In Memoriam|

Unfortunately, James’ cancer took his life on February 13th. His girlfriend posted the following note on Facebook just shortly before:

Friends and family, we found out Wednesday night that Jim’s tumor has grown substantially. As of now he is incredibly peaceful. He is in no pain and the main focus now is keeping him comfortable. We are moving him to a hospice in-patient facility. For the most part he is just very sleepy around the clock. I know this is very hard to swallow but he is handling everything with strength and grace. Since the beginning Jim has been wrapped up in so much love and support. I cannot thank you all enough for the immense, continuous love. Rest assured he is surrounded by loved ones and is in great hands of care. He has lived an absolutely beautiful, blessed life and has no regrets.

Love,
Casey Starr Mercer

If you knew Jim and/or his family, please send a card or a note of condolence.

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SONGWRITER KIM WILLIAMS DEAD AT 68

Kim Williams (1947-2016) Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Kim Williams, who co-wrote hits like Randy Travis’ “Three Wooden Crosses,” Joe Diffie’s “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” Reba’s “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and Garth Brooks’ “Papa Loved Mama,” died Thursday night. He was 68 years old.

Friday morning, legendary songwriter Bobby Braddock posted on his Facebook page that Mr. Williams was “perhaps the most amazing man who ever walked the streets of Music Row.” Kim Edwin Williams was born June 28, 1947 in Kingsport, Tenn. He grew up in a musical family and learned how to play guitar as a boy. In 1974, Mr. Williams’ life was forever changed: he was working at a glass plant in Johnson City when he was caught in a fire. He was severely burned over much of his body. Over the next decade he had 200 surgeries. During his lengthy and painful rehabilitation process, which included treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Mr. Williams decided to pursue a career as a songwriter. He began taking songwriting classes and pitching his lyrics, and in 1989, he became a staff songwriter for Tree International.

In his book “A Life on Nashville’s Music Row,” Braddock wrote, “Kim Williams had the best work ethic of any songwriter I’ve ever known, often scheduling co-writing sessions with four different people in a single day.” That strong work ethic would result in a string of hit songs recorded by some of country music’s biggest stars.

His first major success came in 1991 when Joe Diffie took “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” a song Mr. Williams wrote with Ken Spooner, to the top of the charts. Mr. Williams’ life would be changed again when he began working with a young country artist named Garth Brooks, who’d become one of the biggest artists of the 1990s. He co-wrote several of Brooks’ hits, including “Papa Loved Mama,” “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” and “She’s Gonna Make It.” One of Mr. Williams’ most enduring songs will likely be the story song “Three Wooden Crosses,” which he wrote with Doug Johnson. Randy Travis took the song to the top of the charts in 2003; later that year it won Song of the Year honors at the CMA Awards.

In addition to his work ethic, Mr. Williams was known for his positive attitude and love of collaboration with fellow writers. In 2012, when he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata and Larry Henley, he told The Tennessean’s Peter Cooper, “I’m more of co-writer. It’s more of a joy for me. And if you win something or have a hit, you have someone to share it with.”

Mr. Williams is survived by his wife Phyllis and daughter Amanda. Funeral arrangements are unknown at this time.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/02/12/songwriter-kim-williams-dead-68/

[Kim’s daughter Amanda Williams has been a fixture at the Durango Songwriters Expos for several years now. Amanda is quite knowledgeable on the “business of music” and has written several books specifically to assist songwriters. Our sincerest condolences go out to Amanda and her mother Phyllis.]

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GARTH BROOKS, TRISHA YEARWOOD BEGIN VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND WITH HEAVY HEARTS, GRATITUDE

With four shows lined up at the North Charleston Coliseum on a love-filled weekend, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood arrived in the Lowcountry on Friday with broken hearts.

The married couple held a press conference at the venue Friday afternoon just hours ahead of their first performance, where a teary-eyed Brooks told members of the media that they were mourning the loss of close friend and colleague, Kim Williams.

The Nashville songwriter who’s perhaps best known for Brooks’ hit, “Ain’t Goin’ Down ‘Til The Sun Comes Up,” died Thursday evening. He was 68.

“He was a sweet man and he’ll live forever through his music, and through his friends,” Brooks said.

While he admitted Friday night’s performance might be an emotional one, he said it’s also a sort of therapy.

“I’ve heard the comment that we don’t need to be doing this, we don’t need the money. I need to be doing this,” Brooks said. “Especially on a day like today, I’m going to need tonight more than anybody that came here. … I’m coming here to get away, and get lost in the music.”
. . . . . . . . . .

By Abigail Darlington | Email Facebook @A_Big_Gail

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160212/PC16/160219690/1006&source=RSS
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TOBY KEITH: MUSICIAN’S BAND MEMBER JOEY FLOYD DIES OF CANCER

Toby Keith on Fb, 2/15/16: Our dear friend and band member Joey Floyd passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer. There will be a hole on stage and a hole in the hearts of all that loved him. Rest in peace ol’ friend – Toby

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SINGER AND ACTRESS DENISE MATTHEWS, a/k/a VANITY, DEAD AT 57

Vanity, a Prince protege who renounced her sexy stage persona to become a Christian minister, has died. Singer and actress Vanity, a/k/a Denise Matthews, best known for working with Prince and as a member of the ’80s girl group Vanity 6, died Monday at a hospital in Fremont, CA, after a long battle with kidney failure and abdominal disease. She was 57.

The singer and actress, born Denise Matthews, died Monday . . . said Gisela Hernandez, a spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Health Care System. Hernandez did not give a cause of death.

Matthews’ sister Renay said the death was from complications over longstanding kidney issues.

She said Denise Matthews was happy in recent years. “She loved her time in the ’80s, but I think she loved her recent time more, because she had been at peace,” Renay Matthews said.

A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Matthews first rocketed to stardom through her association with Prince and the 80s girl group Vanity 6. During her time in music, Vanity released four albums with Motown and Warner Brothers and was known for her sultry appearance and sexually-themed music, including “Nasty Girl.” She also appeared in films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including “The Last Dragon,” ”52 Pick-Up” and “Action Jackson.”

Matthews’ health took a turn for the worse in 1992 and she was hospitalized for kidney failure, which she blamed on cocaine and other drug use.

“I was sick inside. I was a crack cocaine addict and didn’t even know how to wake up in the morning without some smoke,” she said in an Associated Press story in 1999.

She renounced her Hollywood lifestyle and became a Christian minister. She married former Oakland Raider Anthony Smith in 1995 and they divorced the next year.

On a GoFundMe page aimed at helping her pay her medical bills, Matthews said four months ago she had gone through 23 surgeries and was on dialysis three times a week. She said she was also diagnosed with sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, a rare benign cause of small bowel obstruction.

Matthews expressed no regrets about leaving her celebrity lifestyle behind.

“When I was Vanity, it was all about me,” she said in 1999. “But when I’m preaching the word of God, it’s Jesus Christ speaking through me. I don’t want people to know who I was back then, but the new creature that God has made me.”

Musicians around the world expressed sorrow at Matthews’ death.

Prince, who was touring in Australia, dedicated several songs to Matthews during a show, according to the Herald Sun newspaper. They “used to love each other deeply,” Prince said, according to the newspaper. “She loved me for the artist I was, I loved her for the artist she was trying to be.”

Berry Gordy, who served as executive producer for “The Last Dragon,” called Matthews “a talented natural beauty, inside and out.”

“I just cannot believe Vanity is gone,” Gordy said. “She was such a vibrant human being.”

“Miss you dearly. U are in his arms now, no pain,” tweeted drummer Sheila E., who also worked with Prince.

Rapper MC Hammer tweeted that he had just attended church with Matthews on Saturday.

“Vanity left church after giving a beautiful testimony of appreciation for her Pastors & Thanks to her savior Jesus, I was there,” he tweeted. “I was looking for her Sunday and the announcement came that she fell ill during the night.”
___

Associated Press Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this story.

https://www.yahoo.com/music/singer-actress-denise-matthews-known-vanity-dies-200825051.html

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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…

February 2016

16: Piero Buscaroli, 85, Italian musicologist.

15: Louis Lane, 92, American conductor; Vanity, 57, Canadian singer (Vanity 6), actress (The Last Dragon), and evangelist, renal failure.

14: Anselmo López, 81, Venezuelan bandola player; Rajamani, 60, Indian film music director (Ekalavyan, Commissioner, Aaraam Thampuran); Steven Stucky, 66, American classical music composer, brain tumor; L. C. Ulmer, 87, American blues musician.

13: Robin Ghosh, 76, Bangladeshi composer.

11: Kim Williams, 68, American songwriter (“Three Wooden Crosses”).

10: Asami Nagakiya, 30, Japanese musician, strangled.

9: Quan Minyu, 12, Chinese singer, DIPG.

Quan Minyu (or Jun Min-woo) (2004 – February 9, 2016), known as Little Psy, was a Chinese child singer and dancer of Korean descent. He became well-known in China and South Korea after he impersonated Psy in the fourth season of Chinese Dream Show. Quan was diagnosed with DIPG in 2014 and died at the age of 12 on February 9, 2016.

DIPG: A diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma is a tumor located in the pons (middle) of the brain stem. The brain stem is the bottommost portion of the brain, connecting the cerebrum with the spinal cord. The majority of brain stem tumors occur in the pons (middle brain stem), are diffusely infiltrating (they grow amidst the nerves), and therefore are not able to be surgically removed. Glioma is a general name for any tumor that arises from the supportive tissue called glia, which help keep the neurons (“thinking cells”) in place and functioning well. The brain stem contains all of the afferent (incoming) neurons within the spinal cord as well as important structures involved in eye movements and face and throat muscle control and sensation.

From http://www.wikipedia.com

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