obituary
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Soul singer/songwriter Bobby Caldwell, best known for his 1978 hit “What You Won’t Do For Love,” has died at 71. His wife, Mary Caldwell, announced the news in a tweet on Wednesday morning (March 15), writing that, “Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been ‘FLOXED,’ it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love.”
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While Mary Caldwell didn’t specify what ailment the singer suffered from, “Floxed” generally refers to a condition the Regenerative Medicine L.A. treatment center says arises from the adverse effects of consuming fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin or Avelox; no additional information on the cause of Caldwell’s death was available at press time.
Robert Hunter Caldwell was born on April 15, 1951 in New York City and got his first big break serving as the rhythm guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s before going solo later in the decade and scoring a hit out of the box on his TK Records debut with the No. 9 Billboard Hot 100 single “What You Won’t Do For Love.”
In a 2005 interview with NPR, Caldwell said the Miami-based label with a largely Black, R&B roster didn’t “want it to be well-known that I was white,” which explains why his picture was left off the cover of his self-titled debut. Additionally, he said the record was initially completed without the smooth, jazzy ballad “Love,” which Caldwell wrote and cut in a hurry to please TK boss Henry Stone. The song went on to cement Caldwell’s reputation as a “blue-eyed soul” star and it has been covered since by everyone from Boyz II Men to Michael Bolton, Roy Ayers and Snoh Aalegra; it was also sampled by Tupac Shakur on “Do For Love.”
He scored again in 1980 with the gentle piano pop tune “Open Your Eyes” from that year’s Cat in the Hat album, which was later sampled by producer J Dilla for the song “The Light” from Common’s Like Water for Chocolate album.
Describing his sound, which mixed pop with smooth jazz, R&B and a Brazilian/island vibe, Caldwell told NPR that his time growing up in Miami soaking up all kinds of music — “Haitian, reggae, Latin, pop, R&B” — as well as befriending his real estate mom’s client, reggae icon Bob Marley, helped him find his signature groove.
Caldwell continued to release albums throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the mid-2010’s, all the way through his final collection, 2015’s Cool Uncle. He also wrote the hit 1986 duet “The Next Time I Fall” for Amy Grant and Chicago’s Peter Cetera, as well as songs for Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, Ayers, Chicago and Natalie Cole, among others.
See Mary Caldwell’s tweet and listen to “What You Won’t Do For Love” below.
Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been “FLOXED,” it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love. -Mary Caldwell— Bobby Caldwell (@bobbycaldwell) March 15, 2023
South African rapper Costa Titch has died after collapsing onstage at Johannesburg’s Ultra South Africa music festival on Saturday (March 11). He was 28.
The family of the rapper, whose real name was Constantinos Tsobanoglou, confirmed the tragic news in a statement posted Sunday (March 12) on the artist’s Instagram account.
“Death has tragically knocked at our door. Robbing us of our beloved son, brother, and grandson,” the statement reads. “Constantinos Tsobanoglou (28), whom South Africa had come to love and idolize under his stage name ‘Costa Titch.’ It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.”
His loved ones continued, “As a family, we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves. The Tsobanoglou family thanks you for the love and support you have given to our son, and may you continue to uplift him even in spirit. Please keep us in your prayers and uplifted in the Lord.”
An official cause of death was not given at press time.
Videos circulating on social media show Titch collapsing briefly during his Ultra South Africa set at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday, then standing up to continue his performance before losing consciousness once again and being rushed off to the side.
Ultra South Africa organizers tweeted a statement on Sunday following Titch’s death.
“Costa was a galvanizing voice amongst South Africa’s amapiano scene — a talented rapper, dancer, singer, songwriter, collaborator and friend to the festival,” Ultra South Africa’s statement reads.
Titch, a rising star in the South African musical style amapiano, was signed to Akon’s Konvict Kulture label. The rapper recently collaborated with Akon on the single “Big Flexa,” from Titch’s 2022 album, Mr Big Flexa.
Titch won best collaboration and best remix at the 2020 South African Hip Hop Awards for his song “Nkalakatha,” featuring Riky Rick and Kiernan “AKA” Forbes. In early February, AKA was shot and killed outside of a restaurant in South Africa.
