Carla Bley, the pianist, composer, bandleader, and pioneer of the free jazz movement, has died from complications of brain cancer, The New York Times reports, citing the musician’s partner of more than 30 years, bassist Steve Swallow. Bley was 87 years old.
Bley was born Lovella May Borg in Oakland, California. She moved to New York in the 1950s, working as a cigarette vendor at the famed Birdland jazz club before meeting and marrying jazz pianist Paul Bley. The couple toured together and she began composing original works, and Paul Bley’s 1964 album Barrage consisted entirely of Carla’s compositions. A few years later, in 1967, the Bleys divorced.
Bley released her best known work, the jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill, in 1971. It involved dozens of musicians, including Linda Ronstadt, Jack Bruce, and Charlie Haden. Beyond her own albums as a bandleader, she also worked closely with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason on his 1981 solo debut album, Nick Mason’s Fictious Sports, writing and co-producing all of its tracks.
Beyond her work as a musician, Bley founded multiple record labels, JCOA Records and the ECM-distributed Watt, releasing work by Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, and others. She and Michael Mantler also established the nonprofit New Music Distribution Service, which helped connect JCOA, ECM, and other labels to larger audiences. It remained in operation from 1972 to 1990.
Carla Bley was awarded the Guggenheim fellowship for music composition in 1972. Decades later, in 2015, she was recognized as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. Bley released the final album of her lifetime—Life Goes On, a collaboration with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow—in 2020.
Suzanne Somers and husband Alan Hamel took the “til death do us part” portion of their vows very seriously, demonstrating their love for one another until Somers died a day shy of her 77th birthday on October 15.
“I can’t imagine a night without him,” Somers told People in 2017. “It sounds corny, but we are one.”
The Three’s Company actress had battled cancer for more than 23 years.
Hamel was just as besotted with his wife, whom he met on the set of the show The Anniversary Game, which he hosted and on which Somers was a model, in 1969 before they wed in 1977. Hamel was by his wife’s bedside when she died in her sleep Sunday morning, and one of the last things she heard, Somers’ reps said, was a love poem Hamel had written for her in celebration of her birthday. He shared it with her early in light of her worsening condition.
As Somers’ rep told People of the poem, he “gave it to her a day early and she read the poem and went to bed and later died peacefully in her sleep.”
Written in all capital letters, Hamel’s ode explores the depth of his love for Somers, struggling to find a way to describe it and reading in part, “55 YEARS TOGETHER, 46 MARRIED AND NOT EVEN ONE HOUR APART FOR 42 OF THOSE YEARS. EVEN THAT DOESN’T DO IT. EVEN GOING TO BED AT 6 O’CLOCK AND HOLDING HANDS WHILE WE SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT. STARING AT YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE WHILE YOU SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT.”
Somers’ representatives shared the late star’s reaction to the poem, which she had planned to share on social media Monday for her birthday alongside the poem’s text, with Vanity Fair.
“Speaking of love… my beautiful Alan, wrote this for me for my birthday,” Somers said. “WOW. Could I be any luckier to have this epic love in my life? It’s only about who you love and who loves you… and I love you.”
Read the full text of Hamel’s poem below.
LOVE I USE IT EVERY DAY, SOMETIMES SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. I USE IT AT THE END OF EMAILS TO MY LOVING FAMILY. I EVEN USE IT IN EMAILS TO CLOSE FRIENDS. I USE IT WHEN I’M LEAVING THE HOUSE.
THERE’S LOVE, THEN LOVE YOU AND I LOVE YOU!! THEREIN LIES SOME OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS WE USE LOVE. SOMETIMES I FEEL OBLIGED TO USE LOVE, RESPONDING TO SOMEONE WHO SIGNED LOVE IN THEIR EMAIL, WHEN I’M UNCOMFORTABLE USING LOVE BUT I USE IT ANYWAY.
I ALSO USE LOVE TO DESCRIBE A GREAT MEAL. I USE IT TO EXPRESS HOW I FEEL ABOUT A SHOW ON NETFLIX. I OFTEN USE LOVE REFERRING TO MY HOME, MY CAT GLORIA, TO THINGS GLORIA DOES, TO THE TASTE OF A CANTALOUPE I GREW IN MY GARDEN. I LOVE THE TASTE OF A FRESHLY HARVESTED ORGANIC ROYAL JUMBO MEDJOOL DATE. I LOVE BITING A FIG OFF THE TREE. I LOVE WATCHING TWO GIANT BLACKBIRDS WHO LIVE NEARBY SWOOPING BY MY WINDOW IN A POWER DIVE. MY DAILY LIFE ENCOMPASSES THINGS AND PEOPLE I LOVE AND THINGS AND PEOPLE I AM INDIFFERENT TO.
I COULD GO ON AD INFINITUM, BUT YOU GET IT. WHAT BRAND OF LOVE DO I FEEL FOR MY WIFE SUZANNE? CAN I FIND IT IN ANY OF THE ABOVE? A RESOUNDING NO!!!! THERE IS NO VERSION OF THE WORD THAT IS APPLICABLE TO SUZANNE AND I EVEN USE THE WORD APPLICABLE ADVISEDLY.
