Entertainment industry obituaries

[Rewind]

Kenny Rogers had 56 top-40 country hits (including duets) and 21 of those went to number one, including Lucille, Daytime Friends, The Gambler, She Believes In Me, You Decorated My Life, Coward Of The County, Morning Desire and Tomb Of The Unknown Love. Two of his number ones, Islands In The Stream (with Dolly Parton) and Lady, also went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Country music legend Kenny Rogers dies at 81
Rogers died at his home from natural causes under hospice care, surrounded by family.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...es-81-n1165531

[Rewind]

Among the members of The Great Society were Grace Slick, her husband Jerry on drums and his brother Darby on guitar. The sextet formed in 1965 and released only one single, Someone To Love (written by Darby). In 1966, Grace replaced Signe Anderson as lead singer of Jefferson Airplane. With her new band, she re-recorded the song, retitled Somebody To Love, and it became Jefferson Airplane's first hit. The Great Society broke up and Jerry joined a new group, The Final Solution. That group broke up after a year and Jerry became a filmmaker of television commercials. He won a Clio award for a public-service ad recruiting officers for the San Francisco Police Department.

Jerry Slick, San Francisco musician/filmmaker and Grace's first husband, dead at 80

https://bestclassicbands.com/jerry-s...tuary-3-19-20/

[Rewind]

Weissberg played banjo, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin and dobro. In 1972, he and banjoist/guitarist Steve Mandell recorded Dueling Banjos, a remake of Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith's 1955 song Feuding Banjos. Their song appeared in the Burt Reynolds movie Deliverance, went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1973 and won a Grammy award for best country instrumental. (Martin Mull recorded a parody, Dueling Tubas.) Weissberg also worked as a session musician on albums by Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Billy Joel, John Denver, Tom Paxton, Melanie, Richie Havens, Loudon Wainwright III and other artists.

Eric Weissberg, Dueling Banjos and Blood On The Tracks musician, dead at 80

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-at-80-971278/

[Rewind]

Warren founded the psychedelic rock band Psychic Ills in 2003. They've released five albums, five EPs and four singles. Among their best-known songs are Killer, January Rain, Moon Duo, Fade Me Out and Another Day Another Night.

Psychic Ills lead singer/guitarist Tres Warren dead at 41

https://www.stereogum.com/2077787/ps...obituary/obit/

[Rewind]

Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango played saxophone, vibraphone and piano. He released 62 studio albums and three live albums. Soul Makossa, his best-known song in the United States – "Makossa" means "I will dance" – was a #21 R&B hit and #35 pop hit in July 1973. Michael Jackson used the song's "ma-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-ko-sa" chant in his 1983 hit Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.

Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango dies after contracting coronavirus
The 86-year-old Cameroonian, best known for the 1972 hit Soul Makossa died in Paris.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...095810504.html

[Rewind]

McNally won four Tony awards and two Obie awards. He also won an Emmy award for writing Andre's Mother, a 1990 made-for-tv movie adapted from his screenplay about a woman dealing with her son's death from AIDS. Among McNally's best-known plays are Ragtime, Bad Habits, The Ritz, The Full Monty, Kiss Of The Spider Woman and Love! Valour! Compassion!

Terrence McNally, Tony award-winning playwright, dies of coronavirus complications at 81

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/enter...rnd/index.html

[Rewind]

Rieflin played drums, organ, piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, mellotron, bouzouki and synthesizers – not all at the same time, of course. In addition to his work with R.E.M., King Crimson and other bands, he released two solo albums and an album with Scottish musician Chris Connelly.

Bill Rieflin, drummer for King Crimson, R.E.M., Ministry, dead at 59
Multi-instrumentalist also performed with Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Swans and many others.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ituary-972751/

[Rewind]

Blum appeared in 20 movies and 39 tv series including 30 episodes of Mozart In The Jungle, 13 episodes of Capital News and two episodes of Law & Order and NYPD Blue.

Mark Blum, star of Desperately Seeking Susan, Crocodile Dundee and You, dies at 69 due to coronavirus complications

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/new...ns/ar-BB11KBii

[Rewind]

Callahan co-starred on General Hospital (1984-85), Falcon Crest (1986-88) and Santa Barbara (1989-91). He played Edmund Grey on All My Children from 1992 to 2005. (The USA TODAY obituary misspelled the name as "Gray." For shame!) Eva LaRue played Callahan's love interest on the series and they wound up marrying in real life. Callahan also co-starred on Days Of Our Lives (2008-10).

Former All My Children star John Callahan dies at 66 after suffering a stroke

https://www.usatoday.com/story/enter...-66/2934014001

[Rewind]

Jan Howard had 25 solo country hits, 1960-78, and four top-ten duets with Bill Anderson including the 1967 number-one For Loving You. Among her other hits: Bad Seed, Evil On Your Mind, My Son, Rock Me Back To Little Rock, The One You Slip Around With and I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again. She was married to songwriter Harlan Howard from 1957 to 1967.

Jan Howard, country singer and Grand Ole Opry member, dies at 91

https://popculture.com/country-music...ember-dead-91/