Entertainment
Tony Bennett, the iconic singer and 20-time Grammy winner, dies at 96
Tony Bennett, the legendary US singer who won multiple Grammy awards, has died at the age of 96.
The musician passed away on Friday in his hometown in New York.
“Tony left us today but he was still singing the other day at his piano and his last song was Because of You, his first #1 hit,” reads a statement shared on his Twitter page.
“Tony, because of you we have your songs in our heart forever.”
Bennett’s demise was also confirmed by his publicist Sylvia Weiner in a statement.
Weiner said there was no specific cause of death, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in August 1926, Bennet became a singing waiter after his father died when he was 10.
He later enrolled to study music and painting at New York’s School of Industrial Art. He started his music career with the name Joe Bari.
In 1951, he gained prominence after he released ‘Because of You’. Bennett later put out his first album in 1952.
After his battle with failed marriages and drug addiction, he hired his son Danny to become his manager.
He collaborated with singers such as Amy Winehouse, Queen Latifah, Carrie Underwood, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and George Michael.
In 2014, Bennett released a joint album with Lady Gaga titled ‘Cheek to Cheek’. The album made him “the oldest living act to reach the top of the US charts at 88″.
Gaga described the body of work as “the most important album of my career”. In 2021, Bennett performed his final shows alongside Gaga.
During a career that spanned eight decades, Bennett sold millions of records and won 20 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award.
The musician was popular for his songs such as ‘Body and Soul’, ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Rags to Riches’, and ‘Perfectly Frank’, among others.
He was also a painter who had his artwork displayed in galleries. He also founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in his hometown.
He is survived by Susan Crow, his wife, and four children – Danny, Dae, Joanna and Antonia.
Entertainment
Davido gifts Lexus SUV to personal driver
Davido, the Grammy-nominated Afrobeats star, has purchased a new Lexus SUV for Tunde Yussuf, his personal driver.
On Thursday, Yussuf, who is also a tour assistant to the singer, shared a photo of the Lexus RX with his 18000 followers on Instagram.
The driver, who is also referred to as Doro DMW, expressed his appreciation for the gift. He also showered prayers on Davido.
“Congratulations to me🙏🙏🙏🙏 God bless you 001 my boss @davido You no go ever fall my oga. OBO DAN DO AM AGAIN,” he wrote.
Entertainment
Diddy placed on suicide watch in prison
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the embattled rapper, has reportedly been placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 54-year-old music mogul who was arrested at a hotel in Manhattan on Monday is currently facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
On Tuesday, Robyn Tarnofsky, the US magistrate judge, ordered that the hitmaker be sent to jail to await trial in his case. The Bad Boy Records founder was also denied bail.
Tarnofsky’s order followed after Diddy pleaded not guilty to the 14-page federal indictment against him.
On Thursday, People quoted sources at the prison as saying that the rapper has been placed on suicide watch for “preventative measures”.
It added that “Combs is in shock and his mental state is unclear”.
Prison occupants are placed on suicide watch as “supervisory precautions taken for suicidal inmates that require frequent observation,” according to the US Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections.
The news outlet did not reveal how long Diddy will remain under suicide watch, or if he is suicidal.
The rapper is expected to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of trial — although the date has yet to be revealed.
The New York Times reports that the detention facility, which holds more than 1,200 people, has a reputation for violence, filthy conditions, food contamination, and suicides.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Diddy with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
They alleged the rapper, with help from Combs Enterprise associates, ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes”.
Combs was said to have “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from 2008 to now.
Diddy is the highest-profile musician to face sexual misconduct charges since Robert Sylvester Kelly, the R&B singer popularly known as R. Kelly.
Kelly was sentenced in 2022 to more than 30 years in prison for sexually abusing fans, some of them children, racketeering, and sex trafficking.
Entertainment
Oxlade reveals the reason he once ran away from home
Nigerian singer Oxlade has opened up about his decision to drop out of university and run away from home due to threats from cultists in school.
During an interview with Punch Newspapers on September 18, 2024, the singer discussed his motivation to drop out of school to save his life.
“I dropped out of the university in my final year because it was a crazy time. There were some gangs after me because I’m a fine boy. Being a fine boy makes you a target. It is either you join them or they off you. So I had to leave that environment,” he added.
Oxlade, who attended Lagos State University (LASU), noted that while the institution has since improved its focus on academics, the atmosphere during his time there was tumultuous. “At that time, it was a hot period. Now everyone is chasing money,” he stated, acknowledging the university’s efforts to curb such dangerous behaviours today.
“After I left school, I ran away from home because I couldn’t tell my family why I dropped out,” he revealed.
The first time he opened up about his experience with the cultists was during an interview on the Tea with Tay Podcast in October 2023.
He explained, “During my university days, I was always in the church reading Bible and books. Then I dropped out in my final year. I’ve never said this before. I dropped out when some boys were trying to make me join a gang.”
Oxlade shared a touching moment when his grandmother unknowingly saved his life by asking him to come home.
“I don’t know how my grandma knew, she just told me to come to Ibadan, that I shouldn’t go and pack anything from the hostel, so I was there for a week. So the next few days my roommates said that they came to beat the shit out of them because of me,” he explained.
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