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In Memoriam: Those We Have Lost from the Music Industry

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
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Oosala
Oosala

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.  I'm not havin' it.  Sinéad O'Connor, aged 56, has died.  I refuse to accept this, especially in the wake of the relatively recent death of Dolores O'Riordan.  Sinéad's

Chit Chat
Chit Chat

I was stunned to wake up to the news of his death this morning.  I'm a bit of an old fart, but I've always like the Foo Fighters.   I've especially enjoyed watching them whenever they did tributes to

Popples
Popples

From the Taylor Hawkins Tribute concert:

Posted Images

TVFan17

TVFan17

The Billboard Music Awards was the first music awards show to happen since Prince died, I guess, and the Madonna tribute (with Stevie Wonder joining in on the last portion of it) was not good... at all.   If it had been the Grammys I think the tribute would have been better.  A lot of people criticized Lady Gaga's Bowie tribute in February, but I thought it was 100 times better than this one Madonna did.  At least Gaga had some energy.

Madonna knew Prince, but I don't really know that they were all that close in recent years -- were they?  Was she chosen to do the tribute just because she is a big name?  Her voice is not strong enough to handle the vocals, and the whole thing seemed like it lacked energy and feeling.  It was bland.  Prince was anything but bland.

What's the next music awards show?  Is it the MTV one (the VMAs)?  Is that in August?  Maybe, somehow, that one will offer up a better Prince tribute.  After that, the next one in line is the American Music Awards, I guess (late this year)?   We have to wait a long time until the next Grammy Awards, and I don't know if a Prince tribute would be quite as grand by next February.

Truly, Bruno Mars and Lenny Kravitz would have been the ideal choices to take on the Prince tribute -- Bruno could handle the more funk-based pieces Prince did, and Lenny could handle the more rock-oriented songs.  If they needed a female participant, maybe Beyonce (even though I'm not a huge fan of hers).  And the people who actually played with Prince (Wendy & Lisa, The Time, Sheila E., etc.) should be the ones playing behind Bruno, Lenny and Beyonce.

tom87

tom87

31 minutes ago, Sherry67 said:

The Billboard Music Awards was the first music awards show to happen since Prince died, I guess, and the Madonna tribute (with Stevie Wonder joining in on the last portion of it) was not good... at all.   If it had been the Grammys I think the tribute would have been better.  A lot of people criticized Lady Gaga's Bowie tribute in February, but I thought it was 100 times better than this one Madonna did.  At least Gaga had some energy.

Madonna knew Prince, but I don't really know that they were all that close in recent years -- were they?  Was she chosen to do the tribute just because she is a big name?  Her voice is not strong enough to handle the vocals, and the whole thing seemed like it lacked energy and feeling.  It was bland.  Prince was anything but bland.

What's the next music awards show?  Is it the MTV one (the VMAs)?  Is that in August?  Maybe, somehow, that one will offer up a better Prince tribute.  After that, the next one in line is the American Music Awards, I guess (late this year)?   We have to wait a long time until the next Grammy Awards, and I don't know if a Prince tribute would be quite as grand by next February.

Truly, Bruno Mars and Lenny Kravitz would have been the ideal choices to take on the Prince tribute -- Bruno could handle the more funk-based pieces Prince did, and Lenny could handle the more rock-oriented songs.  If they needed a female participant, maybe Beyonce (even though I'm not a huge fan of hers).  And the people who actually played with Prince (Wendy & Lisa, The Time, Sheila E., etc.) should be the ones playing behind Bruno, Lenny and Beyonce.

BET Awards are doing a Prince tribute June 26.

 

Threw some major shade at the BBMA too..

#BETAwards ‏@BETAwards

#BETAwards #PrinceTribute

 

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DearEvette

DearEvette

oooh, i have to put myself in column that checked 'NO' on that Madonna Prince tribute.  She sounded like she was straining for notes and she really did not feel like she had any connection to the song at all.  It lacked emotion and had zero real energy..  I saw that she was sad, but man, she did not imbue the song with anything other than just generic onstage performance.

Nice outfit, though.

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AgentRXS

AgentRXS

I don't think Madonna and Prince were close at all. Supposedly, they did not get along when they worked on the "Like A Prayer" album and had to record their duet separately LOL. I can see why Billboard chose her, since she was also an 80s icon, and they were both known for being outlandish and pushing the button on sexuality. 

The thing is, if you choose Madonna to do a Prince (or any, for that matter) tribute, you don't have her sing a ballad. That's not her strong suit, and not what people want to see from Madonna. When they started the intro to "Let's Go Crazy", I was anticipating a fun and exciting tribute. "Nothing Compares to U/Purple Rain" was just so unimaginative and boring. And Madonna (probably checked out due to her custody problems with her son) put no life into it at all.

I would have liked to see her dedicate "Like a Prayer" to him since he did the guitar work on that song. I would've like to seen her do "Little Red Corvette", "Let's Go Crazy" or another one of his songs that pushed the envelope back in the day.  Prince deserved a happy celebration of his life, not a cliched sing-a-long.

BET Awards better step up for this. I am expecting nothing less than epic.

I'm going to miss the camera cuts to Prince's stinkfaces. What I imagined Prince's face would've looked like last night: qkyksdf8zhdyyaiqmdzr.gif

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UYI

UYI

I honestly thought it was fine. And her being at the Billboard Music Awards as opposed to say, the Grammys, makes more sense. Not that the latter awards are much better nowadays, but the former are really more about the charts and sales; it's right in the title with the word Billboard. The BET Awards and the Grammys--THOSE are where I would expect people like Sheila E to pay tribute to him.

And honestly, I think Madonna is a better singer than most people give her credit for; it's probably just better for her to stick to her own ballads; she's had some beautiful ones over the years. But I thought she was fine here, and I loved all the purple imagery and effects on stage.

Really, the two things about her tribute I didn't like so much were her frozen face, and maybe the cane she had. It may have been just another way for her to honor him, as he used a cane during the last several years of his life, but given that it was for health reasons? She probably should have left it out.

All that said, BET's shade towards her was still great. 

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Ohwell

Ohwell

I think Madonna with the cane is like Prince with the cane:  She needs it and it turns out Prince wasn't just being "cool"; he needed it too.  I think the dancing takes a toll on the body and, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gaga walking around with a cane, trying to look cool.  People made fun of Britney for strutting around the stage and not really dancing, but I can't say that I blame her.

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TVFan17

TVFan17

(edited)
On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 10:20 PM, tom87 said:

BET Awards are doing a Prince tribute June 26.

 

Threw some major shade at the BBMA too..

#BETAwards ‏@BETAwards

#BETAwards #PrinceTribute

 

canvas.png

 

Hee hee.  That is so great.  It's not a funny situation overall, but that is hilarious!

I still think that it was a bland performance lacking in energy, feeling and oomph -- performed by someone who I don't feel was the right choice to take on the task.  There was no reason to think that Madonna was either currently close with Prince OR that she was even a big fan of his music.  And, in that case, anyone could have done it (other popular singers).    

The Sinead O'Connor version of Nothing Compares 2 U was always very stirring because Sinead's voice was so powerful.  It wasn't/isn't a perfect voice, but it had a certain quality to it that lent itself well to the song and gave it some impact.  Her voice alternated between quiet and loud.  It seemed to convey sadness, desperation and yearning quite well.  Ideally, it would have been great for Sinead to be the one to perform that song in Prince tributes, but... well... doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Now if The Time is performing at the BET Awards, I don't expect a poignant, heartstring-tugging ballad, but rather a lively, toe-tapping, funky sort of tribute.  Maybe someone else will handle the emotional aspect of it.

I think that now I'd rather see a rousing version of Little Red Corvette or something, with everyone in the audience singing along and dancing, than another version of Purple Rain or Nothing Compares 2 U.   

