Obituary
R.I.P. Pamela Hutchinson, The Emotions Singer Dies at 61
Pamela Hutchinson, a member of the famed R&B trio The Emotions, died Friday (September 18th) at the age of 61. A post on The Emotions’ Facebook page confirmed the news on Sunday. “In loving memory, we are saddened to announce the passing of our sister, Pamela Rose Hutchinson,” read the posting. “Pam succumbed to health challenges that she’d been battling for several years. Now our beautiful sister will sing amongst the angels in heaven in perfect peace.” Hutchinson’s sisters Wanda, Jeanette, and Sheila began performing gospel music as the Hutchinson Sunbeams in the early ’60s. By the end of the decade, though, they’d pivoted to making soul and disco music as The Emotions, releasing their Isaac Hayes/David Porter-produced debut in 1969. The Chicago-based girl group found relative fame i...
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies At 87
Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at her home in Washington, the court says. She was 87. Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court says. Her death just over six weeks before Election Day is likely to set off a heated battle over whether President Donald Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known. Chief Justice John Roberts mourned Ginsburg’s passing. “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth ...
R.I.P. Winston Groom, Author of Forrest Gump Dies at 77
Winston Groom, the author and historian whose novel Forrest Gump became a pop-culture staple, died Thursday (Sept. 17th), reports the Tuscaloosa News. He was 77 years old. Groom’s death was confirmed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey in a statement. “Saddened to learn that Alabama has lost one of our most gifted writers,” she said. “While he will be remembered for creating Forrest Gump, Winston Groom was a talented journalist and noted author of American history. Our hearts and prayers are extended to his family.” In 1985, Groom’s father told him a story about a neighbor’s child who was graceful and exceedingly talented despite having difficult mental challenges. Inspired by that, he picked up a pen and wrote Forrest Gump in just six weeks. The book was published the following year. Come 1994, ...
R.I.P. Sid McCray, Original Bad Brains Singer Dies
Sid McCray, the original singer of legendary punk band Bad Brains, has died. Affectionately known as SidMac, he passed away on September 9th. No cause of death has yet been revealed. McCray led the band from 1977 to 1978, when they were still a jazz fusion outfit known as Mind Power. He’s credited with introducing his bandmates to punk rock, specifically through albums by Sex Pistols and Ramones. Eventually, the band took on the name Bad Brains in reference to the Ramones song of the same name. McCray wrote early Bad Brains songs like “The Regulator”, but ultimately stepped aside as frontman to let his friend and guitarist H.R. take over. “I sung with the band for a little while, but I fizzled out because I saw H.R. was a much better singer,” McCray said in the H.R. documentary F...
Edna Wright, Honey Cone Singer and Sister of Darlene Love, Dies
Edna Wright, best known as the lead singer of The Honey Cone, the girl group that went to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with the song “Want Ads” in 1971, has died. Wright’s sister, singer Darlene Love, confirmed the news of her passing with a statement posted on social media Saturday night (Sept. 12). “I’m in complete shock and so heartbroken by the sudden loss of my beautiful baby sister,” Love wrote on Facebook. “Please keep me and my family in your prayers during this very sad time for us.” “I didn’t just fall into The Honey Cone,” Wright said in an interview in 2019, speaking of her group with Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark, formed in the late ’60s. “I dreamed of that. I watched Diana Ross. I watched Martha Reeves, and I s...
R.I.P. Toots Hibbert, Reggae Pioneer and Frontman of Toots & The Maytals Dies at 77
Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert, founder of the pioneering reggae group Toots & the Maytals, has died at the age of 77. Hibbert had been hospitalized in his native Kingston, Jamaica after contracting COVID-19. He passed away Friday, September 11th, surrounded by family, according to a statement. By incorporating elements of Jamaican ska and rocksteady alongside traditional gospel, soul, R&B, and rock & roll, Hibbert is widely credit as being one of the originators of the reggae genre. In fact, Toots & the Maytals’ 1968 single “Do the Reggay” was the first song to use the word “reggae” and would ultimately give the genre its name. In the early 1960s, Hibbert formed The Maytals alongside fellow vocalists Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” Mathias and i...
