Mark James – the Grammy-winning songwriter behind Elvis Presley’s hit Suspicious Minds – has died aged 83.
A member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he also wrote Hooked On A Feeling and co-wrote Always On Mind.
James died on 8 June at his home in Nashville, as first reported by his hometown newspaper, the Houston Chronicle.
His family said in a statement: “Mark’s legacy and zest for life will live on in the hearts of those who loved him, and through his timeless lyrics and melodies that have been the soundtrack of lovers for generations.”
Named as a Songwriter Of The Century by Broadcast Music (BMI) in 2000, the music licensing company also put Suspicious Minds, Hooked On A Feeling and Always On My Mind on a list of the 100 greatest songs of the 20th century.
Image: Elvis Presley performing in Las Vegas. Pic: PA
James won two Grammys in 1983 for Always On My Mind, which he shared with co-writers Wayne Carson and Johnny Christopher.
Most associated with Elvis Presley, it was also recorded by Willie Nelson and the Pet Shop Boys. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Suspicious Minds, which became one of Presley’s signature songs, was initially written by James for his own recording career in the late 1960s.
It was inspired by James’s feelings for a childhood sweetheart, while both were married to other people.
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Speaking about the song to the Wall Street Journal later in his career, James described it as a “confusing time,” that “felt as though all three of us were all caught in this trap that we couldn’t walk out of”.
In 1969 it became the King’s final number one, reinvigorating Presley’s flagging career, and helping him to become the biggest entertainer in Las Vegas through to his death eight years later.
Suspicious Minds was also recorded by Fine Young Cannibals, reaching number eight in the UK charts in 1986.
Image: James performing at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards in 2014. Pic: AP
Another of James’s songs, Hooked On A Feeling, which was originally recorded by American singer B J Thomas in 1969 reaching number five in the US charts, was re-recorded in 1974 by Blue Swede incorporating a catchy “ooga-chaka” chant, hitting US number one.
It’s gone on to be featured in movies including Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Guardians Of The Galaxy, and a cover was recorded just this year by Swedish rock band The Hives – keeping in the inspired Blue Swede chant.
James also wrote other songs for Presley, including Moody Blue, the title track to his final album, and It’s Only Love and Raised On Rock.
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James is also a member of the Texas Songwriters Hall Of Fame, the New York Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
In 2021, Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced that it had signed a deal with James, renewing a contract that began 50 years earlier when he signed with Screen Gems/EMI.
It also secured extended rights for Suspicious Minds, Hooked On A Feeling and Always On My Mind.
James is survived by his wife of 53 years, Karen Zambon, his daughters Sammie and Dana Zambon, and grandchildren.
Bannister was initially jailed for four months in September last year – and handed a three-year restraining order.
But he breached it by turning up at Tweedy’s home in December.
In March, he was jailed for 16 weeks at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court for repeatedly going to Tweedy’s Buckinghamshire home while under the restraining order.
During that appearance, the court heard that Tweedy “immediately panicked” and was “terrified” when she saw him outside her home, fearing for the safety of her eight-year-old son Bear.
Bannister killed Rajendra Patel, 48, at a south London YMCA shelter in 2012 and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Mr Patel died from an injury to his leg, a court heard.
Tweedy’s former partner Liam Payne died last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling from his third-floor hotel balcony.
Noel Clarke has been ordered to pay at least £3m of The Guardian publisher’s legal costs after losing his “far-fetched” libel case over allegations of sexual misconduct reported by the newspaper.
The first article, published in April 2021, said some 20 women who knew the actor and filmmakerin a professional capacity had come forward with allegations including harassment and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Clarke, best known for his 2006 film Kidulthood and for starring in Doctor Who, sued Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles in total, as well as a podcast, and vehemently denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.
At a hearing to determine costs on Tuesday, Clarke represented himself – saying in written submissions to the court that his legal team had resigned as he was unable to provide funding for the hearing.
Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that he must pay £3m ahead of a detailed assessment into the total costs to be recovered, which lawyers for the publisher estimated to be more than £6m.
“The claimant maintained a far-fetched and indeed a false case that the articles were not substantially true, by pursuing allegations of dishonesty and bad faith against almost all of the defendant’s truth witnesses,” the judge said.
The sum of £3m sought by GNM was “appropriate and no more than what ought to be reasonably ordered in this case”, she added, and “substantially lower than the defendant’s likely level of recovery”.
Clarke, 49, told the court he used ChatGPT to prepare his response to GNM’s barrister Gavin Millar KC, who asked the judge to order £3m as an interim payment – which he said was “significantly less” than the “norm” of asking for 75%-80%.
