legendary

Kyle Busch, a two-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series and the winningest driver in the association’s history, has died at age 41.

“We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport’s greatest and fiercest drivers,” NASCAR said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community.”

No cause of death has been disclosed.

Earlier on Thursday, Busch’s family posted a statement on the driver’s X account saying that Busch had been hospitalized with a “severe illness” and would not be participating in this weekend’s NASCAR events at Charlotte Motor Speedway — including the Coca-Cola 600, a race Busch won in 2018.

According to the Associated Press, Busch became unresponsive on Wednesday while testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord and was transported to a Charlotte hospital.

In response to a request for information about Busch’s death, the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office emailed The Times a 911 call asking for an ambulance to come to the address of the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center at around 5:32 p.m. Wednesday.

“I have got an individual that [has] shortness of breath, [is] very hot, thinks he going to pass out and is … coughing up some blood,” said the caller, who added that the person was awake but “on the bathroom floor right now.”

Busch is not identified by name as the person experiencing the symptoms.

NASCAR officials confirmed that the Coca-Cola 600 will be held as scheduled. When Busch’s hospitalization was announced earlier Thursday, Richard Childress Racing said Austin Hill would drive the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in his place. Speedway officials indicated that Busch would be honored at the race.

During a Cup Series race on May 10 at Watkins Glen International in Dix, N.Y., Busch told his crew on the radio that he would need medical aid and a shot after the race. The TV broadcast mentioned that Busch had been dealing with a sinus cold all week. He ended up finishing in eighth place, his best Cup Series finish of the season.

Last week at Dover Motor Speedway in Delaware, Busch finished 17th in the Cup Series exhibition All-Star race but won his second Truck Series race of the year.

“Absolutely cannot comprehend this news,” Denny Hamlin, NASCAR driver and former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, posted on social media. “We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.”

Busch raced in NASCAR’s top division for 22 full-time seasons, winning the Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019 and the series regular-season championship in 2018 and 2019. He won 63 Cup Series races, 69 in the Truck Series and 102 in the XFinity Series, making him the winningest driver in NASCAR’s top three series combined.

The last time Busch missed a Cup Series race was in 2015, when he was recovering from a compound leg fracture and broken foot and was unable to take part in the first 11 events that season.

“A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation,” NASCAR said in a separate statement released Thursday, also on behalf of the Busch family and Richard Childress Racing.

“He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans. Throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series.

“His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation.’ … NASCAR lost a giant of the sport today, far too soon.”

Born May 2, 1985, in Las Vegas, Busch was surrounded by racing. His father, Tom, was a mechanic and local racer who had relocated from Illinois with his wife, Gaye. Busch’s brother, Kurt, was seven years older and an eventual Cup Series champion (2004) and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee.

Working his way up from go-karts in cul-de-sacs and parking lots to full-bodied Late Model competition, Busch earned the respect of his older brother early on.

“You think I’m a pretty good race car driver?” Kurt Busch said in 2001, four years before his younger sibling’s rookie season. “Wait until you see my brother. He’s the best driver in the family.”

Busch made his O’Reilly Series debut for Hendrick Motorsports on May 24, 2003, with a second-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Entering the series as a full-time driver the next year, Busch won five races and finished second overall to Martin Truex Jr.

Around that time, Busch started what would become his signature celebration, a showman’s bow after each win.

Known as “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his postrace fights and feuds with other drivers, Busch first reached the Cup Series in 2004 before his full-fledged rookie campaign the following season. The 2005 rookie of the year, Busch became the series’ youngest winner in his 31st start, one of four wins during his three full seasons at Hendrick.

Busch joined the Gibbs team in 2008 and remained there until switching to Childress and taking over the No. 8 Chevrolet in 2023.

After his win at Dover this month, Busch was asked how many races he wanted to win before he stopped racing.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

Busch is survived by his wife Samantha, son Brexton, 10, and daughter Lennix, 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Colombian folk music icon Totó La Momposina, known as the “Queen of Cumbia,” has died. She was 85.

The Colombian Ministry of Culture announced the lauded vocalist’s death Tuesday morning.

