Passings

Rex Murphy, the loquacious and voluble National Post columnist, radio host and podcaster, has died.

Dickey Betts, whose country-inflected songwriting and blazing, lyrical guitar work opposite Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band helped define the Southern rock genre of the ‘60s and ‘70s, died Thursday in Osprey, Fla. He was 80.

Former American football star OJ Simpson has died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.

His official Twitter account posted: ‘On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

Veteran actor Joe Flaherty, best known for starring in the popular Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV and as Harold Weir on Paul Feig’s Freaks and Geeks, has died. He was 82.

Aw Crap.

So many sing about “the day that music died” on Feb. 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash.

Don McLean coined the term in his 1971 hit “American Pie.”

The song about the decline of the 60s starts with the death of the three young musicians, “the end of the happy 50s,” he told Forbes Magazine.

The singer Melanie, who was best known for her massively popular singles Lay Down (Candles In The Rain), Brand New Key and the Rolling Stones cover Ruby Tuesday, has died.

The songwriter’s children Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred announced that she died on January 23 at the age of 76.

‘Dear ones,’ they began, using a greeting that their mother often favored when writing to fans, ‘This is the hardest post for us to write, and there are so many things we want to say, first, and there’s no easy way except to say it… Mom passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next on January 23rd, 2024.’

Norman Jewison, whose broad range as a filmmaker was reflected in the three movies that earned him Academy Award nominations for best director — the socially conscious drama “In the Heat of the Night,” the big-budget musical “Fiddler on the Roof” and the romantic comedy “Moonstruck” — died on Saturday at his home. He was 97.

h/t Lord Dilligaf

Mary Weiss, the lead singer of iconic 1960’s all female pop group the Shangri-Las, has died. She was 75.

The ground-breaking U.S. all girl ensemble shot to global stardom on the back of a run of hit songs about teenage love, loss, tragedy, and longing.

Longtime New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent has died at 87.

The Broadbent Institute announced his death in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Singer and songwriter Shane MacGowan has died at the age of 65. He was best known as the frontman of The Pogues, whose single Fairytale of New York has become a Christmas staple across Ireland and the UK.