Etta James Dead at 73: 'At Last' Singer Dies After Leukemia Battle

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Etta James, the powerhouse singer who combined blues, gospel and R&B and emerged as a major star in the '50s and '60s, has died after a long battle with leukemia. According to CNN, the sad news was confirmed by her friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, who revealed that James died in a Riverside, Calif., hospital. She was 73.

Best known for her 1961 version of 'At Last,' James enjoyed a remarkable career that spanned more than a half-century. Her string of hits began with 1955's 'The Wallflower (Dance With Me, Henry)' and continued with such classics as 'Spoonful,' 'Something's Got a Hold on Me' and 'Tell Mama.' Over the years, she won six Grammy awards, and in 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The singer's life was not without hardship, however. Her popularity declined in the '70s and '80s, and she struggled for years with an addiction to heroin. While she earned plaudits for the 1988 "comeback" album 'Seven Year Itch,' recorded after she'd completed a stint at the Betty Ford Center, health troubles continued to plague her throughout her life. In addition to leukemia, she spent recent years grappling with dementia, Hepatitis C and Alzheimer's disease, and in January 2010, she was hospitalized for sepsis.

Anonymous Hack Warner, Universal Music Sites After Megaupload Shutdown

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U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid has announced the vote on the controversial Protect IP Act will be postponed which comes as a major victory to Internet protest group Anonymous who were successful in "crippling government and music industry sites" Thursday, Jan. 19.

Their actions were in response to file sharing-site MegaUpload being shut down -- with seven executives, including MegaUpload's founder, being indicted -- by the U.S. government following the uprising and protest earlier this week over the PIPA and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) bills.

"Within minutes of the site being shut down, and DOJ (Department of Justice) releasing its statement, Anonymous sprang into action and started taking down a ton of sites -- including websites for the DOJ, the US Copyright Office, Universal Music, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the MPAA and a bunch of other sites," a statement on Anonymous' site said.

Lana Del Rey: Can Artifice Survive in the Age of Adele?

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2011 was another dismal year for the economy. With U.S. layoffs soaring, European protests raging and 'Occupy Wall Street' dominating North American news all fall, the recession was etched into our collective psyches. Yet somehow the music industry saw a boom in sales after a seven-year slump thanks, in large part, to Adele.

The British songbird was a commercial and critical success, selling over 6 million copies of her Grammy-nominated sophomore effort '21' and occupying most critic year-end lists. '21' debuted atop Billboard's charts and spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1, tying the 'Titanic' soundtrack from way back in 1997.

Adele embodied authenticity by refusing to fit into pop music's superficial and sexed-up landscape; she broke its mould altogether. Adele simply stood on her own laurels as a great singer. No bells, no whistles, no fireworks-blasting boobs. Despite wallets being tight, people shelled out in record-breaking droves.

Imaginary Cities Don Crazy Costumes for 'Temporary Resident' -- Video Premiere

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Polaris Prize-nominated Canadian indie-poppers Imaginary Cities are ready to drop their debut album, 'Temporary Resident,' on April 10 in the U.S. and today, Spinner is proud to present the music video for 'Temporary Resident' in all its glory.

"We really loved making this video. Christopher Mills was fantastic to work with and it was a joy to watch him in his creative element," vocalist Marti Sarbit tells Spinner.

Florence Welch Shows Off Retro Bikini, New Boyfriend in Brazil

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Florence Welch has always been known for her unique, vintage style. The Florence and the Machine singer has made her love of retro clothing quite well known, but who knew that it extended to bathing suits?

As Us Weekly shows, Florence opted for a '50s-style black bikini while hanging out on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The singer was vacationing there earlier this week and, as the gossip magazine reports, apparently has a new boyfriend.

Pantychrist Singer Charged With First-Degree Murder of Hamilton Man

Pantychrist

A punk singer for the Hamilton, Ontario, group Pantychrist was charged this week with first-degree murder in the death of Jessie Kovacs, a 55-year-old disabled Hamilton man.

According to the Hamilton Spectator, Danielle Delottinville, 28, was arrested without incident Wednesday along with two other men: George Cooke and Matthew Cooke. Kovacs was found in his apartment on Dec. 22 tied and taped with his hands behind his back. Police suspect the victim had been dead since Dec. 19 in what is believed to be a case of a botched robbery.

"Patty Wacks" Rees, who was in Pantychrist when it formed in 2003, said Delottinville's personal life "started spiraling" soon after the group started. The band had disbanded for some years but had been performing again as of last year. Kovacs met Delottinville last year and enjoyed listening to the group.

David Lynch Is Obsessed With Coffee

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There are some things you just can't live without. For director/musician David Lynch, it's the fabulous fragrance of coffee. Our colleagues at Huffington Post Culture have started a new series, Obsessed, in which famous figures and unknown fanatics alike gawk about their favorite things.

"I am pretty much obsessed with coffee," Lynch writes in the inaugural column. "I've been drinking coffee on a regular basis since I was in the ninth grade. In the ninth grade, I met my soon-to-be good friend, Toby, on the front yard lawn of my girlfriend's house. And during that first conversation with Toby, he happened to tell me that his father was a painter, a fine art painter. Hearing this news that an adult could be a painter -- an explosion went off in my head and from that moment on all I wanted to do was paint. And for me, the world of a painter held much coffee."