So which one of you fatcat rich s.o.b's out there wanna give me a million dollars? What for? So I can make a few investments and I'm a million short of being a millionaire. Been trying for a while to make my first million; haven't even been able to make my first $1oo large. So it's not as easy as I thought it would be but there are many of you out there who's got several millions to spare so you might as well give it to me. It's just laying around not doing anything anyway, so I'll put it to good use and do some good in this world for once. Your reward will be knowing you did a good thing for the most important person you'll ever get to meet. And no I ain't gonna' do nothing special to get it from you. I will ask God to bless you, coz' many of you out there need it! And to you smartasses out there, I'm not posting my email or anything so you're not gonna' slam my email with bogus messages and don't even try it on my blog account; I keep a tight leash on this one. All I got to say is you're rich with hundreds of resources; you find me!lol Yes I know!lol Who cares! Most of you are stingy selfish s.o.b.'s anyway so I will hear the crickets from this post, except the assholes trying to dis me!lol Eitherway, let the games begin!lol
P.S. Feel free to give more than a million!lol I wonder what brave person will step forward to restore the honor of the rich and prove you all aren't stingy selfish bastards who only care about yourselves? Whooooo will it be????????
Lol! Man the crickets are loud on this one! People are selfish and stingy and the shame is we accept this as a part of life. That's one of the reasons I did this blog. Well I shall add to it. Whoever responds to do the right thing(that is send me the money) God bless them. Whoever can and won't God bless you to live as I live do; no money, no 401k, no high placed friends to grant you favors, barely scraping by well you'll find out.lol You'll be blessed to be alive though.lol
This is for all of you who feel like the Affordable Healthcare Act is lazy people getting over. Many of us have worked all of our lives and quite plainly did the very best we could. Those of you who have made it you didn't do so coz' you're better; the Good Lord chose to Bless you, whether you want to believe in him or not! And you will see as you are forced to live like me, praying daily for a break worrying about any and all setbacks as you try to supply your BASIC needs, food, clothing, shelter. If you say, 'I've been through that', well you've forgotten what it was like as you feel justified of denying the rest of us, many who are genuinely trying to make their dream of financial security come true, healthcare. How are we supposed to work if we're sick? Well you're sick too, just in the spirit.
Alan Thicke's Sons Claim His Wife Threatened Them With Bad Press to Get More of His Estate
Getty Images
Alan Thicke
America's dearly departed favorite dad Alan Thicke is at the center
of what is shaping up to be a dramatic family fight, as his two oldest
sons are taking his wife to court over his estate.
Brennan and Robin Thicke are co-trustees of Thicke's living trust.
They say they've been left with no choice but to file a petition in
order to "honor the memory of their father, protect his legacy, and
prevent his testamentary intentions from being undermined by avarice and
overreaching of his third wife, Tanya Callau."
Thicke died suddenly in December at age 69, after his aorta ruptured while playing hockey with his son Carter.
The older sons claim their father acquired the vast majority of his
wealth long before meeting Callau, who signed a prenuptial agreement
ahead of their 2005 marriage.
In the trust, Thicke left each of his three children equal shares of a
Carpinteria ranch, 75 percent of his personal effects and 60 percent of
his remaining estate, according to the petition. He left Callau the
ranch's furnishings, 25 percent of his personal effects, a $500,000 life
insurance policy, all of his death benefits from pensions and union
memberships and 40 percent of his remaining estate. He also provided
that she could live at the ranch, as long as she paid for its expenses
and maintained the property.
Now, Thicke's sons claim Callau is insisting that the prenup she signed is invalid.
According to the petition filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County
Superior Court, Thicke updated his trust from time to time, and the most
recent iteration was signed in February 2016. It designated his brother
Todd as the trustee, and left the estate in the hands of his children
if Todd declined the role — which he did. Brennan and Robin say Callau
made no complaints about the prenuptial agreement or the estate plan at
that time.
