Goodbye Russell, Vaughn, and Cohen

LEON RUSSELL, who emerged in the 1970s as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most dynamic performers and songwriters after playing anonymously on dozens of pop hits as a muchin-demand studio pianist in the 1960s, died on Sunday at age 74.

Russell, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, died in his sleep in Nashville, Tennessee, his wife said in a statement on his Web site. Russell suffered health problems in his later years, having surgery to stop leaking brain fluid in 2010 and suffering a heart attack in July 2016.

“He was recovering from heart surgery in July and looked forward to getting back on the road in January,” said his wife, Jan Bridges.

Russell’s period of stardom as a performer was relatively brief, but Elton John, who had once been Russell’s opening act, engineered a comeback for him in 2010 when they collaborated on an album titled “He was my biggest influence as a piano player, a singer and a songwriter,” John told ABC News.

Russell recorded more than 35 albums and also excelled as a songwriter for other performers. His “A Song for You” was recorded by Joe Cocker, the Carpenters, the Temptations, Neil Diamond, Lou Rawls, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and good friend Willie Nelson. The Carpenters, Helen Reddy, Shirley Bassey, Robert Goulet and George Benson all covered Russell’s “This Masquerade,” with Benson’s version winning the 1976 Grammy as record of the year.

Russell was known as “the master of space and time” in his 1970s heyday. He wore a cocked top hat, and with salt-and-pepper hair past his shoulders and a beard that reached his chest, created an inscrutable image that was equal parts shaman, tent revival preacher and cosmic ringmaster. He ruled the stage with piano-banging abandon and, backed by a multi-piece band and a backup chorus, put on a show that was a roiling stew of rock, soul, gospel and country.

Russell’s last performance was July 10 in Nashville.

ROBERT VAUGHN, 83

Robert Vaughn, best known for his role as Napoleon Solo on the hit US television spy series died Friday of acute leukemia aged 83, his manager said.

“Mr. Vaughn passed away (in New York) with his family around him,” Matthew Sullivan told entertainment magazine The actor is survived by his wife Linda, son Cassidy and daughter Caitlin.

Born in New York to show business parents, Vaughn first gained attention for his Oscar-nominated role in the 1959 movie A year later, he starred as an on-the-run gunman in the popular Western movie

But though the actor acquired a lengthy list of credits in movies, he gained real star power for his roles on television, notably as the suave and cool Napoleon Solo — the television version of James Bond — in

The series, which ran from 1964 to 1968, was one of the most popular shows of the 1960s and turned Vaughn into an international star.

After the series ended he returned to the big screen, starring in a number of movies, including opposite Steve McQueen in before returning to television.

More recently, he played a con man on the British series and appeared briefly in 2012 in the British soap opera

LEONARD COHEN, 82

Leonard Cohen, the storied musician and poet hailed as one of the most visionary artists of his generation, has died at age 82, his publicist announced on Thursday.

“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries,” read a statement on Cohen’s Facebook page. “Leonard Cohen was an unparalleled artist whose stunning body of original work has been embraced by generations of fans and artists alike,” his label Sony Music said in a statement.

Cohen began as a poet before branching out into music — reluctantly at first — writing some of his generation’s most reflective songs, including the oft-covered spiritual “Hallelujah.”

He released his final album, just last month, featuring Cohen reflecting at length on his own mortality.

Cohen was preceded in death in July by Marianne Ihlen, the Norwegian woman with whom he lived on the Greek island of Hydra and who inspired his song “So Long, Marianne.” In a final letter to Ihlen revealed by a friend, Cohen declared his “endless love” for her, writing, “I think I will follow you very soon.” —