Music
Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac Dead at Age 79

Christine McVie, the British-born Fleetwood Mac vocalist, songwriter, and keyboardist whose cool, soulful contralto helped define hits like “You Make Loving Fun,” “Everywhere,” and “Don’t Stop,” died on Wednesday at the age of 79.
Her passing was announced on the band’s social media pages. There was no immediate word on the cause of death or other details, but a family statement said she “passed away peacefully at the hospital this morning” with family by her side after a “short illness.”
“I was told a few hours ago that my best friend in the entire world since the first day of 1975 had passed away,” bandmate Stevie Nicks said in a handwritten note on Instagram.
She went on to say that one song has been “swirling around” in her head since learning of McVie’s illness, quoting the lyrics to HAIM’s “Hallelujah”: “I had a best friend/But she has passed.”
McVie was a consistent presence and personality in a band known for frequent lineup changes and volatile personalities, most notably fellow singer-songwriters Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Christine’s death is the first among Fleetwood Mac’s most famous incarnations of McVie, Nicks, Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood, and ex-husband, bassist John McVie. The band has toured without Buckingham in recent years after he was fired in 2018 and replaced on stage by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.
Fleetwood Mac began in the 1960s as a London blues band and evolved into one of the defining makers of 1970s California pop-rock, with McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham anchoring the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie.
From 1975 to 1980, the band sold millions of records and captivated fans by transforming personal battles into melodic, compelling songs. The McVies’ breakup and Nicks and Buckingham’s were famously documented on the 1977 album “Rumours,” which became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Fleetwood and John McVie formed a deep and bluesy groove, Buckingham was the resident mad genius and perfectionist, Nicks was the charismatic dramatist and idol to countless young women, and Christine McVie was the grounded counterpoint, her economy as a singer and player well suited to her birth surname: Perfect.
“I was supposedly like Mother Teresa, hanging out with everyone or just trying to (keep) everything nice and cool and relaxed,” she told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “But they were wonderful people and wonderful friends.”
When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, they performed McVie’s “Say You Love Me.” Other hit singles by the group included Nicks’ “Dreams,” Buckingham’s “Go Your Way,” and McVie’s “Little Lies.” The thoughtful ballad “Songbird,” one of McVie’s most beloved works, was a showcase for her in concert and was covered by Willie Nelson, among others.
The midtempo rocker “Don’t Stop,” inspired by her divorce, would gain unexpected political relevance when Bill Clinton adopted the song — and its refrain “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” — as a theme for his 1992 presidential campaign. The band, which had essentially stopped making albums then, reformed for his inauguration gala performance.
McVie’s two marriages, to John McVie and Eduardo Quintela, were both annulled. Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys was one of her boyfriends, and she wrote “Only Over You” about him.
Christine Anne Perfect McVie was born in Bouth, Lancashire, into a musical family. Her father was a violinist and music teacher, and her grandfather was a Westminster Abbey organist. She had been studying the piano since childhood, but she abandoned her classical studies after hearing early rock records by Fats Domino and others.
She befriended various members of Britain’s emerging blues scene while studying at the Moseley School of Art, and in her twenties, she joined the band Chicken Shack as a singer and pianist. Among the rival bands she admired was Fleetwood Mac, which featured blues guitarist Peter Green and the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie at the time. She had joined the group and married John McVie by 1970.
Against all odds, few bands have done as well as Fleetwood Mac, which has sold over 100 million records. Green was one of many performers who left the band, and Fleetwood Mac appeared to be on the verge of disbanding or fading away at various points. It was saved by unexpected returns, interventions, and one of rock’s most fortunate and profitable hunches.
Fleetwood Mac was reduced to three members in the mid-1970s: Fleetwood and the two McVies. While in Los Angeles, Fleetwood became aware of a young California duo, Buckingham and Nicks, who had recorded the little-known album “Buckingham Nicks.” Impressed by their sound, he planned to invite only Buckingham, but the guitarist insisted on including Nicks, his girlfriend.
The new lineup was almost immediately magical. Nicks and Christine McVie formed a lifelong friendship, agreeing that as two of rock’s few female rock stars, they would always be there for each other. And the harmonies and music of Nicks, Buckingham, and Christine McVie ensured that albums like “Fleetwood Mac,” “Rumours,” and “Mirage” had an enviable level of quality and variety of songwriting and vocal styles.
However, the group’s overwhelming success inevitably resulted in conflicts and a desire for solo work. Nicks rose to prominence in the decades that followed. McVie released solo albums such as “Christine McVie” and “Christine Perfect,” as well as “Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie,” a 2017 collaboration with Buckingham.
Celebrity
Astrud Gilberto, Singer Of ‘The Girl from Ipanema,’ Dead At 83

Brazilian singer, composer, and performer Astrud Gilberto has passed away at the age of 83. Her off-handed English-language cameo on “The Girl from Ipanema” made her a recognized bossa nova icon worldwide.
Family friend and musician Paul Ricci confirmed her passing on Monday. He didn’t give any more information.
Gilberto was raised in Rio de Janeiro and was born in Salvador, Bahia. In 1964, she became an overnight, unanticipated star because the producers of “Getz/Gilberto,” the legendary bossa nova album featuring saxophonist Stan Getz and her then-husband, singer-songwriter-guitarist Joo Gilberto, hired her because she knew just enough English to be hired.
Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes’ melancholy ballad, “The Girl from Ipanema,” was already well-known in South America. However, “s” producer Creed Taylor and others believed that adding vocals in both Portuguese and English would broaden the record’s appeal. Astrud Gilberto recalled her spouse telling her he had a surprise for her at the recording studio in a 2002 chat with friends published on her website, www.astrudgilberto.com.
I pleaded with him to tell me what it was, but he refused and kept saying, “Wait and see. Later, when Joao and Stan were rehearsing “The Girl from Ipanema,” Joao invited me to join in and sing a chorus in English after he had just finished singing the first chorus in Portuguese. So I did exactly that,” she said.
“After the song was finished, Joao turned to Stan and said something along the lines of, ‘Tomorrow Astrud sing on record.'” How do you feel? Stan was open to the concept and even expressed considerable enthusiasm for it. The rest, of course, is history, as they say.
Brazilian singer, composer, and performer Astrud Gilberto has passed away at the age of 83
Astrud Gilberto performs “The Girl from Ipanema” in a carefree, affectless manner that, among others, impacted Sade and Suzanne Vega. She has moved on to other topics. However, only some other words from the time would be as well remembered as hers, which Norman Gimbel had translated from Portuguese.
tall, youthful, and beautiful
The Ipanema girl strolls around.
And after she leaves
She says “Ah” to each person she passes.
More than 2 million copies of “Getz/Gilberto” were sold, and “The Girl from Ipanema,” released as a single and featured solely Astrud Gilberto as the vocalist quickly rose to fame. It is sometimes considered second only to “Yesterday” regarding the number of covers in the modern era.
Gilberto was nominated for best new artist and vocal performance, and “The Girl from Ipanema” won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. De Moraes had penned the lyrics about a Brazilian adolescent named Helosa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, but the poised, dark-haired singer was so intimately connected with “The Girl from Ipanema” that several people assumed she was the inspiration.
Gilberto recorded eight albums (containing songs in English and Portuguese) throughout the following few years, including “The Astrud Gilberto Album,” “Beach Samba,” and “The Shadow of Your Smile.” He also went on tour with Getz and other musicians.
She only released seven albums after 1969, and by 2002 she had largely given up on the music industry and ceased doing interviews. Instead, she devoted her later years to animal rights activism and a career in the visual arts. She would claim that she was not paid for “The Girl from Ipanema” and that Taylor and Getz (who would describe her as “just a housewife”) improperly claimed credit for “discovering” her. In addition, she felt alienated from her home country since she said the press treated her with contempt and played there infrequently once she rose to fame.
In 2002, she remarked, “Isn’t there an old saying that goes, ‘No one is a prophet in his land’?” “I don’t have any issues with Brazilians, and I have a great time there. Of course, I don’t go there as a performer but as an anonymous tourist.
Astrud Weinert, the youngest of three sisters, came from a musical and linguistically literate household. Her mother was a singer and violinist, while her father was a linguistics professor. By the time she was in her teens, she had already met rising bossa nova artist Joo Gilberto and was part of a group of musical pals.
When she first met him, “The clan grew larger, to include ‘older’ folks” like Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Bené Nunes, Luis Bonfá, and Joo Donato, as well as their respective “‘ other halves,'” she recalled. “(Joo Gilberto) and I used to sing duets together, or he’d play guitar and play along with me. When friends visited us, they always wanted me to sing at these events and in our house.
Brazilian singer, composer, and performer Astrud Gilberto has passed away at the age of 83
She had two sons, Joo Marcelo Gilberto and Gregory Lasorsa, who would both work with her. She was twice married. She continued to be a famous live performer even after her commercial zenith, her voice growing warmer and jazzier as she sang covers and songs.
As a recording artist, she also had several memorable performances, including backing trumpeter Chet Baker on “Fly Me to the Moon” and duet with George Michael on the bossa nova classic “Desafinado.” She was awarded a Latin Grammy for lifetime achievement in 2008.
“Occasionally, a dissatisfied journalist has called me ‘a recluse.’ According to the dictionary, a recluse is “a person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion and frequently in solitude.” Why should someone think an artist is a loner just because they prefer not to participate in interviews? she said in 2002.
“I firmly believe that any artist who achieves fame through their work, whether it be music, film, or any other medium, has no moral obligation to satiate the curiosity of journalists, fans, or any other members of the public about their personal lives or anything else that does not directly relate to their work. My work speaks for itself, regardless of how well or poorly it is received.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Cynthia Weil, Grammy Winning Lyricist, Dead At 82

NEW YORK — Grammy-winning songwriter Cynthia Weil, who co-wrote dozens of popular songs with her husband, Barry Mann, including “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “On Broadway,” “Walking in the Rain,” and many others, has passed away at age 82.
Weil passed away on Thursday at her home in Beverly Hills, California, “surrounded by her family,” according to Weil’s daughter Dr. Jenn Mann. The couple’s sole child, Mann, chose not to give a cause of death.
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil married in 1961 and were among the most popular music-successful duos. They were part of a unique group assembled by music moguls Don Kirshner and Al Nevins and based in Manhattan’s Brill Building district, close to Times Square. The Brill Building song factory produced many of the biggest singles of the 1960s and beyond with hit-making pairings like Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich.
Jenn Mann remarked, “I grew up around a lot of music and two wonderful, smart, creative geniuses. “My parents were each other’s greatest musical influences. When things were wonderful, people had each other, and when things weren’t so good, people had their music, according to my mother.
On songs for the Ronettes (“Walking in the Rain”), the Crystals (“He’s Sure the Boy I Love”), and other acts, Weil and Mann worked closely with producer Phil Spector. They also wrote hits for everyone from Dolly Parton to Hanson. James Horner and his team’s song “Somewhere Out There,” created for the “An American Tail” soundtrack, won Grammy Awards in 1987 for best song and best song for a Movie or Television and received nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. They collaborated on writing the Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville duet “Don’t Know Much,” which peaked at number five and won the Grammy for best pop performance in 1990.
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” an anthem of “blue-eyed soul” composed by Spector as if scoring a tragedy and performed by the Righteous Brothers with frantic passion, is their most well-known song and a piece of history in general. In 1965, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” was the number-one song on the charts and was covered by several other musicians. No other song was played more frequently on radio and Television in the 20th century, according to Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI).
Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield’s reactions to Weil and Mann’s debut performance of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” for the Righteous Brothers were “dead silence.”
She said to Parade Magazine 2015 that Bill had responded, “Sounds good for The Everly Brothers, not the Righteous Brothers.” “We said, ‘Oh, God.’ What should I do while the large guy is singing? Bobby then asked. Spector’s Phil said, “You can go to the bank.”
When the Beatles became popular in the middle of the 1960s, many of Weil’s contemporaries struggled, but she persisted in scoring hits, occasionally with Mann or with collaborators like Michael Masser, David Foster, and John Williams, with whom she co-wrote “For Always” for the soundtrack to Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” Weil contributed to the songs “Here You Come Again,” Parton’s pop breakthrough, “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again” by Peabo Bryson, “Just Once” by James Ingram, “He’s So Shy” by the Pointer Sisters, and “Running With the Night” by Lionel Richie. She again made the top 10 in 1997 with Hanson’s “I Will Come to You.”
“When songs are successful, they’re like little stories. They have an introduction, a middle, and a conclusion. Weil, who eventually published the novel “I’m Glad I Did,” told Parade that the song “paints a picture of the human condition” and makes you feel how the person singing it is feeling.
