Month: April 2020

Singer-songwriter Bill Withers has died. He wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.”  
 
According to a statement released from his family to The Associated Press, the 81-year-old died in Los Angeles from heart complications. “Lean On Me,” was performed at the presidential inaugurations of both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Lately, people have posted videos of their versions of the song as inspiration during the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Withers, who wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including ” Lean On Me, ” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has died from heart complications, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81.The three-time Grammy Award winner, who withdrew from making music in the mid-1980s, died on Monday in Los Angeles, the statement said. His death comes as the public has drawn inspiration from his music during the coronavirus pandemic, with health care workers, choirs, artists and more posting their own renditions on “Lean on Me” to help get through the difficult times.”We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father. A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” the family statement read. “As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.”Withers’ songs during his brief career have become the soundtracks of countless engagements, weddings and backyard parties. They have powerful melodies and perfect grooves melded with a smooth voice that conveys honesty and complex emotions without vocal acrobatics.”Lean On Me,” a paean to friendship, was performed at the inaugurations of both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me” are among Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”He’s the last African-American Everyman,” musician and band leader Questlove told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Bill Withers is the closest thing black people have to a Bruce Springsteen.”Withers, who overcame a childhood stutter, was born the last of six children in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. After his parents divorced when he was 3, Withers was raised by his mother’s family in nearby Beckley.He joined the Navy at 17 and spent nine years in the service as an aircraft mechanic installing toilets. After his discharge, he moved to Los Angeles, worked at an aircraft parts factory, bought a guitar at a pawn shop and recorded demos of his tunes in hopes of landing a recording contract.In 1971, signed to Sussex Records, he put out his first album, “Just As I Am,” with the legendary Booker T. Jones at the helm. It had the hits “Grandma’s Hands” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which was inspired by the Jack Lemmon film “Days of Wine and Roses.” He was photographed on the cover, smiling and holding his lunch pail.”Ain’t No Sunshine” was originally released as the B-side of his debut single, “Harlem.” But radio DJs flipped the disc and the song climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard charts and spent a total of 16 weeks in the top 40.Withers went on to generate more hits a year later with the inspirational “Lean On Me,” the menacing “Who Is He (and What Is He to You)” and the slinky “Use Me” on his second album, “Still Bill.”Later would come the striking ” Lovely Day,” co-written with Skip Scarborough and featuring Withers holding the word “day” for almost 19 seconds, and “Just The Two Of Us,” co-written with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter. His “Live at Carnegie Hall” in 1973 made Rolling Stone’s 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time.”The hardest thing in songwriting is to be simple and yet profound. And Bill seemed to understand, intrinsically and instinctively, how to do that,” Sting said in “Still Bill,” a 2010 documentary of Withers.But Withers’ career when Sussex Records went bankrupt and he was scooped up by Columbia Records. He no longer had complete control over his music and chaffed when it was suggested he do an Elvis cover. His new executives found Withers difficult.None of his Columbia albums reached the Top 40 except for 1977’s “Menagerie,” which produced “Lovely Day.” (His hit duet with Grover Washington Jr. “Just the Two of Us” was on Washington’s label). Withers’ last album was 1985’s “Watching You Watching Me.”Though his songs often dealt with relationships, Withers also wrote ones with social commentary, including “Better Off Dead” about an alcoholic’s suicide, and “I Can’t Write Left-Handed,” about an injured Vietnam War veteran.He was awarded Grammys as a songwriter for “Ain’t No Sunshine” in 1971 and for “Just The Two Of Us” in 1981. In 1987, Bill received his ninth Grammy nomination and third Grammy as a songwriter for the re-recording of the 1972 hit “Lean On Me” by Club Nouveau.He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 by Stevie Wonder. Withers thanked his wife as well as the R&B pioneers who helped his career like Ray Jackson, Al Bell and Booker T. Jones. He also got in a few jabs at the record industry, saying A&R stood for “antagonistic and redundant.”His music has been sampled and covered by such artists as BlackStreet’s “No Diggity,” Will Smith’s version of “Just The Two Of Us,” Black Eyed Peas’ “Bridging The Gap” and Twista’s “Sunshine.” The song “Lean on Me” was the title theme of a 1989 movie starring Morgan Freeman.His songs are often used on the big screen, including “The Hangover,” “28 Days,” “American Beauty,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Crooklyn,” “Flight,” “Beauty Shop,” “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Flight.””I’m not a virtuoso, but I was able to write songs that people could identify with. I don’t think I’ve done bad for a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia,” Withers told Rolling Stone in 2015.He is survived by his wife, Marcia, and children, Todd and Kori.
 