“Today we bid farewell to the eternal Totó. (1940-2026) To the eternal teacher who traveled the entire world to the rhythm of cumbias, porros, mapalés, and bullerengues born in the heart of our land,” the ministry wrote in an X post. “To the eternal Momposina who spoke of the traditional music of the Caribbean, empowered it, and enriched it for decades to write an entire chapter in the cultural history of our country.”

In an Instagram post from the artist’s official account, her children provided a cause of death.

“With profound sorrow, we, her children Marco Vinicio, Angelica Maria, and Euridice Salome Oyaga Bazanta, announce the passing of our mother, Sonia Bazanta Vides, better known as Totó la Momposina, surrounded by her family in Celaya, Mexico, on Sunday, May 17. Cause of death: myocardial infarction,” the post read.

The children also touched on the enduring legacy that their mother left behind.

“Totó was a woman who, with her voice and extraordinary dedication, carried the culture and memory of the Colombian people to the far corners of the world. Her joy, light, wisdom, talent, generosity, and many other virtues touched the lives of countless people,” they continued in the post. “She shared with the world the music, culture, dances, and essence of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Her name will forever remain in the memory of those who admired her, accompanied her and loved her.”

Born Sonia Bazanta Vides in 1940 in the Colombian town of Talaigua Nuevo, Totó la Momposina was born to a family with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous roots. Her music was renowned for incorporating the percussive and melodic instruments unique to her cultural identity. Both of her parents were amateur musicians and she began performing on stage at the age of six.

Her musical taste and sound was informed by the Afro-Indigenous rhythms of the traditional mapalé, chalupa, porro, bullerengue and cumbia genres that originated in Columbia and which she studied by visiting musicians in neighboring villages throughout her youth.

After moving to the Colombian capital of Bogotá in the 1960s, she immersed herself in the city’s music scene and began performing as part of a group. Totó la Momposina moved to Paris in the 1980s to study music at the Sorbonne University.

When Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1982, she accompanied him to Stockholm and was among several Colombian artists to perform at the ceremony.

Hot on the heels of some international recognition, Totó la Momposina released her debut solo album “La Verdolaga” in 1983. She would later catapult to greater worldwide fame after she formed an artistic relationship with English musician Peter Gabriel. Under Gabriel’s Real World Records label, Totó la Momposina released her 1993 album “La Candela Viva,” which received international acclaim and a formative text in the cumbia and bullerengue genres.

In 2011, she was award record of the year at the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards, alongside Calle 13, Susana Baca and Maria Rita for the track “Latinoamérica.” The singer also received a Latin Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2013.

ED Sheeran is in the middle of a short break from his Loop World Tour, but he’s certainly not resting on his laurels.

I can reveal he is about to drop a new single that’s been more than a decade in the making, after he teamed up with Dutch dance great Martin Garrix to make Repeat It.

Ed and Martin first hit the studio together in 2014 – with the British megastar confirming he was taking a step into dance music.

Martin then premiered the song live at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival the following summer.

Insiders said the track would finally be officially released next month, adding: “Repeat It has taken 12 years to officially see the light of day but finally Ed and Martin’s collaboration is coming out.

“The song has been reworked slightly from the version played at Ultra back in 2015 to make it more radio friendly.

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“Initially it was called Rewind, Repeat It.

“But now the song is simply titled Repeat It.

“Lyrically, it’s a classic Ed love song set to a dance beat.”

Ed first teased making the song more than a decade ago and said on Instagram: “Finished up my very first EDM song with Martin Garrix, brilliant experience, looking forward to you all hearing it.”

Now the wait is almost over.

My music moles shared lyrics to the track with me, and Ed has stayed true to form, with the lyrics steeped in romance.

Ed sings: “Stay for a night, call it what you want.

“And I’ll compromise. To have you in my arms.”

He adds: “Don’t fight the feeling. Rewind, repeat it.

“If the world ends tonight. You’ll be in my arms.

“We will be frozen in time, underneath the stars.”

Ed isn’t scheduled to play any shows in the UK this year, although there is no doubt in my mind his Loop Tour will reach the UK come 2027.

His last album Play went straight to the No1 spot when he released it in September, and I bet Repeat It will also fly up the charts.

It’s a nailed-on summer banger.