Garry Shider, 56, a legendary funk guitarist whose work with Parliament-Funkadelic earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died.
Shider was known to millions of fans as “Starchild” or “Diaperman,” the latter because of the loincloth he often wore on stage.
Shider’s son, Garrett, said his father died Wednesday at his home in Upper Marlboro, Md. He had been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in March.
A New Jersey native, Shider first met P-Funk mastermind George Clinton in the late 1960s at a barbershop Clinton owned. He became a mainstay of Clinton’s wide-ranging musical family, eventually serving as its musical director and co-writing some of Parliament-Funkadelic’s biggest hits.
Sebastian Horsley, 47, a self-styled dandy and noted British eccentric who found fame by having himself nailed to a cross in the Philippines, died Thursday.
Horsley’s dysfunctional childhood and catastrophic personal life provided the fodder for his memoir, “Dandy in the Underworld,” which describes his adventures in drugs, gambling, alcoholism, prostitution and high fashion.
London’s Metropolitan police did not give a cause of death, but British media reported that he had died of a suspected overdose.
Thomas W. Ludlow Ashley, 87, a 13-term Ohio Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives who was chiefly known for his work on housing and addressing the energy crisis of the 1970s, died of melanoma Tuesday at his home in Leland, Mich.
Ashley — known colloquially as “Lud” — served Ohio’s 9th District, which includes Lucas County and the city of Toledo, from 1955 to 1981.
As chairman of a House subcommittee on housing and community development, Ashley was a key supporter of legislation to provide federal grants to cities and counties to improve low- and moderate-income housing.
Denver Post wire services
