Happy Birthday this week to:
December 28
1903 ● Fatha Hines / (Earl Kenneth Hines) → Early and influential modern jazz pianist and orchestra leader, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan played in his band, died 4/22/1983, age 79.
1910 ● Billy Williams → R&B/soul-blues singer with six Top 40 hits in the 50s, including the oft-covered pop standard “I’m Going to Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter” (#3, 1957), lost his voice due to diabetes in the 60s and became a social worker until his death on 10/17/1972, age 61
1910 ● Harold Rhodes → Inventor of the Rhodes electric piano, which became the most successful piano of its kind and dominated rock, pop, soul and jazz music in the 60s and 70s until succumbing to Japanese competition and digital synthesizers in the 80s but enjoys a resurgence of use in the 00s, died from complications of pneumonia on 12/17/2000, age 89
1915 ● Pops Staples / (Roebuck Staples) → Patriarch and manager of influential R&B/soul-gospel father-daughters quartet The Staple Singers, whose gospel roots and early focus shifted to soul music and non-religious lyrics in the 70s and produced a string of Top 40 hits, including “I’ll Take You There” (#1, 1972), died on 12/19/2000, age 84.
1921 ● Johnny Otis / (Ioannis Veliotes) → Swing-era bandleader, R&B record producer, record company A&R executive, rock band manager, songwriter and 50s and 60s R&B/soul singer, “Willie And The Hand Jive” (#9, R&B #3, 1958), continued to perform and record with his band The Johnny Otis Show into the 80s and host an annual rock and R&B festival in Los Angeles into the 00s, died from natural causes on 1/17/2012, age 90.
1928 ● Ray Santos / (Raymond Santos) → Grammy-winning Latin jazz saxophonist, played with top mambo bands led by stars Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez in the 50s and 60s, taught music at City College in New York for nearly thirty years, arranged the score to the movie The Mambo Kings (1992) and Linda Ronstadt‘s Frenesi album (US Latin #17, 1992), among many other projects, remained active until dying from congestive heart failure on 10/17/2019, age 90.
1929 ● Matt “Guitar” Murphy / (Matthew Tyler Murphy) → Highly-regarded electric blues guitarist best known as a member of The Blues Brothers band (“Soul Man,” #14, 1979) and appearances in both Blues Brothers movies as the fictional husband of diner-matron Aretha Franklin, over the years played with Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, James Cotton and other notable blues masters, issued four respectable solo albums, died from undisclosed causes on 6/15/2018, age 88.
1932 ● Dorsey Burnette → Country-pop and rockabilly singer with his brother in the Johnny Burnette Trio, solo, “(There Was A) Tall Oak Tree” (#23, 1962), prolific songwriter with over 350 titles covered by Glen Campbell, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rick Nelson, Stevie Wonder and others, died of a coronary arrest on 8/19/1979, age 46.
1932 ● Nichelle Nichols / (Grace Dell Nichols) → American actress and sometime pop singer best known as Lieutenant Uhura, the fourth-in-command on the starship U.S.S. Enterprise on the classic TV series Star Trek (1966-1969), a leading role among the first for a Black women on a major American TV program, earlier performed in the 50s as a vocalist for Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and as a soloist in the Chicago Playboy Club, released two music albums, a collection of pop standards Down To Earth (1967) and the space-themed pop-rock LP Out of This World (1991), in the 80s and on represented NASA to recruit female and minority candidates for spaceflight training and is credited with inspiring several Space Shuttle astronauts to join the program, died of heart failure on 7/30/2022, age 89.
1938 ● Charles Neville → Jazz-influenced saxophonist for blues great B. B. King, pop-rock Joey Dee & The Starliters (“Peppermint Twist,” #1, 1962) and several New York R&B bands, returned home in 1977 to co-found celebrated New Orleans R&B/soul sibling act The Neville Brothers (Grammy-winning “Healing Chant,” 1989), recorded and toured for over 30 years until declining health forced his retirement, died from pancreatic cancer on 4/27/2018, age 79.
1939 ● Bonnie MacLean / (Bonnie MacLean Graham) → San Francisco office manager and part-time artist tapped in 1967 by then-husband Bill Graham to create posters announcing upcoming shows at his Fillmore West venue, becoming for a brief time the lone female among the top half-dozen designers of the day, her hand-drawn plumes, curved letters and stoic faces promoted concerts by Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and many others over the next four years, divorced Graham in 1975 and relocated to Pennsylvania where she remarried and worked as a fine artist, with a focus on nudes and landscapes, until dying from undisclosed causes on 2/4/2020, age 80.
1941 ● Bob Seidenmann / (Robert Emett Seidenmann) → Photographer in the counterculture scene in 1960s San Francisco, where he created concert posters and iconic photographs of Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead and others, later moved to England where he worked with Eric Clapton and produced the infamous cover photograph for his supergroup’s eponymous debut (and only) album, Blind Faith (#1, UK #1, 1969), returned to the US and developed a second career photographing aviation stars like Chuck Yeager and Gen. James H. Doolittle, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 11/27/2017, age 75.
1943 ● Chas Hodges / (Charles Hodges) → Guitar, banjo, piano and vocals for Brit country-rock Head Hands & Feet, then pop-“rockney” duo Chas & Dave, “Gertcha” (UK #20, 1979)
1946 ● Edgar Winter → Straight blues and blues-rock keyboardist and saxophonist, songwriter and bandleader, The Edgar Winter Group, “Frankenstein” (#1, 1973), younger brother of Johnny Winter
1947 ● Dick Diamonde / (Dingeman Ariaan Henry van der Sluijs) → Dutch-born bassist with four other ex-pat Europeans in Australia’s top pop-rock act in the 60s, The Easybeats, the band charted fifteen AUS Top 40 singles, including the worldwide hit “Friday On My Mind” (#16, AUS #1, UK #6, 1967) before disbanding in 1970, continued to perform in clubs in eastern Australia for a time and in a 1986 Easybeats reunion before retiring from music, died from undisclosed causes on 9/18/2024, age 76.
1948 ● Mary Weiss / (Mary Louise Weiss) → Lead vocals for quintessential girl group The Shangri-Las, scored four Top 20 hits in 1964-65 while still in her teens, the biggest, “Leader Of The Pack” (#1, 1964) promoted their “bad girl” image and remains a genre classic, left in the late 60s for a career in architecture and interior design, rejoined her group mates in occasional Shangri-Las reunions at oldies festivals but largely stayed out of the music world until resurfacing with a solo album in 2007, was working on a stage musical about the group on her death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on 1/19/2024, age 75.
1948 ● Ziggy Modeliste / (Joseph Modeliste) → Founding member and drummer for New Orleans soul-funk The Meters, “Chicken Strut” (1970), backing drummer for Robert Palmer, Dr. John and others, formed funk band The Wild Tchoupitoulas in the 70s, continues to perform with both band and record as a solo artist into the 10s.
1950 ● Alex Chilton → Frontman for short-lived blue-eyed soul The Box Tops, “The Letter” (#1, 1967), then influential but only cult-level power-pop band Big Star, “September Gurls” (1974, Rolling Stone #178), died from heart failure on 3/17/2010, age 59.
1951 ● Louis A. McCall, Sr. → Drummer, songwriter, singer and co-founder of R&B/soul-funk Con Funk Shun, “Ffun” (#23, R&B #1, 1978), murdered in a home invasion robbery on 6/25/1997, age 45.
1953 ● Richard Clayderman (Philipe Pages) → The Guinness Book of World Records‘ “most successful pianist in the world,” French easy listening/instrumental pop composer and pianist with over 400 albums and 70 million in unit sales, compositions include original works, covered materials, film scores and easy listening renditions of classical works
1954 ● Rosie Vela → Model, actress, pop-rock singer and songwriter, “Magic Smile” (Adult #29, 1986)
1958 ● Mike McGuire → Drummer for neo-trad country Shenandoah, “The Church On Cumberland Road” (Country #1, 1989)
1958 ● Joe Diffie / (Joe Logan Diffie) → Country and crossover pop singer and guitarist with 33 charting singles – fifteen of them Country Top 10 hits with five Country #1s – during country music’s resurgence in the 90s and early 00s, including his most successful, “Pickup Man” (#60, Country #1, 1994), wrote songs for others such as Tim McGraw (“Memory Lane,” Country #60, 1993) and Jo Dee Messina (“My Give a Damn’s Busted,” #63, Country #1, 2005), won a Grammy for best country collaboration with several other superstars for “Same Old Train” (1998), issued his 14th studio album, Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie! (2019) before dying from complications of the COVID-19 virus on 3/29/2020, age 61.
1960 ● Marty Roe → Founder, rhythm guitar and lead vocals for country-pop-bluegrass Diamond Rio, “One More Day” (Country #1, 2000)
1961 ● Christine Collister → Contemporary Brit folk-rock vocalist, backing singer with the Richard Thompson Band and five albums of duets with Clive Gregson in the late 80s, released solo albums in the 90s, toured with all-female vocal group Daphne’s Flight and collaborated in various projects and tours in the 00s and 10s
1964 ● Paul Wagstaff → Guitarist for Madchester electro-dance club septet Paris Angels, “Perfume” (UK #55, 1990), then Happy Mondays, “Stinkin Thinkin” (Dance/Club #1, 1992) and Black Grape, “In The Name Of The Father” (UK #8, 1995)
1969 ● Joey Shuffield → Drummer for alt rock/power pop Fastball, “Out Of My Head” (#20, Adult Top 40 #3, 1999)
1971 ● Anita Dels → Vocals for Euro dance-pop 2 Unlimited, “Tribal Dance” (Dance/Club #7, 1993)
1977 ● LeShawn “Big Shiz” Daniels / (LeShawn Ameen Daniels) → R&B/pop songwriter, vocal arranger and producer for megastars including Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and others, co-wrote his first hit at age 21, “Top Of The World” for Brandy Norwood (R&B #1, UK #2, 1998) and followed with “The Boy Is Mine” for Brandy & Monica (#1, 1998), the Grammy-winning “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child (#1, R&B #1, 2000) and 25 other charting singles before
dying in a car crash on 9/3/2019, age 41.
1978 ● John Legend / (John Stephens) → Neo-soul singer, pianist and songwriter, “Ordinary People” (#24, 2005)
December 29
1922 ● Rose Lee Maphis / (Doris Helen Schetrompf) → Singer, guitarist, songwriter and early figure in the development of the renegade Bakersfield sound in country music in tandem with her husband, Joe Maphis, the two became known as “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music” for their long-running appearances as cast members of Town Hall Party, a pioneering TV barn dance seen on KTTV in Los Angeles in the 1950s, later co-wrote with Joe the honky-tonk standard “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)” originally recorded by Flatt & Scruggs and later by New Riders Of The Purple Sage and other country rock bands, dropped out of the music industry in the 70s to raise her faimly and died of kidney failure on 10/2/2021, age 98.
1931 ● Buddy Bailey / (John H. Bailey) → Founding member, tenor and lead vocals in pioneering, genre-defining R&B/doo wop The Clovers, “Ting-A-Ling” (R&B #1, 1952) and 18 other R&B Top 10 hits in the early 50s plus the crossover “Love Potion No. 9” (#23, R&B #23, 1959), stayed with the group and various splinters, and toured with other doo wop groups until his death on 2/3/1994, age 62.
