Celebrity Death Thread

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Arnold Palmer: 'The King' of golf dies at 87

When we got our Sega Mega Drive it came with his game. It was good.



Celebrities Mourn the Death of Do the Right Thing Actor Bill Nunn

[Bandit]

Rod Temperton, the songwriter behind Michael Jackson's hit singles "Thriller," "Rock With You" and "Off the Wall," died last week in London following a brief battle with cancer. He was 66.

"Rod Temperton, British Composer and Musician, died last week at the age of 66 in London following a brief aggressive battle with cancer," Warner/Chappell CEO Jon Platt wrote in a statement (via BBC News).

"His funeral was private," Platt added. "He was often referred to as 'The Invisible Man.' He was the sole writer of multiple successful songs such as 'Thriller,' 'Off The Wall,' 'Rock With You,' [George Benson's] 'Give Me The Night,' [Michael McDonald's] 'Sweet Freedom,' [Heatwave's] 'Always & Forever' and 'Boogie Nights' to name just a few. His family is devastated and request total privacy at this, the saddest of sad times."

Before linking up with the King of Pop, Temperton first served as keyboardist and primary songwriter for the disco-funk outfit Heatwave, including that group's smash singles "Boogie Nights" and "Always and Forever." After two albums as a performer with Heatwave – 1976's Too Hot to Handle and 1978's Central Heating – Temperton segued into a full-time songwriter role.

In 1979, Quincy Jones sought out Temperton as the producer began work on what would become Michael Jackson's first solo album in four years, Off the Wall. For the LP, Temperton contributed three tracks: "Off the Wall," "Rock With You" and the closer "Burn This Disco Out."

Three years later, Jones and Temperton would reconnect for Jackson's Thriller, with the songwriter concocting both the album title and its world-changing title track.

"Originally, when I did my demo, I called it 'Starlight,' Quincy said to me, 'Well, you came up with the title of the last album, see what you can do for this album.' I said, 'Great,'" Temperton said of "Thriller" in a BBC Radio 2 interview. "I went back to the hotel, I wrote two or three hundred titles for this song. Then I came up with the title 'Midnight,' [Jones] said that's a little bit more mystery, more where you should be heading … The next morning I woke up and I just said this word.

"Something in my head just said 'This is the title.' You could visualize it on top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandizing of this one word; it jumped off the page at you. So I knew I had to write it as 'Thriller,' and I wrote all the words very quickly, then went to the studio and we did it."

Temperton is also credited with infusing "Thriller" with its horror movie overtones.

"When I wrote 'Thriller,' I always envisioned this sort of talking section at the end, and didn't really know what we were gonna do there," Temperton said. "But one thing I'd thought about was to have somebody, a famous voice in the horror genre, to do this vocal. Quincy's wife knew Vincent Price, so Quincy said to me, 'How about if we got Vincent Price?' And I said that'd be amazing if we can get him."

In addition to "Thriller," which revolutionized the music video genre, Temperton also penned "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life" for what ultimately became the best-selling album of all time.

In addition to his Heatwave and Jackson hits, Temperton also wrote songs for Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock, Donna Summer, the Manhattan Transfer, Jones and McDonald, with the latter turning Temperton's "Sweet Freedom" into a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 and a Golden Globe nominee. McDonald and James Ingram also sang the Temperton-co-penned "Yah Mo B There."

In 1989, Temperton, Jones and Lionel Richie's The Color Purple song "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, where it lost to Richie's White Nights theme "Say You, Say Me."

[hbk72777]

Temperton is also credited with infusing "Thriller" with its horror movie overtones.

"When I wrote 'Thriller,' I always envisioned this sort of talking section at the end, and didn't really know what we were gonna do there," Temperton said. "But one thing I'd thought about was to have somebody, a famous voice in the horror genre, to do this vocal. Quincy's wife knew Vincent Price, so Quincy said to me, 'How about if we got Vincent Price?' And I said that'd be amazing if we can get him."

Gee, I wonder where he got the idea for a horror/Nightmare themed song with Vincent Price as narrator

[Big Boss Man]

Rod was a soul/funk guy so I doubt whether Alice's song was on his radar. Although Alice himself has credited Screamin Jay Hawkins with some of his stage act, so everything comes from something. Sad to hear Rod Temperton has passed. Heatwave had some great songs back in the day and of course he was a huge part of MJs career. RIP Rod.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

The singer Pete Burns, who founded pop group Dead Or Alive, has died of a cardiac arrest aged 57

That sucks but it's not surprising news.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[ian]

They didn't need to report that fact, everybody knows.
such an awesome voice.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Matisfaction]

[ian]

Before the tweet loaded and I just saw the youtube link, I had thought for a second that John Cleese had died and my heart sank for a moment.

[Bandit]

The vehicle carrying Castro broke down during his funeral procession so soldiers had to get out and push it. How embarrassing.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

That surprises me. He looked healthy and was funny in his cameo on the Eric Andre Show a few months ago.

The worst part will be that dickhead Kirk Cameron back in the media for a few days.

[Big Boss Man]

Yea I only watched him on the Eric Andre show the day (we get the show later here) before I heard he passed.

Also NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager has sadly passed too: http://www.nba.com/article/2016/12/15/n ... raig-sager

RIP

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Big Boss Man]

Breaking news, George Michael has passed away http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest- ... -home-Wham

One of my favourite singers and he wrote some excellent songs, especially 'A Different Corner' among many others. RIP George