Celebrity

JD Souther, Who Penned ‘Heartache Tonight’ And Other Eagles Hits, Dies At 78

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-09-18

Los Angeles — John David “JD” Souther, a prolific songwriter and performer who helped establish the country-rock style that emerged in Southern California in the 1970s through collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, died at the age of 78.

Souther, who co-wrote some of the Eagles’ most famous songs, including “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight,” died on Tuesday at his home in New Mexico, according to a post on his website.

He has also collaborated with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, and many others, and has achieved success as a solo artist. He was scheduled to begin a tour with Karla Bonoff on September 24 in Phoenix, which has now been canceled.

JD Souther, Who Penned ‘Heartache Tonight’ And Other Eagles Hits, Dies At 78

When Souther was elected into the Composers Hall of Fame in 2013, he was dubbed “a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters.” He was also at the center of the social scene, with girlfriends including Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, and Stevie Nicks, who described him in a 1982 interview with High Times magazine as “very, very, very male chauvinistic and very sweet, cute, wonderful but very Texas.”

Souther was born in Detroit and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He traveled to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he met fellow Michigan native Glenn Frey, the Eagles’ founding member and guitarist. The two formed a long-term partnership, beginning with a band named Longbranch Pennywhistle. Frey credited Souther with introducing him to country music.

“Our first year together will always seem like yesterday to me,” Souther said in a statement following Frey’s death in 2016. “His remarkable ability to tell a great joke and that brilliant groove that lived inside him are with me even now, amid this loss and pain. “The music and love are indestructible.”

Souther was so close to the Eagles that he appeared on the back cover of their 1973 album “Desperado,” which depicted Souther and others reenacting the capture of the famed Dalton Gang. He recalled his first encounter with Frey at The Troubadour, a prominent West Hollywood music club, as “the best study in songwriting I can imagine.”

“So many great songwriters came through — Laura Nyro, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Carole King, Rick Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Waylon Jennings, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal and more,” according to a statement posted on his website. “It seems impossible to conceive that much music in just a year and a half, but that was my life, and the Troubadour was our university.

“It’s also where I met Linda Ronstadt and where Don Henley and Glenn Frey met to form this little country rock band called Eagles that would go on to make musical history,” Souther later recalled.

Souther made his solo debut in 1972, before establishing The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco’s Richie Furay. In 1976, he released Black Rose, his second solo album, which featured a duet with Ronstadt, his one-time girlfriend, called “If You Have Crying Eyes.” Other duets he’d recorded with her included “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win,” and “Hearts Against the Wind,” the latter of which appeared in the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy.”

JD Souther, Who Penned ‘Heartache Tonight’ And Other Eagles Hits, Dies At 78

His biggest solo hit was “You’re Only Lonely,” which appeared on the same-titled 1979 album.

He also composed the songs “Run Like a Thief” for Bonnie Raitt, as well as “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt. He collaborated and sung with James Taylor on the song “Her Town Too.”

Other singers with whom he collaborated were Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg, and Roy Orbison.a

He has acted in television shows such as “thirtysomething,” “Nashville,” and “Purgatory,” as well as films including “Postcards from the Edge,” “My Girl 2,” and “Deadline.”

SOURCE | AP

Celebrity

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Published

3 days ago

2024-10-07

Kiara Grace

Al Pacino revealed that he nearly died from COVID-19 in 2020 and expressed his thoughts on what happens after death.

In interviews with The New York Times and People magazine, the Academy Award-winning actor discussed getting the virus and temporarily losing his pulse.

Al, 84, told the Times in a wide-ranging interview that he started feeling “unusually not good” and soon got a fever and dehydration. “I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he stated. “I didn’t have a pulse.”

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

“You’re here, and you’re not. I thought, “Wow, you don’t even have any memories.” You have nothing. “Strange porridge,” the “Scarface” actor claimed about his near-death encounter.

Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at Al’s house, and he regained consciousness with six paramedics and two physicians in his living room, he claimed.

“They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” he told the local newspaper. “It was very frightening to open your eyes and witness that. Everyone was surrounding me, and they said, ‘He’s back. “He’s here.”

Al told People that when he regained consciousness, he felt confused. “I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?'”

Despite “everybody” believing he was dead, the movie veteran claimed he is not sure if he perished. “I thought I had died. I might not have. I honestly don’t think I have. “I know I made it,” he stated.

Al hailed his “great assistant” by swiftly alerting paramedics after his nurse confirmed that he no longer had a pulse.

“He got the people coming, because the nurse that was taking care of me said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse on this guy,'” remembered Al Pacino.

When asked if the health concern had impacted the way he lived his life, Pacino replied, “Not at all.”

However, this does not imply that the experience had no impact on the performer.

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Pacino, who is presently prepping for a film rendition of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” told The New York Times that the event had a philosophical significance.

“I did not see the white light or anything. “There is nothing there,” he explained. “As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be,’ and ‘The uncharted place from which no traveler returns.’ He then says two words: ‘no more.’ “It was no more,” Pacino concluded.

“You are gone. I’d never considered it in my life. But, you know, actors: It sounds good to say you died once. What happens when there is no more?

Pacino’s experiences are described in his book, “Sonny Boy,” which will be published on Tuesday.

SOURCE | AP

Celebrity

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

Published

3 days ago

2024-10-07

Kiara Grace

Washington — The Supreme Court declined to hear R. Kelly’s appeal on Monday, despite the fact that he is currently serving 20 years in jail for child rape charges in Chicago.

The Grammy Award-winning R&B artist, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2022 of three counts of making child sexual abuse photos and three counts of enticing children for sex.

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

His lawyers contended that a lower statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to actions committed in the 1990s. Current legislation allows charges to be filed when the accuser is still alive.

kelly

As is common, the justices did not explain why they declined to consider the case. There were no public dissents. Lower courts have previously rejected his arguments.

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

According to federal prosecutors, the video shows Robert sexually abusing a girl. The accuser, Jane, testified that she was 14 when the video was taken.

Robert has also appealed a 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York.

SOURCE | AP

Celebrity

Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Published

4 days ago

2024-10-06

Kiara Grace

Indianapolis — Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves made his professional car racing debut on Saturday, spinning out at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Keanu swerved into the grass without colliding on the exit of Turn 9, slightly more than halfway through the 45-minute race. He re-entered and started driving, indicating that he was uninjured.

Keanu, who qualified 31st out of 35 cars, raced as high as 21st and escaped a first-lap accident in Turn 14. Reeves placed 25th.

Keanu, 60, is racing in Indianapolis in the Toyota GR Cup, a Toyota spec-racing series and a support series for this weekend’s Indy 8 Hour sports car race. He has a second race on Sunday.

Keanu is driving the No. 92 BRZRKR automobile to promote his graphic novel, “The Book of Elsewhere.” He is teammates with Cody Jones from “Dude Perfect.”