THE CLOSEST VERSION IN WORDS ISN’T EVEN CLOSE. IT’S NOT EVEN A FRACTION OF A FRACTION OF A FRACTION. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE DOES NOT DO IT. I’LL TAKE A BULLET FOR YOU DOESN’T DO IT. I WEEP WHEN I THINK ABOUT MY FEELINGS FOR YOU. FEELINGS… THAT’S GETTING CLOSE, BUT NOT ALL THE WAY.
55 YEARS TOGETHER, 46 MARRIED AND NOT EVEN ONE HOUR APART FOR 42 OF THOSE YEARS. EVEN THAT DOESN’T DO IT. EVEN GOING TO BED AT 6 O’CLOCK AND HOLDING HANDS WHILE WE SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT. STARING AT YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE WHILE YOU SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT.
I’M BACK TO FEELINGS. THERE ARE NO WORDS. THERE ARE NO ACTIONS. NO PROMISES. NO DECLARATIONS. EVEN THE GREEN SHADED SCHOLARS OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS HAVE SPENT 150 YEARS AND STILL HAVE FAILED TO COME UP WITH THAT ONE WORD. SO I WILL CALL IT, ‘US’, UNIQUELY, MAGICALLY, INDESCRIBABLY WONDERFUL ‘US.’
Suzanne Somers, who starred in “Three’s Company,” and later went on to become an advocate for a healthy lifestyle, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer.
The actress died early Sunday morning at her home, just one day before her 77th birthday, her publicist R. Couri Hay confirmed to CBS News.
“Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” Hay told CBS News in a statement, adding that her family had gathered to celebrate her upcoming birthday.
“Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”
She will be buried this week in a private ceremony, and a memorial will take place next month, Hay said.
Suzanne Somers speaks at a news conference announcing her residency, “Suzanne Sizzles,” at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on March 25, 2015.
David Becker / Getty Images
Somers was most famous for her role as Chrissy Snow on the beloved 1970s sitcom “Three’s Company.”
“People just wanted to protect Chrissy Snow,” she told CBS News in a 2020 interview. “Creating her was actually intellectual. How do I make her likable and loveable? Dumb blondes are annoying. I gave her a moral code. I imagined it was the childhood I would’ve liked to have had.”
She was famously fired from the show when she asked for a salary equal to that of the late star John Ritter.
The cast of the 1970s sitcom “Three’s Company” pose together in this undated photo; from left, Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter and Suzanne Somers.
AP
“I got fired from ‘Three’s Company’ for having the audacity to ask to be paid commensurate with men,” she said in 2020. “They were making 10 to 15 times more, and John [Ritter] was making much more than me. They had designated John the star, as my star rose and started competing with John’s star, it made them mad at me. It made them mad when I was on every magazine cover and John wasn’t. We were all on the cover of Newsweek. That was a fiasco that day. The producers didn’t tell any of us that Newsweek wanted to feature just Chrissy, and nobody told me either.”
Later in her life, she became a health guru who made millions selling the Thighmaster and diet books.
She detailed her early cancer fights in that 2020 interview.
“Even when I was Chrissy on Three’s Company, I had had cancer three times,” Somers said. “They call it severe hyperplasia in your uterus. I didn’t make a big deal about it. In my 30s, I got a malignant melanoma in my back.”
“Since I have been taking time off from work, many of you have asked for more details about my health,” Somers wrote, captioning a photo that pictured her with her husband Alan Hamel.
“As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down,” her post continued. “I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it.”
Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a “more meaningful” life, died Saturday at the age of 91.
Her manager, Marion Rosenberg, confirmed the death to CBS News.
“She was a superb talent and a wonderful human being,” Rosenberg said in an emailed statement.
The exact cause and location of her death was not immediately confirmed.
Laurie arrived in Hollywood in 1949 as Rosetta Jacobs and was quickly given a contract with Universal-International, a new name that she hated, and a string of starring roles with Ronald Reagan, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis, among others.
Piper Laurie speaks at a screening of “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?” during the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres Multiplex on April 24, 2022, in Los Angeles, California.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for TCM
She went on to receive Academy Award nominations for three distinct films: The 1961 poolroom drama “The Hustler”; the film version of Stephen King’s horror classic “Carrie,” in 1976; and the romantic drama “Children of a Lesser God,” in 1986. She also appeared in several acclaimed roles on television and the stage, including in David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” in the 1990s as the villainous Catherine Martell.
Laurie made her debut at 17 in “Louisa,” playing Reagan’s daughter, then appeared opposite Francis the talking mule in “Francis Goes to the Races.” She made several films with Curtis, whom she once dated, including “The Prince Who Was a Thief,” “No Room for the Groom,” “Son of Ali Baba” and “Johnny Dark.”
Fed up, she walked out on her $2,000-a-week contract in 1955, vowing she wouldn’t work again unless offered a decent part.
She moved to New York, where she found the roles she was seeking in theater and live television drama.
Performances in “Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Deaf Heart” and “The Road That Led After” brought her Emmy nominations and paved the way for a return to films, including in an acclaimed role as Paul Newman’s troubled girlfriend in “The Hustler.”
