a Phil Brodie Band Info Page
"Births & Deaths"
These birthdates and death dates are unique to this site,
I have been working on them for over 6 years now.
PLEASE give credit or link if copied
PAGES UPDATED DAILY
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JUNE: Charts ~ JUNE: On This Day ~ JUNE: Quiz
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JUNE
SADLY DEPARTED + TRIBUTES
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RESPECT - OBITUARIES
2011 .. 2010 .. 2009 .. 2008 .. 2007 .. 2006 .. 2005 .. 2004 .. REQUESTS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MORE BIRTHDATES & PASSINGS & TRIBUTES
January . February . March . April . May . June . July
August . September . October . November . December
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JUNE BIRTHDAYS

June 1st.
1988: Nami Tamaki (Japanese pop singer).
1981: Brandi Carlile (American singer and songwriter).
1974: Alanis Morissette (Canadian singer; songwriter).
1972: Dre/Krazy Drayz/Andre Weston (UShip-hop, rapper; Das EFX).
1971: Mario Cimarro (Cuban actor and singer).
1971: Roldán González (Cuban singer).
1969: René Liu (Taiwanese actress and singer).
1969: Damon Minchella (English bassist; Ocean Colour Scene/supergroup The Players).
1968: Jason Donovan (Australian singer; actor).
1967: Roger Sanchez/Funk Junkeez/S-Men (American DJ, producer).
1963: Mike Joyce (UK drummer, Smiths/Love Exchange/Adult Net/freelance).
1962: Jan De Haas (Belgian vibraphonist).
1961: Peter Machajdik (Slovakian composer)
1960: Simon Gallup (UK bassist, keyboards; The Cure).
1959: Alan Wilder (UK vocals,keyboards, composer, arranger, record producer; Depeche Mode/Recoil).
1958: Barry Adamson (UK bassist; Visage, Magazine, The Bad Seeds, Pan Sonic).
1955: Ralph Morse (UK actor, singer and writer of historical dramas).
1953: Ronnie Dunn (US guitarist, country singer-songwriter; Brooks & Dunn).
1952: John Ellis (UK guitarist; Vibrators/The Stranglers).
1950: Graham Russell (UK guitarist, vocals;Air Supply).
1950: 'Charlene' Marilynn D'Angelo (US singer).
1950: Tom Robinson (UK singer, songwriter, broadcaster; Cafe Society/own band).
1950: Wayne Nelson (American singer, bassist; Little River Band).
1947: Ronnie Wood (UK guitarist; Rolling Stones/Jeff Beck Group/The Creation/Faces).
1945: Frederica von Stade (American mezzo-soprano).
1945: Linda Scott (American singer).
1935: Hazel Dickens (US bluegrass singer-songwriter, double bassist, guitarist;Hazel & Alice)*22.April.2011.
1934: Pat Boone (US singer).
1925: Marie Knight/Marie Roach (US gospel singer)*30.Aug.2009.
1924: Hal McKusick (US jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist).
1921: Nelson Riddle (US trombone player, orchestra leader)*06.Oct.1985.

June 2nd.
1987: Darin Zanyar (Swedish pop singer).
1985: Ana Cristina (Cuban American singer,composer, actress).
1983: Brooke White (American singer).
1983: Leela James (American singer-songwriter).
1981: Tucker Rountree (American guitarist and composer).
1980: Orish Grinstead (Irish-American R&B singer; 702)*20.April.2008.
1980: Fabrizio Moreti (drummer; The Strokes).
1976: Tim Rice-Oxley (UK piano, bass,backing vocals; Keane).
1970: Louis Freese/B-Real (US rapper; Cypress Hill).
1970: Dominic Greensmith (drums; Reef/Kubb).
1966: Pedro Guerra (Spanish songwriter, singer).
1965: Jeremy Cunningham (UK bassist, Levellers).
1962: Ian Shaw (Welsh jazz singer, record producer, former comedian).
1962: Thor Eldon Jonsson (Icelandic guitar; The Sugarcubes).
1961: Dez Cadena (US singer, guitarist; Black Flag/Misfits/Osaka Popstar/others).
1960: Tony Hadley (UK vocals, synthesizer; Spandau Ballet/solo/freelance).
1959: Lydia Lunch/Lydia Koch (American singer).
1959: Ferron Foisy (Canadian folk singer-songwriter, poet).
1955: Michael Steele/Susan Thomas (US bassist, vocals, songwriter; Bangles).
1952: Pete Farndon (UK bass player, Pretenders)*14.April.1983.
1950: Joanna Gleason (Canadian actress, singer)
1947: Antone 'Chubby' Tavares (US lead singer; Tavares).
1947: Mark Elder (British opera and symphony conductor).
1946: Song Dae Kwan (Korean singer).
1945: Kim Brown (UK singer, guitar; The Renegades, Kim & The Cadillacs)*11.Oct.2011.
1944: Marvin Hamlisch (US pianist, composer).
1943: Ilaiyaraaja (Indian composer).
1941: Irène Schweizer (Swiss jazz pianist).
1941: Charlie Watts (UK drums, Rolling Stones).
1941: William Guest (US singer; Gladys Knight and the Pips).
1937: Jimmy Jones (African American singer/songwriter).
1937: Pierre Favre (Swiss jazz percussionist, drummer).
1936: Otis Williams (US singer, NOT of the Temptations; Otis Williams & His Charms).
1934: Johnny Carter (US doo-wop/R&B singer; The Flamingos/The Dells)*21.Aug.2009.
1932: Sammy Turner (American singer).
1924: Maurice Kinn (UK promoter, publisher; launched The New Musical Express in 1952)*03.Aug.2000.
1921: Marty Napoleon (US jazz pianist; Louis Armstrong's All Stars/sessionist).
1913: Walter Andreas Schwarz (German singer, author)*01.April.1992
1904: Valaida Snow (US trumpeter, vocalist)*May 30th 1956.
1902: Rosa Rio (American organist; silent movies/theatres/radio/TV)*13.May.2010.

June 3rd.
1987: Lalaine/Lalaine Ann Vergara-Paras (US actress, singer, spokesperson).
1982: Dihan Slabbert (South African singer, composer; Hi-5 / solo).
1978: Lyfe Jennings/Chester Jennings (US R&B singer, song-writer, multi-musician).
1976: Yuri Ruley (US drummer; MxPx).
1974: Kelly Jones (Welsh vocalist, guitar; Stereophonics).
1971: Ariel Hernandez (US vocalist in the trio No Mercy).
1971: Gabriel Hernandez (US vocalist in the trio No Mercy).
1970: Peter Tägtgren (Swedish singer, guitar, drums, multi-muso, producer; Abyss/Hypocrisy/Pain).
1970: Julie Masse (French Canadian singer).
1970: Esther Hart (Dutch singer; Song for Europe contestant).
1969: Takako Minekawa (Japanese singer, multi-musician; Fancy Face Groovy Name/solo).
1969: Hiroyuki Takami (Japanese singer; AXS).
1968: Saffron/Samantha Sprackling (Nigerian singer; Republica)
1968: Jamie O'Neal/Jamie Murphy (American/Australian singer).
1965: Mike Gordon (US bass player, vocalist, multi-muso; Phish/Grappa Boom/solo band).
1965: Jeff Blumenkrantz (US musical theatre composer-lyricist, actor).
1968: Saffron/Samantha Sprackling (Nigerian vocalist; Republica/freelance).
1964: Kerry King (US thrash metal guitarist, songwriter; Slayer/freelance).
1962: David Cole (vocals, rapper, mixer, producer; C+C Music Factory)*24.Jan.1995.
1961: Ed Wynne (UK guitarist, keyboardist; Ozric Tentacles)
1956: Danny Wilde (singer, songwriter; The Rembrandts).
1954: Dan Hill (Canadian singer, songwriter, guitar).
1952: Billy Powell (US keyboardist; Vision/Lynyrd Skynyrd)*28.Jan.2009.
1950: Deniece Williams (US singer).
1950: Suzi Quatro (US bassist, singer).
1950: Florian Pilkington-Miksa (UK drummer; Curved Air/Kiki Dee's band).
1949: Floyd Lloyd (Jamaican reggae singer)
1948: Carlos Franzetti (Argentinian pianist).
1947: Dave Alexander (US bass player; Stooges)*10.Feb.1975.
1947: Mickey Finn (UK percussion; T Rex/Tyrannosaurus Rex)*11.Jan.2003.
1946: Eddie Holman (US singer).
1946: Michael Clarke/Michael James Dick (US drummer; Byrds/Firefall/Byrds Celebration)*19.Dec.1993.
1944: Jack Wilkins (US jazz guitarist).
1942: Curtis Mayfield (US singer, songwriter; Impressions)*26.Dec.1999.
1939: Ian Hunter/Ian Hunter Patterson (UK vocals, guitar, keyboards; Apex Group/Mott the Hoople/solo).
1935: Theodore "Ted" Curson (US jazz trumpeter).
1930: Dakota Staton/Aliyah Rabia (American jazz singer)*10.April.2007.
1927: Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (US saxophonist)*03.July.2007.
1924: Jimmy Rogers (US blues guitarist; Muddy Waters/Howlin' Wolf/solo band)*19.Dec.1997
1923: Phil Nimmons (Canadian arranger, bandleader, clarinetist, composer).
1904: Jan Peerce (US operatic tenor and father of film director Larry Peerce)*15.Dec.1984.
1897: Memphis Minnie/Lizzie Douglas (US blues singer, guitar virtuoso)*06.Aug.1973.
1888: Red Brown/Tom Brown (New Orleans dixieland jazz trombonist)*25.March.1958.

