• John McClain died Tuesday, May 26, in Malibu, California, from complications after a fall at his home that left him with a broken arm; he had been hospitalized at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in the days before his death
• He was 71 and had reportedly been dealing with health issues for several years; he was surrounded by friends and his nephew Warner Wright at the time of his death
• McClain was named co-executor of Michael Jackson’s estate in MJ’s 2002 will and took the role in 2009 — alongside attorney John Branca, he erased hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and built the estate into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise
• Before his estate work, he was an A&M Records executive who oversaw Janet Jackson’s breakthrough album Control and worked with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre
• His death comes as the estate is in the midst of a legal battle with Paris Jackson over a court-ordered accounting of fees from 2019 through 2024

John McClain, the music executive who transformed Michael Jackson’s debt-riddled estate into a multi-billion-dollar empire, died Tuesday in Malibu. He was 71.

According to TMZ, which first reported the news, McClain had fallen at his Malibu home and was medevacked to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was treated for a broken arm in the days before his death. He died Tuesday afternoon from complications related to the fall. A representative for the estate, Diana Baron, confirmed his passing. He was surrounded by friends and his nephew Warner Wright.

“I am profoundly grieved at the loss of my partner and ‘brother’ John McClain,” said attorney John Branca, his co-executor, in a statement. “One of the great innovators in the world of music and music marketing, John was a visionary, seeing past the mundane and into the future. He brought a passion and sense of conviction to all that he did and was the most generous of friends. It is difficult to imagine a world without him.”

The Estate He Helped Build

When Michael Jackson died in June 2009, he was reportedly close to half a billion dollars in debt — the result of years of extravagant spending and deteriorating business arrangements. McClain and Branca had been named co-executors in Jackson’s 2002 will, and when they stepped in, they inherited that debt alongside one of the most commercially powerful music catalogs in the world.

What followed was one of the more striking financial turnarounds in entertainment history. The two men cleared the debt and went on to generate billions through music releases, licensing, theatrical productions, and film. The posthumous projects included two albums of archival material, two Cirque du Soleil shows built around Jackson’s catalog, and the Broadway hit MJ: The Musical. Most recently, the estate produced the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson — the film has grossed close to $800 million at the global box office since its April 24 release, making it the highest-grossing music biopic of all time in North America. In 2024, a California appeals court cleared the estate to proceed with the sale of half of Jackson’s publishing and recorded music catalog to Sony Music.

At the time of his death, McClain and Branca were in the midst of a legal dispute with Jackson’s daughter Paris — along with her brothers Prince and Bigi — over a court-ordered accounting of all attorney and estate fees from 2019 through 2024, with a compliance deadline set for September 15, 2026.

The Career Before the Estate

McClain was a Los Angeles native whose entry into music was practically inherited. His father owned the It Club, a jazz venue that hosted Miles Davis and John Coltrane; his mother was a pianist. He began his career as a music director and session musician, working with Gladys Knight, Diana Ross, and Lionel Richie, and later served as music director for R&B acts including the Sylvers and Shalamar.

His most consequential pre-estate role came at A&M Records, where he oversaw the label’s work with Janet Jackson and shepherded her breakthrough album Control (1986) — a record that repositioned her as an independent artist and became one of the defining pop albums of the decade. He also worked with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, and was responsible for urging the label to sign Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

He had been close to the Jackson family since well before either of those roles, a quiet insider presence at the center of some of the biggest business decisions in pop music history. Per Variety, sources said he had been ill for several years, though the estate cited the fall as the official cause of death. No funeral arrangements had been announced as of Tuesday.

The post John McClain, Who Rebuilt Michael Jackson’s Estate From $500M in Debt, Dies at 71 appeared first on Cream.

• Charles Cioffi died May 22 of natural causes at his Marina del Rey, California home; he was 90
• His death was first reported by TMZ and confirmed by his wife, Anne; he is also survived by two sons and nieces and nephews
• Cioffi played the villain stalking Jane Fonda in Klute (1971) and Lt. Vic Androzzi opposite Richard Roundtree in Shaft (1971) — both released the same year
• He played Tom Cruise’s blue-collar father in All the Right Moves and, on TV, appeared in six episodes of The X-Files as FBI Section Chief Scott Blevins — the official who assigned Scully to work alongside Mulder
• A trained stage actor, Cioffi made his Broadway debut in a 1968 production of King Lear and appeared in seven Broadway productions over his career, including the original 1969 cast of 1776

Charles Cioffi, one of the more quietly indispensable character actors of his generation, died May 22 at his home in Marina del Rey, California. He was 90. The cause was natural causes. His wife, Anne, confirmed the death to TMZ.

Cioffi spent more than six decades working across film, television, and the stage — a career that began at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in the early 1960s and eventually placed him in some of the defining films of the 1970s. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 in a production of King Lear at the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center, and went on to appear in seven Broadway productions total, including the original 1969 cast of the musical 1776 and a 1975 production of Hamlet with Sam Waterston in the title role and Jane Alexander as Gertrude.

His most memorable film work came in 1971, when two very different roles arrived in the same year. In Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, he played the menacing figure stalking the call girl Bree Daniels, played by Jane Fonda in her Oscar-winning performance. The same year, he appeared in Gordon Parks’ landmark crime film Shaft as Lt. Vic Androzzi, the New York City detective who reluctantly partners with Richard Roundtree’s private eye John Shaft. Both films became cultural touchstones; both had Cioffi in the cast.

Through the 1970s he moved fluidly between tough-guy pictures and television. He played gangland figures in Lucky Luciano (1973), The Don Is Dead (1973), and Crazy Joe (1974), and joined the cast of the ABC cop series Get Christie Love! (1974–75) as Lt. Matt Reardon, the superior of Teresa Graves’ pioneering Black female detective. In the 1980s, he played Tom Cruise’s working-class father in All the Right Moves and appeared alongside Telly Savalas in four Kojak telefilms (1989–90) as Chief George Morris.

Younger audiences may know him best from The X-Files, where he played FBI Section Chief Scott Blevins across six episodes — the bureaucrat who, in the show’s mythology, was responsible for pairing Dana Scully with Fox Mulder and assigning her to investigate the paranormal cases. The role put him inside one of the most-watched shows of the 1990s.

His other television credits span nearly every major network drama of the past fifty years: Hawaii Five-O, Bonanza, The A-Team, Thirtysomething, NYPD Blue, Frasier, Wings, and The Practice, among them. He is survived by his wife Anne, two sons, and nieces and nephews.

