Welsh was found unresponsive in a Chicago hotel room on Saturday. By Gil Kaufman Mikey Welsh in 2001 Photo: John Shearer/WireImage One-time bassist for Weezer Mikey Welsh was found dead in a Chicago hotel room on Saturday. Forty-year-old Welsh played in the group between 1998 and 2001, leaving more than a decade ago after suffering a nervous breakdown. According to the Chicago Tribune, Welsh was found unresponsive on the floor of his room at the Raffaello Hotel on Saturday after failing to check out on time. A cleaning crew tried to open the door to his room and was unable to get in, at which point they found his body lying unresponsive near the door. He was pronounced dead a short time later, and while the cause of death was not announced pending further toxicology results, authorities suspect a drug overdose. Police said prescription drugs were found in the room, along with a plastic baggie containing white powder believed to be heroin. Welsh was the band’s second bassist, replacing original member Matt Sharp, playing on the band’s “Green” album, which featured the hits “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun.” After leaving the group, he focused on a second career as a visual artist, and recently wrote on his Twitter page that he was looking forward to seeing Weezer in Chicago at the Riotfest on Sunday night. “Today is a hard day for Weezer and all Weezer friends, fans, and family,” the band’s webmaster, Karl Koch, wrote on Sunday. “While everyone is still in shock over yesterday’s tragic loss of Mikey Welsh, we know damn well he would never have wanted to stop the rock at today’s RIOTfest, the show he was planning on attending. On the contrary, the rock was what he loved, both in music and art. To play the show and play it well tonight is to honor him and his memory. We have a feeling he will be watching.” The band also posted a tribute to Welsh on the site , describing the bass player as “our beautiful, creative, hilarious and sweet friend,” who was “never one to shy away from the absurd, dangerous or strange.” On October 1, Welsh wrote excitedly about taking his first vacation in “quite a long time,” saying he was headed to Nashville to be photographed working on a large-scale painting with a friend and then to Chicago to see Weezer. “I’m excited to see the boys, hang out and have some fun,” he wrote. The man who replaced Welsh, Scott Shriner, tweeted his condolences, writing, “Really bummed about Mikey. Heart goes out to his family and friends. Such a talent … he made a special mark on the world with his art.” Share your wishes and condolences by leaving them on our Facebook page. Related Artists Weezer
Enjoy Jacqueline Laurita for a few more episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey this season, viewers. They may be the final time you see her on Bravo. With rumors swirling that this franchise will replace at least one cast member before next summer, Laurita’s name has jumped to the top of the list. Why might she be a goner? Consider these recent Tweets from Jacqueline: 2b honest.I’m tired of the BS &shitty low life people.I didn’t know this was what I signed up 4.I have 2rise above&move on. I can’t be part of the Charade anymore.It’s unsettling. It’s disturbing & against what I stand for. I’m a REAL housewife. What does Jacqueline Laurita stand for? What qualifies her to be a REAL housewife? It’s all very unclear. But how would you feel if she did not return to the series? That’s what we want to know: Do you want to see Jacqueline Laurita come back to The Real Housewives of New Jersey?
Amber Portwood walked off set during the filming of the Teen Mom reunion that aired Tuesday night, but not for the reasons many expected. Surprisingly, the troubled star’s meltdown had nothing to do with her legal drama, her controversial relationship with Gary Shirley or her suicide attempt. It was the memory of her sister. Still dealing with the hurt of losing her baby sister to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), Amber got emotional when Dr. Drew brought up the topic. It’s a sad subject, but do you think everything else going on in her life contributed to that reaction? Or was she just caught off guard by the question? It’ll be interesting to see if she can get her life together or if this is yet another sign of bad things to come for Amber Portwood . In the meantime, tell us: Which Teen Mom star is the best parent?