June 4th.
1992: Dino Jelusic (Croatian singer-songwriter, keyboard).
1987: Mollie King (UK singer, actress; The Saturdays).
1986: Micky/Park Yoochun (South Korean singer, dancer, songwriter; TVXQ).
1985: Leon Botha aka DJ Solarize (South African artist, musical DJ)*05.June.2011.
1985: Alicja Janosz (Polish singer)
1984: Rainie Yang (Taiwanese singer and actress).
1982: MC Jin/Jin Au-Yeung (Chinesse-American rapper).
1980: Alicja Janosz (Polish singer).
1974: Stefan Lessard (US bassist, Dave Matthews Band).
1972: Domenica "Nikka" Costa (American singer).
1971: Shoji Meguro (Japanese composer).
1970: Richie Hawtin (UK-Canadian electronic musician, international-touring DJ).
1970: David Pybus (UK bassist; Darkened/Dreambreed).
1968: Al B. Sure/Albert Joseph Brown III (US R&B singer).
1966: Cecilia Bartoli (Italian mezzo-soprano).
1964: Eva Fampas (Greek guitarist).
1964: Chris Kavanagh (UK drums; Sigue Sigu Sputnik, Big Audio Dynamite).
1962: Winard Harper (US drummer, Winard Harper Quintet, sessionist).
1962: John P. Kee (US Gospel singer; NLCC).
1961: El DeBarge/Eldra Patrick DeBarge (US R&B, soul falsetto singer; Debarge/solo).
1960: Fred Thelonious Baker (UK bassist; In Cahoots/Pip Pyle's Bash).
1958: Selwyn 'Bumbo' Brown (UK vocalist, keyboards; Steel Pulse).
1957: Steve Grimes (UK rhythm guitarist, The Farm).
1956: Gerry Ryan (Irish disc jockey and radio-television presenter)*30.April.2010.
1954: Mikey Dread/Michael Campbell (Jamaican singer, producer, broadcaster)*15.March.2008.
1953: Paul Samson/Paul Sanson (UK guitarist; Samson)*09.Aug.2002.
1953: Jimmy McCulloch (Scottish guitarist; Stone the Crows/Wings/Thunderclap Newman)*27.Sept.1979.
1950: Dagmar Krause (German singer; solo/Slapp Happy/Henry Cow/Art Bears).
1948: Paquito D'River (Cuban Grammy-winning jazz & classical saxophonist, clarinetist).
1945: Gordon Trueman Riviere Waller (Scottish singer, songwriter, guitar; Peter & Gordon/solo)*17.July.2007.
1945: Anthony Braxton (US composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist).
1944: Roger Ball (US keyboardist, saxophone; Average White Band).
1944: Michelle Phillips (US singer; Mamas & The Papas).
1940: Cliff Bennett (UK singer; Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers).
1937: Freddy Fender/Baldemar Huerta (US singer,guitar;Los Super7/TexasTornados)*14.Oct.2006.
1935: Colette Boky (Quebec operatic soprano)
1932: Oliver Nelson (US jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger)*28.Oct.1975.
1932: Pete Jolly/Peter Ceragioli Jr (US jazz keyboardist, accordionist, pianist)*11.Nov.2004
1930: Morgana King/Maria Grazia Morgana Messina DeBerardinis (US jazz singer, actress).
1929: Andor Kovacs (Hungarian guitarist).
1920: Britt Woodman (US jazz trombonist; Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus)*13.Oct.2000.
1917: Robert Merrill (American operatic baritone )*23.Oct.2004.
1894: Madame Bolduc/Mary Rose-Anna Travers (French Canadian singer)*20.Feb.1941

June 5th.
1995: Troye Sivan Mellet (South African/Australian actor, singer)
1982: Ryan Dallas Cook (US trombone player; Suburban Legends)*19.Oct.2005.
1981: Sebastien Lefebvre (rhythm guitar, vocals; Simple Plan).
1979: Pete Wentz (US bassist, vocals, guitar, keyboards; Fall Out Boy/Blackcards)
1979: David Bisbal Ferré (Spanish pop singer).
1977: Christian Martucci (US guitarist, bassist, vocalist; Black President/Strychnine Babies/Chelsea Smiles).
1977: Nourhanne (Lebanese singer)
1976: Aesop Rock/Ian Matthias Bavitz (US hip-hop artist)
1974: P-Nut/Aaron Charles Wills (bassist, violin, vocals; 311).
1973: Daniel Gildenlöw (Swedish multi-musician, songwriter; Pain of Salvation/The Flower Kings).
1972: Dominic Brian Chad (US lead guitarist, piano, backing vocals; Mansun/sessionist).
1971: Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark (singer, actor; New Kids on the Block).
1970: Claus Norreen (Danish keyboards; Danish-Norwegian pop group Aqua).
1969: Brian McKnight (US singer).
1965: Sandrine Piau (French soprano)
1965: Stefan Schönfeldt (Swedish guitarist; Wannadies).
1964: Karl Sanders (US guitarist, vocalist, founding member; Nile).
1964: Maggie Dunne (UK bassist, keyboards; We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It = Fuzzbox).
1963: Joe Rudán (Hungarian heavy metal singer; Pokolgép)
1961: Anthony Burger (US pianist, singer; Kingsmen Quartet/solo/Gaither Homecoming)*22.Feb.2006.
1959: Robert Lloyd (UK lead singer; The Nightingales)
1957: John Fumo (US flugelhornist, trumpeter; sessionist/freelance).
1956: Richard Butler (UK vocals, Psychedelic Furs).
1956: Kenny G/Kenneth Gorelick (US soprano saxophone, multi-reed player, Solo/Session/Guest).
1955: Polo Montañez (Cuban singer and songwriter)*26.Nov.2002.
1955: Erica Lindsay (US saxophone player, composer).
1954: Pete Erskine (US drummer, percussion; Stan Kenton Orchestra/Weather Report/freelance).
1952: Nicko McBrain/Michael McBrain (UK drummer; Iron Maiden/7x70).
1952: Carole Fredericks (US singer)*07.June.2001.
1949: Tommy Eyre (UK keyboardist; Wham/Gary Moore/sessionist)*23.May.2001.
1949: Jerry Gonzalez (US latino jazz percussionist, trumpeter).
1948: Frank Esler-Smith (UK keyboardist, Air Supply)*01.March.1991.
1947: Tom Evans (UK bassist, guitar, vocals; Badfinger)*19.Nov.1983.
1947: Laurie Anderson (US singer, violin; solo/freelance).
1946: Freddie Stone/Frederick Stewart (US guitar, vocals; Sly & The Family Stone).
1944: Colm Wilkinson (Irish singer, actor)
1941: Martha Argerich (Argentine pianist)
1937: Floyd Butler (US vocalist; Fifth Dimension/Friends Of Distinction)*29.April.1990.
1935: Misha Mengelberg (Ukranian classical and jazz pianist; ICP Orchestra/other projects).
1932: Pete Jolly/Peter Ceragioli Jr (US jazz keyboards, accordionist, pianist)*11.Nov.2004.
1925: Bill Hayes (US actor, singer; solo/Broadway star).
1923: Daniel Pinkham (US composer, organist, harpsichordist)*18.Dec.2006.
1922: Gordoan 'Specs' Powell (US jazz drummer, Ed Sullivan Band/freelance)*15.Sept.2007.
1884: Ralph Benatzky (Czech composer)*16.Oct.1957.
1876: Tony Jackson (US ragtime jazz pianist)*20.Apr.1921.

