Robinson played a seminal role in bringing hip-hop music into the mainstream, while forming The Sugarhill Gang, and releasing their hit, “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979.

She had passed Thursday morning at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey, family spokesman Greg Walker told the website, Sister 2 Sister.

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Following Winehouse’s death on July 23, copies of her unreleased tracks, lyric books and letters have gone missing from her apartment in north London – which only 20 people, comprised of family, friends, security and police, have had access to. Her management has also been unable to account for one of her favorite guitars.

Amy’s father Mitch, who is currently on a family vacation attempting to come to terms with his grief, is said to be “livid” and has vowed to find the culprit.

According to an insider, “This is such a sickening shock to the family. That someone would stoop so low. They can’t get their heads around it. Mitch is livid. The family, record label and management are months away from deciding what to do with any unreleased music. For that to be taken out of their hands is horrible.”

Mitch, 60, is prepared to give the thief a chance to “do the right thing” and return the items before the police get involved in the matter.

The source added, “Mitch is willing to give whoever has stolen the items a chance to do the right thing and put them back so it doesn’t have to get messy.”

The grisly discovery of the body of bassist and pianist Stanley Wright, 62, also known as Suleiman-Marim Wright, was made after his son, Khalil, 36, called cops after going to the Brownsville home at 3:30 a.m. and finding the door open.

A police search turned up Wright’s body. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Read entire article at NYPOST.com

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Philadelphia — Bernard “Bernie” Wilson, 64, who helped define the Sound of Philadelphia as a founding member of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, died early Sunday.

Mr. Wilson died at 12:26 a.m. at Kresson View Center nursing home in Voorhees, said his cousin, Faith Peace-Mazzccua, 54, of Bensalem. He had suffered a major stroke last year and a heart attack this year, she said.

Read entire article at Philly.com

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Moody was one of the last in the lineage that can be traced back to the founding fathers of bebop. He was born in Georgia in 1925 and grew up in New Jersey. Despite significant hearing problems, he turned to music, picking up the saxophone at 16 and playing in the Air Force band during World War II. He joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band shortly after being discharged in 1946, and began a lifelong friendship with the famed trumpeter.

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For several years Moody worked diligently to establish himself as a household name, releasing 11 records between 1955 and 1969. He only had limited success fronting his own bands, however, and in the ensuing decades he returned to collaborations, working with several luminaries including Gillespie and Kenny Barron. While his career path was at times tumultuous, delayed by bouts of drinking and years of working for hotel orchestras in Las Vegas, Moody — who was always known by his last name — was a consistently amiable personality always ready with a hug and a joke. He was a constant and versatile musical explorer who could play effortlessly in a seemingly innumerable amount of forms.

“Over the years, Moody has become so free — not in a random fashion, but a scientific freedom — that he can do anything he wants with the saxophone,” fellow saxophonist Jimmy Heath once told Downbeat magazine. “He has true knowledge. He is in complete control.”

Read entire article at Spinner.com

Gregory Isaacs, “Night Nurse”

Isaacs was nicknamed the “Cool Ruler” and is survived by his wife Linda and their children. He recorded over 50 albums in four decades, including his latest ‘Brand New Me’ in 2008.

Some rap fans may remember that Mos Def’s love interest in “Ms Fat Booty” serenades him with a Gregory Isaacs tune:

“She touched on my eyelids, the room fell silent/She walked away smilin singing Gregory Isaacs “Like ‘if I don’t, if I don’t, if I don’t’..”

Take a listen to that song, “If I Don’t Have You” below.

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Comedian Greg Giraldo died Wednesday (September 29) at age 44 from a reportedly accidental prescription-drug overdose. Giraldo had been hospitalized in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after he overdosed on prescription pills last weekend. According to TMZ, the overdose was not a suicide attempt.

Giraldo reportedly collapsed Saturday evening in his hotel room in New Jersey, where he was performing at a club. He was discovered by friends after he failed to show up for his scheduled performance. He was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

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Jim Norton confirmed the news via Twitter, including a picture with his fellow comedian: “Greg Giraldo passed away today. This is the last photo of us together, taken June 28 at Noam’s wedding. RIP buddy.”

