Ananda Lewis, Influential MTV Host, Dies at 52
News of Lewis' death was confirmed in a Facebook post by her sister, Lakshmi Emory. In 2020, Lewis revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, saying that she had long avoided mammograms and urged early testing.
More from Billboard
DJ Akademiks Denies Taking Payola From Drake During Kendrick Battle
Raekwon and Ghostface Killah Release Trailer for 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' Documentary
SEVENTEEN Have a Good Time Being a 'Bad Influence' in Futuristic Video For Pharrell-Produced Single
Her last post to Instagram was in February, when she wrote that 'prevention is the cure. If you're in a healthy body, you're holding a winning lotto ticket. PLEASE learn how to avoid cancer. Because you still can.' Lewis is survived by her son, Langston, who is 14.
Born in Los Angeles, Lewis attended Howard University and then came to cultural prominence in the late '90s as an MTV veejay. After joining the network in 1997, she hosted programs including the countdown show Total Request Live and Hot Zone, which featured music videos and Lewis' artist interviews. The network also called upon Lewis to host specials on school violence after the 1999 Columbine shooting along with a tribute program following the 2001 death of Aaliyah.
Lewis launched The Ananda Lewis Show in 2001 and later served as a correspondent on Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider, eventually leaving that project to pursue carpentry. Her final project was as the host of TLC's While You Were Out.
On social media, fellow former MTV veejay Dave Holmes remembered Lewis writing 'Well, this is awful. Ananda Lewis has died. She was the best: friendly funny kind clever cool committed passionate patient stylish and smart. If you were working with her, you knew you'd be having fun, and you'd want to step your game up to match her effortless charisma. You couldn't, but the trying made you better. We bonded over our shared love of this song, it has reminded me of her ever since, and now it always will. All my love to her family.'
Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Drake Kicks Off The Road To ‘ICEMAN' With Livestream, New Music Video For 'What Did I Miss?'
For the second year in a row, the 4th of July played host to a momentous musical release; coincidentally, the consecutive drops have come from the two guys who had the biggest rap beef of all time last year, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The 6 God hosted a live stream where he debuted a new single accompanied by a music video, teased additional new music, and took a victory lap throughout his hometown, Toronto. On Friday afternoon (July 4), the 38-year-old rapper posted a simple graphic on Instagram that read '9 PM.' Soon, music pages began to circulate that he had a new single coming out titled 'What Did I Miss?' A few minutes before it was time to hear the rumored track, a live link appeared on the five-time Grammy winner's YouTube page titled 'ICEMAN EPISODE 1.' The live stream started late, but when it began, fans looked into an ice warehouse for about 20 minutes. For months, Drizzy had been posting images suggesting his next album would be titled ICEMAN, and this company happened to have that same name, so this stream felt like a confirmation. Eventually, the camera angles in the warehouse started changing and showed him walking through the warehouse into a break room. There, he watched old footage of himself performing on a television before the screen transitioned to him standing in his backyard with several guns pointed at him. The beat dropped, and per the chorus, it was clear that this was the worldwide debut of his new single 'What Did I Miss?' and its music video. He rapped and danced along to the song while walking throughout the warehouse before jumping into one of the ICEMAN trucks. The cameras followed him as he drove throughout Toronto, playing a new song rumored to be titled 'Supermax,' plus a repeat of 'What Did I Miss?' and his guest appearance on Smiley's latest single '2 Mazza.' While driving through his city, he greeted and exchanged handshakes with fans. After the live stream ended, Drake announced that 'What Did I Miss?' would be available on all streaming platforms at midnight, and, sure enough, it was. The record reflects on this past year of his career and the betrayals he's been on the wrong side of amid his beef with K. Dot. 'I don't give a f**k if you love me, I don't give a f**k if you like me/ Askin' me, 'How did it feel?' Can't say it didn't surprise me/ Last time I looked to my right, you ni**as was standing beside me/ How can some people I love hang around pu**ies who try me?' he sings in the chorus. Also, notably at the end of the live stream, he announced, 'ICEMAN Coming Soon.' There is currently no date set for the album, but given the father of one's affinity for releasing new albums in the fall, it is safe to predict that he may follow suit here. If so, that would be another year of his career where he releases multiple albums, with the PARTYNEXTDOOR-assisted collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U coming out this past February. Time will tell, but in the meantime, check out 'What Did I Miss?' below. More from Leon Thomas, BigXThaPlug, Popcaan, And More To Join Drake At 2025 Wireless Festival In London N.O.R.E. Claims Pusha T Once Yelled Over Pharrell Williams Amid Drake Feud Taylor Rooks Addresses If She's The Mystery Woman Drake Mentioned On His New Song