"Now that Alan is dead, Tanya claims there are numerous problems with
the Trust and the Prenuptial Agreement," writes attorney Alex
Weingarten in the petition. "Tanya asserts that there is no chance the
'Prenup' could withstand legal challenge and that she has very
significant community rights in the Trust’s assets and rights of
reimbursement with respect to improvements to the Ranch. Tanya also
claims 'Marvin rights' asserting that she had to forgo
opportunities to pursue and advance her own career in order to support
Alan and be his companion and partner, including raising Carter."
Weingarten also claims Thicke's wife has "threatened to make her
claims fodder for 'tabloid publicity' unless the Co-Trustees agreed to
participate in a mediation and succumb to her demands."
The Thickes are asking the court for instructions concerning the
extent to which the Trust's property is the actor's separate property
and whether Callau's challenge to the prenup is barred because she
waived her community property rights when signing it.
"My clients made every effort to resolve this without the need for going to court," Weingarten tells The Hollywood Reporter.
"The only thing they care about is protecting the legacy of their
father and honoring his intentions. That is exactly what we are going to
do."
The widow's attorney Adam Streisand sent THR a statement
Tuesday evening. "Tanya Thicke has never threatened to take private
family matters public and she never has," he says. "It is clear that
Alan’s sons have chosen this distasteful public smear tactic to bully
Tanya, by stirring up the tabloid media, filing a bogus lawsuit, and
refusing family mediation. Tanya is still grieving the death of her
beloved husband and out of respect for Alan’s memory intends to handle
his son’s false statements privately." May 16, 6:00 p.m. Updated with a statement from Tanya Callau Thicke's attorney.
You know it's a shame that after all this time racism is so prevalent in this country. Instead of paying tribute to one of the finest golfers in the world, they are anxious to report any bad news on him even as they did everything they could to to break up his marriage, something they will pay for one day. They are so sick and angry that a Black Man succeeded in what was supposed to be an 'elitist' whiteboi's sport they show their true feelings every opportunity they get! And that's one of abject racism! They wouldn't treat Jack Nicklaus this way or any other white golfer this bad. I will be glad when the Lord blesses the king to rise so he can put an end to this racist bullshit!
Look at how they're trying to use this story to do as much damage to Tiger woods as they can. Now he wasn't drunk, wasn't drinking yet they're trying to heap as much bile on top of this nothing story as they can. The man has been sick and he took medication prescribed by his doctors. Yet the american press in their racist zeal is trying so hard to do as much damage as they can to him like they did when they succeeded in breaking up his marriage, they don't know what to do. PEOPLE OF THE WORLD JUST LOOK HOW RACIST THEY ARE HERE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE!!! WHEN YOU'RE NOT WHITE THIS IS HOW YOU GET TREATED!!!! DON'T BE FOOLED ASIANS FOR WERE IT NOT FOR THE POWER OF CHINA, N. KOREA, VIET NAM, AND THE SUCCESS OF JAPAN, THEY WOULD TREAT YOU THE SAME WAY!!! THIS LAND OF THE FREE IS ONLY FREE FOR white boys THAT'S THE WAY THEY WANT IT!!!! SO WHEN THEY'RE LYIN TO YOUR FACE, MAKING ALL KINDS OF PROMISES THEY INTEND TO BREAK AS SOON AS THEY HAVE THE UPPERHAND, LOOK AT THIS AND SEE WHAT THEY HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU!!!! WE'RE NOT TREATED LIKE THIS JUST COZ' WE'RE BLACK, WE'RE TREATED LIKE THIS COZ' WE'RE NOT white boys AND HAVE NO POWERFUL ARMIES OR MISSILES TO PUNISH THESE jackals LIKE YOU DO! REMEM BER THIS AND ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR POLICIES COZ' THIS BULLSHIT THEY TRY TO PROPEGATE ABOUT 'FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY' THEY MEAN IT ONLY FOR THEMSELVES! REMEMBER IN YOUR OWN COUNTRIES WHEN THE english PUT UP SIGNS IN YOUR PUBLIC PARKS NO Dogs or chinese?!!? Remember that??? Well they still feel that way about ALL non-whites!!!!
