Celebrity deaths, illness, divorce and remembrance
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician.
Death of Nate Dogg
Nate Dogg died on March 15, 2011 in Long Beach, California. In 2007, Nate Dogg had a massive stroke, and another stroke in 2008, however it is unknown if that contributed to his death.
Nate Dogg was 41 years old at the time of his death
Nate Dogg – I Got Love
Joe Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was a jazz drummer best known for his twelve and a half-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk".
During his career, Morello appeared on over 120 albums, 60 of which were with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He authored several drum books, including Master Studies, published by Modern Drummer Publications, and made an instructional video for Hot Licks titled The Natural Approach to Technique. Morello was the recipient of many awards, including Playboy magazine’s best drummer award for seven years in a row, and Downbeat magazine’s best drummer award five years in a row. He was elected to the Modern Drummer magazine Hall of Fame in 1988, the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1993, and was the recipient of Hudson Music’s first TIP Lifetime Achievement award in June, 2010
Death of Joe Morello
Joe Morello died on 12 March 2011 at his home in New Jersey. Cause of death is not reported at the moment. Joe Morello was 82 years old at the time of his death.
Joe Morello – 1961 Drum Solo
Joe Morello’s Official Website
Lindsay Lohan’s Legal Trouble, 2011
One item is not news worthy. But the entire series of event is hard to ignore.
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theatre and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St. Louis, in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door", The Trolley Song, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world and is widely considered one of the greatest Christmas songs of all-time. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s including her legendary stint at the Palace Theater.
Death of Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin died of natural causes.
Hugh Martin was 96 years old at the time of his death
JUDY GARLAND: ‘THE TROLLEY SONG’.
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland
Charlie Sheen VS. Chuck Lorre (Warner Brothers) Timeline
One item doesn’t make news, but the series of event is newsworthy.
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr (April 4, 1966 – March 8, 2011), was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he served from their formation in 1987 to 1993.
On 18 February, 2011, Starr was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Death of Mike Starr
Mike Starr was found dead on March 8, 2011 in a residence in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Cause of death has not yet been released
* Former singer of Alice in Chains, Layne Staley died in spring 2002 after overdosing on a mixture of heroin and cocaine
Charles Jarrott (June 16, 1927 – March 4, 2011) was a British film and television director. He was best known for costume dramas he directed for producer Hal B. Wallis, among them Anne of the Thousand Days, which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Director in 1970.
Death of Charles Jarrott
Charles Jarrott had been suffering from prostate cancer.
Charles Jarrott was 83 years old at the time of his death.
Johnny Preston (August 18, 1939 – March 4, 2011) was an American pop music singer, who was best known for his international number one hit in 1960, "Running Bear".
J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson offered Preston the chance to record a teenage tragedy song he had written, "Running Bear", which they did in Houston, Texas in 1958. The "Indian" sounds on the record were performed by Richardson and George Jones. The record was released after The Big Bopper’s death in the same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. It entered the U.S. Hot 100 in October 1959, reaching number one in January 1960 and remaining there for three weeks. It was a transatlantic chart-topper, reaching #1 in the United Kingdom in March 1960.The sales of the record exceeded one million copies, earning Preston his first gold disc.
Preston quickly followed up with another hit called "Cradle of Love," (Billboard #7, UK # 2) and made several other records during the early 1960s that met with modest success.
Preston’s pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He also performed at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater in Branson, Missouri. In 2009, Preston performed at the Lamar State College, in his hometown.
Death of Johnny Preston
Johnny Preston had coronary artery bypass surgery in 2010. He died of heart failure in Beaumont, Texas on Friday, 4 March 2011, after years of heart related illnesses.
Johnny Preston was 71 years old at the time of his death.
Johnny Preston – Cradle Of Love – RUNNING BEAR
Johnny Preston – Cradle Of Love
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (born June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) an American film actress and was one of Hollywood’s leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s.
Russell was voted one of the 40 Most Iconic Movie Goddesses of all time in 2009 by Glamour (UK edition).
Death of Jane Russell
Jane Russell died of respiratory problems.
Jane Russell was 89 years old at the time of her death.
Jane Russell
Marilyn Monroe and Russell putting signatures, hand and foot prints in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, 1953
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson.
The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song "American Pie".
Monument for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson
American Pie is a folk rock song by American singer-songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. The song is a recounting of "The Day the Music Died" – the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. The song was listed as the number five song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. "American Pie" is Don McLean’s signature song.
The song is well known for its cryptic lyrics that have long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the musicians in the plane crash are identified by name in the song itself. When asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean replied, "It means I never have to work again." Later, he more seriously stated, "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me… sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."
** Recommended Visit:
"Bob Dearborn’s Original Analysis of Don McLean’s 1971 Classic "American Pie"
23 minutes of RealAudio file available
References in the song
Notable references are based on interpretations of the song by Bob Dearborn and Jim Fann.
* Ritchie Valens
* The Big Bopper
* Buddy Holly – The Day The Music Died
* The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost
* María Elena Holly – his widowed bride
* "(Who Wrote) The Book of Love" – The Monotones
* "Lonely Teenager" – Dion
* "A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)" – Marty Robbins
* Bob Dylan – the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
* Elvis Presley – the King
* Connie Francis or Queen Elizabeth II – the queen
* James Dean
* Lenin – However, Official Lyrics show this to be John Lennon, a play on words
* Karl Marx or Groucho Marx
* Jerry Moss – "moss grows fat on a Rolling Stone"
* The Beatles – The Quartet
* "Helter Skelter" – a Beatles song used by Charles Manson
* The Byrds – "Eight Miles High"
* "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" – (The Marching Band) – The Beatles – (sergeants played a marching tune)
* Woodstock Festival – "There we were, all in one place"
* The Space Race – "A generation lost in space"
* The Rolling Stones – Jack Flash and "moss grows fat on a Rolling Stone"
* Mick Jagger – Satan laughing with delight
* Hells Angels at the Altamont Free Concert – "No angel born in hell"
* Janis Joplin or Billie Holiday – Girl Who Sang the Blues
* Fillmore East or The Fillmore – the sacred store
Singer Bobby Vee was 15 years old on The Day the Music Died. Vee and a hastily-assembled band of Fargo, North Dakota, schoolboys calling themselves The Shadows volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee’s career as a popular singer.
Again, I recommend you to visit this page and listen to original analysis in RealAudio format.
"Bob Dearborn’s Original Analysis of Don McLean’s 1971 Classic "American Pie"