African American Singer

Mar 4 2013

FBI concluded none of the fan letters were criminal

Obsessed fans can be a downside of stardom. It’s why Whitney Houston’s character hired Kevin Costner to protect her in the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard.”

The real life Houston had the FBI helping to protect her more than two decades ago when a “loner” in Vermont warned in 1988 that he “might hurt someone with some crazy idea” if the singer did not acknowledge him.

Feb 28 2013

Budlong Elementary School

Blues/Jazz artist Roy Gaines, 74, who is said to be “the last living guitarist to play for singer Billie Holiday,” adds Budlong Elementary School to the many venues where he has performed. He and his band performed for the school’s second- third- and fourth-graders during the school’s Black History Month celebration. Among the blues greats Gaines has played with are Big Mama Thornton, T-Bone Walker, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Jimmy Rushing and others.

Feb 27 2013

Street is the second former group member to die this month

Former Temptations member Richard Street has died, his widow told CNN Entertainment on Wednesday.

The 70-year-old soul and R&B singer died early Wednesday at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Las Vegas, Cindy Street said.

Richard Street experienced back pain and breathing difficulties Friday. When he went to a hospital, doctors found he had a clot in a lung, she said.

“He was really fighting for his life,” she said. “He’s a fighter.”

Feb 5 2013

Violation of his probation

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Prosecutors filed a motion today asking that Chris Brown be found in violation of his probation for failing to complete 180 days of community labor, alleging that in some instances the singer was actually in a different state or on a plane to Cancun when he claimed to be carrying out his sentence.

Brown, 23, has been on probation since June 2009, when he pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, inside a rented car in the Hancock Park area.

Feb 4 2013

"The Mrs. Carter Show"

Raise your hand if you're a teensy bit frightened of Beyoncé.
 
Between the Super Bowl show; the hardcore work ethic ("[I] practice until my feet bleed" will be the new mantra of aspiring performers everywhere); the insane GQ magazine cover a year after giving birth to Blue Ivy; an upcoming HBO documentary she put together; another new album and now a world tour, we're fairly sure she was sent here to either rule us or destroy us all.
 
Even her celebrity cohorts deferred to her greatness after yesterday's show.
 

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”