Hip Hop Pioneer Guru Dies of Cancer

I promise, we'll have some better news today...

Hip hop legend and Gang Star member Guru has died. Guru suffered a heart attack just over a month ago. He died of cancer-related causes yesterday after a long battle with the devastating disease.

Guru wrote this goodbye letter to his fans while in the hospital.. he was clear he did not want former Gang Starr collaborator DJ Premier to be part of any remembrance of him.

I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world. I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options.

I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself.

The letter continues...

I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events, tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ.

Wow. He's pretty clear on that! Unless Solar wrote it...hmmm.

Keith "Guru" Elam was just 43 years old.

Click here to read his entire letter.

Breaking Brew: Dr. Dorothy Height passes

Getty Images

Dr. Dorothy Height, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement and a longtime leader in the pursuit of equal rights for women, has died at the age of 98.

Height had been in the intensive care unit at Howard University Hospital since March 18.

Height has been a part of many of the nation's historic civil rights events. She stood beside Dr. Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial as he gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. She had said she had directly known every American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And she was on the stage in Washington for President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Story

Breaking Brew: Dixie Carter Dead At 70

Some sad news this Sunday...

Actress Dixie Carter, who portrayed the sharp-shooting Southern interior designer "Julia Sugarbaker" on Designing Women, has died. Carter was 70. Her husband of 26 years, actor Hal Holbrook says “this has been a terrible blow to our family." There's no word on what caused her death.

More recently, Carter had a small recurring role as "Bree's" mother-in-law, "Gloria Hodge" on Desperate Housewives but here's Dixie as we've all come to know her...

RIP.

Anthony is sad...

Source

So Long, John Forsythe

The very suave, John Forsythe died at his California home yesterday. The 92 year old had complications from pneumonia and cancer. 80s babies will remember him as the debonair “Blake Carrington” on Dynasty. The rest of us remember him as the voice you could never put a face to on Charlie’s Angels.

RIP John… this catfight and caviar is for you.

Source

What’s Brewing?

Trey Songz takes some pictures and looks damn good (I'm shameless) – Complex

“Stand and Deliver” teacher dies: RIP Jaime Escalante – LA Times Blog

Offensive cartoon depicts President Obama as a rapist! – Jezebel

Sarah Palin looks like the kind of woman Jesse James would date – Huffington Post

Kim “Tardy For The Party” Zolciak and her girl lover break up – Perez Hilton

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper pistol whips his momma? WTF – The Grio

Christina Aguilera is back! – In Case You Didn’t Know

Breaking Brew: Andrew Koenig Found Dead

"Growing Pains" actor Andrew Koenig has been found in Vancouver. Sadly though, the outcome is not good. Police found a body in a park today, that they believe is Koenig's.  CNN and TMZ are reporting the body is that of Koenig who went missing around Valentine's Day.

Family members were concerned that Koenig would hurt himself. He reportedly sold all his belongings before he vanished.

Koenig starred as "Boner" in the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains" but struggled to land other jobs after the show ended.

Andrew Koenig was just 41 years old.

Sad.

UPDATE: Koenig's father, Walter, says Andrew took his own life. So far though, officials are not releasing the cause of death.

Source

Rest In Peace, Pete Cooney

All My Children veteran, James Mitchell passed away Sunday in Los Angeles.

Who doesn't remember Uncle Palmer trying to keep Dixie and Tad away from each other? Or Cliff and Nina (Palmer Courtland was a bit of a hater, wasn't he?) Or his crazy rich white man feuds with Adam Chandler, or his inexplicably marrying Opal's countryfried birdlike azz 50-11 times. story

What’s Brewing?

Apache ("Gangsta B!tch" MC) dies…RIP – Hip Hop Wired











Kid lays the smackdown in hockey fight – Huffington Post

Oprah is not on Team Coco – Faded Youth

Lil Big Pun tears up the innawebs – Crunk + Disorderly

Listen to Ryan Leslie's new jam – Global Grind

A check is a check when you owe people money: Annie Leibovitz is modeling now – Just Jared

Gina Tisha Campbell had another baby – Tash

MJ estate to Joe Jackson: Kick Rocks! – TMZ

Omarion's album goes Double Diaphragm…good thing he's got a job lined up – Gossip On This

Breaking Brew: Teddy Pendergrass Dies

In even more sad news today, R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass died Wednesday.  He was just 59 years old.  He'd reportedly been in poor health during the last year as a result of his paralysis condition.

