D’Angelo is Back – and He’s Still Hawt (Video)
Remember when your mom and aunty used to lose their minds over D’Angelo back in the day? It wasn’t just his smooth vocals that made the ladies lose it, it was his hard, beefcake bod too! There was no doubt about it; D’Angelo was a good looking man. Plus, he had the confidence to go with his dashing good looks — or so we thought…
It turns out that D’Angelo, real name Michael Archer, wasn’t emotionally equipped to handle his growing fame. D’Angelo mistakenly believed his music was not appreciated by his fans as much as his hawt bod was. So, like most artists who lose their focus, D’Angelo dropped out of the music scene. Paralyzed with self-doubt, he neglected his music and turned to a life of drugs and alcohol abuse.
Along the way, D’Angelo, now 37, was arrested for drug possession and DUI’s. He did a stint in drug rehab in 2006. And on Mar. 10, 2010, he was arrested for soliciting oral sex from a female undercover officer in New York City.
But despite his many setbacks, the old D’Angelo made a triumphant return to the stage during a performance in Paris, France over the weekend. Watch the performance after the break!
Rumor Control: Tiny’s Dad is Alive and Well
This morning I received an urgent call from former Xscape singer Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ mom, Dianne Pope, asking me to inform my readers that Tiny’s father, Charles Pope, is alive and well. Tiny’s fans were introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Pope on Tiny’s reality show, Tiny & Toya on BET in 2009.
It seems that some idiot created a fake Facebook page imitating Tiny and claiming her father was deceased. “Tiny wants people to know that her daddy is fine,” said Mrs. Pope. “That’s not her Facebook page at all.
As you know, Mr. Pope (pictured at right with Tiny’s daughter, Zonnique) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. T.I. and Tiny founded the For The Love of Our Fathers Foundation, which raises money for Alzheimer’s research.
Mrs. Pope says her husband’s condition has improved and he’s getting stronger. “He’s more alert. We’re getting him up now doing exercises,” she said.
Mrs. Pope theorized that Tiny’s fans may have confused Tiny’s father with a member of his legendary R&B group The Tams, who was murdered by his roommate. Tiny’s father founded The Tams, and Tiny has performed with the group.
According to Channel 2 Action News, longtime Tams band director Versi Sain, 59, was found shot to death in his Clayton County home earlier this month. Police arrested his roommate, Sam Morgan, and charged him with murder. He is being held in the Clayton County jail. The two men were childhood friends who grew up together in Muskegon, Michigan. Sources say the motive may have been money.
The Tams, now headed by Tiny’s brother Red, are known for their 60s hits “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” and “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me.”
T-Boz and Bow Wow are flat broke
Do you kids recall when I posted this Blind Item from the NY Post:
Which hip-hop artist drove up to his agent’s office in a $200,000 car, wearing a $50,000 wristwatch, to beg for money because he’s “dead broke” and needed $5,000 for child support? . . .
It turns out that the Blind Item might have been about rapper Bow Wow after all.
According to gossip website TMZ.com, the taxman cometh for both Bow Wow and singer Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins for unpaid taxes.
TMZ found documents filed in Florida by the federal government that says Weezy owes the government exactly $91,105.61 in unpaid taxes for the year 2006.
T-Boz’s tax troubles are a little more complicated.
Tamar Braxton performs Gladys Knight Tribute on Soul Train 2011
I remember the first time I met the Braxton Sisters, the singing siblings of superstar Toni Braxton. The chance meeting occurred in a hotel suite in Charlotte, NC in 1996. I was there to shoot a music conference for VIBE magazine, and I bumped into LA Reid’s brother, Bryant Reid, in the hotel lobby.
At the time Bryant was managing the Braxton Sisters, so he paid me to shoot a party he was having for the girls in his suite that night.
The picture on the right is one that I took in 1996. At the time, the group consisted of Towanda, left, and teenagers Tamar, 19, center, and Trina, 17. They had just released an album, titled So Many Ways, on Atlantic Records.
Last night, BET aired Soul Train Awards 2011 which was pre-taped in Atlanta on Nov. 17. Tamar was the highlight of the night as she sang a rousing tribute to Soul legend Gladys Knight, with Dave Hollister, Kenny Lattimore and Freddie Jackson backing Tamar up as the honorary Pips for the night.
Tamar’s performance surprised and electrified social networking sites like Twitter.com, where users compared her sultry vocals to her sister Toni Braxton, and even Beyonce!
Below are just a few of the thousands of positive tweets about Tamar’s performance from Twitter.com! By the way, Tamar’s sisters, Towanda and Trina Braxton will chat live with Sandrarose.com readers via Ustream right here on Wednesday! So check back for that.
Watch Tamar’s performance after the break!
Rare footage of 2Pac confronting a future thug
Here is rare footage of late rapper Tupac Shakur confronting a cute baby on the streets of New York during an interview with BET’s Rap City.
At one point a white man bends down to kiss the boy and Tupac’s crew erupts with laughter. “Tell him back off! You ain’t no punk! This yo’ block” yells Tupac.
Heavy D was on weight loss program when he died
According to published reports, rapper Heavy D was on a weight loss program when he died suddenly last week at the age of 44.
The rapper had begun a weight loss plan and kept a regular workout regime, according to EURweb.com.
Tony Wisniewski, the rapper’s trainer at the Ultra Body Fitness gym in Los Angeles, set Heavy up on a fitness plan three months before his death. Wisniewski is the same trainer that helped him lose 150 pounds back in 2008.
Autopsy reports show that Heavy D, real name Dwight Arrington Myers, weighed 344 pounds at the time of his death.
The autopsy was completed on Wednesday, but the coroner’s office declined to release a cause of death until they know the results of toxicology reports, which could take weeks.
According to Heavy D’s cousin, he had a “touch of pneumonia,” after returning from a trip to England a few days before he passed.
“We really do believe obesity makes people do worse with lung diseases,” said Dr. Benjamin Suratt, associate division chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital.
“If Heavy D died of a garden-variety pneumonia,” said Suratt, “it could be that he wasn’t able to fight it off due to his lungs not being able to fully expand and his immune system not having been fully functional.”
Toni Braxton Reveals She’s Dating Outside of Her Race to Anderson Cooper (video)
Toni Braxton has given up on dating black men. The “Breathe Again” singer appeared on the Anderson Cooper show where she talked about her experiences dating outside her race for the first time.
When Anderson asked Toni, 43, if she was currently dating, she responded: “Kinda… sprinkles of dating… I’m beginning to play in the snow a bit.” When Anderson pressed her for an explanation, Toni said, “He’s Caucasian.”
“And that’s a change for you?” asked Anderson. “I’ve never played in the snow before,” said Toni.
Toni Braxton also discussed seeking revenge on an ex:
“I remember in the past in my college years I was a little revengeful. But I wasn’t a stalker though. But a little bit revengeful. But back then, the internet wasn’t as popular. I don’t want to be sued. I remember I didn’t do it but a girlfriend of mine keyed this guy’s car. She keyed it for me and I felt bad about it. Yeah, she really did that. She keyed it. But I told him I did it, and I told him i’d pay for it, actually my girlfriend did it. And he said, ‘I want my money.’ Then he later on said, ‘Oh no, don’t worry about it.’”
Watch both videos after the break!
