Not a fan myself but important for others, Neil Sedaka just died at 86.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/arts/music/neil-sedaka-dead.html
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Much bigger impact for me, Dan Simmons just died at 77.
This sucks. Both Hyperion and Ilium were amazing.
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This is a sad way to learn of Dan Simmons. I’ve read hundreds of S.F. books in my life, but never any of his. So…I just ordered the Gollancz editions of: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion, Ilium and Olympos. That should keep me busy for awhile.
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He was an amazing author. He constantly drew parallels to literature both overt and thematically.
Hyperion has the same storytelling structure and many other similarities to the Canterbury Tales. But in a far future, SF setting.
Ilium has a 20th century historian as a main POV character who is resurrected in the far future as a documentatian by a group of post-humans who have taken on the personas of characters from the Iliad and The Tempest and are having a simultaneous Homerian and Shakespearean drama play out between Earth and Mars. Other main POV characters are these quiet, polite, yet extremely technologically advanced and powerful robots that come in from their mining gigs around Saturn to see what is happening, all the while sharing their love of Proust.
It’s weird and incredible and unique and both books are the type that are not quick reads but when you finish you wish they were a lot longer.
Sadly for both series, the sequel novels are hit or miss, but the first books are among the best I have ever read in any genre.
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As a kid I listened to him via my parents. Cheesy but brilliant. Wrote a lot of tunes do others, including The Captain and Tennille, who were huge when I was little. I have always loved everything about this song
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Absolutely agree both about the first books and the sequels. I got on alright with the 2nd and third Hyperion but then fell off a bit. But those first books were astonishing flights of imagination.
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This will only be significant to Australians I am guessing, But Jamie Dunn or rather Agro died today.
We grew up with Argo and Anne-Maree on Agro’s Cartoon Connection and various other shows.
Most of the jokes weren’t for the kids, he later went on to radio.
Here is a selection of some of the stuff that went to air (Australian TV in the 80s and 90s), the out-take reels are even better.
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Those clips are hilarious, even to a Yank. RIP, Agro/Jamie.
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Country Joe McDonald has led his final:
And it’s 5-6-7 open up them Pearly Gates
Well, it aint no time to wonder why
Whoopee! We’re all gonna die!
RIP, dude.
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He was a legend. He felt like he was fixin’ to die. RIP, Joe.
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Tommy DeCarlo, the frontman of the rock band Boston, has died aged 60.
The vocalist was diagnosed with brain cancer in September, his family said in a Facebook post announcing his death Monday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our Dad, Tommy DeCarlo, on Monday, March 9th, 2026,” said the statement shared by DeCarlo’s wife, Annie, and their two children, Talia and Tommy Jr.
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Ugh that sucks.
Miscrediting “More than a Feeling” to him and not Brad Delp is sad too. RIP to both.
although it is pretty horribly uncool to admit now, the band that first got me into rock music was Boston and they were also the first band I ever saw live. with my dad. I still have a soft spot in my heart for them.
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Their first album is a masterclass in music production
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Why? I think they hold their own in rock music.
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Phil Campbell, former Motörhead guitarist died today. 64 years old. This is so sad. Lemmy, Eddie, Philthy, Würzel and now Phil. RIP lads.
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Just saw that. How can Chuck be dead? Makes me worry about Keef
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