Debra Byrd, a vocal coach for such shows as American Idol, Canadian Idol, Military Idol, The Voice, Majors and Minors, and others, died in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 5. She was 72 and no cause or location was given.
Byrd’s students included Grammy winners, recording artists, actors, musicians, and Broadway stars. She worked closely with Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Bob Dylan, Barry Manilow and many others.
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Byrd attended Kent State University and studied at the Karamu and Dobama Theaters. She went on to perform with Barry Manilow for many years, touring around the world as part of Ladyflash, the featured backup group for Manilow.
They released one hit of their own in 1976, Street Singin.’ The tune, which was written and arranged by Manilow, reached #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart.
“This is one of the saddest days of my life. I just can’t wrap...
Byrd’s students included Grammy winners, recording artists, actors, musicians, and Broadway stars. She worked closely with Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Bob Dylan, Barry Manilow and many others.
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Byrd attended Kent State University and studied at the Karamu and Dobama Theaters. She went on to perform with Barry Manilow for many years, touring around the world as part of Ladyflash, the featured backup group for Manilow.
They released one hit of their own in 1976, Street Singin.’ The tune, which was written and arranged by Manilow, reached #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart.
“This is one of the saddest days of my life. I just can’t wrap...
- 3/7/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Ten years ago this week, James Cameron big gambit payed off with the historic release of Avatar, a truly singular screen spectacle that took moviegoers to distant Pandora and in the process “changed the way we thought about movies, the way we thought about movie-making, even the way we thought about the movie screen,” says Stephen Lang, who memorably portrayed the 1999 sci-fi epic’s glowering heavy, Col. Miles Quaritch.
Lang returns to the military-man role in Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar 2, which Disney-owned 20th Century Fox has now scheduled for release one year from this Saturday: Dec. 21, 2021. That means Avatar 2’s opening weekend will arrive seven years later than Cameron’s originally announced target date, which makes the interplanetary saga the cinematic equivalent of a Guns N’ Roses album.
Lang’s presence in the sequel’s ensemble adds to the project’s aura of miracles-in-the-making. That’s...
Lang returns to the military-man role in Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar 2, which Disney-owned 20th Century Fox has now scheduled for release one year from this Saturday: Dec. 21, 2021. That means Avatar 2’s opening weekend will arrive seven years later than Cameron’s originally announced target date, which makes the interplanetary saga the cinematic equivalent of a Guns N’ Roses album.
Lang’s presence in the sequel’s ensemble adds to the project’s aura of miracles-in-the-making. That’s...
- 12/20/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Junkfood Cinema keeps it very manly this week.
Cursing one’s birth is a self-indulgent, melodramatic action usually reserved for ancient Greek theater. I however find myself regularly cursing the cruel circumstances that lead to my being born in 1984 and thus only getting an infantile gumming of this amazing era instead of ravenously feasting on its offerings as I do now retrospectively.
I truly believe that being only two years old when Miami Vice premiered on television is one of my greatest shortcomings as a human being. Fortunately, I was born to a father obsessed with the seminal prime time action crime series. His enthusiasm caused me to, as a teen, flash-consume reruns as if I was trying to snort them through my eyeballs. I began to lament not being old enough in 1986 to shove up my silk blazer sleeves and cruise around the neon oasis of Miami in a car I can, to...
Cursing one’s birth is a self-indulgent, melodramatic action usually reserved for ancient Greek theater. I however find myself regularly cursing the cruel circumstances that lead to my being born in 1984 and thus only getting an infantile gumming of this amazing era instead of ravenously feasting on its offerings as I do now retrospectively.
I truly believe that being only two years old when Miami Vice premiered on television is one of my greatest shortcomings as a human being. Fortunately, I was born to a father obsessed with the seminal prime time action crime series. His enthusiasm caused me to, as a teen, flash-consume reruns as if I was trying to snort them through my eyeballs. I began to lament not being old enough in 1986 to shove up my silk blazer sleeves and cruise around the neon oasis of Miami in a car I can, to...
- 7/22/2016
- by Brian Salisbury
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
I’m currently sat watching Take Me Home Tonight, the Topher Grace starrer set in the 80s and I got to thinking about how much fun I had back then, and then I got to thinking about all the cool movies that were released during my the decade and just how many of them have never seen the light of day since then… So here it is, my Top 10 movies of the 80s that have never made it to DVD (well at least not here in the UK):
1) The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
Average Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy, is caught up in an odd fight for justice. She is usually followed and harrased around by local boys, who, one day, decide to trash her brother’s scooter for fun. The boys’ father refuses to pay them back the price of the scooter. The fight for “fair is fair...
1) The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
Average Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy, is caught up in an odd fight for justice. She is usually followed and harrased around by local boys, who, one day, decide to trash her brother’s scooter for fun. The boys’ father refuses to pay them back the price of the scooter. The fight for “fair is fair...
- 7/24/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Nowadays, John Cameron Mitchell is known as an increasingly accomplished filmmaker, whose excellent "Rabbit Hole" can be currently viewed on Amazon Instant Video (and hits DVD and Blu-ray next Tuesday). But 25 years ago today, the guy who broke through with "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" saw one of his first major roles debut on the big screen. Opening April 11, 1986, "Band of the Hand" would finish the weekend #3 at the box office, just behind popular mainstays "The Money Pit" and "Police Academy 3: Back in Training." So how is it that I never heard of it? For…...
- 4/11/2011
- Spout
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