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We lost some entertainment giants in 2024.

Among the big-screen legends who died during the past 12 months were Donald Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Maggie Smith, Carl Weathers, Shelley Duvall, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Louis Gossett Jr., Anouk Aimée, Marisa Paredes and Gena Rowlands.

Related: Saying Goodbye: A Video Tribute To The Hollywood And Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2024

The TV world mourns the likes of Bob Newhart, John Amos, Phil Donahue, Linda Lavin, David Soul, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Martin Mull, Shannen Doherty, Michael Cole, Richard Lewis, Richard Simmons, James B. Sikking, Peter Marshall and Joe Flaherty.

Filmmakers and producers who left us include Norman Jewison, Roger Corman, Al Ruddy, Jon Landau, Lynda Obst, Jim Abrahams, Charles Shyer, Irv Wilson and Paolo Taviani.

The industry also paid tribute to such top executives as Charles Dolan, Paula Weinstein, Jamie Kellner, Richard Parsons, Gerald Levin and Paul Fox.

Broadway’s lights were a...

The only person who believed in David Bowie’s vision of “Young Americans” more than Bowie himself was David Sanborn. The saxophonist, who was trained in jazz, had broken into the pop world as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and by guesting on Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book. Sanborn, who died Sunday, was in his late 20s when he linked up with Bowie for the Diamond Dogs Tour — he’s featured on the David Live double-album — and joined him in the studio for the recording of Bowie...

David Sanborn, the multi-genre saxophonist who performed with David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and many more, has died. He was 78 years old.

Sanborn’s passing was confirmed on Monday via a post on his social media. “It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, six-time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn,” the post read. “Mr. Sanborn passed Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications.”

Born in 1945, Sanbron was introduced to the saxophone during his childhood as a means of recovering from polio. By the time he was 14, he had the opportunity to perform with blues legends like Albert King and Little Milton, the first of his many, many collaborations.

In 1967, he joined The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, whom he played with at Woodstock two years later. In the early ‘70s, he began performing with more artists,...

Sad news to report this afternoon. Renowned jazz saxophonist died yesterday at age 78 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

The six-time Grammy winner performed with a galaxy of stars over the years, including artists like David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Paul Simon, but he was also a regular face in some of the biggest house bands in late night—and then on his own show.

He got his start in late night in 1979 when he joined the Saturday Night Live band for its fifth season. When Paul Simon and James Taylor were tapped to co-host an episode that season, Sanborn served as a standalone musical guest—the only time an SNL band member has done so.

Following his time in Studio 8H, Sanborn could frequently be seen on another NBC late-night show.

Continue reading Sax Player, Late-Night Fixture David Sanborn Dies at 78 at LateNighter.

David Sanborn, the six time Grammy-winning alto saxophonist who played at Woodstock, composed music for the Lethal Weapon movies, played in the SNL and Late Night with David Letterman bands and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to David Bowie, died Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications. He Was 78.

Sanborn’s music is often described “smooth jazz,” but he reportedly rejected that characterization, and one can see why. His lively, iconic sax solo on Bowie’s “Young Americans” is anything but. Sanborn preferred the idea that he “put the saxophone back into rock ’n’ roll.”

Indeed, he worked with a virtual who’s who of rock and R&b legends, including James Brown, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Elton John, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Roger Waters, Steely Dan, the Eagles,...

David Sanborn, beloved jazz saxophonist who is credited on songs for Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and many more, died Sunday. He was 78.

A message posted to the musician’s social media page confirmed the news, noting that Sanborn had been battling prostate cancer for the past few years. “Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025,” the message reads. “David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music. It has been said that he ‘put the saxophone back into Rock ’n Roll.’”

It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, 6 time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn passed Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications. pic.twitter.com/VyW...

Smooth jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, who played on recordings by Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and Carly Simon and performed live with David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, died in Tarrytown, New York, on Sunday afternoon. A rep confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. A message on Sanborn’s social media cited complications after an extended battle with prostate cancer. He was 78.

“Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018 but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently,” the message said. “Indeed he already...

"With food you can connect anybody." Catch the officiail trailer for a documentary titled Veselka about a restaurant called Veselka. The full title is Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World. This premiered earlier in 2024 and already opened in limited theaters a few weeks ago. We're just catching up with it now and happy to feature the trailer anyway (I've been to this place a few times when I lived in NYC!). As the second generation owner of New York's beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka (see Google Maps) reluctantly retires after 54 years, his son Jason faces the pressure of stepping into his father's shoes as the war in Ukraine impacts his family & staff. It documents Veselka following the pandemic when it becomes one of the main hubs in the city for supporting Ukrainians after the war breaks out in 2022. The doc is narrated by David Duchovny,...