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Leon Thomas, BigXThaPlug, Popcaan, And More To Join Drake At 2025 Wireless Festival In London
The week of Wireless Festival 2025 is here, and if anyone thought it couldn't get bigger than Drake headlining all three nights, their team said to hold their beer. Leon Thomas, BigXThaPlug, Popcaan, and more are joining this weekend's lineup. PARTYNEXTDOOR and Summer Walker were already announced for Friday (July 11) back in February, but Thomas, Roy Woods, Sailorr, Nippa, and more will now join them. Saturday (July 12) featured Drizzy and 'The Mandem,' and we now know that was a nod to Boy Better Know, Lancey Foux, BigXThaPlug, Nemzzz, Sahbabii, and more acts. Sunday (July 13) may have been the biggest draw with Burna Boy and Vybz Kartel joining the 6 God, but they will be accompanied by Popcaan, Spice, Masicka, DJ AG, and more. All of this, plus the Toronto superstar diving into his diverse catalog, will be an experience for the ages as Wireless Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in Finsbury Park, London. The initial announcement was enough to make it their fastest-selling festival in history. Check out the full lineup here. Drake's Wireless Festival sets will kick off his tour of Europe and the United Kingdom alongside PND. $ome $pecial $hows 4 U will make stops in Birmingham, Manchester, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Milan, Paris, and Berlin before closing out in September with two shows in Hamburg, Germany. Tickets are available now on or This tour will be in support of their February joint album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit 'Nokia.' It will also mark the father of one's second tour of 2025, following the Anita Max Win tour in Australia. PND joined him the week of $$$4U's release, but the tour was ultimately cut early due to scheduling issues. More from N.O.R.E. Claims Pusha T Once Yelled Over Pharrell Williams Amid Drake Feud Taylor Rooks Addresses If She's The Mystery Woman Drake Mentioned On His New Song Drake Kicks Off The Road To 'ICEMAN' With Livestream, New Music Video For "What Did I Miss?"
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
N.O.R.E. Claims Pusha T Once Yelled Over Pharrell Williams Amid Drake Feud
N.O.R.E. reflected on the first time he witnessed Pusha T raise his voice, and yes, it surrounds drama with Drake. While speaking with Bootleg Kev, N.O.R.E. claimed that Pusha T yelled at Pharrell Williams over the producer's decision to remain neutral in his feud with Drake. The intense exchange was allegedly in 2020 after Williams expressed his love for the Toronto musician despite his deep ties with the Clipse rapper, and refused to choose a side. 'When we had Pharrell on the show [ Drink Champs], is the first time I ever heard Pusha T raise his voice,' described the 47-year-old. 'I said to Pharrell, 'Pusha T or Drake,' and he said 'both.' I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, Pusha. I'm sorry man, but I'm in the zone right now. Pusha called me like, 'How the f**k is our boy doing this? How's he doing that? How's he saying both of us? 'Drake wouldn't have picked both of us, Drake would have picked him!' And I'm like 'Pusha, this is the one time I'm shutting the f**k up. I'mma let you vent.'' 'I say that to say that's how much of a human Pharrell is. He told me for years, N.O.R.E., don't do no crime in front of me.' Who the f**k thinks like that? He said, 'I'm going to tell…' He literally told me that from the beginning.' Pharrell visited N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on Drink Champs in 2020, where the aforementioned exchange went down. Recently, discussion around the Drake-Pusha T beef has been revived as the self-proclaimed 6 God went toe-to-toe with Kendrick Lamar. The Compton rapper is featured on Pusha T's upcoming Clipse album with his brother Malice. The album Let Got Sort Em Out is fully produced by the Virginia native and set to be released on Friday (July 11). 'I didn't wanna see that go that way. That didn't make me happy,' expressed Williams. 'I hate to see what him (Pusha) and Drake are going through—or what they went through. I hated to see all of it, every bit of it … it wasn't good.' Last November, Williams addressed Drake's purchase of some of his legendary memorabilia and threats to melt it down by saying, 'I guess some things are not for me to understand.' Most recently, the chart-topping star copped Pharrell's white gold brain pendant chain, featuring 44.92 carats of white, blue, black, and natural pink diamonds, with the logo set in brilliant blue diamonds. Watch the full episode of Drink Champs below. More from Pusha T Crowns Tyler, The Creator As The Biggest Clipse Super Fan He's Ever Met Leon Thomas, BigXThaPlug, Popcaan, And More To Join Drake At 2025 Wireless Festival In London Taylor Rooks Addresses If She's The Mystery Woman Drake Mentioned On His New Song
