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Dave Matthews Band sax player LeRoi Moore dies
LOS ANGELES – Dave Matthews Band saxophone player LeRoi Moore, one of the group's founding members and a key part of its eclectic jazz-infused sound, died Tuesday from sudden complications stemming from injuries he sustained in an all-terrain vehicle accident in June. He was 46.
Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, according to a statement released on the band's Web site. The statement did not specify what led to his death.
Moore was initially hospitalized in late June after the accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va. He was later discharged and had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin a physical rehabilitation program when complications forced him back to the hospital on July 17, the band said.
Galina Shinder, a nursing supervisor at Hollywood Presbyterian, said the hospital could not release any details.
Ambrosia Healy, the band's publicist, said the band's show Tuesday night in Los Angeles was not canceled. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, had been sitting in for Moore during the band's summer tour.
Moore, who liked to wear his trademark dark sunglasses at the bands' live concerts, had classical training but said jazz was his main musical influence, according to a biography on the band's Web site.
"But at this stage I don't really consider myself a jazz musician," Moore said in the biography. Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was "almost better than a jazz gig," he said. "I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas."
Lead singer Dave Matthews credited Moore with arranging many of his songs, which combine Cajun fiddle-playing, African-influenced rhythms and Matthews' playful but haunting voice.
The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Va., when Matthews was working as a bartender. He gave a demo tape of his songs to Moore, who liked what he heard and recruited his friend and fellow jazzman Carter Beauford to play drums, and other musicians.
The group broke out of the local music scene with the album "Under the Table and Dreaming." The band won a Grammy Award in 1997 for its hit song "So Much to Say" off its second album "Crash." Other hits include "What Would You Say," "Crash Into Me" and "Satellite." LOS ANGELES – Dave Matthews Band saxophone player LeRoi Moore, one of the group's founding members and a key part of its eclectic... more -
George Carlin dies at age 71
"George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71." "George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his "Se... more
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Comedian Dick Martin Dies At 86
Dick Martin from “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said. He was 86.
“He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago,” Greenberg said.
Martin had lost the use of one of his lungs as a teenager, and needed supplemental oxygen for most of the day in his later years.
He was surrounded by family and friends when he died just after 6 p.m., Greenberg said.
Our thoughts are with Dick’s family during this time. Dick Martin from “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family ... more -
Buddy Miles, R.I.P
Buddy Miles, a tremendous drummer, most famously with Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, passed away at his home in Austin, TX. Reports say that he was surrounded by family and friends and passed away quietly. Rest in Peace, Buddy. Buddy Miles, a tremendous drummer, most famously with Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, passed away at his home in Austin, TX. Reports s... more
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Anna Nicole Smith: Just one year ago
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the discovery of Anna Nicole Smith's lifeless body in a Florida hotel room – the sorrowful finish to a real-life soap opera that managed to both captivate and shock those who followed it.
Left lost after her tragic death was Anna Nicole's 17-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and the baby's father, Larry Birkhead; speaking of Dannielynn, Birkhead says, "We have a granite piece of tile with Anna's picture on it, and she crawls to it and she kisses it and says, 'Momma!' and she points to her momma. It's sweet, but at the same time, it brings back so many memories."
Rest in peace Anna Nicole. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the discovery of Anna Nicole Smith's lifeless body in a Florida hotel room – the sorrowfu... more -
Michelle Williams finally speaks about Heath's death
Heath Ledger's former fiancee and mother to his daugther, Michelle Williams has broken her silence following the death of Heath Ledger. "Please respect our need to grieve privately," Williams said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "My heart is broken."
Adds Williams, mother of Ledger's 2-year-old daughter Matilda: "I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day.
"His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up in the best memories of him." Heath Ledger's former fiancee and mother to his daugther, Michelle Williams has broken her silence following the death of Heath L... more -
Gyllenhaal still lost over the loss of Ledger
With no exact reason for Heath Ledger's death yet, the mourning process is a bit hindered and one of the people taking it the hardest is Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.
A source on the set of his latest movie, Brothers, said, "This has had a strong personal effect on [Jake]." The insider adds that Gyllenhaal left the set immediately after learning of Ledger's Jan. 22 death – but he flew back on a commercial flight to shoot an additional scene on Thursday.
"He was there, but he wasn't with us. It was obviously a major trauma," says the movie source. "These guys were very close. [Jake] was sitting in the director's chair staring off into space." With no exact reason for Heath Ledger's death yet, the mourning process is a bit hindered and one of the people taking it the har... more -
Reactions to Heath Ledger's death.
Was anyone else surprised about this?
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GLAAD calls for action against Fox News host John Gibson
Not that we would expect any less from Fox News but this is seriously crossing the line; simply ridiculous and GLAAD, the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is having NONE of it!
In a stark and disturbing contrast, Fox News Radio host John Gibson cruelly mocked Ledger's death and his role in Brokeback Mountain during his Jan. 22 John Gibson Show radio broadcast. During the show, Gibson played an audio clip from the film of Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack, telling Ennis (played by Ledger), "I wish I knew how to quit you." Gibson then coldly quipped, "Well, he found out how to quit you." Then, after playing another audio clip from the movie of Ledger's character saying, "We're dead," Gibson mockingly said, "We're dead" and played the clip again.
