WWE Hall of Famer Chief Jay Strongbow dead at age 83 Apr 3, 2012 - 03:47 PM
WWE Hall of Famer Jay Strongbow (a/k/a Joseph Scarpa) died on Tuesday.Powell's POV: Strongbow was a longtime pro wrestler a former WWE Tag Champion. He went to work as an agent for the company following his retirement. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994.

Jamaa Fanaka, who emerged as a dynamic young black filmmaker with his gritty 1979 independent film “Penitentiary” and later made headlines with his legal battles alleging widespread discrimination against minorities in the film and television industry, has died. He was 69.Fanaka was found dead in his apartment in South Los Angeles on Sunday, said Jan-Christopher Horak, a friend. The cause of death has not yet been determined.The Mississippi-born Fanaka was still enrolled in the UCLA film school when he wrote, produced and directed his first three feature films: “Welcome Home, Brother Charles” (1975), “Emma Mae” (1976) and “Penitentiary.”In his review of “Penitentiary,” The Times’ Kevin Thomas wrote that Fanaka “has taken one of the movies’ classic myths, the wrongly imprisoned man who fights for his freedom with boxing gloves, and made it a fresh and exciting experience.”Fanaka went on to write, produce and direct two “Penitentiary” sequels, in 1982 and 1987. His final feature film was “Street Wars,” a low-budget 1992 action-drama.A complete obituary will follow at latimes.com/obits.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/04/jamaa-fanaka-penitentiary-filmmaker-dies-at-69.html

This was posted at Rockin' 50's-Just found out that my friend from the Kelly Four, Dave Shriver has passed away from a heart attack. Bobby Cochran got in touch and told us the very sad news today. Dave was Eddie Cochran's bass player for the last year and a half of Cochran's life. Dave would call all of the time to check up on me. I will truly miss him.

Ronnie Montrose's Death Ruled a Suicide Guitarist died from self-inflicted gunshot wound, autopsy reveals By Steve Baltin April 10, 2012 9:00 PM ET Guitarist Ronnie Montrose died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a report from the San Mateo County Coroner has revealed. The suicide ruling contradicts earlier reports that the cause of death was prostate cancer, which Montrose had been suffering from when he died on March 3rd. Montrose's family did not contradict those reports at the time. The family has now released a statement on Montrose's official Website in reaction to the autopsy report. "By now, the devastating truth of Ronnie’s death is public knowledge," reads the statement. "We hope you can understand why we wanted to keep this news a private family matter for as long as possible. We can only hope that you will choose to celebrate Ronnie’s life, and what his music meant to you, rather than mourn his passing. Ronnie would have wanted it that way. He loved being a guitarist, a composer, a producer, and a creator of magic. He fully understood his gifts, and yet he constantly pushed himself to evolve, improve, and make better music. He did this for himself, and he did this for you, because he adored and appreciated his fans. Please keep his energy, his joy, and his love in your hearts." In an interview with Guitar Player, Montrose's widow Leighsa explained that her husband had suffered from clinical depression since childhood. "He never thought he was good enough. He always feared he’d be exposed as a fraud. So he was exacting in his self criticism, and the expectations he put upon himself were tremendous. Now I see that perhaps he didn’t want to carry these burdens for very much longer," she said, adding that Montrose did not leave a suicide note. The autopsy report, which was released last Friday, also revealed that Montrose had a blood alcohol level of .31 percent. Montrose got his first break when he was invited to play on Van Morrison's 1971 album, Tupelo Honey. Additional appearances on recordings by Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs, and the Edgar Winter Group soon followed before he formed his own band, Montrose, in 1973. In addition to the guitarist, the band consisted of a then-unknown Sammy Hagar on vocals. "Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter, as a front man, as a recording artist and as a touring artist, and for that I will always be grateful," Hagar told Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ronnie-montroses-death-ruled-a-suicide-20120410