(Read more Musicians who died in 2025)
Singer/songwriter David Johansen, known best as the frontman of the glam rock proto-punk band the New York Dolls and also as his 80’s lounge singer alter-ego, Buster Poindexter, died at his home on Staten Island at the age of 75, as confirmed by his stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey.
Johansen had been in declining health- having very recently revealed that he was suffering from Stage 4 cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back. Morrissey of The Smiths fame, became an early fan, witnessing the band in Manchester, UK in 1973 at the impressionable age of 13. It made an immediate impact on him and Morrissey soon became the president of the band’s UK fan club.
The New York Dolls were known for their swaggering lipstick-smeared glam looks, playing trashy fast riffs in outrageous clothes, all with the intent to shock and to provide a very memorable performance. Johnansen would re-invent himself in the 80s and 90s as an ever-smiling, pompadoured tuxedo-clad, crooning lounge singer, Buster Poindexter.
He had his biggest hit as Poindexter with a 1987 remake of “Hot Hot Hot” and a foray into acting found him in a key role alongside Bill Murray, in the 1988 Christmas-themed film, “Scrooged”.
Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren also briefly managed the Dolls as they began to fall apart amongst creative differences and addictions, with the band breaking up in 1975 while on tour in Florida, although Johansen and the late Sylvain Sylvain (r.i.p. 2021) carried on with replacements for a time following.
Morrissey managed to reunite the three living Dolls in 2004 (Johansen, Sylvain, and Arthur Kane) for a couple London shows with Kane passing soon after, with the remaining two going to record three more New York Dolls albums.
R.I.P. Angie Stone
Longtime R&B and soul singer, three-time Grammy Award nominee Angie Stone was killed in an automobile accident in Montgomery, AL, while on tour and en route to their next show in Atlanta, per Stone’s representative, Deborah Champagne. Nine other passengers were in the Sprinter tour bus, with Stone being the only fatality.
Stone was born in Columbia, SC and got her musical start as a teenager, forming the hip-hop trio, The Sequence, who had a Top 15 hit with “Funk You Up” and were the second rap act signed to Sugar Hill Records.
When that group broke up in 1985. Stone went on to sing with the likes of Mantronix and Vertical Hold and did co-writing and studio work for Lenny Kravitz and D’Angelo. Arista Records chief Clive Davis signed her and released her debut solo album, “Black Diamond”, in 1999.
She moved with Davis to J Records and continued releasing acclaimed albums and singles including, “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”, “More than Woman” with Joe, and “I Wanna Thank Ya” with Snoop Dogg, among others.
Stone ventured into acting and the stage in the 2000’s, appearing in a dozen films such as “The Hot Chick” and “The Fighting Temptations”, and played prison warden Big Mama Morton on stage in “Chicago”.
In addition to the Grammy nominations, Stone won two Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards and in 2021, was given the Soul Music Icon award at the Black Music Honors. Last year, she was a featured vocalist on Damon Little’s single, “No Stressing”, which topped Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart. Stone leaves behind several children (including a son with D’Angelo) and grandchildren.
John C ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |
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