singer

Willie Colón, a legendary trombonist and pioneer of salsa music, has died. He was 75.

His death on Saturday was confirmed in a Facebook post by his longtime manager, Pietro Carlos.

News of the singer’s condition circulated on the web in recent days. Yonkers Voice News reported Colón was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester hospital in Bronxville, N.Y., on Tuesday with respiratory problems and he appeared fragile.

:

Born William Anthony Colón Román on April 28, 1950, to Puerto Rican parents in New York City, Colón first picked up the trumpet in school. It seemed like a natural choice for the former bugle-playing Boy Scout, who attended the youth program at the suggestion of his grandmother.

“So I could learn how to be a good boy,” said Colón in a 1988 interview with Associated Press.

By age 13, Colón had started a band and played at some weddings and in the bustling nightclubs of New York City. At one point, he forged a cabaret card, a mandated ID for musicians and entertainers between 1940 and 1967 who worked in establishments serving alcohol, which required individuals to be 18 years and older.

The thrilling 1960s Latin music scene in New York consumed Colón, who was deeply inspired by Latin jazz pioneer and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, once part of a main act at the Palladium Ballroom who went on to form La Perfecta, a Cuban conjunto that revolutionized the New York Latin music scene with its inclusion of two trombones, played by Barry Rogers and Jose Rodriguez, instead of the costly four-set trumpets.

But Colón’s instrumental preference changed once he heard the bodied timbre of Mon Rivera’s all-trombone brass lineup marching to a bomba beat. “It would knock my socks off,” said Colón in a 1988 interview with Associated Press, leading the singer to teach himself how to play the instrument.

By age 15, Colón was signed to Fania Records. Two years later at age 17, he went on to release his debut album, “El Malo,” a record that defined the fierce sounds of New York’s salsa scene, which Colón later described as the Latin equivalent of rap.

According to his former label, the name of “El Malo” was bestowed upon Colón by older musicians who sought to mock his trombone range at the time, though the young bandleader would find a way to use the label to his advantage.

On the LP, Colón’s sound moved away from the polished mambo sounds of orchestral bands decades prior, in large part due to Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe, whose vocals can be heard in tracks like the gritty “El Malo” that vows to knock out any wanna-be street phony.

The pair would go on to record a total of 14 albums through 1973, with Lavoe’s talents for improvisation complementing Colón’s raw, aggressive trombone.

“Salsa came from the same kind of situation that rap does,” Colon said in a 1992 interview with The Times. “It was kind of a hybrid of a bunch of different elements. Hector had just come from Puerto Rico and didn’t speak English. I didn’t speak much Spanish, I was a little New York kid. We got together and just started with the same kind of irreverent, rebellious attitude, writing songs about the baddest guy on the block, drugs and sex. Before that, the lyrics and whole attitude of Latin music was, ‘Look at me dance, listen to those drums, I’m cutting sugar cane.’ It was a rural, folkloric emphasis; we changed it to an inner-city kind of culture.”

Colón’s impact went beyond live music. The album cover of “El Malo,” which showed two serious profiles of Colón, depicted the singer as a sly bad boy, and ultimately gave rise to his gangster persona, which would be a throughline in future projects, including his sophomore 1968 album, “The Hustler” which featured the band with fitted suits, smoking cigars and placing bets in a pool hall. His 1970 album “Cosa Nuestra” featured Colón smoking a cigar while overlooking a dead body in broad daylight in Manhattan’s East River Bikeway. Most famously, his 1971 album, “La Gran Fuga,” depicted the singer on a fake FBI “Most Wanted” poster.

These mob-like depictions occurred long before cult-favorite films like Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 “The Godfather” and Brian De Palma 1983’s “Scarface” became the prominent gangster storylines various male acts venerate in their music.

By 1973, Colón and Lavoe split — allegedly due to Lavoe’s drug addiction leading to many missed concert performances — although the two would remain frequent collaborators until the latter’s death in 1993 due to complications of AIDS.