June 6th.
1992: Hyuna/Kim Hyun Ah (Korean dance-pop singer; 4minute)
1987: Kyle Falconer (Scottish singer; The View)
1986: Kim Hyun Joong (Korean singer; SS501)
1986: Gin Wigmore (New Zealand singer-songwriter)
1980: Peter Mosely (US vocals, bass, piano; Yellowcard).
1978: Carl Barât (UK singer, guitarist; Dirty Pretty Things)
1978: Mariana Popova (Bulgarian singer)
1978: Joy Enriquez (US singer)
1977: Camu Tao/Tero Smith (American rapper and producer)*25.May.2008.
1976: Z-Ro/Joseph Wayne McVey (US rapper)
1976: aKido/Kim Gaboury (Canadian keyboardist)
1976: Emilie-Claire Barlow (Canadian singer)
1975: Cheer Chen (Taiwanese singer, musician)
1974: Uncle Kracker/Matthew Shafer (US rock, country, rap-rock singer).
1972: Cristina Scabbia (Italian singer, Lacuna Coil)
1970: James Shaffer (US guitarist; Korn).
1966: Gary Newby (UK guitarist, Railway Children).
1966: Sean Yseult/Shauna Reynolds (US bassist, multi-musician; White Zombie)
1965: David White (guitarist, vocalist; Brother Beyond).
1964: Jay Bentley (bassist; Bad Religion).
1961: Tom Araya (Chilian vocals, bass; Slayer).
1961: Dee C. Lee/Diane Catherine Sealey (singer, backing singer; Wham!/Style Council).
1960: Steve Vai (guitarist; Frank Zappa/David Lee Roth/Whitesnake/solo/freelance).
1960: Norman ''Junior'' Giscombe (UK-Jamaican singer).
1959: Robert Hodgens (guitar, vocals; Bluebells).
1959: Jimmy Jam (US record producer)
1956: Michael Wallace (Jamaican keyboardist; Third World/Chalice)*06.July.1966.
1951: Eryke McClinton (US baritone lead vocals; Eric & the Vikings aka The Vikings aka Motown Vikings)
1951: Dwight Twilley (US pop/rock singer)
1952: Yukihiro Takahashi (Japanese drummer, singer; Yellow Magic Orchestra)
1949: Paul Lovens (German drummer, percussionist; sessionist/freelance).
1949: Holly Near (American folk singer)
1948: Tony Levin (US bassist; King Crimson)
1948: Richard Sinclair (English bassist, guitarist, vocalist ; Caravan)
1944: Monty Alexander (Jamaican pianist; sessionist/freelance).
1944: Peter Albin (bassist; Big Brother & the Holding Company).
1944: Edgar Froese (keyboards, guitar; Tangerine Dream).
1943: Joe Stampley (US truck-song and country singer).
1942: Howie Kane/Howie Kirschenbaum [singer; Jay and the Americans)?
1939: Gary "U.S." Bonds (US rhythm n blues, rock n roll singer).
1939: Louis Andriessen (Dutch composer)
1939: Richard "Popcorn" Wylie (US pianist, producer, band director, songwriter)*09.Sept.2008.
1936: Levi Stubbs/Levi Stubbles (US lead vocals; Four Tops)*17.Oct.2008.
1936: Raful Neal (blues singer, guitar, harmonica, composer)*01.Sept.2004.
1930: S.P. Leary (Texan Blues drummer; Muddy Waters/Howling Wolf/many more)*26.Jan.1998.
1927: Leonard Walter "Lennie" Bush (English jazz double-bassist)*15.June.2004.
1926: Klaus Tennstedt (German conductor, violin, piana)*11.Jan.1998.
1915: Vincent Persichetti (American composer)*..1987
1902: Jimmie Lunceford (American bandleader)*12.July.1947.
1903: Aram Khachaturian (Armenian composer)*01.May.1978.
1892: Ted Lewis (American bandleader)*25.Aug.1971.

June 7th.
1993: Park Ji-yeon (South Korean singer, actress)
1985: Charlie Simpson (UK guitarist, vocals; Busted).
1978: Tony An (Korean singer; H.O.T)
1976: Necro/Ron Raphael Braunstein (US rapper)
1974: Cassius Khan (Canadian harmonium/Qawaali singer)
1974: T-Low/Terry Brown (US R&B artist; Next)
1969: Adam Buxton (British TV presenter, DJ)
1967: Dave Navarro (US guitarist; Camp Freddy/Panic Channel/Red Hot Chili Peppers/Jane's Addiction).
1966: Eric Kretz (US drummer; Stone Temple Pilots/Talkshow/Spiralarms).
1965: Christine Roque (French singer)
1964: Ecstacy/John Fletcher (US member of the hip-hop group Whodini)
1963: Roberto Alagna (French tenor)
1962: Michael Cartellone (US drummer; Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1962: Thierry Hazard (French singer, songwriter)
1961: Dave Catching (US guitarist; Eagles of Death Metal/Queens of the Stone Age/others)
1958: Prince/Prince Rogers Nelson (US singer, guitarist, songwriter).
1957: Juan Luis Guerra (Dominican singer-songwriter, producer).
1957: Paddy McAloon (UK guitar, vocals; Prefab Sprout).
1955: Mark Reale (US heavy metal guitarist; Riot)*25.Jan.2012.
1953: Johnny Clegg (South African singer,guitariat; Juluka/Savuka).
1953: Gentleman Jeff Graboski/Spink (US drummer; Little Hans/OHO)*18.Sept.1987.
1952: Royce Campbell (US jazz guitarist, composer, record producer).
1947: Melanie Martin (US flautist, saxophonist).
1946: Micky Jones (UK singer, guitarist; Bystanders/Man/many projects)*10.March.2010.
1944: Clarence White/Clarence LeBlanc (US vocalist, guitar; Byrds/Kentucky Colonels)*14.July.1973.
1941: Hotep Idris Galeta/Cecil Barnard Galeta (South African jazz pianist, educator)*03.Nov.2010.
1940: Tom Jones (Welsh singer).
1937: Neeme Järvi (Estonian conductor)
1932: Harold "Tina" Floyd Brooks (US tenor saxophonist)*13.Aug.1974.
1930: Walter Alfaiate (Brazilian samba composer, vocalist)*27.Feb.2010
1928: Charles Strouse (US composer).
1921: Tal Farlow (US jazz guitarist)*25.July.1998.
1917: Dean Martin (US actor, singer)*25.Dec.1995.
1908: Margherita Carosio (Italian international operetic soprano)*10.Jan.2005.
1900: Glen Gray Knoblauch (US jazz saxophone, leader; Casa Loma Orchestra)*23.Aug.1963.
1897: George Szell (Hungarian conductor)*30.July.1970.

June 8th.
1985: Jamie Shaw (UK vocals, One True Voice)?
1983: Lee Harding (Australian punk rock singer)
1981: Sara Watkins (US singer-songwriter, fiddler; Nickel Creek).
1981: Alex Band (US singer; The Calling/solo).
1979: Derek Trucks (US guitarist, songwriter; The Allman Brothers)
1978: Eun Ji Won (South Korean rapper; Sechs Kies)
1978: Brian Redman (US bass player, singer;Trial/3 Inches of Blood/Dirty Knockers)*27.Sept.2009.
1977: Kayne West (US rapper, producer).
1971: Jef Streatfield (UK guitar; Wildhearts)?
1970: Seu Jorge/Jorge Mário da Silva (Brazilian singer, actor)
1970: David King (US drummer, composer; The Bad Plus/Happy Apple).
1970: Nichole 'Nicci' Gilbert (US singer, Brownstone).
1966: Doris Pearson (singer, 5 Star).
1965: Robert 'Rob' Pilatus (Afro-German model, stripper, singer; Milli Vanilli)*02.April.1998.
1965: Neil Mitchell (Scottish keyboards; Wet Wet Wet).
1962: Kristine W/ Kristine Weitz (US singer)
1962: Nick Rhodes (UK keyboards; Duran Duran).
1960: Mick Hucknall (UK singer, songwriter; Simply Red/solo).
1954: Greg Ginn (US guitarist; Black Flag)
1954: Marios Tokas (Greek-Cypriot composer)*27.April.2008.
1953: Jeff Rich (UK drummer; Climax Blues Band/Status Quo).
1953: Olav Stedje (Norwegian singer-songwriter)
1951: Bonnie Tyler (Welsh singer).
1951: Tony Rice (US acoustic guitarist)
1949: Emanuel Ax (Polish-born pianist)
1947: Mick Box (lead guitar; Uriah Heep/guest).
1947: Joan La Barbara (US vocalist, organ, composer)
1947: Annie Haslam (UK singer, songwriter; solo/Renaissance)
1945: Phil Packham (UK bass guitarist; The Sorrows)
1944: Boz Scaggs (US singer, slide guitar, guitar).
1942: Chuck Negron (UK vocals; Three Dog Knight).
1941: Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins (US vocals, guitar; Funkadelic).
1941: Alf Robertson (Swedish singer and composer)*24.Dec.2008.
1940: Nancy Sinatra (US singer, Frank's daughter).
1940: Stanley Robertson (Scottish folk singer and storyteller)*02.Aug.2009.
1940: Sherman Garnes (US bassman; Frankie Lymon And Teenagers)*26.Feb.1977.
1936: James Darren/James William Ercolani (US actor, singer)
1934: Millicent Martin (English singer, actress)