See the statement from Titch’s family about his passing below.
Lewis Largent, the influential alternative rock radio DJ and MTV VJ that hosted 120 Minutes, died on Feb. 20, a representative confirmed to Billboard.
He passed away after a long illness, Variety first reported.
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Largent grew up in Southern California and launched his career in music at L.A.’s KROQ, with an internship that turned into a full-time role in 1985. Four years later, he was named musical director at the alternative radio station.
In 1992, Largent shifted over to MTV, where he landed as a vp of music programming and became the host of 120 Minutes, bringing artists including David Bowie, Bjork, Trent Reznor, Radiohead and PJ Harvey to television screens everywhere on Sunday nights. He was the face of the show through 1995, though he stayed with the company in his programming role until 1999.
His role as host was next appointed to Matt Pinfield, who upon hearing of Largent’s death tweeted Friday, “I am completely gutted. I loved Lewis very much. I am at a loss for words.”
Following his years with MTV, Largent went to Island Def Jam Records, where as svp of A&R he signed artists such as Sum 41 and Andrew WK. He left IDJ in 2004.
Later in life, he went back to college to study creative writing, earning a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and his Master of Fine Arts in 2015.
Largent is survived by wife Julie Greenwald, Atlantic Music Group chairman and CEO, and their two children.
Chaim Topol, the spirited Israeli actor and singer who, one season following another, portrayed Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof on stages all around the world and in an Oscar-nominated turn in Norman Jewison’s 1971 film adaptation, has died. He was 87.
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The Associated Press, citing Israeli leaders, reported that Topol died Thursday in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s first international movie star, Topol also played famed Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in Galileo (1975); an American scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov, in the cult sci-fi classic Flash Gordon (1980); and Milos Columbo, a Greek smuggler and ally of Roger Moore’s James Bond, in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
As Polish family man Berel Jastrow, he was central to the plot of two acclaimed 1980s ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, both based on Herman Wouk novels.
In a pairing that a matchmaker would surely appreciate, Topol by his own estimation connected with Tevye more than 3,500 times over more than four decades, starting with a Hebrew-language production in his home country when he was 30.
He also starred as the Jewish dairyman and father of five daughters — and performed such signature songs as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Tradition” and “If I Were a Rich Man” — on the West End in the mid-1960s and on Broadway in 1990-91, receiving a Tony nomination in the process.
“How many people are known for one part? How many people in my profession are known worldwide? So, I am not complaining,” he said in a 2015 interview. “Sometimes I am surprised when I come to China or when I come to Tokyo or when I come to France or when I come wherever and the clerk at the immigration says, ‘Topol, Topol, are you Topol?’ So yes, many people saw it [Fiddler], and it is not a bad thing.”
The oldest of three kids, Chaim Topol was born in Tel Aviv on Sept. 9, 1935. His father, Jacob, was a plasterer, and his mother, Imrela, a seamstress. He worked as a printer for a newspaper while taking high school classes at night, then lived on a kibbutz for a year.
He gained experience as an entertainer in the Israeli army, where he acted and sang in a traveling theatrical troupe. After the service, he honed his skills performing around the country for three years in a kibbutz theater group that he and his friends had founded in 1957.
Topol had a major breakthrough when he was cast as a Middle Eastern immigrant struggling to fend for his family in Israel in Sallah Shabati (1964). A huge hit at home, the social satire was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign-language film, and Topol, then 29, received a Golden Globe for most promising male newcomer for playing a character in his 50s. (Topol had performed the title role in a play while in the army.)
Two years later, he made his English-language film debut alongside Kirk Douglas in Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), playing a Bedouin leader in the drama set amid the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
At the urging of friends, Topol came to New York to see Zero Mostel star as Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye in the original 1964-72 Broadway production of Hal Prince’s Fiddler on the Roof, featuring music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. He then played the milkman for 10 weeks in Israel, stepping in for Shmuel Rodensky, who had taken ill.
Prince had seen Topol in Sallah Shabati and invited him to test for the lead in the London production of Fiddler as it moved from Broadway in 1966.
