lovlypinkbeauty:

RIP Chuck Brown Godfather of DCGo-Go you will def be missed…. (Taken with instagram)

(via keekeers)

kateoplis:

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band’s 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985’s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, with net proceeds disbursed to the New York Women’s Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans–each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including “So Whatcha Want,” “Intergalactic,” “Body Movin” and “Ch-Check It Out.” Under his own name, Yauch directed last year’s Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for “Make Some Noise” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch’s passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger, Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze’s Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.”

Adam Yauch: 1964- 2012

(via graphdeville)

life:

LIFE photographer Ralph Morse was among scores of journalists who descended on Princeton that day, hoping to find and report on something, anything, that might offer insight into what Einstein’s passing meant to friends, family, peers and strangers around the world. No one but Morse, however,…

(via flavorpill)

(via Elizabeth Catlett, African-American Printmaker and Sculptor, Dead at 96 | Artinfo)

thedailywhat:

RIP: Whitney Houston, pop superstar known for her hits as much as for her troubles with substance abuse, passed away today at 48.

Details concerning cause of death remain unknown at this time, but Houston is believed to have been found in her Beverly Hilton hotel room by her bodyguard. Paramedics who arrived at the scene found Houston unresponsive. All efforts to resuscitate the singer failed and she was pronounced dead at 3:55 PM local time.

No foul play is suspected at this time; an investigation has been launched. BBC Correspondent Alastair Leithead reports that she may have been under the influence “of substances” at the time of her death.

Houston leaves behind a musical legacy that spans multiple decades. She was the recipient of 415 awards throughout her storied career — the most ever by a female singer — including two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards.

She also leaves behind a daughter, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, whom she had with then-husband Bobby Brown.

[usatoday / tmz.]

afro-art-chick:

“When I look out at the people and they look at me and they’re smiling, then I know that I’m loved. That is the time when I have no worries, no problems.”

Rest In Peace  Legendary Blues and R&B singer Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 - died January 20, 2012)

(via blackfashion)

mothernaturenetwork:

Do dolphins mourn their dead?
Evidence suggests that dolphins, like elephants and the great apes, may comprehend their own mortality.

(via jmek)

ckck:

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Rest in peace, Steve.

A great, touching article from Russell Brand about Amy Winehouse. 

(via Amy Winehouse dead: Found dead at her London flat | Mail Online)

Sad. Saw it coming, but sad, still.

kafka-on-the-shore:

Lucian Freud at work
(R.I.P)

An obituary => HERE

Lucian Freud Portraits, a documentary => Part 1 + Part 2 + Part 3

(via benjaminhilts)