The post Charles Cioffi, Character Actor in ‘Shaft,’ ‘Klute,’ and ‘The X-Files,’ Dies at 90 appeared first on Cream.

• Howard Storm, veteran television director, died May 26 of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills at age 94
• He directed 59 episodes of Mork & Mindy — one of the most extensive runs any director had on a single sitcom
• His career spanned Rhoda, Valerie, Laverne & Shirley, ALF, Full House, Everybody Loves Raymond, and dozens more
• Before directing, Storm was a stand-up comedian who performed in Las Vegas and opened for Andy Williams
• He learned filmmaking by working alongside Woody Allen on Bananas and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex

Howard Storm directed 59 episodes of Mork & Mindy. Fifty-nine. For context: the show ran 95 episodes total. That’s not a TV credit — that’s a legacy.

Storm died on Tuesday, May 26, of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, his son Anthony Storm told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 94.

Born Howard Sobel on December 11, 1931, in New York City, Storm grew up the son of a vaudevillian — which tells you something about where he was always headed. He came up as a stand-up comedian first, performing in Las Vegas, opening for Andy Williams, and making appearances on The Merv Griffin Show. Deadline reported that he was a fixture in those rooms before pivoting to a second career that would end up defining him far more than any stage ever did.

From Woody Allen’s Set to Robin Williams’s Living Room

The transition from stand-up to director didn’t happen in a straight line. Storm first got his screen credit as an actor in 1959, picking up guest roles in shows like The Untouchables and Love, American Style. His connection to the industry deepened when he became a member of Lucille Ball’s Desilu Workshop in the late 1950s — a training ground that shaped more than a few careers.

What actually taught him to direct, though, was working alongside Woody Allen. Storm had roles in both Bananas (1971) and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), and watching Allen work changed the way he thought about filmmaking. The Hollywood Reporter recalled a detail Storm used to tell: after shooting a scene with Allen, the cinematographer would say “Good for me, Woody” and the sound man would confirm the same — a casual, efficient creative shorthand that stuck with Storm as a model for how a set should run.

He made his directorial debut on Season 2 of Rhoda in 1975-76, the Mary Tyler Moore spinoff starring Valerie Harper. That led to Mork & Mindy, and with Robin Williams at the center of it, no two days on that set were the same.

59 Episodes

The number is remarkable. Storm directed more than half of the entire run of Mork & Mindy, which means he was in the room for more of Robin Williams’s unscripted brilliance than almost anyone else behind a camera. Sitcom directing at that level isn’t just craft — it’s relationship-building, trust, and the ability to stay out of the way at exactly the right moment.

After Mork & Mindy, the credits kept accumulating: Laverne & Shirley, Valerie, ALF, Full House, Head of the Class, Major Dad, Perfect Strangers, Kenan & Kel, Everybody Loves Raymond, Angie, Doc. That list reads like a survey course in American sitcom history from the late 1970s through the 2000s. He was present for almost all of it.

Howard Storm was 94. He went out at home, quietly, the same Beverly Hills he’d worked from for decades.

Fifty-nine episodes of Mork & Mindy. Some careers speak for themselves.

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• Sonny Rollins died Monday at his home in Woodstock, New York, at age 95
• He was one of the last living greats of the bebop era, alongside John Coltrane and Charlie Parker among the most influential saxophonists ever
• Rock fans knew him from the Rolling Stones’ “Waiting on a Friend,” where his sax solo became iconic
• He famously practiced alone on the Williamsburg Bridge during a self-imposed exile from performing in the late 1950s
• No public memorial is planned at this time

Sonny Rollins, the tenor saxophonist whose bold, unmistakable tone and refusal to ever stop searching shaped more than half a century of jazz, died Monday at his home in Woodstock, New York. He was 95.

“It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins,” read a statement posted to his official channels. “The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY.”

Spokesperson Terri Hinte confirmed the news to the Associated Press. No specific cause of death was given, though she noted Rollins had been largely housebound in recent years due to various physical ailments. No public memorial is planned.

A Work in Progress Until the End

That was how Rollins always described himself. Not as a master. Not as a legend. As someone still learning.

“I don’t consider myself a musician that has learned as much as I want to learn,” he told the Associated Press in 2007. It was a remarkable thing to say for a man who’d recorded more than 60 albums, won Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2006, received the Kennedy Center Honor and the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2011, and been called a colossus by people who would know.

But that dissatisfaction was the engine. From his early days as a teen phenom running with Bud Powell and Miles Davis in Harlem, through his legendary recordings — Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West, Freedom Suite, A Night at the Village Vanguard — Rollins never settled. He found bebop, mastered it, then pushed past it into hard bop, calypso-inflected jazz, free jazz, and things that didn’t have names yet.

The Bridge

The most famous sabbatical in jazz history happened in the late 1950s, when Rollins — already a star, already recording for Prestige and Blue Note — simply disappeared from public performance. He’d walk to the Williamsburg Bridge in New York and practice alone, for hours, working through ideas no audience would hear until he was ready.

He came back in 1962 with an album literally called The Bridge. It was a different Rollins. It was supposed to be.

He took another hiatus from 1966 to 1971, during which he studied yoga and Eastern philosophy. Each time he returned, the sound had moved.

Before the Music, the Darkness

Like too many jazz musicians of his generation, Rollins was swallowed by heroin as a teenager. He committed an armed robbery at 19 to fund the habit. Rikers Island. Homelessness in Chicago. A second arrest. In 1954, he checked himself into a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, and that decision saved everything that came after.

“I began to have a deeper philosophy of what life was about,” he said later. The spiritual transformation that followed his recovery became central to how he approached both music and life for the remaining seven decades.

The Last Notes

Pulmonary fibrosis forced Rollins into retirement. He played his final concert in 2012 and stopped playing altogether by 2014. He missed it terribly — not just the crowds, but the physical act of playing.

Rock fans who never bought a jazz record still knew his sound. His wistful saxophone on the Rolling Stones’ “Waiting on a Friend” — recorded after watching Mick Jagger dance during the Tattoo You sessions in 1981 — remains one of the most recognizable sax moments in popular music.

Born Theodore Walter Rollins on September 7, 1930, in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood, he grew up in a household where his sister played piano and his brother played violin. He picked up the saxophone at 11. By the time he was out of high school, he was playing alongside Thelonious Monk and Max Roach.

“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence,” Rollins said in 2009. “I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything.”

The Colossus is gone. The sound carries on.

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• Gretna Van Fleet, the Michigan woman whose name inspired Grammy-winning rock band Greta Van Fleet, died May 18 at age 95
• She passed away at Winter Village senior living home in Frankenmuth, the same town where the band was formed in 2012
• The band’s name came from original drummer Kyle Hauck, who heard his grandfather mention her name before a rehearsal
• Gretna was a prolific musician herself, playing over a dozen instruments including drums, tuba, violin and saxophone
• She always supported the band warmly, even though she admitted their music wasn’t really her style

Gretna Van Fleet — the woman behind the name of one of rock’s biggest acts of the past decade — has died. She was 95.

Van Fleet passed away on Monday, May 18, at Winter Village, a senior living home in Frankenmuth, Michigan, according to her obituary shared by Cederberg Funeral Home of Frankenmuth. The same small Michigan city is where Greta Van Fleet was born as a band in 2012 — when Gretna was already well into her 80s and thoroughly unbothered by the hard rock world that was about to borrow her name.

She was a wife of 76 years, a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, community theater participant, square dance club regular, pinochle enthusiast, and a founding member of the Bag Ladies at Frankenmuth United Methodist Church. She ran a bed and breakfast. She quilted. She was, by every measure, a full life lived — and the fact that millions of rock fans around the world knew her name was just a delightful bonus she never quite saw coming.

“When I found out they really did it, I thought, ‘That won’t last long. That’s not a name for a band,'” she once said. “But they just kept growing and more people ask me about it and I’ve been far more involved than I expected.”

How a Wood-Cutting Errand Became Rock History

The origin story of the band’s name is one of rock’s better accidental legends. In the summer of 2012, three brothers — Josh, Sam, and Jake Kiszka — and their friend Kyle Hauck were a nameless teenage ensemble, playing covers of Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne. Josh was 14. The youngest in the group was 13. They were, as bassist-keyboardist Sam Kiszka later put it, “coming up with all kinds of horrible names.”

Then Hauck’s grandfather dropped him off for rehearsal with a casual parting line: he had to go cut wood for Gretna Van Fleet. That was it.

“Josh’s brain started ticking,” Sam told the Detroit Free Press. “He was like, ‘That’s a band name!'”

The only tweak: they dropped the “n” from Gretna. “People would have gotten it mixed up and wrong anyway,” Sam explained. “Greta Van Fleet rolled off the tongue better.”

Hauck has also described the moment slightly differently in other interviews — saying the name came up at breakfast, when his grandfather mentioned needing to help her — but the spark was the same either way. A grandmother’s name, overhead by a teenager, became the identity of a band that would go on to win a Grammy.

Gretna herself wasn’t formally asked. She found out after the fact, took it in stride, and eventually met the boys at a show at Frankenmuth’s Fischer Hall in early 2013 — after fielding calls from confused neighbors who’d spotted “Greta Van Fleet” on the marquee wondering if she’d somehow joined a rock band without telling anyone.

“If I am, I missed rehearsals,” she told them.

She and her husband headed over, got the full story from the young rockers, and stayed for the show. She never once tried to stop them.

“I think they checked out my background to make sure I wasn’t on the Ten Most Wanted list or something, and they went ahead with it,” she joked to MLive in 2019, ahead of the band’s Saturday Night Live appearance. “But later, when I met the boys, I said, ‘That’s OK.’ But, no, they did not approach me to begin with.”

‘The Boys Know That’ — Gretna’s Honest Take on the Music

Gretna Van Fleet was gracious about the whole thing, but she was also refreshingly honest. The thunderous, Zeppelin-esque crunch that made Greta Van Fleet famous? Not exactly her thing.

“It’s not my favorite music, and the boys know that,” she said. “But I think they’re very talented, and I support them.”

Her favorite GVF song was “Flower Power” — one of the band’s more melodic, less skull-rattling moments. “There’s a couple others that I like, but that’s not really my style,” she said. “It’s not my era that they’re making popular come back.”

Her own musical tastes ran toward classical and old pop standards. But she was genuinely tickled by the local boys and by the strange, lovely celebrity that came with sharing a name with them.

“Every day, out in town, somebody will stop me,” she said. “People are so excited to meet me.”

Sam Kiszka put it simply in 2018: “She gave us the go-ahead. Ever since, she’s been living the rock-star life too.”

A Musician in Her Own Right

What often got overlooked in the band name story was that Gretna Van Fleet was a serious musician herself. Born Gretna Sanford in Branch County — her first name taken from a 19th-century children’s book — she grew up to play an almost absurd range of instruments: drums, tuba, coronet, saxophone, standup bass, violin, dulcimer, psaltery, organ, piano. In her 20s, she and her brothers formed a dance band called the Allenaires. Later, she played violin in the Holy Jeans, her church bluegrass band.

So when “Greta Van Fleet” started appearing on local marquees, there was genuine confusion — and a certain irony. The woman whose name was now synonymous with searing rock guitar had spent decades quietly playing bluegrass at church and classical pieces at home.

“I couldn’t figure out how there was someone else with a name so close to mine,” she said of those early days.

The band, for their part, went on to win the 2019 Grammy for Best Rock Album for From the Fires, score five No. 1 hits on the Mainstream Rock Airplay charts, and earn a Best Album nomination at the 2024 Grammys for Starcatcher. They recently announced a return to action after a two-year break.

Gretna Van Fleet is survived by her four daughters and the extended family she built over nearly a century of living. Visitation is set for May 26 at Cederberg Funeral Home in Frankenmuth, with a funeral service on May 27 at Frankenmuth United Methodist Church — the same church where she sang in the choir and helped found the Bag Ladies.

A fan page summed it up simply: “Before the music and the crowds, the name belonged to Gretna Van Fleet. The woman who unknowingly inspired a piece of rock history. Rest easy, Gretna.”

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• Tom Kane died May 18, 2026, at a Kansas City hospital from complications of a 2020 stroke — he was 64.
• He was best known for voicing Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Professor Utonium in The Powerpuff Girls.
• Kane’s career spanned nearly 50 years and over 270 credits across animation, film, video games, and theme parks.
• He is survived by his wife Cindy and nine children — three biological and six adopted or fostered.
• Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni and Powerpuff Girls co-star Tara Strong led tributes from across the industry.

Tom Kane, the voice actor whose warm baritone shaped some of the most beloved characters in animation history, died Monday, May 18, at a hospital in Kansas City. He was 64. His representative, Zachary McGinnis, confirmed that Kane passed away surrounded by family, from complications of a stroke he suffered in November 2020.

“Today we say goodbye to Tom Kane — a legendary voice actor whose work shaped the childhoods and imaginations of millions around the world,” his talent agency, Galactic Productions, wrote in a statement. “From his unforgettable performances in Star Wars to countless animated series, documentaries, and games, Tom brought wisdom, strength, humor, and heart to every role he touched. His voice became part of our lives, our memories, and the stories we carry with us.”

The statement closed with a line that felt entirely right for the man behind one of the galaxy’s most iconic voices: “Rest in peace, Tom Kane. Thank you for everything. May the Force be with you, always.”

The Voice That Defined a Generation of Animation

Born Thomas Kane Roberts on April 15, 1962, in Overland Park, Kansas, Kane got his start in voiceovers at 15 years old — cold-calling local advertisers from Kansas City and talking his way into commercial work. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1984, having already built a foundation of hundreds of commercials, and his first credited screen appearance came in a 1992 episode of Who’s the Boss.

By the mid-1990s, he was finding his footing in animation, landing early roles on The Legend of Prince Valiant, the Iron Man cartoon, and Spider-Man: The Animated Series, where he played Dr. Doom. Then 1998 changed everything. That year, he landed two roles that would define him — Darwin on The Wild Thornberrys and Professor Utonium, the gentle, brilliant father figure at the center of Cartoon Network’s The Powerpuff Girls.

He didn’t just voice the Professor. He also voiced HIM, the show’s flamboyantly sinister villain — a range that speaks to just how versatile Kane truly was. The Powerpuff Girls became one of Cartoon Network’s signature hits of the late ’90s and early 2000s, and Kane’s performances were woven into the fabric of an entire generation’s childhood. Cartoon Network marked his passing with a photo of Kane alongside his animated family, writing: “Rest in peace, Professor ❤️ Thank you, Tom Kane, for lending your voice to the father of three perfect little girls and bringing The Force to millions of fans. You’ll live on in our childhood memories forever.”

Tara Strong, who played Buttercup opposite Kane’s Professor Utonium, shared a deeply personal tribute. “Everything he did, he did to perfection, but never in a predictable way,” she wrote on Instagram. “Tom always found something deeper, more creative, more thoughtful, weird, fun and unique. Brilliant. Giving. Funny. Supportive. Kind. There was no one like HIM. I’m beyond grateful for all the hours we spent together in the booth, and so grateful we got to see him again recently… hug him tight and tell him how much we love and miss him.”

The Voice of the Clone Wars

Kane’s relationship with Star Wars began in 1996, when he was brought in to handle background voice parts for Lucasfilm’s video game branch — starting with Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Three years later, he first voiced Jedi Master Yoda in the 1999 game Star Wars: Yoda’s Challenge, and the role stuck.

In 2003, he voiced both Yoda and C-3PO for Genndy Tartakovsky’s acclaimed Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series on Cartoon Network. When the full CGI series Star Wars: The Clone Wars launched in 2008 — first as a theatrical film, then as a long-running series — Kane was front and center, this time as the show’s narrator. That opening narration, delivered weekly for years, became the sound of a generation’s Friday nights.

“Tom loved ‘Star Wars’,” said Lucasfilm President and Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni. “Fans may best remember him as the voice of the animated Yoda, but truly his voice was the spirit of the Clone Wars. His opening narration introduced an entire generation to the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy, getting viewers ready for another adventure far, far away.”

Kane’s Star Wars work extended across nearly every corner of the franchise — voicing Admiral Ackbar, Boba Fett, Qui-Gon Jinn, and C-3PO across various games and productions. He stepped into the live-action world too, voicing Admiral Ackbar in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi following the death of the character’s original voice actor, Erik Bauersfeld, in 2016. His Star Wars credits on the official Star Wars biography page honoring him run deep.

A Career That Went Far Beyond Two Franchises

With over 270 credits across nearly five decades, Kane’s reach was staggering. He voiced Mr. Herriman in Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Lord Monkey Fist in Kim Possible, Woodhouse in Archer, Simon in Codename: Kids Next Door, Magneto in Wolverine and the X-Men, and Ultron in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. In video games, he was Takeo Masaki in Call of Duty‘s beloved Zombies mode, Commissioner Gordon in the Batman: Arkham Asylum series, and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit games. His final credited role was in the 2023 mobile game Harry Potter: Magic Awakened.

His voice also lived in places fans might not have realized. He was the voice of the monorail and bus system at Walt Disney World, the announcer for several Star Wars theme park rides and attractions, and the voice behind the Disney Parks fireworks show. He also announced the 80th, 83rd, 84th, and 90th Academy Awards broadcasts on ABC. And behind the scenes, Kane provided voice doubling for major Hollywood actors — stepping in for Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Liam Neeson, among others.

The Stroke, the Retirement, and One Last Reunion

In November 2020, Kane suffered a stroke that devastated his ability to speak, write, and read. At the time, his daughter shared a message with fans explaining the severity: “As many of you might know about strokes, it is possible for him to gain these functions back and we have found him excellent care in Kansas City for speech, occupational, and physical therapy, but for now, we have been warned by his neurologist that he may not do voiceovers again.”

He officially retired from voice acting in 2021. But earlier this year, he made a rare public appearance at the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention in Kentucky, reuniting with the original cast of The Powerpuff Girls. Fans who were there captured a moment that now carries extra weight — Kane, in his signature Yoda voice, telling the crowd: “The force will be with you, always, yes.”

One fan wrote online in the hours after his death: “RIP Tom Kane, loved him as Professor Utonium. This was the last reunion the cast had together in March 2026, may he rest in peace.” Another shared: “Rewatching the ending of season 6 of The Clone Wars now hits hard. RIP Tom Kane, and May the Force be with you.”

Beyond everything he gave to screens large and small, McGinnis remembered Kane as something more. “Beyond the incredible career was an extraordinary man. Tom was a devoted husband and father who, alongside his wife, built a loving family of nine children — three biological and six welcomed through adoption and fostering. That compassion and generosity defined who he was just as much as his remarkable talent did.”

He is survived by his wife, Cindy, and their nine children.

“Though his voice may now be silent,” McGinnis said, “the characters, stories, and love he gave to the world will live on forever.”

The post Tom Kane, Voice of Yoda and Professor Utonium, Dies at 64 appeared first on Cream.

• Dennis Locorriere, lead singer and co-founder of Dr. Hook, died peacefully on May 16, 2026, surrounded by loved ones
• His management confirmed the cause of death as kidney disease, following a lengthy battle
• Locorriere was the voice behind classics including “Sylvia’s Mother,” “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman,” and “Sexy Eyes”
• The New Jersey-born singer had lived in the UK for the past 24 years and retired from touring in November 2025
• Dr. Hook scored six Billboard Top 10 hits in the US and reached No. 1 in multiple countries including the UK

Dennis Locorriere, the unmistakable voice behind Dr. Hook’s run of beloved ’70s hits, has died at 76. His management confirmed on Sunday that Locorriere passed away peacefully on May 16, 2026, surrounded by his loved ones, following a long battle with kidney disease.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dennis Locorriere, who, after a long and courageous battle with kidney disease, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on May 16, 2026,” the statement read. “Dennis faced his illness with remarkable strength, dignity, and resilience throughout, and remained deeply cherished by all who knew him. He will be remembered for his warmth, love, and the lasting impact he had on those around him.”

His management also asked for privacy for his family as they grieve what the statement called “this profound loss.”

The tribute posted to Dr. Hook’s official website was simple and very him. Against a black background, the band shared Locorriere’s signature alongside his birth and death dates — and the famous Bugs Bunny sign-off: “That’s all folks!”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7LXpnNKNxJI%3Ffeature%3Doembed

From New Jersey Bars to the Cover of Rolling Stone

Locorriere was born Dennis Michael Locorriere on June 13, 1949, in Union City, New Jersey — just a few weeks shy of what would have been his 77th birthday. In 1968, he was recruited by George Cummings, Ray Sawyer, and Billy Francis to join their new group, initially coming aboard as a bass player. They eventually landed on the name Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

The band’s big break came through an unlikely door: a Dustin Hoffman film. An early recording made its way to the right ears, and the group was chosen to contribute to the 1970 movie Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? — landing them their first record contract in the process.

“I was playing in New Jersey bars with an early version of Dr Hook And The Medicine Show,” Locorriere recalled earlier this year. “Our gig was to play whatever kept the clientele happy, which meant we got pretty good at ‘faking’ our way through lots of different styles of music, at peril of our lives. Tough joints!”

“Somehow, the tape we produced made its way to several different sets of ears,” he continued. “They had their choice of a couple of established acts but, surprisingly, we, a band of unknowns, were chosen.”

After signing with Columbia, the band linked up with poet and children’s book author Shel Silverstein — the man who had already written Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” — who wrote nearly every song on their first two albums. That partnership produced “Sylvia’s Mother” in 1972, a heartbreaking phone-call song that became the band’s first hit, and the following year’s “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone,'” a winking satire on music industry fame that, in a perfect twist of fate, actually landed them on the cover of Rolling Stone — in caricature form.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=olQNes_mq8I%3Fsi%3DY-3Ch9PX5zSxJ3Pq

By the mid-’70s, the band had shortened their name to simply Dr. Hook, and the hits kept coming: “Only Sixteen,” “A Little Bit More,” “Sharing the Night Together,” “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman” — which hit No. 1 in the UK — and “Sexy Eyes,” their final Top 10 hit in 1980. All told, Dr. Hook racked up more than 60 gold and platinum singles and reached No. 1 in dozens of countries.

“We started, we were a bar band. We were playing whatever it took to keep us from being killed,” Locorriere told 100% Rock Magazine in 2015. “We had to fit everywhere and we did. We were that kind of band.” He wasn’t exaggerating about the company they kept on the road — support slots for Alice Cooper, Kiss, Sly & the Family Stone, Frank Zappa, and the Eagles.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KuvfIePDbgY%3Fsi%3DFGJKqzIBrxSrJh4c

A Songwriter’s Legacy That Reached Far Beyond Dr. Hook

What many casual fans may not have known is how deep Locorriere’s songwriting legacy ran. Songs he wrote or co-wrote were recorded by Bob Dylan (whose version of “A Couple More Years” appeared on The Bootleg Series Vol. 16), Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Olivia Newton-John, Crystal Gayle, BJ Thomas, Helen Reddy, and Southside Johnny. “A Couple More Years,” co-written with Silverstein for Dr. Hook’s 1976 album, also appeared on Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings’ landmark Waylon & Willie record. In 2005, he even narrated Silverstein’s children’s book Runny Babbit. In total, Locorriere released 14 studio albums — 11 with Dr. Hook and three solo.

After Dr. Hook’s farewell tour in 1985, Locorriere retained the rights to the band’s name and never really stopped. He toured for decades under the Dr. Hook banner, performing shows billed as Voice of Dr. Hook and the Dennis Locorriere Celebrates Dr. Hook Hits and History Tour. He launched a 50th Anniversary World Tour in 2019, though dates were later postponed after a prostate procedure led to kidney complications — the beginning of the health battle that would ultimately claim his life.

Despite being American-born, Locorriere had made the United Kingdom his home for the past 24 years, and it was there that he had one of his most loyal fanbases. In November 2025, he announced he was stepping away from the road for good.

“I’m not saying I’ll never perform again,” he posted on X at the time. “I don’t know right now. I do know that life in hotels and airports is not for me anymore. I’ve been a lucky guy. I’ve had an interesting life so far. And still have time to enjoy the rest.”

He didn’t get as much of that rest as he deserved.

The Music World Reacts

Tributes began flowing in quickly. Singer Mollie Marriott, who performed alongside Locorriere at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2008, was among the first to share her grief. “He protected me at times, and I’m forever grateful,” she wrote. “We had a truly lovely bond. His voice was as majestic as his stage presence. How I will miss him, but am so glad he is no longer suffering.”

Boom Radio UK captured what many fans were feeling: “We’re so sad to hear of the death of Dennis Locorriere — the legendary voice at the heart of Dr Hook. He was a remarkable performer and we shall miss him. Dennis was born in New Jersey and made his home here in the UK for the last 24 years.”

Fans online echoed the sentiment. “Sad news! I love this band! A great singer with a recognizable voice. One of the best,” one wrote. Another simply said: “That’s sad — saw them in the 70s, great band, and Dennis was a lovely singer.”

His bandmate Ray Sawyer, who sang lead on “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone,'” died in 2018. With Locorriere’s passing, the original heart of Dr. Hook is gone. But the songs — those warm, funny, aching, perfectly crafted songs — aren’t going anywhere. Clips of the band have been circulating on TikTok and streaming platforms for years now, finding new ears with every generation that stumbles across them. That’s the thing about a voice like his. It doesn’t really leave.

The post Dr. Hook Frontman Dennis Locorriere Dead at 76 appeared first on Cream.

