Most music fans will know Detroit for Motown, but never forget the city’s importance to American punk music. Iggy & the Stooges abandoned the 60′s colorful, flower power pop for cutthroat, unforgiving rock. At the same time, the R&B infused MC5 (Motor City 5) finally gave protest music a threatening voice, leaving the acoustic guitars [...]
Whitney Houston passed away yesterday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. News of her death playing over the radio in the background interrupted a conversation in the car with my brother, and the old-fashioned announcement felt fitting for the singer who dominated the airwaves before iPods and music blogs. It is hard to [...]
If you discuss the greatest singers of all time, Etta James better be at the top of the conversation. Forever remembered for her timeless output with Chess Records, the legendary soul singer released some of music’s most cherished pieces. Of course, the whole world knows her unrivaled performance of “At Last,” but take some time [...]
Yesterday, Dwight Arrington Myers, a.k.a. Heavy D, passed away at 1PM at a Los Angeles hospital. The cause of his death is unknown, but it has been reported the former rapper was dealing with pneumonia. Rather than eulogizing Heavy D as an elite rap lyricist, it’s important to recognize the man as a dependably fun [...]
There’s not much more that can be said about the late ‘Big Man’ Clarence Clemons that hasn’t already been said by the people who were close to him. While I feel like I know him through his recordings and live performances, I realize most E-Street Band fanatics probably feel the same way. I therefore do [...]
Before fronting X-Ray Spex, one of early punk music’s key groups, Marianne Elliot-Said began performing at the age of 15. She released a reggae record in 1976, but within in a year, she found herself attending her first Sex Pistols show. Soon after, she took on the identity of Poly Styrene and placed an ad [...]
Solomon Burke never topped the charts, but he was an early Soul pioneer, laying the framework for the evolved form of R&B alongside other legendary artists like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. He sang against upbeat country infused pop music, which helped claim him the nickname the “King of Rock ‘n’ Soul.” It was definitely [...]
Just four months after the death of lead singer/songwriter Alex Chilton, original Big Star bassist Andy Hummel has passed away. Hummel formed Big Star alongside Chilton, guitarist Chris Bell, and Jody Stephens. The band would greatly influence countless acts in alternative and indie music.
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