Academy and Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste is leaving ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ after seven seasons, Colbert announced Thursday night on the show.

He’s exiting to “pursue personal and professional interests”. Louis Cato, who has served as interim bandleader this summer, will take over on a permanent basis and Colbert’s band, which previously had been called “Stay Human” under Batiste’s direction, will be renamed ‘The Late Show Band’, reports ‘Variety’.

Cato will take over permanently when the show returns for its eighth season on Tuesday, September 6.

“Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won’t say this. But I will. He’s a musical genius,” Colbert said.

“He can play basically every instrument over there. Give him an afternoon, he’ll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.”

Cato, has been with “The Late Show” since its relaunch under Colbert.

Stephen Colbert announced on tonight’s The Late Show that Academy Award and Grammy winner Jon Batiste is departing after seven seasons to pursue personal and professional interests.

“We’ve been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for the past seven years. And will we miss him here? ‘Yeaaa!’ But we’re happy for you, Jon, and I can’t wait to have you back on as guest with your next hit record,” Colbert said.

Batiste has been the Late Show bandleader since Colbert took over as host in 2015. His music career has been on a roll in the last two years as he won an Oscar in 2020 for his Soul score and won five Grammys this year, including Album of the Year.

Louis Cato, who has served as interim bandleader this summer, will take over on a permanent basis with when The Late Show...

Academy and Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste is leaving “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” after seven seasons, Colbert announced Thursday night on the show. He’s exiting to “pursue personal and professional interests.” Louis Cato, who has served as interim bandleader this summer, will take over on a permanent basis — and the Colbert’s band, which previously had been called “Stay Human” under Batiste’s direction, will be renamed “The Late Show Band.”

Cato will take over permanently when the show returns for its eighth season on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

“Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won’t say this. But I will. He’s a musical genius,” Colbert said. “He can play basically every instrument over there. Give him an afternoon, he’ll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.”

Cato, has been with “The Late Show” since its relaunch under Colbert.

After 7 seasons, huge changes have come to “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

On Thursday’s episode of the show, Colbert announced that Grammy-winning songwriter and musician Jon Batiste is exiting the show and will be replaced as Band Leader by longtime “The Late Show” band member Louis Cato.

“We’ve been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for the past seven years. And will we miss him here? ‘Yeaaa!’ But we’re happy for you, Jon, and I can’t wait to have you back on as guest with your next hit record,” Colbert said.

Batiste has been on hiatus from “The Late Show” all summer and in his place, Cato has served as interim band leader. “Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won’t say this. But I will. He’s a musical genius.

Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features drummer Sonny Emory.

When Sonny Emory was a kid growing up in Atlanta, the largest poster on his bedroom wall was the cover of the 1977 Earth,...

Update (1/6) The David Bowie livestream tribute, Just for One Day, has added Boy George, Ricky Gervais, Taylor Momsen and Gary Barlow to its lineup. The show will also feature a special new supergroup, Ground Control, featuring Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins.

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Adam Lambert, Andra Day, and Duran Duran have been added to the lineup for the upcoming virtual David Bowie tribute, Just for One Day, which will air on Bowie’s birthday, January 8th, 2021.

Other additions to the lineup include Yungblud,...

Looking back at some of the strangest cameos in film and TV history, we were struck by how many of them were by musicians. It makes sense. After all, musicians are already out of place among actors on a TV or film set. What they bring to the table is different from what actors bring, in terms of star quality, charisma, self-expression and established personae. If you’re familiar with both the musician’s work and the characters in a movie or TV show (and the actors who play them...

Hal Willner wasn’t known for playing music himself. But the producer, who died Monday at 64, had a unique gift for making music happen. Through his marvelously eclectic tribute albums — which featured everything from Tom Waits yowling out Snow White’s “Heigh Ho (The Dwarf’s Marching Song)” to Debbie Harry singing a wordless tune from Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Chuck D declaiming passages from Charles Mingus’ autobiography — he turned countless sonic what-ifs into reality. As he once put it, through his curation he was “trying to to...

Hal Willner, a music producer and longtime sketch songwriter for “Saturday Night Live,” has died at the age of 64, TheWrap has confirmed.

Willner died Tuesday of an illness, according to a representative. No cause of death has been determined, though Willner’s symptoms were consistent with Covid-19.

Willner served as the sketch music producer for “SNL” for nearly two decades, first joining the NBC program in 1981. His Twitter bio poked fun at how long he’d been with the show, describing him as “so-called Music Producer & Saturday Night Live sketch music guy since Raging Bull debuted, Another One Bites the Dust a hit & Kim Kardashian was born. Oy Vey.”

Willner also served as the music coordinator on Lorne Michaels’ short-lived “Sunday Night” musical variety program on NBC. The music-centric program, hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn, ran for two...

