Ian Halperin | |
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Website | ianundercover |
Ian Halperin (born August 17, 1964) [1] is a Canadian investigative journalist, writer and documentary filmmaker. His 2009 book, Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson was a #1 best-seller on the New York Times list on July 24, 2009. [2] He is the author or coauthor of nine books including Celine Dion: Behind the Fairytale, Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Story and Hollywood Undercover. He coauthored Who Killed Kurt Cobain? and Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain with Max Wallace. Halperin has contributed to 60 Minutes II and was a regular correspondent for Court TV. [3] [4]
In late 2008 The Sun and In Touch Weekly cited Halperin as the source in articles stating that Michael Jackson had serious health issues. [5] In December 2008 Halperin had predicted that Jackson had six months to live; [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Jackson died on June 25, 2009. [12] At the time, the BBC reported that Halperin would release an unauthorized biography on the pop star. [13] Halperin's statements had been denied by a Jackson representative who said in a December 2008 statement, "The writer's wild allegations concerning Mr. Jackson's health are a total fabrication...Mr. Jackson is in fine health and finalizing negotiations with a major entertainment company & television network for both a world tour and a series of specials and appearances." [14] [15] Shortly afterward, Jackson announced a 50-date residency at the O2 Arena, holding a public press conference. [16] [17] [18] [19] Halperin released his biography on Jackson, titled Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, in July 2009. [5] Halperin commented on the timing of the book: "I timed it because I knew around this time he was a candidate to die. I'm being totally up-front about that. Google it." [5]
In 2010, Halperin directed and produced a documentary film about Jackson titled Gone Too Soon . It premiered on the TV Guide Network on June 25, 2010, the one-year anniversary of Jackson's death. The documentary was based on 300 hours of footage Halperin recorded before and immediately after Jackson's death. [20]
Courtney Michelle Love is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989. Love has drawn public attention for her uninhibited live performances and confrontational lyrics, as well as her highly publicized personal life following her marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In 2020, NME named her one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years.
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establishment persona, his compositions widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was heralded as a spokesman of Generation X and is widely recognized as one of the most influential alternative rock musicians.
Bleach is the debut studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989, by Sub Pop. After the release of their debut single "Love Buzz" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only studio album to feature drummer Chad Channing.
Eldon Wayne Hoke, nicknamed El Duce, was an American musician best known as the drummer and lead singer of the shock rock band the Mentors, as well as other acts, including Chinas Comidas and the Screamers.
Frances Bean Cobain is an American visual artist and model. She is the only child of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love. She controls the publicity rights to her father's name and image.
Jenny Lynn Shimizu is an American model and actress.
On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain, the lead singer and guitarist of the American rock band Nirvana, was found dead at his home on Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle, Washington. Forensic investigators and a coroner later determined that Cobain had died on April 5, three days prior to the discovery of his body. The Seattle Police Department incident report stated that Cobain was found with a shotgun across his body, had suffered a visible gunshot wound to the head and that a suicide note had been discovered nearby. Seattle police confirmed his death as a suicide.
The 27 Club is an informal list consisting mostly of popular musicians, often expanded by artists, actors, and other celebrities who died at age 27. Although the claim of a "statistical spike" for the death of musicians at that age has been refuted by scientific research, it remains a common cultural conception that the phenomenon exists, with many celebrities who die at 27 noted for their high-risk lifestyles.
Max Wallace is a New York Times-bestselling author and historian specializing in the Holocaust, human rights in sport, and popular culture. He is also an award-winning filmmaker, and long-time disability advocate.
Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain, published by Simon & Schuster, is a collaborative investigative journalism book written by Ian Halperin and Max Wallace purporting to show that Nirvana lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain, believed to have committed suicide, was in fact murdered, possibly at the behest of his wife Courtney Love. It is a follow-up to the authors' 1998 bestseller on the same subject, Who Killed Kurt Cobain?. The book is based on 30 hours of audiotaped conversations, exclusively obtained by the authors, between Courtney Love's private investigator, Tom Grant, and her and Cobain's entertainment attorney, Rosemary Carroll, who both dispute the official finding of suicide and believe Cobain was in fact murdered.
Hollywood Undercover: Revealing the Sordid Secrets of Tinseltown is a non-fiction book about the culture of Hollywood society, written by investigative journalist and author Ian Halperin. Halperin poses as a gay man trying to become a successful actor in Hollywood, and informs individuals he is from the non-existent "Israeli royal family". He investigates rumors that the Church of Scientology reportedly claims to have a "cure" for homosexuality through "auditing", and speaks with a former Scientologist about his experiences. He also explores the casting couch phenomenon, the pornography industry, and the Oscars. Halperin meets with famous actors and celebrities, successfully obtains a talent agent, and a role in the film The Aviator.
Kurt & Courtney is a 1998 British documentary film by Nick Broomfield investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain, and allegations of Courtney Love's involvement in it.
Gone Too Soon is a documentary film about the final year of Michael Jackson's life and career. It first aired on the TV Guide Network on June 25, 2010, exactly one year after Jackson's death.
Hit So Hard is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, and spiral into crack cocaine addiction. The film weaves together Hi8 video footage Schemel recorded while on Hole's 1994-95 world tour with contemporary interviews with her, bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as her family members. The film also features interviews with other female drummers and musicians, including Nina Gordon, Kate Schellenbach, Gina Schock, Debbi Peterson, and Phranc.
Soaked in Bleach is a 2015 American docudrama directed by Benjamin Statler, who co-wrote and produced it with Richard Middelton and Donnie Eichar. The film details the events leading up to the death of Kurt Cobain, as seen through the perspective of Tom Grant, the private detective who was hired by Courtney Love to find Cobain, shortly before his death in 1994. It also explores the theory that Cobain's death was not a suicide. The film stars Tyler Bryan as Cobain and Daniel Roebuck as Grant, with Sarah Scott portraying Courtney Love and August Emerson as Dylan Carlson.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is a 2015 American documentary film about Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain. The film was directed by Brett Morgen and premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It received a limited theatrical release worldwide and premiered on television in the United States on HBO on May 4, 2015. The documentary chronicles the life of Kurt Cobain from his birth in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1967, through his troubled early family life and teenage years and rise to fame as frontman of Nirvana, up to his suicide in April 1994 in Seattle at the age of 27.
Kurt Cobain Memorial Park is a park in Aberdeen, Washington and the first official, full-scale memorial to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in his hometown.
Who Killed Kurt Cobain?: The Mysterious Death of an Icon is a 1998 book that explores the premise that the death of Kurt Cobain, frontman of American rock band Nirvana, was a case of murder and not suicide. It is a collaborative investigative journalism book written by Ian Halperin and Max Wallace. It went on to be an international bestseller.
The Vigil is a 1998 comedy film about a group of young people who travel from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada to Seattle in the United States to attend the memorial vigil for Nirvana band leader Kurt Cobain in 1994. It stars Donny Lucas and Trevor White.
Kurt Cobain: Moments That Shook Music is a BBC documentary that first aired on April 13, 2024, in the United Kingdom to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain who was the lead singer and guitarist of American rock band Nirvana.