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| Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen's Right Hand Sax Man, Dies at 69 Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:39 AM PDT The E Street Band's legendary horn player passes away from complications from a stroke he suffered last week.
Saxophone player Clarence Clemons, whose horn helped bring such soul to Bruce Springsteen's legendary E Street Band for decades, died Saturday of complications from stroke suffered last week. He was 69. "It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7:00 tonight Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away," Springsteen's spokesperson says in a statement to MTV News. "The cause was complications from his stroke of last Sunday, June 12th."
Springsteen also reflected on the loss in a statement. "Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the oppurtunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band." See photos of Clemons throughout his career. Clemons had suffered a stroke last Sunday in his Florida home. His condition after the stroke was initially thought to be critical, but then appeared to take a turn for the better last Tuesday. In a statement to MTV News early last week, the Boss said, "By now, many of you have heard that our beloved comrade and sax player Clarence Clemons has suffered a serious stroke. While all initial signs are encouraging, Clarence will need much care and support to achieve his potential once again. He has his wonderfully supportive wife, Victoria, excellent doctors and health care professionals, and is surrounded by friends and family." Remember Clemons with us on Facebook. Springsteen, who worked side by side with Clemons for nearly four decades, went on to thank his fans for all of their well-wishes. "I thank you all for your prayers and positive energy and concern," he said. "This is a time for us all to share in a hopeful spirit that can ultimately inspire Clarence to greater heights." Clemons and Springsteen first united in 1971 on an evening familiar to those steeped in Springsteen folklore. Clemons was in Asbury Park when he sat in with an unknown and struggling songwriter at a local bar. He was soon a core part of Springsteen's backing band and was featured on his debut 'Greetings From Asbury Park.' "I swear I will never forget that moment," Mr. Clemons has said of that night. "I felt like I was supposed to be there. It was a magical moment. He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love. And that's still there." Clemons' sax would go on to become a vital part to Springsteen classics ranging from 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' to 'Born to Run' to 'Jungleland.' His bond with Springsteen was apparent in the famed shot of the pair that graces the cover of Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album. In addition to playing on 20 albums in Springsteen's catalog, Clemons, known to many as "The Big Man," also played with artists ranging from Jackson Browne to Ringo Starr. He's also appeared in films like "New York, New York" and "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," as well as TV shows like "The Wire" and "The Simpsons." Most recently, Clemons was featured on Lady Gaga's smash Born This Way' album, appearing on two tracks including her latest single 'Edge of Glory' and performing with her live on 'American Idol' last month. He also figured prominently into the 'Edge of Glory' video released last week. When MTV News caught up with Gaga's longtime collaborator, Fernando Garibay, the producer recalled how excited Gaga was to hit the studio with one of her icons for the songs "Hair" and her latest single, "Edge of Glory." "She grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and she goes, 'Can we get Clarence?' And I go, 'Of course we can get Clarence. You're Lady Gaga!' " he said. "You can see the years of influence and you can see her lighting up when he's playing [with her in the studio]." Clemons had battled a variety of health problems through the years. But even knee replacement surgery and a spinal fusion surgery did not stop him from joining the E Street Band for a tour in 2009. As he vowed, "As long as my mouth, hands and brain still work I'll be out there doing it." Related Photos Related Artists |
| Katy Perry Satisfies New York Fans' Sweet Tooth Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:32 AM PDT Pop star matches theatrics with strong vocal performance for the Nassau Coliseum stop of her California Dreams Tour.
UNIONDALE, New York — Teenage girls and the parents who support them turned out in droves for Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour at the Nassau Coliseum on Friday night. There were plenty of "sexy boys" there too (more on them in a minute). Indeed, the pop star proved just how well she knows her audience when she asked the packed arena if there were any graduates in the house. As she listed off the possibilities (high school, college, etc.) she marveled, "We have more junior high graduates than college graduates. That's crazy!"
Following a "Wizard of Oz"-meets-Candy Land video intro, which mirrored the set design of the stage, Perry got the party started with a surefire crowd-pleaser, "Teenage Dream," while wearing a dress that came complete with spinning pinwheels. "Welcome to the California Dreams Tour, where everything is so sweet," she cooed to the legions of screaming fans hanging on her every word. And there were plenty of words for them to latch onto: The singer stopped to talk to the audience at length many times during her near two-hour set. But that was just one of the many charms Perry had in store. From a running gag about the woozy effects of a strange brownie she nibbled on before launching into a robust take on "Peacock" to her admission that when she is feeling low she turns to YouTube for "mama cat hugging baby cat" videos, Perry was all charm and nonstop energy. The show stuck so impressively to its storyline about Perry's travels through Candy Land in pursuit of "the baker's boy" that it could almost be a jukebox Broadway musical in the vein of "Rock of Ages" or "Mama Mia." A human slot machine, an Elvis impersonator and headdress-wearing showgirls joined her onstage for "Waking Up in Vegas." She floated across the arena on a pink cotton-candy cloud while strumming a bedazzled guitar to "Thinking of You." But despite the theatrics, Perry was still at her best when playing with the audience. At one point she sought out the "sexy boys" in the arena, and when she found a volunteer that struck her fancy, she called him to the stage — but not before making a diva demand: "If you come on stage, you leave that T-shirt right there." He did as she asked, and after giving her audience a few minutes to ogle the strapping young man (and not just the screaming girls; more than once, Perry gave her gay male fans a shout-out too), she rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. When he requested more, she joked, "My husband [Russell Brand] just told me in my ear he's gonna come out here and kick your ass." She then launched into a slowed-down, jazzy take on "I Kissed a Girl" that quickly shifted into the party jam we all know and love. Unlike many of her dance-pop contemporaries (think Lady Gaga or Britney Spears), Perry left most of the dancing to her talented backup troupe, who were introduced individually during solos to popular candy-related songs like "Tootsie Roll" and "How Many Licks," while she prowled the stage. But her lack of heavy choreography might have been in the best interest of the show's biggest surprise: her voice. She sounded fantastic from start to finish. Not even the green, pink and purple laser show that accompanied "E.T." could obscure that fact that she sounds better than ever. Her vocals were again showcased when she stripped down the pop bombast for a fun medley of covers — "The playlist for my life right now." So what is Perry listening to? "Only Girl in the World" by "My girl Ri-Ri"; "Big Pimpin' " by Jay-Z, during which she played a jewel-encrusted recorder; "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith and, since it was the final day of the work week, Rebecca Black's "Friday." The audience ate it up. Terrific show-opener Robyn, who had Perry's fans mimicking her freestyle dance moves despite the thankless task of opening for one of pop's biggest names, set the tone for the concert's final act, a dance-heavy medley of Perry's biggest hits (and one fantastic cover). The songstress put on her signature blue wig to rile up the audience with the one-two punch of "Hot n Cold" and a take on Whitney Houston's classic "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)." During "Dance," Perry pulled no less than 20 fans onstage for an impromptu dance party. Before the final two fans would leave the stage, they asked for a picture and the pop star obliged, saying, "New Facebook picture!" She encored with "California Gurls," but the show's banner moment came at its official end with "Firework." With every person in the arena on their feet, Perry said, "I wrote this song for anyone who ever needed a song. To help them, to lift them up." And then she did exactly that. The Coliseum shook as the near-capacity crowd sang the ubiquitous hit along with her as pyro lit up the stage, raining down like a wall of sparklers. It was colorful, triumphant and the perfect way to end a near-perfect pop show. Have you been to a Katy Perry show recently? Share your experiences in the comments below. Related Videos Related Artists |
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