RIP

Howard Stern's feeling the loss of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, but says he hopes it will lead to a tribute performance from the last surviving member of the British rock supergroup.

As we reported ... Baker died peacefully in a hospital in England Sunday, and Howard shared some of his memories of the drumming sensation as he was leaving Spago in Beverly Hills.

Stern tells us he was in high school when Cream released their final album -- fittingly titled "Goodbye" -- before breaking up ... and it was apparently worse than any breakup he personally went through.

Comedian Rip Taylor -- who served up over-the-top gags for decades -- has died.

Rip's publicist, Harlan Boll, confirmed the news, saying he passed away Sunday in Beverly Hills. No cause of death was released.

Dubbed the "King of Camp and Confetti" and "The Crying Comedian," Rip got his start by appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Merv Griffin Show" and lots of other variety talk shows as a comic in the '60s, going on to star on several different game shows as well.

He's perhaps best known for his brief stint hosting "the $1.98 Beauty Show," which had guests compete for the title of the "1.98 Beauty Queen" in a pageant, talent-show format.

Iconic drummer Ginger Baker died in a hospital in England Sunday ... leaving behind one of the greatest rock 'n' roll resumes. Ever.

In late September, Ginger's family announced he was hospitalized with a critical illness, and a few days later asked fans to keep him in their prayers. The family has not revealed what illness he was battling, but said he "passed away peacefully."

Ginger was known as a wild man on the drums from his days playing with Cream members Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. The group played legendarily long jams during their live shows and defined the psychedelic rock sound of the 1960s.

After Cream broke up, he went on to form another supergroup, Blind Faith ... also with Clapton. He also formed his own jazz-rock band, Ginger Baker's Airforce -- but he was most known for his amazing solos, especially live.

Cassandra Waldon, the very first "Big Brother" contestant to enter the house on the U.S. version, has died.

Cassandra passed away on September 25 ... apparently from injuries related to a car accident in Rome. A source at the United Nations -- where Cassandra worked -- tells TMZ ... she was struck by a car about 2 months ago, and suffered a head injury. We're told she never regained consciousness before her death.

Julie Chen, the host of "Big Brother," remembered Cassandra as a standout houseguest from the debut season in July 2000. Julie posted on Instagram, "Thank you for bringing your intelligence, warmth and wisdom to the Big Brother house Season 1."

She is the answer to the trivia question -- who was first to walk into the 'BB' house? That's kind of a double-edged sword ... as some fan blogs also point out she was first to fall victim to the so-called "First to Enter Curse."

No one who's entered first -- on the U.S. or Canadian (non-'Celebrity') versions -- has ever won the competition. Cassandra finished 6th out of 10 houseguests.

Cassandra worked at the UN as its Director of Communications for the International Fund for Agricultural Development. She was living and working in Rome when the accident happened.

We're told her funeral will be held next weekend in her home state of Maryland. Cassandra was 56.

Diahann Carroll -- the iconic, pioneering actress for African-Americans -- and star of the groundbreaking sitcom, "Julia," died Friday from cancer at her home in Los Angeles.

Diahann -- who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 -- was a native New Yorker, born in the Bronx, who first made it big on Broadway. She won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 1962 for her role in "No Strings."

Her huge break in Hollywood came as the star of NBC's "Julia" ... the first network series to have a black actress as the lead character. Diahann played a widowed nurse who was raising a son. The show premiered in 1968 and ran for 3 seasons -- and Diahann earned an Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe for the role.

Air Force's beloved falcon mascot, Aurora, took her last flight on Wednesday ... the school announced the iconic bird has died. She was 23.

Aurora -- a rare white phase gyrfalcon -- played a huge role at Air Force sporting events over the years and was touted as "an ambassador for all falcons."

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Aurora passed away earlier today," the Academy said in a statement. "Aurora was the Academy’s longest-serving live mascot. In her 23 years at USAFA, she interacted with tens of thousands of people at sporting venues and military and community events."

USAFA credits Aurora for "helping us educate the public on the importance of these majestic birds."

On the heels of criminal charges being filed in the death of Mac Miller, 6 men have just been arrested in connection with the fatal OD of HQ Trivia co-founder and CEO Colin Kroll ... and federal authorities say the men went to great lengths to avoid getting caught.

The group allegedly peddled coke and heroin daily in NYC through their drug delivery service called "Mike's Candyshop," which counted Kroll as a customer ... this according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

According to the feds, the NYPD and DEA's investigation turned up an illicit enterprise that allegedly allowed people to order heroin and coke to their doorstep as simply as if they were ordering a pizza.

In the indictment ... one of the victims identified as "Victim 1" -- TMZ's confirmed it's Kroll -- died from a cocktail of drugs that included heroin and coke allegedly provided by Mike's Candyshop.

What's more ... the feds claim Mike's changed its phone number twice to avoid getting caught. Still, the delivery service continued operating its on-demand drug service.

Kim Shattuck -- the lead singer and bassist for The Muffs -- is dead after a two-year battle with ALS.

Kim's husband shared the sad news Wednesday in a social media tribute to his late wife ... saying, "This morning the love of my life Kim passed peacefully in her sleep after a two year struggle with ALS."

Her husband continued ... "I am the man I am today because of her. She will live with all of us through her music, our shared memories and in her fierce creative spirit. I love you always my Kimmy. Thank you for sharing your life with me."

