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Singer And Songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, Subject Of ‘Searching For Sugarman’ Documentary, Dies At 81

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DETROIT — Sixto Rodriguez, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary “Searching for Sugarman,” has died. He was 81.

Rodriguez died in Detroit on Tuesday, according to the Sugarman.org website, and his granddaughter, Amanda Kennedy, verified his death on Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press, Sixto is “the greatest protest singer and songwriter that most people have never heard of.”

His albums flopped in the United States in the 1970s, but he later became a star in South Africa, where his songs protesting the Vietnam War, racial inequality, abuse of women, and social mores inspired white liberals horrified by the country’s brutal racial segregation system of apartheid.

Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” introduced Rodriguez to a bigger audience. The film follows two South Africans on a mission to discover what happened to their musical hero. It received the Academy Award for best documentary in 2013.

Rodriguez was “more popular than Elvis” in South Africa, according to Stephen “Sugar” Segerman in 2013. The Cape Town record store proprietor got his nickname from the Rodriguez song “Sugarman.”

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Sixto Rodriguez, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary “Searching for Sugarman,” has died. He was 81.

Sixto moved to Detroit as his popularity in South Africa expanded. However, his fans in South Africa felt he was equally well-known in the United States. They’d heard that the musician had died dramatically: he’d shot himself in the head onstage in Moscow; he’d lit himself on fire and burned to death in front of an audience somewhere else; he’d died of a drug overdose, was in a mental institution, and was incarcerated for murdering his girlfriend.

Segerman and journalist Carl Bartholomew-Strydom set out in 1996 to discover the truth. Their efforts took them to Detroit, where they discovered Rodriguez working on construction sites.

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“It’s now rock & roll history. “Who would have thought?” Rodriguez told The Associated Press a decade ago.

Sixto said he “went back to work” after his music career flopped, raising a family of three children and running unsuccessfully for public office. In Detroit, he supported himself through menial labor.

Nonetheless, he never stopped performing his songs.

“I felt like I was ready for the world, but the world wasn’t ready for me,” Rodriguez explained. “I believe we all have a mission — obligations.” Life is not linear.”

Rodriguez later demanded royalties he did not earn from his music being used and performed in South Africa.

The apartheid state forbade some of Sixto’s songs, and many bootleg copies were manufactured on tapes and eventually CDs.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

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Al Pacino revealed that he nearly died from COVID-19 in 2020 and expressed his thoughts on what happens after death.

In interviews with The New York Times and People magazine, the Academy Award-winning actor discussed getting the virus and temporarily losing his pulse.

Al, 84, told the Times in a wide-ranging interview that he started feeling “unusually not good” and soon got a fever and dehydration. “I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he stated. “I didn’t have a pulse.”

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Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

“You’re here, and you’re not. I thought, “Wow, you don’t even have any memories.” You have nothing. “Strange porridge,” the “Scarface” actor claimed about his near-death encounter.

Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at Al’s house, and he regained consciousness with six paramedics and two physicians in his living room, he claimed.

“They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” he told the local newspaper. “It was very frightening to open your eyes and witness that. Everyone was surrounding me, and they said, ‘He’s back. “He’s here.”

Al told People that when he regained consciousness, he felt confused. “I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?'”

Despite “everybody” believing he was dead, the movie veteran claimed he is not sure if he perished. “I thought I had died. I might not have. I honestly don’t think I have. “I know I made it,” he stated.

Al hailed his “great assistant” by swiftly alerting paramedics after his nurse confirmed that he no longer had a pulse.

“He got the people coming, because the nurse that was taking care of me said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse on this guy,'” remembered Al Pacino.

When asked if the health concern had impacted the way he lived his life, Pacino replied, “Not at all.”

However, this does not imply that the experience had no impact on the performer.

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Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Pacino, who is presently prepping for a film rendition of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” told The New York Times that the event had a philosophical significance.

“I did not see the white light or anything. “There is nothing there,” he explained. “As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be,’ and ‘The uncharted place from which no traveler returns.’ He then says two words: ‘no more.’ “It was no more,” Pacino concluded.

“You are gone. I’d never considered it in my life. But, you know, actors: It sounds good to say you died once. What happens when there is no more?

Pacino’s experiences are described in his book, “Sonny Boy,” which will be published on Tuesday.

SOURCE | AP

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Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

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Washington — The Supreme Court declined to hear R. Kelly’s appeal on Monday, despite the fact that he is currently serving 20 years in jail for child rape charges in Chicago.

The Grammy Award-winning R&B artist, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2022 of three counts of making child sexual abuse photos and three counts of enticing children for sex.

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Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

His lawyers contended that a lower statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to actions committed in the 1990s. Current legislation allows charges to be filed when the accuser is still alive.

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As is common, the justices did not explain why they declined to consider the case. There were no public dissents. Lower courts have previously rejected his arguments.

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Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

According to federal prosecutors, the video shows Robert sexually abusing a girl. The accuser, Jane, testified that she was 14 when the video was taken.

Robert has also appealed a 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York.

SOURCE | AP

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Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

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Indianapolis — Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves made his professional car racing debut on Saturday, spinning out at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Keanu swerved into the grass without colliding on the exit of Turn 9, slightly more than halfway through the 45-minute race. He re-entered and started driving, indicating that he was uninjured.

Keanu, who qualified 31st out of 35 cars, raced as high as 21st and escaped a first-lap accident in Turn 14. Reeves placed 25th.

Keanu, 60, is racing in Indianapolis in the Toyota GR Cup, a Toyota spec-racing series and a support series for this weekend’s Indy 8 Hour sports car race. He has a second race on Sunday.

Keanu is driving the No. 92 BRZRKR automobile to promote his graphic novel, “The Book of Elsewhere.” He is teammates with Cody Jones from “Dude Perfect.”

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Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Keanu has previous racing experience, having competed in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach’s celebrity race. Reeves won the event in 2009.

He and co-star Sandra Bullock will attend a 30th anniversary screening of “Speed” on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

SOURCE | AP

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