June 9th.
1989: Chloë Agnew (Irish singer; Celtic Woman)
1986: Kary Ng (Hong Kong singer, actress)
1984: Kaleth Morales (Colombian vallenato singer, songwriter)*24.Aug.2005.
1982: Christina Stürmer (Austrian singer)
1981: Vic Zhou (Taiwanese actor, singer, model)
1980: D'banj/Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo (Nigerian singer, songwriter, harmonica player)
1978: Matthew Bellamy (UK guitar, vocals, keyboards; Muse).
1974: Samoth/Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen (Norwegian guitarist, drummer; Emperor, Zyklon)
1971: Jackie McKeown (Scottish vocalist, guitarist; The Yummy Fur, 1990s)
1971: Rick Renstrom (US guitarist; Rob Rock/Wade Black/Richard Christy/Mat Sinner/Atma Anur).
1970: Ed Simons (UK vocals, keyboards; Chemical Brothers).
1967: Dean Felber (US bassist; Hootie & The Blowfish).
1967: Dean Dinning (US bassist, Toad The Wet Sprocket)?
1964: Hiroko Yakushimaru (Japanese actress, singer)
1964: Wayman Tisdale (US jazz bass guitarist, professional basketball player)*15.May.2009.
1963: Gilad Atzmon (Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist, political activist)
1962: Yuval Banai (Israeli musician, singer; Mashina)
1962: Eddie Lundon (UK guitarist; China Crisis).
1954: Peter Byrne (UK-US singer, songwriter, guitar; Naked Eyes/solo)
1954: Paul Chapman (Welsh guitarist; UFO, Lone Star)
1953: Errol Kennedy (US drummer; Imagination)
1952: Uzi Hitman (Israeli singer, songwriter, composer, TV personality)*17.Oct.2004.
1951: Terry Uttley (UK bassist, vocals; Smokie).
1950: Trevor Bolder (UK bass; Wishbone Ash/Spiders From Mars/ Uriah Heep).
1949: George Bunnell (US bass, rhythm guitar, song writer; Strawberry Alarm Clock)?
1949: Francis Monkman (UK keyboards, synthesizer; Curved Air/sessionist/solo).
1946: Stuart Edwards (UK guitarist; Edison Lighthouse/sessionist)?
1941: Jon Lord (UK keyboards, piano; Deep Purple).
1941: Billy Hatton (UK bassist; Fourmost).
1939: Ileana Cotrubas (Romanian soprano)
1938: Charles Wuorinen (American composer)
1934: Jackie Wilson (US soul singer)*21.Jan.1984.
1930: Barbara/Monique Andrée Serf (French female singer)*25.Nov.1997.
1929: Johnny Ace (American R&B singer, pianist)*25.Dec.1954.
1915: Les Paul/Lester Polfus (US guitarist, inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, other things)*13.Aug.2009.
1912: Ingolf Dahl (US composer)*06.Aug.1970.
1900: Fred Waring (US bandleader)*29.July.1984.
1891: Cole Porter (US singer, composer)*15.Oct.1964.

June 10th.
1983: Josh Ramsay (Canadian singer; Marianas Trench)
1981: Hoku/Hoku Christian Ho (US-Hawaiian singer, actress).
1977: Dan-e-o/Daniel Faraldo (Canadian rapper)
1977: Takako Matsu (Japanese singer, actress)
1977: Nergal/Adam Darski (Polish guitarist, singer; Behemoth)
1973: Faith Evans (US female singer).
1973: Flesh-N-Bone/Stanley Howse (US rapper; Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
1973: LeMisha Grinstead (US singer, female band 702)
1971: Erik Rutan (US singer, guitarist, record producer; Morbid Angel/Hate Eternal)
1971: Jo-Jo/Joel Henry Hailey (US R&B/soul singer, songwriter, duo K-Ci & JoJo).
1970: Mike Doughty (US singer-songwriter; Soul Coughing)
1969: Dan Lavery (US bassist; Tonic)?
1968: The D.O.C./Tracy Lynn Curry (US rapper)
1967: DJ Doctor Nice/Human Beat Box/Darren Robinson (US Rapper; Fat Boys)*10.Dec.1995.
1967: Emma Anderson (UK guitar; Lush/Sing-Sing).
1965: Joey Santiago (Filipino-American guitarist; Pixies)
1964: James Joseph "Jimmy" Chamberlin (US drummer, Smashing Pumpkins)
1962: Wong Ka-Kui (Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist; Beyond)*30.June.1993.
1962: Maxi Priest/Max Alfred Elliott (R&B,reggae singer)
1961: Gary Thomas (US jazz saxophonist, flautist)
1961: Mark Shaw/Mark Robert Tiplady (UK vocals, Then Jerico).
1961: Kim Deal (US bass guitar, vocals; Pixies)
1961: Kelley Deal (US guitarist; The Breeders)
1958: Janis Grodums (Latvian bass guitarist, singer; Livi)*15.June.2010.
1944: Rick Price (UK singer, songwriters, Move/ Wizzard/ELO)
1944: David Goloshchokin (Russian composer, multi-instrumentalist)
1941: Shirley Owens (US vocalist, The Shirelles)
1941: Mickey Jones (US drummer, actor; The First Edition)
1941: Harry "Cuby" Muskee (Dutch singer-songwriter; Cuby+Blizzards/own blues band)*26.Sept.2011.
1940: John Stevens (UK drummer; Spontaneous Music Ensemble aka SME)*13.Sept.1994.
1938: Violetta Villas/Violetta Élise Cieslak (Polish singer, actress, composer, songwriter).
1931: João Gilberto (Brazilian singer, guitarist)
1930: Guy Pedersen (French bass player)
1925: Nat Hentoff (US historian, novelist, jazz critic, columnist)
1922: Judy Garland (US singer, actress)*22.June.1969.
1918: Patachou/Henriette Ragon (French singer)
1913: Tikhon Khrennikov (Russian composer)*14.Aug.2007.
1911: Ralph Kirkpatrick (US musicologist, harpsichordist)*13.April.1984.
1910: Robert Still (English composer)*13.Jan.1971.
1910: Howlin Wolf/Chester Arthur Burnett (US blues singer, guitarist, harmonica)*10.Jan.1976.
1907: Dicky Wells (US jazz trombonist)*12.Nov.1985.
1905: William T. Lewis (US jazz clarinetist, bandleader)*13.Jan.1971.
1901: Frederick Loewe (Austrian-American composer; My Fair Lady/Camelot/others)*14.Feb.1988.
1898: Andy Blakeney (US jazz trumpeter)*12.Feb.1992
1895: Hattie McDaniel (US actress, singer)*25.Oct.1952.
1891: Al Dubin (US lyricist)*11.Feb.1945.
1894: Punch Miller/Ernest Miller (US dixieland trumpeter)*02.Dec.1971.
1886: Chink Martin/Chink Abraham (US jazz tubist)*07.Jan.1981.

June 11th.
1987: Didrik Solli-Tangen (Norwegian singer, Eurovision contestant)
1987: TiA/Chiaki Hamahime (Japanese R&B singer).
1985: Chris Trousdale (US pop singer, dancer; Dream Street)
1970: Chris Rice (US singer/songwriter).
1969: Steven Drozd (US multi-instrumentalist, drummer; The Flaming Lips).
1961: Rob B/Robert Birch (UK rap artist, singer; Stereo MC's).
1960: The Head/Nick Hallam (singer, rapper, DJ, producer; Stereo MC's/Gee Street Records).
1958: Kevin Wilkinson (UK drummer; League of Gentlemen/Waterboys/China Crisis/many others)*17.July.1999.
1957: Jamaaladeen Tacuma/Rudy McDaniel (US free jazz bassist; Ornette Coleman/leader/freelance).
1955: Linda Williams (Dutch singer; 1981 Eurovision Song Contest) not French singer Linda Williams.
1952: Donnie Van Zandt (US founder and front man of 38 Special).
1950: Graham Russell (UK guitarist, vocalist; Air Supply).
1950: Lynsey De Paul/Lynsey Rubin (UK singer, Ivor Novello song-writing award winner).
1949: Frank Beard (US drummer; ZZ Top).
1948: Skip Alan/Alan Skipper (UK drums; Pretty Things/Sunshine).
1947: Richard Palmer -James (UK guitarist, lyricist, balalaika, vocals; Supertramp/Tetrad/ King Crimson/own).
1947: Glenn Leonard (US tenor-secondary lead singer; Temptations/Temptations Experience).
1940: Joey Dee/Joseph DiNicola (US singer; Starlighters/Cymande).
1939: Bernard Purdie (US session drummer).
1936: Jud Strunk/Justin Strunk Jr (US singer, banjo player, song-writer, comedian)*05.Oct.1981.
1934: Thornton James "Pookie" Hudson (US tenor and lead vocals; The Spaniels)*16.Jan.2007.
1931: Audrey Schuh (American soprano).
1929: Lennie Niehaus (US jazz sax player, arranger, composer).
1926: Carlisle Floyd (American composer).
1920: Shelly Manne (US jazz drummer)*26.Sept.1984.
1920: Hazel Scott (West Indian-born jazz and classical pianist, singer)*02.Oct.1981.
1913: Risë Stevens (US operatic soprano)
1910: Carmine Coppola (American multi-award winning composer, director and songwriter)*26.April.1991.