During the blues revival and rediscovery of the Sixties, few dominated like Paul Butterfield, the hard-puffing, hard-living harmonica player and band leader. Assertive and experimental Butterfield Blues Band albums like 1966’s East-West, featuring equally manic and inspired guitarist Mike Bloomfield, were essential college-dorm listening. And during the following decade, Butterfield’s mighty harmonica powered a version of “Mystery Train” at the Band’s Last Waltz concert and movie.

These days, over three decades after his death, Butterfield is largely known only to blues cognoscenti — a situation that could hopefully be...

Abramorama has bought global rights for John Anderson’s documentary “Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The film uses Butterfield’s music and words, along with first-­hand accounts of his family, his band mates and those closest to him. Butterfield, who died in 1987, is regarded by some as the greatest blues harmonica player of all time.

The film features appearances by David Sanborn, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Elvin Bishop, Maria Muldaur, Paul Shaffer, Michael Bloomfield, Todd Rundgren and Bob Dylan. It has played at the Mill Valley, Woods Hole and Newport Beach Film Festivals.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Butterfield is one of a handful of musicians inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, alongside B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday and Eric Clapton.

Music lovers, look no further for your next memorable experience or exclusive artist swag – Charitybuzz’s Curates: Music campaign has launched, featuring 100+ auction lots, from unmatched VIP access to exclusive meet-and-greets and coveted memorabilia.

Fans, collectors and other donors can access these incredible experiences all while giving back to non-profit causes. Curates: Music is live now through March 28.

Charitybuzz is the leading online auction site for cause, bringing its online community of bidders exclusive opportunities to live their dreams and make a difference. At Charitybuzz.com, fans can browse through and bid on dozens of music-related auction items, including:

Private guitar lesson from Kiss's Paul Stanley, benefiting Lollipop Theater

‘Revolver’ album cover signed by all four Beatles, benefiting Facing Addiction

Meet-and-greet with Celine Dion in Las Vegas, benefiting Autism Movement Therapy

Opportunity for give-time Grammy Award winner Clive Davis to listen to your music during a 30-minute meeting in NYC,...

Complete list of winners and nominees of the 2014 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday February 8. Winners will be updated as they're announced during the telecast and pre-telecast. Record Of The Year “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli Xcx “Chandelier,” Sia **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith “Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift “All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor Album Of The Year **Winner** “Morning Phase,” Beck “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé “X,” Ed Sheeran “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith “Girl,” Pharrell Williams Song Of The Year “All About That Bass,” Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor) “Chandelier,” Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia) “Shake It Off,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith) “Take Me To Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier) Best New Artist Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark...

Composer Abel Korzeniowski was the big winner at this year's International Film Music Critics Association Awards, landing two prizes for his work on Carlo Carlei's "Romeo and Juliet" and an overall composer of the year honor as well. Nominations leader "Evil Dead" won two awards, while none of this year's Oscar nominees were able to secure any hardware. Check out the nominees here, the full list of winners below and remember to keep track of the season via The Circuit. Film Score of the Year "Romeo and Juliet" (Abel Korzeniowski) Film Composer of the Year Abel Korzeniowski Breakthrough Film Composer of the Year Laurent Eyquem Best Original Score for a Drama Film "Romeo and Juliet" (Abel Korzeniowski) Best Original Score for a Comedy Film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (Theodore Shapiro) Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film "Grand Piano" (Víctor Reyes) Best Original Score for...

December is a month that increasingly sees few releases of new albums, so the closer this list gets to the present day, the fewer albums of importance there are to discuss, and most of those are hip-hop albums.

1967

Traffic: Mr. Fantasy Aka Heaven Is in Your Mind (Island)

Shortly after Steve Winwood quit the Spencer Davis Group (of which he was the lead singer and organist), he formed Traffic with some guys he'd jammed with at a club in Birmingham: guitarist/vocalist Dave Mason, saxophonist/flutist Chris Wood, and drummer/lyricist Jim Capaldi. After a couple of hit singles, they convened at a country cottage and put together the debut album by Traffic, titled Mr. Fantasy in their native country. By the time it was released, Mason had already quit.

The English and American editions were rather different. Not only did the U.S. LP (on United Artists) have...

With the band (apparently) calling it quits after 25 years, Bigger Than the Sound offers a eulogy.

By James Montgomery

Dean Ween

Photo: Chris McKay/ WireImage

In my review of Ween's 2007 album La Cucaracha (which also happens to be the last time they were mentioned on this website), I referred to them as "musical cockroaches," the kind of scurrying, scrounging band that — much like the titular (and totally gross) arthropod on the record's cover — was capable of surviving nuclear holocausts and subsisting on a bar of soap for weeks at a time.