For many years after, Laurie turned her back on acting. She married film critic Joseph Morgenstern, welcomed a daughter, Ann Grace, and moved to a farmhouse in Woodstock, New York. She said later that the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War had influenced her decision to make the change.
“I was disenchanted and looking for an existence more meaningful for me,” she recalled, adding that she never regretted the move.
“My life was full,” she said in 1990. “I always liked using my hands, and I always painted.”
Laurie also became noted as a baker, with her recipes appearing in The New York Times.
Her only performing during that time came when she joined a dozen musicians and actors in a tour of college campuses to support Sen. George McGovern’s 1972 presidential bid.
Laurie was finally ready to return to acting when director Brian De Palma called her about playing the deranged mother of Sissy Spacek in “Carrie.”
At first she felt the script was junk, and then she decided she should play the role for laughs. Not until De Palma chided her for putting a comedic turn on a scene did she realize he meant the film to be a thriller.
“Carrie” became a box-office smash, launching a craze for movies about teenagers in jeopardy, and Spacek and Laurie were both nominated for Academy Awards.
Her desire to act rekindled, Laurie resumed a busy career that spanned decades. On television, she appeared in such series as “Matlock,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Frasier” and played George Clooney’s mother on “ER.”
Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the legendary soul group The Isley Brothers, has died at age 84, his family confirmed.
“There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother,” Ronald Isley said in a statement to CBS News. “Our family will miss him. But I know he’s in a better place.”
A cause of death has not been revealed.
From left to right, Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley and O’Kelly Isley Jr. in 1964.
Getty Images
Rudolph was an original member of the family musical group that consisted of him and his brothers O’Kelly “Kelly” Isley Jr. and Ronald Isley.
The R&B and soul band took off in the late 1950s and continued to make music for over six decades.
Rudolph left the band in the late 1980s to pursue a life in the ministry. In 1992 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Last year, the group was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Rudolph Isley, one of the co-founding members of the Isley Brothers, has died at the age of 84. An attorney for Isley, Brian D. Caplan, confirmed the news to Pitchfork and shared the following statement from the musician’s daughter:
Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the world famous Isley Brothers, died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of October 11, 2023. He died at his home, with his devoted wife Elaine by his side. They had been married for 68 years. Rudolph was a deeply religious man who loved Jesus.
Isley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1939. By his teenage years, he was singing with his brothers O’Kelly, Ronald, and Vernon in the family band, but the boys briefly quit performing after Vernon was killed while riding his bicycle. In 1957, the three surviving Isley Brothers moved to New York to seek a recording contract, and, by 1959, they landed a deal with RCA and a hit single in “Shout!” After “Shout!” and an album of the same name, the group covered Phil Medley and Bert Berns’ “Twist & Shout,” turning it into a bona fide hit a year before the Beatles also struck gold with the pop single.
In the early 1960s, the Isley Brothers crossed paths with numerous musical legends, including Jimi Hendrix, who briefly played in their backing band, and Elton John, who played with the band in the United Kingdom. And, as was the case with many successful R&B acts at the time, the group met Berry Gordy and signed with one of his Motown labels, Tamla. In 1966, the band released its biggest Tamla single “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” featuring lead vocals from Ronald Isley and backing vocals from Rudolph and O’Kelly.
The Isley Brothers released just two albums via Tamla, finding greater success releasing their music through their own T-Neck Records. The label was responsible for Rudolph and the band’s first Grammy-winning song, 1969’s “It’s Your Thing,” and first No. 1 album, 1975’s The Heat Is On.
British-Irish actor Michael Gambon, who played the wizard Albus Dumbledore in the six later “Harry Potter” movies, has died at the age of 82, his agency confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.
In a statement issued on behalf of his wife Lady Anne Gambon and his son Fergus, publicist Clair Dobbs said the family was “devastated to announce the loss,” and added that the “beloved husband and father” had died peacefully in a hospital with his wife and son by his side following a bout of pneumonia.
Actor Sir Michael Gambon is seen in London, Sept. 11, 2018.
Jack Taylor/Getty
Gambon was awarded four U.K. television BAFTAs during his decades-long acting career, which saw him take staring roles across television, movies, radio and on the stage.
It was his role as the head of the Hogwarts school for witches and wizards in the Harry Potter franchise, however, that made him a familiar face to more recent generations. He succeeded actor Richard Harris in the role, who died in 2002 after portraying Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies.
He once acknowledged not having read any of J. K. Rowling’s best-selling books, arguing that it was safer to follow the script rather than be too influenced by the Harry Potter stories in print. That didn’t prevent him from embodying the spirit of Professor Dumbledore, the powerful wizard who fought against evil to protect his students.
Although the Potter role raised Gambon’s international profile and introduced him to a new generation of fans, he had long been recognized as one of Britain’s leading actors. His work spanned TV, theater and radio, and he starred in dozens of films from “Gosford Park” to “The King’s Speech” and the animated family movie “Paddington.”
Gambon was knighted for services to drama in 1998, becoming Sir Michael Gambon.
