Mountain’s Leslie West Dies at 75

Leslie West, known best as the frontman and guitarist for rock band Mountain, died on Tuesday (Dec. 22). He was 75 years old.

His brother, Larry West Weinstein, shared news on Facebook of the star’s declining health on Sunday, according to Variety. “I am asking for all your prayers,” he wrote. “Jenni [Leslie’s wife] is by his side in Florida but it’s not looking good. Thanks Jenni, he wouldn’t have made it this far without you. His heart gave out and he’s on a ventilator. May not make it through the night.”

Mountain formed on Long Island, New York in 1969 and released three albums before they broke up in 1972 — though they’ve reunited frequently since and released a number of other projects including 1974’s Avalanche, 1985’s Go for Your Life, 1996’s Man’s World, 2002’s Mystic Fire and 2007’s Masters of War. The group notably performed at Woodstock in 1969.

Their best-known song, “Mississippi Queen,” peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in 1970.

West was inducted in to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and appeared on dozens of other recordings from a vast universe of artists. Samples of his performances lived a secondary life on the masters of hip-hop and rap stars.

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Florida’s Lowell prison is cesspool of sexual abuse by staff, feds say in blistering report

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A Domino’s Pizza. A live dog. A dead rodent. Elements of restaurant inspection fails

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Miami home sale prices surge again in November, setting new all-time record

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Unarmed Black man fatally shot by Ohio police officer responding to noise complaint

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Florida will vaccinate seniors before essential workers. Here are the pros and cons

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St. Vincent Flawlessly Covers The Beatles’ ‘Martha My Dear’

St. Vincent made a guest appearance at the virtual Ally Coalition Annual Talent Show on Monday night (Dec. 21), where she performed The Beatles’ uplifting song, “Martha My Dear.”

She performed the song while playing the guitar, with a rainbow filter on the video. The event, streamed on Jack Antonoff’s Twitch channel, featured other performances from Hayley Williams, The Chicks, Lana Del Rey, Sleater-Kinney and more. The Ally Coalition Annual Talent Show raised money for the United States’ homeless LGBTQ+ youth.

“Martha My Dear” originally appeared on the Fab Four’s 1968 self-titled album, better known as The White Album.

Watch St. Vincent’s performance below.

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Jennifer Hudson’s Festive T-Shirt Gets Mariah Carey’s Stamp of Approval

All I want for Christmas is that incredible Mariah Carey t-shirt Jennifer Hudson was rocking on Tuesday (Dec. 22).

“Deck the Halls,” Hudson captioned a video posing by her stunning Christmas tree, flaunting Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas album cover on a white tee paired with a brown pea coat and green sweatpants. “Counting down to my favorite holiday!”

The Queen of Christmas herself loved the glamorous look, and retweeted it. “Sooooo festive!!” Carey wrote. “Love you!! By the way, love the shirt.”

The duo recently teamed up with Ariana Grande for “Oh Santa!” — a girl group version of Carey’s 2010 hit. The powerhouse holiday team-up was featured in Carey’s Magical Christmas Special.

“I wrote ‘Oh Santa!’ for my album Merry Christmas II You, which was sort of the follow-up to my first Christmas album — we have several — and so I think it was all about the actual event, of course, of doing ‘Oh Santa!’ with Jennifer and Ari, but it was also like, how do I see this as a producer?” Carey previously told Billboard of the collaboration.

“How do I see these vocals having different textures, what are they? Because originally, I was blending with myself, which that’s kind of one of my favorite things, but it was cool to be able to work with the different vocal textures and play around with it and reimagine it. So that’s what happened. And visually, in the special, it really does feel like a girl group moment. I think we all had a good time with it. That was the fun part about it.”

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Travis Scott (and Stormi!) Give Back With Houston Holiday Toy & Food Drive

Travis Scott spread the holiday cheer in his hometown on Tuesday (Dec. 22).

The rapper’s Cactus Jack Foundation teamed up with the City of Houston and Mayor Sylvestor Turner to launch their first-ever Holiday Toy Drive event at Sunnyside Park. The group presented 2000 toys from Mattel and other brands to students and faculty across three local elementary schools, plus Houston residents. The contactless, drive-up event also offered produce, Christmas trees, comforters, blankets, clothing and PPE gear.

Kylie Jenner took to her Instagram Stories to share a photo of the duo’s masked-up two-year-old daughter Stormi at the event. “Big girl supporting her daddy @ his Xmas food and toy drive,” she captioned the adorable photo.

Back in November, Scott launched his new Cactus Jack Foundation, which aims to provide educational and creative resources for the next generation of youth.

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Are The Killers Dropping a New Album Soon?

The Killers fueled the rumor mill on Tuesday (Dec. 22) when they shared a cryptic post (with no caption) that looks like a track list for an upcoming album.

The 11-song list comes just a few months after the band unveiled their sixth LP, Imploding the Mirage, in August.

“I’m not writing a quarantine album or anything like that,” frontman Brandon Flowers told NME over the summer following Imploding the Mirage’s release. “You kind of just start hitting your stride when you’re finishing a record. You’re writing lyrics, you’re mixing everything, you’re in it – then you go on tour. It’s interesting to not be going on tour and having any of that stuff taking up my brain. I just went right back to the piano. I was already exercising my songwriting muscles so a lot of it came very quickly.”

When asked if another project is on the way, he replied, “Oh yeah, there will be another album. I’m excited. It might be better than this one.”

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