Crimson Tide”.

Gandolfini also did a lot of work for the US troops. He did stuff for the Wounded Warrior Project charity, and produced two documentaries on US Troops/War Veterans. He showed a lot of support and respect for US Soldiers over the years.

Today is a sad day for the entertainment industry. I was a fan of him too.

James Gandolfini died of cardiac arrest in Rome, Italy, he was 51 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths, music

RIP: Ray Manzarek 1939 – 2013

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Today is a sad day in the world of rock n’ roll music. Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist for the Doors has passed away today. Ray Manzarek was an important member of the Doors because he was the one who started the band himself and wrote most of the Doors song catalog. The formation of the Doors all started when Ray first met Jim Morrison on Venice Beach in California where the two met for the very first time. Jim had written some songs and Ray wanted to hear them so Jim sang them to him. Ray loved them too much that he wanted to form a band with Jim. Then they met drummer Jon Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger later on. Ever since Ray’s first meeting with Jim, the two have been best friends ever since. When the Doors first formed, they didn’t have a bass player and didn’t know where to find one, so Ray used his piano for the bass lines, and he used an organ as well.

The Doors have made a total of 9 successful studio albums and have made tons of radio hits: “Break On Through The Other Side”, “L.A. Woman”, “Riders On the Storm, “People Are Strange”, “The End”, “Moonlight Drive”, etc.

After the Doors broke up in 1973, a few years after Jim Morrison’s death, Ray Manzarek brought the Doors back (minus, Jim Morrison, of course) in 2000 for a special VH1 Storytellers performance where they would have a variety of special guest singers from Ian Astbury, Travis Meeks, Scott Weiland, Scott Stapp, and others.

This is a real shame, and this passing devastates me, ’cause I’m a huge fan of the Doors. The Doors happened because of Ray, there wouldn’t be a Jim Morrison without him. I’ve listened to the Doors for years, and they were an inspiration for my own music as well. Ray was a genius of a pianist and keyboardist. He really was proud of the Doors music and loved what he did which is part of why he got my respect. He may have not gotten along well with the surviving members of the Doors over the years, but he was a talented musician no matter what you think of him. I’m sure Ray will be up in heaven with Jim now. There are two members of the Doors left; they are Robby and Jon. This really sucks. The music world lost another great one. Ray Manzarek died of cancer at a hospital in Germany, he was 74 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths, music

RIP: Jeff Hanneman 1964 – 2013

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Today’s a sad day in the world of music, especially for the metal industry. The iconic thrash metal band, Slayer, has lost their founding member and longtime guitarist. I am a fan of Slayer. I absolutely love them. I own several of their albums in my Itunes library. They are good to listen for my workouts at the gym and doing outside cardio. I own their latest album, “World Painted Blood”. I also own their albums “Season of the Abyss”, “Reign In Blood”, and maybe a few others; I forgot the names of them. I also have the Big 4 DVD with Slayer performing on it. I’m devastated of this passing; kind of heartbroken about this one.

In 2011, Jeff left Slayer to cut down on full-time touring because he started to have health problems but he did play at Metallica’s Big 4 show, though. It was a disease called nercrotizing fasciitis. Even though he has died of liver failure, it is not known if this is related to that disease. I don’t want to jump to conclusions on anything.

Slayer has always been a favorite metal band of mine as well. That band can be pretty addicting to listen to and you always found yourself going back to listen to their music. That’s how I always been. I never got to saw them live but always wanted to though. Now, I wonder if Slayer will continue on without him. They probably will ’cause they continued to tour without Jeff because of his health problems. If they decide to break up and call it quit in honor of him, that would be understandable.

In my opinion, Jeff Hanneman is irreplaceable. The guy was a genius metal guitarist. He could play both lead guitar and rhythm guitar amazingly. There are no other metal guitarists like him these days. Jeff Hanneman is Slayer. While the other guys in the band are great musicians too, Jeff would be the one to pay attention to the most. My condolences go out to the band Slayer, Jeff’s family/friends, the fans and the rest of the metal community. Jeff Hanneman was 49 years old.

