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Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only Child Dead at 54

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Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only child and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father’s legacy, died Thursday after being admitted to the hospital for a medical emergency. She was 54 years old.

Her mother, Priscilla, confirmed her death in a Los Angeles hospital a few hours after her daughter was rushed there following a medical emergency at home.

“I must share the heartbreaking news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, powerful, and loving woman I’d ever met.”

Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, inherited her father’s brooding charisma — the hooded eyes, the arrogant smile, the low, sultry voice — and professionally followed him, releasing her own rock albums in the 2000s and sharing the stage with Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley, among others.

She even formed direct musical ties with her father, lending her voice to Elvis recordings such as “In the Ghetto” and “Don’t Cry Daddy,” a mournful ballad that reminded him of his mother (and Lisa Marie’s grandmother), Gladys Presley’s early death.

“It’s been all my life,” she said of her father’s influence to The Associated Press in 2012. “I’m not listening to it anymore, and it’s different. I might pay more attention. I’ve always been an admirer, and I intend to remain so. He’s always had an impact on me.”

Lisa Marie Presley Attended Golden Globes

Her birth, nine months after her parents’ wedding, made international headlines, and her family history was never far from her mind. With the release of Baz Luhrmann’s major musical feature “Elvis” last year, Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley began attending red carpets and award shows alongside film stars.

She was in attendance at the Golden Globes on Tuesday to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father. On Jan. 8, she was in Memphis at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived and died — to celebrate her father’s birthday.

After her parents divorced in 1973, Presley moved to California to live with her mother, an actress known for “Dallas” and the “Naked Gun” films. During her visits to Graceland, she recalled riding golf carts through the neighborhood and seeing her father’s daily entrances down the stairs.

“He was always completely prepared. “You’d never see him coming down the stairs in his PJs,” she told The Associated Press in 2012. “You’d never see him dressed anything other than’ready to be seen.'”

Elvis Presley died in August 1977, when he was 42 years old and she was nine years old. Lisa Marie was staying at Graceland at the time, and she remembered him kissing her goodnight hours before he collapsed and died. The next time she saw him, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

“I just had a gut feeling,” she explained to Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn’t doing so hot. All I know is that I had it (the feeling), and it occurred. I was obsessed with death from a young age.”

She would later make her own headlines. Drug problems and some very public marriages. Among her four husbands were Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

Married Micheal Jackson

Jackson and Presley married in the Dominican Republic in 1994, but the marriage ended two years later due to a series of awkward public appearances, including an unexpected kiss from Jackson at the MTV Video Music Awards and a joint interview with Diane Sawyer in which she defended her husband against allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

Cage’s other celebrity marriage lasted only four months before she filed for divorce in 2002.

“I had to sort of run into a lot of walls and trees,” she told the Associated Press in 2012. “But now I can also look back at it and tell you all the stuff that was going on around me and all the different people around me and all the awww — and it was not a good situation anyway. That wasn’t helping matters. In any case, it was a learning experience. It was just done differently. It was always right in front of everyone. Because, of course, everything is documented.”

Lisa Marie became involved in a variety of humanitarian causes, ranging from anti-poverty programs run by the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. For her efforts, she received formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee.

With her former husband Danny Keough, Presley had two children: actor Riley Keough, born in 1989, and Benjamin Keough, born in 1992. In 2008, she and ex-husband Michael Lockwood had twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood.

Presley and Lockwood

Her marriage to Lockwood would end in a contentious and protracted divorce that began in 2016 and was still unresolved when she died, despite the fact that they were declared divorced in 2021. The girls, now 15, were placed in protective custody following the fight in 2017. Presley and Lockwood eventually shared custody, but they remained at odds over the issue, with Lockwood demanding more child support from Presley.

Benjamin Keough, 27, committed suicide in 2020. Presley was open about her grief, writing last August in an essay that she had “been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son’s death two years ago.”

“I’ve been dealing with death, grief, and loss since I was nine years old. “I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime, and I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in an essay published by People magazine.