June 12th.
1992: Allie DiMeco (US singer, multi-musician, actress; The Naked Brothers Band)
1985: Chris Young (US country singer, songwriter)
1982: Ben Blackwell (US drummer, roadie, writer; White Stripes/The Dirtbombs).
1979: Robyn/ Robyn Carlsson (Swedish singer).
1977: Kenny Wayne Shepherd (US guitarist; American Blues musician).
1972: Bounty Killer/Rodney Basil Price (Jamaican deejay)
1969: Bardi Martin (US bassist, Candlebox).
1969: Giorgio Occhipinti (Italian multi-instrumentalist)
1969: Zsolt Daczi (Hungarian guitarist; Omen/Bikini/others)*06.Aug.2007.
1969: Giorgio Occhipinti (Italian multi-instrumentalist).
1968: Bobby Sheehan (US bassist, Blues Traveler)*20.Aug.1999.
1965: Rob Collins (English keyboardist; The Charlatans)*22.July.1996.
1965: Filip Topol (Czech singer, songwriter, pianist)
1962: DJ Drew "Grandmaster Dee" Carter (US rapper; Whodini)
1962: Paul Clark (UK musician; The Bolshoi)
1961: Kira Roessler (US musician; Black Flag)
1960: Michael Hausman (US percussionist, artist manager; 'Til Tuesday)
1959: John Linnell (US accordion, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards; They Might Be Giants).
1958: Rebecca Holden (US actress, singer)
1957: Geri Allen (US jazz pianist).
1954: Jesper Lundgaard (Danish bass player)
1953: Johnny 'Rocky' Burnette (US singer).
1952: Pete Farndon (UK bassist; The Pretenders/Cold River Lady/The Bushwackers)*14.April.1983.
1951: Brad Delp (US guitar, keyboard, vocals, Boston/Beatlejuice)*09.March.2007.
1951: Bun E. Carlos/Brad Carlson (drums, Cheap Trick).
1949: John Wetton (UK bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter; Asia/Family/King Crimson/others)
1948: Barry Bailey (US guitarist; Atlanta Rhythm Section).
1944: Harold Cowart (US bassist, trumpet; Playboy Band, sessionist)*27.June.2010.
1943: Reg Presley/Reginald Maurice Ball (UK singer songwriter; The Troggs).
1942: Len Barry/Leonard Borisoff (US singer, songwriter; The Dovells/solo)
1941: Roy Harper (UK folk singer, keyboards, guitar, bass, songwriter).
1941: Chick Corea/Armando Corea (US jazz pianist, keyboardist,composer).
1939: Kent Carter (US cellist, composer).
1932: Mimi Coertse (South African soprano)
1932: Charlie Feathers (US singer, guitarist, Rockabilly pioneer)*29.Aug.1998.
1928: Vic Damone (US singer).
1928: Richard M. Sherman (US songwriter)
1915: Eddie Williams (US bass player; Johnny Moore's Three Blazers/own band)*18.Feb.1995.
1915: Ruben "Zeke" Zarchy (American jazz trumpet legend)*12.April.2009.
1913: Gene Hall (US music educator, saxophonist, arranger)*04.March.1993.
1914: Bill Kenny (US lead singer; Ink Spots)*25.March.1978.
1903: Emmett Hardy (US jazz cornet player, banjo)*16.June.1925.
1899: Gene Kardos (US bandleader)*27.Aug.1980.

June 13th.
1989: Lisa Gabrielle Tucker (US singer, musical theatre, TV actress).
1988: Austin Thornton (US drummer; Woe, Is Me)
1985: Raz/Raz-B/De'Mario Monte Thornton (US multi-genre singer; B2K/solo).
1980: Sarah Connor/Sarah Terenzi née Lewe (German singer).
1978: Jason Michael Carroll (Country music singer-songwriter).
1976: Kym Ryder/Kym Marsh (UK vocals, TV actress; Hear'Say).
1976: Jason "J" Brown (UK vocalist; Five).
1974: Selma Björnsdóttir (Icelandic singer).
1973: Mattias Hellberg (Swedish musician; The Hellacopters)
1973: Ville Laihiala (Finnish musician; Sentenced, Poisonblack)
1973: Kasia Kowalska (Polish pop rock singer)
1972: Natalie MacMaster (Canadian fiddle player, singer).
1970: Rivers Cuomo/Peter Kitts (guitar, singer, songwriter; Avant Garde/Weezer/solo).
1969: Soren Rasted (multi-musician; Aqua/Lazyboy).
1968: David Gray (UK singer, songwriter).
1968: Denise 'Deniece' Pearson (UK vocals; 5 Star).
1965: Lukas Ligeti (Austrian composer, drummer).
1964: Christian Wilhelm Berger (Romanian composer)
1963: Paul De Lisle (US bassist; Smash Mouth).
1957: Rolf Brendel (German drummer, songwriter; Nena).
1955: Mike Ruggelo (US freelance drummer; Drifters/Martha Reeves/Coasters/Chiffons/many more).
1951: Howard Leese (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer; Heart)?
1949: Dennis Locorriere (US lead singer, guitar; Dr. Hook).
1942: James Carr (US rhythm & blues - soul singer)*01.Jan.2001.
1941: MarvTarplin (US guitarist, songwriter; The Miracles/Smokey Robinson)*30.Sept.2011.
1941: Esther Ofarim (Israelian singer).
1940: Bobby Freeman (African-American soul singer).
1934: Uriel Jones (African-American drummer; Motown Funk Brothers)*24.March.2009.
1932: Bob McGrath (US singer and actor)
1929: Alan Civil (English French horn player)*19.March.1989.
1918: Wild Bill Moore (US R&B saxophone player/Motown/sessionist/freelance)*08.Aug.1983.
1905: Doc Cheatham/Adolphus Cheatham (US jazz trumpeter)*02.June.1997.
1905: Xian Xinghai (Chinese composer)*30.Oct.1945.
1899: Carlos Chávez (Mexican composer)*02.Aug.1978.

June 14th.
1988: Kevin Michael McHale (US singer; NLT - Not Like Them).
1984: Siobhan Donaghy (UK vocalist; The Sugababes/solo).
1982: Lang Lang (Chinese pianist).
1975: Bob Nanna (US drummer, singer; Braid/Hey Mercedes/The City on Film).
1974: Joshua Radin (US songwriter)
1973: Ceca Raznatovic (Serbian singer).
1972: Shaun Keaveny (British radio DJ).
1971: Billie Myers (UK female singer).
1969: MC Ren/Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (US rapper, hop-hop producer; NWA).
1963: Chris DeGarmo (US lead, rhythm guitarist; Queensryche).
1961: Boy George/George Alan O'Dowd (UK singer; Culture Club/ solo).
1960: Gary Husband (UK jazz and rock drummer, pianist, composer; session musician).
1959: Marcus Miller (US jazz bassist, clarinetist, bandleader).
1958: Nick Van Eede (UK lead singer; Cutting Crew).
1957: Maxi Jazz/Maxwell Fraser (British rapper; Faithless/solo).
1956: King Diamond/Kim Bendix Petersen (Danish singer; King Diamond, Mercyful Fate).
1956: Gianna Nannini (Italian singer).
1949: Jim Lea (UK bassist, piano, violin, guitar; Slade).
1949: Alan White (UK drummer; Plastic Ono Band/Yes/ not the OASIS drummer).
1947: Darius Brubeck (US jazz keyboardist, educator, son of Dave Brubeck).
1947: Barry Melton (US guitarist; Country Joe and the Fish).
1946: Janusz Stefanski (Polish drummer)
1946: Ahmad Zahir (Afghan singer, songwriter-composer)*14.June.1979.
1945: Rod Argent (US keyboards, vocals; The Zombies/Argent).
1945: Tiit Paulus (Estonian guitarist)
1943: Harold Wheeler (US composer).
1943: Spooner Oldham/Dewey Oldham (US songwriter, organ, keyboards; session musician).
1942: Peter Lemer (UK keyboardist; freelance/sessionist/own band)
1937: Burton Greene (US free jazz pianist)
1936: Renaldo "Obie" Benson (US vocals; The Four Tops)*01.July.2005.
1931: Junior Walker/Autry DeWalt Mixon (US saxophonist, singer; Jr. Walker & the All Stars)*23.Nov.1995.
1929: Cy Coleman (US composer, songwriter, jazz pianist)*18.Nov.2004.
1927: Pedro "Cuban Pete" Aguilar (Puerto Rican dancer)*13.Jan.2009.
1918: John Simmons (US bass player)*19.Sept.1979.
1910: Rudolf Kempe (German conductor)*12.May.1976.
1909: Elena Nikolaidi (Turkish-born American mezzo-soprano opera singer)*14.Nov.2002.
1909: Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (US singer, actor, songwriter, musician)*14.April.1995.
1907: Sid Phillips/Isador Simon Philips (UK clarinetist)*23.May.1973.
1905: Nappy Lamare/Joseph Hilton Lamare (US banjoist, jazz guitarist)*08.May.1988.
1895: Cliff Edwards/Ukelele Ike (US singer, voice actor, ukelele player)*July 17th 1971.
1877: Jane Bathori/Jeanne-Marie Berthier (French mezzo-soprano)*25.Jan.1970.

