Obituaries in the news

By (AP)
Published: 2008-11-24 06:00:06

Robert Lucas

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Robert Lucas, who until recently fronted the blues rock band Canned Heat and was known for his barrelhouse vocals, has died. He was 46.

Lucas died Sunday at a friend's home in Long Beach. The cause of death was an apparent drug overdose, his former manager Skip Taylor said.

Lucas had two stints as lead singer, harmonica and bottleneck guitar player between 1994 and 2008 for Canned Heat, a Los Angeles-based blues and boogie band that formed in 1965 and had late 60s hits with "Goin' up the Country" and "On the Road Again."

The band has had four frontmen in its more-than-40-year history, Taylor said.

Lucas recently left the band to pursue his solo career and wrote and recorded seven solo albums.

He also performed with Big Joe Turner, George Smith, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulsom, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and Percy Mayfield.

___

Ibrahim Nasir

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Ibrahim Nasir, who led the Maldives' independence movement from the British and became the island nation's first president, has died. He was 82.

Nasir died Saturday at a Singapore hospital, and his body was flown back to the Maldives, Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaeed said Sunday. The cause of death was not known, he said.

Nasir became the prime minister of the British protectorate in 1957 at age 31. He signed an agreement with the British that won independence for the Indian Ocean islands in 1965.

In 1968, three years after independence, Nasir became the Maldives' first president and held that position until he resigned 10 years later. He was accused of ruling the country as a dictator and fled in 1978 amid public resentment and unproven allegations of corruption in handling public funds.

Nasir modernized the country's fishing industry and introduced tourism, for which the Maldives is now world famous.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.