The Nuyorican musician would introduce Blades as the new singer of his orchestra, whom he had met years prior while visiting Panama during carnivals. They collaborated briefly on Colón’s 1975 LP “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly,” cementing their partnership in the 1977 album “Metiendo Mano,” which delved into socio-political themes, notably in their track “Pablo Pueblo,” which shares the story of a working class man with broken dreams halted by toils of daily life. Other tracks like “Plantación Adentro,” detailed the story of Camilo Manrique, a fictionalized enslaved character who died at the hands of a Spanish colonizer in 1745.

Many considered this album Colón’s first foray into intellectual salsa — in large part because of Blades, who had a knack for storytelling and political interests (he unsuccessfully ran for president of Panama in 1994) — that addressed colonialism and class disparities. Together they released three albums, including their 1978 “Siembra,” one of the bestselling salsa albums at that time; from the start, their track “Plastico” fused the popular disco music of the moment while addressing superficial beauty standards and colorism in Latin America.

According to 1996 reporting by The Times, “Siembra” delivered pulsating salsa rhythms that “carried messages of freedom at a time when most of Latin America was oppressed by military dictatorships.”

By 1982, Blades and Colón parted ways, but they collaborated again on projects like their 2005 LP “Tras La Tormenta” — which led the bandleader to sing for the first time in his career, “I had to start from zero, and it took me many years to feel comfortable,” Colón said.

This newfound independence gave rise to some of Colón’s most famous songs, including his 1995 track “Talento de Televisión,” an upbeat song with his signature trombone wailing in the backdrop as he sang about an attractive woman with a lack of talent.

Many across Latin America might be familiar with his 1989 song “El Gran Varon” — which narrated the story of a trans woman who is rejected by her father and presumably dies of AIDS — a landmark salsa song that brought awareness to LGBTQ+ themes during the AIDS crisis. Colón would later serve as a member of the Latino Commission on AIDS. “El Gran Varon” is an anthem to this day.

Colón released more than 40 albums in all.

He also acted, taking roles in films including 1982’s “Vigilante,” the 1983 sports drama “The Last Fight,” as well as one-episode stints in TV shows like “Miami Vice” and “The Cosby Show.” He was even featured in Bad Bunny’s “Nuevayol” music video, cutting a slice of cake; the 31-year-old superstar pays homage to the singer in its lyrics: “Willie Colón, me dicen el malo, ey. Porque pasan los años y sigo dando palo”/ “Willie Colón, they say I’m bad, because the years come and I’m still hitting.”

In his later years, he became more involved in politics. In 1994, he unsuccessfully went up against U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx in the Democratic primary. He also ran as a Democrat for Public Advocate in 2001, focusing on community issues, education and AIDS awareness, but failed to gain the popular vote. In 2008, he endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton over Barack Obama in the primary election.

On May 26, 2014, after graduating from Westchester County Police Academy, Colón was sworn in as a deputy sheriff for the Department of Public Safety, later becoming deputy lieutenant.

As President Trump took office in his first term, Colón’s politics shifted in support of the right-wing candidate, and he said he would be open to performing at his inauguration in 2017.

Billboard magazine named him one of the most influential Latino artists of all time in 2018.

Colón is survived by his wife, Julia Colón, and his four sons and grandsons.

Bed rest can go pound sand: Ray J gave his all on stage on Friday night, it seems, with fan videos showing his eyes appearing to bleed as he worked the crowd.

The singer also doffed the top of his orange jumpsuit to reveal some sort of medical port or device inserted on the upper left side of his chest.

The “Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood” star, who is singer-actor Brandy’s brother, was performing in Shreveport, La.

In the first clip, red liquid — which many assumed was blood — ran down one of the R&B singer’s cheeks like tears as he handed out long-stemmed red roses to people in the audience. Another clip showed him singing into a mic while climbing down from the stage after shedding the top part of his jumpsuit.

“Hey, y’all, we perfectly fine. Ain’t nobody sick. Look at me, I’m fine,” he says in a later clip, which takes place off stage. The 45-year-old appears to be annoyed, saying that people have been laughing at him because he’s sick.

“He loves the camera. He loves the attention,” Tommy Nard II of Nard Multimedia Group, who was behind the scenes that night, told Shreveport news station KTAL separately. “It’s all theatrical … I seen him literally put on the fake blood and go out there.”