1935 ● Virgil Johnson → Lead singer for R&B/doo wop The Velvets, “Tonight (Could Be The Night)” (#26, 1961)
1939 ● Ed Bruce / (William Edwin Bruce, Jr.) → Country music songwriter, singer and TV actor, co-wrote the Grammy-winning “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” for himself (Country #15, 1976) and covered by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson (Country #1, 1978) on the duet album Waylon & Willy (#12, Country #1, 1978), wrote and sang the theme song, and co-starred with James Garner in the TV series Bret Maverick (1981-82), scored six Country Top 10 hits in the 80s among 35 overall charting singles, died of natural causes on 1/8/2021, age 81.
1941 ● Ray Thomas → Founding member, harmonica, flute and vocals for prog rock then pop-rock The Moody Blues, his flute solo on “Nights In White Satin” (#2, 1967) is widely considered to be a defining moment in rock music and the development of the prog rock subgenre, recorded two solo albums in the 70s while the band was on hiatus, left in 2002 due to declining health and died from prostate cancer on 1/4/2018, age 76.
1942 ● Jerry Summers / (Jerry Gross) → Lead and first tenor for doo wop a cappella harmony turned early garage-rock/dance craze The Dovells, “Bristol Stomp” (#2, 1961)
1942 ● Rick Danko → Canadian-born bassist, vocalist and occasional songwriter for seminal roots rock The Band, “Up On Cripple Creek” (#25, 1970), solo, died at home in his sleep from heart failure on 12/10/1999, age 56.
1943 ● Bill Aucion → Artist consultant and band manager credited with discovering campy hard/glam-rock Kiss, “Detroit Rock City” (#7, 1976) and developing their costumes, stage presence, record contracts and merchandise into a multi-million dollar enterprise, also managed other hard rock bands, including Billy Idol, Starz and Finnish heavy metal Lordi, died from complications following prostrate cancer surgery on 6/28/2010, age 66
1943 ● Barbara Alston / (Barbara Ann Alston) → Founding member in Phil Spector-produced 60s girl group The Crystals and lead singer on their first two hits, “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” (#20, 1962) and “Uptown” (#13, 1962), relinquished the front spot due to stage fright and sang back-up until leaving the group in 1965 to raise her first son (who was transgender and killed in an unsolved murder in 2010), died from complications of the flu on 2/16/2018, age 74.
1944 ● Patti Drew / (Eherene Patricia Drew) → With her two sisters, Lorraine and Emma, in R&B vocal group The Drew-Vels and the first charting version of “Tell Him” (#90, 1964), following dissolution in 1966 started a solo career and re-recorded “Tell Him” (#85, R&B #22, 1967), with her sisters’ backing vocals, along with three other charting singles in 1968-69, left the industry in 1971 and occasional performed in clubs before dying from unspecified causes on 6/16/2025, age 80.
1946 ● Marianne Faithfull / (Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull) → Sweet voiced British Invasion pop singer with four UK Top 10 hits in the mid-60s, including “As Tears Go By” (#22, 1964), former paramour of Mick Jagger and subject of several Rolling Stones‘ songs, co-wrote “Sister Morphine” with Jagger and Keith Richards and released it as a non-charting single in 1969, descended into drug addiction and homelessness in the 70s but reappeared in 1979 with a deeper, raspy voice and the New Wave-ish album Broken English (1979), another release in 1987, Strange Weather, shifted to cabaret-style blues, jazz and show tunes, and the following three-plus decades featured ten more critically-acclaimed albums, frequent stage and film appearances, and vocal contributions to other artists’ projects, suffered from ill health for most of her last 10 years and died from unspecified causes on 1/30/2025, age 78.
1947 ● Cozy Powell / (Colin Flooks) → Journeyman but sought after and influential rock drummer with the Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and others, died in a one-car crash in the UK on 4/5/1998, age 50.
1947 ● Terry Manning / (Terry Don Manning) → Recording engineer and producer, musician and photographer, played in local rockabilly bands in West Texas as a teenager, including a gig with legendary Bobby Fuller, moved to Memphis in the late 60s and joined the Stax Records studio team that played on and produced the Staple Singers “I’ll Take You There” (#1, R&B #1, 1972) and dozens of other soul hits, from there went on to a 40-year career producing some of rocks most iconic albums by a wide-range of top-tier artists from Al Green to Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top, also worked at Ardent, Abbey Road and Compass Point studios at various times, released several solo albums, the last in 2025, before dying from an accidental fall at home in El Paso, Texas, on 3/25/2025, age 77.
1948 ● Charlie Spinosa → Trumpeter in blue-eyed soul one hit wonder John Fred & His Playboy Band, “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” (#1, 1968)
1951 ● Yvonne Elliman → Hawaii-born pop-rock singer and songwriter, acted in the Broadway stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), member of Eric Clapton‘s band and solo “If I Can’t Have You” (#1, 1977)
1955 ● Spyder Giraldo / (Neil Giraldo) → Lead guitarist for Pat Benatar‘s band, “Love Is A Battlefield” (#5, 1983)
1961 ● Cow Day / (Mark Day) → Guitarist for Madchester electro-dance club Happy Mondays, “Stinkin Thinkin” (Dance/Club #1, 1992)
1961 ● Jim Reid → Co-founder and lead singer in Scottish alt-pop-rock Jesus And Mary Chain, “Sometimes Always” (Modern Rock #4, 1994)
1963 ● Alex Gifford → Keyboards, bass and DJ for techno-dance Propellerheads, “History Repeating” (Dance/Club #10, 1998)
1965 ● Dexter Holland / (Bryan Keith Holland) → Aspiring molecular biology PhD candidate turned frontman, guitar and vocals for 90s punk revival The Offspring, “Gone Away” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1997), returned to academia in the 10s
1968 ● Sadat X / (Derek Murphy) → DJ and MC for alt hip hop trio Brand Nubian, “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head” (#54, Rap #3, 1998)
1970 ● Glen Phillips → Founder, lead vocals and songwriter for alt pop-rock Toad The Wet Sprocket, “All I Want” (#15, 1992), solo
December 30
1917 ● Wesley Tuttle → Early and influential country-pop, hillbilly and smooth-Western singer and guitarist known for having only a thumb and pinky finger on his left hand but scoring the early hits “With Tears in My Eyes” (Country #1, 1945) and “Detour” (Country #4, 1946), and for yodeling to the “Silly Song” in Walt Disney‘s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, left the music industry in the 90s and died from heart failure on 9/29/2003, age 85.
