Burglars, you are on notice. If you decide to attempt to rob the home of LL Cool J, the man behind the smash hits "I'm Bad," "I'm the Type of Guy" and "Mama Said Knock You Out," will indeed knock you out. Or at least leave you with a broken face.
That's exactly what happened to 56-year-old James Kirby, who allegedly broke into Cool J's Los Angeles home Wednesday morning. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 56-year-old "transient with a lengthy arrest record for thefts, fights and drugs" broke into Cool's manor at approximately 1 a.m., and was found in the kitchen by the rapper and actor, who swiftly apprehended him, breaking his jaw and nose in the process.
Police arrived shortly after, and the musician's representative provided a statement: "LL Cool J, and his family, are safe and thank everyone for their thoughts and concern. As a father, husband and citizen, he is committed to keeping his family safe and is cooperating with authorities on this private matter."
A pioneering hip-hop artist who first broke out in 1985 with his debut album Radio, Cool J has also carved out a successful acting career, and currently portrays an ex-Navy Seal on NCIS: Los Angeles.
And while Cool J's physical training (he also works out at the same gym that trains MMA slugger Jon Jones) equips him for fighting burglars, he isn't the only musician to take a stand in the battle against evil.
In May, Shirley Manson, singer from the alternative rock act Garbage, stopped her band's Atlantic City performance to end an assault of a woman in the crowd.
Another rocker, Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, was attending an intimate Guns N' Roses show at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City in February 2010 when he spotted a man entering the bar with a knife. According to a witness, "Sebastian, who was standing on a banquette said: ‘Nobody is getting anywhere near my man Axl Rose with a knife,’ and went after him. Security then immediately threw him out.”
In January 2009, Chris Llewellyn – an Atlanta-based musician – was on board a flight bound for L.A., where he was scheduled to play on Last Call with Carson Daly with rapper Asher Roth. During the flight, a man stepped up and claimed to have a bomb. When Llewellyn saw him trying to open the plane's emergency exit, he tackled the man and, along with other passengers, subdued him until the plane landed.
And back in 2004, members of Beyoncé's backing band helped thwart an attempted car-jacker in Florida. Ninety-one-year-old Reynold Caleen fought off a knife-wielding assailant trying to take his car, and when the criminal fled, Beyoncé's drummer, guitarist and bassists blocked his path, then chased him on foot, corralling him until police arrived.
So while crime fighting is best left to the professionals, like Batman and the police, it's good to know that musicians like these are among us, waiting to serve and protect.
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