Hillel Italie, Associated Press

The Canadian-born Robertson mined American music and history for such classics as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his Old Testament style and rural settings.

The Brazilian singer, songwriter and entertainer’s cameo on “The Girl from Ipanema” made her a worldwide voice of bossa nova.

Few stars traveled so far — she was born Anna Mae Bullock in a segregated Tennessee hospital and spent her latter years on a 260,000-square-foot estate on Lake Zurich — and overcame so much.

Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer.

An American Library Association report says books with LGBTQ+ themes remain the most likely targets of bans or attempted bans at public schools and libraries across the country.

More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.

Over the past 70 years, only Lennon-McCartney, Carole King and a handful of others rivaled his genius for instantly catchy songs that remained performed, played and hummed long after they were written.

Barrett Strong was one of Motown’s founding artists and most gifted songwriters, singing lead on the company’s breakthrough single “Money (That’s What I Want),” and collaborated on such classics as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “War” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.”

His talent, energy and ego collided on such definitive records as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and sustained a career otherwise upended by personal scandal.

Trained as a librarian, Cleary didn’t start writing books until her early 30s when she wrote “Henry Huggins,” published in 1950.

The country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate is by far the youngest of the poets who have read at presidential inaugurations since Kennedy invited Robert Frost in 1961.

None of Singleton’s subsequent movies received the acclaim of “Boyz N the Hood” and he was criticized at times for turning characters into mouthpieces for political and social messages.

Glenn Frey, who co-founded the Eagles and with Don Henley became one of history's most successful songwriting teams with such hits as "Hotel California" and "Life in the Fast Lane," has died.

An emphatic ally and inspired foe, Christopher Hitchens stood by friends in trouble and against enemies in power. His list of heroes included Thomas Paine and Gore Vidal; those he shamed included Sarah Palin and Michael Moore.