obituary
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Lisa Marie Presley — the only child of Elvis Presley — died Thursday (Jan. 12) after being hospitalized earlier that day, her mother said in a statement. The singer was 54.
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“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”
The announcement came just hours after Priscilla Presley had confirmed that Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to the hospital earlier Thursday.
Los Angeles County paramedics were dispatched to a Calabasas home at 10:37 a.m. following a report of a woman in full cardiac arrest, according to Craig Little, a spokesperson for the county’s fire department. Property records indicate Presley was a resident at that address.
Paramedics arrived about six minutes later, Little said. A subsequent statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said paramedics performed CPR and “determined the patient had signs of life” before taking her to the hospital immediately.
The city of Calabasas is nestled between the foothills of the Santa Monica and the Santa Susanna Mountains, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Presley, 54, attended the Golden Globes on Tuesday, on hand to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father in Elvis. She called his performance “mind-blowing” during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“I really didn’t know what to do with myself after I saw it,” she told ET of Baz Luhrmann’s movie. “I had to take, like, five days to process it because it was so incredible and so spot on and just so authentic that, yeah, I can’t even describe what it meant.”
Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate her father’s birth anniversary on Jan. 8.
A representative for Lisa Marie Presley had no comment when reached by The Associated Press.
Presley recently penned an essay published in People about “the horrific reality” of her grief following her son Benjamin Keough’s death by suicide in 2020.
“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in August.
Presley is also the mother of actor Riley Keough and twin daughters. Keogh’s representatives didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Jeff Beck died Tuesday (Jan. 10) at age 78, and his peers and fellow musicians have flocked to social media to remember him.
“No one played guitar like Jeff,” Gene Simmons tweeted before urging his followers to “Please get ahold of the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and behold greatness.”
Former teen idol Paul Young — known in the U.K. for ’80s hits like “Every Time You Go Away” and “Everything Must Change” — added his own tribute to Beck’s memory, tweeting, “Devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic death of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. He was loved by everyone in the know; the guitarists guitarist! My condolences to his family & friends. RIP.”
Simmons’ KISS bandmate Paul Stanley also memorialized his friend, writing, “WOW. What awful news. Jeff Beck, one of the all time guitar masters has died. From the Yard Birds to The Jeff Beck Group on, he blazed a trail impossible to follow. Play on now and forever. @jeffbeckmusic.”
Other reactions poured into Twitter from the likes of Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Dave Davies of The Kinks to Genesis’ Steve Hackett and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, the latter of whom described Beck as “the six-stringed Warrior” who had the ability to “channel music from the ethereal.”
Over the course of his life, the British musician won eight Grammys out of 17 total nominations and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also released 11 solo albums as well as studio sets with the Jeff Beck Group, the Yardbirds and the short-lived Beck, Bogert & Appice. His last and most recent LP was 18, a collaborative full-length with Johnny Depp in July.
Read social media tributes to Beck’s memory below.
Heartbreaking news to report the late, great Jeff Back has sadly passed. No one played guitar like Jeff. Please get ahold of the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and behold greatness. RIP. pic.twitter.com/3qnPOCyhUj— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) January 11, 2023
His technique unique. His imaginations apparently limitless. Jeff I will miss you along with your millions of fans. Jeff Beck Rest in Peace.https://t.co/4h1DfXXmWI— Jimmy Page (@JimmyPage) January 11, 2023
Is this true about Jeff Beck is this really happining I’m in fucking shock I can’t believe it— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) January 11, 2023
Devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic death of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. He was loved by everyone in the know; the guitarists guitarist! My condolences to his family & friends RIP. 😢 pic.twitter.com/OcCv1jSNvx— Paul Young (@PaulYoungParlez) January 11, 2023
WOW. What awful news. Jeff Beck, one of the all time guitar masters has died. From The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group on, he blazed a trail impossible to follow. Play on now and forever. @jeffbeckmusic pic.twitter.com/8LVeq47wxx— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) January 11, 2023
I was totally shocked to hear the very sad news of Jeff Beck’s passing. Jeff was such a nice person and an outstanding iconic, genius guitar player – there will never be another Jeff Beck. His playing was very special & distinctively brilliant! He will be missed. RIP Jeff -Tony pic.twitter.com/i6BGdqTUKU— Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) January 11, 2023
Devastating news about the loss of much loved, influential guitar legend Jeff Beck. He made the electric guitar sing… a powerful influence on myself and many others.— Steve Hackett (@HackettOfficial) January 11, 2023
Jeff Beck, member of The Yardbirds, founder of the Jeff Beck Group and one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time, died on Tuesday (Jan. 10). He was 78 years old.
