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Christina Grimmie Dead; The Voice Alum Was 22

Jun 11, 2016 celebrityabout

Another rising star has left us too soon. Christina Grimmie, who placed in the top three on The Voice’s sixth season as part of Adam Levin’s team, has passed away on June 11th from gunshot wounds after performing at an Orlando, FL concert. Grimmie opened for the band, Before You Exit at Plaza Live. While signing autographs after the performance, Grimmie was approached by a man with two guns, according to People. The man shot the singer, 22, before being tackled by her brother. He then turned the gun on himself. “The show ended at approximately 10 o’clock,” Orlando Sgt. Wanda Miglio said during a news conference. “After that they were selling merchandise and signing autographs. We know that the suspect walked up and shot Christina at that point. We know that her brother tackled the suspect and that’s when the suspect shot himself.” “Her brother is a hero for saving and stopping him from not hurting anyone else.” According to WFTV, fans tweeted from inside the venue after hearing six gun shots. “It is with a heavy heart that we can confirm that Christina has passed and went home to be with the Lord. She was shot at her show in Orlando, and unfortunately didn’t survive the gun shot wounds,” Grimmie’s rep told People in an official statement. “We ask at this time that you respect the privacy of her family and friends in their time of mourning.” A GoFundMe page has been set up to aid her family. NBC tweeted their devastation after hearing about the incident. “We are heartbroken,” the network wrote. “@TheRealGrimmie is a loved member of our family. Our thoughts are with her and her family. #PrayForChristina.” The Voice judge Blake Shelton responded to the news as well. “Just reading the same stuff y’all are at this point,” Shelton tweeted. “Can’t believe this..” No other details about the gunman’s motive are available at this time. View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten

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Prince’s cause of death ruled to be accidental opiate overdose by fentanyl

Jun 3, 2016 celebrityabout

It’s been six weeks since Prince passed tragically at his home just before he was scheduled to see an addiction specialist to seek treatment. The report on his cause of death has now been released. Prince’s death has been ruled an accidental opiate overdose. While Prince was said to be addicted to Percocet, the medical examiner found that the drug which killed him was fentanyl, another far more powerful opiate. Toxicology tests for Prince concluded that the entertainer died from an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl, according to a report on his death by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. Fentanyl, prescribed by doctors for cancer treatment, can be made illicitly and is blamed for a spike in overdose deaths in the United States. It’s 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Prince, whose full name was Prince Rogers Nelson, died April 21 at age 57, after being found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, his home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The report from the medical examiner’s office, which was released on Twitter, didn’t provide many details. “How injury occurred: The decedent self-administered fentanyl,” the report said. For manner of death, a box was marked for “accident.” The report didn’t specify how the drug was taken and if the fentanyl was prescribed or illegally made. The music superstar weighed 112 pounds and was 63 inches tall when he died, the report said. He was wearing a black cap, shirt, pants, boxer briefs and socks and a gray undershirt, the report said. His occupation was listed as “artist” and his business as “music.” The full autopsy and toxicology reports will not be released, the office told CNN. [From CNN] At 5’3″ and 112 pounds Prince was in the normal range with a BMI of 19.8 and was not technically underweight. NBC reports that he was being “being treated for opioid withdrawal, as well as anemia and a fatigue” at the time of his death. I’ve only heard of fentanyl in passing and was not aware that it had so much potential for abuse and for overdose. Many outlets are reporting how potent it is, it’s the most powerful opiate available and is 25 to 50 times stronger than heroin, along with the fact that it’s caused thousands of accidental deaths. According to experts quoted by People Magazine, the drug was originally meant to be used for pallative, or end of life care, but is now routinely given to patients who have become habituated to other opiates and aren’t getting the same pain relief. It’s unknown if Prince had a prescription or how he obtained the drug, but a criminal investigation is underway. This also brings attention to the street use of the drug, which can be highly deadly as users may not realize how much stronger fentanyl is than heroin. Just touching or inhaling the drug can be fatal. NBC News quotes the chief pathologist at Tufts University, Barbarajean Magnani, who says that Prince’s case is sadly all too common. “This was a man in his 50s who may have been struggling with pain and took a very potent opioid analgesic and died accidentally from an overdose. Celebrities bring it to our attention, but we see this every day.” RIP Prince. photos credit: WENN and FameFlynet

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Gwen Stefani: divorce was ‘the worst thing that can happen to me besides death’

