Michael Jackson Dead at 50

(AP) - An emergency caller from Michael Jackson's home yesterday said he wasn't breathing or responding to efforts to revive him. The Los Angeles Fire Department released the audio of the 911 call today. The caller reported that Jackson—whose name he didn't use—was on a bed, wasn't breathing, and wasn't responding to resuscitation efforts. The unidentified caller said Jackson was with his personal doctor at the time. More»

Stubbs' baritone was featured on many Motown hits

(NEWSER) - Baritone Levi Stubbs, the heart of the Four Tops, died today in Detroit at age 72, the Detroit News reports. With Abdul Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson, Stubbs recorded many iconic hits of the Motown era, including Bernadette, Reach Out (I’ll Be There), and Standing in the Shadows of Love. On his own, he was the voice of Audrey the carnivorous plant in the 1986 film version of Little Shop of Horrors. More»

Soprano captured America's heart

(NEWSER) - Soprano Beverly Sills, whose ebullient personality and brilliant singing voice not only made her a star but helped demystify opera in America, died Monday night in her Manhattan home from inoperable lung cancer, the New York Times reports. She was 78. Sills spent much of her singing career with the New York City Opera, and later chaired Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera. More»

Conductor, cellist and champion of artistic freedom dies in his native Russia

(NEWSER) - Cellist, conductor, and one-time Soviet gadfly Mstislav Rostropovich, who used to instruct his orchestras to "play as if you are being tickled in the sides," died today in Moscow. Rostropovich, whose 17-year-run as the head of the National Symphony Orchestra tranformed it from a middling ensemble to one of the world's premier orchestras, was 80. More»

DC's funk pioneer is gone

(NEWSER) - Chuck Brown, who created the "go-go" genre of funk in DC in the 1970s and remained a mainstay of black Washington's culture ever since, has died at age 75, reports the Washington Post . A snippet from the paper's obituary, by Chris Richards:

• "Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because 'the music just goes and goes.'" Full piece here .