June 15th.
1990: Miwa (Japanese singer-songwriter)
1982: Haley Scarnato (US singer)
1985: Nadine Coyle (Nth. Irish singer; Girls Aloud).
1983: Julia Fischer (German violinist)
1983: Laura Imbruglia (Australian singer, guitarist)
1982: Haley Scarnato (US singer)
1981: Billy Martin (US guitarist, keyboards; Good Charlotte).
1976: Gary Lightbody (Northern Irish rhythm guitarist, songwriter; Snow Patrol).
1976: Dryden Mitchell (US lead singer; Alien Ant Farm).
1972: Hank Von Helvete (Norwegian vocalist; Turbonegro)
1971: Bif Naked/Beth Torbert (Canadian singer, poetess, actress)
1970: Gaëlle Méchaly (French soprano)
1969: Ice Cube/O'Shea Jackson (US rapper, actor).
1966: Idalis DeLeon (US actress, singer)
1966: Michael Britt (US guitar; Lonestar).
1964: Gavin Greenaway (British composer)
1963: Scott Rockenfield (US drummer; Queensryche/Slave To The System).
1962: Andrea Rost (Hungarian soprano)
1961: Kai Eckhardt (German bassist, composer; Garaj Mahal, Vital Information)
1961: Yoshimi Iwasaki (Japanese singer, actress)
1956: David Hinds (UK rhythm guitar, vocalist; Steel Pulse).
1951: Steve Walsh (US singer, song-writer; Streets/Kansas).
1950: John Lawry (Japanese-American keyboardist, composer-songwriterr, producer; Petra).
1949: Russell Hitchcock (Australian lead vocalist; Air Supply).
1946: Demis Roussos (Greek singer).
1946: Noddy Holder/Neville John Holder (UK guitar, vocals; Slade).
1944: Malaysia Vasudevan (Indian playback singer and actor)*20.Feb.2011.
1943: Johnny Hallyday/Jean-Philippe Smet (French rock 'n' roll singer).
1943: Muff Winwood (UK bassist, songwriter, producer; Spencer Davis Group).
1941: Harry Nilsson (US singer; songwriter)*15.Jan.1994.
1937: Ray Coleman (British award winning music journalist, editor, biographer)*10.Sept.1996.
1934: Mikel Laboa (Spanish Basque singer, songwriter )*01.Dec.2008.
1933: Joe Thomas (US flautist, tenor saxophonist)
1933: Waylon Jennings (US country singer)*13.Feb.2002.
1933: Sergio Endrigo (Popular Italian singer)*07.Sept.2005.
1929: Nigel Pickering (rhythm guitar, vocals; Spanky And Our Gang).
1921: Erroll Garner (US jazz pianist and composer)*02.Jan.1977.
1917: Michalis Genitsaris (Greek rebetiko singer and composer)*11.May.2005.
1910: David Rose (British-born US songwriter, composer, arranger, orchestra leader)*23.Aug.1990.
1900: Otto Luening (German-born American composer)*02.Sept.1996.
1900: Paul Mares (US dixieland cornet, trumpet player; New Orleans Rhythm Kings)*18.Aug.1949.
1894: Robert Russell Bennett (US composer, arranger)*18.Aug.1981.
1843: Edvard Grieg (Norwegian composer and pianist)*04 Sept.1907.

June 16th.
1994: Aarya Ambekar (Marathi singer)
1994: Destinee Rae Monroe (US singer; Clique Girlz)
1991: Joe McElderry (UK singer; X Factor Winner '09)
1988: Keshia Chante (Canadian singer)
1987: Diana Nicole DeGarmo (US singer, Broadway actress).
1984: Dominique Eade (UK jazz singer).
1982: Matt Costa (US singer, songwriter)
1981: Ben Kweller (US singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist; The Bens/solo).
1980: Joey Yung (Hong Kong singer)
1978: Jasmine Leong (Chinese Malaysian singer)
1972: Kiko Loureiro (Brazilian guitarist; Angra/Silent Moon/Blezqi Zatzas/guest).
1971: 2pac/Makaveli/Tupac Amaru Shakur (American hip hop artist, poet, actor)*13.Sept.1996.
1968: Patrick Waite (UK-Jamacian bassist, vocals; Musical Youth)*18.Feb.1993.
1966: Andy Lewis (Australian bassist; The Whitlams/The Gadflys)*12.Feb.2000.
1965: Javon Jackson/Anthony Jackson (US jazz tenor saxophonist;Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers/others)
1964: Martin Streek (Canadian radio DJ; CFNY-FM /Edge 102)*06.July.2009.
1962: Anthony Wong Yiu Ming (Hong Kong composer, producer)
1962: Olu-Femi Kuti (Nigerian Afrobeat & jazz saxophonist, vocals, trumpet, keyboards)
1958: Jóhannes Helgason (Icelandic guitarist; Þeyr aka Theyr)
1954: Doane Ethredge Perry (US drummer; Jethro Tull/Lou Reed/Todd Rundgren/others).
1954: Gerry Roberts (Irish guitarist; Boomtown Rats).
1954: Sergey Anatol'yevich Kuryokhin (Russian pianist)*09.July.1996.
1953: Ian Mosley (UK drummer; Marillion/solo/guest).
1952: Jerry Hadley (US operatic tenor)*18.July.2007.
1952: Gino Vanelli (Italian-Canadian singer/songwriter).
1951: Charlie Dominici (US singer, keyboards; Dominici/Dream Theater)
1950: James Smith (US vocals; Stylistics).
1949: Peppy Castro/Emil Thielhelm (vocals, guitar, Blues Magoos/Balance).
1948: Fredy Studer (Swiss percussionist)
1947: Tom "Bones" Malone (US jazz tromboneist, multi-reed player)
1946: Ian Matthews McDonald (UK guitar, singer, songwriter, Matthews Southern Comfort).
1946: Tom Harrell (US post-bop jazz trumpeter, composer)
1945: John Dawson IV (US guitarist, singer, songwriter; New Riders of the Purple Sage)*21.July.2009.
1942: John Rostill (UK bass guitarist, composer; Tom Jones band/Shadows)*26.Nov.1973.
1942: Eddie Levert (US vocals; The O'Jays).
1941: Lamont Dozier (US singer, producer, songwriter; Motown/Holland-Dozier-Holland).
1941: Dino Ciani (Italian pianist)*28.March.1974.
1939: Lou Gare (UK tenor saxophonist; AMM)
1939: Billy Crash Craddock (US country singer)
1938: Al Dailey (US jazz pianist)*26.June.1984.
1926: Clarence Shaw (US session trumpeter; Charles Mingus)*17.Aug.1973.
1924: Eli "Lucky" Thompson (US tenor saxophonist)*30.July.2005.
1919: Alfred Viola (US jazz guitarist; Frank Sinatra/others)*21.Feb.2007.
1909: Willi Boskovsky (Austrian violinist and conductor)*21.April.1991.
1903: Huldreich Georg Früh (Swiss composer)*25.April.1945.
1899: Helen Traubel (US soprano)*28.July.1972.

June 17th.
1983: Lee Ryan (singer, Blue/solo).
1983: Kazunari Ninomiya (Japanese singer, actor).
1980: Kimeru (Japanese singer).
1977: Roger Manganelli (US bassist, vocalist, guiyar, drums; Less Than Jake/Rehasher/Greenhorn).
1973: Krayzie Bone/Anthony Henderson (US rapper; Bone Thugs-N-Harmony/solo)
1971: Paulina Rubio Dosamantes (Mexican singer).
1970: Sasha Sokol (Mexican singer, actress).
1969: Kevin Thornton (vocalist, Color Me Badd).
1967: Eric Stefani (US keyboardist, songwriter, animator; No Doubt).
1967: Dorothea Röschmann (German operatic soprano)
1965: Richard Hynd (Scottish drummer; Texas/Slide).. Some sources give May 17th
1962: Michael Monroe/Matti Fagerholm(Finnish singer;Hanoi Rocks/Demolition23/Damien Thorne).
1958: Jello Biafra/Eric Reed Boucher (US spoken word, singer, Dead Kennedys/Lard/solo).
1957: Phil Chevron/Philip Ryan (Irish guitar; Pogues/The Radiators).
1957: Martin Dillon (US musician, operatic tenor, professor of music)*21.Aug.2005
1956: Chi-chi Nwanoku (UK double bassist; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment).
1949: Eric Campbell-Lewis/Eric McCreadle (US bassist, vocalist; Middle Of The Road).
1949: Snakefinger/Philip Lithman (UK multi-musician, Chilli Willi/The Residents/Vestal Virgins)*01.July.1987
1948: Eddie Meduza (Swedish composer, singer-songwriter, guitarist)*16.Jan.2002.
1947: George S. Clinton (US award winning composer, arranger, session musician).
1947: Paul Young (UK singer, Sad Cafe/ Mike & The Mechanics)*15.July.2000.
1947: Greg Rolie (US singer, keyboardist; Santana/Journey/Greg Rolie Band).
1947: Rev. Timothy Wright (US gospel singer; Timothy Wright Concert Choir)*24.April.2009.
1944: Chris Spedding (UK guitarist;Greedy Bastards/Wombles/Nucleus/BatteredOrnaments/sessions).
1942: Norman Kuhlke (UK drummer; Swinging Blue Jeans).
1943: Barry Manilow/Barry Alan Pincus (US singer, songwriter, pianist).
1933: Christian Ferras (French violinist)*14.Sept.1982.
1930: Cliff Gallup (US guitarist; Gene Vincent And The Blue Caps/solo)*09.Oct.1988.
1927: Martin Böttcher (German conductor)
1924: Alan Rich (American music critic)*23.April.2010.
1916: Terry Gilkyson (US singer, lyricist, composer)*15.Oct.1999
1915: David "Stringbean" Akeman (US bluegrass banjo player, comedy musician)*10.Nov.1973.
1919: Galina Ustvolskaya (Russian composer)*22.Dec.2006.
1912: Don Gillis (US composer, conductor, teacher)*10.Jan.1978.
1910: Red Foley/Clyde Julian Foley (US singer, musician, radio/TV personality)*19.Sept.1968.
1902: Sammy Fain/Samuel E. Feinberg (US composer of popular music)*06.Dec.1989.
1882: Igor Stravinsky (Russian-born composer, pianist, conductor)*06.April.1971.