A concertgoer told KTAL that it was “very concerning to see blood, what appeared to be blood, coming from his eyes.”

Ray J told TMZ in late January that he was under doctor’s orders to stay on bed rest and avoid drugs and alcohol. He said he was on eight medications related to his heart, which he said had been damaged because of his excessive drug and alcohol use.

“I thought I could handle all the alcohol, I could handle all the Adderall,” he said in a video livestream in late January.

Doctors told Ray J — real name William Ray Norwood Jr. — that he should prepare for the chance that he might need a pacemaker or defibrillator soon, the singer told the celebrity site. He expected to get an update when he went back in two weeks for a checkup.

Two weeks was up over the weekend.

Ray J told followers in a video posted Jan. 25 that he wanted to “thank everyone for praying for me.”

“I was in the hospital,” he said. “My heart is only beating like 25%, but as long as I stay focused and stay on the right path, then everything will be all right.” In a video, he said the right side of his heart was “like, black. It’s like done.”

Ray J said elsewhere that his heart was beating at 60%. The number likely refers to his heart’s ejection fraction, which measures the volume of blood coming out of the heart’s left ventricle or being drawn into the right ventricle when the heart beats. Right-sided heart failure is far less common, according to WebMD.

A representative for Ray J did not respond immediately Tuesday to The Times’ request for comment.

However, in an Instagram story posted Monday, Ray J put up this quote: “‘If you want to know who your real friends & family are, lose your job, get sick, or go through hard times. You’ll see clearly.”

Britney Spears scored the early 2000s with hits from “Oops!… I Did It Again” to “Toxic.”

Now, the rights to those songs will belong to music publishing company Primary Wave after Spears reportedly signed a major new deal, according to NBC News. The outlet approximated the deal was for $200 million, and details of the sale were not disclosed.

Primary Wave, which was founded 20 years ago with the acquisition of 50% interest and partnership in Kurt Cobain’s music publishing catalog, also owns songs from the catalogs of music legends Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks and Whitney Houston, among others.

Representatives for Primary Wave and Spears did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.

Music rights acquisitions have become increasingly popular investments in recent years as the recorded music industry has boomed with the advent of streaming. With access to sprawling libraries on Spotify and Apple Music, consumers are listening to albums and artist catalogs at higher rates, and older artists are more prone to popping back into the zeitgeist. Licensing for movies and TV is also booming, and with Y2K nostalgia permeating today’s media, Spears may be selling at an opportune time.

Trade publication Music Business Worldwide estimated that more than $5 billion changed hands through music rights acquisitions in 2021, The Times previously reported. Additionally, songwriting catalogs at that time were being valued at twice the average price than in the 25 years prior.

Notable sellers include Bruce Springsteen, who in 2021 made a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to relinquish his master recordings and songs for $500 million. Shortly thereafter, David Bowie‘s estate sold his songwriting catalog to Warner Chappell Music for $250 million. ZZ Top, Tina Turner and Paul Simon all made similar deals around the same time.

Spears in 2023 released her memoir, “The Woman in Me,” which recounted her rise to fame and yearslong battle to escape a conservatorship she was placed under in 2008 for alleged mental health concerns. Music writer Jeff Weiss’ 2025 book, “Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly,” included details — some true, some fabricated — from that highly publicized time in the singer’s life.

Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline followed the “Gimme More” singer’s memoir with last year’s “You Thought You Knew,” in which he accused Spears of consuming cocaine while she was still breastfeeding their second son, among other alleged concerning behaviors. Spears denied the allegations on social media.

Former Times staff writer Ryan Faughnder contributed to this report.

Brad Arnold, the 47-year-old cofounder and lead singer of the Mississippi rock band 3 Doors Down, died Saturday, nine months after revealing a diagnosis of kidney cancer.

The band announced Arnold’s death in a social media post, which said he had “helped redefine mainstream rock music, blending post-grunge accessibility with emotionally direct songwriting.”

In May 2025, Arnold announced that the band would be canceling its summer tour because he had advanced-stage kidney cancer that has spread to his lungs.

“That’s not real good,” he said of his diagnosis. “But you know what? We serve a mighty God, and He can overcome anything. So I have no fear. I really sincerely am not scared of it at all.” He added, “I’d love for you to lift me up in prayer every chance you get.”