A source close to Giraldo told TMZ: “Greg passed away today at the hospital in New Brunswick as a result of an accidental overdose. His family was by his side.”

The Giraldo family’s plans for a memorial service will reportedly be made public when they become available.

Read entire article at MTV.com
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Nick Cannon invites MC Hammer to Tag Team wrestle Eminem & Jay-Z [from TheUrbanDaily.com]

Wayne Brady and Mike Tyson remake Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step” video [from TheUrbandaily.com]

Tyrese puts Kim Kardashian on blast for not supporting Lala’s reality show [from HelloBeautiful.com]

Oprah reunited Terry McMillian and gay ex-husband [from Hellobeautiful.com]

Rihanna and Drake get cozy at after-party [from Hellobeautiful.com]

//

From TMZ.com:

TMZ has learned Dr. Conrad Murray’s legal defense is that Michael Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of Propofol.

Multiple sources familiar with the strategy tell TMZ the defense argument goes like this:

- At around 10:50 AM, Dr. Murray gave Jackson 25 mg of Propofol from a 20 ml bottle — that’s only about 1/8 of the bottle.

- The dose Dr. Murray administered would keep someone asleep for only 5 to 10 minutes, But the Propofol, along with the Ativan and Versed that was already in MJ’s system, had a synergistic effect that put Jackson to sleep for a longer period of time.

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- For the next hour, Dr. Murray stayed in the room and was on the phone for much of the time. Dr. Murray didn’t leave the room to make the calls because MJ liked activity in the room, regularly sleeping with the lights on and cartoons blaring on the TV.

- At around noon, Dr. Murray left the room for approximately two minutes to go to the bathroom. While he was gone, the defense believes Jackson suddenly awakened and was frustrated he had spent nearly 9 hours trying in vain to sleep. The defense theory — Jackson took the 20 ml bottle of Propofol and self-injected the remaining contents through the IV, causing a massive overdose that stopped his heart.

- Dr. Murray walked back in the room and saw Jackson with his eyes open and pupils dilated. Dr. Murray dropped the phone (he was speaking with his girlfriend) and began administering CPR.

The defense will argue Michael Jackson was a long-time Propofol addict — something TMZ first reported shortly after the singer’s death. As one source said, Jackson liked the sensation of Propofol being administered by IV, adding, “Michael liked to push it.”

Click here to read more.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson’s doctor was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter, capping an exhaustive investigation into the pop star’s stunning death last summer and setting up the prospect of another sensational celebrity courtroom drama.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who was with Jackson when he died June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion, is accused of acting “unlawfully and without malice” in bringing about Jackson’s death, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors.

The complaint said Murray acted “without the caution and circumspection required” when he administered a powerful sedative to Jackson in an effort to help him sleep.

The charge was expected, and Murray’s attorney, Ed Chernoff, said his client planned to surrender to authorities later Monday.

“We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell,” Chernoff said before the charge was filed.

Jackson hired Murray to be his personal physician as he prepared for a series of strenuous comeback concerts in London. Officials say the singer died after Murray administered the powerful general anesthetic propofol and two other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac to sleep.

Los Angeles investigators were methodical in building a case against Murray, wary of repeating missteps that have plagued some other high-profile celebrity cases, most notably O.J. Simpson and actor Robert Blake, both of whom were acquitted of murder.

After reviewing toxicology findings, the coroner ruled Jackson’s death at age 50 a homicide caused by acute intoxication of the powerful anesthetic propofol, with other sedatives a contributing factor.

Propofol is only supposed to be administered by an anesthesia professional in a medical setting, because it depresses breathing and heart rate while lowering blood pressure.

Murray appears to have obtained the drug legally and its use is not in itself a crime. To show the doctor was negligent in his care, detectives spoke to more than 10 medical experts to see if his behavior fell outside the bounds of reasonable medical practice.

According to court documents, Murray told police he administered propofol just before 11 a.m. then stepped out of the room to go to the bathroom.

There is some dispute about what happened next. According to court filings, Murray told police that upon his return from the bathroom, he saw Jackson was not breathing and began trying to revive him.

