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Al Green tells how his married ex-girlfriend threw a hot pot of grits at his back before shooting herself in the head over a rejected marriage proposal in a broadcast interview

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One of the most famous legends in the history of soul music revolves around singer Al Green, an obsessive lover and a pot of grits. Although the tale has been incorporated into the routines of countless stand-up comedians and has grow to be a popular cultural reference for ladies searching for revenge on their cheating partners (à la Lorena Bobbitt and her the infamous carving knife incident), the true history of the event stays relatively unknown.

By the mid-Seventies, Green was one of the most successful artists in the world. Between 1971 and 1974, he sold over 20 million albums and recorded five more hits: “Tired of Being Alone”, “Call Me”, “Let’s Stay Together”, “You Ought to Be With Me”, and “I’m Still in You” in love.” He was also an undeniable sex symbol, with fans flocking to him in every state.

CIRCA 1972: Soul singer Al Green poses for a portrait circa 1972. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Soul singer Al Green poses for a portrait circa 1972. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Recently a the video reappeared from the 1984 documentary “The Gospel According to Al Green,” in which the “Love and Happiness” singer details what happened that day at his Memphis home in 1974.

According to the singer, he dated a 29-year-old woman named Mary Woodson, who confessed that she was in love with him. Unbeknownst to Green, when he met Woodson, she had just left her husband and three children in New Jersey to attend his concert events in New York.

After returning home to Memphis from a performance in San Francisco, Woodson unexpectedly began talking to the star about her feelings. Unfortunately, Green didn’t feel the same way about her, he explained. When he admitted that he liked Woodson and was comfortable with their casual situation, her tone appeared to change from amorous to obsessive.

“She says, ‘Well, I love you and I don’t want to live without you,’” Green recalled. She told him she didn’t wish to “get involved in anything other than a relationship with the star.”

Green replied, “Well, please don’t take a ‘do or die’ attitude about this,” then added, “Man, you know there’s something to live for.”

Green admits he didn’t take her desperation seriously and kept emphasizing that they each had “freedom” to do as they pleased. But Woodson didn’t see it that way. She desired to marry him, regardless that she was already married and had a family in New Jersey.

“She asked me if I’d marry her. I say, “Well, no. I do not think I’m able to get married. It’s 1974. I mean, I’ve been in this music business for 2 or three years, you recognize,” Green recalled.

According to the soul singer, he went upstairs to his house and closed the door to rest. After a while, he got up, went downstairs and saw Woodson boiling water. Despite asking why Woodson was boiling water, she dismissed him.

Green then went to his bathroom to take a bath. While attempting to get out of the bathtub, Woodson forced his way in and poured a pot of hot grits down his back.

“I was wearing this little thin robe. … I am in complete pain and shock,” Green said.

The 11-time Grammy winner said Woodson added grit to boiling water to make it stick together and “stick together.”

“Suddenly I’m full of it. It hurts a lot, I reach back and two fingers are full of skin. I went there, full of cereal, jumped in the shower because every thing hurts, and I called this girl round the corner to assist me because I’m mainly, you recognize, and man, I even have these big boils on my skin. And I’m in total pain. I can not consider the pain,” he explained.

Shortly after dousing the singer with hot porridge, Woodson retreated to the bedroom and shot herself with Green’s .38-caliber pistol.

He added: “Suddenly you hear (makes a gunshot sound). Then it was over. You hear something hit the floor… boom!”

The then 27-year-old, still in pain from his burns, said he asked what the noise was and was told it was gunshots and that his girlfriend was dead. After the shooting, he instructed someone to call police.

“It looks like a suicide,” Inspector Dan Jones said in 1974 in the New York Times. Jones also revealed that three-page farewell letter Words on motel stationery were found in Woodson’s purse. Green suffered second-degree burns on his back, arms and abdomen and required a skin graft.

The publication tells a barely different story than Green.

Police Capt. William Maley said the Arkansas man told police he returned home around 4 a.m. after recording the soundtrack for a recent movie. He was accompanied by one other woman, Carlotta Beth Williams, 21, of Denver.

Green said that shortly after going inside, he went upstairs to take a bath and was getting out of the bathtub when Woodson rushed in, threw a pot of “hot boiling grits” at him, then ran out of the room and shot himself. firearm.

