Tag archive: Singer

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AAA Profile: Taylor Swift – Karma?

Taylor Swift, in case you’re unfamiliar with the name, is the latest in a string of global female superstars in the music industry.  At just 34, Swift has a list of smash hits to rival the best, and is only the third female vocal artist to garner a net worth in excess of a billion dollars.  Not just a pretty face and a lilting voice, Swift is a canny businesswoman as well – and she’s got moxie!  In 2019, an ownership dispute between Swift and her former label, Big Machine Records, resulted in Swift rerecording her first six albums, to ensure control of her creative output.

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Aster-Obit: Jimmy Buffett -Wastin’ Away in Paradise

On 1 September 2023, word came of the death of singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who passed away at his Sag Harbor, NY home, surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs, after a four-year battle with an aggressive, rare skin cancer.  Buffet was best known for his patented brand of “tropical rock,” celebrating a back-to-the-beach, “island escapism” aesthetic, especially epitomized by “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” from the 1970s.  But Buffett was also a gifted businessman and entrepreneur, with a net worth at his passing of over a billion dollars, making him one of the richest musicians on the planet, albeit most of his wealth stemmed from these other sidelines, and not record sales.

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Aster-Obit: Singers Sign Off

In late July 2023 a trio of notable performers exited earth with swan songs of their own.  American icon Tony Bennett passed on July 21, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor and Eagles founding member and vocalist Randy Meisner both died on the 26th.  They were accompanied by a host of lesser-known (to US audiences, anyway) singers cross the globe, with no less than 10 others passing during that five-day period, from lands as disparate as India, Kenya, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Jamaica and the UK.

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Aster-Obit: Tina Turner, Simply at Rest

“Queen of Rock” Tina Turner passed into the celestial firmament on 24 May 2023, to the sorrow of her many fans globally.  A literal rags to riches, to rags to riches, American success story, Turner’s music galvanized the 1980s, becoming the soundtrack to our lives, and her personal saga of rejection of a life with an abusive spouse gave hope to millions of women.  Already on her way to becoming a music icon by the early ‘60s, Turner’s career slumped after her separation from Ike, but an amazing comeback in the mid-‘80s inspired all performers of a certain age.

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Aster-Obit: David Crosby

On 18 January 2022, music fans across the globe were saddened to hear of the death of singer/songwriter David Crosby, a leading light of the American music scene in the 1960s and ‘70s.  As a founding member of popular groups, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, David Crosby’s music became the soundtrack of many peoples’ lives during the turbulent period, with such mega-hits as “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!”  Crosby passed at the age of 81 after a long illness, with cause of death undisclosed as of this writing.

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Eighty Years of White Christmas

The most enduring of Christmas carols just might be Bing Crosby’s 1942 version of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”, celebrating its eightieth year this holiday season.  Even in this day of flash-in-the-pan one-hit-wonders, streaming and digital downloads, Crosby’s classic retains its lofty perch as the world’s best-selling single, with global sales exceeding fifty million.  But it’s not just Crosby – add in the sales figures of the hundreds of artists who have covered the tune, and total sales of “White Christmas” double to over 100 million!  Perhaps writer/composer Irving Berlin’s post-creation assessment of the tune for his secretary was correct:  “I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend.  Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.”

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