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Clem Burke, who as the drummer for the rock band Blondie was the group’s “heartbeat,” died Sunday of cancer. He was 70.

His death was announced today by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band.

“It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer,” the statement from Blondie singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein begins.

“Clem was not just a drummer,” the statement continues, “he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.” Read the statement in full below.

Born Clement...

When Morrissey attempted to reunite the New York Dolls in 2004 for a performance at London’s Meltdown festival, he thought his odds of success were low. “I expected David [Johansen] to laugh at me and put the phone down,” he said that year. “But he was very agreeable and it seemed like now was the right time. He said, ‘Yes, they are great songs.’ I said, ‘Yes, and that’s the reason why you should sing them. That’s the reason why people still want to hear them.’”

Prior to Morrissey’s call,...

It is fitting to find Fanny: The Right to Rock broadcast on PBS. The channel thrives on educational material, and director Bobbi Jo Hart’s documentary teaches many lessons. The film chronicles the career, and captures the reunion of Fanny, a group of musicians who changed the dynamics of rock in the 1970s. The lineup was unique, labels and management executives dubbed them the “female Beatles.” They made history as the first all-women rock band to release an LP with a major record label.

Originally called The Svelts and rebranded as Wild Honey, Fanny was formed in the mid-1960s in Sacramento, Calif., by three Filipina American musicians: sisters June and Jean Millington, on guitar and bass, and drummer Brie Darling. All three sang. When Darling had her daughter, Brandi, in 1968, Fanny added drummer Alice de Buhr, and roving keyboardist Nickey Barclay.

As was the fashion of the time, they lived in a band house.

While HBO Max is undergoing a sea change behind the scenes, the streamer still boasts an impressive catalog of films. Its documentary line up is particularly strong, thanks to partnerships with TCM, the Criterion Collection, and HBO itself, as well as the inclusion of several HBO Max originals. On the service, you'll find everything from groundbreaking classics that defined the genre, like "Nanook of the North," to docuseries that dive into seminal artists and cultural icons, like "George Harrison: Living in the Material World," to investigative films that probe the human condition, like "Mommy Dead and Dearest."

Whether you're looking to learn more about an overlooked moment in history or dive into the dark underbelly of true crime, there's something for every kind of documentary fan on HBO Max. From the countless hours of material to choose from, we've gathered the best documentaries streaming on HBO Max right now.

20 Feet From Stardom...

From the moment their first shows were advertised, Fanny was promoted as an all-girl band, but the label wears thin in director Bobbie Jo Hart’s Fanny: The Right to Rock. Each member says it themselves in the feature documentary, and tried telling record companies there were far more interesting things to say about them beyond the mystery of their gender. They broke through, but only barely, because sexism in rock and roll was so deeply ingrained psychologically, not even the promotion departments could think of anything else to say.

This is probably why Alice de Buhr remarks, at one point in the film, that every kick on her bass drum was a kick in a crotch. Fanny was committed to the music. The group’s members included bassist Jean Millington, guitarists June Millington and Patti Quatro, keyboardist Nickey Barclay, and drummers de Buhr and Brie Darling. Their sound was...

Helping to pave the way for women in the music industry, yet with much of their story lost to history, the rock band Fanny is now deservedly getting the spotlight in a new documentary. A world premiere at last year’s Hot Docs and now set for a release on May 27 at Quad Cinema, Bobbi Jo Hart’s Fanny: The Right to Rock examines the Sacramento-based band formed by a pair of Filipina-American sisters in their garage in the 1960s.

Featuring the band themselves, as well as Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Bonnie Raitt, The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, Todd Rundgren, The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, The B52’s Kate Pierson, Charles Neville, and David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey, the documentary explores their journey, being one of the very first all-women bands to sign with a major record label. With the band reforming 50 years later,...

Ahead of what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday, Spoon have shared their cover of the late icon’s “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” the closing track on Bowie’s final album Blackstar.

“’I Can’t Give Everything Away’ is a tune [keyboardist Alex Fischel] and I have been playing since we learned it for an acoustic and piano show in Mexico City in 2016,” Spoon’s Britt Daniel said in a statement. “It’s just a fantastic song, and as the last song on Bowie’s final album it doesn’t disappoint.

The New York Dolls’ David Johansen and Earl Slick will lead a virtual tribute concert to their late bandmate, Sylvain Sylvain, February 14th at 7 p.m. Et.

The show will feature a mix of stories, performances, and videos from an array of Sylvain’s peers and admirers. Along with Johansen and Slick, the lineup boasts Debbie Harry, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins, Clem Burke, Lenny Kaye, Bob Gruen, Michael Des Barres, Mara Hennessey, Ivan Julian, Chuck Prophet, Glen Matlock, the Blue Oyster Cult’s Joe, and Albert Houchard and the Lemon Twigs.

David Bowie’s pianist, Mike Garson, is spearheading a virtual tribute to the late musician, A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day!, which will air on the idol’s birthday, January 8th, 2021, and feature performances from Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, and more.

The lineup of guests also includes Perry Farrell, Joe Elliott, Gavin Rossdale, actor Gary Oldman, Macy Gray, Ian Astbury, Lizzy Hale, Gail Ann Dorsey, Bernard Fowler, Corey Glover, Lena Hall, and Judith Hill. Anchoring the show will be an all-star band of musicians who played with Bowie over the course of his career,...

For the third year in a row, veteran members of various David Bowie’s backing bands are hitting the road to play music from his vast catalog. This year’s incarnation of the A Bowie Celebration tour is lead by Spiders From Mars keyboardist Mile Garson (who played with Bowie from 1972 all the way to his final live appearance in 2006), guitarist Earl Sick, bassist Carmine Rojas, multi-instrumentalist Mark Plati and guitarist Charlie Sexton along with vocalists Bernard Fowler and Corey Glover.

The setlist switches a bit from show to show,...

The newest chapter of Bruce Springsteen’s ongoing live download series spotlights a show he played at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California on October 18th, 1975. Born To Run had come out a little less than two months before the show and the hype around the album was reaching a crescendo. He’d appear on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week later that month and everyone from Carole King to Jack Nicholson, Peter Boyle, Robert de Niro, Jackson Browne, Jim Messina and Neil Diamond along came...

A group consisting of David Bowie band members – including Bowie’s longtime keyboardist Mike Garson and Diamond Dogs guitarist Earl Slick – will hit the road together this winter under the moniker A Bowie Celebration.

A Reality Tour guitarist Gerry Leonard and Serious Moonlight Tour bassist Carmine Rojas will also take part alongside Living Colour singer Corey Glover, Rolling Stones collaborator Bernard Fowler and drummer Lee John. Each gig promises “an ever rotating mix of hits and deep cuts” from Bowie’s catalog.

The 2019 winter dates begin February 6th in Mesa,...

Evan Rachel Wood recalled the horror of forgetting David Bowie lyrics – during a Bowie tribute concert – on Thursday's Tonight Show.

Her "freak out" flub occurred during a guest spot on the Celebrating David Bowie tour, which featured several crucial members of the late art-rock singer's many bands, including keyboardist Mike Garson, guitarist Earl Slick and guitarist Gerry Leonard. Wood appeared during the February 28th spot at L.A.'s the Wiltern, and the life-changing moment did not go as planned.

"I sang 'Moonage Daydream' and 'Five Years' but forgot about...

Francis Whately's documentary The Last Five Years, which debuts January 8th on HBO, takes a close look at David Bowie's final recorded documents, The Next Day and Blackstar. Instead of the usual procession of famous talking heads that appear in most music docs, the portrait quizzes his close collaborators on these last two albums – producer Tony Visconti, graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook, composer Maria Schneider and the Donny McCaslin-fronted jazz outfit that played on Blackstar. The movie toggles back and forth between decades, drawing connections between song lyrics from...

It’s been almost a year to the day since we lost David Bowie, but the rock icon and beloved creative force is still foremost in the minds of those who knew and loved him best. As Billboard reports, on Sunday evening, some of those people — including fans, friends and even former bandmates — gathered together to celebrate what would have been Bowie’s seventieth birthday for a three-hour charity concert at London’s Brixton Academy. It was an appropriately rocking and raucous event.

The show was hosted by actor (and close Bowie pal) Gary Oldman, who took the stage not only to emcee the event, but to rock out to a few of Bowie’s classics, including “Sorrow” and “The Man Who Sold the World.”

Read More: David Bowie’s ‘No Plan’ Music Video Is a Posthumous Tribute to the Departed Space Oddity — Watch

Oldman was joined by other luminaries and performers,...

Spring has arrived -- flowers and music in full bloom. Some of it only hints at what might be as summer approaches. Until then, here are few things I'm carting around in my wheelbarrow. Dig it.

"Spiderlegs" Danny Malone: Balloons (Dm)

Happy accident as I had no prior knowledge of Mr. Malone prior to listening to his new album, but no worries. Here's a wonderful folk-rock tune from this Austin-based singer/songwriter's second long-player. He recorded this set of confessional musings in a haunted 15th century castle in Denmark, each song in a different room. He calls his music "sexy, dirty, sad songs about the human condition." This remains my favorite track; and the video below is pretty bloody "sexy" too. 

Alicia Keys at Prudential Center April 8, 2013, Newark, NJ

I'd never seen her live, and I don't why, but I'm damn happy I finally did. She is a major talent,...

David Bowie's guitarist Earl Slick has opened up about the sounds on the singer's new album. Bowie will release The Next Day on March 11 in the UK and March 12 in the Us, preceded by lead single 'Where Are We Now?'. "I know a lot of the stuff I played on was very different than the single. I don't know if that man has ever done a record in his life that sounded like the last record he did," Slick told Rolling Stone. "It's unmistakably David Bowie, but as usual, it's unlike. Obviously, there's flavours from everything. You might think, 'Oh, that sounds like Station to Station' and, 'That one sounds a little like Low'. "But there's no overall sound other than I can tell you (more)...

Guitarist Earl Slick has said that the band behind David Bowie's comeback album wants to go out on tour. Slick joins other regular Bowie collaborators Gail Ann Dorsey, Tony Visconti, Sterling Campbell, Zachary Alford, Gerry Leonard and David Torn on The Next Day, which was announced on Tuesday (January 8). Asked about the possibility of a tour, Slick told Ultimate Classic Rock: "We don't know. Obviously, we want him to. But right now, that's a big if. Like I said before, sometimes he shows up and sometimes he doesn't. "I could get a phone call tomorrow saying, 'Hey, you know what? Here's the setlist'. I don't know. I can't speak for him or the organisation. "Obviously, the (more)...

Guitarist Earl Slick has said that the band behind David Bowie's comeback album wants to go out on tour. Slick joins other regular Bowie collaborators Gail Ann Dorsey, Tony Visconti, Sterling Campbell, Zachary Alford, Gerry Leonard and David Torn on The Next Day, which was announced on Tuesday (January 8). Asked about the possibility of a tour, Slick told Ultimate Classic Rock: "We don't know. Obviously, we want him to. But right now, that's a big if. Like I said before, sometimes he shows up and sometimes he doesn't. "I could get a phone call tomorrow saying, 'Hey, you know what? Here's the setlist'. I don't know. I can't speak for him or the organisation. "Obviously, the (more)...