Shortly after this incident, Green later abandoned his secular profession and devoted himself to spreading the gospel.

According to Davin Seay, who collaborated with Green on his 2000 autobiography “Take Me To The River,” the singer doesn’t immediately connect his acceptance of faith with the traumatic events of October 18, 1974.

“He likes to distance the facts about his (religious) conversion from the terrible events of that night,” he added. says Seay, “but I think the incident with Woodson kind of highlighted his need to continue, to close one part of his life and open another.”


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Kendrick Lamar Releases Surprise Album ‘GNX’; group chats are going crazy

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Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar GNX, GNX, GNX album, K-Dot, K-Dot GNX, theGrio.com

There are few things more exciting than receiving an infinite barrage of text messages at the very same time in numerous group chats. This normally implies that something vital has happened in popular culture. Well, the exact same thing happened about noon on November 22, within the yr of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, higher often called Kendrick Lamar, released the album “GNX”, nod towards Buick Grand National Regal GNXa rare muscle automobile released in 1987 – which also happens to be the yr Kendrick was born.

“GNX” is coming to the tip of what has been a banner yr for Kendrick Lamar. From epic diss records geared toward Drake, to creating the largest song of his profession (and a Drake diss track) on “Not Like Us”, to the “Pop Out” concert streaming live to tell the tale Amazon Prime, Kendrick won this yr. He even received seven Grammy nominations, mostly for “Not Like Us.” And this victory will proceed in the brand new yr. In September, it was announced that Kendrick would stay Super Bowl 2025 headliner will happen in New Orleans. This announcement sparked some controversy and comments from several New Orleans legends similar to Juvenile and most notably Lil Wayne, who felt disrespected; Kendrick immediately refers to this topic within the opening song of the album (all stylized in lower case), “wacced out murals”.

The thing is, Kendrick didn’t sleep for many of 2024. And then, while the remaining of us were minding our own business, listening to other albums that had just dropped, like Ice Cube’s “Man Down,” I began receiving text after text… and I knew that would only mean that something vital happened.

At this point in my life (and possibly even yours), Kendrick Lamar releases are a drop-everything-and-listen event. I immediately went to the streaming service, launched “GNX” and pressed “Play”.

I need to admit that the primary time I heard the album I used to be a bit confused. Kendrick has probably never been more popular or famous; if there was ever a time to drag a Kanye West and release his own version of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” – an album largely produced as Kanye’s best and most representative of Kanye’s greatness – now could be the time. “GNX” has a far more modern West Coast vibe and is certainly more for his die-hard fans than anyone who just began gaining attention due to his beef with Drake. Maybe that was the purpose; possibly not.

Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar GNX, GNX, GNX album, K-Dot, K-Dot GNX, theGrio.com
Photo: Dave Free

Either way, I can imagine that folks whose favorite lines are “OV-Ho” won’t be immediately thrilled. I wasn’t immediately blown away (though very amused by how sensitive Kendrick is to what people say about him on social media, well, everyone), but as is all the time the case with Kendrick albums, repeated listens are likely to correct any immediate monotony that I even have about his projects. For example, now that I’ve listened to it just a few times, I can not wait to listen to black college bands playing “tv off” style, which seems like a cousin of “Not Like Us.” The Shoot, Bayou Classic, which also takes place yearly in New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day, stands out as the first time we hear a band playing “TV off.”

Since the album didn’t come out long enough to be reviewed, group chats and social media were abuzz with immediate reactions. This is the a part of music releases I really like, where everyone seems to be listening to the identical thing, offering premature takes that will not even delay the following day. I’m not different; I’m sure I’ll say something about this album that can sound silly by Monday. Shoot, I can have already done it. But that is what happens when great artists release music. We spend time with others after which we refer to them, analyze them, criticize them, praise them, destroy them and let all our prejudices fly free. Love it.

It’s value noting that certainly one of Drake’s diss tracks that did not appear during last summer’s fracas was titled “The Heart Part 6,” and was an apparent try to usurp Kendrick’s pre-album practice of removing a non-album song titled “The Heart.” Well, Kendrick has a song on his recent album called, you guessed it, “The Heart, Pt. 6,” which I feel will probably be released soon Drake. Good job, Kenny.

