“Jurassic Park” author and “ER” creator Michael Crichton died Tuesday at age 66, according to a statement from his family.
The novelist passed away in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer. The family said his death was unexpected in a statement available on his Web site.
“While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes,” his family said.
Travis Barker & DJ AM (photo taken Friday at the Five Points block party)
Last night around midnight, a plane containing Travis Barker, DJ AM, and 4 others failed to take off at a South Carolina airport and crashed into an embankment outside of the air field.
4 people have been confirmed dead and it was reported that Travis Barker (former drummer of Blink 182) and DJ AM were both injured severely and are listed in critical condition at a local burn unit.
Both pilots of the plane, Travis Barker’s assistant Chris “Little Chris” Baker, and Travis Barker’s bodyguard Charles Still have all been confirmed dead.
A press conference was held earlier this afternoon stating that the plane they were in never left the ground, overran the runway, and caught fire after the plane ran through a fence, antennas, and some lights. The plane burst into flames as it passed over a roadway and crashed into an embankment. Witnesses say that Travis Barker and DJ AM both jumped from the plane right after the crash. Both were stated to have been overcome by flames and were patting each other out.
The cause of the plane crashing is still to be determined.
According to TMZ, Travis Barker sustained severe burns from the waist down. DJ AM suffered facial burns. The two are currently at a burn unit in Augusta, Georgia.
As many of you know, Travis Barker was once the drummer of the now defunct Blink 182. He went on and contributed to Boxcar Racer, +44, and the Transplants. Not keeping to just punk rock bands Travis Barker also has worked with many rap artists such as Bun B, Three 6 Mafia, and The Game.
Adam Michael Goldstein, aka DJ AM, once was in the band Crazy Town and continued his success as a house DJ and providing his scratching skills for bands such as Papa Roach, Madonna, and Will Smith. He also is known for being engaged to Nicole Richie at one time.
Recently the two united to become TRVSDJ-AM, a mash-up project with Travis Barker supplying the beats and DJ AM spinning/scratching records accordingly.
The two had just performed Friday at a free college student aimed festival/block party in the streets of Columbia, South Carolina’s Five Pointsfor thousands of fans and were headed back to California.
Friday’s Five Points block party also featured Gavin DeGraw and Perry Farrell (who were not on the plane that crashed). The event was part of T-Mobile’s “Hello Carolinas” campaign.
I really hope the two are ok. My heart goes out to them and the families of the others on the plane who did not make it.
UPDATE:
According to the doctor attending Travis Barker and DJ AM, they both received second and third degree burns but are both expected to make a full recovery. Travis Barker has some abdominal burns while DJ AM has burns to his hands and a part of his head. Shockingly, they did not sustain any other injuries in the crash.
Through talking to friends and reading other websites. I found out that speculations of the group flying to California to meet up with Chris “Little Chris” Baker’s wife who was pregnant was not true. They were in fact flying to California but not to meet up with Chris “Little Chris” Baker’s wife as she was not pregnant. The plane was chartered by DJ-AM as he had an event to attend in Los Angeles.
I just found out some bad news today. I am sure that some of you rock music fanatics already heard this news as pertains to a major band in rock history.
Pink Floyd
Original member of Pink Floyd Richard Wright passed away today after a battle with cancer. He was 65 years old.
I am not as big of a fan as I used to be of Pink Floyd. When I was a kid (it’s true, I was young once) I discovered my father’s record collection and soon became a fan of Pink Floyd. It was my first taste of a different more psychedelic rock music and I really enjoyed the fact that people I became friends with liked them as well. It gave me something to relate to others with.
Being a fan of Pink Floyd was cool. In the beginning stages I had no idea the songs were drug laced. I soon found up growing up though that they were.
Throughout the years I became a little burnt out over them because I listened to them so much. My friends listened to them so much. When we hung out in the parks the hippies would take out their guitars and play Pink Floyd and all the inebriated would since along…it became a tad too much. In fact I to this day can not even listen to The Wall or Dark Side Of The Moon as I listened to both albums so much growing up I made myself become sick of them.
If the radio plays “Money” or any other song that might be on both of those albums I have to change the station. I just can’t do it. I’d rather listen to Tesla.
That’s not to say I am not somewhat remotely a fan of Pink Floyd. Deep down inside of me there still is some love for Pink Floyd. Once in a while a Pink Floyd track will grace my iPod and I will listen to it (I deleted the two albums I overexerted off my playlists so that I would not be exposed to the songs I grew tired of).
To hear that a musical icon like Richard Wright passed away of course adds some sadness to my day. His name may not have been as well recognized as David Gilmour, Roger Walters, Nick Mason or even the late Syd Barrett, but he was still a major part of that band.
15 Sep 2008
The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer.
The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.
Richard Wright
Born 28 July 1943 (65)
For more info about his passing check out articles about it found on Yahoo Music or on the Associated Press.