Edited by Sherry67
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DearEvette

DearEvette

50 minutes ago, Sherry67 said:

The Sinead O'Connor version of Nothing Compares 2 U was always very stirring because Sinead's voice was so powerful.  It wasn't/isn't a perfect voice, but it had a certain quality to it that lent itself well to the song and gave it some impact.  Her voice alternated between quiet and loud.  It seemed to convey sadness, desperation and yearning quite well. 

This is so true.  It was another reason i had an issue with that tribute.  Why this song in particular?  Yes, everyone knows he wrote it, but it is more strongly associated with Sinead than it is with Prince.  When I hear that song in my head I hear her singing it, not him.  I mean, I am sure it was a big Billboard hit, but even Billboard does not chart it as one of Prince's hits.  Sigh.  Anyway, BET better pull it off cuz you know they'll get dragged if they don't.  LOL.

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AgentRXS

AgentRXS

I think they chose that song because although written about a breakup, it is a song dealing with loss. Again, they seemed to go for the least creative choice. They didn't necessarily need to used Sinead's arrangement for the song, though. Prince's arrangement of the song would've meshed nicely with "Like a Prayer" (if she had chosen it to honor his work on that song) :

Now that I think about it, would anyone performing  "Let's Go Crazy" be considered poor taste  considering where his body was found? I personally don't think so, but people are often so offended over nothing these days.

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DearEvette

DearEvette

I dunno.  I am cautiously optimistic about BET.  When they presented BabyFace with his Lifetime achievement award, they had a great cross section or representation of his work from his very, very early days til now.  I mean, they reached back and got Tevin Campbell!  But then they left off Karyn White... so we'll see.

DollEyes

DollEyes

(edited)

Madonna's tribute was horrible. Not even Stevie Wonder-who was way better than her-could save it. There are plenty of versions of "Nothing Compares 2U" on You Tube that are much better than Madonna's, by male and female singers, especially the latest versions by Chris Stapleton & Kate Hudson. 

I believe that BET would do a much better tribute than Billboard, but I think that a two-hour tribute, like the Grammys did for Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder, would be perfect. 

Edited by DollEyes
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TVFan17

TVFan17

Well, I think that the word "addict" automatically evokes certain imagery and ideas in people's minds, but I don't think that all addicts are created equal. 

In other words, some people are addicts because they are trying to escape life, alter their minds, live in a constant state of numbness, etc.  They don't want to feel things, or they might just like feeling high, goofy and doped up all of the time.  Some of them even think they reach some greater level of consciousness and spirituality by being high all the time.  Regular ol' reality isn't good enough.

Other people become addicts from a different sort of mentality.  It's not that they want to feel doped up and altered all the time.  But they might have terrible physical pain that doesn't seem to go away, and they literally cannot stand it anymore.  They just want to be out of pain and out of discomfort and get a decent night's rest for a change.  Unfortunately, they have to keep taking more of whatever the drug is to stay out of pain, and they become addicted that way -- not out of a need to want to be high.

Certain reports -- which may or may not be true -- indicate that Prince was addicted, and measures were already being taken to help him deal with his physical pain and with the addiction.  I don't think he was an addict in the sense that most people would think of when they hear that word, but I think he probably could have become addicted to the drugs he was taking for pain.

I am not a drug user.  I hate the taste of most alcohol.  I don't smoke weed.  I don't like feeling doped up and like I'm not in my right mind.  I won't even take ibuprofen unless a headache is reallllly bad.  But I have back problems that have plagued me off and on for 20+ years, and there have been phases of time when I was in soooooo much pain in my back, hips and legs that I couldn't move, couldn't sleep, couldn't do anything but cry.  No amount of ibuprofen would help, and the only option was to escalate to stronger drugs.  I managed to forge ahead with only having to take Vicodin a couple of times, and I just suffered through a lot of other pain until it finally alleviated a bit after years.  But given the amount of pain I have been in at certain points, I cannot promise that I wouldn't have been popping some pills left and right just to stop that pain -- IF I had had them available to me, which I did not.  Pain can be so intense that it overrides any rational thinking, and that's how people can become addicted.