But an ambulance was not called until 12:21 p.m. and Murray spent much of the intervening time making non-emergency cell phone calls, police say. The nature of the calls, which lasted 47 minutes, is not known.

Murray’s lawyer has said investigators got confused about what Murray had told them, and that the doctor found his patient unresponsive around noon.

The investigation included several agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the district attorney’s office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Many witnesses have been interviewed by police, including those who were present during Jackson’s last days, those who worked with him in preparation for his series of comeback concerts, “This Is It,” and members of his personal entourage, including his security guard and personal assistant.

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Michael Jackson Death Case To Be Filed Monday

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s doctor wanted to seek his day in court Friday by surrendering before being charged in the singer’s death, but prosecutors upstaged the plan by announcing that no case would be filed until next week.

District attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons released the plan less than two hours before Dr. Conrad Murray and his attorneys were going to show up at an airport-area courthouse in an effort to force the prosecution’s hand while avoiding having the physician arrested and handcuffed.

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Gibbons’ statement did not mention Murray, but said information on charges will be released after the case is filed on Monday.

A news conference that had been scheduled Friday afternoon by Murray’s defense team in lieu of his surrender was canceled an hour before it was to begin at a park near the courthouse.

RELATED: Documentary On MJ Doctor Conrad Murray Planned

Murray’s attorneys have said they expect the Texas cardiologist to be charged with involuntary manslaughter for administering drugs to Jackson before his death on June 25. It was not immediately clear if Murray would return to Houston, where he has a practice, or remain in Los Angeles through the weekend.

Lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff spoke Thursday with prosecutor David Walgren and was told to be at the courthouse at 1:30 p.m. PST (2130 GMT) Friday, only to have the county sheriff’s department, which handles court security, publicly say hours later that it was called off, defense team spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said earlier Friday.

“What does it take to surrender in L.A.?” Sevcik said. “I feel like Ed should show up in the courthouse with a big white flag.”

Walgren declined to comment Friday.

The legal gamesmanship over Murray’s surrender followed several days of negotiations in which his lawyers tried to arrange with prosecutors for the doctor to surrender for booking and arraignment.

Those plans were derailed by haggling between prosecutors and law enforcement officials over whether the physician should be arrested or allowed to turn himself in.

“It seems ridiculous to us that it’s been dragging on this long,” Sevcik said. “We’ve been here all week long, for God’s sake. What’s the holdup? To us this is showmanship and we are just done.”

In the seven months since Jackson’s sudden death at 50 while rehearsing for a major comeback concert series, Murray has largely stayed out of view. His lawyers have spoken very little. And prosecutors and investigators have been tightlipped.

RELATED: Janet Jackson Says She Blames Conrad Murray For MJ’s Death

Sevcik said prosecutors told Murray on Thursday he’d face one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Murray became the focus of the probe into Jackson’s death shortly after he called paramedics on June 25 to report that the singer wasn’t breathing. Murray told police he gave the Jackson a powerful anesthetic and other sedatives that were blamed on his death.

The doctor maintains nothing he gave Jackson should have killed him but sees a charge as inevitable, Sevcik said.

“We know he’s going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter and we are ready with a counter argument,” Sevcik said. “He’s not guilty — that’s our argument.”

Various factors weighed into the desire of the Los Angeles Police Department to arrest Murray, including the possibility he might flee before arraignment, just as O.J. Simpson did, a law enforcement official close to the investigation told The Associated Press.

Top brass at the LAPD, which spent the past seven months investigating Murray, were unhappy with the idea of him surrendering because it could appear Murray was being given special treatment, according to the official who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The official said the district attorney’s office opposed an early plan for detectives to make the arrest Friday morning.

Watch video of Joe Jackson discussing how MJ’s staff exploited him:

From TMZ.com:

Sources tell TMZ the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office has a criminal complaint drafted and ready to file against Dr. Conrad Murray in the death of Michael Jackson.

We’re told it’s now just a matter of timing before Dr. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter — a felony that carries a maximum 4-year prison sentence.

As we first reported, Dr. Murray plans on surrendering today, so all signs point to the D.A. filing criminal charges as early as this morning.

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Dr. Murray is in Los Angeles and his legal team is already mapping out strategy.

Click here to read more.

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