Breast cancer survivor and Grammy- winning rock star Sheryl Crow was on Capital Hill last week where she urged Congress to pass a bill that would provide funds for research into the possible connection between breast cancer and the environment.

The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act -- predicted to pass, by the way -- would allocate $40 million for study into an area not receiving much attention.

"We're looking into all these different scientific methods, with gene therapy with stem cells, it's all very encouraging but we have not tapped into the area of the environment," Crow says. "We have to look at the environment, we cannot ignore it anymore."

This same bill was defeated last year in the Senate but Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) says that was then, this is now.

"We're going to complete this legislation in the Senate this year," he said.

Michael Brecker, Grammy Award-winning jazz saxophonist who performed with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock, died Saturday of cancer. He was 57.

Brecker, considered one of the most influential saxophonists of the past 25 years, died at a hospital in New York City as a result of myelodysplastic syndrome -- a form of cancer in which the bone marrow stops making healthy blood cells.

The Philadelphia native, who began his solo career in 1987 with a self-titled debut recording that turned into Jazz Album of the Year, was forced by his illness to stop playing music at times. So he channeled his creative efforts into raising awareness of a very important cause -- bone marrow donation.

Brecker is survived by his wife, Susan; his children, Jessica and Sam; a brother and a sister.

Try Not To Remember for the movie Home of the Brave, the process of songwriting and how cancer changes your priorities, were the main topics of discussion during a recent interview with Sheryl Crow. When asked what inspired her to write the song Try Not To Remember for Home of the Brave, Crow explained that it came in part from her own experience with breast cancer.

"I think the pivotal experience -- when you realize your life is never gonna be the same, and you are going to have to integrate back into your life I saw the movie and I think the thing that really struck me is that everybody gets dealt these pivotal moments in their lives, whether it is a war or breast cancer or losing your home in Katrina, or whatever. It is how you integrate. It determines what you do with the rest of your life."

Crow calls this year her year of transformation. Because of her breast cancer diagnosis, she feels she met herself in a way she had not done before, and as a result, she spent time redefining who she was and how she would live her life. She has learned to say no, rather than being a people pleaser. "I changed the way I look at my life, my body, my health, my family, my friends, and the way I treat myself." Crow learned to make herself a priority in her own life.

Visit Sheryl Crow On Overcoming Cancer, and The Soundtrack for Home of the Brave by Christina Radish to read much more about what Crow shared during the interview published in Media Blvd. Magazine.

From the moment of Sheryl Crow's breast cancer diagnosis, we have been sharing the introspection and insight of a creative and spiritual woman whose vulnerably honest perspectives as a cancer survivor continue to inspire. Here are some of the previous posts we have published:

• Sheryl Crow has breast cancer surgery
• Sheryl Crow: talks about how cancer changed her
• Sheryl Crow: ABC Good Morning America exclusive interview
• Sheryl Crow: We are fragile but we also are divine
• Sheryl Crow adopts Eskimo diet to fight breast cancer
• Sheryl Crow in the blue tattoo sisterhood
• Sheryl Crow: women need to be demanding of doctors
• Sheryl Crow: breast cancer survivor's spiritual reminder
• Sheryl Crow: "I wasn't known for my breasts until I got breast cancer."

Grammy award winning country musician Freddy Fender died Saturday, just days after he had returned home from the hospital, seriously ill from treatment for lung cancer and a blood infection.

Fender's wife, Vangie Huerta, announced in August that her husband, at the age of 69, was suffering from inoperable cancer and that he was hoping for a miracle. But his cancer spread, and his health declined. Yet his spirits remained high -- and he recently told one newspaper reporter, "I'm one year away from 70 and I've had a good run."

Fender's career began when he returned from service in the Marine Corps in the late 1950s and created his stage name from a brand of guitar -- Fender. Success did not arrive for some time -- and not until after Fender experimented with a rock-country-Latin sound, served time for marijuana possession, and worked for a period of time as a mechanic did fame hit.

Born Baldemar Huerta in 1937, Fender is know for his hits Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights and You'll Lose a Good Thing. In 1999, Fender received his own Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and he won his third and last Grammy in 2002.

Despite fame, Fender lived a hard life. He spoke openly about his battles with drug and alcohol abuse. He struggled with diabetes and Hepatitis C. And he received a kidney transplant in 2002 and a liver transplant in 2004.

Fender, who passed away at his Corpus Christi home surrounded by family, is survived by his wife and four children.