Mar 28, 2016 marc

Gwen Stefani has a long, extensive interview with LGBT publication Pride Source promoting her new album. She’s asked a lot of questions about her relationship with the gay community, and about being a woman in the male-dominated music industry. To be fair to Stefani, when she talks about her “gay friends” or about one of her sons potentially coming out, she’s asked specifically about that by the journalist, in those words. She’s not bringing it up out without context. The quotes from Stefani which are getting the most press were when she said that she would be “blessed” if one of her sons came out. Again, she was asked what she would do in this instance. Writer Chris Azzopardi knows how to get a good quote. Stefani was extremely chatty too; she said several times that she’s horrible at keeping secrets. She didn’t exactly dish the dirt on her relationship ending, she only described how hurt she was. She did suggest that she was having problems in her relationship around 2013 and frames it around her own personal spiritual journey, which she credits with giving her the tools to survive her divorce. On embarrassing her kids and her divorce I can’t talk about them because they’re gonna be 15 and like, “Mom, why did you say that? You’re embarrassing me!” I have to think a little bit about that now. But I just think… I don’t know how else to be. Everybody knows what happened to me. I got a divorce. It’s the worst thing that can happen to me besides death. Her divorce was devastating My whole life all I wanted to do was be a mother and a wife… In February (2015), my family fell apart. It was devastating. I didn’t know what to do. It was a real big secret, but as I just explained, I’m not good with that. I tried everything to fix it. By June (2015), I went into the studio and started writing. I was praying. I had already started on a spiritual journey when I got pregnant with Apollo (in 2013) that was sort of like, “Wow, really? I’m gonna be blessed with a baby… now?” That was a miracle. It just started me on this spiritual journey and thank God it started then because I was prepared when I had the tragedy. I had that nest of spirituality in me. On criticism of letting her boys paint their nails and dye their hair Of course everyone’s gonna have their perspective and their opinion, and I know what’s real and what’s honest and true, and that’s really all that matters to me and all that’s important. So, it doesn’t really bother me. As long as my boys are protected and happy and I’m spending quality time with them, whether it’s doing sports or doing nails, it really doesn’t matter. Q: “What would you say to one of your boys if they came out to you one day?” I would be blessed with a gay son. You know that I would feel blessed about that. I just want my boys to be happy and healthy, and I just ask God to guide me every day to be a good mother because it is not an easy job. I’ve been lucky enough to have such a blessed life. I’ve been able to travel the world and meet so many different kinds of people. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re gay, straight, whatever. There are good and bad people, and I would be happy. I just want my kids to be happy, and whatever journey God gives them is their journey. On how it’s better now for gay people growing up, she calls “The Danish Girl” “The Dutch Girl” I do know that it’s gotta be difficult to be the alternative, to not be the mainstream, or to be different, if you want to call it that. I feel like it’s less and less (like that) these days, and it’s hard for me to understand because it doesn’t seem different or weird or anything anymore because it just seems so normal to me. I just saw that movie… what was it… “The Dutch Girl”? “The Danish Girl”…? Yeah, “The Danish Girl.” I think what was so incredible about that movie was just – that was so long ago. I mean, can you imagine back then? Whoa. Now it feels like nothing anymore. [From Pride Source] Her heart’s in the right place, even if she comes across as rather ditzy at times. The entire interview is long and well worth reading if you’re interested in her at all. Stefani references God and feeling “blessed” multiple times, as she’s done in past interviews. She peppers so many religious references into the conversation that she sounds like she’s from the south. It makes me wonder if that’s Blake Shelton’s influence, because Stefani was raised Catholic in California. I’m a former Catholic too and in my experience we don’t bring up God that much in everyday conversation. As for the end of her relationship with Gavin Rossdale, she describes it as a tragedy and like a death, which she’s said before. Stefani claims that she has a confessional nature but she seems to be hinting around the details behind her divorce, like she’s trying to keep some things from the public but is just dying to tell us. She may be doing that with the lyrics to her songs. “Red Flag” is about a one-sided relationship imploding “Big mistake, red flags fly… you know how to blow up” while “Naughty” definitely seems to be about Rossdale. Read these lyrics, “You did it, and then you hid it…The naughty, naughty things you do. I think there’s something that you might perhaps forgot to say. Locked in the closet but it never goes away.” That closet line sounds telling right? This is What The Truth Feels Like is currently number one on Billboard’s Hot 200 charts. It’s Stefani’s first number one album. photos credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet