WHITE PLAINS, NY:
Variety
Supporters and family of the rapper DMX chanted his name and offered up prayers Monday outside the New York hospital where he remained on life support.
The 50-year-old was admitted to the hospital on Friday, following a heart attack.
The crowd outside White Plains Hospital called “DMX! DMX!” and when urged to by the main speaker, crossed their arms in the shape of an X. A woman’s sobs reverberated as those in the audience heard a recording of the rapper, whose birth name is Earl Simmons.
Simmons’ longtime lawyer, Murray Richman, said Sunday that the rapper was admitted to the intensive care unit but he was not sure what caused the heart attack.
DMX made his rap debut in 1998, and has released seven albums in a career that has included three Grammy nominations. He also acted in several movies.
But substance abuse has been a struggle for him over the years, including in 2019 when he canceled shows to go to a rehabilitation facility. (AP)
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NEW YORK: Novelist James McBride, former US poet laureate Natasha Trethewey and science fiction great Samuel R. Delaney are among this year’s winners of Anisfield-Wolf awards for books that confront racism and help promote diversity.
McBride’s “Deacon King Kong” won for fiction and Trethewey’s memoir “Memorial Drive” was a co-winner for nonfiction, along with Vincent Brown’s “Tacky’s Revolt.” Delaney, known for such influential novels as “Babel-17” and “Dahlgren,” received a lifetime achievement prize. Victoria Chang’s “Obit” was honored for the best work of poetry. The winners were announced Monday. “The new Anisfield-Wolf winners bring us fresh insights on race and the human condition,” jury chair Henry Louis Gates Jr said in a statement.
“This year, we honor a brilliant military history (‘Tacky’s Revolt’), a breakout poetry collection that wrestles with mortality (‘Obit’), a novel bursting with love and trouble centered around a Brooklyn church (‘Deacon King Kong’), and a memoir by a daughter reclaiming her mother’s story (‘Memorial Drive’). (AP)
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NEW YORK: Paul Simon is the latest icon to sell his rich catalog of songs.
Sony Music Publishing announced Wednesday that it has acquired Simon’s catalog, which includes six decades of music, from his time in Simon & Garfunkel to his solo career. Financial details of the deal were not announced.
Bob Dylan and Shakira recently sold their full catalogs, while Stevie Nicks sold a majority of her catalog and Neil Young sold 50% of his.
Simon has won 16 Grammy Awards. His well-known songs include “Bridge
Over Troubled Water,” “The Boxer,” “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Homeward Bound,” “I am a Rock” and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” among others. (AP)
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CLEVELAND: Patrick Carney wasn’t nervous before his first live drumming gig in more than a year, just honored.
A lifelong Indians fan and one half of The Black Keys, the Grammy Award-winning rock duo from Akron, Ohio, Carney filled in Monday at Cleveland’s home opener for drummer John Adams, who is recovering from heart surgery.
Adams missed his first home opener since 1973, ending a run that has featured him sitting high in the left-field bleachers and pounding a steady beat whenever the Indians are hitting.
Carney was thrilled to be able to sit in for Adams.
“I’m stoked to be here for John,” Carney told the Associated Press about two hours before the Indians hosted the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. “It’s the best seat in the house and I wish John could be here, obviously. When I heard he wasn’t healthy enough to make it, I thought it was good way to pay some respect to him and show him some love.” (AP)