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AgentRXS

AgentRXS

Quote

Certain reports -- which may or may not be true -- indicate that Prince was addicted, and measures were already being taken to help him deal with his physical pain and with the addiction.  I don't think he was an addict in the sense that most people would think of when they hear that word, but I think he probably could have become addicted to the drugs he was taking for pain.

 

But given the amount of pain I have been in at certain points, I cannot promise that I wouldn't have been popping some pills left and right just to stop that pain -- IF I had had them available to me, which I did not.  Pain can be so intense that it overrides any rational thinking, and that's how people can become addicted.

I personally don't see why it would be offensive to say that Prince was addict of painkillers. It is what it is. No one is calling him a crackhead or accusing him of pissing away his life due to drugs.  Like Michael, as Prince got older, his body paid the price for the 20-30 plus years of performing. Both men were perfectionists and mediocre wasn't in their vocabulary, and they push their bodies past normal limits to put on a entertaining show. Prince's hip problems are well-known and so is the issue of painkiller addiction in America. I don't think anyone is faulting the guy for taking pills to relieve the pain, its just extremely sad that it got to point where he overdosed twice, and that he was not able to be revived the 2nd time so that he could get the treatment he was clearly seeking.

Its a horrible mix to be driven out of your mind with pain and also have access to any Dr. Feelgood you want to prescribe whatever and however much you want at any given point. I agree with the above poster. Sure, surgery was suggested, but sometimes surgery can leave you in even worse pain or won't relieve the pain enough that it would even be  worth the risk.  So where does that leave the sufferer? Its just a sad situation all around and its a shame that so many people are in this situation and losing their lives because of it.

  • Love 8
AgentRXS

AgentRXS

(edited)

So its been a little over 2 months since Prince's passing and I haven't been able to go a day without listening or watching a performance of his and I have no desire to really listen to anything else. I guess its because while he was alive, it was so difficult to get access to his content, that I'm enjoying just being able go on YouTube and waste an hour or so watching live performances. 

The BET Awards did a excellent job, but I also feel like their should've been more.I'm disappointed that BET didn't put together a real tribute program together for Prince. I guess Prince is getting less programming dedicated to his remembrance than Micheal because he doesn't come from a family like the Jacksons, who will produce anything Michael-related to get money. I just feel like he is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of artist, and so heavily influenced my generations (early 80s-born Millennials) music/musical artists, that he deserved a whole night dedicated exclusively to him. Who knows? Perhaps Mayte or Sheila E will throw something together eventually.

Edited by AgentRXS
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TVFan17

TVFan17

(edited)

Okay... I didn't watch the VMAs last night, but I am shocked that they did not include some sort of tribute segments to Prince and David Bowie.   I wonder if enough time has passed since each of their deaths that it's kind of like "out of sight, out of mind"?   Because, if that's the case, is there any hope at all for a Prince tribute at the Grammys in 2017?

Now, Glenn Frey was an iconic musician in a different way, being an Eagles co-founder and identified with a very specific California sound, but I would not associate him with visuals and videos and provocative imagery.  In other words, even though I am a fan of the Eagles, I can totally understand why MTV would not throw in a Glenn Frey tribute at the VMAs.

Bowie and Prince, however, in addition to being icons, were closely, solidly identified with videos and visuals, interesting images, a certain mystique, intriguing overall looks, etc.  In MTV's heyday -- back when they actual showed videos all day and all night -- Bowie and Prince were very prominent.  There were lots of videos from each of them.  Even if I didn't like a Bowie or Prince song, I would always watch the videos because they were fascinating.

How on earth did MTV come to the stupid decision to not honor either of them in some way?

Edited by Sherry67
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GaT

GaT

1 hour ago, Sherry67 said:

How on earth did MTV come to the stupid decision to not honor either of them in some way?

Because the 12 years olds who care about the VMAs don't have any idea who Prince & David Bowie are. They do know who Kanye & the Kardashians are, & that's why they're on the show. The people who watch are the same people who sent out these tweets when Paul McCartney & Kanye did a song together.

