The year is almost over as Jose has eaten many, many Xmas cookies; more than planned. In the world of music we’ve lost a few more legends and the rock n’ roll dead pool is looking ripe for a 2008 lottery winner. Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer this week. Kitt’s life was the ultimate rags-to-riches tale starting as a child picking cotton in South Carolina. Today she’s best known for her pop hit “Sana Baby”. People under the age of 50 will be more familiar with the inferior Madonna version. For the majority of her career she was better known as a damn foxy, sultry R&B singer. She was 81. Younger readers should be directed to the tune “I Want to be Evil.”
Delaney Bramlett died yesterday from complications due to gallbladder surgery. He first rose to prominence in the 1960s as half of the rock duo Delaney & Bonnie. During his career, he wrote songs, performed, produced and recorded with numerous artists including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Etta James and even Elvin Bishop. He was 69. Younger readers should be directed to the tune “Comin' Home."
Also dead this week is guitarist Davy Graham, an influential 1960s folk musician. Graham died of a seizure in his London home. The musician had long suffered from lung cancer. In his career his innovative tunings and fast fingering influenced many including Simon and Garfunkel. He was 68.
Almost dead is mentally disturbed country singer Mindy McCready. She was hospitalized Wednesday after slashing her wrists in a failed suicide attempt. McCready has been arrested in the past on drug related charges. She entered a Texas rehab center after a nervous breakdown.
Not dead or dying is Michael Jackson despite rumors originating from writer Ian Halperin. Halperin claimed before Hanukah that Jackson was in need of a lung transplant because of emphysema and was suffering from chronic gastrointestinal bleeding. For the cherry on top Ian also claimed that the king of pop was nearly blind in one eye. Jackson called the allegations “silly.”
Pete Wentz of Fall out Boy made two strange comments this week. He announced wife Ashlee Simpson frequently gives him lap dances, and that he drinks his wife’s breast milk. Wentz described the lactation as “soury" and "weird". Wentz went on to inform America that he wanted 5 more children and that he is converting to Mormonism.
From the irony department we’ve learned that The former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler is headed back to rehab. Just last week, Adler "graduated" from the VH1 reality TV show Celebrity Rehab supposedly clean as the driven snow and cured. While on probation Adler was arrested for felony drug possession in July. A Los Angeles court commissioner has sent Adler up for State-sponsored rehab in lieu of prison time.
In lighter news, Los Angeles Police confirm a burglar broke into the home of Paris Hilton Friday. The thief is rumored to have made off with $2 million worth of jewelry and goods. Somehow the thief missed the stacks of naked home movies she has left in piles around the home.
