Tag Archives: obit

William Blinn, the Emmy-winning screenwriter of Brian’s Song, the Roots miniseries and Prince’s Purple Rain film, has died at the age of 83. Blinn’s family confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the screenwriter died Thursday of natural causesat an assisted living community in Burbank, California. After starting his career as …

Born a year after Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani was listening to and drawing from the same era of music as his fellow guitar hero, who died Tuesday at 65. Both men would grow to become virtuosos of the instrument, but Satriani says Van Halen had something else that set …

Frankie Banali, who played drums on Quiet Riot‘s best-selling albums and kept the band going for nearly four decades, died Thursday at the age of 68. He had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer last April. The band’s agent, Mark Hyman, confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. Banali joined …

British director Sir Alan Parker — whose vast filmography included gangster flicks, musical projects, crime thrillers and comedies — has died, Variety reports. He was 76. The British Film Institute confirmed Parker’s death Friday morning. An exact cause wasn’t given, but he reportedly died after a long illness. Over three …

Astrid Kirchherr, the German-born photographer who first captured the Beatles, has died at the age of 81. German newspaper Die Zeit confirmed Kirchherr’s death, noting the photographer died of a “short, serious illness.” “Intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting friend to many,” Beatles historian …

Jimmy Webb, the iconic manager and buyer from famed New York clothing store Trash and Vaudeville, who later opened his own shop, named I NEED MORE, died Tuesday morning at the age of 62. Webb’s friend Heart Montalbano confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death …

D.A. Pennebaker, a champion of the cinéma-vérité approach to documentary, which emphasized intimate portraits of its subjects, died Thursdayfrom natural causes, his son Frazer confirmed to Rolling Stone. He was 94. Chronicling rock stars and political operatives, Pennebaker sought to strip away the artifice — both in nonfiction films and …

13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson, a psychedelic rock icon whose career was cut short due to debilitating mental illness and years spent in a Texas mental hospital, has died of unknown causes at age 71. “Roky Erickson, an heroic icon of modern rock & roll and one of the …

Skip Groff, a Washington, D.C. record store owner who produced and championed the city’s seminal hardcore punk acts, has died at the age of 70. Groff’s wife Kellyconfirmed to WTOP that the owner of D.C.’s Yesterday & Today suffered a seizure Monday and died at a nearby hospital. Dischord Records’ …