NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Legendary Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush dies at 84

CHICAGO

Legendary Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush, whose passionate, jazz-tinged music influenced artists from Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton to the rock band Led Zeppelin, died Saturday at age 84, his longtime manager said.

Rush succumbed to complications from a stroke he suffered in 2003, manager Rick Bates said.

Born in Philadelphia, Miss., Rush settled in Chicago as an adult and began playing the local clubs, wearing a cowboy hat and sometimes strumming his guitar upside down for effect.

He catapulted to international fame in 1956 with his first recording on Cobra Records of “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” which reached No. 6 on the Billboard R&B charts.

He was a key architect of the Chicago “West Side Sound” in the 1950s and 1960s, which modernized traditional blues to introduce more of a jazzy, amplified sound.

Cher admits wanting to get Kennedy honor during Obama years

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.

The phone call telling Cher she was a Kennedy Center honoree was certainly welcome – but she admits she wanted to get it earlier.

The Grammy, Emmy and Oscar winner, whose ABBA-tribute album “Dancing Queen” was just released, acknowledged she’d long hoped for that call. She said she “wanted to get it so badly” during the Obama administration.

Now she will, at age 72, during the Donald Trump administration, which might make for an awkward gathering. A regular at anti-Trump rallies and marches, Cher ranks among the most outspoken celebrities against the U.S. president. The White House said no decisions had been made on whether Trump would participate in this year’s Kennedy Center Honors program.

Associated Press