While details are sketchy at the moment, the Internet (Twitter, to be specific) has been abuzz with initial "RIP" tweets of his death and a few "confirmations" have come through as well. We're hoping this isn't true, but as always, watch this space for details.

We'll update you as more info become available.  I'm seriously hoping this one is just a hoax.

UPDATE: AOL's Black Voices has confirmed the death.

Pendergrass survived a car crash 28 years ago that left him in a wheelchair. His son says he had a difficult recovery from colon cancer surgery which left him hospitalized in recent months.

Longtime collaborator Kenny Gamble said of Teddy:

"He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist and as a performing artist. He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans."

He will be greatly missed.

Brew News: Eunice Johnson Dies

Eunice Johnson, the widow of Ebony founder John Johnson, has died.  Johnson came up with the name for the magazine.  She also boosted the role of Blacks in fashion with the Ebony Fashion Fair, an annual fashion tour.  She also created the Fashion Fair make-up line.  (My first lipstick was FF, it was gold.  #dontjudgeme).

Johnson will be remembered as a driving force in the fashion industry. Washington Post fashion columnist Robin Givhan says Johnson "let the fashion industry know that the African-American community is incredibly viable as an audience, that it has a lot of creative spirit."

Eunice Johnson was 93.

              

Source

Casey Johnson Dies

So we're 4 days in and 2010 is already a continuation of 2009... for some folks.

Johnson & Johnson heiress/socialite Casey Johnson has died.  TMZ reports...

She died in L.A. We're told the body was discovered this morning.

She was 30 years old. Her father is Woody Johnson -- owner of the New York Jets.

Johnson was reportedly engaged to Tila Tequila.

She says they were fighting last week and that Casey stayed at Tila's house on the 28th. Tila tried contacting Casey on the 29th because Casey had left her dogs behind. Tila says Casey's phone has been shut off since the 29th and she was not able to make contact.

Johnson was an avid tweeter.  Her last tweet went out December 29th at 1:13 am.  It's not clear what caused her death, but she was known to have struggled with a drug problem.  She leaves behind a daughter, whom she adopted.  Johnson was the great-great granddaughter of the founder of the pharmaceutical company.

Tila tweeted this tonight...

Sad.

UPDATE: Police say Johnson had been dead several days before she was discovered.

Source
Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images North America

Brew News: Captain Lou Albano Dies

Legendary wrestler Captain Lou Albano has died.  Captain Lou was 76 years old.  People of a certain age may remember him as the father in Cyndi Lauper's classic "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video.  He appeared in a slew of Lauper's videos actually during the 80s.  Captain Lou had been placed under hospice care earlier this week after being sent home from the hospital.

Born Louis Vincent Albino on July 29, 1933, he had a career that spanned over fifty years. Albano transformed himself into a brash sounding wrestler, ultimately managing more than 50 different wrestlers who won two dozen championships.  And who could forget the rubber bands!

Captain Lou lost 150 lbs. after a health scare.  He suffered a heart attach four  years ago.  Let's pour some out for Captain Lou!

Cyndi Lauper - New Music - More Music Videos

Source

Brew News: Ben Ali Dies

Sad news for DC residents and transplants! Ben Ali, co-founder of Ben's Chili Bowl has died. He was 82.

Ben's became known for its chili, half-smokes, cheese fries and shakes. The spot is just as booming now as it was when it opened in 1958. Ben's was the only U Street business to have survived the looting associated with the 1968 riots.

Ali and his wife Virginia handed over control of the Washington, DC institution to their two sons years ago.

The Ben's Chili Bowl web site posted this today:

June 13, 1927-October 7,2009

The Ali Family and all of the Ben's Chili Bowl and Ben's Next Door Family

want to thank Ben Ali for leading this legacy

and allowing us to follow in his dream

We miss you and love you.

Ditto!

Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

Ted Kennedy passed away early this morning at the age of 77 following his brave battle with brain cancer. The Massachusetts Senator's five decades in Congress made him a legend and master legislator. Known as the "Liberal Lion" Ted was like that cool uncle who was intelligent but could get good and crunk if you needed him to. Plus, he'd have your back just like he did when he threw his family's legendary named behind then-Senator Barack Obama. It was early in Obama's quest for the Presidency before everyone caught Obamamania so the stakes were especially high. I know Facebooks today will be filled with condolence quotes and the like, but we here at the Brew just want to celebrate his life, legacy and that big laugh. We'll see you on the other side Ted, R.I.P.

Brew News: John Hughes, RIP

Director/Producer John Hughes who gave us the iconic 80's films Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club ,Weird Science, Home Alone and my all time favorite movie Sixteen Candles among many many others, died of a heart attack, yesterday while taking a walk with his family in NY. Hughes was 59. Even though the suburban Illinois experiences was sooo far removed from my City kid life,I F'loved and connected with the teen angst and humor of Molly Ringwald in her many Hughes incarnations. Thanks for that Mr. Hughes!

Otis Redding and The Duckman serenade us, in his honor.

Brew News: Baatin of Slum Village Dies

The news of celebrity deaths continues... Baatin, of the hip hop group Slum Village, has died.

The cause of his death is unknown, though there had been reports of health problems. Singer Dwele and producer 9th Wonder confirmed the death via Twitter. Baatin left the group in '04 but reunited with them and released a new album this year, titled Villa Manifesto.

You'll recall that former Slum Village member and producer J Dilla (Jay Dee) died three years ago of a rare blood disease. Such awful news for this classic group.

Let's remember through music...

Brew News: Reverend Ike Dies

If you're of a certain age, then your earliest memories of televised preachers probably begins and ends with Reverend Ike (and maybe Rev. Fred Price too). Sadly, the good reverend went on to glory this week. Frederick Joseph Eikerenkoetter II (now I see why he went by "Rev. Ike") died July 29th in Los Angeles. He was 74.

Rev. Ike was one of the first preachers to use television and radio to reach out to the masses. His unique and sometimes controversial message of prosperity drew in millions of faithful followers. Ike proclaimed that "Jesus was a capitalist," often telling his congregation that putting change in the collection plate was offensive to God's ears.


In keeping with Ike's shall we say, hand-out policy, his website is asking for donations or an online memorial gift in lieu of flowers.

Here's a glimpse of Ike in his heyday.






I guess the best we've got to offer today is this dude.




Jesus, take the wheel!

R.I.P.: Steve McNair

NFL football great Steve "Air" McNair, 36, was shot to death Saturday. Police discovered his body along with the unidentified body of a female in a Nashville apartment. The woman was not McNair wife. McNair played for the Tennessee Titans for 11 years. He retired before the 2003 football season. Police are investigating. R.I.P.

Gone To The Great Infomercial In The Sky

Amid all the gangstaliciousness at the BET Awards, we managed to lose another one.

Popular TV pitchman Billy Mays was found dead in his home on Sunday. He likely died from a pulmonary embolism in his Florida home. Mays had an enlarged heart but results of his autopsy won’t be known for weeks.

Mays became famous for his pitches of various household products like Kaboom! and Oxi Clean.

In an odd twist, Mays was on a Saturday flight that had a round landing. He reportedly hit his head during the landing. But officials say there was no sign of head trauma.

Mays was just 50 years old. Man, life is so short.

Let’s all pour out a little Oxi Clean dust in his honor.

Farrah Fawcett

Actress Farrah Fawcett has gone to that big set in the sky. She passed on today at the age of 62 following a courageous bout with anal cancer. I'm sad about this. I grew up watching "Charlie's Angels" and always wanted my hair to flip like hers. That is until my granny told me that wasn't possible because I was "colored"(sorry my Grans was old school). So I stole a white towel from the closet wrapped it around my head, ran out in the middle of the street and twisted my neck back and forth until I strained it. I used to pretend I was talking to "Charlie" on a box in my house. Okay, I was a only child, what?!? For many Farrah was their first sex symbol. She will be missed!