“They could not believe it was me when I went to the audition because I was too young! They expected Sallah, who was old. Not me!” he said. “I knew no English. I studied the songs. I sang ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ and then another song from Fiddler. It was the first audition in my life.
“They asked how many times I had seen the show. I said maybe four times. They couldn’t understand how I knew all the movements, all the songs from the show. I said, ‘No, you don’t understand … I’m currently performing in Fiddler, in Tel Aviv!”
After he was hired, he began to go by Topol after the British producers had trouble pronouncing his first name.
He landed the lead in Jewison’s film version at United Artists despite lobbying by Mostel, Rod Steiger, Danny Kaye and Frank Sinatra to play the part. He was hired “probably because I was cheaper,” he told The Jerusalem Post in 2013.
In its review, THR noted that Topol imbued his performance “with all the compassion, intensity and rough humor it requires. His speaking voice is magnificent, and if his singing voice is imperfect, this only seems appropriate to the characterization.”
Fiddler on the Roof was nominated for best picture and Topol for best actor, but The French Connection and its star Gene Hackman prevailed on Oscar night. Topol, however, did receive a Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical.
His big-screen résumé also included Before Winter Comes (1968) and a turn opposite Mia Farrow in The Public Eye (1972), directed by Carol Reed.
Topol last portrayed Tevye on a Boston stage in 2009 but was forced to exit the musical after suffering a shoulder injury.
A year later, he founded the Jordan River Village, where children with serious illnesses come to have fun. (His inspiration was Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall camps.) He was also a member of the board of directors of Variety Israel, a nonprofit organization that assists kids with special needs, regardless of religion, race and gender.
He received the prestigious Israel Prize for lifetime achievement from his government in 2015.
Survivors include his wife, Galia, whom he married in October 1956. They had three children, Omer, Adi and Anat.
This article originally appeared in THR.com.
The flight of another Free Bird is over.
Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Sunday (March 5), at the age of 71, nearly four months before the band was planning to set out on its next tour.
No cause of death was given, though the guitarist had been dealing with health issues over the past couple of decades and particularly since the mid-2010s, when heart ailments occasionally sidelined Rossington, and the band.
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In an official statement Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote that, “It is without deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington today. Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Please keep Dale, Mary and Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this time.”
During a 2016 interview with Billboard, promoting his Take It on Faith album with wife Dale Krantz-Rossington — who’s also a Skynyrd back-up singer — Rossington said that despite his health battles he’d made a decision to go on playing and die with his proverbial boots on.
“It’s just in my blood, y’know?,” he explained. “I’m just an old guitar player, and we’ve spent our whole loves and the 10,000 hours of working to understand how to play and do it. So I think once you’ve got something going for yourself you should keep it up and keep your craft going. When you retire, what’s next? I like to fish, but how much of that can you do, right? So I want to keep doing what I do now.”
Rossington was the last man standing in a band that formed during 1964 in Jacksonville, Fla., starting with bassist Larry Junstrom and drummer Bob Burns in a trio called Me, You, and Him. Signer Ronnie Van Zant, who played on a rival baseball team, jammed with the team after one of their games, playing the Rolling Stones’ “Time Is on My Side,” and the rest was history.
Skynyrd settled on its name around 1970, taking it from Leonard Skinner, the strict physical education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School; Skinner was particularly hard on boys who had long hair, which led Rossington to drop out of school.
After working the local and regional scene Skynyrd was discovered by Al Kooper, founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who signed the band to his Sounds of the South label. “We were a little bit of everything, really,” Rossington said of the burgeoning band’s approach. “We loved all the British invasion stuff and, of course, the Allman Brothers and Stax and that stuff. There were just a lot of things we stirred together.”
The band’s debut album, (Pronounced Len-‘nerd ‘Skin-‘nerd) was released on Aug. 13, 1973 and featured the lengthy anthem “Free Bird,” which would become Skynyrd’s signature song. The group continued to build a following through hard touring and tracks such as “Sweet Home Alabama” — its answer to Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” Rossington co-wrote that track as well as other Skynyrd favorites such as “I Ain’t the One,” “Things Goin’ On,” “Don’t Ask Me No Questions,” “Gimme Back My Bullets” and “What’s Your Name.”