Her abilities extended far beyond love songs. She and Mann co-wrote “Kicks,” a success for Paul Revere and the Raiders in 1966, one of rock’s earliest anti-drug songs. She also had a talent for writing lyrics full of desire and aspiration, as evidenced by the song “On Broadway” and its iconic opening line, “They say the neon lights are bright/on Broadway.” With their account of working-class angst, “We’ve Got to Get Out of This Place,” The Animals enjoyed success. The 1961 hit song “Uptown” by The Crystals dealt with race and class in a way that wasn’t frequently heard in the early days of rock.
____
He is simply one of a million males downtown.
He receives no breaks.
And he takes everything they have to offer.
Because he needs to live.
He then moves uptown, nevertheless.
Where he can proudly raise his head
He is aware that I am nearby in Uptown.
_____
Weil and Mann were introduced by King at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 2010.
Weil and Mann were introduced by King at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 2010, and they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. Mann and Weil played minor roles in the popular King musical “Beautiful,” which debuted on Broadway in 2013 and chronicled the passionate camaraderie and competition between the two married couples. “They Wrote That?” by Mann and Weil was performed for a limited time in 2004.
“Cynthia’s high level of professionalism improved all of us as songwriters. The line “Just a little lovin’ early in the mornin’ beats a cup of coffee for startin’ out the day” is one of my favorite Cynthia lyrics; King posted on her social media pages on Friday, quoting the Mann-Weil song “Just a Little Lovin’,” which has been performed by Dusty Springfield and others.
If we’re lucky, we’ll know this to be true, but she composed it — and in the following line, she made the words “morning” and “yawning” rhyme. I hope Cynthia Weil’s lyrics will live on and communicate to future generations.
Weil, a native of New York City and the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe was trained in dance and piano as a young girl. At Sarah Lawrence College, she concentrated on theatre, but an agent persuaded her to attempt music. At age 20, she began working for the publishing house of “Guys and Dolls” composer Frank Loesser, where she met the man who would become her husband.
Barry walked in to play Teddy Randazzo a song as she was writing it, she said to the Los Angeles Times in 2016. Teddy Randazzo was a young Italian boy singer who was the Frankie Avalon of his time. “I questioned the front desk clerk, ‘Who is this guy? Has he ever been with a girl? ‘He’s signed to a friend of mine, Don Kirshner, and if I call Donny, maybe you can go up there to show him your songs and meet Barry again,’ she suggested. So she took that action. That’s what I did as well. He had no chance at all.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
2023: Why Chrishell Stause Isn’t Wearing Wedding Ring After Marrying G-Flip

Sunset Newlywed for sale Chrishell Stause Discusses Her Marriage and Her New Season.
A significant piece of jewelry that Chrishell Stause recently married G Flip is gone.
The Selling Sunset has been seen sans a wedding band despite getting married to the musician. Chrishell, though, has a justification.
In a video posted on her Instagram Stories on May 30, she declared, “I’m happily married, very happy.” But due to my weight increase, I’m not wearing my ring. And that’s okay with me. I CAN MAKE A REAL RING WITHOUT REVEALING ANYTHING until I have it adjusted or until we think everyone is aware.
I’m living my best life, and that’s why, Chrishell added. “Anyways, long story short, if you see me without my ring, listen, that’s why.”
The reality star wed G Flip on May 10 by posting an Instagram video showing the couple holding hands at the altar. After dating for over a year, the pair married in Las Vegas.
Recently, the couple discussed their wedding ceremony and answered questions about whether they were now legally married.
A significant piece of jewelry that Chrishell Stause recently married G Flip is gone.
On the May 27 episode of SiriusXM Hits 1 LA with Tony Fly and Symon, Chrishell remarked, “If you don’t believe it, I don’t care and that’s the best part.” “I don’t require your consent.”
Additionally, don’t anticipate seeing the couple’s nuptials on Selling Sunset.
“I think that it’s a balance thing on a show like this, of what to share and what not to share, and I think that it’s important that we are open and we shine a light on a love that I think is so beautiful,” Chrishell stated on E! News on May 17. But even so, it’s essential to preserve some items for us.
The real estate agent also talked about how they were married unusually. We should have done the customary engagement, she remarked. “We avoided the entire situation, the paperwork, all the worries that people have, all this stuff.”
It’s been a dream come true for Chrishell.
She continued, even if their union is the least conventional regarding how things should work out. It has been the most significant and vital aspect of my life. Therefore, each person has a unique method of doing things. It was so erratically flawless.
SOURCE – (ENEWS)
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