June 18th.
1989: Renee Olstead (US singer, actress)
1988: Jack Barakat (US singer, guitar player; All Time Low)
1985: GoldieLocks/Sarah Louise Akwisombe (UK rapper, singer, producer)
1982: Vadim Pruzhanov (UK keyboardist; Dragonforce)
1981: Ella Chen/Chen Chia-Hwa (Taiwanese mandopop singer; S.H.E)
1980: Ivana Wong (Hong Kong singer, songwriter)
1980: Colin Munroe (Canadian singer, songwriter)
1976: Blake Shelton (US country singer)
1975: Jemma Griffiths (Welsh singer-songwriter)
1973: Gary Stringer (UK lead vocalist; Reef).
1973: Ray Lamontagne (US singer-songwriter, musician)
1971: Alex Vanderpool/Nathan Morris (US vocals; Boyz II Men).
1969: Pål Pot Pamparius/Pål Bøttger Kjærnes (Norwegian keyboards, percussion, guitar; Turbonegro)
1969: Sice/Simon Rowbottom (UK vocalist, guitarist, Boo Radleys).
1963: Dizzy Reed/Darren Arthur Reed (US keyboardist, percussion; Guns N' Roses/Hookers & Blow).
1962: Jeff Mills (UK techno DJ, producer)
1961: Alison Moyet (UK singer; Yazoo or Yaz in US/solo).
1956: Oliver Schroer (Canadian fiddler, composer, and music producer)*03.July.2008.
1956: Tom Bailey (UK vocalist, keyboards; Thompson Twins).
1953: Jerome Smith (US guitarist; KC and the Sunshine Band)*28.July.2000.
1952: Ricky Gazda (US trumpet; Johnny and the Asbury Jukes).
1950: Jackie Leven aka John St. Field/Sir Vincent Lone (Scottish folk music singer, songwriter)*14.Nov.2011.
1949: Lincoln Thompson (Jamaican singer, songwriter)*23.Jan.1999.
1948: Éva Marton (Hungarian operatic soprano)
1944: Sandy Posey (US popular music singer)
1943: Raffaella Carrà (Italian presenter, singer)
1942: Carl Radle (US bassist; Derek and the Dominoes/Colours/others)*30.May.1980.
1942: Hans Vonk (Dutch conductor)*29.Aug.2004.
1942: Richard Perry (US producer, own label, Planet Records).
1942: Paul McCartney (UK bass,multi-musician,singer,writer,producer; Beatles/Wings/solo).
1942: Hans Vonk (Dutch conductor)*29.Aug.2004.
1941: Jim Pepper (US jazz saxophonist, composer, singer of Native American ancestry)*10.Feb.1992.
1938: Don "Sugarcane" Harris (US violinist, guitar; Don & Dewey/John Mayall/Zappa)*30.Nov or 01.Dec}1999
1925: Johnny Pearson (UK composer, orchestra leader, pianist; Top of the Pops/own orch/others)*20.March.2011.
1924: Mat Mathews/Mathieu Schwartz (Dutch jazz accordionist)*12.Feb.2009.
1922: Claude Helffer (French pianist)*27.Oct.2004.
1913: Sammy Cahn (US award winning lyricist, songwriter and musician)*15.Jan.1993.
1910: Ray McKinley (US jazz drummer, singer, bandleader; Dorsey Brothers/Glenn Miller)*07.May.1995
1905: Eduard Tubin (Estonian composer)*17.Nov.1982.
1904: Manuel Rosenthal (French composer and conductor)*05.June.2003.
1903: Jeanette MacDonald (American singer and actress)*14.Jan.1965.

June 19th
1992: Mariah Stanley (US singer)
1980: David Gold (Canadian guitarist, multi-musician, vocalist; Woods of Ypres)*21.Dec.2011.
1973: Yuko Nakazawa (Japanese singer)
1972: Dennis Lyxzén (Swedish lead singer; Refused)
1970: Antonis Remos (Greek singer)
1970: Brian "Head" Welch (US guitar; Korn).
1967: Darren Barrett (Canadian-Jamaican trumpet player)
1965: Frank Bello (US bassist; Anthrax).
1964: Brian Vander Ark (US lead singer, guitar; The Verve Pipe).
1963: Simon Wright (UK drummer; AC-DC/Rhino Bucket/freelance).
1962: Paula Abdul (US dancer, choreographer, singer, TV personality).
1960: Luke Morley (UK guitarist; Thunder/The Union).
1959: Dennis Fuller (Jamacian singer; London Boys)*21.Jan.1959.
1959: Mark DeBarge (US vocalist; DeBarge)
1956: Doug Stone/Douglas Jackson Brooks (US singer)
1953: Larry Dunn (US keyboardist, musical director; Earth, Wind, & Fire)
1950: Ann Wilson (US lead singer, flute; Heart/solo).
1950: Paul Nieman (UK trombonist; international session musician)
1948: Nick Drake (UK singer, songwriter)*25.Nov.1974.
1947: Paula Koivuniemi (Finnish singer)
1945: Robert Franklin Palmer Jr (US music critic, reedist)*20.Nov.1997...not to be confused with the singer
1944: Chico Buarque de Hollanda (Brazilian singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer, poet).
1944: Robin Box (UK lead guitarist; White Plains)
1942: Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane (US vocalist; Spanky And Our Gang).
1939: Al Wilson (US singer, drummer, guitar)*21.April.2008.
1937: Chuck Berghofer (US jazz bassist; Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra/others)
1936: Tommy DeVito (US lead guitarist, vocals, Four Seasons).
1936: Marisa Galvany (US soprano)
1936: Shirley Goodman (US singer)*05.July.2005.
1928: Lloyd Morales (US jazz drummer)
1926: Anneliese Rothenberger (German opera singer)*24.May.2010.
1925: Charlie Drake (UK actor, writer, singer)*23.Dec.2006.
1917: David Lambert (US jazz singer, drums; Lambert, Hendricks & Ross)*03.Oct.1966.
1914: Lester Flatt (US American musician)*11.May.1979.
1914: Moralito/Lorenzo Morales (Colombian vallenato singer, composer)*26.Aug.2011.
1912: Virginia MacWatters (US soprano)*05.Nov.2005.
1909: Joe Thomas (US tenor saxophonist)*03.Aug.1986.
1907: Bruno Laako (American alto saxophonist)*????
1902: Guy Lombardo (Canadian-American bandleader)*05.Nov.1977.
1854: Alfredo Catalani (Italian operatic composer)*07.Aug.1893.