The news of his death was confirmed in a statement released by his family on Wednesday (Jan. 11). “It is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” the statement reads. “After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”
The British rocker brought his adventurous and powerful guitar style to The Yardbirds in 1965, when he joined the British band to replace Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session musician Jimmy Page. He spent 20 months in the band, working on the 1966 album Roger the Engineer.
After being fired from The Yardbirds, Beck recorded a number of solo singles produced by Mickie Most, including “Hi Ho Silver Lining” and “Tallyman.” He went on to form his own band, the Jeff Beck Group, featuring vocalist Rod Stewart, bassist Ronnie Wood and drummer Nicky Hopkins, and the group released two albums together, 1968’s Truth and 1969’s Beck-Ola.
In the ’70s, Beck briefly formed a trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.
He won eight Grammys and was nominated 17 times throughout his career, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992 and as a solo performer in 2009. Beck recently wrapped up a tour in support of 18, his joint album with Johnny Depp.
See the family’s statement below:
Gordy Harmon, a founding member of the beloved R&B group The Whispers, died on Thursday (Jan. 5). He was 79 years old.
The news of his death was initially reported by ABC7, who noted that the soul musician died peacefully in his sleep, and that his family believes he died of natural causes and had no serious illnesses.
Harmon founded The Whispers in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles with twin brothers Wallace and Walter Scott, Marcus Hutson and Nicholas Caldwell in 1964.
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During Harmon’s time in the group, The Whispers took over the R&B world with albums like Life and Breath, as well as 1972’s The Whispers’ Love Story, which climbed up to No. 34 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and featured Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charting singles “Can’t Help But Love You” (No. 35), “I Only Meant to Wet My Feet” (No. 27), “Your Love Is So Doggone Good” (No. 19) and “There’s a Love for Everyone” (No. 31).
Unfortunately, Harmon’s time in The Whispers was cut short in 1973, when he suffered a larynx injury after a driving accident, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel. He was replace by Leaveil Degree.
Alan Copeland, the songwriter, Grammy-winning arranger and ultra-smooth vocalist known for his many years with The Modernaires and performances on Your Hit Parade and The Red Skelton Hour, has died. He was 96.
Copeland died Dec. 28 in an assisted living facility in Sonora, California, his friend Bob Lehmann told The Hollywood Reporter.
As recently as this fall, Copeland was still singing and playing keyboards in a quartet called Now You Hazz Jazz. “It was his dream to play in a small group until the last curtain, that’s how he termed it,” said Lehmann, the drummer.
Copeland wrote or co-wrote songs including “Make Love to Me” — Jo Stafford’s version made it to No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1954 — “Too Young to Know,” “High Society,” “This Must Be the Place, “Darling, Darling, Darling” and “While the Vesper Bells Were Ringing.”
After taking arranging lessons from Henry Mancini, he arranged vocals for big bands and the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Bing Crosby, Jim Nabors, Count Basie, Engelbert Humperdinck, Peter Marshall and Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme.
In 1968, Copeland won a Grammy for best contemporary pop performance by a chorus for pairing the theme from CBS’ Mission: Impossible with The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” (Listen to the medley here.)