The first phase of Skynyrd ended on Oct. 20, 1977, when a Convair CV-240 carrying the band from Greenville, S.C. to Baton Rouge, La., crashed near Gillsburg, Miss., killing three band members (Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his older sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots. Rossington and other suffered severe injuries and put the group on hold immediately after.
“We couldn’t imagine going on after something like that,” he said. “We were a brotherhood, and when you lose your brothers you can’t just go on.” He and guitarist Allen Rossington formed the Rossington Collins Band, which lasted nearly four years and two albums before breaking up in 1982. Skynyrd, meanwhile reformed in 1987, ostensibly to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the plane crash; the band has continued ever since, recording nine more studio albums and going through a number of number of lineup changes.
Rossington — who is part of a guitarist core that included Collins (who passed away during 1977), Ed King (who died in 2018), Hughie Thomasson (who died in 2007), Rickey Medlocke and others — was the only Skynyrd member to appear on all of its albums.
Rossington said that despite the healthy issues, he was motivated to continue in order to pay tribute to his fallen bandmates — including longtime bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy Powell. “These guys created so much great music that people still love today,” Rossington noted. “I’m the last one here, so to be able to tell their story and make sure they’re remembered, I’m blessed to be able to do that. It’s, like, my responsibility.” He had, however, missed some shows and only played portions of others in recent years.
In 2016 Krantz-Rossington noted that she and her husband had agreed that continuing to play music was the best thing for him. “He said to me, ‘I would much rather go out kickin’ than sitting here in my chair, and that was the last time we talked about it,” she said. “After that we just decided to ask for God’s mercy and do it til we drop.”
Tributes to Rossington began hitting social media immediately after the band’s announcement. Longtime friend Charlie Daniels wrote, “the last of the Free birds has flown home. RIP Gary Rossington, God Bless the Lynyrd @Skynyrd band. Prayers to Dale and the rest of his family.”
Skynyrd is, in fact, planning to join forces with ZZ Top for The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour starting July 21 in West Palm Beach, Fla. it’s expected to go on, even though Johnny Van Zant — younger brother of Ronnie Van Zant and Skynyrd’s frontman since 1977 — has said that, “I don’t think you can have Lynyrd Skynyrd without Gary Rossington.”
In addition to Krantz-Rossington, the guitarist is survived by their two daughters and several grandchildren. No funeral or memorial information has been announced.
Bassist and session musician Michael Rhodes, who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019, has died. He was 69.
A representative for Rhodes confirmed his death to Billboard. Rhodes passed away at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, Saturday morning (March 4). No cause of death was given at press time.
Rhodes was born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1953. At age 11 he taught himself to play guitar, which he began playing professionally, before taking up bass.
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After stints living in Austin and Memphis, he wound up in Nashville in 1977, where he joined local rock band Nerve and Tree Publishing’s house demo band. It was there that he got what he called “a great crash course in the art of playing a song, and what was needed for a song,” he told Nashville Arts.
He went on to have a prolific career in session work, playing on award-winning songs including Shawn Colvin’s “Sunny Came Home” (1996) and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” (2000), and even had the honor of playing on both LeAnn Rimes’ and Trisha Yearwood’s 1997 versions of Diane Warren’s “How Do I Live.”
His incredibly long list of credits includes recordings for Willie Nelson, Etta James, Mark Knopfler, Alan Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Brian Wilson, Joss Stone, Dolly Parton, the (Dixie) Chicks, J.J. Cale, Wynonna, Merle Haggard, Randall Bramblett, Amy Grant, Hank Williams Jr, the Highwaymen, John Oates, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Bob Seger, Dave Stewart, Keith Whitley, Joan Baez, Lionel Richie, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Cash, Lonnie Mack, India.Arie, Buddy Guy, Grace Potter, Billy Joe Shaver, Ruthie Collins, Michael McDonald, Dan Penn, Jennifer Holiday, John Fogerty, Elton John and Joan Osborne.
In recent years, he played often in Joe Bonamassa’s band.