NOTE: This post was written prior to the announcement that Freddy Fender passed away on Saturday at the age of 69. A more detailed post concerning his death will follow.

Grammy award winning musician Freddy Fender, 69, was released Thursday from the hospital and is now resting at his home in South Texas. He is battling lung cancer and while he is at home now, sources say he is gravely ill as a result of treatment and a recent blood infection.

Fender has wanted to share a public statement but is just not up to it. His wife, Vangie Huerta, and his spokesperson, Ron Rogers, are speaking on his behalf. Both report the cancer that started in Fender's left lung has spread to his body. Fender has been ill for some time -- with both diabetes and hepatitis C. He also received a kidney from his daughter in 2002 and underwent a liver transplant in 2004.

Born Baldemar Huerta in 1937, Fender has won three Grammy awards, the most recent in 2002. His music career began in the late 1950s with the hits Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights and You'll Lose a Good Thing.

After diagnosing Freddy Fender with lung cancer, the doctors told him there is nothing they can do for him. At the beginning of the year, he went in for an operation to remove the upper left lobe of his lung due to a fungal infection when the surgeons found two large tumors. A PET scan revealed nine smaller tumors in his pleura - membranes covering the lungs and lining the chest cavity.

Grammy award-winning musician Fender, known for Hispanic/pop, country western and blues, became famous for hits like Before The Next Teardrop Falls, You'll Lose A Good Thing, and Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.

According to his bio, in 1960, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights proved to be prophetic. Fender and his bass player were arrested and sent to prison for possession of two marijuana cigarettes. Three years later, Fender went to New Orleans, where he spent the next five years developing his talent in rhythm & blues and Cajun funk.

Fender had a role in Robert Redford's film the Milagro Beanfield War and you can hear his voice in national radio and television campaigns for McDonald's and Miller Lite.

Caller-Times Cassandra Hinojosa quotes Fender in her news article as saying, "I feel very comfortable in my life. I'm one year away from 70 and I've had a good run. I really believe I'm OK. In my mind and in my heart, I feel OK. I cannot complain that I haven't lived long enough, but I'd like to live longer."

In September, with his wife Vangie Huerta at his side, he will visit the Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center to consider available treatments.

David Letterman recently introduced Fender to his Late Show audience as "one of the greatest voices in all of music."

In an exclusive interview with ABC Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer, Sheryl Crow talks intimately about the heartbreak and anguish she was forced to deal with when diagnosed with breast cancer -- and at the same time -- the break up of her engagement to be married to Lance Armstrong.

When the subject of the break up with seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong was brought into the conversation, and the rumor the end of the relationship coincided with her breast cancer diagnosis, Crow says,

"No. No. No, it was really, I mean, really difficult, you know, just really difficult for both of us. I'm not angry. I mean, honestly, I look at it, and I just know that I can't be angry at Lance for being who he is. You know, he's a great person." Armstrong is a testicular cancer survivor.

Crow talks about the initial diagnosis of breast cancer, the subsequent lumpectomy and the many tears. The exclusive interview will air on Thursday, July 6 and Friday, July 7. To watch a preview video of the ABC Good Morning America interview, go here.

UPDATE: For our posts on the two-part interview:
Part One: Sheryl Crow: We are fragile but we are also divine.
Part two: Sheryl Crow adopts Eskimo diet to fight breast cancer.

Breast cancer and chemotherapy
Took away her crown and glory
She promised God if she was to survive
She would enjoy everyday of her life ...
On national television
Her diamond eyes are sparkling
Bald headed like a full moon shining
Singing out to the whole wide world like HEY ...

I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations no no
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within ...

On May 16, 12-time Grammy-nominated India.Arie released a new single I Am Not My Hair as a music video and as a single from the new album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, set for release on June 27. I heard about the new song from Priscilla's Bouncing for Boobs blog, and in chat among other breast cancer survivors. Verse three of the lyrics are specific to a woman's breast cancer experience of hair loss and chemotherapy. As usual, with inspirational independence, inner strength, an ability to see the world more clearly than most and the creative ability to express that clarity with soul, wisdom and tender truth, I predict this song will touch a deep cord within the breast cancer survivor community.

Despite a threatened lawsuit, The National Enquirer is refusing to back down from its exclusive cover story that Whitney Houston has a brain tumor and states they are standing by the story 100 percent. Meanwhile, multiple-Grammy winning singer Whitney Houston, and her representatives, are denying there is any truth to the rumor and are threatening the tabloid with legal action. Houston has suffered turbulent challenges both professionally and personally over the years, and has been the focus of more than one tabloid story concerning her alleged drug use, career and marriage. It would be sad if she indeed has a brain tumor, but considering the source of the news announcing such a diagnosis, it is difficult to know at this time how much truth there is to the story. Hopefully -- none.