The actor described the proposed costs order as “excessive”, “inflated” and “caused by their own choices”, and asked the court to “consider both the law and the human reality of these proceedings”.
He also requested for the order on costs be held, pending an appeal.
“I have not been vexatious and I have not tried to play games with the court,” Clarke said. “I have lost my work, my savings, my legal team, my ability to support my family and much of my health.
“My wife and children live every day under the shadow of uncertainty. We remortgaged our home just to survive.
“Any costs or interim payments must be proportionate to my means as a single household, not the unlimited resources of a major media conglomerate.
“A crushing order would not just punish me, it would punish my children and wife, and they do not deserve that.”
Detailing GNM’s spend, Mr Millar said about 40,000 documents, including audio recordings and transcripts, had to be reviewed as a result of Clarke bringing the case against then. He highlighted a number of “misconceived applications” made by the actor which “required much work from the defendant’s lawyers in response”.
During the trial, the actor accused GNM – as well as a number of women who made accusations against him – of being part of a conspiracy aiming to destroy his career.
This conspiracy allegation “massively increased the scale and costs of the litigation by giving rise to a whole new unpleaded line of attack against witnesses and third parties,” Mr Millar said in written submissions to the court.
Clarke originally asked for damages of £10m, increasing to £40m and then £70m as the case progressed, the barrister said.
He must now pay GNM the £3m within 28 days, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’s lawyers have called for the music mogul to be given no more than 14 months in prison when he is sentenced next month – meaning he would walk free almost immediately.
In a new written legal submission, the defence team also detailed “inhumane” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York – saying food sometimes contains maggots, that the rapper is routinely subjected to violence, and that he has “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months”.
He has already served a year in custody in New York following his arrest in September 2024, and is due to be sentenced on 3 October.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
His defence lawyers have now made their arguments for sentencing in a written submission to Judge Arun Subramanian, who heard the trial.
“In the past two years, Mr Combs’s career and reputation have been destroyed,” his lawyers said in the document. “He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America – yet has made the most of that punishment.”
They said Combs has been “adequately punished” already, having been jailed in “terrible conditions”. He has also become sober “for the first time in 25 years” and had an “incident-free record”, they added, and helped other inmates by creating an educational programme on business management and entrepreneurship.
It is now time for the rapper “to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life”, the defence team said.
Image: Combs fell to his knees when the jury’s verdicts were delivered. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
‘Maggots and limited clean water’
The defence’s submission provides new information about what life behind bars has been like for Combs, a Grammy-winning artist and Bad Boy Records founder who was one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the 1990s and 2000s, and for his family and previous associates.
The rapper had to let more than 100 employees go from his businesses following his arrest, it said, and many have been unable to find work due to their previous association with him.
Combs’s seven children have also faced “devastating consequences”, according to the legal filing, including lost business opportunities in acting, television, fashion and music.
Image: The rapper’s mother Janice Combs supported him during the trial. Pic: Reuters
The rapper and his family were also set to star in a Hulu show about their lives, but the show was cancelled once the allegations against him became public.
Combs was removed from the boards at three charter schools he created in Harlem, the Bronx and Connecticut and was also stripped of an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University, which plans to return his prior donations, it said.
The defence’s document also goes into detail about the alleged conditions at the detention centre where Combs is being held.
Image: Judge Arun Subramanian heard the trial and will sentence Combs. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
“Mr Combs is routinely subject to violence – both directed at him and at others,” they said. On 12 September, they said members of the defence counsel were in the middle of a call with the rapper that had to be ended suddenly “because of a stabbing that locked the facility down for the next several days”.
Living conditions are “inhumane”, they argued, and Combs has been “under constant suicide watch”, meaning every two hours he “must present his identification card to the guards to show he is alive and well. While he is sleeping, he is awoken by an officer to ensure he is well and subjected to bright lights illuminated 24 hours per day”.
He also has limited access to clean water, they said, and often “heats his water to have clean water to drink without getting sick”.
Describing the dorm-style room he sleeps in, they said he is within “two feet from other inmates with the bathroom in the same room, with no door”.
The rapper “has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin”, the document added, while food “on any given day can contain maggots”.
The judge has already rejected a proposed $50m bail package for Combs.
Prosecutors, who will also submit their recommendations for sentencing ahead of the hearing, have already said they will call for him to remain in prison for a substantial period.
Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution – for flying girlfriends and male sex workers around the US and abroad for sexual encounters referred to as “freak offs”. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.