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Kent Stax, drummer and founding member of Virginia hardcore group Scream, has died. Stax’s bandmates revealed the news in a Facebook post earlier today (September 20), writing that the musician had been living with metastatic cancer. “We are heartbroken to share that our drummer Bennett Kent Stacks passed away this morning,” Scream wrote. “Kent is the original heartbeat of Scream,” they continued. “Though we have had to continue on without him before, we have always known Kent is irreplaceable.” Find the band’s full statement below.
Stax formed Scream in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia in 1979 alongside schoolmates Skeeter Enoch Thompson (on bass), and brothers Pete and Franz Stahl (on vocals and guitar, respectively). The quartet drew influence from the burgeoning punk scene in nearby Washington, D.C., and they particularly admired the pioneering D.C. group Bad Brains.
Scream cut their debut album Still Screaming in 1982 at the legendary Inner Ear Studio. The record was co-produced by the band, then-Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, Eddie Janney (later in Rites of Spring), and Inner Ear co-founder Don Zientara. Still Screaming marked the first-ever full-length released on MacKaye’s Dischord label.
Stax remained in Scream through their next two albums, 1985’s This Side Up and 1986’s Banging the Drum, but he departed in the mid-to-late ’80s to start a family. His replacement was Dave Grohl, who played with Scream until joining Nirvana in 1990.
During a 1996 Christmas reunion show, Stax briefly joined his former band on stage; the concert was recorded and released as their Live at the Black Cat CD. Stax and Scream returned to Inner Ear Studio—and to Dischord—to cut their latest full-length DC Special. The record was tracked in 2021 before the studio’s original location was shuttered. DC Special arrives November 10, and features contributions from Grohl, Amy Pickering, Mark Cisneros, Joe Lally, and more.
We are heartbroken to share that our drummer Bennett Kent Stacks passed away this morning after a bout with metastatic cancer. Kent is the original heartbeat of Scream. Though we have had to continue on without him before, we have always known Kent is irreplaceable. He was one of a kind. In addition to being a truly unique drummer, Kent was also an accomplished fisherman, skilled carpenter, and avid train enthusiast.
Kent also played in prominent punk and harDCore bands including The Suspects, Spitfires United, Alleged Bricks and more throughout his life. He also branched out to other genres, playing with The Daryl Davis Band and The Old Dominion Trio.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years Andrea, daughter Jennifer, brothers Kurt, William and Henry and a host of band mates, friends and fans. If you ever saw us play or if you knew Kent, your thoughts and memories are welcome here.
Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Miller, who appeared in “General Hospital” and “The Young And The Restless,” died on Friday at the age of 43.
Miller “was struggling with manic depression when he died” in Austin, Texas, a representative for the actor confirmed to multiplemediaoutlets.
Miller would have turned 44 on Sunday.
A cause of death was not announced.
Miller’s former co-star Eileen Davidson, who appeared with him on “The Young and the Restless,” paid tribute on X, formerly Twitter.
“His infectious charm and warmth left lasting impressions on all of us who were lucky enough to have him in our lives,” she wrote. “I’m gonna miss that mischievous smile. Love you Billy.”
Miller starred from 2007 as Richie Novak in “All My Children” before being cast in 2008 as Billy Abbott in “The Young and the Restless” and then in 2014 as Jason Morgan/Drew Cain in “General Hospital.”
He also had recurring roles on “Suits” and “Ray Donovan.”
Irish Grinstead, a member of the ’90s and ’00s R&B girl group 702, died on Saturday, September 17. LeMisha Grinstead, Irish’s sister and fellow member of the group, confirmed the news in a statement on social media. The group was arguably best known for their single “Where My Girls At.” Irish Grinstead was 43.
“It is with great sadness that I have to let you know that my beautiful sister and friend has passed away this evening,” LeMisha Grinstead’s statement reads. “She has had a long battle and she is finally at peace. That girl was as bright as the stars! She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also within. Sharing the stage with her was a joy I will cherish for the rest of my life! We, the family ask for prayers and respect for our privacy as we grieve an outstanding loss to our family.”
Named for their hometown area code for Las Vegas, the group’s debut album No Doubt arrived in 1996. It included the single “Get It Together” and the Missy Elliott-featuring track “Steelo.” Their self-titled follow-up album was released in 1999 and featured “Where My Girls At.” Missy Elliott wrote and co-produced the song, once acknowledging she intended it for TLC. “I wanted it to be a Main chick anthem 4 the side chicks,” she wrote, adding, “it’s still a BOP.”
The group contributed songs to multiple film and TV soundtracks, including Good Burger, Stuart Little, Cousin Skeeter, and the Pootie Tang theme “Pootie Tangin.” Their final album Star came out in 2003 with assistance from the Neptunes, Clipse, and Pharrell. The group disbanded after the album, but periodically reunited. In late 2022, Irish Grinstead took a leave of absence from 702 for undisclosed health reasons.
Richard Davis, the bassist and educator who played with jazz legends, pop stars, and classical composers, has died after years of hospice care, Madison 365 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report, citing his daughter Persia Davis. The virtuoso bassist and NEA Jazz Master recorded more than 20 albums under his own name and collaborated with icons including Eric Dolphy, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Dorothy Ashby, Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughan. He cut records with Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand, playing all manner of jazz styles as well as blues, pop, rock, folk, and classical, drawing praise from Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein. Davis was 93 years old.