He was public about his battle with alcoholism. He said he started drinking in his teens, an addiction fueled by the pressure of stepping on a tour bus at 20 years old.

“It’s just a lot to hand a 20 year old,” he told a Christian podcaster. He thanked religion for his sobriety and took to proclaiming his faith on stage.

Born in Escatawpa, Mississippi in Sept. 1978, Arnold formed the band with friends Todd Harrell and Matt Roberts in the mid-1990s.

As a 15-year-old in algebra class, he wrote the song “Kryptonite,” drumming out the beat on his desk.

“I used to be our drummer,” he told the lead vocalist of the band Candlebox in an interview. “I only became the singer because we didn’t have a singer. That beat just came from just sitting on a desk. I probably wrote that song in the length of time that it took to me to just to write it down. It really was just one of those that kind of fell out of the sky.”

It became the band’s breakout hit in 2000 and earned a Grammy nomination.

“The Better Life,” the first of the band’s six albums, sold more than 6 million copies, and the 2005 album “Seventeen Days” entered the national charts at No. 1. That year, reviewing a Los Angeles performance, a critic noted Arnold’s “heartland drawl” and sleeveless denim shirt, calling him “less punk than Springsteen.”

The band released its final album, “Us And The Night,” in 2016. The following year, the band played at the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Arnold is survived by his wife, Jennifer.

Moth has made it to the final of The Masked Singer but the mystery star, whose identity is not yet know, couldn’t hold back the tears after performing a Disney song

Moth burst into tears following their performance on The Masked Singer. The mystery celebrity, who has made it to the final of the hit ITV competition series, gave a rendition of Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas, originally sung by Judy Kuhn in the 19995 animation.

Following the performance, judges Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Maya Jama and and Jonathan Ross were clearly moved and Davina noted just how “emotional” it was.

She added: “That was really breathtaking. Stunning. Thank you!” It was then that Moth could be heard quietly crying underneath the costume. Mo heard it and said: “I don’t know if Moth is crying under there?” to which the star nodded. Mo exlaimed: “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Now I’m going to cry!”

READ MORE: The Masked Singer’s Sloth revealed as Ben Fogle leaving judges stunnedREAD MORE: JLS’ Marvin Humes revealed as The Masked Singer’s Can of Worms in shock twist

Davina added: “That really was something else, thank you” and Moth received a huge round of applause from the audience. This all happened just moments before JLS star Marvin Humes was unmasked, having been performing as Can of Worms for weeks.

Speaking after his exit from the show, Marvin, who is married to fellow pop star and presenter Rochelle Humes, said: “That was the whole thing. When I talked about doing the show, I wanted to be completely across the board. My first song was Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast.

“It’s a big tune to be fair. And then Ghostbusters and then Temperature. Then Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pure Imagination, which is one of my favourite songs.

“I drive my kids mad singing that at home when we’re watching the movie. And then tonight, Cha Cha Slide. Who doesn’t love Cha Cha Slide ?”

Marvin, who has also had a host of presenting gigs on programmes like This Morning and The Hit List, shot to fame as part of JLS on The X Factor in 2008, and they launched a greatest hits tour last year, but admitted that it was “strange” to have performed solo for the first time in a while.

He said: “Do you know what, what’s really strange for me is I haven’t sung by myself in a long time. I’m used to being with three other guys on stage and that’s quite a comfort. A bit of security. Although I’m completely masked, it’s still been quite strange being out on my own singing.

His exit came as part of double elimination, along with TV presenter Ben Fogle, who had been singing as Sloth. Despite not being a singer, Ben later explained that he just embraced the opportunity and loved getting the chance to cover a theatre classic.

He said: “I really enjoyed it. I’ve never done any singing, but I really loved doing it. Actually, there was one song, which was actually my sing-off song, Flash Bang Wallop from Half a Sixpence, for me, that was the song I really wanted to do because my mother was in the original musical.

“I remember watching it as a child, multiple times, and that song was just so joyous. So to get to sing that on a stage, in front of an audience with no one knowing who I was, was super super fun.

The Masked Singer finale airs Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .