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Clarence Clemons, hospitalized in Florida after a stroke, has had two brain surgeries but is "responsive and in stable condition," according the authoritative Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band fan website, backstreets.com.
Also, Carolyn Gusoff of Fox 5 News has reported that Clemons is paralyzed on the left side of his body.
It was first reported last night on the showbiz411.com that the saxophonist had suffered a stroke at his Florida home and was seriously ill. That news has since been confirmed by several sources.
Showbiz411 added today that members of the E Street Band "were advised to get down to Florida as soon as possible."
Clemons is an original member of the E Street Band, and the oldest member of the band, at 69. He is someone whose importance to the New Jersey rock 'n' roll scene can't be overstated, and who is utterly irreplaceable.
His big, immediately recognizable saxophone wail is one of the cornerstones of the E Street sound. Songs such as "Born to Run," "Badlands" and "Jungleland" wouldn't have sounded remotely the same without him, and his larger-than-life personality always has given him a central role in the theatrics of the band's stage shows.
As a sign of respect, Bruce Springsteen, when introducing the band, always introduces him last. Springsteen also gave him a crucial role in the autobiographical song "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," singing, about the moment when the E Street Band started to become successful: "When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band/From the coastline to the city all the little pretties raise their hands."
Although the E Street Band is currently on hiatus, Clemons has continued to perform on his own, occasionally, and has been in the news lately after performing on Lady Gaga's new album, "Born This Way."
He was also the subject of a documentary, "Who Do I Think I Am? A Portrait of a Journey," that premiered at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park, in April. The film documented the traveling that Clemons had done in China after Springsteen's "Rising Tour" of 2002-03. "I was kind of looking for myself," Clemons told The Star-Ledger in March. "The tour with Bruce was just so long: It took me out of my body, it took me out of myself. And finding who I am was what this (trip) turned into."
He was still, at the time, undergoing "major, major rehab," he said, from the knee replacement and spinal surgeries he has undergone over the last few years, but was hopeful that the band would tour again in 2012.
In February, Clemons told Rolling Stone magazine that he wanted keep touring with Springsteen as long as possible. "As long as my mouth, hands and brain still work I'll be out there doing it," he said.
Lady Gaga tweeted this morning that “my very close friend + musician on The Edge of Glory, Clarence Clemons is very sick. Can we all make some get well videos?”
Drummer and music industry executive Narada Michael Walden, whom Clemons has called a close friend and spiritual adviser, replied to an e-mail query today about Clemons by responding, “Love and prayers to the Big Man! He is our Hero!”

MANCHESTER, Tennessee — Over its 10-year history, the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has played host to all sorts of acts, but few of them &38212; if any — ever took the stage to a prerecorded message from the New York State Department of Corrections (not even Phish).
Lil Wayne did just that on Friday night (or, more correctly, early Saturday morning), bounding onstage while the last strains of a DOC phone message — recorded after he was released from prison last November — faded from the rather formidable stacks of speakers that flanked him. And it was just one of the history-making moments during his headlining set. Bonnaroo has had hip-hop acts headline previously (Kanye West took a rather disastrous turn in 2008, and Jay-Z mainstaged without much incident last year), but they weren't Wayne. He's not a household name on par with 'Ye or Jigga, and there existed the very real question of whether his set would translate to the Bonnaroo crowd.
But when Wayne wrapped his set just before 3 a.m., that question had been answered. Not only did he go over like gangbusters, but he did it in gritty, sweat-drenched glory. He worked it hard, hanging from his microphone stand, descending into the crowd below and rolling around on the stage floor. He tore off his yellow tank-top mid set and stalked the stage in only a low-slung pair of shorts, aqua-colored socks and checkered Vans. And he spit verses at a staggering rate. You could call it a star-making turn, but Wayne's already a star ... though, perhaps, on this night, he truly became one in the eyes of the Bonnaroo elite.
Song-wise, his performance didn't stray too far from the set he's been working on his I Am Still Music tour — he opened with "I'm Goin' In" and segued into "Bill Gates," thundered through "A Milli," deftly moved through "Swag Surfin' " and "Hustle Hard," worked in swatches of "Green and Yellow," slowed things down for the ladies on "I'm Single" — and he brought out members of his Young Money family (Mack Maine, Lil Twist, Shannelle, Jae Millz) to give them some shine too. And in that regard, his Bonnaroo set was pretty historic too. He was one of the first headliners to put on a genuine revue, a musical, multiple-act bill that just so happened to double as his set.
As can be expected, his performance tended to lose some steam when Weezy was sharing the stage with his associates (or when he'd disappear and let them perform on their own), but he more than made up for it in the sheer tenacity of songs like "Welcome to My Hood" or "Drop the World" (which didn't suffer from the lack of Eminem).
Backed by a lock-step live band, songs like "Forever" and Lollipop" pulsed and surged with icy precision. Songs from his upcoming Tha Carter IV album, "How to Love" and "6 Foot 7 Foot," expanded and contracted with elasticity, particularly the latter, which brought his set to a close — eternally buoyed by his rasping voice and staccato cadence.
Perhaps to mark the momentous nature of his headlining performance (which, if it wasn't his biggest show to date, has got to be in the top three), or, maybe just to make actual history, Wayne even brought out his former in-house producer — and, by all accounts, former friend — Mannie Fresh, who parted ways with Cash Money in 2005 under less that harmonious circumstances.

Burnout is a professional hazard among men and women of the cloth. Pastors, priests and rabbis, so adept at nurturing others, often fail miserably when it comes to caring for themselves.
A Duke University literature review study found that many clergy wrestle with occupational stress, hypertension, obesity, exhaustion and feelings of isolation. While most said they found their work satisfying, they also described long, irregular hours and work-related stress that sometimes spilled over to their marital life.
Some congregations, such as Pendleton’s First Christian Church, are working to head off burnout. Worshipers soon will wish their Pastor Marc Mullins a firm farewell as he leaves on a 14-week sabbatical funded by the Eli Lilly Foundation.
Mullins admits to exhilaration as the sabbatical approaches. After 32 years in the ministry, he knows the exhaustion of tending the needs of an active church virtually 24/7. The sabbatical, at a cost of $48,000, will allow him to relax as he explores his Irish roots and broadens himself as a musician and songwriter.
Carrying a travel guitar with a folding neck, Mullins will board a plane bound for Ireland where he will jam with Irish musicians and get his fill of Celtic music. Mullins, a songwriter and singer, plans to write music as he is inspired.
Also on the agenda is visiting home towns of his ancestors and staying in bed-and-breakfast establishments along the way. One Irish B&B owner, a professional chef, will give Mullins lessons on candy and pastry making.

The Killer's late-career, all-star geezer fests are simply great fun for anyone who cares about the unbroken circle of American popular music.
Just as he did with 2006's "Last Man Standing," Lewis has assembled cohorts from across the musical spectrum -- three Stones, Merle, Willie, Ringo, Clapton, Slash, Mavis Staples, Tim McGraw, James Burton, Gillian Welch, Solomon Burke and Kid Rock among them -- and plunged gamely into the archives.
All of Lewis' gloriously contradictory personality traits are represented: "Middle-Age Crazy," "Whiskey River," "Swinging Doors," "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and the Kris Kristofferson-penned title track are cheek-to-jowl (and we do mean jowl) with "You Are My Sunshine" and the gospel nuggets "Railroad to Heaven" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
Sure, the energy level sags a few times ("Whiskey River" and "Please Release Me" need Viagra), and Lewis' less-than-supple vocals need all of that all-star support, but for the most part, history has seldom gone down so easily. If this turns out to be a final statement, then the soon-to-be-75 Jerry Lee will have done himself proud.