I LOVE THIS FUCKING BAND AND THIS BLOWS!!! \m/

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Richie Havens 1941 – 2013

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I wasn’t even born yet when Woodstock ’69 happened. The world’s most famous 3 Day rock festival that happened here in Upstate, New York. The festival featured some famous acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Grateful Dead, CCR, Joan Baez and the list goes on. Richie Havens was also booked for the lineup. He wasn’t just part of the lineup, he was the festival’s opener. He was the first performer to hit the stage there. It was his iconic performance at Woodstock ’69 which launched him into fame.

Even though, I wasn’t around when Woodstock happened — I did watch the Woodstock movie, however. The first performer was some dude on stage with an acoustic guitar and conga players, screaming, “Freedom, Freedom” through the microphone at the top of his lungs with his aggressive acoustic guitar playing. In my eyes, Richie was the best part of the Woodstock ’69 movie. It was him that made me want to watch his performance over and over again.

His aggressive and percussive like guitar playing is a huge inspiration for my own playing. You notice how I play my acoustic aggressively on stage? Well, most of that came from him. I love playing acoustic guitar aggressively and hard. Pounding on the strings and playing fast rhythm. I can play like that too.

Even though, “Freedom”, is a simple song — it’s still powerful. It sends a clear message about world freedom, and peace. You shouldn’t really look at him just for his “Freedom” song though — his other music is great too. Before Richie’s death, he continued to perform live and release studio albums. He never gave up what he did. He played music until the day he died, and that’s exactly what he did. This really sucks. I’m kind of devastated about his passing ’cause he has been a favorite of mine for years.

In honor of Richie Havens, I’m planning on learning his song, “Freedom”, and I’ll cover it myself for a tribute video. Richie Havens was 72 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Roger Ebert 1942 – 2013

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Two days ago, Roger Ebert, just put up a blog at the Chicago Sun Times, announcing that he is stepping down from reviewing movies for a while because his cancer came back. Two days later, Roger, sadly passed away all of a sudden. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that Roger knew that death was coming for him, this was just his way of preparing for it. In his blog post, “Leave of Presence”, you can tell that he was very careful with his writing so the people wouldn’t be suspicious of what is about to come. He tried his best in that blog post, not to  upset people.

Like I said before, love him or hate him, he is an influential movie critic, and legend. I used to watch his show, “At the Movies”, with Gene Siskel, all the time, when I was younger. I’ve read his reviews in the papers daily, and I would still follow him on a regular basis, until now. Like I said before, there will be nobody else like him. I didn’t agree with all his movie reviews. He gave some negative reviews of some of the movies that I liked, and he said a lot of stuff I disagreed with, but that’s why he always got my respect. He was honest, intelligent, and he wrote the best reviews better than anybody out there. Nobody will be able to top what he did.

From this point on, every time I do a review on a new film, I’m going to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. In honor of Roger. Roger is survived by his wife, Chaz Hammelsmith. Roger Ebert was 70 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Reid Flair 1988 – 2013…

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This is very sad news, that I feel that it’s worth posting the obit here. Reid Flair, who is a young professional wrestler, also known as the son of wrestling legend, Ric Flair (pictured above), has passed away. Reid Flair never wrestled in the WWE, but he was an independent wrestler, who worked for different indie wrestling companies, and All Pro Wrestling Japan. While he never made the WWE, he did wrestle two matches in WCW and sat at ringside for his father’s match at Wrestlemania 24. Reid Flair was found dead at a residence in Charlotte, North Carolina, when he just arrived home from Japan. He was 25 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Paul Bearer 1954 – 2013

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Like most people in the wrestling community, I am heartbroken and devastated by this news. Paul Bearer (real name: William Moody), was a childhood hero of mine as well. He was an important figure in the wrestling industry, and he was a huge part of what made wrestling great. He is most famous for being the longtime manager for Undertaker and Kane, he is also the father of those characters story line wise. In the earlier days, he also managed Ravishing Rick Rude, and Stunning Steve Austin (before he was Stone Cold).

