AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young dies – Fashion giant Azzedine Alaia dead at 77
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NEW YORK, Nov 19, (Agencies): Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as “Highway to Hell,” “Hells Bells” and “Back in Black,” has died. He was 64.
AC/DC announced the death Saturday on their official Facebook page and website. A representative for the band confirmed that the posts were true. The posts did not say when or where Young died, but said the performer had been suffering from dementia. He was diagnosed in 2014.
“It is with deepest sorrow that we inform you of the death of Malcolm Young, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. Malcolm had been suffering from Dementia for several years and passed away peacefully with his family by his bedside,” one of the posts read.
The family put out a statement posted on the band’s website calling Young a “visionary who inspired many.”
While Young’s younger brother, Angus, the group’s school-uniform-wearing lead guitarist, was the public face of the band, Malcolm Young was its key writer and leader, the member the rest of the band watched for onstage changes and cutoffs.
AC/DC were remarkably consistent for over 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock, lusty lyrics and bluesy shuffles, selling over 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in “Back in Black,” the world’s second best-selling album behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 2003. Greg Harris, the president & CEO, issued a statement Saturday that said, “We salute you, Malcom Young. Your blistering guitar shook generations and united us with sonic anthems that will ring forever.”
Several musicians also paid their respects to Young on social media, writing about his influence and impact in music.
“It is a sad day in rock and roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour,” Eddie Van Halen tweeted on Saturday. “He will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates and friends.”
Hired
The Youngs went through several drummers and bass guitarists, finally settling on Phil Rudd on drums in 1974 and Englishman Cliff Williams on bass three years later. Their original singer was fired after a few months when they discovered Bon Scott, who was originally hired as the band’s driver.
By 1980, the band was on a roll, known for its high energy performances and predictably hard-charging songs. Their album “Highway To Hell” was certified gold in America and made it into the top 25 Billboard album charts, and the single “Touch Too Much” became their first UK Top 30 hit. But on Feb. 18, 1980, everything changed — Scott died of asphyxiation after choking on his own vomit after an all-night drinking binge.
The band decided to keep going and hired English vocalist Brian Johnson at the helm. The newly reconfigured group channeled their grief into songwriting and put out 1980’s “Back In Black,” with the songs “You Shook Me All Night Long,” ‘’Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and “Hells Bells.” The cover of the album was black, in honor of Scott’s death.
French-Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaia, whose timeless gowns won an army of devotees around the world, has died at the age of 77, his couture house said, sparking an outpouring of tributes from across the world.
Alaia, who rose to fame in the 1980s, refused to march to the beat of international fashion weeks, releasing his collections in his own time with scant concern for publicity.
Praise poured in online with designer Ines de la Fressange tweeting: “Small in stature but huge in the world. Adieu Azzedine Alaia.”
Barbadian superstar Rihanna Instagrammed a picture of the designer kissing her at a dinner with the caption, “my dear ALAIA…. you will live on forever. rip.”
“We have lost a designer of great talent. It is very sad news,” fellow creator Pierre Cardin told AFP.
And Victoria Beckham tweeted: “A sad day… You were a true master and one of my biggest inspirations.”
Alaia was born to a farming family in Tunisia in 1940 and studied sculpture at the capital’s fine arts school before working at a modest neighbourhood dressmaker’s shop.
He moved to Paris in the late 1950s, working briefly for Dior and Guy Laroche before going solo, winning a reputation for sexy designs celebrating the female form.
His muses ranged from French actress and singer Arletty to Hollywood icon Greta Garbo and statuesque Jamaican singer and actress Grace Jones.
He was dubbed the “King of Cling” for his form-fitting gowns.
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NEW YORK: Actress Ann Wedgeworth, who gained fame on film and Broadway before taking on the role of a flirty divorcee on “Three’s Company,” has died at age 83.
Wedgeworth died Thursday in the New York area after a long illness, her daughter Dianna Martin said. Wedgeworth landed her first Broadway role in the 1958 comedy “Make a Million” and continued to take on stage roles for decades. She won the 1978 Tony award for best featured actress in a play for her performance in Neil Simon’s “Chapter Two.”
She acted in several soap operas and also found success in Hollywood with roles alongside Gene Hackman in the 1973 film “Scarecrow” and Robert De Niro in “Bang the Drum Slowly” the same year.
But she’s perhaps best known for her brief tenure on the TV sitcom “Three’s Comedy,” where she played Lana Shields, an older woman with her eyes set on her young neighbor Jack, played by John Ritter.
She appeared on only nine episodes of the show before her character was written out, which she said took her by surprise. In a 1980 interview with People, Wedgeworth said she “had no warning or explanation. Suddenly everyone was very cold to me.”
Wedgeworth continued to tally TV and film credits for decades, including appearing in “Steel Magnolias” in 1989 and starring on the CBS series “Evening Shade” with Burt Reynolds from 1990 to 1994.
She was born in Abilene, Texas, in 1934. Her father was the superintendent of a local school and her mother died when Ann was 2 years old. After getting a drama degree from Southern Methodist University, she moved to New York City in the 1950s to pursue a theater career.
She married actor Rip Torn and the couple had a daughter, Danae Torn, before ending their five-year marriage in 1961. Wedgeworth later married acting teacher Ernest Martin and had her second daughter, Dianna Martin.
Wedgeworth is survived by her husband, her two daughters and stepsons Michael Martin and Greg Martin.
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