Jefferson Airplane [ tickets ] and New Riders of the Purple Sage drummer Spencer Dryden [ tickets ] died of colon cancer in Petaluma, CA, on Tuesday (1/11). He was 66.

"We struggled together, occasionally lived together, argued together, loved together and made some great music together," said Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen in a statement on his website. "Spencer had been so sick for such a long time. It is easy of course, to say that he is in a better place, but I believe it to be so. When the quality of life diminishes beyond acceptability if we are lucky, we get to move on."

"Spencer Dryden was born cool," New Riders bandmate David Nelson said in a statement. "He had an air of calm mastery about him. I feel fortunate to have him as a friend, and proud to have played on the big stage with him. Always fun and creative, we had a running commentary on life as we traveled the road together. He was a love. He will live in my heart forever."

Cher [ tickets ] is donating her share of the proceeds from her Friday night (1/14) performance in Sacramento to UNICEF and World Vision to aid victims of the recent tsunami.

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Griffin of the mellow '70s rock group Bread [ tickets ] died Tuesday (1/11) after battling cancer.

Alicia Keys [ tickets ] will sing "America the Beautiful" prior to Super Bowl XXXIX, which takes place Feb. 6 at Jacksonville, FL's Alltel Stadium.

"I'm very excited to be playing at the Super Bowl for the first time, especially because I will be singing a song made famous by an artist I admire, miss and respect, Ray Charles, along with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind," Keys said in a statement. "I know that this is going to be very touching and memorable moment."