A consummate showman, he was known for playing guitars rigged with pyrotechnic effects and for his distinctive stage persona.

As the lead singer of Black Sabbath, he helped invent heavy metal. On “The Osbournes,” he presented a comedic counterpoint to his rock ’n’ roll…

The Beach Boys leader, whose death was announced on Wednesday, was a brilliant writer, arranger and producer whose ambitions propelled his band — and contemporaries…

In the 1970s, he and the transgressive Dolls were proto-punk pioneers. He later refashioned himself as the pompadoured lounge lizard Buster Poindexter.

Magie’s creation, The Landlord’s Game, inspired the spinoff we know today. But credit for the idea long went to someone else.

As the lead singer of the Shangri-Las, she conveyed passion, pathos and toughness — and reached the Top 40 six times while still in her…

The Pogues frontman, who died Thursday at 65, joined punk to traditional Irish music, establishing himself and the group as its loud and soused heirs.

She worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Elia Kazan, Frank Capra and John Ford, and she was known for her deft touch, particularly with action movies.