1928 ● Bo Diddley / (Ellas Otha Bates McDaniel) → Grammy-winning early R&B/rock ‘n roll guitarist, prolific singer and songwriter, “I’m A Man” (R&B #1, 1955) and nine other R&B Top 40 hits, originator of the oft-used “Diddley Beat” (bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp), died from heart failure on 6/2/2008, age 79.
1930 ● Alvin “Seeco” Patterson / (Francisco Aloysius Willie) → Cuban-born Jamaican percussionist and early mentor to Bob Marley and his original Wailers band beginning in 1964, joined the band in 1967 as a backing musician in the studio and on tour, from 1973 contributed to every Wailers recording and live performance through to Marley’s death in 1981, continued with the reformed Wailers until a 1990 brain hemorrhage forced his retirement, died in his sleep from cerebral bleeding on 11/1/2021, age 90.
1931 ● Skeeter Davis / (Mary Frances Penick) → Unheralded early rockabilly and later country-crossover singer, “The End Of The World” (#2, 1963), died from breast cancer on 9/19/2004, age 72
1934 ● Del Shannon / (Charles Westover) → Early rock ‘n roll teen idol then heralded pop-rock singer/songwriter, “Runaway” (#1, 1961), rumored to be replacing Roy Orbison in pop-rock supergroup Traveling Wilburys but shot-gunned himself to death before any official announcement on 2/8/1990, age 55.
1937 ● Paul Stookey / (Noel Paul Stookey) → Vocals and guitar for seminal folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” (#2, 1963), then solo, “Wedding Song (There Is Love)” (#24, 1971)
1937 ● John Hartford / (John Harford) → Grammy-winning folk-pop-country-rock and Newgrass singer, songwriter and guitarist, wrote and recorded the oft-covered and hugely popular standard “Gentle On My Mind” (1967), died from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on 6/4/2001, age 63
1939 ● Felix Pappalardi / (Felix A. Pappalardi, Jr.) → Producer for blues-rock Cream, “Sunshine Of Your Love” (#5, 1968) and later bassist for pioneering hard rock/heavy metal trio Mountain, “Mississippi Queen” (#21, 1970), shot dead by his wife in a supposed accident on 4/17/1983, age 43
1940 ● Mr. Popeye / (Kenny Pentifallo) → Drummer for New Jersey rock ‘n roll bar band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, “Talk To Me” (1978)
1940 ● Perry Ford → Member of Brit pop vocal trio The Ivy League, “Tossing And Turning” (#83, UK #3, 1965) and backing vocals for The Who
1940 ● Jerry Granelli / (Gerald John Granelli) → American-born Canadian jazz percussionist forever known for his subtle, effective snare drumming underneath the venerable and beloved soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas and other albums by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, with whom he played in the late 60s before leaving to perform with folk-pop Kingston Trio, psych-pop We Five and Sly Stone, eventually becoming a Canadian citizen and teaching jazz composition at Vancouver Community College, playing in multiple side projects and one-off groups in Canada and organizing an annual jazz festival in Halifax, NS, suffered a fall in December 2010 and died eight months later on 7/20/2021, age 80.
1942 ● Mike Nesmith / (Robert Michael Nesmith) → Moderately successful early 60s L.A. songwriter, wrote “Different Drum” for Linda Ronstadt (#13, 1967), answered an ad seeking actor/musicians for a TV show and found fame in 60s pre-fab pop-rock The Monkees with “Last Train To Clarksville” (#1, 1966) and four other Top 5 hits from 1966 to 1968, left in 1970 to form pioneering country-rock National Standard Band (“Joanne,” #21, 1970) and a solo career, produced numerous songs, albums and videos for other artists, produced and directed several movies, including Repo Man (1984), founded Pacific Arts Coporation and subsidiary, Pacific Arts Video, a pioneer in the home video market, created one of the earliest music videos and the MTV-precursor PopClips program on Nickolodeon cable TV, occasionally appeared in Monkees reunions over the years, wrote and produced the 1997 TV special Hey Hey It’s The Monkees, performed with bandmate Micky Dolenz in a Monkees farewell tour ending just before his death from heart failure on 12/10/2021, age 78.
1942 ● Robert Quine → Heralded punk-era guitarist with Richard Hell & The Voidoids, then collaborated with Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Tom Waits and others, committed suicide on 5/31/2004, age 61
1942 ● Dean Parrish / (Philip Joseph Anastasi) → Blue-eyed pop-soul singer mostly ignored in his US homeland but revered in the UK where his “I’m On My Way” (UK #38, 1975) became an anthem during the 70s Northern Soul boom, continued to record sporadically and work sessions through the decades while performing in multiple pop-soul revival and oldies concerts around the UK until his death from undisclosed causes on 6/8/2021, age 79.
1945 ● Davy Jones / (David Thomas Jones) → Lead vocals for 60s bad-rap pre-fab pop-rock The Monkees, “Last Train To Clarksville” (#1, 1966), solo and stage actor, died from a heart attack on 2/29/2012, age 66
1946 ● Clive Bunker / (Clive William Bunker) → Drummer for early line-up of Brit folk-rock Jethro Tull, “Living In The Past” (#11, 1973)
1946 ● Patti Smith / (Patricia Lee Smith) → The “Godmother of Punk,” singer, poet, songwriter and bandleader, co-wrote with Bruce Springsteen “Because The Night” (#13, 1978)
1947 ● Jeff Lynne / (Jeffrey Lynne) → Top-level producer, keyboardist, songwriter and frontman for The Move, “Blackberry Way” (UK #1, 1968), Electric Light Orchestra, “Telephone Line” (#7, 1977), and the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, “Handle With Care”, Mainstream Rock #2, 1988).
1951 ● Chris Jasper / (Christopher Howard Jasper) → Classically trained pianist, singer and songwriter, keyboardist, brother-in-law and, starting in 1973, key member of six-decade, multi-generational R&B/soul family group The Isley Brothers, co-wrote “That Lady, Pts. 1-2” (#6, 1973) and several other hits, after breakup in 1984 stayed on with Ernie and Marvin in Isley-Jasper-Isley as lead singer, co-wrote the trio’s big hit, “Caravan Of Love” (#51, R&B #1, 1985) before starting a solo career in 1988 and releasing 16 of his own solo albums, all self-written, self-produced and self-performed, both vocally and instrumentally, through 2023, diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in December 2024 and died from the disease two months later on 2/23/2025, age 73.
1956 ● Suzy Bogguss / (Susan Kay Bogguss) → Award-winning country singer and songwriter, “Drive South” (Country #2, 1992)
1959 ● Tracey Ullman / (Trace Ullman) → 80s “girl-group revival” pop-rock singer “They Don’t Know” (#8, 1984), then TV comedienne
1969 ● Jay Kay Cheetham / (Jason “Jay Kay” Cheetham) → Lead singer in Grammy-winning Brit acid jazz-funk-pop Jamiroquai, “Canned Heat” (Dance #1, 1999)
1970 ● Sister Bliss / (Ayalah Bentovim) → Former club DJ then founding member of techno-club-dance duo Faithless, “Insomnia” (Dance/Club #1, 1997)
1973 ● Jon Theodore → Current drummer for hard rock/stoner metal Queens Of The Stone Age (“No One Knows,” #51, Mainstream Rock #5, 2002) and in power duo One Day As A Lion with Zack de la Rocha of Grammy-winning punk/hip hop/thrash metal Rage Against The Machine (“Guerrilla Radio,” Modern Rock #6, 1999)
1978 ● Tyrese / (Tyrese Darnell Gibson) → R&B/hip hop singer, songwriter and rapper, “How You Gonna Act Like That” (#7, 2003), film actor, producer
1986 ● Ellie Goulding / (Elena Jane Goulding) → Brit indie folk-pop singer and songwriter with several charting hits in the U.S., including “Lights” (#2, UK #49, 2011) and “Love Me Like You Do” (#3, UK #1, 2015)
1988 ● Leon Jackson → Scottish pop singer and winner of the UK TV talent show The X Factor in 2007, “When You Believe” (#1, 2007)
December 31
1914 ● Cyril Stapleton → Brit jazz-pop bandleader in the 40s and 50s, “Children’s Marching Song (Nick, Nack Paddywack)” (#13, 1959), producer and record company A&R executive, died on 2/25/1974, age 59.
1920 ● Rex Allen / (Rex Elvie Allen) → Actor, songwriter and “singing cowboy” with nearly 50 Western movie roles, over 150 narrations of Disney films, a dozen albums and five Top 30 country-pop crossover hits, including his cover of “Crying In The Chapel” (#8, Country #4, 1953), died after his caregiver accidentally ran over him with his car in his driveway on 12/17/1999, age 79
1928 ● Ross Barbour → Founding member of clean-cut, jazz/collegiate-pop harmony quartet The Four Freshmen (“Graduation Day,” #17, 1956), a major influence on Brian Wilson of The Beach Boyss but lost relevance during the British Invasion, retired in 1977 and died of lung cancer on 8/20/2001, age 82
1930 ● Odetta Holmes → “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement,” folk-blues and folk revival protest singer, songwriter and guitarist, National Endowment of the Arts award-winner, died from heart disease on 12/2/2008, age 77
1942 ● Andy Summers / (Andrew James Somers) → Multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter best known as the guitarist for post-punk New Wave pop-rock The Police (“Every Breath You Take,” #1, 1983), briefly with psych rock Soft Machine and The Animals in the 60s, joined short-lived rock band Strontium 90 with Sting and Stewart Copeland in 1977 before the trio left to form The Police late that year, issued a dozen solo albums, composed several film scores, toured and recorded with other artists, ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the 85th greatest guitarist of all-time
1943 ● John Denver / (Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.) → Light folk-country-pop singer/songwriter, “Rocky Mountain High” (#9, 1973) plus 14 other Top 40 singles, Grammy-winning children’s music album All Aboard! (1997), died when his experimental airplane crashed on 10/12/1997, age 53
1943 ● Peter Quaife → Founding member and first bassist for Brit folk-pop-rock The Kinks, left before “Lola” (#9, 1970) for a brief solo career, then cartoonist and graphic artist, died from kidney failure on 6/24/2010, age 66
1947 ● Burton Cummings → Founder and frontman for Canadian rockers The Guess Who, “American Woman” (#1, 1970), solo
1948 ● Donna Summer / (LaDonna Adriene Gaines) → The unparalleled “Queen of Disco”, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, “Bad Girls” (#1, 1975) plus 19 other Top 40 hits, died from lung cancer on 5/17/2012, age 63.
1948 ● Steve Farmer / (Steven Orville Farmer) → Second guitarist and songwriter with 60s one hit wonder The Amboy Dukes, co-wrote with frontman Ted Nugent 22 songs for the group, including the psych-rock anthem “Journey To The Center Of Your Mind” (#16, 1968), continued to write and record for decades until his death from unspecified coronary issues on 4/7/2020, age 71.
