Calvin Simon, Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder, Dead at 79

©Facebook

Calvin Simon, a founding member of the psychedelic funk-collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton known as Parliament-Funkadelic, has died.

The news of Simon’s passing at age 79 Thursday, was broken by former bandmates Clinton and Bootsy
Collins, who both posted moving tributes to the vocalist on their social media Friday — and confirmed Saturday by a post on Simon's official Facebook page.

"[Thanks] everyone for the wonderful memories... we will so miss you Calvin... but love the thought that heaven just got a bit funkier," the post reads.

Simon, whose cause of death had not been reported at press time, drew high praise from Clinton and Collins, two of the most visible members of Parliament and musicians whose influence has reached far beyond funk.

"Rest in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon," Clinton wrote on Facebook. "Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist. Fly on Calvin!"

Collins added on Instagram, "We lost another Original member of Parliament/Funkadelic. A friend, bandmate & a cool classic guy, Mr. Calvin Simon was a former member of Parliament/Funkadelic. He's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen members of P-Funk!"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by William "Bootsy" Collins (@bootsy_collins)

A West Virginia native, Simon was born in 1942 and as a youth sang in his church choir for weekly radio broadcasts. The family relocated to New Jersey when he was a teen, where he eventually found work as a barber before joining fellow barbers Clinton and Grady Thomas, and customers Ray Davis and Fuzzy Haskins in the doo-wop quintet originally known as the Parliaments.

The group scored a record contract and a hit single in 1967’s “(I Wanna) Testify," but that same year Simon was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. After completing two years of service, he returned to the group which had morphed into the collective known as Parliament-Funkadelic, by combining two groups led by the charismatic Clinton.

The group scored massive hits with chart-toppers like “Flash Light” and "Give Up the Funk.” In 1997, Simon and the rest of the group were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for their contributions to music, including 13 top-10 hits on the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983. The group received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2019.

Simon, who left the group in 1978, released several gospel albums on his own label, Simon Sayz, in the years following his departure. The first release, 2004’s “Share the News,” coincided with his diagnosis and battle with thyroid cancer. His last release was 2018’s “I Believe.”

Sidney Poitier, trailblazer who broke barriers for Black actors, dies at 94

Sir Sidney Poitier, the trailblazing Bahamian-American actor, director, philanthropist and activist whose work helped reshape the way Hollywood portrayed Black men, has died at the age of 94.

The Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell, confirmed the news of Poitier's passing after local outlets broke the story. No cause of death was given.

Poitier’s best known career achievement came in 1964, when he became the first Black man to win a best actor Oscar for his depiction of an ex-serviceman who helps East German nuns build a chapel in “Lilies of the Field.”

His 71-year career was filled with awards and accolades — including a Grammy, two Golden Globe Awards and a British Academy Film Award — and defined by his refusal to accept roles that reduced Black men to the negative stereotypes that prevailed in much of film, even in the Civil Rights era.

BREAKING: Beloved Bahamian actor and former ambassador Sir Sidney Poitier has died. He was 94. A Broadway play about the trailblazing career of the visionary actor was announced last month. Sir Sidney's death was confirmed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/WVJFlog3tC

— Eyewitness News Bahamas (@ewnewsbahamas) January 7, 2022

Indeed, in 1967, considered to be the peak of his commercial career as an actor when he was one of Hollywood’s biggest draws, Poitier lent his powerful presence to three iconic films that addressed race relations in new and powerful ways. “To Sir With Love,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” and “In the Heat of the Night,” showcased his versatility as an actor and presented some of the most compelling and nuanced studies of a Black man committed to celluloid at that point.

The son of tomato farmers and the youngest of seven children, Poitier was automatically granted US citizenship after being born several months premature in Miami while his parents were visiting in February 1927.
After spending his childhood in Bahamas, he moved to America when he was 15 to live with an older brother in Miami. After departing Florida for New York, he earned his first lead film role a year later in 1955’s “Blackboard Jungle.”

In addition to being a great actor, Poitier was a competent director. His biggest success behind the camera came in 1980 when he helmed the Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder comedy “Stir Crazy.” Other directing credits for Poitier include: “Porgy and Bess” (1959), “Paris Blues” (1961), “A Patch of Blue” (1965), “Sneakers” (1992) and “The Jackal” (1997).

In 1997 he was named ambassador to Japan by the Bahamas, a position which he held until 2007.

Poitier is survived by six children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He married his first wife, Juanita Hardy, in 1950. They had four daughters before divorcing in 1965. He married his second wife, Canadian actor Joanna Shimkus, in 1976 and spent the rest of his life with her. They had two daughters.

Last January, Arizona State University announced The New American Film School in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts would be named in his honor.

If Covid Cancels Super Bowl Halftime Show Dr. Dre Could Lose Millions

Dr. Dre could lose millions of dollars on the Super Bowl, by betting on himself.

In December we reported the NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation announced five hip-hop icons will unite to headline the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar are slated to take to the stage to perform together for the first time in their careers at the show, and Dr. Dre has sunk millions of his own dollars into the production.

Now TMZ is reporting, that thanks to a clause in Dre’s insurance for the event, that if the show is canceled the legendary rapper and producer will be out of luck regarding recovering his funds.

The Communicable Disease Exemption, dating to the SARS outbreaks in the early 2000s, exempts insurance from paying out in the event of a cancelation resulting from a similar outbreak of a virus or bacteria.

It has been a provision in many insurance packages since those outbreaks and ensures Dre’s insurance will not cover a coronavirus-related cancelation, and with cases surging around the nation as the pandemic rages on — it seems likely that would be the cause of any cancellation.

"We're gonna give you the greatest performance you've ever seen in hip-hop history."@SnoopDogg previews the upcoming #SBLVI #PepsiHalftime Show. pic.twitter.com/Pt2hrGucWd

— NFL (@NFL) January 4, 2022

Luckily enough for Dre, there are currently no indications that the Super Bowl nor its halftime show will be canceled now. The NFL has been looking at replacement venues for the game, but an NFL spokesperson told NBC Los Angeles recently that the game will take place as scheduled.