Known for combining musicality with wit, as noted jazz critic Stanley Dance once put it, Copeland also spent several years in the 1960s on Skelton’s CBS variety show with The Modernaires, who would morph into The Skel-tones and The Alan Copeland Singers.
Copeland, who went by the nickname Weaver, was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 6, 1926. As a member of the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, he sang in such fabled films as Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Meet John Doe (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and Going My Way (1944).
After serving with the U.S. Navy, Copeland started his own vocal group, The Twin Tones, a featured attraction with Jan Garber’s orchestra.
He joined The Modernaires for the first time in 1948, and soon, the group was performing alongside The Andrews Sisters and Dick Haymes on a five-nights-a-week radio variety program hosted by singer/bandleader Bob Crosby (Bing’s brother). The show then segued to television.
Copeland appeared with the group in The Glenn Miller Story (1954), starring Jimmy Stewart, then left to perform solo on the popular NBC/CBS program Your Hit Parade from 1957 until it left the air in 1959.
He rejoined The Modernaires and did arrangements and added lyrics to such classics as “In the Mood” and “Tuxedo Junction” for the 1960 album The Modernaires Sing the Great Glenn Miller Instrumentals. They found further success four years later with New Top Hits in the Glenn Miller Style, an album that featured singer Tex Beneke.
Copeland arranged and conducted for Nabors’ 1966 hit “Cuando Calienta el Sol” and sang on Universal Pictures’ Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), starring Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing. And he served as choral supervisor on Blake Edwards’ Darling Lili (1970), starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson, and on Bing Crosby-hosted Christmas specials for two decades.
Copeland appeared as a member of the band put together by Tony Randall’s Felix Unger on two 1974 episodes of ABC’s The Odd Couple and was back, yet again, with The Modernaires in the 1990s.
He also collaborated with his late wife, Joyce, a vocalist also known as Mahmu Pearl, on several albums.
His memoir, Jukebox Saturday Nights, was published in 2007.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Keenan Cahill, a popular YouTuber known for his viral lip sync videos, died last week (Dec. 29) due to complications from open-heart surgery. He was just 27 years old.
According to his manager David Graham, per TMZ, the content creator underwent the surgery in a Chicago hospital on Dec. 15 and was put on life support after leaving the operating room.
Cahill was born with a rare condition called Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, which progressively causes tissues and organs in the body to enlarge, become inflamed, scar and eventually atrophy. The disease can also cause skeletal abnormalities.
In a GoFundMe launched to help cover his medical and funeral expenses, Cahill’s aunt wrote, “Because of his rare disease, he has had countless surgeries over his short life including a bone marrow transplant. Thank you to everyone that made Keenan’s short life memorable. He will be missed by all who knew him.”
The YouTube personality first went viral in the summer of 2010 by uploading a lip sync to Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Over the years, he also teamed up with the likes of Britney Spears, 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, DJ Pauly D, David Guetta, Jason Derulo and more. Cahill even had history on the Billboard charts, with “Hands Up,” his 2013 single with Electrovamp, landing at No. 14 on the Dance Club Songs chart.
Following the news of his death, tributes to Cahill flooded in on social media. Pauly D wrote, “Rip Keenan…Thank You for always making the world smile,” alongside a photo of the pair behind a DJ booth. Andy Grammer shared his own video with the YouTuber and tweeted, “So sad to hear about the passing of @KeenanCahill – He was a bright light and his joy was undeniably infectious.”
Read more tributes to Cahill’s memory below.
Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, the core and founding member of Choir of Young Believers, has died at age 39. The artist’s U.S. label, Ghostly International, confirmed the news Thursday (Jan. 5) and revealed that after struggling with “a short period of illness,” the musician died just before New Year’s Eve.
Makrigiannis formed Choir of Young Believers in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the help of his friends and fellow musicians. By 2007, the group had released its first EP, Burn the Flag, and a year later, the debut album This Is for the White in Your Eyes. The album’s lead single, “Hollow Talk,” gained traction throughout Denmark on radio due to its sync on opening and closing credits of the Danish–Swedish police television series The Bridge.