So when they're in your country why don't you make them feel welcome by beating the shit out of them or doing whatever you feel is right everytime you come across them?!!? That's what they want to do to you? How they treat Black people in this country gives you an insight into how they want to treat all non-whites!!! Do not be deceived!!!
Jupiter
The storied and troubled life of Tiger Woods now includes a DUI arrest.
Jupiter police stopped the golf legend, and Jupiter Island
resident, around 3 a.m. Monday as he drove southbound on Military Trail
south of Indian Creek Parkway, a police spokeswoman said.
The area is near Jupiter Middle School and 1 to 2 miles south of Indiantown Road.
The booking charges Woods with DUI-unlawful blood alcohol/DUI, which could refer to either alcohol or drugs.
Jupiter police spokeswoman Kristin Rightler said she did not
know which. She also did not know if anyone else was in Woods’ car.
Rightler did not know what testing was done on the scene or at the jail.
She said she has not seen a report, which she said should be available some time Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, the intersection was mostly quiet except for two television crews and their vehicles.
Woods’ southern direction was away from both his private
exclusive home near the beach in southern Martin County, and his
corporate office and restaurant at Jupiter’s Harbourside dining and
entertainment complex.
The golfer’s web page so far has not mentioned the arrest. The last posting is from Wednesday, after his two-day charity event Tiger Jam in Las Vegas the previous weekend. Celebrities Kate Upton, Chris Paul, Kid Rock and Darius Rucker participated.
Woods also mentions his continuing recovery from a back injury, saying he’s intent on returning to competitive golf.
He has undergone four surgeries, most notably fusion surgery
just more than a month ago, to help with back spasms. The problems kept
him from the 2017 Honda Classic in nearby Palm Beach Gardens. The
14-time major champion has not played since he withdrew from the Dubai
Desert Classic on Feb. 3, where he shot an opening-round 77.
On Wednesday, Woods wrote on his news blog that he hasn’t
“felt this good in years,” adding that “it was instant nerve relief. He
said that “right now, my sole focus is rehab and doing what the doctors
tell me. I am concentrating on short-term goals.”
I had to cut this stupid story for I will not help them cut a brutha. God curse the racist american press. Racism will never end as long as the white establishment is in control of things. Thank God, He is going to change that soon.
Now they're trying to make a big deal out of the new bachelorette being black. When hasn't the white man not had a black or hispanic, or asian woman as his own personal whore? And I mean how come the white bachelorettes only have white men to choose from? No Black men, no Hispanic men, no Asian men, no Arab men only white men? What kind of fuckin' antebellum slave bullshit is this? And how come no black male bachelors who have their pick of all kinds of women and not just black? Black people, stop watching these shows that insult us to our faces!!!
‘Bachelorette’ Director Teases Controversy With Show’s First Black Lead: ‘It’s Really About Time’
Millions
of Americans will tune in Monday to watch the premiere episode of the
13th season of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” where 31-year-old attorney
Rachel Lindsay will cross-examine a new crop of suitors.
More
importantly, Lindsay is the first African-American lead in all 21
seasons of “The Bachelor” and 12 seasons of “The Bachelorette.” Plenty
of the show’s fans think the casting is long overdue. And Ken Fuchs, who
has directed every season of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,”
agrees.
“It’s
really about time,” he told TheWrap. “We’re really pleased, we’re
really happy — and it’s going to be controversial. We’re trying to do it
as openly and honestly as we can.”
And regardless of the historic nature of the season, Fuchs said Lindsay has quickly become one of his favorite bachelorettes.
“I
really, really love Rachel,” he said. “She’s an unbelievably cool
person. A wonderful person. She’s doing a great job on the show.”
When
“The Bachelor” debuted in 2002, plenty of people wondered whether two
people who meet on TV in such a contrived setting could actually
establish a deep connection and fall in love. But when Trista Rehn
married Ryan Sutter in a televised 2003 wedding after meeting on the
first season of “The Bachelorette,” “all bets were off,” Fuchs said.
Fourteen years later, the couple is still married with two children.
“That
was sort of a watershed moment for the series, very, very early,” he
said. “[After that,] you could never say that will never work. If it was
conjured up or fake or phony or manipulated, it wouldn’t still be on
the air.”
