Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on October 8th, 2020

American reggae-pop musician and actor Johnny Nash, best known for his 1972 No. 1 reggae-influenced hit "I Can See Clearly Now", died on Oct 6 of natural causes, his son John Nash II confirmed to celebrity website TMZ and a Los Angeles TV station. He was 80. "He was a wonderful father and family man. He loved people and the world. He will be missed within his community. Family was his everything," Nash's son told TMZ.com. Nash also told the CBSLA television station that his father died at his home. Born John Lester "Johnny" Nash, Jr. in Houston, Tex., on Aug. 19, 1940, Mr. Nash began releasing music in the late '50s, making his major label debut with the 1957 song "A Teenager Sings the Blues." He appeared on local TV from age 13, and was with Arthur Godfrey's TV/radio show from 1956-63. In 1959, he was cast in the film Take a Giant Step. He moved to Jamaica in the mid-1960s where he was influenced by reggae music, and began his recording career. Mr. Nash also scored hits with "Hold Me Tight" in 1968 (#5) and with his version of Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" and "There are More Questions Than Answers." According to his official website, Mr. Nash helped the late Marley sign a recording contract, and was also notably the first non-Jamaican to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica. Mr. Nash also sang the theme song for the Canadian-American animated series The Mighty Hercules, which ran from 1963-66. Upon the release of "I Can See Clearly Now" -- largely called a comeback song at the time -- the infectious hit sat at Number One for four weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and became a hit in Canada, the U.K. and South Africa. The song made a return to the Billboard charts in 1993, when it was recorded by Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff for the soundtrack for the film Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team. Mr. Nash's last studio album, Here Again, was released in 1986. More recently, Mr. Nash had begun working on the transfer of old analogue tapes of his music from the 1970s and 1980s into a new digital format. As well as his son, Mr. Nash is survived by his wife, Carli. - Reuters/New Musical Express, 10/7/20.

Guitar legend and Van Halen leader Eddie Van Halen, whose hard-rocking band emerged from L.A.'s Sunset Strip music scene in the early Seventies to reign as one of the top rock acts for over four decades, died on Oct. 6 after a battle with throat cancer at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., with his current wife, Janie, by his side. He was 65. "I can't believe I'm having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning," Eddie and his former wife Valerie Bertinelli's son Wolfgang Van Halen posted on Twitter. "He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift," Wolfgang added. Eddie's death comes just months after Wolfgang offered hope that his dad may one day tour again with the band, and before original VH vocalist David Lee Roth claimed earlier in 2020 that Eddie "was not doing very well." The health of the hospitalized Van Halen, who had been battling cancer over the past decade and had been in and out of the hospital over the past year, reportedly went quickly downhill in the final 72 hours after doctors discovered that his throat cancer had spread to his brain and other organs. In previous interviews, Eddie had said he believed he developed throat cancer from frequent holding a metal guitar pick in his mouth more than 20 years ago, however he was also a heavy smoker. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Jan. 26, 1955, Eddie studied classical piano after moving to the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena with his family in the 1960s. After switching to guitar, he and his older brother, Alex Van Halen, who took up the drums, formed bands that would eventually become Van Halen in 1972, with lead singer Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. Featuring Eddie's explosive riffs and solos, VH quickly became a staple of Sunset Strip clubs such as Gazzari's and the Whisky a Go Go before releasing their eponymous debut album in 1978. Van Halen climbed to No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and became one of the most successful rock debuts of the decade, followed by a string of top-selling albums that would make VH one of the biggest rock acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Known for his two-handed tapping technique on the strings, Van Halen earned a place along such guitar virtuosos as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page as one of rock's most celebrated guitarists. Roth, who often clashed with the Van Halen brothers, split from the band in the mid-Eighties and was replaced for a decade by Sammy Hagar, who once sang lead with the '70s hard rock band Montrose, an influence on Eddie's group. Wolfgang Van Halen became the band's bassist in 2006 and the original VH lineup, with Wolfgang replacing Michael Anthony on bass, reunited in 2007 for a tour and, four years later, an album. VH's run included a dozen studio albums during their on-and-off reunions, and they added synthesizers to the mix for hits such as "Jump" and "I'll Wait." Eddie also played the solo on Michael Jackson's 1982 hit "Beat It" and made guest contributions to albums by Hagar, Queen's Brian May, Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, LL Cool J and David Garfield. A perpetual winner of guitar polls -- he was voted the No. 1 guitarist of all time by readers of Guitar World magazine in 2012 -- Eddie and Van Halen were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, though Eddie did not attend the ceremony. VH also won a Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal" in 1992. The group has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide -- the last of which, A Different Kind of Truth, came out in 2012, with Tokyo Dome Live in Concert following three years later. Eddie was married twice -- to actress Valerie Bertinelli from 1981 to 2007, and married current wife Jane Liszewski in 2008. Eddie's fellow superstar musicians and fans were quick to salute his memory on social media, including Sammy Hagar, who shared a photo of himself and the late guitarist on Instagram and added the caption: "Heartbroken and speechless. My love to the family." Others paying tribute include Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Lenny Kravitz, Nikki Sixx, Brian Wilson, Joe Elliott, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Billy Idol, Kenny Chesney and Pete Townshend. Valerie Bertinelli, who was married to Eddie from 1981 to 2007, has yet to directly comment on the guitar great's death, but she did repost Wolfgang's tribute to his father, which confirmed his passing, on her social media pages, and added a string of broken heart emojis. Memorial arrangements for Van Halen are pending. - Reuters/Billboard/New Musical Express, 10/6/20.