Guess who died in 2025

[Bob Alpacadaca]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 967207007/

We knew this was coming. Very sad.

[ashie62]

David Johansen. The last surviving New York Doll

He brought great joy to many. His solo shows over the last decade accompanied by Brian Kernan on guitar were fun

Rip David

[ashie62]

Joey Molland Badfinger guitarist 77

Molland and Ham were cheated out of all of their money by an "agent" Molland had lived the last 40 years in Minnesota

[Edgy MD]

A fond farewell to Carl Dean, who married 20-year-old Dolly Parton in 1966, and watched her shoot to international stardom while he remained in anonymity, running an asphalt paving business for most of the nearly 60-year marriage, while helping her raise several of her younger siblings.

While it is almost certainly an exaggeration, Dolly has frequently joked that he has only seen her perform once.

[cal sharpie]

So Joey Molland was the last surviving Badfinger member.
David Johansen was the last surviving New York Doll.
Garth Hudson was the last surviving member of the Band.

Jeeze, finishing off bands is this year's trend.

Previous to those three I really only counted the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Ramones as all-dead bands, although I'm sure there are others.

[Edgy MD]

[ashie62]

Brian James of the Damned and Lords of the New Church 70

[metirish]

Wow sports writer John Feinstein died suddenly

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituari ... ce=twitter

[Edgy MD]

A good, hard working journalist. While his colleagues at The Post became national figures for providing insipid hot takes on facts reported by real reporters, he never stopped being one. I could mostly do without golf writing, but he was real model sportswriter.

[MFS62]

The last of the few - John "Paddy" Hemmingway, the last surviving RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain - 105.
https://worldwarwings.com/paddy-hemingw ... jurIPS9CDQ

Later

[Fman99]

A fond farewell to Carl Dean, who married 20-year-old Dolly Parton in 1966, and watched her shoot to international stardom while he remained in anonymity, running an asphalt paving business for most of the nearly 60-year marriage, while helping her raise several of her younger siblings.

While it is almost certainly an exaggeration, Dolly has frequently joked that he has only seen her perform once.

Seems feasible. My wife rarely attends my gigs as she doesn't really drink (I mostly play at bars and brew pubs) or like classic rock.

[Edgy MD]

Carl Dean preferred classick rock also. You should've married him.

[metirish]

George Foreman - age 76

[MFS62]

His grill still works.
RIP
Later

[Frayed Knot]

The transformation from the 20-something George Foreman to the not really old (late '30s) one was pretty stunning as he pretty much dropped out of the public eye for a decade or so between his two boxing lives so the transition seemed rather sudden when he did reappear. Years later when I was watching the Ali-centric documentary 'When We Were Kings' Foreman would turn or look a certain way and I'd catch myself thinking 'Hey, he looks just like George Fo ... before remembering, OF COURSE he looks like George Foreman you idiot'. But the early and later versions seemed so different you sometimes had to remind yourself that they were the same guy. Gone was the sculpted physique and the menacing scowl of his younger self and in its place was a shaved head atop a rounder face, a rounder body, and, most jarringly, a big smile!! While no one was looking during the time he retreated to run a ministry, the guy went from someone you'd cross the street to avoid into one that was not only an effective pitchman but one that could be cast as the goofy next door neighbor on the latest sitcom. Maybe his private persona gave a hint that such a switch was possible, but his public one sure didn't so few if any saw it coming.

And then there was the second boxing career. Early on it was deservedly treated as a joke as he fought a series of guys who weren't just has-beens but guys who never were good in the first place to ever graduate to being called has-beens. At one point his journey up the ladder took him to promoting an upcoming fight on the Tonight Show where Johnny attempted to at least start the interview by casting a skeptical eye as to whether this was a legit quest. 'So look, Johnny began, this guy you're fighting next week, is he any good?' And 'New George' immediately turned the tables on Carson by quipping, "Oh I hope not". Johnny nearly fell out of his chair without George ever raising a hand.

But the whole thing slowly gained momentum causing some sportswriters who publicly and loudly dismissed the whole thing as a joke to change course and admit that maybe they were just loud-wrong. He barely seemed to be able to move but, Good Lord, he could still hit hard! And when that whole journey resulted in a KO of then Heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, lead p-b-p man Jim Lampley simply said "It Happened!". The 'it' no one ever thought would happen, had just happened.
Forman was 46 y/o. Moorer, who had only recently taken the title from Evander Holyfield, was 27.

[MFS62]

IIRC all of his children are named George.
That could be a problem when they settle his estate.
Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Val Kilmer, Batman and Jim Morrison actor, 65. Cause of death - pneumonia.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

He'll always be the Real Genius guy to me. Batman? pfft

[Edgy MD]

Genius, pfft. Madmardigan.

[MFS62]

My wife liked him in The Saint and me? Of course, Top Gun.

Later

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Michigan had film incentives for a little while, and Val Kilmer was in a movie that was set in Grand Rapids, and the Grand Rapids Press newsroom and editor's office was used for a few scenes. It was a not a good movie, and I found a DVD on Amazon for 99 cents. They did all the filming in the overnight hours, and some of the employees who worked those hours were allowed to be at their desks doing their thing. My wife was a copy editor who went in very early in the morning and was one of those employees. There were a number of rules they had to follow. But the big one: DO NOY MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH MR. KILMER. I'm not saying just during filming. At any time. My wife passed him in the hallway and did not make eye contact.

It was called "The Steam Experiment" and "The Chaos Experiment."

Here's a trailer. You can see the outside of the newspaper, the editor's office, and -- through a window in the office -- my desk. It goes by really quickly.

https://www.google.com/search?q=val+kil ... xLbR4,st:0