Born in Chicago in 1930, Davis became a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras after high school and studied at the VanderCook College of Music. In the late 1960s he was a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra; from 1967 through 1974, he was named Best Bassist in Downbeat magazine’s International Critics’ Poll.
In the 1970s, Davis became a coveted sideman for pop artists, playing on Laura Nyro’s Smile and Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. and Born to Run. He was the de facto bandleader in the sessions for Van Morrison’s classic LP Astral Weeks, and is widely credited with having influenced its sound. In 1977, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to become a professor of bass, jazz, and ensemble at the University of Wisconsin, where he would teach for decades.
In the 1990s, he created the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists with his former student Peter Dominguez. The Foundation holds annual master classes for musicians ranging from three to 18 years old. Late in his career, Davis directed efforts to foster racial unity. In 1998, he created the Retention Action Project to facilitate dialog on race and culture; in 2000, he founded the Institutes for the Healing of Racism, aiming to raise consciousness about the history and pathology of racism.
In tribute to her late father, Persia Davis wrote on a memorial page, “Richard touched the lives of thousands and will be missed by friends, family, fans, students, and colleagues around the world.”
Former Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell died early Monday at his home in Boise, Idaho, a representative confirmed to CBS News. He was 56.
The artist — whose band is best known for the 1999 hit “All Star” — had been in hospice care, according to representative Robert Hayes.
A cause of death was not released.
“He was surrounded by family and friends and passed peacefully and comfortably,” Hayes said Monday.
Harwell retired from Smash Mouth in 2021, and the band continues to tour with new vocalist Zach Goode. Smash Mouth has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and scored two No. 1 hit singles, five Top 40 singles and a Grammy nomination.
Smash Mouth’s first hit “Walkin’ on the Sun” and a cover of the Monkees song “I’m a Believer” have garnered hundreds of millions of streams since their releases.
But it was the chart-topping “All Star” — which was featured on the soundtrack of the 2001 blockbuster “Shrek” — that will forever be linked with Harwell and Smash Mouth.
“Nobody else could have sang that song.” Harwell told Rolling Stone in 2019. “It would have never been what it is now. I could’ve pitched that song to a million bands and they would have tried to do it, and it would’ve never been what it is.”
“Steve’s iconic voice is one of the most recognizable voices from his generation. He loved the fans and loved to perform,” Hayes said.
Steve Harwell, the founding singer of Smash Mouth, died today at his home in Boise, Idaho, of liver failure, The New York Times reports. The musician was 56 years old.
Harwell dealt with alcoholism and numerous health issues in the years preceding his death. In 2013, he was diagnosed with a heart condition (cardiomyopathy) and a neurological condition (acute Wernicke encephalopathy). He collapsed onstage during a concert a few years later, and, in 2021, he retired from performing following a difficult show in New York. “Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a Rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream,” Harwell said at the time. “To my bandmates, it’s been an honor performing with you all these years and I can’t think of anyone else I would have rather gone on this wild journey with.”
On Instagram, Smash Mouth wrote today, “Steve Harwell was a true American Original. A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle. Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom.” Find the band’s full statement below.
Before launching Smash Mouth in 1994, Steve Harwell released a single with the rap group F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech) through Scotti Bros. Records. “You know, we were just really into Chuck D and that shit at the time and I just thought, ‘I want to be a rapper,’” Harwell told Stereogum of 1993’s “Big Black Boots.” As it turned out, hip-hop was not for Harwell, who recognized that he might not make it big in the genre.
“Around the time we were about to put out our single, this kid Snoop Dogg came out and changed everything,” Harwell recalled in 2017. “I was at a radio convention in Las Vegas watching MC Hammer of all people, and I just looked at my manager, ‘I’m tired of all this hip-hop shit, I want to start an alternative rock band.’ He said, ‘You’re crazy, it was hard enough getting this.’ But he followed me down the path and here we are.”
Harwell formed Smash Mouth with his manager (drummer Kevin Coleman), guitarist Greg Camp, and bassist Paul De Lisle, the latter of whom still tours with the band. Smash Mouth released their debut studio album, Fush Yu Mang, in July 1997 via Interscope. The album featured a cover of War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” and the group’s first big single, “Walkin’ on the Sun.”
Sakevi Yokoyama, the fabled vocalist in Japanese hardcore punk and metal band G.I.S.M., has died. Beast Arts International, his distribution company for art, merch, and records, confirmed today (September 2) that he “passed away peacefully” on August 24.
In 1981, Shigehisa “Sakevi” Yokoyama formed G.I.S.M. in Tokyo with the late guitarist Randy Uchida, bassist Kannon “Cloudy” Masuo, and drummer Tohru “Monamour” Hiroshima. The acronym remained the same throughout the band’s history, though the abbreviation represented multiple names, including God in the Schizoid Mind, Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer, General Imperialism Social Murder, Gnostic Idiosyncrasy Sonic Militant, and Guy Individual Social Mean.