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, band’s close friend — and former MTV staffer — Amy Finnerty recalls their rise to fame. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Vanessa WhiteWolf Kurt Cobain Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage When Amy Finnerty first met Nirvana , she had just come to MTV to work in the Music and Programming department. Of course, she didn’t let them know that fact. She was just blown away to finally meet the guys who had made her favorite album (at least at that point): Bleach. Over the next four years, Finnerty would not only become close friends with the band, but intrinsically linked to them too. Since she was just a few years younger than the guys (not to mention a huge fan), she was one of the first people within the company to champion them — and was almost singlehandedly responsible for getting their “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the channel. And because of all that — and the 20th anniversary of the epochal Nevermind album — MTV News sat down with Finnerty to get the inside story on the days before Nirvana became a household name and the wild (and amazing) times that followed after. And it all started with that first meeting, backstage in New York. “The first night I met Nirvana, I was backstage at, I think it was a Waterboys show, and the band was in New York, touring on the Bleach album, and they were being courted by a bunch of record labels, Geffen being one of them,” she said. “So I’m standing around backstage, and I see Kurt Cobain leaning up against the wall, and, uh, ‘Oh my God, that’s Kurt from Nirvana.’ And, at that point, they weren’t Nirvana — I mean, they were to me, but not everybody on the planet knew who they were — but, I was terrified. I was scared to go up and introduce myself, but I did. And he said, ‘How do you even know who I am ?’ And I said ‘You’re in Nirvana! I’m going to see your band at the Pyramid in a few days! You’re a great, great band!’ “And he was pretty surprised, so we got to chatting and he said to me, ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’ and I said, ‘Oh, well, I work at MTV, whatever,’ and so he screams down the hall, ‘Krist, this girl works at MTV.’ And it was on from that second,” she laughed. “They started teasing me, making fun of me, Krist was throwing beer around, we were shaking up our beer bottles and squirting each other with beer and stuff, so, it immediately became this joke, because I really wasn’t trying to tell them what I did [at MTV]. For the longest time, they referred to me as ‘V.P. of Post-It Notes,’ because they didn’t know that I worked in Music Programming, because they would’ve teased me about it.” Riki Rachtman recalls Nirvana’s cross-dressing appearance on “Headbangers Ball.” Of course, in the months that followed, the hype around the band (and their then-forthcoming album Nevermind ) began to swirl, and once Finnerty heard what they guys had been working on with producer Butch Vig, she knew big things were on the horizon. “The first time I listened to the record, it was like, when you’re on vacation and you see something really beautiful that you’ve never seen before and you open your eyes up super-wide, because you want to get the memory ingrained into your brain, and that’s the way I felt,” she said. “I was trying to remember every single note.” Still, convincing the folks at MTV to take a chance on the band proved a lot tougher than she’d imagined. After all, she was young, and the band was virtually unknown outside of a few hip enclaves around the country. But that all changed the second she saw the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video — which, in a bit of alt-rock kismet, arrived in her office at the exact moment another soon-to-be-huge band did too. “The Smashing Pumpkins were staying at my house, and I said, ‘You guys, come by MTV, give me the keys to the apartment, and then I’ll bring you around the halls and introduce you to some people.’ … And so the Pumpkins came in 10 minutes after I had gotten my hands on that music video, and so we went into my office to watch it, and everyone thought it was incredible,” Finnerty said. “So I took the video and I walked around the halls at MTV and simultaneously introduced a bunch of people to the Smashing Pumpkins, and then we’d watch the video … and then we’d go to a producer’s office and I’d say, ‘These are the Smashing Pumpkins, and the Gish record that just came out is so incredible, and they’re going to send us a video. Oh, and by the way, we’ve got this Nirvana video; you have to check it out.’ ” Nirvana’s rise to fame, in their own words. After Finnerty showed a few folks within the building “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, she brought it to MTV’s music meeting, where the fates of new videos were decided. After some healthy back-and-forth, it was determined that “Spirit” would be given a world premiere during MTV’s “120 Minutes” (with rotation on the channel to begin the following week). It was a sink-or-swim moment for the band and as you’re probably aware, things worked out pretty well. “That was unprecedented; MTV, as far as I know, had never world-premiered a video for a band that they had no history with,” Finnerty explained. “And then … some of the crew and a lot of the people that were on the road with the band came over to my house that Sunday night, and we all sat up waiting for this world premiere, and, like, I took pictures of it. It was a big moment!” It was just the first of many for the band and their friend. But for all the highlights, perhaps none illustrates Nirvana’s scruffy charm quite like a story Finnerty told us about a party she threw for the band at her New York City apartment. Twenty years later, it’s one she’s still amazed by — sort of like the band she helped become huge (“in some small way,” she cautioned) just by believing. “So Nirvana played in New York, and I had decided to have a party at my apartment afterwards … and the band came, and I think [the Pixies’] Kim Deal was there, and then there were just a host of other people that I had no idea who they were. And I leaned over to Kurt and I was like, ‘Are these your friends? Do you know any of these people?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know any of these people … do you want me to get them to leave?’ ” she recalled. “So he said, ‘I’m going to walk out, I’m going to go downstairs and hide under the stairs, and everyone’s going to leave. Watch.’ And so he walked out, and, you know, you could see everyone trying to act casual, but they all saw him leave, and then it was like a mass exodus; within 10 minutes my apartment was cleared. “And then he came back up and got me and told me that we were going to go listen to the best jukebox in town, and I thought I was going to have this unbelievable night of listening to some hidden punk rock on some cool jukebox in New York, right?” she continued. “But instead he took me to the 119 Bar, which, at the time, had a jukebox that only played disco music. And so we danced to Donna Summer, and then we went home. It was a pretty amazing night.” Stick with MTV News all week as we reveal the Nevermind You Never Knew , celebrating the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s definitive album with classic footage, new interviews and much more. Related Artists Nirvana
Charlie Sheen knows it will take a lot more than a few words to make up for his dangerous, nutty behavior from the first half of this year. But the actor swears he’s sober these days, telling Matt Lauer in an interview (which will air on The Today Show tomorrow) that he has to “lead by example” going forward and “it’s the actions and the behavior that matter” when it comes to proving himself to others. And the star has taken a couple actual steps in that direction, recently mending fences with ex-wife Brooke Mueller and even paying for her rehab . But, seriously, what the heck happened during the time that led to his firing from Two and a Half Men ? “It was like being shot out of a cannon into another cannon and then being just shot out of that one,” Sheen says. “It was like from one moment to the next I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was pretty exciting… I don’t believe in fear and defeat is not an option and I had to live by those mottos. Regardless of how I felt.” Is he sorry in any way? Yes. Sort of. Kind of. “Looking back on it, I don’t think I would trade it, but there are portions of it I would have amended a little bit.” And what is his state these days? A lot calmer, Sheen says, “a lot mellow.” He concludes: “I’m seeing my kids a lot more… just trying to move forward and prioritize what matters. You know, just really get back in touch with some more reality and some more. It’s what I call the moments inside the moments. I think that’s where the life is, you know, it’s in those quiet moments. It’s not the giant TV deal or the big party or the award or whatever, it’s the memory of your child’s smile at the end of the day that sort of brings that one lonesome tear.” Man, this Sheen is a lot less boring to write about than the other Sheen.
Anderson Cooper, the Jonas Brothers, Snooki and other famous Twitter users share memories and prayers. By Terri Schwartz Nicki Minaj Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images A decade has passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, but the memory of that day and those who were affected by it still lives on in America. Celebrities from Anderson Cooper to Lil Wayne took to Twitter on Sunday morning to share thoughts on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 . New York native Lea Michele was in high school when NYC’s Twin Towers were destroyed, and the “Glee” star looked back on how the city has grown in the past 10 years. “NYC is one of the most strong & beautiful places in the world. I feel so blessed & proud today to have been born and raised in this city,” she tweeted . “To all the families and people of New York affected by the tragedies of September 11th my thoughts and prayers go out to you.” Travie McCoy, who was born in Geneva, New York, also took to Twitter to offer his condolences to those affected during the September 11 attacks. “Something about flying on this particular day that is mildly eerie. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of 9/11. Very sad day,” the Gym Class Heroes frontman said. CNN host and fellow New Yorker Anderson Cooper tweeted from the memorial event at Ground Zero on Sunday. He called the gathering of the families of those killed during the attack a “beautiful memorial,” and offered reminders of all the major events that occurred that day. Look back at how the aftermath of 9/11 affected young Muslim Americans. Proud New Jersey native Kevin Smith took to Twitter to recall how he found out that the Twin Towers were hit. “10 years ago, I was fast asleep in Toluca Lake when my Mom called, yelling ‘We’re under attack’,” the director tweeted . “My heart goes out to all the families and friends of the people in both the planes and the buildings who were murdered 10 years ago today.” “Jersey Shore” castmembers shared their best wishes via Twitter for those who were affected by the tragedy. “Remembering 9.11 my prayers go out to all the families that lost their loved ones and all who serve our country! #Neverforget #fdny #nypd,” Snooki
