Roxette’s Marie Fredriksson passed away yesterday at the age of 61 after a 17-year-long battle with cancer.
In 1984, Fredriksson began her career in Sweden as a solo artist and had great success. Two years after that, she released her first album with Per Gessle and Roxette was born. The duo dominated the international charts in the early ’90s with songs like The Look, Listen To Your Heart, It Must Have Been Love, Joyride and Dangerous.
In 2002, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The treatment, even though successful, took its toll on her in. However, in 2009, she did not let the sickness win; Roxette hit the road and released some new music. Sadly in 2016, doctors told she needed to give up touring and focus on her health. Something she did until yesterday.
Her bandmate and friend of 40 years, said this about her, “Thank you, Marie, thanks for everything. You were an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer. Thanks for painting my black and white songs in the most beautiful colors.”
She is survived by her husband Mikael Bolyos and their two children Josefin and Oscar. Today, let’s keep her spirit alive by listening to Roxette’s songs. The ballads will remind you of love and the pop songs will make you smile as you remember her beautiful voice.
René Auberjonois passed away today at the age of 79 from metastatic lung cancer, according to AP.
René Auberjonois started out on Broadway, but his life changed in 1970 when he starred in the big screen version of M*A*S*H as Father Mulcahy. He took on several roles for after that. Then in 1980, the actor landed a part that made him unforgettable. He played the uptight and stuffy Clayton Endicott, III, on Benson. He and his mustache became iconic as his character picked on co-workers at the governor’s office, and they put him in his place.
In 1993, the actor had a whole new group of followers, thanks to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Years later, he would work with Star Trek legend, William Shatner, in Boston Legal. His character was there to keep everyone in order. Something, he was never able to do.
While he is most notable for his TV work, he was also the voice of so many animated characters we love. You heard him in The Little Mermaid, The Smurfs, and Snorks, to name a few.
We might not have been able to say his last name, but we are always able to recognize him. Today, let’s honor the actor by recognizing him in one of his many roles.
Auberjonois is survived by his wife of 56 years, Judith, their two children, and three grandchildren.
Shelley Morrison passed away yesterday at the age of 83 from heart failure after a brief illness according to The AP.
She began her career in the early ’60s and had her first starring role by the end of the decade. She played Sister Sixto on the sitcom Flying Nun. For the next 30 years, she had several smaller parts until she landed another big one in 1999. The actress signed on to play Rosario Salazar on Will & Grace for one episode and did another 67 episodes after that.
That role introduced the Bronx born actress to a new generation of fans, as did voicing Mrs. Sanchez in the children’s movie Shark Tale. In 2012, she retired from acting. Thus, she did not return to the Will & Grace revival. Instead, the sitcom threw her a Quinciera, aka funeral in 2017, and gave her a proper sendoff.
Today, let’s give her a proper sendoff by watching and enjoying one of her many roles.
Diahann Carroll passed away today at the age of 84 from cancer according to what her only child Suzanne Kay told CBS.
Diahann Carroll was a beautiful singer and talented actress, but she also opened so many doors for African-American women in the business. In 1962, she was the first Black actress to win a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – No Strings.
Six years later, she followed that up by being the first Black woman to lead a sitcom and not be a domestic worker. She played a widowed single mother who worked as a nurse and supported her family by herself. The show also took on several hot-topic issues like her son being called the N-word. While the series was not a groundbreaking one per se, her character was. Plus, it is enjoyable to watch.
In 1975, she received an Oscar nomination for playing Claudine, a struggling single mother being courted by James Earl Jones.
In the ’80s, she was once again getting us to tune in every week to watch her on the tube. This time it was Dominique Deveraux on Dynasty and its spinoff The Colbys. She had a few more memorable TV roles on A Different World, Soul Food and Grey’s Anatomy.
Her final role was on White Collar, as the women who owned the home where Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) lived and in ways was like a mother to him. She classed up the show that was already very classy.
Carroll was a class act. Today, we should remember this groundbreaking talent for the legend she will always be. Watch her many roles because each one was perfected by her.
Ric Ocasek passed away today at the age of 75 according to WPIX. He was found unresponsive in his townhome around 4p, and he was declared dead. No foul play is suspected.
He is best known as the lead singer of The Cars. The New Wave band formed in 1976. Their sound was a mixture of the ’60s Rock with a modern synthesized sound. As time went on, they were not only known for their defining tunes that evolved with age, but also for the music videos that went with them. In fact, You Might Think was the first Best Music Video at the MTV Awards.
They had several hits from ’76 until their first breakup in 1988. Songs like Just What I Needed, My Best Friend’s Girl, Good Times Roll, Shake It Up, You Might Think, Magic, Hello Again (which is my phone’s ringtone) and Tonight She Comes. Benjamin Orr, who sang Drive, passed away in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. Tonight, he is going to drive Ocasek home to heaven.
On that note, Ocasek met his wife Paulina Porizkova when she co-starred in the Drive music video. On May 2, 2018, she announced that they had “peacefully separated for the past year.” The couple has 2 sons, Jonathan Raven and Oliver. He has four other sons, Christopher, Adam, Eron and Derek, two from each of previous two marriages.
Also last year, The Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The last time the band would perform with their lead.
Today, remember a man that helped to shape modern music by listening to their songs that will bring a smile to your face. They always do that for me.
