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​There's one fewer soul survivor now that Don Cornelius has passed. The producer, creator, and host of Soul Train was found dead Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home. He was 75, and his death was reportedly a suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound.

There really should be a movie about Cornelius and Soul Train because this show served as one of the only portals into the realm of black culture in American music found on syndicated television. Not only was it a trend-spotting locus for the best in current sounds, but the politics of dancing, and the fashion not on display in the windows of Sears figured heavily into Cornelius' formula.
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​Etta James, a woman with a delicious, complex voice that pioneered the modern R&B sound, has passed following complications from leukemia. She was 73. James' gorgeous version of Glenn Miller's "At Last" will forever be a wedding staple, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was no sentimental pushover. Troubled beginnings, a torn-up family, and battle with heroin that she won all dotted the feel of her music, and the massive boulder's weight of her stanzas.
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Adam and Daniel Levy

​Honeydogs frontman and Minneapolis music scene mainstay Adam Levy lost his son Daniel, 21, over the weekend after a long battle with mental illness.

It's been said that there are no words for a time like this, but words may be what bring us the most comfort.

I did not know Daniel Levy, but I know Adam, his father. I met Adam while attending school at IPR when I stopped in to his office to ask a favor. He mentioned that he needed assistance with a weekly show that he put on at school, DIY 360, and I hastily accepted. Little did I know how it would change my life.

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Publicity photo courtesy Christine Rosholt

​The Twin Cities jazz scene is grieving today upon learning the news that Christine Rosholt, an omnipresent and longtime local singer, has passed away suddenly. She was just a week shy of her 47th birthday, which she would have celebrated on January 3.More >>

Photo by Erik Hess

Flattus Maximus performing his final show at First Ave

​It's been over a month since Gwar fans learned of the death of guitarist Flattus Maximus, a.k.a. Cory Smoot, which happened sometime in the hours following when Smoot and the rest of the band played a show at First Avenue and loaded onto their tour van to travel north to Canada. When Smoot's bandmates went to wake him the next morning to gather his passport near the North Dakota-Manitoba border, they found that he had died with seemingly no warning signs, devastating the entire Gwar crew.More >>

Photo by Erik Hess

​It was two weeks ago now that we learned of Cory Smoot of Gwar's passing, the news of which came only a few hours after we had posted our review of Gwar's set at First Avenue. Since that time, the band has continued touring relentlessly, claiming that it's the only way they know how to work through their grief, and today they have announced that there is a donation page set up to support Smoot's family.More >>

​It was with sad relief that the friends and family received the news of the passing of Laura Kennedy early this week. At 54, the mother, sister, animal lover, friend to many, and all-around music enthusiast had been struggling with Hepatitus C for many years, most recently after receiving a liver transplant in 2008. Laura had documented her progress and struggle online on her blog, Transplanted.

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​Laura Kennedy, the original bassist and co-founder of seminal no wave band Bush Tetras who has spent the past 12 years living in Minneapolis, passed away on Monday afternoon. More >>

Cory Ray Smoot was discovered dead around 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

​Cory Smoot, the 34-year-old guitarist for heavy metal band Gwar, was found dead around 10 a.m. yesterday in the band's tour bus outside a gas station in Pembina, North Dakota, according to Dan Anderson, the store manager who called 911.

The body of Smoot, who performed in costume as "Flattus Maximus," was discovered less than 12 hours after Gwar's Wednesday night performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Band members realized Smoot had died after they stopped at a Gastrak fueling station to pick up supplies before crossing the Canadian border to continue their tour.

"It really, really shook the band," says Anderson. "Pretty much all of them were crying, teary eyed. It broke them up pretty good."

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Photo by Erik Hess

Cory Smoot, a.k.a. Flattus Maximus, performing at First Ave last night

​Just hours after posting our review of last night's Gwar show at First Avenue, we learned that guitarist Cory Smoot, who goes by the stage name Flattus Maximus, has passed away. Smoot died of unknown causes sometime between the end of last night's show and when his bandmates attempted to wake him to cross the border into Canada this morning. More >>