Young Grammy-winning singer Soraya, one of the first Latin singer songwriters to write and record in both English and Spanish, has lost her life to breast cancer. Soraya, whose mother, aunt and grandmother died of breast cancer, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer six years ago. She had treatment and went into remission from the disease, but sources say she relapsed at the beginning of this year.

A soulful and romantic singer who combined her music with a social conscience, launched a promising career a decade ago. Known as a charismatic performer, she had hits on Spanish-language charts and her success in English had caught the attention of Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos and Sting, who all asked her to be an opening act on their tours. She had also collaborated with her childhood hero, Carole King. Soraya went on to become one of the most acclaimed female voices in Latin pop and rock. She released her last album in 2005. She was 37.

Shannon Harken wrote an essay to nominate her mother, Sue Myers of Pleasantville, Iowa, as the most amazing mother in the world because of her mother's zest for life and the positive example she set while battling breast cancer. Of the more than 14,000 Mom's the Word essay submissions, Kohl's unveiled the ten most amazing role model mom finalists of the contest and Harken's essay about her mother placed Myers in the top ten moms of the year. Ultimately, America will vote to decide who will be this year's number one amazing mom. All ten essays are featured at Kohl's, where you can vote for the essay and mother you feel best deserves to win.

The role model with the most votes will earn a $5,000 shopping spree, a style transformation, and will be escorted by Daisy Fuentes on a trip to Fashion Week in Los Angeles. In addition, Kohl's and Fuentes will honor the grand prize winner during a ceremony in her hometown on May 13. All mothers are amazing, but I went and voted for Myers. Knowing what she has been through by way of the fact I am a breast cancer survivor and I know what I went through -- I would like to see her win and enjoy a day of special recognition, pampering and fun. Voting ends May 8. Shannon's essay about her mother Sue is cute. It's number #2. Go here to vote.

Each year, for the last five years, Nelly, Grammy Award-winning platinum recording American Hip Hop artist, has been hosting a week of festivities across the country to help raise funds for his foundation 4Sho4Kids. Founded in 2001, 4Sho4Kids is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with developmental disabilities, children born with Down Syndrome and children born addicted to drugs. This year, 4Sho4Kids has partnered with the Richmond Braves to host a celebrity baseball game and 75 children from the VCU Pediatric Oncology Center have been invited to attend as special VIP guests where, as the foundation states -- they can have a day of no worries on them. The 4Sho4Kids has a marrow registry campaign called Jes Us 4 Jackie, to educate African-Americans and Blacks about the need for bone marrow and stem cell transplant. Bone marrow and stem cell transplants often make all the difference in surviving blood cancers like leukemia.

In 2001, Nelly's sister Jacqueline Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2003, Nelly and Jackie started the Jes Us 4 Jackie campaign, a search for a bone marrow donor. They were unable to find a matching donor in time for Jackie, who died last year from complications of leukemia. However, in the search, the foundation was able to find matches for others, including two children from Jackie's hometown of St. Louis. Nelly has continued charity work related to cancer in her memory.

In observance of Brain Tumor Awareness Week, which begins May 1st, and to continue to honor the memory of Tug McGraw -- Phillies and Mets major league baseball player relief pitcher who established the Tug McGraw Foundation before dying of brain cancer in 2004 -- a new web resource has been created that provides people living with brain cancer information and support for the special issues facing survivors, family and friends.

Jennifer Brusstar, CEO for the Tug McGraw Foundation, and Jeff McMahon, a foundation board member and keyboard player for Tim McGraw's Dancehall Doctors, were instrumental in creating the new website. Tim McGraw, Grammy award-winning country singer, is Tug McGraw's son. According to the foundation, each year, over 300,000 adults and children are diagnosed with brain cancer. Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer death in children under the age of 20, and are the third leading cause of cancer death in young adults ages 20-39.

The Tug McGraw Foundation was founded to raise brain cancer awareness and funds for research, and to provide brain tumor survivors and family support and resources for quality of life issues. The Foundation established the Tug McGraw Center for Quality of Life and Supportive Care Research in Neuro-Oncology at Duke University, and awards scholarships to college students who exemplify Tug's Ya Gotta Believe attitude.