Maria Maggenti, who wrote the Selena Gomez luxury binge fantasia Monte Carlo , is your Dirty Dancing remake scribe! Since Monte Carlo , Maggenti has written an adaptation of Before I Fall and is wrapping up work on the multi-century romance My Name Is Memory . Hopefully this means we’re in for a decadent, Disney-pop trip to the Catskills and a scene about Penny’s abortion to set Gomez’s empowerment anthem ” Who Says? ” [ Deadline ]
Michael Jackson’s kids are planning on attending the upcoming MJ Tribute Concert in person. This in spite of objections from two of their uncles. Prince, Paris and Blanket have all decided that they want to fly to Wales for the event, regardless of what Jermaine and Randy Jackson think. An Jackson family rep tells TMZ: “Paris, Blanket and Prince have been asked to attend the MJ Tribute in Wales and they have decided to go.” The rep adds that the kids are “extremely excited and they’re hoping they will have the opportunity to contribute in some way by making a speech.” “Nothing has been set in stone, but they really hope they can.” Jermaine and Randy are fighting their attendance, as well as the concert itself, which they consider “inappropriate,” given that the event is due to take place in October during the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray . We can see that side of it, but at the same time, Michael’s kids – who are said to be so happy these days – should be allowed to honor his memory. [Photo: Fame Pictures]
Admit it: you still have some of your ex’s things lying around your room. Every major spring cleaning uncovers a letter, a baseball hat, a picture, or a sock (yuck) that he left behind. So what do you do? Toss it in the trash with the clothes that no longer fit? Or keep it in your dresser drawer as a memory? I asked around the HelloBeautiful office and it seems that people have mixed feelings when it comes to erasing every memory of your ex: From the girl who wants to get rid of the past and move on: After a dramatic breakup, the last thing you want to do is meet up with your ex again to return each others’ belongings. You could always do the old “throw it in a garbage bag and leave it outside your door.” I say you try to gather as much of his stuff that you can find and leave it somewhere for him that’s far away from you . When you happen to come across his favorite t-shirt 2 months down the line, throw it away. Or maybe sell it depending on how much it’s worth. From the memory keeper who thinks that everything happens for a reason: There’s a reason that you stumble across his Valentine’s Day card six months later. Maybe it’s not fate and a sign that you should date again, but it could be a reminder of your past . Getting rid of every memory with an ex also gets rid of positive memories, memories that you might like to look back on. Maybe looking at that old movie ticket stub will remind you of how much you’ve grown since your relationship. Just because you’ve thrown away all of the physical parts of your relationship doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen: keeping memories doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re dwelling on the past, there’s a lot of room for reflection as well. Let it out ladies: Are you a “throw it in the fire” kind of girl? Or are you a “use memories to reflect” kind of girl? Top 4 Most Annoying Text Message Cop-Outs Is It Possible To Re-Do Romance? How To Balance “Bro-mance” Versus “Romance” Are These BP Artists Good Enough to Get Signed? 2011 BET Award Winners & Recap FACT OF THE DAY: Foxy Brown Was Not Always Foxy FACT OF THE DAY: LL Cool J Dropped Out Of High School To Record His Debut Album
Kimmy Cakes is doing her Armenian heritage proud… The reality star, who graces the cover of Egypt’s leading fashion magazine DIVA this month, is speaking up on behalf of her peoples today by recognizing the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Kim took to her blog to express her seldom voiced political views: My family and I are incredibly proud of our heritage. My dad taught me a lot about Armenian culture, and I have a strong connection with my roots. Every year, I honor the memory of the martyrs who were killed during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Even though so many countries around the world recognize the Genocide, the government of Turkey still denies it. It happened before Rwanda, Darfur, and the Holocaust. Maybe none of those other genocides would have happened if more nations had condemned the Armenian Genocide, when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred. Some people might wonder why I’m talking about history on my blog. And that’s what I’m trying to show…it’s not history. Until this crime is resolved truthfully and fairly, the Armenian people will live with the pain of what happened to their families and the fear of what might happen again to their homeland. So out of respect for all those innocent people that died, I’m putting a spotlight on it today. Read the rest of my blog post here. Today, thousands of Armenians will come together in Los Angeles to protest against the denial of the genocide and urge the United States government to recognize the Armenian Genocide. I hope that I can bring some attention to this today. And, this year, April 24 falls on Easter Sunday. Armenians are the first Christian Nation in the world, and almost everyone will be in church to celebrate Easter. Even on this really happy day, we’re going to be remembering the Genocide. There’s going to be a National Day of Prayer in churches across America to celebrate Easter and commemorate the Genocide. My thoughts and prayers are with all my fellow Armenians on this really important day. I stand proud with you always. Guess she is trying to let folks know she is more than just some swirl-crazy bird. Source
