Music Notes: Folk Singer Mimi Farina Dies

July 19 -- A member of folk music's royalty has passed away.

Mimi Farina died Wednesday of complications related to cancer. The 56-year-old singer, a sister of Joan Baez, was possibly best known for her social activism.

Farina recorded albums with her husband Richard. Their best-known songs include "Pack Up Your Sorrows," "Raven Girl" and "Bold Marauder." Farina never came close to the success of Baez, and she blamed that in part on her voice.

"I suffered from comparing my voice to my sister's," she told Reuters in 1999. "In the end, it was a great relief to stop singing."

The lives of Richard and Mimi Farina are chronicled in the new book Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina by author David Hajdu.

As an activist, Farina helped produce 500 concerts a year, bringing music to the elderly, sick and imprisoned with her organization Bread & Roses. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Peter Paul & Mary were among the acts who volunteered at the concerts.

"Mimi filled empty souls with hope and song," Baez said in a statement. "She reminded prisoners that they were human beings with names and not just numbers."

Baez had canceled most of her summer tour to be with her ailing sister.

Rockers Get Down With Diddy

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is proving he's still a force in the music business.

His new album is racing up the album charts, and now he's finding support from the rock 'n' roll world.

The video for his single "Bad Boy For Life" will feature several guest appearances, including "Butterfly" singers Crazy Town. NME.com reports Blink 182's Travis Barker and Dave Navarro will also join the taping.

Electronica in the Streets and in Your Home

If you can't make it to Moby's Area: One Festival, or one of the many DJ tours this summer, you can try recreating the club scene at home.

The Global Underground album series is a collection of mixes by electronica artists, like Danny Tenaglia and Paul Oakenfold, who recreate their live performances for home listeners.