Fuchs
said the often-dramatic rose ceremonies, in which the bachelor or
bachelorette choose the suitors that make it to the next round, are
fully authentic. Yes, Corinne Olympios really did sleep through one this
past season, which threw the show’s contestants — and crew — for a
loop.
“That
was one of those cases where we were like, ‘What are we going to do?'”
said Fuchs, who also directs ABC’s “Shark Tank” and syndicated game show
“Family Feud” (for which he was recently nominated for his fourth
Emmy).
Although
“The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” are edited entertainment series,
contestants are cooped up in a mansion for long periods of time where
emotions and hormones can combine to produce TV gold at any point, which
makes directing the shows more like overseeing a live event, Fuchs
said.
“There’s
no audience, no time structure,” Fuchs said. “No time constraint like
in some shows. We try to treat it like a live event — whatever happens
in the moment we want to capture. We don’t want to conjure up too many
scenarios. Anything can happen along the way.”
‘Bachelorette’ Director Teases Controversy With Show’s First Black Lead: ‘It’s Really About Time’
Millions
of Americans will tune in Monday to watch the premiere episode of the
13th season of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” where 31-year-old attorney
Rachel Lindsay will cross-examine a new crop of suitors.
More
importantly, Lindsay is the first African-American lead in all 21
seasons of “The Bachelor” and 12 seasons of “The Bachelorette.” Plenty
of the show’s fans think the casting is long overdue. And Ken Fuchs, who
has directed every season of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,”
agrees.
“It’s
really about time,” he told TheWrap. “We’re really pleased, we’re
really happy — and it’s going to be controversial. We’re trying to do it
as openly and honestly as we can.”
And regardless of the historic nature of the season, Fuchs said Lindsay has quickly become one of his favorite bachelorettes.
“I
really, really love Rachel,” he said. “She’s an unbelievably cool
person. A wonderful person. She’s doing a great job on the show.”
When
“The Bachelor” debuted in 2002, plenty of people wondered whether two
people who meet on TV in such a contrived setting could actually
establish a deep connection and fall in love. But when Trista Rehn
married Ryan Sutter in a televised 2003 wedding after meeting on the
first season of “The Bachelorette,” “all bets were off,” Fuchs said.
Fourteen years later, the couple is still married with two children.
The world of rock'n'roll has lost a true legend this week. Greg Allman one of the most soulful whiteboys ever to sing has died. Him and his brother Duane were personal heroes of mine and I am truly sad to hear this. God bless him and his family and just pray he made the cut for the choir in Heaven.
Gregg
Allman, the founder of “The Allman Brothers Band” and one of the
musicians credited with inventing the southern rock genre of music died
Saturday at the age of 69.
According to a statement
on the singer’s website, Allman "passed away peacefully at his home in
Savannah, Georgia." Allman’s family is yet to release an official
statement on his death.
The statement on the website also mentions that Allman’s health deteriorated during the last few years of his life:
"Gregg
struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During
that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his
brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his
soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest
of times."
Allman’s
official cause of death is yet to be revealed, although he was known to
suffer from chronic liver issues in the recent years, Rolling Stone reported. Also, in 1999, he was diagnosed with hepatitis C and had to undergo a liver transplant in 2010, Billboard reported.
In
November 2016, Allman said that he needed to “focus on his health,” but
still planned to tour in 2017. However, a short while after, it was
announced on the musician’s official website that he had cancelled all
his tour dates in 2017, according to a Billboard report.
Allman
had founded The Allman Brothers Band with his older brother, Duane, a
legendary guitarist, who was later killed in a motorbike accident
November 1971. After that, he spearheaded the band on his own.
Gregg Allman
Singers/Songwriters
Gregg Allman, Michelle Malone and Chuck Leavell at rehearsals for
'Celebrating Georgia With Chuck Leavell & Friends' at Atlanta
Symphony Hall in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 18, 2014.Photo: Getty Images/Rick Diamond
Apart from being the lead singer of the band, Allman was also the songwriter and the keyboardist of the band.
The
band made into the Billboard 200 albums chart just a year before the
death of Duane. The track “with Brothers and Sisters” reached number one
spot and retained its position for five weeks in 1973.
In
the following 34 years, a number of songs secure the top spots in
various music charts all across the globe. “Ramblin Man,” “Crazy Love,”
“Straight From the Heart,” “Good Clean Fun,” “Midnight Rider,” and “I’m
No Angel.”
Some
of the songs which were written, composed and sung by Allman were "It's
Not My Cross to Bear," "Midnight Rider," "Ain't Wastin' Time No More,”
"Melissa,” "One Way Out" and "Statesboro Blues."
Allman
was also known for his prolific personal life. He had married seven
times in his lifetime, his seventh wife being Shannon Allman, whom he
married in 2013. His most famed marriage was to Cher, in 1975, which
lasted merely three years and was ridden with controversies, mostly due
to Allman's alcoholism and heroin addiction, Rolling Stone reported.
"It's
too soon to properly process this," Allman Brothers Band guitarist
Dickey Betts said in a statement. "I'm so glad I was able to have a
couple good talks with him before he passed. In fact I was about to call
him to check and see how he was when I got the call. It's a very sad
day."
Michael
Lehman, Allman’s manager and friend stated: "I have lost a dear friend
and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and
gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family
and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his
extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better
friend. We will all miss him."
Many musicians have taken to twitter to express their condolences and prayers on the occasion.
Now a lot of people may disagree with me but Don Savage thinks that Roger Moore was the very best James Bond. I know a lot of people sing the praises of Sean Connery but I preferred Roger Moore who also played Simon Templar in the Saint, one of my favorite tv shows. Now to me Roger Moore was the best James Bond and Pierce Brosnan second best. Sean Connery was the first for that sorry first American film doesn't even count. It was so bad it's not even available on dvd to this day. Eitherway a treat for all James Bond fans would be to have Pierce Brosnan do a couple more movies. That would only be fair. We will miss you Roger Moore. You were awesome.
(Video provided by Newsweek) Roger Moore, the handsome English actor who appeared in seven films as James Bond and as Simon Templar on “The Saint” TV series, has died in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer. He was 89.
His
family issued an announcement on Twitter: “It is the heaviest of
hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore,
passed away today. We are all devastated.”
Moore
appeared in more official Bond pics than his friend Sean Connery over a
longer period of time, and while Connery’s fans were fiercely loyal,
polls showed that many others favored Moore’s lighter, more humorous
take on 007.
In 1972, Moore was asked to join Her Majesty’s Secret
Service. He took on the mantle of 007 for 1973’s “Live and Let Die,”
which would lead to six more turns as England’s top spy. In addition to
reviving the franchise at the B.O. after waning prospects at the end of
Connery’s run, the new James Bond relied on more humor in stories that
cranked up the camp.
Moore as Bond began to shake off the Connery
comparisons and pick up speed after 1977’s “The Spy Who Loved Me”
launched the series into super-blockbuster status, raking in $185.4
million worldwide. Next up, the outer space-traveling “Moonraker” (1979)
cumed $202 million and 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only” took $194 million.
“Octopussy”
(1983) marked a downward turn in the franchise’s fortunes, with B.O. of
$183.7 million, and 1985’s “A View to a Kill” saw the actor ready to
surrender his license to kill, taking in a little over $150 million.
The young actor came to the U.S. in 1953. MGM signed him to a
contract and he received supporting work on several pictures. He played a
tennis pro in 1954’s “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” with Elizabeth
Taylor. The role was one of several in the ’50s that hinged on his tall,
athletic good looks. He would often play royalty or military
characters.
Moore had his first taste of smallscreen stardom from
1956-58 as the lead, Sir Winfred, in ITV’s “Ivanhoe.” While still
drawing film roles, he would continue to star in TV programs, following
“Ivanhoe” with short-lived ABC Western “The Alaskans” and replacing
James Garner in “Maverick” in 1960-61 (Moore played British cousin Beau
Maverick). By the time he arrived on “Maverick,” its popularity was
waning, but Moore won over the cast and crew with his good humor and
charm, on-set qualities for which the actor would be known throughout
his career.
In 1962, Moore began playing one of the roles that
would define his celebrity, dashing thief Simon Templar, who would steal
from rich villains each week on “The Saint.” The show ran 118 episodes,
transitioning from B&W to color and finally wrapping in 1969. The
British skein initially ran in syndication in the States but was part of
NBC’s primetime schedule from 1967-69.
Stories would feature
exotic locales, beautiful women and plenty of action, elements shared
with the bigscreen tales about a certain British spy of the era.
Ironically, it was the “Saint” contract that prevented Moore from
competing for the role of 007 when Sean Connery was cast in 1962’s “Dr.
No.”
Moore returned to the bigscreen with a pair of forgettable
thrillers in ’69 and ’70. Despite having sworn off TV, he was
subsequently lured back for “The Persuaders.” The show, which featured
Moore and Tony Curtis as millionaire playboy crime-fighters, ran only
one season; it was successful in Europe but failed in its run on ABC in
the U.S.
During his 13 years as 007, Moore landed feature roles in
other actioners, but none that would compete with the Bond franchise.
Movies from that period include 1978’s “The Wild Geese,” with Richard
Burton and Richard Harris, and 1980’s “ffolkes” with James Mason and
David Hedison, who played CIA agent Felix Leiter in “Live and Let Die.”
The
actor took great fun in skewering his slick image offscreen and on-,
including appearances in “Cannonball Run” and TV’s “The Muppet Show,” in
which he struck out with Miss Piggy; in the 2002 comedy “Boat Trip,” he
played a flamboyant homosexual with some Bond-like elements, and in
2004 he lent his voice to animated short “The Fly Who Loved Me.”
He
also occasionally appeared both on the big- and smallscreen. He
appeared in the Spice Girls feature “Spice World,” provided a voice for
“The Saint” feature in 1997, appeared in an episode of “Alias” in 2003
and had a role in the 2013 telepic version of “The Saint” starring Eliza
Dushku.
Moore did quite a bit of voicework in the 2000s in pics
including “Here Comes Peter Cottontail,” “Agent Crush,” “Gnomes and
Trolls: The Forest Trial,” “De vilde svaner” and 2010’s “Cats and Dogs:
The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” whose title was an allusion to Bond girl
Pussy Galore of “Goldfinger”; his “Cats and Dogs” character was Tab
Lazenby.
He became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in 1991 and had
been an active advocate for children’s causes. In 1999, he was honored
by the British government with the title Commander of the British
Empire.
Moore was born in Stockwell, South London. Despite health
problems, Moore excelled at school and took an early interest in art and
drawing. His grammar school education was interrupted by the start of
WWII; he and his mother spent most of the war in Amersham, 25 miles
outside of London.
In 1943, Moore decided to leave school and
pursue work in animation at Publicity Pictures Prods., where he was a
junior trainee in cartooning. But mishandling of some celluloid brought a
swift conclusion to that career path.
Moore began his long acting
career during the summer of 1944, when a friend recommended that he
seek work as an extra on the film “Caesar and Cleopatra,” which brought
Moore a walk-on role and the attention of co-director Brian Desmond
Hurst, who was impressed with the looks of the tall, thin young man and
secured him extra parts in two subsequent pics. With the support of
Hurst, Moore auditioned for and was admitted to the Royal Academy of
Dramatic Arts.
In 1945, Moore was called up for national service
and, after basic training, was recommended for the Intelligence Corps.
“The only reason they commissioned me was I looked good in a uniform,”
Moore joked of his military career.
The actor’s autobiography, “My
Word Is My Bond,” was published in 2008; his other books include memoir
“One Lucky Bastard” and “Bond on Bond.” In recent years he toured with a
popular one-man show, “An Evening With Roger Moore.”
Moore was
married to skater Doorn Van Steyn, singer Dorothy Squires, Italian
actress Luisa Mattioli and finally to Danish-Swedish multimillionaire
Kristina “Kiki” Tholstrup. He is survived by Tholstrup; a daughter,
actress Deborah Moore; and two sons, Geoffrey Moore, an actor, and
Christian Moore, a film producer. Related slideshow: Stars we've lost in 2017 (via Photo Services)
Now this story is of great sadness to me. Chris Cornell committed suicide last week and the this was a great personal tragedy to me. Back when the white establishment here in America had me imprisoned for a crime I DID NOT COMMITT Soundgarden's music gave me sweet relief. BlackHole Sun was an anthem to us who felt lost and hopeless and I was one of those. My world had collapsed on me as I sat up in prison on a trumped up charges. Soundgarden's superunkown cd galvanized me and gave me hope for another day. That's why his suicide shocked me. I wish we had been friends so I could try an inspire him even as he inspired me by God's Grace to continue on in a very very difficult time in my life. I know his family is upset and want to blame it all on the drugs for the sake of his kids, I can't blame them there, but the truth is that we'll never know. The man could have had problems no one knew about and I could understand that. I also understand that rockn'roll has lost one of the best vocalists ever and he will be missed.
Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Audioslave Frontman, Dies at 52
Chris Cornell during a Soundgarden reunion concert in Newark in 2011.Credit
Chad Batka for The New York Times
Chris
Cornell, the powerful, dynamic singer whose band Soundgarden was one of
the architects of grunge music, died on Wednesday night in Detroit
hours after the band had performed there. He was 52.
The
death was a suicide by hanging, the Wayne County medical examiner’s
office said in a statement released on Thursday afternoon. It said a
full autopsy had not yet been completed.
Mr. Cornell’s representative, Brian Bumbery, said in a statement that the death was “sudden and unexpected.”
Soundgarden
played at the Fox Theater in Detroit on Wednesday night, and had been
scheduled to perform in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at the Rock on the
Range festival.
Dontae
Freeman, a spokesman for the Detroit Police Department, said in an
interview that officers went to the MGM Grand hotel and casino around
midnight in response to a call about an apparent suicide of a white man,
whom he did not identify. Mr. Freeman said the man’s date of birth was
July 20, 1964, which is Mr. Cornell’s.
He
added that the man’s wife had called a family friend to check on the
man; the friend forced his way into the man’s room at the casino and
found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor with a band around his
neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr. Cornell appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death. A post on his Twitter account
announced that the group had arrived in Detroit, and a clip of the
group’s 2012 release “By Crooked Steps” was posted to his official
Facebook page.
Mr. Cornell acknowledged in interviews that he had struggled with drug use throughout his life. In a 1994 Rolling Stone article, he described himself as a “daily drug user at 13” who had quit by the time he turned 14.
After
Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, a breakup that would last for more than a
decade, Mr. Cornell returned to heavy drug use, telling The Guardian in
2009 that he was a “pioneer” in the abuse of the opiate OxyContin and that he had gone to rehab.
Soundgarden’s
musical journeys tended toward the knotty and dark, plunging into
off-kilter meters and punctuated by Mr. Cornell’s voice, which could
quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl. Onstage, Mr.
Cornell was an imposing figure, flinging his long hair as he presided
over mosh pits of fans churning to the band’s metal-tinged riffs.
Mr.
Cornell was one of four prominent frontmen — along with Kurt Cobain of
Nirvana, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Layne Staley of Alice in Chains —
who brought Seattle’s sound to the national stage in the late 1980s and
1990s. He helped form Soundgarden in Seattle, where he was born, around
1984. Sub Pop, then a fledgling record label, released the group’s
first single, “Hunted Down,” in 1987, as well as two subsequent EPs. The
group’s debut album, “Ultramega OK,” which came a year later on the
punk label SST, was its last release before it made the leap to a major
label.
The
album “Badmotorfinger,” released in 1991, benefited from a swell of
attention that was beginning to surround the Seattle scene, where
Soundgarden, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, was playing a
high-octane, high-angst brand of rock ’n’ roll.
Three of Soundgarden’s studio albums have been certified platinum, including “Superunknown,” from 1994, which featured the Grammy-winning songs “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” as well as “Fell on Black Days” and “My Wave.”
Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun"Video by SoundgardenVEVO
After
disbanding, the group — which includes the guitarist Kim Thayil, the
bassist Ben Shepherd and the drummer Matt Cameron — reunited in 2010 and
has performed regularly since then.
Reviewing
a 2011 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark in The New York
Times, Jon Pareles called Soundgarden “one reunited band that can pick
up right where it left off.” In 2012, it released “King Animal,”
its first album in 16 years, which Mr. Pareles said “sounds like four
musicians live in a room, making music that clenches and unclenches like
a fist.”
Mr.
Cornell grew up in Seattle, the youngest of six children, and has said
that he spent a lot of time in trouble as a child — he was kicked out of
seventh grade once and eighth grade twice, he told Rolling Stone in a
1994 interview, and said that he struggled with drugs and then
loneliness and depression. He dropped out of school at 14 after his
parents’ divorce and got a job to help support his mother, he told Spin
magazine in 1996.
Music
became a refuge, and Mr. Cornell started to take it very seriously. He
has said he was drawn to the harmonies of the Beatles early on, and
started to play drums at 16. His first group was called the Jones Street
Band (named after the street he lived on), and Mr. Cornell played the
role of the singing drummer. After answering an ad to be a vocalist in
another band, he met Mr. Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto, Soundgarden’s
original bassist, and the trio quickly wrote a batch of songs.
He
married Susan Silver, who managed Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, in
1990, and had a daughter, Lily; the couple split in 2004. Mr. Cornell is
survived by Lily; his wife, Vicky Cornell, with whom he started a foundation to protect “vulnerable children”; and their two children, Christopher and Toni.
Mr.
Cornell released five solo albums during and after his time with
Soundgarden, starting with “Euphoria Morning” in 1999. His 2007 album
“Carry On” featured an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie
Jean,” which was the inspiration for a well-received version of the song
on “American Idol.”
He
contributed the song “Seasons” to the soundtrack of “Singles” (1992),
Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the Seattle music scene, and made a cameo
in the film.
Chris Cornell - "Seasons"Video by Micheleland
In
2001, after Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, Zack de la Rocha,
left the group, Mr. Cornell and members of that band formed Audioslave.
The group released three albums before announcing its split in 2007.
In
November 2016, Mr. Cornell hit the road for the first time with another
supergroup, Temple of the Dog, featuring a blend of members of
Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The band, known for its breakout hit “Hunger
Strike,” a dramatic duet between Mr. Vedder and Mr. Cornell, had been
formed about 25 years earlier as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the lead
singer of the Seattle bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died
of a heroin overdose in March 1990.
Mr. Cornell told The Times
that the group had finally decided to bring its songs to life to honor
Mr. Wood. He said, “I thought, well, this is one thing that I can do to
remind myself and maybe other people of who this guy is and was and keep
his story — and, in a way, his life — with us.”
A
close friend, Eric Esrailian, whose family regularly took vacations
with the Cornells, said Mr. Cornell was never the bold persona he seemed
onstage. “He liked to take pictures of our kids at dinner, just talking
to each other,” Mr. Esrailian said, adding that “In 10 years of
friendship, I’ve never seen him have more than a Diet Coke.” He said he
had seen no mood changes in recent days or weeks. “We were talking about
summer vacation plans in Greece,” he said.
Mr. Esrailian produced the 2017 movie “The Promise,” about the Armenian genocide, for which Mr. Cornell wrote music
and donated the proceeds from all audio downloads to help refugees. “He
wanted his song to be an anthem about hope and perseverance for
everyone,” he said.
Mr.
Esrailian told a story about Mr. Cornell’s giving him a guitar for his
birthday, signed by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. “I’m a fan of Jimmy
Page, and Jimmy Page is a fan of Chris Cornell,” he said. “This is the
same guy we’d eat sushi with and he’d make jokes.”
When
Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last
month, Mr. Esrailian said he told his friend that he belonged there as
well: “He said, I don’t need that now, because I’ve got so much ahead of
me.”
Correction: May 18, 2017
An earlier version of this obituary misidentified the source
of a tweet honoring Chris Cornell. The posting came from a Rage Against
the Machine fan account, not from the band.
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