Rhodes is survived by wife Lindsay Fairbanks Rhodes, son Jason Rhodes and daughter Melody Wind Rhodes, and Lindsay’s sons, Van and Weston Hayes, as well as grandchildren Cayman Rhodes, Cora Rhodes, Wylder Rhodes, Kingsley Rhodes, Jenna Nicole Hillman and Ryley Bruce Hillman.
Memorial arrangements will be provided at a future time.
In lieu of flowers, and in Rhodes’ spirit, his family requests that donations be made to the Music Health Alliance, which provides aid to musicians in need of healthcare and support. Checks may be sent to Music Health Alliance, 2737 Larmon Dr, Nashville, TN, 37204 or through their website, musichealthalliance.com. Rhodes’ family also encourages listening to a piece of music that matters to you; Rhodes listened to John Coltrane before he passed. “He really loved jazz and John Coltrane, all those guys,” Rhodes’ wife says. “It fed him, always.”
David Lindley, a notable Los Angeles session musician known for his work and collaborations with numerous stars during the 1970s and ’80s, died on Friday (March 3). He was 78.
The highly talented multi-instrumentalist — whose guitar and fiddle skills made him a go-to collaborator for icons like Jackson Browne, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and others — had been ill for a number of months, according to the Los Angeles Times. A cause of death was not provided.
“The loss of David Lindley is a huge one,” Jason Isbell wrote on Twitter. “Without his influence my music would sound completely different. I was genuinely obsessed with his playing from the first time I heard it. The man was a giant.”
Graham Nash also paid tribute on Instagram to Lindley, calling him “one of the most talented musicians there has ever been.” He added, “David could play pretty much any instrument you put in front of him with incredible versatility and expression.”
Lindley was born in San Marino, Calif., on March 21, 1944. He grew up surrounded by music and began playing banjo and fiddle as a child. By his early twenties, Lindley had developed an interest in electric music and formed the psychedelic folk-rock band Kaleidoscope. The group released its debut album, Side Trips, in 1967. That same year, he worked as a session musician on Leonard Cohen’s first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, according to the Times.
After splitting with Kaleidoscope in 1970 following the release of four albums, Lindley joined Jackson Browne’s band, establishing himself on albums like 1973’s For Everyman, 1974’s Late for the Sky and 1977’s Running on Empty. During his time with Browne, Lindley also joined studio sessions with other notable artists during the mid-’70s, including Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Crosby & Nash, Rod Stewart and Ry Cooder.
In the early 1980s, Lindley put his session work on hold and formed the group El Rayo-X, which went on to release two albums. Later that decade, he appeared on Bob Dylan’s Under the Red Sky, Iggy Pop’s Brick by Brick and John Prine’s The Missing Years. During the ’90s, Lindley collaborated on albums releases with avant-garde guitarist Henry Kaiser and Jordanian oud player Hani Naser. He reunited with Browne for a tour of Spain in 2006.
Lindley released his last solo album, Big Twang, in 2007. That same year, he and Kaiser scored Werner Herzog’s documentary Encounters at the End of the World.
See more tributes on social media to Lindley below.
It’s so sad to hear of David Lindley’s passing. He was a giant among musicians. Always his unique sound and style gave him away in one note. My thoughts are with his family.— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) March 4, 2023
The loss of David Lindley is a huge one- Without his influence my music would sound completely different. I was genuinely obsessed with his playing from the first time I heard it. The man was a giant.— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) March 3, 2023
Musician David Lindley Dead at 78 Years Old – Rolling Stone.That final cadenza on that one live version of Jackson Browne’’s Running On Empty is the greatest recorded live song ending EVER. Gawd Bless You, El Rayo X aka David Lindley !☮️🌹❤️🩹🎸🙏🏾😞 https://t.co/JDLGvvwIgo— Vernon Reid (@vurnt22) March 4, 2023
Wayne Shorter, one of the most admired and singular American jazz composers and saxophonists of the modern era has died at 89. At press time no information was available about the cause of death, but a spokesperson for label Blue Note Records confirmed to Billboard that the 12-time Grammy winner had passed in Los Angeles on Thursday (March 2).
After brief runs with the Horace Silver Quintet and the Maynard Ferguson big band, Shorter’s career began in earnest in 1959 when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a four-year tenure that found him graduating to musical director for the group while blossoming into a multi-faceted composer and master of the driving, hard bop sound.