Following a performance at the 2009 South by Southwest music festival, Choir of Young Believers were signed to Ghostly International, their U.S. label. The label released This Is for the White in Your Eyes in North America on Aug. 18, 2009.
Choir of Young Believers’ most recent album, Holy Smoke, came out on Nov. 4.
“Jannis was a gentle, kind soul, always appreciative of our team helping him to share his art with the world. He always put art first in his process, and as a result, Jannis was often far ahead of the cultural curve,” Ghostly International wrote about the musician in its statement. “His music only seems to get better with time.”
Walter F. Ulloa, the Latin media veteran who founded Entravision Communications, died unexpectedly of a heart attack over the New Year’s holiday weekend, his company announced. He was 74 years old.
At the time of his death, Ulloa was the chairman and chief executive of Entravision, a global digital marketing and media company that boasts more than 4,500 technology and consumer brand clients, according to Ulloa’s LinkedIn page. He co-founded the company with Philip Wilkinson in 1996.
In the U.S., Entravision is known mainly for its robust media offering, which includes 55 television stations, making it the largest independent broadcaster of Univision-affiliated stations in the country, and 47 radio stations, most of them Spanish-language.
Ulloa, who was Mexican-American, grew up in California and graduated from USC. He later attended Loyola Law School. He started his career in media at KMEX-TV, Univision’s flagship television station in Los Angeles, where he worked multiple jobs, from production manager to news director to CEO, before launching Entravision.
Especially at a time when Spanish-language media was not in the hands of Latinos, Ulloa was a trailblazer who saw early on the possibilities in the field and recognized the power of Latin ownership.
“Walter Ulloa was a visionary businessman who took a Spanish-language TV station and built it into a global enterprise,” posted congressman Chuy García (D-IL) on Twitter. “His commitment to empowering the Latino community was his guiding star and his passion. My thoughts are with his family and the many friends he leaves behind.”
Walter Ulloa was a visionary businessman who took a Spanish-language TV station and built it into a global enterprise. His commitment to empowering the Latino community was his guiding star and his passion. My thoughts are with his family and the many friends he leaves behind. https://t.co/tANjo6Li73— Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) January 4, 2023
Alba Egan, the genial public and talent relations executive who was instrumental in boosting the careers of Chayanne, Ricky Martin and Juan Gabriel, among many others, has died after a long struggle with kidney disease. Egan passed away at her Miami home on Sunday evening (Jan. 1). She was 69.
A no-nonsense but cheerful woman, Egan — widely known as Albita — was easily identifiable by her signature bright red hair (which would later turn gray) as she helped some of Latin music’s biggest stars navigate the media. As one of the first women to head press and publicity divisions at major labels, Egan worked at BMG Latin, Sony Discos and EMI Latin in Miami, coordinating campaigns for artists ranging from Ricardo Montaner to Shakira. Egan, who was born in Cuba and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, at one point managed the career of beloved Mexican icon Gabriel, with whom she remained close until his death in 2016.
Many of Latin music’s most prominent publicists credit Egan with having opened major doors for them in their profession.
“She was one of the most beloved people in the music industry,” says publicist Marlene Maseda, founder and COO of Fusion 4 Media. “She was a pioneer who, with her originality and creativity, climbed to the peak of her profession in every label she worked with […] As a professional, she was one of the few who always helped others and who was genuinely happy for others’ success.”
Egan’s Facebook page was flooded with homage posts and anecdotes from people from all walks of the industry.
“She was a mentor to me and it surprised me to see that she was a mentor to so many,” wrote Nevarez Communications founder Mayna Nevarez, whose client list includes Daddy Yankee, recalling that Egan would often call to give her pointers after seeing her clients in the media.
“You always had the perfect word of advice, and sometimes, the perfect word to calm one down. I take your advice very deeply with me,” wrote Nini Veras, who reps Nicky Jam, among others.
