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“Complications from recent falls and heart disease” led to fitness guru Richard Simmons’ accidental death, according to his brother, Lenny. Drugs were not a factor.

A spokesperson for the Simmons family, Tom Estey, gave a fuller picture in a statement to People on Wednesday. “This morning, Richard Simmons’ brother Lenny received a call from the L.A. Coroner’s office,” he said. “The Coroner informed Lenny that Richard’s death was accidental due to complications from recent falls and heart disease as a contributing factor. The toxicology report was negative...

Just two days before his death, Richard Simmons reflected on loss in his final interview. On Monday, People published an interview with the late fitness guru who died of apparent natural causes in Los Angeles on July 13.

During the interview, Simmons revealed that he had been working on turning the story of his life — his work on television and as a fitness guru along with his youth “selling pralines in New Orleans” — into a Broadway show. He shared that while working on it, every week, he’d “write an audio...

Richard Simmons said he was still focused on his fans in a rare interview two days before his death.

The celebrity fitness guru died on Saturday, but told People the Thursday before that he was still reaching hundreds of fans through phone calls and emails on a daily basis.

“I know people miss me,” Simmons said. “And you know what? I miss them, too. But I’m able to reach them through phone calls … and through emails. And I do leave the house sometimes. But I’m in disguise.”

Simmons rose to fame in the 1980s as a motivational speaker and weight loss instructor. He was the star of his own syndicated TV exercise show and sold millions of aerobics Sweatin‘ to the Oldies videos and DVDs while running a Los Angeles fitness studio. He wrote several books, including Richard Simmons’ Never-Say-Diet Book from 1980. Later in his career, he appeared...

Fitness instructor Richard Simmons has died just a day after his 76th birthday, according to a report.

Simmons thanked fans on social media for their birthday wishes on Friday, making his death even more shocking.

TMZ was the first to report the death, which happened at his Hollywood Hills home. Police were summoned by a housekeeper, who told the outlet they believe it was a natural death.

Simmons was something of a recluse in recent years. His remoteness led to wellness checks on several occasions and speculation on his safety.

Before he retreated, he was a frequent guest on many TV shows, playing a humorous foil for everyone from David Letterman to Donny and Marie.

Simmons said in March he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

In a rare interview with People Magazine this week, he said he “feels good” despite his age. ”I am grateful that I’m here,...

I received Madonna’s fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, on cassette for my 10th birthday. The liner notes were scented with patchouli oil to evoke the sensory experience of walking into a Catholic church, and you could smell it even through the shrink wrap. After devouring some cake, I rushed to my room to listen to the album.

It wasn’t like anything I’d grown up hearing on Top 40 radio, including Madonna’s own past hits, which I was only peripherally aware of. “Oh Father” sounded familiar, a cousin to “Live to Tell,” but it was darker and weirder. “Till Death Do Us Part” was more my speed, but the song’s lyrics were confusing and unsettling to my unrefined ears. Rolling Stone called it “as close to art as pop music gets.”

Despite its obvious lineage to classic pop and soul, Like a Prayer served as my...

Olivia d'Abo's been battling her mega music producer ex-husband for 4 years in divorce court, but it seems well worth the wait ... she made out nice when the dust settled.  "The Wonder Years" star's getting $348k in spousal support from Patrick Leonard over the next 4 years, plus another $141k for her cut of the community property and attorney's fees. Pretty solid considering he asked the court to deny her support. Olivia also gets half of...

Olivia d'Abo says her husband derailed her acting career, and now he has to pay. The 'Wonder Years' star filed docs in her ongoing divorce from Patrick Leonard, saying he pressured and threatened her to curtail her career throughout their marriage. She says he wanted her to nurture her music career and abandon acting. She says he pressured her into passing on several big roles.   She claims Patrick threatened to divorce her if she took...

The wonder years are over for "Wonder Years" star Olivia d'Abo and mega music producer Patrick Leonard ... the couple is calling it quits on their marriage, TMZ has learned. Patrick -- who produced some of Madonna's biggest hits, i.e. "Like a Prayer," "Cherish," "Who's That Girl," you get the idea -- filed the docs in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week ... citing irreconcilable differences. The couple married in August 2002. According to the docs,...

Hopes that Madonna would re-claim her pop crown from Lady Gaga with "Mdna" were dashed when the album plunged on the charts shortly after its March release -- a victim of weak single choices and, some say, a lack of promotion on the Material Girl's part.

Now one high-profile producer is opening up about the experience on Facebook, saying he wishes "Mdna" would've turned out differently and blaming the album's failure on rush marketing and timing.

"[Madonna] was on form and better than ever with her singing and writing and musicality, and was having a great time," writes William Orbit, who previously collaborated with the pop star on her 1998 album "Ray of Light," which won four Grammy awards. "We had songs lined up that were breathtaking."

But then, from the sounds of it, things turned sour. After one fan comments on Orbit's page, noting that "most people are writing off" the...

On this day 53 years ago in Bay City, Michigan, pop royalty was born in the form of Madonna Louise Ciccone, the third child of Silvio Ciccone and her namesake mother, Madonna Louise Fortin Ciccone.

Madonna’s rise to stardom is legendary. She briefly attended the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship before dropping out to move to New York City in late 1977. She famously arrived in NYC with just $35 in her pocket and worked briefly at a Dunkin’ Donuts before taking on odd jobs as a backup dancer and model (which came back to bite her in the butt after she got famous and some nude pics taken in ’78 were published in Penthouse and Playboy in ’85).

She was playing in a NYC-based band with an ex-boyfriend when a demo landed in the hands of then-Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, who famously signed Madonna to the label from his hospital...

'It's somewhat of a departure from what she's done,' Larry Rudolph says, comparing the album to Madonna's 1998 work.

By Jocelyn Vena, with additional reporting by Jim Cantiello

Britney Spears in her "Hold It Against Me" video

Photo: Jive

On Thursday, "Jersey Shore" star DJ Pauly D told us that Britney Spears' next album, Femme Fatale, is full of "club bangers." Her manager, Larry Rudolph, gave us even more specifics about the album when we spoke to him.

"In my opinion, this is her strongest album ever. It's somewhat of a departure from what she's done. It's more mature," he told MTV News about the March 29 release. "It's more of a dance record and this really is — and I was talking a lot about [director] Jonas [Åkerlund] and coming to Jonas because of 'Ray of Light' — and this really is Britney's Ray of Light album."

Åkerlund and Madonna famously reinvented...

It's been a good week for Madonna, as the episode of "Glee" devoted entirely to her music was a big hit. She can also celebrate that fact that on this day in 1989, her song "Like a Prayer" ascended to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the seventh Madonna song to top the chart and would remain in that position for three weeks ("Like a Prayer" was unseated by Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You").

"Like a Prayer" was the first single from the album of the same name. Co-written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard (her collaborator on hits like "La Isla Bonita," "Cherish" and "Who's That Girl") and featuring a bass guitar part played by "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, "Like a Prayer" has become one of Madonna's signature songs, encapsulating everything that has made her a fascinating artist: A great dance beat, a killer vocal,...

It don’t always work when veteran rockers try to conjure their classic albums’ old black magic. Going back to your roots and whatnot sounds good on paper, but your voice and reflexes change, recording techniques evolve and fashions shift. Maybe you’ve actually grown up, even if your audience hasn’t.

With its backward-looking cameos by Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston and kindred soul Rufus Wainwright, Songs From the West Coast attempts to reinstate Elton John as an album artist. It aims to recapture the expansive sounds and sensibility of Madman Across the Water,...