1951 ● Fermin Goytisolo → Percussionist for R&B/soul-funk-disco KC & The Sunshine Band, “That’s The Way (I Like It)” (#1, 1975) and five other #1 hits
1951 ● Tom Hamilton → Bassist for Grammy-winning, venerable hard rockers Aerosmith, “Dream On” (#6, 1976), “Angel” (#3, 1988), “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” (#1, 1998), “Baby, Please Don’t Go” (Mainstream Rock #7, 2004)
1959 ● Paul Westerberg / (Paul Harold Westerberg) → Founder, frontman and songwriter for garage punk then alt rock pioneers The Replacements, “I’ll Be You” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1989)
1961 ● Scott Taylor → Guitarist for New Wave synth-pop-soul Then Jerico, “The Motive” (UK #18, 1987)
1963 ● Scott Ian / (Scott Ian Rosenfeld) → Guitarist for speed/thrash metal Anthrax, “Only” (Mainstream #26, 1993)
1970 ● Danny McNamara / (Daniel Anthony McNamara) → Founder and lead vocals for Brit pop-rock Embrace, “Gravity” (Mainstream Rock #36, UK #7, 2004)
1972 ● Joey McIntyre / (Joseph Mulrey McIntyre) → Vocalist in early 90s teen-pop boy band New Kids On The Block, “Step By Step” (#1, 1990)
1977 ● PSY / (Park Jae-Sang) → South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, rapper and “K-Pop” phenomenon known for his global hit “Gangnam Style” (#2, UK #1, 2012)
1979 ● Bob Bryar / (Robert Nathaniel Corey Bryar) → Drummer for 00s alt rock/emo band My Chemical Romance, “Welcome To The Black Parade” (#9, 2006)
January 01
1931 ● Miss Toni Fisher / (Toni Fisher Monzello) → Teen pop one hit wonder nightclub circuit singer, “The Big Hurt” (#3, 1959), which utilized innovative electronic phasing techniques that would become commonplace in the 60s and in synth-pop music of the 80s, died from a heart attack on 2/12/1999, age 68
1931 ● “Little Sister” Bobbie Nelson / (Bobbie Lee Nelson) → Longtime pianist in country music’s Willie Nelson & Family, the act fronted by her legendary younger brother with whom she’d been playing music since childhood, first in churches and neighborhood gatherings and later with her first husband Bud Fletcher and Willie in country-grass The Texans, following divorce, dissolution of the band in 1955 and Fletcher‘s death in 1961, left the music industry and worked for a time at the Hammond Organ Company, returned in 1973 to join Willie in the Family Band for nearly 50 years, from 1973’s Shotgun Willie to 2021’s The Willie Nelson Family, issued a lone solo album, Audiobiography in 2008 at age 76, co-authored with her brother and writer David Ritz the autobiography Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of the Family Band (2020), died of natural causes on 3/10/2022, age 91.
1941 ● James West → Tenor vocals and lead singer for smooth pop trio The Innocents (“Honest I Do,” #32, 1960) and as the backing vocal group for teenage pop singer Kathy Young (“A Thousand Stars, #3, 1961), continued to record and perform as a solo act and in various reunions for the oldies circuit into the 00s
1942 ● “Country Joe” McDonald / (Joseph Allen McDonald) → Co-founder, frontman and lead vocals for 60s psych-folk-rock protest band Country Joe & The Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” (1967)
1943 ● Chris Youlden / (Christopher Thomas Youlden) → Lead singer and songwriter with British blues-rock Savoy Brown in the late 60s, recorded four albums with the band and wrote the single “I’m Tired” (#74, CA #51, 1969), left ahead of the group’s rise to relative popularity (“Tell Mama,” #83, 1971) and had a moderately successful solo career touring and recording five albums through 2006, dropped out of the music world thereafter except for a collaborative album in 2018, died from bronchial pneumonia on 4/4/2025, age 82.
1947 ● John Drake / (John William Brake) → One of the “founding fathers of Detroit rock ‘n’ roll,” lead singer in 60s psych-rock Amboy Dukes with high school classmate Ted Nugent, co-wrote their lone hit single, “Journey To The Center Of The Mind” (#16, 1968), left in 1969 to form the John Drake Shakedown, work for a short period as a Detroit-area radio DJ, manage concert bookings through a talent agency, operate an auto parts distribution company and appear occasionally with Nugent or in Amboy Dukes reunion shows, retired in 2017 and died from complications of bladder cancer on 8/29/2021, age 74.
1949 ● Phalon Jones / (Phalon R. Jones, Jr.) → Saxophonist and founding member of soul/funk The Bar-Kays, “Soul Finger” (#17, R&B #3, 1967), which also served as Stax Records‘ in-house session group and Otis Redding‘s backing band, died in the Wisconsin plane crash that killed Redding and four Bar-Kays bandmates on 12/10/1967, age 18
1950 ● Morgan Fisher / (Stephen Morgan Fisher) → Keyboards for early Brit glam-rockers Mott The Hoople, “All The Young Dudes” (#37, 1972)
1954 ● Billy Miller / (William Henry Miller, Jr.) → Rock music archivist, collector, publisher and record label executive, co-founded Kicks magazine in 1979 and Norton Records in 1986 with his wife and fellow arcane music enthusiast Miriam Linna (former drummer for punk/rockabilly The Cramps), focused on overlooked garage rock, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll artists such as Link Wray, The Alarm Clocks and the Wailers, among many others, died from complications of multiple myeloma on 11/13/2016, age 62
1956 ● Andy Gill / (Andrew James Dalrymple Gill) → British guitarist, record producer, songwriter, founder and only constant member of influential post-punk Gang Of Four (“Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broke,” Modern Rock #14, 1991), co-wrote with one or more bandmembers all tracks on the group’s first eight albums, and alone on their final two albums, in between produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Stranglers and Michael Hutchence, among others, died from pneumonia on 2/1/2020, age 64.