All 3 men arrested in connection with Mac Miller's death have now been indicted, and accused of dealing counterfeit oxycodone that caused the rapper's death.

A federal grand jury handed up the indictments of Cameron Pettit, Stephen Walter and Ryan Reavis in a California federal court. The indictment backs up what TMZ first reported ... that Mac ordered 10 "blues" -- a street term for oxycodone -- as well cocaine and Xanax. Prosecutors say that instead of getting oxycodone on Sept. 5, 2018 ... the pills Mac received were counterfeit and contained fentanyl ... the powerful synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.

The feds say Mac crushed the pills, snorted them and died.

As we reported ... feds say the deal went down like this: Mac ordered from Pettit, Pettit ordered from Walter ... and Reavis was the mule, delivering the drugs from Walter to Pettit.

Arizona Cardinals owner and billionaire businessman Bill Bidwill died on Wednesday ... the team announced. He was 88 years old.

"Bill Bidwill was a person of faith, family and football ... and throughout his life, the 3 were intertwined," Cards superstar Larry Fitzgerald said in a tribute video.

"In the NFL, Mr. B was consistently at the leading edge when it came to embracing diversity and providing equal opportunities," Fitzgerald added.

Bidwill hired the NFL's first black female executive (Adele Harris) and first head coach/GM combination (Dennis Green and Rod Graves).

An endurance runner was struck by lightning and DIED less than a quarter-mile from the finish line of a 50k race, officials confirmed.

The man, 33-year-old Thomas Stanley, was running in the FlatRock 50k race at Elk City State Park in Kansas on Saturday, when a storm broke out.

Witnesses say runners and officials raced over to Stanley and attempted to revive him, but they were unable to save the runner.

He's survived by his wife and 3 kids, none of whom were at the race that day.

Event organizers issued a statement, saying, "Thomas' family says that the chances of being killed by a lightning strike are about one in a million, and Thomas was truly a one-in-a-million guy."

Thomas' wife, Ashley, talked about the tragedy with KWCH 12 ... saying it's been a difficult situation to explain to her kids ... especially their 6-year-old daughter.

"It's been hard to hear from her ... she's already drawing conclusions very quickly. She has already said, 'If daddy didn't do the race, he would still be here, right?' I said, 'yes.' She said, 'I wish daddy didn't do that race,' and I said, 'me too.'"

A GoFundMe page set up for the family has already raised more than $65,000.

Grammy award-winning artist Louie Rankin -- famous for his role as Ox in the movie "Belly" -- died in a car crash in Canada ... TMZ has confirmed.

Details are scarce, but Louie died Monday in a fatal wreck in Ontario, Canada ... the crash reportedly involved a transport truck and another vehicle.

Louie starred alongside Nas and DMX in the 1998 crime drama "Belly" ... and his character, Ox, was a Jamaican kingpin.

Nas and Louie became close friends during filming, and the pair reunited years later for a cameo in a DJ Khaled music video for his song, "Nas Album Done."

Latin singer José José has died after a battle with cancer.

The Mexican cultural icon -- known as "El Principe de la Cancion," aka "The Prince of Song" -- passed away Saturday, according to his assistant Laura Nunez. Per reports, he died in a South Florida hospital -- and while cause of death hasn't been announced ... it was known he was fighting pancreatic cancer ... a diagnosis he went public with in 2017.

In a video he published in March of that year, Jose Jose told fans he was ready to take on this new adventure, while assuring them he'd fight through the illness.

Robert Garrison -- the actor best known for playing Tommy in "The Karate Kid" and its sequel -- has died ... according to his family.

Garrison's sister-in-law tells TMZ ... he died Friday morning at a hospital in West Virginia. She says his passing wasn't sudden -- he had been in the hospital for over a month dealing with kidney and liver issues.

We're told the family is currently working on funeral arrangements.

Snoop Dogg and his family are mourning the loss of his infant grandson, who appears to have died in the hospital.

Snoop's oldest child -- his 25-year-old son, Corde Broadus -- says his son, Kai Love, was born on September 15, but died on Sept. 25. Corde posted a video of his daughter kissing Kai as someone else was cradling the baby.

Kai was still in the hospital -- apparently in the neonatal intensive care unit -- when he passed away. A dry erase board outside his room had the words "Love + Light" written on it under the "Plan for the Day."

The family hasn't released a cause of death yet.

The investigation into who gave Mac Miller a deadly dose of pills has resulted in the arrest of a third person.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Stephen "Stevie" Walter was arrested Monday in Los Angeles. According to docs, Walter was contacted by Cameron James Pettit on the night of September 4, 2018 -- Mac died on Sept. 7 -- asking for "10 blues" ... Percocet pills.

Cops say Mac had texted Pettit the following ...

Mac -- "percs?"

Pettit -- "I got some dilaudid 2s but that's about it. I could get yellows and blues though"

Mac -- "blues as far as percs?"

Pettit -- "Yeah 30s"

Mac -- "Those are my sh*tttts man"

From there, according to cops, Pettit then contacted Walter to obtain the ten blues. Walter sent a runner to Pettit with the pills -- and Pettit delivered them to Mac at about 2:30 AM on September 5 -- the rapper was found dead on September 7.

The runner was allegedly Ryan Reavis who was arrested earlier this week in Lake Havasu in connection to Mac's death.