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The director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Health, Anthony Fauci, considered by many to the be the face of the U.S. battle against the coronavirus, will be immortalized Friday with his own bobblehead figurine.The bobblehead figures are being created and marketed by the the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They will sell for $25 with $5 from each sale going to the American Hospital Association and its “100 Million Mask Challenge,” an effort to raise money for sorely needed surgical masks across the country.Bobblehead Hall of Fame CEO Phil Sklar says the organization had received a lot of requests for a Fauci bobblehead figurine and says they saw it as an opportunity to raise money for a good cause.The figurine features Fauci in a suit standing on a base with, of course, a head mounted on a spring so it “bobbles” when moved.  Sklar said the Fauci figurine is raising its hand in a gesture to suggest the need to “flatten the curve” and lower the spread of the coronavirus.Fauci is a prominent member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force. He has been in his position, as part of the National Institutes of Health, since 1984 and has advised six presidents on national health issues.
 
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American country music singer Dolly Parton has launched “Good Night with Dolly,” a 10-week read-aloud series for children on YouTube and other internet platforms.“This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while, but the timing never felt quite right,” Parton said.  “I think it is pretty clear that now is the time to share a story and to share some love.”Parton read the 90-year-old classic The Little Engine That Could in the first episode Thursday evening.The books chosen for the series “will focus on comforting and reassuring children during the shelter-in-place mandates” put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic Parton’s Imagination Library said.The library, inspired by Parton’s father, who could not read, has mailed more than 130 million free books to children since its inception in 1995.  It now mails over 1 million books each month to children in five countries. 
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Medical authorities say public education will play a key role in stopping the spread of the coronavirus in Africa. VOA’s Salem Solomon has a look at how prominent figures are using music as a tool to reach people
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Postponing the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 will make the event more costly for all parties, the International Olympic Committee acknowledged on Thursday, although it offered few details on what the final bill might be.Four directors of the Olympic body held a conference call three days after Tokyo’s new dates were finalized, with the games pushed back to July 23-Aug. 8 next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.While the new dates cleared up any uncertainty about the event’s future, there are still plenty of question marks as the IOC begins to work with Tokyo organizers and governing bodies of 33 sports in a huge task to amend thousands of contracts. They include agreements for 41 venues, an Olympic village of 5,000 apartments, hotels, transport, plus the supply of goods and services.“All of this now has to be re-secured for one year later,” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director. “There will be costs for (Tokyo local organizers) and the IOC and Olympic family side.”The estimations for how much it will cost to postpone the games have started at $2 billion and gone much higher. Japanese taxpayers are expected to meet most of it, adding to their share of an official budget of $12.6 billion.The IOC was contributing $1.3 billion to Tokyo’s original operating budget.Asked if the Switzerland-based Olympic body would meet some of the extra costs from its own insurance policy or billion-dollar reserve fund, the official line Thursday was that it’s too early to say.It was also unclear how the payments from broadcasters will be structured.“We’re only just getting into all of this,” said Timo Lumme, the managing director of television and marketing.Broadcasters including NBC contributed 73% of the IOC’s $5.7 billion income from the previous four-year cycle up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Of that, $540 went to the governing bodies of the 28 core Summer Games sports.That figure is expected to go up for Tokyo, but it’s still unclear when the governing bodies will get IOC payments from their share of those revenues.The IOC has not committed to paying 25% of that money in advance in 2020 in 2020 to ease the governing bodies’ cash flow. Many face extra costs for Tokyo while also having to cancel revenue-earning world championships and other international events.“They’ll get to 2021, but in what condition?” said Francesco Ricci Bitti, head of the group of Summer Games sports known as ASOIF, this week. He told The Associated Press that “15 to 20 are very dependent on Olympics funding.”One Tokyo Olympics decision could come within two weeks, sports director Kit McConnell suggested. The IOC will have talks with FIFA about raising the age limit in men’s soccer from 23 to 24 to account for the one-year delay.Hundreds of potential Olympic athletes who get IOC funding for their training are getting one-year extensions to their scholarships.The IOC has yet to reschedule its annual meeting that was set for Tokyo in July — or a presidential election that is scheduled for June 2021 in Athens, Greece. That is now just one month before the start of the Tokyo games.
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