1958 ● Grandmaster Flash / (Joseph Saddler) → Early rapper, lightning fast DJ and mixmaster and leader of The Furious Five, “The Message” (R&B #4, 1982)
1960 ● Iain Bayne → Drummer for Scottish Celtic folk-rock Runrig, “An Ubhal As Airde (The Highest Apple)” (UK #18, 1995)
1960 ● John Waddington → Started his own punk band at age 17, then co-founded influential Brit post-punk The Pop Group for two singles including “Where There’s A Will There’s A Way” (UK Indie #2, 1980) and two albums before the group split in 1981, joined post-punk Maximum Joy for a two-year stint and later German electro group UBahnX for a short time, largely dropped for the limelight in the later 80s and performed as a session musician for years, died from undisclosed causes on 6/20/2023, age 63.
1963 ● Michael Hanson → Drummer for Canadian pop-rock Glass Tiger, “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” (#2, 1986)
1966 ● Amelia Fletcher → Twee pop bandleader, singer and guitarist turned university professor and OBE-winning economist for the British government, formed power pop/twee pop/indie bands Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research, Tender Trap and The Catenary Wires from the 80s to the 10s, all the while studying for and earning her Ph.D. then pursuing a career in economic policy and teaching
1966 ● Crazy Legs / (Richard Colón) → Early and pioneering hip hop entertainer and “b-boy” breakdancer
1968 ● Rick J. Jordan / (Hendrik Stedler) → Keyboardist for huge Euro-German techno-dance-pop Scooter, “Fire” (Dance/Club #30, 1998)
1972 ● Tom Barman → Vocals and guitar for Belgian avante-grunge indie rock dEUS, “Little Arithmethics” (UK #44, 1996)
1975 ● Steve Ripley → Frontman and lead guitar for 90s country-rockers The Tractors, “Baby Likes To Rock It” (#11, 1994)
January 02
1926 ● Harold Bradley / (Harold Ray Bradley) → Guitarist, producer, de facto leader of the “Nashville A-Team” of versatile, in-demand session musicians and one of the most widely-heard guitarists of all time, over a 50-year career played on thousands of songs by Patsy Cline (“I’m Sorry,” #1, 1960), Roy Orbison (“Only The Lonely,” #2, 1960), The Lovin’ Spoonful (the tribute song “Nashville Cats,” #8, 1966) and many others, including Bob Dylan, The Byrds and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded five solo albums as a pop guitarist, in the 90s and 00s served as a senior executive with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and received a Trustees Award from the Grammy-awarding The Recording Academy in 2010, died of undisclosed causes on 1/31/2019, age 93.
1930 ● Julius La Rosa → Italian-American traditional pop singer with ten Top 25 hits in the 50s, including “Eh Cumpari” (#2, 1953), was fired on-air from the Arthur Godfrey Show in 1953, later guested on various TV variety shows and sitcoms and enjoyed a long career as a New York City radio DJ, continued to record and release pop CDs until a few years before his death from natural causes on 5/12/2016, age 86
1936 ● Roger Miller / (Roger Dean Miller, Sr.) → Nashville songwriter in the 50s for Jim Reeves (“Billy Bayou,” Country #1, 1958), Ray Price and others before becoming a Grammy-winning country-pop crossover star known for his quirkly, pun-filled lyrics, released nine Top 10 crossover hits in the 60s (five in 1965 alone), among them “King Of The Road” (#4, Country #1, 1965) and “England Swings” (#1, Country #3, 1965), appeared in several films and TV shows over the years, wrote the score and won a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Big River (1985), died of lung cancer on 10/25/1992, age 56.
1946 ● Richard Cole → For-hire tour manager in the mid-60s (The Who, Yardbirds and others) and one of the first to specialize in American tours by British acts, joined Led Zeppelin in 1968 and served as tour manager for the band until being fired for substance addiction in 1980, later served as tour manager for Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath, Three Dog Night and others, authored the tell-all book Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored (1992), reconciled with the band in the 00s and appeared at Led Zeppelin events into the 10s while managing various other UK bands, died from cancer on 12/32/2021, age 74.
1948 ● Kerry Minnear / (Kerry C. Minnear) → Classically-trained, multi-instrumentalist composer and arranger, keyboardist of Brit progressive rock Gentle Giant during the 70s, left to teach and perform in church assembles, continues to compose music for film and TV, manages the release of Gentle Giant anthologies
1949 ● Chick Churchill / (Michael George Churchill) → Keyboardist for British blues-rock Ten Years After, “I’d Love To Change The World” (#40, 1971), later switched to ambient music and writing TV commercial jingles before becoming a professional photographer
1954 ● Glen Goins → Guitar and vocals for R&B/soul-funk (“P-Funk”) Parliament-Funkadelic, “One Nation Under A Groove” (#31, 1978), died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma on 7/29/1978, age 24
1963 ● Keith Gregory → Bassist for Brit indie pop-rock The Wedding Present, “Come Play With Me” (UK #10, 1992), the band released a single in every month of 1992 and earned 12 UK Top 30 hits, the only band with more than 10 new UK hits in one year
1967 ● Robert Gregory → Drummer for Brit lounge/melodramatic pop group Babybird, “You’re Gorgeous” (UK #3, 1996)
1975 ● Chris Cheney → Lead guitar, lead vocals and songwriter for Aussie punk rock/psychobilly The Living End, “Prisoner Of Society” (Rock #23, 1997)
1975 ● Douglas Robb → Vocalist for post-grunge indie pop-rock Hoobastank, “The Reason” (#2, 2004)
1981 ● Little Drummer Boy / (Kelton Kessee) → Drummer for L.A. pre-teen R&B/pop-rap Immature, “Never Lie” (#5, 1994), then name change to Imx, “Stay The Night” (#23, 1999)
January 03
1909 ● Victor Borge / (Borge Rosenbaum) → The “Clown Prince of Denmark,” Danish teenage piano prodigy and film star, escaped the Nazi invasion in 1940 and became a popular radio, stage and film star in the U.S. with a unique blend of classical music and comedy routines, died in his sleep on 12/23/2000, age 91
1916 ● Maxene Andrews / (Maxene Angelyn Andrews) → Soprano vocals in hugely popular pre-60s all-girl sibling pop harmony trio The Andrews Sisters, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (#6, 1941), died on 10/21/1995, age 79
1926 ● Sir George Martin / (George Henry Martin) → Highly-successful and influential record producer, most notable for producing all but one of The Beatles‘ albums and becoming the “Fifth Beatle” for his creative arrangements and complement to the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, also worked with Peter Sellers, Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Gabriel, Celine Dion and others, overall produced 23 number one singles and 19 number one albums in the U.S., died in his sleep on 3/8/2016, age 90
1937 ● John Gorman → Brit comedian and vocalist with Paul McCartney‘s brother in pop-rock trio The Scaffold, “Thank U Very Much” (#69, UK #4, 1968)
1937 ● Glen Larson → Founding member and baritone singer for clean-cut light pop vocal quartet The Four Preps, “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)” (#2, 1958) and 6 other Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1961, later became a TV producer and creator of Battlestar Galactica, Magnum PI, Quincy, Knight Rider and other drama series, died from esophageal cancer on 11/14/2014, age 77
1939 ● Gene Summers / (David Eugene Summers) → Rockabilly singer and bandleader known as the “Texas Rebel” in a 60-year career recording and performing, first as a solo act in the 50s and then in the 60s as frontman for Gene Summers & The Tom Toms, best known for his rendition of the rockabilly standard, “Big Blue Diamond” (1964), returned to working solo in the 70s and issued over than a dozen albums, mostly to his cult fans in Europe, inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1997 and issued his last album, Reminisce Café in 2008, hospitalized following an injury at home and died on 2/17/2021, age 82.
