Tragedy has Rocked the John Travolta family. Travoltas i6 year old son Jett was transported to a Bahamian hospital and died on Friday. Jett Travolta apparently suffered a seizure and died while on a family vacation.
Marcus Garvey, an EMT who was on the scene reported the boy had a bump on his head, believed to be from hitting it on the bathtub, and was unconscious.
There have long been reports that Jett, who has a history of suffering seizures, was autistic, though John and Kelly denied it, saying that he instead suffers from Kawasaki Disease, a relatively rare illness which could cause heart problems. In an interview with USA Today in 2002, Kelly Preston recalled her son’s diagnosis after he became “very, very sick with high fever and swollen glands and peeling fingers and rash all over his body” eight years earlier.
John Travolta and Kelly Preston have released a statement thanking fans for their support after the death of their son 16-year-old son Jett in the Bahamas on Friday.
“We would like to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has sent their love and condolences,” they said in a statement posted on Kelly’s Web site late Saturday.
A former contestant on hit US TV show “American Idol” was found dead outside the Los Angeles home of 46 year old Grammy Award winning singer Paula Abdul.
Paula Abdul Stalker Suicide
What appears to have been an obsessed fan of judge Paula Abdul has been found dead of an apparent suicide near the pop star’s home.
Police said they discovered the body of Paula Goodspeed, 30, in a car near Abdul’s Los Angeles home on Tuesday night.
“It appears to be a suicide by overdose [Drugs],” said Detective Robert Bub of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Abdul said in a statement that she was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Goodspeed’s death, and that her “heart and prayers go out to her family.”
Paula Abdul Naked (Trust me, you don’t want to see this)
Levi Stubbs, lead singer with The 4 Tops died Friday at 72 years old. The Motown group of the ‘60 scored 24 Top-40 hits.
The Four Tops
Top: Abdul (Duke) Fakir (left), Lawrence Payton
Bottom: Levi Stubbs (left) & Renaldo (Obie) Benson
A remarkable singer, not your typical slick R & B artist of the day. Unlike the other smooth Motown singers of the era like Smokey Robinson, Eddie Kendrick, and Marvin Gay, Stubs had a Raw, Gritty Emotion which was his own unique style.
And, if you grew up in the ’60s and ’70s there’s no doubt you remember “Baby I Need Your Lovin”, “Reach Out – I’ll Be There” or “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch- I Can’t Help Myself”. Check out this Incredible Video!
Country Star Singer, Actor, Guitarist Jerry Reed, the famous Good Ol’ Boy from car chase movies like “Smokey and the Bandit,” has died of complications from emphysema at 71.
Reed had a string of hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, that included “Amos Moses,” “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “East Bound and Down,” “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” and “The Bird.”
Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed
In the mid-1970s, he starred in movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit” with Burt Reynolds, usually as a good ol’ boy. But he was an ornery heavy in “Gator,” directed by Reynolds, and a hateful coach in 1998’s “The Waterboy,” starring Adam Sandler.
Reed and Kris Kristofferson paved the way for Nashville music personalities to make inroads into films. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers (TV movies) followed their lead.
Most people don’t know that Jerry was actually a Smokin HotGuitarist, (he preferred Gibson Les Paul’s) with a distinctive style and influenced a lot of country and rock and roll players.
Grammy Award, Academy Award winning Singer, Musician Songwriter, Actor Isaac Hayes died at his home in Shelby County, Tennessee at age 56.
His album “Hot Buttered Soul” made Hayes a star in 1969. His shaved head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image. “Hot Buttered Soul” was groundbreaking in several ways: He sang in a new “cool” style, and he started the song with “Raps”.
He was best known for his hit, the theme song for the 1971 movie “Shaft” which launched Hayes into International Star status.
Isaak Hayes Finds Freedom At Last!
A pioneer into new musical forms, Hayes In the early 1970s work laid the groundwork for disco, and artists like Barry White for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for Rap (he was rapping before there was rap).
Hayes was a talented songwriter. He was part of a songwriting partnership with David Porter, in the 1960s they wrote classic hits for Sam and Dave such as “Hold On, I’m Coming,” “Soul Man,” (That was also a hit for John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd as the “Blues Brothers“) and “When Something is Wrong With My Baby.” They also wrote for other Stax artists including Carla Thomas. Hayes was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002
Hayes was also a talented actor. He had roles in movies including “Tough Guys,” “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka” and “Hustle & Flow.” He had recently completed the movie “Soul Men,” in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday .
Award-winning actor-comedian Bernie Mac has died at age 50 from complications of pneumonia. Best known for his role in films including “Ocean’s Eleven” and his award winning TV program “The Bernie Mac Show.”
“Wherever I am, I have to play, I have to put on a good show!”
“The world just got a little less funny,” said co-star George Clooney. Carl Reiner, who also appeared in the “Ocean’s” films along with Brad Pitt, said he was “in utter shock” because he thought Mac’s health was improving.
Bernie Mac also had starring roles in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Transformers.”
Mac suffered from Sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He was recently hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.
Tim Russert, a powerhouse of broadcast journalism who made interviewing both an art form and a contact sport on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” died yesterday of a heart attack at age 58 after collapsing at the network’s Washington bureau.
Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw announced the news on the air shortly after 3:30 p.m. Brokaw said Russert had just returned from a trip to Italy with his wife, Maureen Orth, and son, Luke.
The cause of death was not immediately clear. The network said on its Web site that Russert died of a heart attack.
Russert was the author of two best-selling books, “Big Russ & Me” and “Wisdom of Our Fathers,” both written in collaboration with William Novak of Newton.