Their debut album, 1983’s Detestation, showcased a band at a midpoint between hardcore punk and metal. Sakevi’s guttural growl helped define the band and album’s sound. Recorded at a dual venue and recording studio called Our House, the album was self-produced and featured engineering help from Konishi Koji (who also worked with Aburadako, the Comes, and others). Detestation was one of the first Japanese hardcore albums to be released. It would later become an underground favorite in American punk circles following coverage in Maximum Rocknroll and Thrasher, with artists like Poison Idea and Integrity championing the band.
That following year, G.I.S.M. were included on the International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation, later retitled P.E.A.C.E./War in 1997. The record famously gathered 55 hardcore bands from around the world—including Dead Kennedys, Crass, Subhumans, Butthole Surfers, D.R.I., Conflict, Execute, and Mob 47, among others—to share anarcho or left-leaning songs of peace, with all proceeds going to anti-nuclear organizations. Maximum Rocknroll contributed a 72-page insert about political demonstrations, imperialism, radiation, and other subjects. The compilation’s release in 1984 meant G.I.S.M. were one of the first Japanese punk bands to be distributed widely in the United States.
G.I.S.M. released three albums overall, following up Detestation with 1987’s Military Affairs Neurotic (M.A.N.) and 1998’s SoniCRIME Therapy. Sakevi created the artwork for each one, his graphic style helping their releases stand out from those by other punk bands. Drawing influence from the collage-based, anarcho-punk aesthetic popularized by Crass, Sakevi further pushed his art into an edgier territory intended to shock viewers, incorporating genitalia, mutated faces, and war imagery. When Relapse Records reissued the band’s first two albums over the past three years, they covered the swastika prominently featured on Detestation’s cover with an obi strip.
At shows, Sakevi was notoriously confrontational, once going so far as to shoot a flamethrower directly into the crowd with no warning. G.I.S.M. shrouded themselves in mystery, and that allure only grew thanks to rumors and urban legends about Sakevi himself, which positioned him as a violent and serious man. A handful are treated as facts among fans—resorting to intimidation to stop the spread of bootleg G.I.S.M. records and merch, allegedly threatening to kill a clerk at a record shop for selling unofficial shirts—despite little to no proof for the stories. Others, like rumors of him stabbing an audience member for taking his photograph, were never verified beyond their tall tale status, but those stories played a role in dramatizing G.I.S.M.’s mystique abroad.
Jimmy Buffett, the singer-songwriter who built an empire off his catalog of escapist listening tunes, has died. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” reads a message posted on his website and social media pages. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.” Buffett was 76 years old.
While a cause of death was not provided, Buffett had canceled a show in Charleston, South Carolina, in May, having been hospitalized upon returning from a vacation in the Bahamas. “Growing old is not for sissies, I promise you,” he said in a statement at the time. Buffett had previously canceled a handful of shows in October 2022 after another unexpected hospitalization.
Jimmy Buffett was best known for his loose, laidback songs, which were laced with mischief, and encouraged a laissez-faire lifestyle with humor and colorful imagery. He built a passionate fan base of self-proclaimed Parrot Heads in the United States, a devotion that helped fuel a massive Margaritaville-branded empire of restaurants, home goods, resorts, retirement communities, a jukebox musical on Broadway, and more. At the time of his death, Forbes had estimated Buffett’s net worth to be $1 billion.
James William “Jimmy” Buffett was born on Christmas Day in 1946 and he grew up around the Gulf Coast of the United States. Buffett’s regional roots and a few years in Key West, Florida, fueled the songs he started writing about lackadaisical characters looking for an escape. He drew significant influence from country music in his twangy instrumentation, which remained a steady presence even as he carved out his distinctive “trop rock” lane later in his career. And, despite its upbeat sensibilities, Buffett’s songwriting often had a downcast edge that attested to the drudgery of everyday life.
Like many musicians trying to make it big, Buffett spent time in Nashville and even worked for a time as a Billboard correspondent for the Music City. He released his debut, Down to Earth, in 1970. The next year, a friend from Nashville, the outlaw country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, brought Buffett to Key West, changing the trajectory of his music, career, and life.
Buffett’s time in the Florida locale, and, in fact, some time away from Key West, ultimately led to his defining song: “I came to Austin a lot in those days. I made it there by getting these college bookings and getting on Willie [Nelson]’s second Fourth of July picnic,” Buffett recalled in the wake of Walker’s death in 2020. “I played Castle Creek many times. I think it was after one of those shows, the next morning I had a hangover and I had to fly home that afternoon. I went to El Rey, a Mexican restaurant on Anderson Lane for lunch. I had a margarita, which helped with the hangover, and in the car on the way to the airport the chorus of a new song started to come to me. I wrote a little more on the plane and finished the rest of ‘Margaritaville’ back in Key West.”
John Kezdy, the singer in Chicago punk band the Effigies, has died, reports Streetsblog Chicago, citing the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. According to the report, Kezdy died on Saturday, August 26, from injuries sustained after crashing his bicycle into a van stopped in a bike lane on Wednesday in Glencoe, Illinois. He was 64 years old.