"In essence, Ween are indestructible," I wrote. "They will be here long after you and I are gone."

It turns out, I was wrong about that last point. Because on Tuesday, Aaron Freeman, better known to bong-rippers and Scotchgard-huffers everywhere as Gene Ween, told Rolling Stone that he was retiring the mantle and ending Ween, saying, simply, "It's been a long time; 25 years.

Gil Evans, perhaps the second-greatest arranger in jazz after Duke Ellington, was born Ian Ernest Gilmore Green on May 13, 1912 in Toronto, Canada (Evans was his stepfather's name). Though best known for his collaborations with Miles Davis, Evans released many great albums as a bandleader and created a highly influential style that changed the course of jazz history.

Though self-taught, by age 21 Evans was leading a big band that became the house group at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa Beach. Eventually it was fronted and then led by singer Skinnay Ennis, and Claude Thornhill joined Evans in providing arrangements for them. Thornhill then moved to New York to start his own band, and in 1941 invited Evans to New York to write arrangements. Soon Evans's arrangements with their lush, hazy, floating textures defined the Thornhill style.

Though theoretically a swing band, the Thornhill ensemble was one of the most progressive big bands of its time,...

Billy Joel: Piano Man Legacy Edition (Columbia Legacy)

Billy Joel didn't exactly come out of nowhere with 1973's Piano Man -- it just seemed that way because of the deep obscurity into which his previous projects had so quickly fallen. His Rascals wanna-be band The Hassles never took off (the name does seem like kind of a jinx), his organ/drums duo Attila bombed, and then his November 1971 solo debut Cold Spring Harbor was cursed with faulty mastering that left his vocals sounding squeaky. Famously, he escaped these setbacks -- and contract problems (he was waiting for Columbia's lawyers to get him out of his old contract) -- by leaving his native New York and heading to Los Angeles, where under the pseudonym Bill Martin (his first and middle names) he worked at a piano bar, an experience he portrayed in the title track of this album, now reissued with an additional disc.

As some of you on Facebook may have noticed, something called "Boobquake" is happening today as a sort of protest against Tehran's prayer leader who said "Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity, and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes." (Taken from the Boobquake event page.) So immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes and according to some people, gay sex caused Hurricane Katrina. I'm always bewildered by people who believe this because if it actually worked, women and gays would both have equal rights in a heartbeat. The Human Rights Campaign would just threaten to sponsor a giant gay orgy in front of the Washington Monument unless the federal government struck down Doma and Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Whenever it was found that a company wasn't practicing equitable pay, their lobbies would be flooded with topless women until an earthquake destroyed the building.

As I write this, I’m listening to an eclectic mix of Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam, The Foofighters and David Sanborn all of which are being pumped through randomly via my Zune. Just a few years ago, I would have been concerned about receiving a legal notice in the mail or the FBI breaking down my door for illegally downloading a three and a half minute song, but thanks to Amazon, iTunes and the Zune Store, I can listen to anything artist I want legally for a small fee.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are always touting how their products are on the cutting edge of technology. Musicians now sing and perform in Dolby Surround sound and High Definition while movies like the upcoming A Christmas Carol and Avatar use motion-capture and state-of-the-art 3D technology to enhance our theater experience.

If you have to talk about how hard you're partying, you're probably not doing it right, in Bigger Than the Sound.

By James Montgomery

Miley Cyrus in "Party In The U.S.A."

Photo: Disney

Here's the thing about "Party in the U.S.A.," Miley Cyrus' plasticized ode to, well, partying in the USA: It is exceedingly patriotic, but it is not a great party song.

This has less to do with the tune itself — which is actually pretty good, thanks to Dr. Luke's whooshing production, Cyrus' salty-yet-sweet robo-vocals and the hyper-literal lyrics (Miley listens to Jay-z and Britney, goes to a club and likes to wear a cardigan when she's flying cross-country) — than it does with its sentiment. That's because great party songs are never actually about partying. Shoot, the best ones never even mention it. They don't have to.

This is because talking about partying is completely antithetical to actually partying.

This week, I finally broke my officemate. It has nothing to do with the piles of CDs that topple over on a daily basis, the half-empty coffee cups I’ve got stacked all over the place or the fact that I smoke cigarettes at my desk.

No, what pushed him over the brink was Das Racist. Or, more specifically, a remix of their song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.”

You probably have no idea who (or what) I’m talking about, so let me fill you in. Das Racist are a Brooklyn/San Francisco “zip hop” duo who rap about stuff like fast food restaurants and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez over hyphy beats that sound like they were cooked up in about three minutes on a thrift-store Casio. Which is to say: They’re pretty amazing. And the remix of “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” (which consists mainly...