“But this one, the death of my lovely, lovely son? The sweetest and most incredible being I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, who made me feel so honored to be his mother every single day? Who was so similar to his grandfather on so many levels that he scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I would have otherwise,” the essay continued. “No. Just no… no, no, no…”

After her father died, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to the Elvis Presley Trust. The trust managed Graceland and other assets alongside Elvis Presley Enterprises until she sold her majority stake in 2005. She retained ownership of the Graceland Mansion, as well as the 13 acres surrounding it and the contents of the home. Her son, as well as her father and other Presley family members, are buried there.

Lisa Marie Presley is a former Scientologist — her son was born in 1992 under Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s guidelines, according to an AP story at the time — but she later left Scientology.

Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley would visit Graceland on numerous occasions, including the anniversaries of Elvis’ death and birthday. The Lisa Marie is the name of one of Graceland’s two planes.

Following the release of her first album, “To Whom It May Concern,” in 2003, some fans came out to see her perform simply out of curiosity, she told the Associated Press in 2005.

“First, I had to overcome a preconceived notion of myself,” she said of the obstacles to becoming a singer-songwriter.

“I had to sort of burst through that and introduce myself, and that was the first hurdle, and then now sing in front of everybody, and that was the second hurdle,” she continued. “However, the scales never tipped too far in the other direction.”

Source: The Associated Press

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Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

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NEW YORK — Federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers searched two properties owned by music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami on Monday as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

It is unclear whether Combs was the target of the probe. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the probe and talked to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Homeland Security Investigations stated that it “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”

A spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

combs

Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

Lawyers for Combs and other representatives left messages requesting comments, but they did not immediately respond.

A police line was formed around the Los Angeles home in the affluent Holmby Hills district near Beverly Hills. Helicopter footage from KABC-TV showed several agents wearing vests, indicating they were from Homeland Security Investigations, and they were gathered in the backyard near the pool. A command post was set up outside the house, and agents were still coming and going hours after the search began.

Combs has faced many sexual assault lawsuits in recent months.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit saying that Combs pushed him into soliciting prostitutes and pressuring him to have sex with them. Shawn Holley, Combs’ attorney, stated of the charges, “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

Cassie, Combs’ former apprentice and girlfriend, sued him in November, accusing him of sexual abuse, including rape, over several years. The lawsuit claimed he pushed her to have sex with male prostitutes while filming them. The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her at the age of 17 two decades ago.

The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

In a December statement, Combs stated, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

combs

Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

According to Douglas Wigdor, an attorney representing Cassie and another woman who sued Combs, “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”

It is unclear whether the search is related to any of the charges in the cases.

Combs is one of the most important hip-hop producers and executives over the last three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he established one of hip-hop’s most powerful empires, blazing a route with several businesses using his iconic name. He founded Bad Boy Records and is a three-time Grammy winner who has collaborated with several major musicians, including the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans, and 112.

Combs founded the fashion clothing company Sean John, developed the music-focused Revolt TV channel, and produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.

His most recent record, “The Love Album – Off the Grid,” came out last year, just days after Combs was recognized at the MTV Video Music Awards. It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at the February Grammy Awards, but the rapper-mogul did not attend.

combs

Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

The entertainment business has faced a constant stream of career-ending sexual misconduct charges in the years since tales about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017. Weinstein and “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson are both serving jail sentences for rape. Dozens of civil cases have been filed against prominent individuals.

The music industry has not faced the same level of reckoning, but singer and producer R. Kelly is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing young fans, seven women have sued hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, alleging he raped them, and two women have sued Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, alleging sexual assault.

Weinstein, Masterson, and Kelly appeal their convictions, while Simmons denies all of the claims made against him. Tyler has had one lawsuit dismissed and is now contesting the other.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

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Los Angeles — Spotify paid out $9 billion in streaming royalties last year, according to its most recent “Loud and Clear” report, released Tuesday.