Even though William Moody retired from wrestling a long while back, he occasionally made appearances once in a while. His last appearance on WWE RAW was back in April of 2012, during Kane’s feud with Randy Orton (see video below of Paul Bearer’s latest WWE appearance). Paul Bearer has always been one of the greatest characters in wrestling. He started off as a scary and evil character, but now that character is loved by everybody. His white face and his scary high pitched speaking voice.

Now that Paul Bearer, has passed away don’t expect CM Punk to break the Undertaker’s streak at ‘Mania. Undertaker will win again, no matter what happens, in honor of Paul. Even though this story was reported on WWE.com, I hope this isn’t a wrestling angle to hype up this match ’cause that would be dumb of WWE. It wouldn’t surprise me if the WWE turns this into a story line and fake his death ’cause the Undertaker/Kane thing has always been mysterious, something to keep in mind. So I don’t fully trust this news source, yet, but I’m posting the obit anyway. Paul Bearer was 58 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Mindy McCready 1975 – 2013

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Just like a lot of people, I’m not surprised of her death. Country star, Mindy McCready, committed suicide yesterday. While she has had a lot of problems over the years, you shouldn’t really judge her by calling her suicide selfish and all that. It’s just wrong. I also think that scum bag, Dr. Drew, is partly responsible for her death. That prick is killing people with his stupid show, “Celebrity Rehab”. Rodney King, Joey Kovar, Mike Starr, and maybe a few more.  The show is not saving people’s lives as the show claims, and it’s the only reason it needs to be cancelled.

I was never into her music much, but I may have heard her stuff on the radio before. No matter what you think of drug addicts, you need to give them your support and wish nothing but the best of ’em. This really sucks though, for her kids and her families. Mindy McCready, was 37 years old.

Kev

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88266ffTLPo]

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Reg Presley (singer of the Troggs) 1941 – 2013

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I’m kind of heartbroken and devastated of this passing. Why? Because the Troggs, were childhood heroes of mine. They were partly responsible when I first discovered rock n’ roll, when I was a child. “Wild Thing” were one of my favorite rock n’ roll songs as a child, as I used to sing along to it and play air guitar with it a lot. The Troggs, should be an important influence in all of us. I’m sure we’ve all heard the music of the Troggs growing up. “Wild Thing” has influenced other famous bands and artists, that many of them started covering the song. The song has of course, been most notably covered by Jimi Hendrix, and the late comedian, Sam Kinnison (see videos below). If you don’t know who the Troggs are, then you don’t know your music history and you need to do some learning. “Wild Thing” maybe just three or four simple bar chords, but you can still write an amazing song no matter how easy the chords are. It’s about the melody! While, “Wild Thing” is what made the band famous for, they were great with all of their music as well.

Reg Presley died of cancer, he was 71 years old.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Patti Page 1927 – 2013

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Patti Page, (real birth name: Clara Ann Fowler) was a famous pop singer from the 1950’s era, who is most well known for songs such as the “Tennessee Waltz”, “How Much Is That Doggie In the Window” and more hits has passed away.

She was born in Claremore, Oklahoma, who grew up with a poor family. She got her start at singing at the age of 18, when she became a featured singer for a 15 minute radio program for KTUL, which was sponsored by the, “Page Milk Company”. That is where she got her staged name, Patti Page, from. From there, that got her an offer to join the, Jimmy Joy Band, which she accepted and went on tour with them. The tour with the Jimmy Joy Band, helped get Patti, a record contract to Mercury Records. That is when she went solo.

She recorded her first single with them in 1947 called, “Confess”, which became a huge hit. The song peaked at No. 12, in the Top 15 Billboard hits. She also made other hits such as “With My Eyes Wide Open, I’m Dreaming”, “All My Love (Bolero)”, “I Don’t Care If the Sun Don’t Shine”, and “Back In Your Own Backyard”.

In 1950, she recorded a cover of Pee Wee King’s “Tennessee Waltz’s”, which her version of that song became her second no. 1 hit. It was her most popular and best selling single. Over the years she continued to make hit singles and she often performed on television such as the Dean Martin Show, Ed Sullivan, Johnny Cash Show, and many others.

Before her death, she continued to make music and perform live. Patti Page passed away at a nursing home in California. She was 85 years old.