Born in 1959, John F. Kezdy he was quick to fall in love with rock and punk as a kid, as was his older brother, Pierre, who would go on to become the bassist in Naked Raygun and Strike Under. John Kezdy considered himself to be a shy student while attending Evanston Township High School and the University of Wisconsin, but, after completing one year of college, he decided to join the Effigies as their boisterous lead singer. According to Kezdy, he stepped up to the position because nobody else was interested in doing so.
The Effigies formed in 1980 with guitarist Earl Letiecq, bassist Paul Zamost, and drummer Steve Economou. They made a name for themselves in Chicago as one of the few local punk bands of the time, blending together influences like Killing Joke, the Buzzcocks, and Sex Pistols for an effortlessly cool take on punk and post-hardcore. With a melodic yet energetic tone, Kezdy often sang about local politics, hypocrisy, and corruption. Their debut EP, 1981’s Haunted Town, helped popularize the use of the Chicago flag—which is partially displayed on the cover art—as a signifier of cultural pride in the underground. They founded their own label, Ruthless Records, that same year.
“That first Sex Pistols record told me to get up and do it. I pumped gas to save money and dropped out of school because I had to be in a band,” Kezdy told the Chicago Tribune in 1990. “Most bands are afraid to stand up and say, ‘This is what I really believe in.’ The real reason to be in a band is to put yourself in a community. And if not, to create one around you.”
After releasing another EP in 1983 and their debut album, For Ever Grounded, in 1984, the Effigies sought a new guitarist, with Minor Threat’s Lyle Preslar inquiring about joining before Robert O’Connor was hired. The band subsequently released 1985’s Fly on a Wire and 1986’s Ink, both on major independent labels.
The Effigies broke up in 1990, but Kezdy reunited the group later that decade with a new lineup: guitarist Chris Bjorkland, bassist Tom Woods, and drummer Joe Haggerty. The band began playing shows again and would go on to release the 1996 live album V.M.Live, as well as a new studio album, 2007’s Reside, and the 2012 EP …On the Move, or in Danger (Stop) This Will Have Been My Life (Stop). Kezdy also played in the brief band the Corrosives.
Those tributes will likely be the sole memorial for the longtime The Price Is Right host, who—per Entertainment Tonight—will not have a funeral or memorial service. According to Barker representative Roger Neal (who also announced his client’s death Saturday), the 99-year-old host will be quietly buried at Hollywood’s Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery, in a plot next to his wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, who died in 1981.
Bob Barker prepares to punch Adam Sandler in a scene from the film ‘Happy Gilmore’, 1996. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)
Archive Photos/Getty Images
Actor and comedian Adam Sandler, whose fictional brawl with Barker in 1996 film Happy Gilmore showed viewers a different side of the beloved game show veteran, was one of the first to note his passing. “The man. The myth. The best,” Sandler wrote via Instagram. “Such a sweet funny guy to hang out with. Loved talking to him. Loved laughing with him. Loved him kicking the crap out of me. He will be missed by everyone I know! Heartbreaking day.”
Bob Barker and Nancy Burnet attend the Animal Defenders International gala on October 13, 2012 in Hollywood, California. Photo: Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic
Tibrina Hobson
Nancy Burnet, who (per People) was Barker’s companion from 1983 to his death as well as the director of his animal rights nonprofit, the DJ&T Foundation, released a statement noting their time together, as well as their shared activism. “I am so proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose the cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry and including working to improve the plight of abused and exploited animals in the United States and internationally,” she said. “We were great friends over these 40 yrs. He will be missed.”
Brian McBride, the influential ambient musician who was one half of the duo Stars of the Lid, has died, his label Kranky confirmed to Pitchfork. “I am deeply saddened to tell everyone that Brian McBride has passed away. I loved this guy & he will be missed,” the band wrote on Instagram. The cause of death has not been shared. McBride was 53 years old.
McBride had a massive impact on generations of ambient and electronic artists through his work in Stars of the Lid. After moving to Austin, Texas in 1990, he met his soon-to-be bandmate Adam Wiltzie and the two formed Stars of the Lid in 1993. Drawing inspiration from Brian Eno, Arvo Pärt, and Talk Talk, the duo incorporated guitars, piano, strings, and horns into their music for classical-inspired drone. Though minimal in sound, Stars of the Lid would sample unexpected source material in their songs, too, ranging from Wiltzie’s pet dog Frog to an unassuming phone ring in Twin Peaks.
Stars of the Lid created their later discography separately from one another. For The Tired Sounds of…, McBride sent DAT tapes in the mail from Chicago while Wiltzie was rooted in Austin. That method allowed both musicians to reflect on the other member’s contributions at a relaxed pace, making for more deliberate decisions on how to progress the song or ideas further. By the time they started writing And Their Refinement of the Decline, McBride lived in Los Angeles and Wiltzie moved to Belgium, so the duo tried using more digital recording methods.
“Working on the music, for me, it’s kind of important to not fake it in some ways, to not try to force this emotional state out of it, to sort of pay attention to what’s going on in your life, if you’re feeling inspired or motivated just letting it happen,” McBride told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Especially after you’ve released a bunch of records for a long time, you don’t want to manufacture longing.”
