Legendary musician Clarence Clemons died Saturday due to complications from a stroke a week earlier. Clemons was 69 years old.

Clemons was best-known for his work as saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen made the story of his and Clemons’ first meeting, in a music club where Springsteen’s band was playing in 1971, into the stuff of myth. Springsteen often told of that event, “With a lightning storm raging outside, the Big Man tore the door off an Asbury Park club, strode onstage, and made magic.”

Clemons’ version of his first meeting with Springsteen differed only slightly:

One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I’d heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. Onstage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story, but I’m a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth.

A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were onstage …staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, “I want to play with your band,” and he said, “Sure, you do anything you want.”

“From the first time we saw each other, we stayed together for two weeks,” Clemons told CNN of Springsteen in 2009. “We were inseparable.”

In 2008, Clemons had double knee-replacement surgery. He regained his ability to walk in 2009; that year, he also published his memoir, Big Man.

The day after his book’s publication, charity organization Little Kids Rock honored Clemons with the first-ever “Big Man of the Year Award” to recognize his philanthropy in raising money for music programs in underfunded public schools.

Most recently, Clemons appeared in Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory.”

Clemons suffered a stroke last week in his home. He had undergone two brain surgeries in the days following, but he ultimately passed away from complications.

A gallery, with photos of Clemons spanning 1975-2011, is hidden after the cut.

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Best Coast had one of my favorite albums last year and they’ve already made my favorite music video of 2011. The new video for their single “Crazy for You” is everywhere online this morning, and while the catchy tune probably doesn’t hurt, I’m going to guess that it’s the feline stars that are pushing it over the top. This thing is two calicos short of an episode of Hoarders.

The Internet loves cats you guys. Cats doing cute things, cats doing funny things, cats doing things that are usually done by humans (like using an iPad or directing a hipster music video.) The secret to Internet success hasn’t been a secret for some time now.

See, Lady Gaga? It’s not all about big-budget production. And Katy Perry? You never had to make your breasts ejaculate whipped topping on to the eyes of teenage America. You ladies just needed to stack some cats on top of each other and get your hair blown out real cute.

Billboard did a list of their top 25 songs of the year (you can see it on the original YouTube page), and here they all are in five and a half minutes of pure woe.  You can have your Ke$ha with your Rihanna, your Jason Derulo with your Train.  But at what price?

I don’t know about you guys, but I only like maybe two and a half of these songs in a non-ironic way (Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” gets me every single time, and I won’t apologize for that), and the rest are just upsetting.  I get physically uncomfortable listening to “Tik Tok” and “Imma Be,” but the kids are all over it these days.  Down at the gay bar, everyone goes crazy when “California Gurls” comes on, and I’m always like “you guys, they’re not talking about us.”  I don’t get it.

That being said, this mashup is super well done.  It probably helps that most of the songs sound really similar to begin with. Do you guys like it?   Ironically or not, I’m just curious.  If you genuinely like it, I’m curious as to why, and if you share my opinion, I’d like to commiserate and hear your opinion on good music.  All is not lost, you guys.

Levi Johnston may not be with Bristol Palin anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to fall out of the spotlight. That’s right, Old Levdawgs is back to trying his hand at the whole Hollywood thing, this time co-starring in a music video with singer Brittani Senser. Yeah, I have no idea who she is either.

A promotional poster for the “After Love” music video (LOL, what kind of world are we living in?) has been released, and while I’m trying to look on the bright side, there doesn’t seem to be much of one. Unless you count “so campy and poorly made that it’s actually kind of funny to watch,” as a positive (Yet I doubt that’s the feel Brittani is going for.)

If you want to find out what this Brittani chick is all about, here’s a video of her performing “After Love” live. Her voice isn’t as bad as choices in male leads.

And she’s kind of reminding me more of the original pop tart, Madonna, rather than Lady Gaga.

Aguilera sits down with GQ‘s German version and dishes on motherhood, sex appeal and music. The June issue, now available in select newsstands, features black and white bondage-type photos of the amazing songstress, who discusses life and a newfound confidence after the birth of her son, Max:

“I was never sharper than now, never attractive, sex has always been a big part of me in my work and private. But today I feel better than ever in my skin. And I understand how I get exactly what I want … That’s part of the change of having a child for me – seeing your body do these things you never thought possible. When you have a baby, you go through a period where your body is not your own. It becomes for your child and that’s it. Once you bounce back from that and kind of get your body back … I feel better than ever. It’s a great feeling.”

And naturally, she’s asked about her Lady Gaga similarities:

“That, in particular, is not even worth wasting the breath to comment on,” said the singer, whose new album, Bionic, drops June 8. “I’ve been around for over a decade and I think my work speaks for myself.

Well said, girlfriend. You remind me more of Madonna than anyone else, anyway. And I’d personally rather bang Madonna than Lady Gaga … at least Madonna circa “Material Girl,” rather than now, at any rate.

You guys watch Community? OK, well, it’s good and you should watch it if you don’t, but if you do, you know Donald Glover, who plays Troy. During his downtime, Don recorded a mixtape under the name Childish Gambino and released it on his website for free. And it’s sick. His lyrics are tight and funny and his skill level is surprisingly good.

Rapping over bands like Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, Childish Gambino tells us what it’s like to be the most fashionable young TV actor in the game. On my favorite track, “My Girls”, he also gives some insight to what it’s like to date a dude whose job lends to a player lifestyle. You can download parts 1 and 2 of his mixtape “I Am Just a Rapper” here and here.

Listen to “New Prince (Crown On the Ground)” here:

New Prince (Crown On the Ground) by Childish Gambino