1941 ● Van Dyke Parks → Singer, sessionman, composer, lyricist (co-wrote The Beach Boys‘ “Heroes And Villains” and other songs), producer for Ry Cooder, Ringo Starr, The Byrds and others
1945 ● Philip Goodhand-Tait → UK singer, producer and songwriter, wrote “Oceans Away” (1975) for Roger Daltrey, “You Are” for Gene Pitney, others
1945 ● Stephen Stills / (Stephen Arthur Stills) → Folk-rock and country-rock singer, songwriter and guitarist, founding member of Buffalo Springfield (“For What It’s Worth”, #17, 1967) and folk-pop Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Just A Song Before I Go” (#7, 1977), frontman for Manassas and solo, “Love The One You’re With” (#14, 1971)
1946 ● John Paul Jones / (John Baldwin) → 60s session musician for The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, The Yardbirds and others, then founding member, bass and keyboards for hard rock Led Zeppelin, “Whole Lotta Love” (#4, 1970), now with Them Crooked Vultures, “New Fang” (Mainstream Rock #13, 2009)
1946 ● James Mtume / (James Forman) → Jazz percussionist with the Miles David Group in the early 70s, smooth R&B songwriter in the 80s (including Stephanie Mill‘s disco “Never Knew Love Like This Before,” #6, R&B #5, 1980), bandleader for eponymous group Mtume with the oft-sampled hit “Juicy Fruit” (#45, R&B #1, 1983) and “You, Me and He” (#83, R&B #2, 1984), produced albums and songs for multiple R&B and hip hop artists, hosted talk radio programs from New York from 1998 to 2013, died from an unspecified form of cancer on 1/9/2022, age 76.
1946 ● Robert John / (Robert John Pedrick, Jr.) → Falsetto soft rock singer/songwriter with a debut single on the pop chart at age 12 as Bobby Pedrick, Jr., “White Bucks And Saddle Shoes” (#85, 1958), followed by 11 mostly minor charting hits as Robert John from 1968 through 1984 and a lone chart-topper, the self-penned, million-selling “Sad Eyes” (#1, AC #10, 1979), largely dropped out of sight after the 80s but appeared in occasional oldies concerts, suffered a stroke in the late 10s and died from continuing complications thereof on 2/24/2025, age 79.
1947 ● Harold Beane / (Harold Dewitt Beane Sr.) → Stax Records‘ session guitarist who played on over 40 albums as a member of the Bar-Kays, the label’s house band in the 60s, later played with George Clinton‘s Parliament-Funkadelic musicians collective and in Isaac Hayes backing bands, most famous for his fuzz-tone and tremolo guitar on Hayes‘s 12-minute funk-soul cover of the Burt Bacharach classic “Walk On By” (#30, R&B #13, 1969), left music in 1987 for a mid-life career as a computer salesman but returned to Memphis in 2011 to play in various blues bands, died from an unspecified illness on 2/1/2020, age 73.
1948 ● Rex Braley / (Rex Charles Braley) → Guitarist for London-based, teenage R&B/soul-pop Love Affair, “Everlasting Love” (UK #1, 1968) and four other UK Top 20 hits in the late 60s, fell into obscurity following the band’s break-up in the 70s
1955 ● Clive Gregson → Founder, frontman, vocals and songwriter for New Wave punk-pop Any Trouble, then 90s Brit folk-rock revival duo Gregson & Collister, solo and producer for others
1958 ● Marcel King → Lead vocals for Philly-style Brit R&B/soul Sweet Sensation, “Sad Sweet Dreamer” (#14, UK #1, 1975), died from a brain hemorrhage on 10/5/1995, age 37.
1964 ● Raymond McGinley → Lead guitar and vocals for Scot pre-grunge, then power pop Teenage Fanclub, “Star Sign” (Mainstream Rock #4, 1991)
1975 ● Thomas Bangaltier → DJ for French progressive electronic dance-pop duo Daft Punk, “Face To Face” (Dance/Club #1, 2004)
1977 ● Timothy Wheeler → Founding member, songwriter and vocals for Irish neo-punk/pop-rock Ash, “Goldfinger” (UK #5, 1996)
1978 ● Kimberly Locke → Adult contemporary pop singer, “Band Of Gold” (Dance #1, Adult Contemporary #9, 2007)