• Dennis Rush, who played Howie Prewitt on The Andy Griffith Show, died May 9 at age 74 after a leukemia diagnosis.
• His longtime friend and co-star Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky from I Love Lucy) announced the news on Facebook.
• Rush appeared in eight episodes of the beloved sitcom between 1963 and 1965, playing one of Opie Taylor’s childhood friends.
• His career began at age 5 opposite James Cagney in the 1957 film Man of a Thousand Faces — a role Cagney personally recruited him for.
• The Andy Griffith Museum remembered him as “one of the sweetest men you could ever meet.”

Dennis Rush, the freckle-faced child actor who charmed audiences as Howie Prewitt — one of Opie Taylor’s closest pals — on The Andy Griffith Show, has died. He was 74. Rush died on May 9, on the way to the hospital, after being diagnosed with leukemia just weeks earlier. He lived in the San Diego area.

His friend and former co-star Keith Thibodeaux — best known as Little Ricky on I Love Lucy, and who played Johnny Paul Jason alongside Rush on The Andy Griffith Show — broke the news on Facebook, sharing a production still from the show.

“I just got word that my old buddy Dennis Rush, a fine actor and a great friend passed away,” Thibodeaux wrote. “What a shock. He was with us as one of Opie’s buddies. He’s the one sitting down. I will miss him at the Andy Griffith festivals as we had so many stories to tell. I’m just glad that I was able to pray with him last month at one of the festivals when he found out that he was diagnosed with leukemia. Mayberry has lost a great citizen and a great friend!”

Thibodeaux starred in 13 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show between 1962 and 1966. Rush appeared in eight over three seasons from 1963 to 1965 — and by his own account, he treasured every minute of it. “I got to be in eight episodes over about a 2½-year period,” he said in 2022. “It was just the best of the best.”

One of his fondest memories from the set came during the 1964 episode “Barney’s Physical,” when he blanked on his line during rehearsal and ad-libbed something about Don Knotts’ character “hanging himself in the closet.” The improvised line made it into the final cut.

How James Cagney Launched a Career Over Lunch

Dennis Eugene Rush was born in Philadelphia on June 10, 1951. When he was just a year old, his father Jack moved the family to Los Angeles and took a job as a film archivist at Universal Studios. Being good meant getting to visit dad at the lot for lunch — and it was at that lunch counter where everything changed.

As Rush told the story at last year’s Mayberry-I Love Lucy Festival in Granville, Tennessee: a man tapped his father on the shoulder and said he was looking for a little boy to play his son in a movie. That man was James Cagney.

When Rush’s father explained that Dennis wasn’t an actor and needed to be in school, Cagney’s response was simple: “Trust me.”

His screen test involved riding a tricycle around a Christmas tree. He spent the next six months on the film.

The result was Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), in which Rush played Creighton Chaney at age 4 — the son of silent film legend Lon Chaney, portrayed by Cagney. Dorothy Malone played his mother, Jim Backus his uncle. One of the film’s most emotionally demanding scenes required young Dennis to cry, and Cagney found a way to get there. He walked Rush around the soundstage, describing Christmas mornings and family warmth — then told him that the little boy in the story would never have any of that again.

“He kept that up for a walk around the soundstage and had me in tears,” Rush recalled in a 1989 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We went right in and did the scene in five minutes. Whenever I had to cry from then on, I remembered that.”

He and Cagney exchanged Christmas cards every year until the Oscar winner’s death in March 1986.

A Career Full of Classic TV — and a Life Well Lived

After Man of a Thousand Faces, Rush became a fixture in classic television throughout the late ’50s and ’60s. His credits included seven episodes of Wagon Train — one directed by John Ford — three episodes of Laramie, and appearances on Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Lucy Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll and The Magical World of Disney. His final acting credit was Disney’s Follow Me, Boys! in 1966.

“Every month or so you would do a number of things and then six months would go by and you wouldn’t do anything,” he once said of the life of a working child actor. “Then you’d get a call and go on an interview and you might be with 20 kids or you might be with 200 kids.”

When he aged out of child roles, Rush joined the U.S. Marines. When his service ended, he discovered his parents had spent the money he’d earned as an actor — at times as much as $500 a week. He went on to graduate from Notre Dame High School and then San Diego State in 1977, and built a career in the hotel and restaurant business.

But Mayberry never really let him go. Rush became a beloved presence at the annual Mayberry Days convention in Mount Airy, North Carolina — the real-life inspiration for the show’s fictional town — and at the Mayberry-I Love Lucy Festival in Tennessee. He was at that festival just last month, where Thibodeaux prayed with him after he shared his leukemia diagnosis.

The Andy Griffith Museum paid tribute to Rush on Facebook Thursday, writing: “Dennis was an absolute joy to be around and one of the sweetest men you could ever meet. It was always a pleasure to welcome him to Mayberry Days, where he shared smiles, stories, hugs and kindness with fans from all over the world.”

Lucie Arnaz Luckingbill, daughter of I Love Lucy star Lucille Ball, commented on Thibodeaux’s post: “Sorry, Keith. Those decades long friendships are the best. He will save a nice place for you where he’s going, I’m sure.” Thibodeaux replied simply: “Yes Lucie!”

Rush is survived by his siblings Sally, Monica, Patrick and Megan. Another brother, Jack, died in February.

He was, by every account, exactly the kind of person Mayberry was always supposed to represent.

The post Dennis Rush, ‘Andy Griffith Show’ Child Actor, Dies at 74 appeared first on Cream.

• Joe Sedelmaier, director of Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” and FedEx’s “Fast-Paced World” ads, died May 8 at his Chicago home at age 92
• His son J.J. Sedelmaier confirmed he died peacefully of natural causes in his favorite chair in Lincoln Park
• Sedelmaier’s Wendy’s ad turned octogenarian manicurist Clara Peller into a cultural icon and gave the 1984 presidential race one of its most memorable moments
• He directed nearly 1,000 commercials over his career and was inducted into both the Art Directors Club and Advertising Hall of Fame
• Advertising Age named both “Where’s the Beef?” and “Fast-Paced World” among the 50 best TV spots of the previous 50 years

Joe Sedelmaier, the Chicago-based commercial director who gave America some of the most unforgettable TV ads ever made — including Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” and FedEx’s legendary “Fast-Paced World” spot — died May 8 at his home in Lincoln Park. He was 92.

His son J.J. Sedelmaier confirmed that his father passed peacefully of natural causes, in his favorite chair. He is survived by sons J.J. and Adam, daughter Rachel McElroy, six grandchildren, and three great-granddaughters.