“Visionary composer, saxophonist, visual artist, devout Buddhist, devoted husband, father and grandfather Wayne Shorter has embarked on a new journey as part of his extraordinary life – departing the earth as we know it in search of an abundance of new challenges and creative possibilities,” read a statement from a spokesperson for Shorter. “Always inquisitive and constantly exploring – ever the fearless and passionate innovator – Shorter was 89 years young and had just won his 13th Grammy Award in February.”
“Shorter was surrounded by his loving family at the time of his transition and is survived by his devoted wife Carolina, daughters Miyako and Mariana, and newly-born grandson, Max. Most recently Wayne had been contemplating his next project, a Jazz ballet,” it continued.
He then moved on to a fruitful six-year run with jazz icon Miles Davis, first in his Quintet, where Shorter was able to stretch his musical wings and add layers to his already formidable talents, including on Davis’ landmark 1969 jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.
A master on the tenor saxophone, by the time Shorter left the Davis orbit he had moved on to playing soprano sax in the 1970s and 80s with keyboardist Joe Zawinul, bassist Miroslav Vitous, percussionist Airto Moreira and drummer Alphonse Mouzon in the fusion supergroup Weather Report; other members of the group of the years included genre-defining jazz bassist Jaco Pastorious, beloved session drummers Steve Gadd and Omar Hakim and Sly and the Family Stone drummer Greg Errico.
Born on August 25, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Shorter studied music at New York University in the mid-1950s, developing a style influenced by such jazz pioneers as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. In addition to helping to pioneer the fusion movement — which encouraged improvisation and the folding in of rock, funk and R&B styles and the addition of electric guitars and keyboards — the deeply intellectual Shorter also released a series of beloved solo albums during his tenure with Davis.
Among those albums are Juju — which featured members of Coltrane’s quartet — and Speak No Evil — with some of his Davis bandmates — the latter considered by many jazz critics to be one of the finest examples of both Shorter’s compositional brilliance and a foundational text for students and lovers of the post-1950s jazz era.
In addition to his stints in those bands, Shorter also collaborated with folk icon Joni Mitchell on 10 albums, Brazilian composer/singer Milton Nascimento, fellow former Davis bandmember Carlos Santana (on 1980’s The Swing of Delight) and, in perhaps his most high-profile non-jazz collab, he played the extended solo on the title track to Steely Dan’s 1977 Aja album.
Shorter continued to record and perform into the 2000s, forming his “Footprints” acoustic quartet in 2000 with drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and pianist Danilo Perez, with whom he released four live albums, including the 2006 Grammy-winning album Beyond the Sound Barrier. He also toured with the supergroup Mega Nova in 2016, which featured Santana and Hancock, as well as bassist Marcus Miller and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana.
In the statement, Shorter’s friend of six decades Hancock said, “Wayne Shorter, my best friend, left us with courage in his heart, love and compassion for all, and a seeking spirit for the eternal future. He was ready for his rebirth. As it is with every human being, he is irreplaceable and was able to reach the pinnacle of excellence as a saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, and recently, composer of the masterful opera ‘…Iphigenia’. I miss being around him and his special Wayne-isms but I carry his spirit within my heart always.”
After more than half a century on the road and in the studio, Shorter retired from performing in 2018 due to health issues. Over the course of his career, in addition to the dozen Grammy awards, Shorter received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016, the Polar Music Prize in 2017 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Over his 70-year career, Shorter’s works were performed by a long list of orchestras and performers, including: the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Lyon Symphony, National Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as ensembles including soprano Renée Fleming and the Imani Winds; he also received commissions from the National, St. Louis and Nashville symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the La Jolla Music Society.
Shorter released his final album, Emanon, in 2018.
Listen to Shorter’s “Footprints” below.
Pulp bassist Steve Mackey has died at age 56. The Britpop band’s singer, Jarvis Cocker, confirmed the news on Thursday (March 2), writing on Instagram, “Our beloved friend & bass player Steve Mackey passed away this morning. Our thoughts are with his family & loved ones.”
