The Leon On Me singer, who also wrote Lovely Day and Ain't No Sunshine, passed away … Tom Petty died in 2017, Aretha Franklin the next year. Each gut punch of bad news is accompanied by fans filling up social media feeds with tributes, reminding each other how music shapes and connects us. But from the get-go these two wore their real-world experience on their real-world faces. https://thehill.com/.../491018-politicians-mourn-the-death-of-bill-withers At least the music that the departed artists made remains. They knew what it was to struggle; they knew what it was to be overlooked. How sea shanty TikTok took over the internet. Sheryl Crow has paid a musical tribute to Bill Withers by teaming up with Citizen Cope for a cover of his tune Lonely Town, Lonely Street. Both rose from working-class roots to become touchstone singer-songwriters of the 1970s. “You know that old trees just grow stronger, and old rivers grow wilder everyday / Old people just grow lonesome, waiting for someone to say, ‘Hello in there, hello.' Lose the earbuds. Following Bill Withers' death last week, there has been an outpouring of love and tributes to the legend, showing just how influential he was in music and beyond. “I guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me,” Olivia Rodrigo sings in “Drivers License,” which is breaking streaming records left and right. Updated Updated 04/04/2020 Share One came back with a hole in his arm where all the money goes; the other came back with no arm at all. Find out about upcoming concerts, shows, and other events with our weekly newsletter. Bill Withers, known for acoustic soul hits “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” died Monday of heart complications, his family said Friday. How the new COVID-19 vaccine rules could help the pandemic end sooner. Tributes are being made in honour of songwriter Bill Withers whose death came amid stress over the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Bill Withers, who died this past week, and John Prine, now hospitalized with COVID-19, rose from working-class roots to become touchstone singer-songwriters. I’ve been thinking about that shared sense of compassion, along with some of the other ways in which the two overlap, since news broke that Withers had died from heart trouble at age 81 and that Prine, 73, had been hospitalized after falling seriously ill from COVID-19. L.A.'s California African American Museum holds a remembrance with music and a study group, and a Santa Monica concert centers on Black composers. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. With family roots in the coal-mining country of Kentucky and West Virginia, both men served in the military and worked blue-collar jobs — Prine was a mailman, Withers an airplane mechanic — before busying themselves fully with music. Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day. Ditch the phone. I’m very sad to hear about Bill Withers passing. We want to hear from you. Withers’ death was mourned by many on social media, who spoke of the lasting impact his work had on their lives,. That includes pretty much every song on 1972’s depressed, hilarious, and underrated Diamonds in the Rough, along with the title-track duet with Iris DeMent on 1999′s In Spite of Ourselves, and “Summer’s End” from 2018’s The Tree of Forgiveness. That may hasten the pandemic’s end. Philly rock band RFA just released a fabulous album. Covid-19. Sylvain Sylvain, guitarist for glam-punk icons New York Dolls, dies at 69. Justice Department leaves decades-old music industry decrees unchanged. “Rest in power Bill Withers,” wrote Lenny Kravitz . Mikael Wood is pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times. “Bill Withers is the closest thing black people have to a Bruce Springsteen.” Mr. Withers, the youngest of six children, was born July 4, 1938, in the coal-mining town of Slab Fork, W.Va. Now, with Joe Biden and Democrats taking power, no state is more influential in setting a policy agenda. Want to know what's going on in Philly? The legendary American singer, who was most famous for hits Ain't No Sunshine, Lovely Day, Just … I’ve written before about music deaths that have come in bunches. He was 73. I spent a lot of time in recent years hanging out in the assisted-living facility where my mother lived before she died last January, and I frequently felt like Prine was the good conscience on my shoulder, singing “Hello in There” in my ear. Nowadays we like our beginners to appear out of nowhere or to emerge from the pop-star polishing school of reality TV. The “Lean on Me” singer died on 30 March at the age of 81 after suffering a “cardiopulmonary arrest,” or an arrest resulting in absence of cardiac and pulmonary activity, according to his death certificate, which was obtained by the news outlet TMZ. Call this what it is: pure music of the mixed-up American soul. Withers died Monday at 81 of what his family has described as "heart complications." Back in mid-March, when the world was just beginning to shut down as the seriousness of the coronavirus took hold, I started hearing John Prine’s “Hello In There” in my head. Bill Withers, known for writing and singing enduring hit songs from the 1970s such as "Lean on Me," "Lovely Day" and "Ain't No Sunshine," has died from heart complications at age 81. By Penn Bullock and Marcus Payadue. Sylvain was described as the ‘heart and soul’ of the New York Dolls, as both guitarist and as mastermind of their vanguard style. The world is mourning the death of legendary soul singer Bill Withers, who died from heart complications.He was 81 years old. Airline Industry. Brian Wilson and Lenny Kravitz are leading tributes to Bill Withers following news of the soulful singer/songwriter’s death. Phil Spector, music producer convicted of murder, dies at 81 after contracting COVID-19. By Penn Bullock and Marcus Payadue. All of them made me laugh and think and feel, pretty much every time I heard them. This pre-fame living fueled the empathy in Prine’s and Withers’ songs. Heartbreaking accidental drug overdoses like the ones that took Prince and Chynna are tragically not all that uncommon. Bill Withers, the singer-songwriter whose soulful hits "Lean On Me," Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lovely Day" became part of the soundtrack for a generation, has died. The mystery is over: Ariana Grande taps Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat for new remix. Close your eyes. Updated Updated 04/04/2020 Share President Trump tried to marginalize California. Bill Withers, ‘Lean on Me’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ singer-songwriter, dies at 81. Lose the phone. Legendary singer-songwriter Bill Withers has died at the age of 81 from heart complications. Both songs — the former from Prine’s self-titled 1971 debut, the latter from Withers’ 1973 “Live at Carnegie Hall” — are vivid reminders of an era when Americans were forced to weigh the value of human life against the perceived need to defend our individual freedoms. The terrible year 2016 opened with David Bowie’s death, and also saw the loss of Prince, Merle Haggard, Leonard Cohen, and Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. Bill Withers, left, and John Prine. In the midst of grief, a simple pop song like the Fountains of Wayne’s “Hey Julie,” with its repeated mantra “I’d never make it through without you around,” can be life-sustaining. Will Trump’s mishandling of records leave a hole in history? He’s the closest thing black people have to a Bruce Springsteen.”. https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/03/bill-withers-dead-dies-at-81-lean-on-me But that doesn’t make his death any easier to take, especially now that his 1972 hit “Lean On Me” is more resonant then ever, with our need for somebody to lean on stymied by an inability to physically do so. Health officials set aside carefully considered plans for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and made the shots widely available. Like Prine, Withers made music of uncommon humanity, and also wrote songs that crossed generational lines, like “Grandma’s Hands.” Questlove called him “the last African American Everyman. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and other political figures are mourning the Make America California Again? Is There a Brave Airline CEO Out There Who Will Take My Advice? BILL WITHERS has died aged 81 following heart complications. » READ MORE: Bill Withers dies at 81; sang ‘Lean on Me’ and ‘Lovely Day’. After a review, the Justice Department decided against undoing decades-old consent decrees that govern music industry licensing. Many Californians 65 and older faced frustration and confusion as they tried to get the coronavirus vaccine after the state announced it was opening up vaccinations to older people. For music lovers to lose figures as significant and much-loved as Withers and Prine within a week of one another seems grossly unfair. There’s much more to Bill Withers’ catalog than his immortal hits “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me.” Here, a deeper dive into his short but brilliant career. 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