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Film Academy Says It Will Not Disqualify Surprise Oscar Nominee Riseborough

This image released by Momentum Pictures shows Andrea Riseborough in a scene from "To Leslie." (Momentum Pictures via AP)
This image released by Momentum Pictures shows Andrea Riseborough in a scene from "To Leslie." (Momentum Pictures via AP)
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Film Academy Says It Will Not Disqualify Surprise Oscar Nominee Riseborough

This image released by Momentum Pictures shows Andrea Riseborough in a scene from "To Leslie." (Momentum Pictures via AP)
This image released by Momentum Pictures shows Andrea Riseborough in a scene from "To Leslie." (Momentum Pictures via AP)

Hollywood's motion picture academy will not revoke the unexpected best actress nomination for "To Leslie" star Andrea Riseborough, the group's chief executive said on Tuesday after a review of an aggressive campaign on her behalf.

Riseborough was nominated for best actress for playing an alcoholic single mother in the little-seen film, a shock to awards pundits who had not expected her to be in the mix.

The surprise nomination sparked questions about whether a campaign for Riseborough had violated lobbying rules set by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Several A-list stars posted social media comments touting her performance.

On Tuesday, Academy CEO Bill Kramer said the organization "has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film's nomination should be rescinded."

"However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly," Kramer added.

The academy limits how studios can reach out to voters, how often and what they can say in any communications as part of their Oscars campaigns.

Winners of the Academy Awards will be announced on March 12.

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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.