Argue.


Panama Jackson theGrio.com

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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New music this week: Tyla, Lola Brooke, Coco Jones and more – Essence

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Happy Friday, people! Whether you are drinking a warm beverage or preparing for a fun-filled weekend, this week’s latest music releases set the tone. From sensual R&B melodies to powerful hip-hop anthems, these songs have something for everybody.

Coco Jones leads the pack along with her seasonal album, and Tyla offers a heartfelt change of tone with “Tears.” Miguel’s smooth “Always Time” and Jorja Smith’s tender “Stay Another Day” showcase R&B at its finest, while Lola Brooke and Killer Mike turn up the warmth on “Go To Yo Head” and “Warryn’s Groove,” respectively. Today’s list also includes music from Eric Bellinger, Coi Leray, Blxst and more.

Below you possibly can read our list of latest products.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Serena Williams is cutting short divorce talks for a second time after the couple reunited and put months of rumors to rest

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Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian are still doing well despite months of unconfirmed divorce rumors.

On November 17, Williams and the Reddit co-founder took a walk down memory lane and tested one another by asking questions on themselves and their family in a recent promotional ad. The couple ate a few of their favorite meals and meanwhile checked their glucose levels using Hello Lingo, a glucose monitoring device.

Nearly five minutes into the recording, Williams tested her husband’s memory by asking, “Who said I love you first?”

Ohanian, who shares two daughters, Olimpia and Adira, with the tennis legend, responds quickly by saying, “Mmm,” before writing his answer on the board.

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian recall who said “I love you” first amid divorce rumors. (Photo: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)

“It’s like ‘The Newlywed Game,'” Williams said, writing down her answer, referring to the mid-Nineteen Sixties show “The Newlywed Game,” which tested couples who had been married for lower than two years to see if how much they learn about their relationship. amplifier.

Both Williams and Ohanian turn the board over to reveal their answers and, quite shockingly, they received two different answers. Ohanian wrote that Williams said it first, but Williams claims it was Ohanian.

“Come now. Are you going to lie about this? he declared to Williams, who responded with a laugh: “I said I would be honest.”

“That’s not an honest answer,” Ohanian continued. “I still keep in mind that phone call. Oh, you realize I felt the same, but you certainly said it first.

Williams joked: “My glucose levels were high. I ate some ice cream, my glucose level was too high. Then I tell this guy and I feel like saying things I would not normally say. The moment ended with Williams replaying how she told Ohanian those three special words.

Of course, there was no shortage of reactions from fans who showed their love for the couple and how well they interact of their normal element.

One YouTube commenter he wrote“It’s great to see Serena and Alexis in this normal environment, they are so lovely and have great charisma. I love them even more now and I feel great chemistry between them.”

Someone else said: “I liked this part. They seem to really like each other.”

However, as rumors swirled about problems of their marriage, one fan was confused by the video shared on Instagram.

“I thought I read that they got divorced?” he wrote one person in Williams’ comment section.

Someone else also addressed the rumors, writing: “Where are the haters who said divorce was imminent? Sometimes people will be crazy. Seriously, how are you going to even start assuming things like that about people you have never met?

This summer, fans began speculating that Williams and her seven-year marriage to Ohanian were in trouble after they noticed she hadn’t posted from him on her social media pages in some time.

Moreover, Ohanian was noticeably absent from the June premiere of the documentary “In the Arena: Serena Williams” and was also absent from her side at the Met Gala in May.

But they got back together this summer after they attended the Paris Olympics with their daughter Olympia in July.

Among the many viral moments spent with the Ohanian family, she organizes: umbrella for his wife and the European commentator – who didn’t realize he was her husband – and called Ohanian Serena’s “umbrella holder”.

The tech guru reacted to the moment hilariously by snapping a photo of himself holding an umbrella over himself and his daughter.

Ohanian joked, “I am also a personal Olympia umbrella owner. Sidebar: You all set the bar too low for me and celebrity daddies only get flowers for *admitting* they have kids.”

The proud dad is probably also Adira’s personal umbrella holder.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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