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UYI

UYI

(edited)
12 hours ago, GaT said:

Because the 12 years olds who care about the VMAs don't have any idea who Prince & David Bowie are. They do know who Kanye & the Kardashians are, & that's why they're on the show. The people who watch are the same people who sent out these tweets when Paul McCartney & Kanye did a song together.

They did a Michael Jackson tribute in 2009, though, so expecting one for Bowie or Prince this year wouldn't have exactly been weird. 2009 wasn't all that long ago, really. 

And honestly? I think some of those tweets may have just been trolls trying to get a rise out of people more than anything.

Edited by UYI
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UYI

UYI

13 hours ago, Sherry67 said:

 

Now, Glenn Frey was an iconic musician in a different way, being an Eagles co-founder and identified with a very specific California sound, but I would not associate him with visuals and videos and provocative imagery.  In other words, even though I am a fan of the Eagles, I can totally understand why MTV would not throw in a Glenn Frey tribute at the VMAs.

 

You're pretty much right about this, but he DID have a few videos during the MTV era, like the one for "You Belong to the City", which brought in his appearance on Miami Vice. So that could have somewhat fit.

MyAimIsTrue

MyAimIsTrue

I know I'm showing my age here but I was shocked and saddened to find out Greg Lake passed away earlier this week.  He was an amazing bassist, guitarist, and singer for bands such as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, King Crimson (one of my all time faves), and Asia.  Keith Emerson died earlier in the year so I hope Carl Palmer has locked himself in a vault somewhere.

Fuck cancer.

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Asp Burger

Asp Burger

(edited)

I was watching American Idol the night this was on, and it scared me. He looked frail and sounded short of breath, wore dark glasses, and it was obvious they were lighting him discreetly. Everyone talked, and I did too. We never would have thought he would make it another nearly nine years.

Now I watch it again and think that what I should have noticed was how heartfelt the performance was, and how those words from 1990 were more important than ever. They still are. 

Edited by Asp Burger
  • Love 2
RosaritaCisneros

RosaritaCisneros

8 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

2016 can leave anytime now.

OMG! Now George Michael, too! I swear, since the time of last December, this has been a really shitty year for entertainers, most specifically, talented singers and song writers. Just last week, I was watching an old George Michael music video on MTV Classic. Now, he's another talented singer dead and gone.

Almost every time I watch old music videos on MTV Classic in the morning, I start to feel a bit depressed. A hefty portion of the music videos being aired are from dead Rock, Rap, and Pop Stars. It's like I've lost my childhood memories and the better portions of my life as a teenager. RIP George Michael!

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DollEyes

DollEyes

(edited)

As if this year couldn't possibly get any worse, George Michael died on Christmas Day. The deaths of David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Maurice White and Leonard Cohen (to literally name a few) and the election of Donald Trump are devastating enough, but George Michael's death is the rotten-egg mayo on top of a two-foot-long shit sandwich topped by dumpster veggies on burnt, stale, moldy, month-old bread. 

   Like Bowie, Prince, Frey, White and Cohen, George Michael wrote and/or sang some of my favorite songs, especially this one:

One More Try

RIP, George.

Once and for all, FUCK YOU, 2016!!

Edited by DollEyes
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againstthewind

againstthewind

On 12/27/2016 at 0:16 PM, DollEyes said:

As if this year couldn't possibly get any worse, George Michael died on Christmas Day. The deaths of David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Maurice White and Leonard Cohen (to literally name a few) and the election of Donald Trump are devastating enough, but George Michael's death is the rotten-egg mayo on top of a two-foot-long shit sandwich topped by dumpster veggies on burnt, stale, moldy, month-old bread. 

   Like Bowie, Prince, Frey, White and Cohen, George Michael wrote and/or sang some of my favorite songs, especially this one:

One More Try

RIP, George.

Once and for all, FUCK YOU, 2016!!

One More Try is my favorite song of his, full stop, and he's got some great ones. Faith was actually #1 the day I was born.

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