GLAAD is calling for action against Gibson and wants Fox News to do something about it and needs your help! Not that we would expect any less from Fox News but this is seriously crossing the line; simply ridiculous and GLAAD, the Gay Lesbian ... more -
Death of a star, birth of a legend
This piece in the Guardian on Heath Ledger's tragic and untimely demise looks at our relationship to movie stars and what it means to us when they go too soon. Below is a list of some other legendary actors who left too early.
"How six young actors became legends"
James Dean
Dean died aged 24 on September 30 1955, following a car crash on what is now Route 46 in California. He is buried at Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana, though his gravestone has been stolen three times. There is a memorial in Cholame, California, and a stretch of Route 46 was rechristened the James Dean Memorial Highway. A troubled soul, plagued by depression and substance abuse, Dean made few films. The collective memory seems to preserve him as the swaggering, misunderstood Jim Stark in Rebel Without A Cause, and as such he has remained a touchstone for generations of teenagers and an inspiration for plays, films and fashions. His estate still earns $5m a year.
Edie Sedgwick
The subject of many of Andy Warhol's films in the late 60s, Sedgwick died in November 1971, aged 28. Her films were not commercial successes; instead she earned notoriety for hanging out at The Factory in New York and her outlandish fashion sense (leotards and silver hair featured heavily). Her death is believed to have been caused by barbiturates and alcohol. Sedgwick is rumoured to have inspired Bob Dylan's songs Just Like A Woman, Leopard-Skin Pillbox-Hat and Like A Rolling Stone, as well as Femme Fatale by the Velvet Underground, but her lasting legacy has been as a style icon. In 2006, her life was re-examined in the Sienna Miller vehicle Factory Girl.
Jean Harlow
Nicknamed the Platinum Blonde and the Blonde Bombshell, Harlow was one of the great sex symbols of the 30s. She died, aged 26, from renal failure, and is buried in a private room at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California. A huge star during her lifetime, she was also dogged by scandal - her first husband, Paul Bern, was found dead, prompting whispers of murder and suicide. Today she remains the blueprint for all the platinum blondes who followed in her wake.
Marilyn Monroe
In chemical terms, Monroe died of "acute barbiturate poisoning" on August 5 1962, aged 36. In legal terms, things are murkier. Donald Spoto's 2001 biography makes the case for accidental death; the LA County coroner decided it was "probably suicide" - but the officer who found her asserted murder, as did her first husband, Joe DiMaggio, who believed the Kennedys were responsible. Monroe's image has survived her to such an extent that it seems less a cult and more an indelible part of the culture.
Rudolph Valentino
A reported 100,000 people attempted to attend the funeral of this star of the silent movies, who always knew that "I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams". He died at 31 of peritonitis. For years a mysterious woman veiled in black visited his grave on the anniversary of his death, carrying a red rose. Various women claimed to be her; a fan called Vicki Callahan currently fulfils the role.
River Phoenix
The older brother of Joaquin Phoenix, River was only 23 but had already been nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar when he overdosed on heroin and cocaine outside the Viper Room in Hollywood on October 31 1993. Johnny Depp, who until 2004 was part-owner of the club, used to close it every Halloween in memory of Phoenix; every year fans still gather on that date to pay tribute. A keen singer-songwriter, it is in music that he is most often remembered - by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M. (who dedicated their album Monster to him), and Rufus Wainwright, among many others. This piece in the Guardian on Heath Ledger's tragic and untimely demise looks at our relationship to movie stars and what it mean... more -
The Loss Of Ledger
The unforeseen passing of Heath Ledger has left many people wondering why and how this fate found him.
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Ike Turner died of drug overdose
Another tragic Hollywood story of a very talented entertainer who let drugs get the best of him. Reports released today by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office reveal that Rock 'n' roll pioneer Ike Turner's death last month at age 76 was caused by a cocaine overdose,
"We are listing that he abused cocaine, and that's what resulted in the cocaine toxicity," said Paul Parker, chief investigator at the medical examiner's office. Another tragic Hollywood story of a very talented entertainer who let drugs get the best of him. Reports released today by the San Di... more -
25-Year-Old Actor Brad Renfro Dies
TMZ has learned actor Brad Renfro is dead.
The 25-year-old actor was found dead at his Los Angeles home this morning. The cause of death has not been determined, however, Renfro has had a history of drug abuse.
Renfro starred in "Apt Pupil", "The Client", and "Ghost World."
Stay tuned for the "Current Remembers: Brad Renfro" pod that will air this evening, Wednesday Jan. 16th. TMZ has learned actor Brad Renfro is dead. ... more -
TV's "Vampira" Maila Nurmi Dies at 85
Maila Nurmi, whose "Vampira" TV persona pioneered the spooky-yet-sexy Goth aesthetic, has died, coroner's officials said. She was 85.
Nurmi died Thursday afternoon at her Hollywood home, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said. The cause of death has not been determined, Corral said.
Nurmi created her Vampira character -- reminiscent of Charles Addams' spooky New Yorker cartoons -- to host horror movie broadcasts on KABC TV in Los Angeles in 1954. Maila Nurmi, whose "Vampira" TV persona pioneered the spooky-yet-sexy Goth aesthetic, has died, coroner's officials sai... more
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Celebrity Deaths