“Elegant,” “generous,” “respect” and “loyalty” are the words that recur again and again in the many posts on Egan’s page.
“You were an icon in the music industry loved and respected by many…You always had a way with words and were giving out constant encouragement and kind compliments to your friends,” wrote Angela Rodríguez, founder of AR Entertainment.
Egan’s last job in the industry was as a talent booker at TV network America TV, closing an extraordinary professional arc that began in the 1980s and that covered multiple generations of artists and executives.
“We met in this amazing music industry world at the end of the 1980s, and since then, we were colleagues and competition, but always friends,” wrote Alvaro Rizo, the former president of EMI Colombia. “You only ever spoke sweet words and generous comments, and always, that broad smile.”
Egan’s funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
Chris Ledesma, who served as the beloved music editor of The Simpsons on every one of its first 734 episodes, from the Fox animated series’ premiere in 1989 through a 34th-season installment in November, has died. He was 64.
Ledesma died Dec. 16 in Los Angeles, a spokesperson for the show told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death was revealed.
Ledesma had been hired to fill in as a music editor on Fox’s The Tracey Ullman Show, where The Simpsons began as a series of shorts playing in and out of commercials. He then started on the spinoff on Nov. 22, 1989.
“I was skeptical of turning the little 30- and 60-second featurettes on Tracey into a full-fledged, half-hour show,” he wrote on his blog in 2011. “All that went out the window as soon as I saw the first two shows.”
Ledesma noted on Twitter in September 2021 that he had been with The Simpsons for more than half his life. At the time, he was 23,242 days old and had been an employee for 11,621 of them.
Today is a significant milestone for me.I am 23,242 days oldI have worked on The Simpsons for 11,621 daysBorn 1/28/1958First day on #TheSimpsons 11/22/1989Not many can say they have worked at ANY job any more for LITERALLY half their lives.#Grateful #Blessed— Chris Ledesma (@mxedtr) September 16, 2021
He left the show in May, and his final Simpsons episode aired in November as the eighth installment of season 34. On Sunday night, the series paid tribute to him with an end title card that read, “In loving memory of Chris Ledesma.”
Christopher Frederick Ledesma was born in Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 1958. He started playing piano by ear at age 3, then took formal trumpet lessons beginning in the third grade.
While at CalArts, he decided to pursue a career in music editing after serving in that capacity on a student film. He also was an orchestral conducting major at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
When he wasn’t riding the tram as a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood, Ledesma sat in on scoring sessions for such shows as Murder, She Wrote, Magnum P.I., Airwolf and Amazing Stories. He called that “a priceless education that could never have been offered at any college or university.”
In September 1985, Ledesma landed a job as an apprentice music editor at leading music editing house Segue Music, where he handled acclaimed MTM Enterprises shows including Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. He then worked for Music Design Group and Music Works before launching his own company, Click Track Inc., in 1992.
(Through all this, he didn’t give up his job on the Universal Studios tour until spring 1988.)
Starting in 1994, the two-time Emmy nominee also was music editor on another animated show, The Critic, created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss of The Simpsons.
In September 2014, he conducted a tribute to Simpsons composer Alf Clausen, with whom he worked so closely for so many years, at the Hollywood Bowl.
His résumé also included the films Back in the U.S.S.R. (1991), Dark Shadows (1991), Pure Country (1992), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Blast From the Past (1999) and Dudley Do-Right (1999); 20 Hallmark Hall of Fame telefilms; the 1988 miniseries War and Remembrance; and the 1993 TV movie Gypsy, starring Bette Midler. (He received Emmy noms for those last two projects.)
Survivors include his wife, Michelle; two daughters and two sons-in-law; and three grandchildren.
“The most rewarding part of the job for me is that I have been able to support and care for my family, and I work with genuinely nice people on a show that makes other people happy,” he said.
This article was originally published on THR.com.