At Price Is Right, Barker would win 16 Daytime Emmys, earning prizes for producing and hosting, as well as a lifetime-achievement Emmy awarded in 1999. The year before, after he’d taped 5,000 episodes at Studio 33 at the CBS Television City studio in Hollywood, the network renamed the stage the Bob Barker Studio. In 2003, Barker’s 31st year on the show, he surpassed Tonight Show host Johnny Carson’s record for continuous performances on a single network show. In 2004, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
As a living fixture at the network, it’s no wonder Barker felt comfortable enough to incorporate his activism into his seemingly apolitical job—he’d been slowly introduced to animal-rights activism by Dorothy Jo, who was a vegetarian and who politely declined to wear the furs and leather coats Bob had bought her over the years. Soon, he was ending every Price Is Right broadcast by saying, “Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered.” And he didn’t stop there: in 1987, after he’d hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants for 20 years, he threatened to walk if the Miss USA contestants wore furs. Pageant organizers met his demand, but the next year, when Barker asked them not to give furs as prizes, they balked, and he quit. In 1994, he started the DJ&T Foundation, named for his wife and his mother, which helps subsidize the cost of spaying and neutering pets. Since 2001, he has endowed programs in animal-rights law at such universities as Harvard, Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, U.C.L.A., Columbia, and Georgetown. In 2010, he paid for the renovation and purchase of a Los Angeles building for PETA, which named the building after him.
Barker was also secure enough in his job to become the first game-show host to stop dyeing his hair. The sixtysomething host revealed his natural gray without fanfare one day, returning from vacation after a taped run of dark-haired episodes. A shocked viewer wrote, “Bob, you must have had one hell of a night.” Barker claimed the show’s ratings actually rose after the shift.
Even into his Medicare years, Barker continued to project the virility of a younger man. In 1994, longtime Price Is Right spokesmodel Dian Parkinson sued him and the show for sexual harassment, claiming the host had coerced her into a sexual relationship in 1990, when he was 66. Barker, who’d lost Dorothy Jo to lung cancer in 1981 after 36 years of marriage, acknowledged the intimate relationship with Parkinson but claimed it was consensual. She dropped the sexual-harassment suit in 1995.
Barker, who’d studied karate under Chuck Norris, gained a new generation of fans when, after 46 years in Hollywood, he made his film debut in 1996’s Happy Gilmore. In a celebrated sequence, the 72-year-old Barker, playing himself, beats up 29-year-old Adam Sandler (as the title character) in a brawl on a golf course. The comic throw-down earned Barker an MTV Movie Award for best fight sequence. The emcee also credited himself with turning the former Saturday Night Live comic into a movie star. “Nobody heard of Adam Sandler until I beat him up,” he boasted.
Barker was 83 when he finally handed over The Price Is Right to Drew Carey in 2007. “I wanted to retire while I’m still young,” he quipped. Even in his retirement, he’d still pop up on The Price Is Right on special occasions well into his 90s.
For all the fame and all the millions he’d earned by giving away millions to strangers, Barker never seemed to lose his common touch. He insisted that he was as ordinary as his fans. “They treat me as if I were a next-door neighbor. I’ve never been a cowboy or a detective or a doctor on television. I’ve been Bob Barker. They’ve seen my hair go gray.” As a result, he said, fans had an easy, jokey rapport with him, stopping him on the street and asking if he had a refrigerator to give away. “I love it. It means they watch me.”
World Wrestling Entertainment star Bray Wyatt died Thursday, WWE announced. He was 36.
Wyatt, whose real name was Windham Rotunda, died “unexpectedly,” according to an article on the WWE website that did not mention a cause of death.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Windham Rotunda, also known as Bray Wyatt, passed away on Thursday, Aug. 24, at age 36,” WWE said. “WWE extends its condolences to Rotunda’s family, friends and fans.”
Wyatt, the 2017 WWE champion, was also known as “The Fiend.” His last televised performance came at the 2023 Royal Rumble.
Wyatt won the 2017 WWE championship by defeating both John Cena and AJ Styles to reach the title — the previous two men to hold the belt, CBS Sports reported.
John Cena, left, and Bray Wyatt, right, compete during Wrestlemania XXX at the Mercedes-Benz Super Dome in New Orleans on Sunday, April 6, 2014.
Jonathan Bachman/AP Images for WWE
“Known for his captivating performances and incredible in-ring presence, Wyatt was a defining superstar of his generation,” WWE said.
Wyatt was the son of Mike and Stephanie Rotunda.
Wyatt’s grandfather Robert Deroy Windham (Blackjack Mulligan), father, and two of his uncles (Barry and Kendall Windham) all wrestled in WWE. His grandfather also played college football at UTEP and saw preseason action for the New York Jets.
Wyatt redshirted on the Troy football team in 2007.
“Im heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt’s passing,” he wrote. “Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family. Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe universe.”
Im heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt’s passing. Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family. Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe universe. Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy… pic.twitter.com/i9zlbJIOL3
Wyatt’s death was announced just one day after it was revealed that WWE wrestling icon Terry Funk died at age 79. Funk’s cause of death was not immediately released, but his manager Timothy Beal told CBS News that the legendary wrestler “was in bad health for some time” and was “in a nursing home.”
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