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At press time there was no additional information on the cause of death or the illness that struck the musician who joined the group in 1989 and first apepared on their 1992 album Separations.
Mackey’s wife, stylist Katie Grand, announced the news on her Instagram page (which is private, but was reposted on Mackey’s page), writing, “After three months in hospital, fighting with all his strength and determination, we are shocked and devastated to have said goodbye to my brilliant, beautiful husband, Steve Mackey. Steve died today, a loss which has left myself, his son Marley, parents Kath and Paul, sister Michelle and many friends all heartbroken.”
Grand called Mackey the “most talented man I have ever known,” as well as “an exceptional musician, producer, photographer and filmmaker. As in life, he was adored by everyone whose paths he crossed in the multiple creative disciplines he conquered. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the NHS staff who worked tirelessly for Steve. He will be missed beyond words. The family has asked for privacy at this time.”
The “Common People” group first formed in 1978, fronted by bespectacled singer Cocker and released their debut album, It, in 1983, followed by 1987’s Freaks. Mackey joined in time to appear on 1992’s Separations, the precursor to the group’s 1994 breakthrough, His ‘n’ Hers, which crystallized the band’s slack disco rock sound delivered via louche anthems about sex, social class and a lust for life.
But it was 1995’s Different Class that proved to be their shot across the bow of the then burgeoning Britpop movement that also encompassed bands such as Oasis and Blur. The record debuted on the UK charts at No. 1, scored Pulp the coveted Mercury Music Prize and spun off what is the band’s best-known hit, “Common People.” Mackey also played on 1998’s This Is Hardcore and the group’s studio swan song, 2001’s We Love Life.
Pulp went on hiatus after Life‘s release until 2011, when they reunited for a run of festival gigs and a number of shows and appearances that lasted through early 2013, before once again going on hiatus. Last year, Cocker announced that the group would reunite again this year for more dates — which are slated to kick off on May 26 in Bridlington, UK — with Mackey announcing on Instagram in Oct. 2022 that he planned to continue working on other projects and not join the group on the road.
“Wishing Candy, Nick, Mark and Jarvis the very best with forthcoming performances in the UK and also an enormous thanks to Pulp’s amazing fanbase, many of whom have sent me lovely messages today,” he wrote at the time.
In his memorial post, Cocker included a picture of Mackey hiking in the snow-covered Andes mountains from a 2012 South American tour. “We had a day off & Steve suggested we go climbing in the Andes. So we did. & it was a completely magical experience,” Cocker wrote. “Far more magical than staring at the hotel room wall all day (which is probably what I’d have done otherwise). Steve made things happen. In his life & in the band. & we’d very much like to think that he’s back in those mountains now, on the next stage of his adventure. Safe travels, Steve. We hope to catch up with you one day. “
See Grand and Cocker’s posts below.
Madonna‘s older brother Anthony Ciccone has died, according to a social media post by the pop icon’s brother-in-law Joe Henry. He was 66.
Henry, a musician who is married to Madonna’s sister Melanie Ciccone, announced the sad news through Instagram on Saturday (Feb. 25). In his emotional post, the songwriter and producer described Anthony Ciccone — one of Madonna’s seven siblings — as a “complex character.”
“My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, exited this earthly plane last evening,” Henry wrote alongside a youthful photograph of his brother-in-law. “I’ve known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone. As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can.”
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Henry continued, “But I loved him, and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains — with hands reached across the table. Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one shall dissuade me from this vision.”
Further details about Ciccone’s passing were not provided.
Henry’s Instagram post was liked by Madonna, but the legendary pop superstar had not released a statement about her brother’s passing at press time. Billboard has reached out to her representatives for comment.
Ciccone had reportedly struggled with alcoholism and was homeless for several years. In 2013, he needed nine stitches to his forehead after resisting arrest in a public bathroom in Michigan. His blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.40, according to the Associated Press.
Ciccone spoke out in a 2011 interview against Madonna, accusing the star and the rest of his family of not caring about him. “I’m a zero in their eyes — a non-person. I’m an embarrassment,” Ciccone told the Daily Mail. “If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months.”
Read Henry’s full post on Instagram here.