For anyone who grew up watching television in the 1980s, Sedelmaier’s fingerprints are all over the ads that stuck. He had a completely distinctive approach — deadpan humor, real-looking people with lived-in faces, dialogue that felt almost accidentally funny — that made his work impossible to confuse with anyone else’s. His longtime executive producer Marsie Wallach, who worked alongside him for decades, put it simply: “He was so true to himself, and I do believe that showed in the work. And he enjoyed what he did, and that showed in the work.”

Roger Ebert, in a 60 Minutes interview, once credited Sedelmaier with changing not just advertising but Hollywood itself. “I think that thanks to commercial filmmakers like Sedelmaier we now have movie actors who look like real people, including Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman,” Ebert said. “Movie stars that 20 years ago would have been playing characters are now playing the lead because it’s now permissible to look like somebody other than Robert Redford.”

The Man Who Found Clara Peller

The story of how Sedelmaier discovered Clara Peller is the kind of thing that sounds made up but absolutely isn’t. Years before “Where’s the Beef?” he needed a manicurist for a commercial shoot. A crew member ran across the street to a local salon and came back with Peller in tow. She looked up at Sedelmaier and, in that enormous gravelly voice coming out of that tiny frame, said: “How ya doing, honey?”

“What I can do with that!” Sedelmaier recalled in a documentary about his career produced by Wallach.

He cast her in spots for Mr. Coffee and Jartran Truck Rental before the Wendy’s opportunity came along. When copywriter Cliff Freeman at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample developed the concept for the chain’s new campaign, Sedelmaier knew exactly who to put in front of the camera. In 1984, Peller — a Hyde Park manicurist, widow, and Soviet immigrant living at the Belmont Hotel — became one of the most recognizable faces in America almost overnight.

The commercial showed her looking at a competitor’s disappointingly tiny burger patty and demanding, in that unmistakable rasp: “Where’s the beef?” It was funny and indignant and weirdly relatable, and it hit the culture like few ads ever have. Wendy’s attributed a measurable jump in corporate profits directly to the campaign. And then Walter Mondale used the phrase in a presidential debate against Gary Hart — “When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?'” — and it was officially part of the American language.

Sedelmaier cast Peller in 10 Wendy’s commercials total. The following year, 1985, he delivered another one that landed: “Soviet Fashion Show,” a deadpan parody of Communist conformity featuring a plus-sized model wearing the same drab gray factory-worker outfit for every occasion — daywear, eveningwear, and swimwear, the last distinguished only by the addition of a beach ball.

The Fast-Talking Man and Everything Else

Three years before Peller made her Wendy’s debut, Sedelmaier had already pulled off one of the era’s other defining ad moments. He’d spotted actor John Moschitta Jr. — known as the world’s fastest talker — on an episode of That’s Incredible, and cast him in a 1981 Federal Express spot that became known simply as “Fast-Paced World.” Moschitta played a mile-a-minute business executive rattling off lines like “I know it’s perfect, Peter, that’s why I picked Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s perfect, Peter, can I call you Pete?” at a pace that was both exhausting and completely hilarious.

In 1982, Sedelmaier’s firm won five Clio Awards — the Oscars of the advertising world — for the Federal Express work alone. Advertising Age would later name both “Where’s the Beef?” and “Fast-Paced World” among the 50 best TV commercials of the previous half-century.

His commercials earned him covers of magazines and profiles in the New York Times and Newsweek. His work spawned imitators. But Sedelmaier remained rooted in Chicago — deliberately so. “Everyone in New York said I was crazy, setting up shop in Chicago,” he told the Chicago Tribune in 1979. “But I’ve got a good lab… and besides, I like living here. You can’t bring up kids in Manhattan, and I’m not a commuter.”

A Career Built on Real Faces and Gut Instinct

John Josef Sedelmaier was born May 31, 1933, in Orrville, Ohio — hometown of J.M. Smucker Co., maker of jams and jellies — and came to Chicago in 1950 to study at the University of Chicago before earning his bachelor’s degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1955. He’d originally dreamed of being a cartoonist.

He worked at Young & Rubicam, Clinton E. Frank, and J. Walter Thompson before growing frustrated with the assembly-line nature of agency work. “The thing that bugged me the most was that the director wasn’t in on the casting and whatever; he was just a little machine,” he told the Tribune in 1979. In 1968, he started his own company, Sedelmaier Film Productions Inc., out of what had been the old Chez Paree nightclub at 610 N. Fairbanks Court in Streeterville.

His casting process was almost entirely instinctual. He found actors at neighborhood playhouses, noticed interesting waiters, got tips from his receptionist. “I’ve never gone out looking for people,” he told the Tribune in 1993. “I’ve found people at neighborhood playhouses. Sometimes I have a waiter who looks interesting. One guy brought in a picture of his grandchildren, and they were nice-looking grandchildren, but I liked him. I said, ‘You’ve got a great face.'”

What he was always after was authenticity — faces that looked like they’d actually lived in. “It seems to me that you should want to stand out if you’re trying to sell something,” he said in 1984. “But so many commercials don’t. They’d rather blend with the wallpaper.”

Wallach, who later created a 40-minute documentary retrospective about his work called Point of View, described his defining quality as the courage of his convictions. “He had a definite point of view. So if he thought something would work or not work, you did not push him around. He was like, this is it.” She also remembered the man himself: “He wore sneakers before everyone started wearing sneakers, along with jeans and a white button-down shirt, and he walked very fast and kind of bounced when he walked. He was very spry.”

Sedelmaier stopped making commercials in the mid-1990s, telling the Tribune in 2009 that he’d reached a point where he “didn’t want a product at the end anymore.” He had, in fact, always had a parallel life as a filmmaker. His 1967 short “Because That’s Why” won first prize at both the San Francisco Film Festival and the Mannheim International Film Festival. He was the original director on the 1983 comedy Easy Money before a falling-out with star Rodney Dangerfield. And his 2003 short film OpenMinds was an official selection at Sundance.

In 2000 he was inducted into the Art Directors Club of New York Hall of Fame; in 2016, into the American Advertising Federation Advertising Hall of Fame.

His wife of 47 years, Barbara, died in 2012. His son J.J., who runs an animation studio in New York, remembered growing up around his father’s old comic books and the homemade Superman outfit his dad once made him. “It was wonderful watching him mellow as he got older,” J.J. said. “His family was his whole life.”

In a statement, J.J. wrote that his father’s “unique approach to casting, dialogue and framing as well as his philosophy — ‘You’ve got to entertain to sell’ — broke the mold in television advertising. His work helped redefine commercial storytelling, favoring real faces, authentic oddity, and sharply observed humor over polished perfection.”

That’s as good a summary as any. For a generation of viewers, Joe Sedelmaier’s commercials weren’t interruptions — they were the part you actually remembered.

The post Joe Sedelmaier, ‘Where’s the Beef?’ Ad Director, Dies at 92 appeared first on Cream.

• Clarence Carter, the blind Southern soul singer behind “Patches,” “Slip Away,” and “Strokin’,” died Thursday, May 14 — he was 90.
• His death was confirmed by Rodney Hall, president of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, after speaking with the family of Carter’s ex-wife, singer Candi Staton.
• Carter had recently been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and was also battling pneumonia and sepsis.
• His 1970 hit “Patches” reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song.
• Carter continued writing, recording, and releasing music well into his eighties — his last single, “Danger Point,” dropped in 2024.

Clarence Carter, the blind soul singer whose unmistakable baritone carried generations of R&B listeners through heartbreak, humor, and everything in between, has died. He was 90.

Rodney Hall, president of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama — where Carter recorded some of his most enduring work — confirmed the news to Rolling Stone after speaking with the family of Candi Staton, the gospel and soul singer who was Carter’s ex-wife. Carter had recently been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and was battling pneumonia and sepsis at the time of his death on Thursday.

Over more than six decades in music, Carter built a catalog that swung effortlessly between the deeply moving and the delightfully raunchy — sometimes within the same record. He was a constant presence on the R&B charts throughout his late-’60s and ’70s heyday, and he crossed over into the pop Top 10 twice, with songs that couldn’t have been more different from each other.

The Songs That Defined Him

“Slip Away,” released in 1968, peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 — a yearning, gorgeously aching appeal to a married woman for a stolen moment together. “Could you just slip away without him knowing you’re gone? / Then we could meet somewhere, somewhere where we’re both not known.” Carter’s voice didn’t just sing the words. It lived inside them.

Two years later came “Patches,” and with it, a place in music history. The song — written by General Johnson and Ron Dunbar and first recorded by Johnson’s group Chairmen of the Board — climbed to number four on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1971. It’s the story of a boy named Patches, raised in hardship, holding onto his dying father’s final plea: “Patches, I’m depending on you son / To pull the family through / My son, it’s all left up to you.” Carter opens the track with a spoken word intro — “I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches…” — and from there, it’s impossible to look away.

“I think ‘Patches’ really etched me into the music world,” Carter said in 2010. “Where people are probably going to remember me for a long time to come. Which I always wanted — but I never knew it would happen that way.”

Then there was the other side of Clarence Carter. “Back Door Santa,” a wickedly raunchy 1968 novelty track, was later sampled by Run-D.M.C. for their 1987 holiday classic “Christmas in Hollis.” And “Strokin’,” released in 1986 and too explicit for mainstream radio, became a cult favorite that sold 1.5 million copies largely through jukebox plays. It later appeared on the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy’s The Nutty Professor and in William Friedkin’s 2011 film Killer Joe. Friedkin — an avowed Carter devotee — once called “Strokin'” “one of the great American songs” and Carter himself “the Mozart of Southern Music.”

Carter never saw a contradiction in those two sides of his art. In a 2011 radio interview, he pushed back on the idea that blues and soul had to be mournful. “You could also sing the blues about something happy,” he said. “Usually, when I go to my show, you’re gonna hear me sing more up-tunes that you dance by than you’re gonna hear me sing songs that you’ll cry about.”

From Montgomery to Muscle Shoals

Carter was born on January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama — blind from birth. As a kid, he received a guitar for Christmas and taught himself to play by listening to records and copying what he heard. He attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega and graduated with a degree in music from Alabama State College in 1960.

His first professional chapter came as half of a duo with fellow blind student Calvin Scott — billed as Clarence & Calvin, later the C&C Boys. They cut several singles in the early ’60s without breaking through, and in 1965 made the trip to Muscle Shoals to record at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios. One of those sessions produced “Step By Step,” which caught the ear of legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler and was released on the Atco imprint. It didn’t chart, but it got Carter in the room.

Not long after, a car crash left Calvin Scott severely injured. A dispute over medical bills ended the partnership, and both men went solo. Carter stayed close to Hall and FAME, releasing his debut solo single, “Tell Daddy,” in 1967. It was a modest hit — until Etta James cut a response record called “Tell Mama” that reached number 23 on the Hot 100 and sent listeners back to Carter’s original.

From there, the hits came steadily. Back at Atlantic as a solo act in 1968, Carter placed seven songs in the R&B Top 10 over two years — “Snatching it Back,” “The Feeling Is Right,” “Too Weak to Fight” (Gold-certified), “Looking for a Fox,” “Doin’ Our Thing,” “I Can’t Leave You Alone” — backed by the celebrated session musicians at FAME. Carter wrote all his arrangements in braille and had them transcribed for the band. Duane Allman, then a FAME session player before his Allman Brothers days, said of him in a 1971 Rolling Stone profile: “He’s the most amazingly perceptive man I ever met.”

A Career That Never Really Stopped

After “Patches,” the commercial peaks grew harder to reach. Carter moved between labels — Atlantic, Fame, ABC Records — without recapturing that same crossover momentum. But he never stopped working. In the early ’80s, he built a recording studio in the basement of his Atlanta home and taught himself to program keyboards and work with computers. “I think I got another Top Ten record in me,” he told Rolling Stone in 1986. “With the right amount of exposure, I know I could have it.”

That massive smash never came — but “Strokin'” arrived that same year and moved a million and a half copies anyway, anchoring a late-career resurgence on the independent Ichiban Records label. Carter continued releasing albums, touring, and dropping new music well into his eighties. His last album, Mr. Old School, came out in January 2020 on his own Cee Gee Entertainment label. In 2024, at 88 years old, he put out a new single called “Danger Point.”

In 1998, Carter told The New York Times what had driven him all those years. “Give me a challenge and you’ll make me work,” he said. “I’m determined to do what folks say I can’t, and it has to do with a lot of factors, especially when you’re blind. I remember hearing a lady say to my mother one day when I was a kid, ‘I guess you’re going to have to take care of him the rest of your life.’ I never forgot that because I was determined that before the lady left this earth she’d know my mom wouldn’t have to take care of me.”

She didn’t.

The post Clarence Carter, Blind Soul Legend, Dead at 90 appeared first on Cream.