In response to complaints about its lack of transparency, Spotify released its fourth annual report in 2021, which highlighted its historic achievements, including the largest annual contribution by any merchant to the music industry.

spotify

“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

This is everything we know about how much is being paid out, how many artists are achieving different levels of success,” says Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s vice president and worldwide head of music products. “So, everyone can have access to the information and be sort of up to date with the state of the industry.”

According to the data, 1,250 artists earned more than $1 million in recording and publishing royalties in 2023, 11,600 earned more than $100,000, and 66,000 earned more than $10,000. These figures nearly tripled from 2017.

According to the survey, more than half of the 66,000 musicians come from nations where English is not the primary language, indicating a more global music environment.

According to Hellman, “indie” musicians — those who self-distribute and are signed to independent record labels — accounted for $4.5 billion, or half of all royalties paid out by Spotify.

“There are millions of people who’ve uploaded a song at least once but that doesn’t really speak to whether they’re an artist, or if they’re doing this more as a hobby,” Hellman said.

Spotify focuses on musicians who “at least put up an album’s worth of music once they seem to have some indication that they’re trying to build a fan base.” He believes “about 225,000 professionally aspiring artists” are on the platform.

“They have a small fanbase. “They might have gigs listed on Spotify or something,” he says.

Spotify revealed in December that it would lay off 17% of its worldwide workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023, as it seeks to reduce expenses while increasing profitability.

Spotify stated that beginning in 2024, it would no longer pay for music with fewer than 1,000 annual streams.

spotify

“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

“Songs that generate less than a thousand streams in a year would be generating pennies, a few cents in royalties,” Hellman says. So what we’re seeing was an increasing number of uploaders with $0.03, $0.08, $0.36 sitting there.”

For those DIY artists, there is a minimum withdrawal threshold from a distributor—$5.35 at DistroKid and $1 at TuneCore, two such distributors—and Hellman claims the withdrawal fees would exceed the royalties.

Spotify, like the majority of other streaming services, pays “streamshare” royalties to the site’s music rights holders. To calculate this, add up all of the streams of music belonging to or under the control of a specific rights holder and divide it by the overall number of streams in that market.

In short, greater rights holders control a larger share of the market. A listener streaming an artist 25% of the time does not imply that the act receives 25% of the listener’s membership price.

spotify

“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

“All those pennies sitting in bank accounts all over the place were siphoning money away from artists who were really doing this, as an aspiring professional,” Hellman said about the choice. “And so, those royalties are now being put in the pot so that they can be redirected to artists who are getting more than a thousand streams a year.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

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Celine Dion

Celine Dion focuses on her family and the future while she deals with health issues.

On March 15, the iconic artist commemorated International Stiff Person Syndrome Awareness Day with an Instagram post in which she addressed her autoimmune illness, stating that it “has been one of the hardest experiences of my life.”

dion

Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Dion said she is “determined to one day get back on stage and live as normal a life as possible.”

A picture of Celine’s three sons—René-Charles, Nelson, and Eddy—accompanied her heartfelt letter.

Celine had three children with her late husband, René Angélil, who died in 2016.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stiff person syndrome (SPS) is an uncommon neurological disorder that causes spasms and muscle rigidity. It also causes increased sensitivity to stimuli such as sound, lighting, and emotional discomfort, which can trigger muscle spasms.

dion

Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Dion first disclosed her diagnosis in 2022. She has ceased touring and performing live.

A documentary about the “My Heart Will Go On” singer, due to premiere on Prime Video, will follow her return to the stage.

On Friday,Celine stated in her caption that she is offering “encouragement and support to all those around the world who have been affected by SPS.”

“I want you to know that you can do it!” “We can do it,” she concluded.

Celine Dion is a powerhouse vocalist from Canada. She’s sold over 200 million albums worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists ever.

Dion shot to fame after winning the 1988 Eurovision song contest.

dion

Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Her hits like “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic and “Because You Loved Me” showcased her incredible range and emotional delivery. Despite taking a break to care for her late husband René Angélil, Dion remains a Vegas headliner and touring force.

Her voice and resilience inspire fans globally.

SOURCE – (CNN)

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