R.I.P. Kool & the Gang Founder Ronald Bell, Dead at 68
Ronald Bell, co-founder of the R&B, soul, and funk group Kool & the Gang, has died at the age of 68. According to Universal Music, Bell passed away suddenly early Wednesday morning (Sept. 9th) at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The two-time Grammy Award-winning Kool & the Gang was formed in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964 by Ronald “Khalis” Bell, his brother Robert “Kool” Bell, Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. Over the course of their five-decade career, the group has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and achieved 12 top ten singles in the US. Their songs filled the radio airwaves throughout the 1970s and ’80s, in addition to soundtracks for films like Rocky, Saturday Night Fever, and Pulp Fiction. Ronald is cre...
Ronald ‘Khalis’ Bell, Co-Founder of Kool & the Gang, Dies at 68
Ronald Bell, also known as Khalis Bayyan and the co-founder of Kool & the Gang with his brother Robert “Kool” Bell, died suddenly Wednesday morning (Sept. 9) at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to a statement from his publicist. He was 68. No cause of death has been announced at this time. Ronald Bell and his older brother Robert joined forces with their Jersey City neighborhood friends Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown and Ricky West in 1964 to whip up a unique blend of jazz, soul and funk. Their infamous band recycled many monikers — Jazziacs, The New Dimensions, The Soul Town Band, Kool & the Flames – before cementing themselves as Kool & the Gang in 1969. Born on N...
Bruce Williamson, Former Singer of The Temptations, Dies at 49
Bruce Williamson, the former lead singer of The Temptations, has died. He was 49. The singer passed away Sunday night (Sept. 6) at his home in Las Vegas after a battle with COVID-19, according to TMZ. Further details about his death were not available at press time. “There’s no words in the world that can express how I feel right now,” Williamson’s son, Bruce, wrote on Facebook. “I love you Daddy thank you for being awesome thank you for being loving thank you for being Who You Are I pray to God and we will meet again,”I love you Daddy R.I.H KING WILLIAMSON.” A native of Compton, Calif., Williamson joined The Temptations in 2006 and continued singing with the iconic Motown group until 2015. In addition to appearing with the act for concert and tele...
William Pursell, Grammy-Nominated Composer, Dies at 94
Pursell released “Our Winter Love” in 1963, which became one of Columbia’s biggest-selling recordings that year. William “Bill” Pursell, a Grammy-nominated composer and pianist famous for composing “Our Winter Love,” has died. He was 94. Pursell died Saturday afternoon (Sept. 5) in Nashville, Tennessee, after a battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia, according to a statement shared by his daughter, recording artist Laura Pursell. “Our hearts are shattered, our lives changed forever. Please send prayers for strength to my family. While in the hospital, my father became a Catholic, something that has never happened in the Vanderbilt COVID ward. He said his entire life now made sense. This gives us some measure of peace. We know how many lives he to...
R.I.P. Ian Mitchell, One-Time Member of Bay City Rollers Dies at 67
Ian Mitchell, one-time guitarist of the Scottish pop rock band Bay City Rollers, has died at the age of 67. Mitchell’s tenure in Bay City Rollers was brief, but consequential. He joined the band in early 1976 at the pinnacle of their fame. Just months earlier, their single “Saturday Night” went No. 1 in the US, which was followed soon after by a second top 10 hit in “Money Honey”. However, the success took a toll on founding bassist Alan Longmuir, who departed the band. Mitchell, then only 17, was tapped as his replacement. Mitchell joined Bay City Rollers in the studio as they recorded their 1976 album Dedication, playing rhythm guitar and singing leading vocals on the title track. The resulting album would provide the band with another hit single, as their cover of Dusty Springfield’s “I...
R.I.P. Erick Morillo, “I Like to Move It” DJ Dead at 49
Colombian-American DJ and producer Erick Morillo has died at the age of 49. TMZ reports that Morillo’s body was found on Tuesday morning (Sept. 1st) in Miami Beach, Florida. The circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation, according to Miami Beach police. Morillo was arrested in August after being accused of sexual battery by a woman who says Morillo made unwanted advances on her following a private DJ gig last December. Morillo denied the allegations, however after an examination tested positive for his DNA, he turned himself in to authorities (via Variety). He was due to appear in court this coming Friday. Morillo was born in New York City, but spent the early years of his life living in Colombia. His family eventually returned to the US and resided in...
