*Official* In Memoriam Thread

[madducks]

Actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd was fatally shot in the back in Atlanta,Georgia on Saturday morning. Byrd starred in movies such as "Clockers," "Get on the Bus," "Bamboozled," "He Got Game," and "Red Hook Summer". He was also a successful theater actor, nominated for Broadway's 2003 Tony Award as Best Actor for a revival of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." He also starred in numerous regional stage productions including the San Diego Repertory Theater's award-winning performance of "Spunk". The shooting is under investigation. He was 70 years old RIP.

[In the Corn]

Eddie Van Halen passed away from his long fight with cancer.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...NG8FY-BvxpaI3o

[fuhrdog]

Eddie Van Halen passed away from his long fight with cancer.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...NG8FY-BvxpaI3o

https://twitter.com/AlexFast8/status...195526658?s=20

[madducks]

Singer Johnny Nash, best known for his 1972 hit "I Can See Clearly Now," died Tuesday morning at 80 years old. RIP.

[madducks]

Eddie Van Halen passed away from his long fight with cancer.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...NG8FY-BvxpaI3o

I was going to post the "Eruption" video, but i see it linked in the article along with some other great songs containing great guitar solos.

Listening to KDKA PIttsburgh talk radio last night, they had a one-hour memorial show about Eddie Van Halen. They had Rick and David Granati from a local 70's & 80's band on the show talking about Eddie Van Halen. So what? You may ask. Well, the Granati Brothers actually opened for Van Halen in 1979 & 1981 at dozens of their U.S. shows and became good friends with him. So, they had a lot of great stories to tell.

One story was about Eddie having to ask who was this Quincy Jones guy who was bugging him to work on some project. Eddie actually hung up the phone on him several times lol. That project ended up being the best selling album of all-time and the memorable guitar solo on Michael Jackson's hit song "Beat It". BTW Eddie made no money for that guitar solo. But, he believed that it helped fuel bigger success & earnings for Van Halen's future music.

There was another story about Eddie taking his guitar apart to paint it back in the early days. When he was putting it back together, he had trouble with the tone knob and decided to just eliminate it because he hardly used it. Soon afterward everyone started copying the one knob guitar. To Eddie's amusement, people thought that it was a new way to create a more direct sound when it was just Eddie having trouble putting his guitar back together.

I was lucky enough to see Van Halen live several times. Lots of great memories there. RIP Eddie Van Halen.

[Long John]

I was going to post the "Eruption" video, but i see it linked in the article along with some other great songs containing great guitar solos.

Listening to KDKA PIttsburgh talk radio last night, they had a one-hour memorial show about Eddie Van Halen. They had Rick and David Granati from a local 70's & 80's band on the show talking about Eddie Van Halen. So what? You may ask. Well, the Granati Brothers actually opened for Van Halen in 1979 & 1981 at dozens of their U.S. shows and became good friends with him. So, they had a lot of great stories to tell.

One story was about Eddie having to ask who was this Quincy Jones guy who was bugging him to work on some project. Eddie actually hung up the phone on him several times lol. That project ended up being the best selling album of all-time and the memorable guitar solo on Michael Jackson's hit song "Beat It". BTW Eddie made no money for that guitar solo. But, he believed that it helped fuel bigger success & earnings for Van Halen's future music.

There was another story about Eddie taking his guitar apart to paint it back in the early days. When he was putting it back together, he had trouble with the tone knob and decided to just eliminate it because he hardly used it. Soon afterward everyone started copying the one knob guitar. To Eddie's amusement, people thought that it was a new way to create a more direct sound when it was just Eddie having trouble putting his guitar back together.

I was lucky enough to see Van Halen live several times. Lots of great memories there. RIP Eddie Van Halen.

Saw him in the Boston Garden in the late 90s with Gary Sharone at the helm. Could still shred.

On a separate note, can someone please explain to me how CC DeVille is still alive?

[chancellor]

On a separate note, can someone please explain to me how CC DeVille is still alive?

If Keith Richards is still alive, anything is possible.

[revo]

Singer Johnny Nash, best known for his 1972 hit "I Can See Clearly Now," died Tuesday morning at 80 years old. RIP.

Johnny Nash is the 3rd artist to have had a #1 Billboard hit in October or November 1972 to pass away in the last week.

[revo]

Conchata Ferrell, best known as Berta the housekeeper on 'Two and a Half Men' died at age 77. RIP.

[chancellor]

Eddie Van Halen passed away from his long fight with cancer.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...NG8FY-BvxpaI3o

Mark Steyn's typically a right-wing guy, but he was given permission to put Tal Bachman's post on Eddie Van Halen's passing on his site. Thought it was really good:

https://www.steynonline.com/10682/tal-bachman-three-weeks-in-86

Loved the part about cutting school to hang out with Van Halen for four weeks.

[revo]

Anthony Chisholm, a Tony-nominated actor who also played Burr Redding in HBO’s “Oz,” died at age 78. RIP.

[madducks]

Rhonda Fleming, a film star in the 1940s and 50s known as the "Queen of Technicolor," has died. She starred in Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound" and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" with Bing Crosby. She was 97 years old. RIP.

[revo]

Damn, two legends of rock died today:

Tony Lewis, lead singer of The Outfield, died at 62. RIP.

Spencer Davis, founder of the Spencer Davis Group, died at age 81. RIP.

[madducks]

William Blinn, a longtime writer responsible for the movie “Purple Rain” and the TV series “Starsky & Hutch,” died on Thursday. He was 83. RIP.

Blinn enjoyed a four-decade career where, along with penning the script for the Prince-starring film, he also served as a writer for TV productions including “Roots,” “Bonanza” and “Fame.” In the 1970s, Blinn adapted Chicago Bears’ running back Gale Sayers’ autobiography, “I Am Third” into the ABC TV film, “Brian’s Song.” Based on the relationship between Sayers and his Bears teammate, Brian Piccolo, it is the fourth most-watched made-for-tv film. “Brian’s Song” earned Blinn one of his two Emmy awards.

[Judge Jude]

also country music writer/performer Jerry Jeff Walker - a big name in inner country music circles, if not the public - has died at age 78.

most famous for writing "Mr. Bojangles."