June 20th.
1981: Angerfist/Danny Masseling (Dutch DJ, hardcore techno and Gabber musician)
1982: Example/Elliot John Gleave (British rapper).
1980: Tony Lovato (US singer, guitarist; Mest)
1979: Charlotte Hatherley (UK guitar, vocals; Ash/solo).
1976: Jerome Fontamillas (US singer, guitarist; Mortal/Fold Zandura/Switchfoot)
1973: Chino Moreno (vocals, back-up guitar; Deftones/Team Sleep).
1971: Twiggy Ramirez/Jeordie White (US bass; Marilyn Manson/9" Nails/Goon Moon/guest).
1970: Jim Korthe (US vocalist, drummer; 3rd Strike/Phantasm/Dimestore Hoods)*13.Jan.2010.
1967: Murphy Karges (US bassist; Sugar Ray).
1966: Stone Gossard (US rhythm guitarist, producer; Pearl Jam/Brad/Temple of the Dog/freelance).
1963: Amir Derakh (US guitarist, synthesizer player; Orgy)
1960: John Taylor (UK bassist, Duran Duran/Power Station/Neurotic Outsiders/solo).
1960: Chris Gibson (Martinique vocalist; Gibson Brothers)?
1958: Kelly Johnson (UK lead guitar, singer, songwriter; Girlschool)*15.July.2007.
1958: Simon Underwood (UK bassist; Pigbag)?
1954: Michael Anthony Sobolewski (US bassist, Van Halen/Sammy Hagar).
1949: Alan Longmuir (Scottish bassist; Bay City Rollers).
1949: Lionel Richie (US vocals, keyboards, songwriter, Commodores/solo).
1947: Dolores Brooks (US singer; the Crystals)
1946: Andre Watts (US pianist)
1945: Anne Murray (Canadian singer, songwriter).
1942: Brian Wilson (US vocals, piano, producer, composer, arranger; Beach Boys/solo).
1938: Mickie Most/Michael Peter Hayes (English singer, record produce)*May 30th 2003.
1937: Jerry Keller (US singer).
1937: Gus Williams (Australian country music singer, Aboriginal leader)*13.Sept.2010.
1936: Billy Guy/Frank William Phillips (US baritone singer; Coasters)*5.Nov.2002.
1931: Arne Nordheim (Norwegian contemporary classical composer)*05.June.2010.
1928: Eric Dolphy (US jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, bass clarinetist)*29.June.1964.
1924: Chester "Chet" Atkins (US guitarist, singer, and record producer)*30 June 2001.
1920: Danny Cedrone (US guitarist, Bill Haley & His Comets)*17.June.1954.
1907: Jimmy Driftwood/James Corbitt Morris (US folk songwriter, singer, musician)*12.July.1998.
1896: Wilfrid Pelletier (French Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, educator)*09.April.1982.
1891: Giannina Arangi-Lombardi (Italian soprano)*09.July.1951.

June 21st.
1997: Rebecca Black (US pop singer)
1987: Kim Ryeowook (Korean pop singer)
1985: Kris Allen (US singer)
1981: Brandon Flowers (US vocals, keyboards, bass; The Killers).
1978: Jean-Pascal Lacoste (French singer, actor, TV host)
1978: Rim'K/Abdelkrim Brahmi-Benalla (French rapper)
1976: Mike Einziger (guitar; Incubus/Time Lapse Consortium).
1974: Neely Jenkins (US bassist, vocalist; Park Ave/Tilly & the Wall)
1971: Anette Olzon (Swedish singer; Nightwish)
1970: Pete Rock/Peter Phillips (UK trip-hop musician, composer, producer; Bomb the Bass)
1968: Sonique/Sonia Clarke (UK singer, DJ).
1967: Tim Simenon (record producer).
1962: Viktor Tsoi (Soviet guitarist, singer, songwriter; Kino)*15.Aug.1990.
1961: Kip Winger (US singer, guitarist; Winger)
1961: Manu Chao (French multi-instrumentalist; Mano Negra)
1961: Sascha Konietzko (German singer, synth player; KMFDM)
1959: Kathy Mattea (country music & bluegrass singer, guitar).
1959: Marcella Detroit (vocals, harmonica, guitar; Shakespear's Sister).
1957: Mark Brzezicki (drums; Ultravox/Procol Harum/Big Country).
1955: Jean-Pierre Mader (French singer, songwriter)
1954: Augustus Pablo/Horace Swaby (Jamaican reggae record producer, keyboardist)*18.May1999.
1952: Luis Días (Dominican singer-songwriter, composer, guitarist; Transporte Urbano/others)*08.Dec.2009.
1951: Nils Lofgren (US guitar, multi-musician, vocals; E Street Band/solo).
1951: Alan Silson (UK lead guitar, vocals; Smokie/Mickey Finn's T. Rex)?
1950: Joey Kramer (US drums, Aerosmith).
1950: Vasilis Papakonstantinou (Greek singer)
1950: John Paul Young (UK singer: Easybeats/Musicals/solo).
1949: Greg Munford (US lead vocals; solo/studio singer-multimusician/Strawberry Alarm Clock)
1946: Brenda Holloway (US singer, songwriter)
1947: Joey Molland (UK guitar, vocals; Masterminds/Fruit Eating Bears/Merseybeats/Badfinger).
1944: Jon Hiseman/Philip John Hiseman (UK drummer, recording engineer-producer; Colosseum/sessionist)
1944: Ray Davies (UK lead vocals, guitar, songwriter; Ravens/The Kinks/solo).
1944: Miguel Vicens (Spanish guitarist; Los Bravos)
1944: Jorge Neri (Mexican composer)*03.Aug.2011.
1943: Salomé/Maria Rosa Marco (Spanish singer)
1936: Dave Godin (US music critic, founder of labels Soul City & Deep Soul)*15.Oct.2004.
1932: O.C. Smith/Ocie Lee Smith (US singer; Sy Oliver/Count Basie/solo)*23.Nov.2001.
1932: Lalo Schifrin (Argentine pianist, composer, arranger, film soundtracks).
1929: Abdel Halim Hafez (Egyptian singer, actor, multi-musician)*30.March.1977.
1929: Alexandre Lagoya (Greek-Italian classical guitarist)*24.Aug.1999.
1906: Harold Spina (US composer)*11.Aug.1997.
1906: Grete Sultan (German musician)*26.June.2005.
1900: Dewey Jackson (US jazz musician, cornet, trumpet)*01.Jan.1994.
1893: Alois Hába (Czech composer)*18.Nov.1973.
1891: Hermann Scherchen (German conductor, violinist)*12.June.1966.

June 22nd.
1993: Ingmar Lazar (French classical pianist)
1990: Kei Inoo (Japanese actor, singer).
1989: Jung Yong Hwa (Korean actor, singer)
1985: Scott MacIntyre (US singer).
1981: Chris Urbanowicz (US guitarist; Editors).
1979: Leire Martínez (Basque singer and songwriter (La Oreja de Van Gogh)
1978: Tim Driesen (Belgian actor, singer-songwriter).
1977: Mike Alexander (UK bassist; Evile)*05.Oct.2009.
1976: Gordon Moakes (UK multi-musician; Bloc Party).
1970: Steven Page (Canadian guitar, vocals, songwriter; Barenaked Ladies/The Vanity Project).
1966: Schooly D/Jesse B. Weaver Jr (American rapper).
1964: Tommy Cunningham (Scottish drummer; Wet Wet Wet/Sleeping Giants).
1964: Mike Edwards (UK vocals, keyboard, guitars; Jesus Jones).
1963: Anne-Marie Ruddock (UK vocals, Amazulu/Amazulu II).
1962: Bobby Gillespie (Scottish drummer, vocals; Primal Scream/Jesus and Mary Chain/others).
1962: Stephen Vaughan (UK bassist; PJ Harvey Trio/session musician).
1961: Jimmy Somerville (Scottish singer; Bronski Beat/Communards/solo).
1959: Alan Anton/Alan Alizojvodic (Canadian bassist; Cowboy Junkies).
1959: Nicola Sirkis (French singer, lyricist; Indochine).
1958: Ruby Turner (UK singer).
1957: Gary Beers (Australian bassist; INXS).
1956: Derek Forbes (Scottish bassist; Simple Minds).
1955: Green Gartside/Paul Julian Strohmeyer (Welsh singer, songwriter; Scritti Politti/freelance).
1953: Cyndi Lauper (US singer; actress).
1949: Alan Osmond (US singer; leader of The Osmonds).
1948: Todd Rundgren (US multi-musician, singer, producer; New Cars/Utopia/solo).
1947: Howard Kaylan/Howard Kaplan (US singer; Turtles/Mothers of Invention/Flo & Eddie).
1946: Eliades Ochoa (Cuban guitarist; Buena Vista Social Club).
1944: Peter Asher (UK guitarist, singer, record producer; Peter & Gordon).
1943: Eumir Deodato de Almeida (Brazilian jazz musician, record producer).
1939: Bobby Harrison (UK drummer, percussion, singer; Procol Harum/Freedom/Snafu).
1936: Hermeto Pascoal (Brazilian multi-musician, composer; many bands).
1936: Kris Kristofferson/Kris Carson (US singer, songwriter, actor).
1934: Nerlynn 'Lynn' Taitt (Jamaican reggae guitarist; The jets/many bands/sessionist)*20.Jan.2010.
1933: Libor Pešek (Czech conductor).
1921: Al Vega/Aram Vagramian (US jazz pianist)*02.Dec.2011.
1910: Sir Peter Pears (UK tenor singer; partner ofBenjamin Britten)*03.April.1986.
1907: Ernest 'Doc' Paulin (American jazz trumpet player; the Paulin Brass Band)*20.Nov.2007.
1762: Francesco Manfredini (Italian Baroque composer, violinist, church musician)*06.Oct.1762

June 23rd.
1988: Isabella Leong Lok-Sze (Hong Kong singer, actress, model)
1984: Duffy/Aimée Ann Duffy (Welsh singer)
1981: Anthony Costa (UK singer; Blue).
1980: Jessica Taylor (UK singer, Liberty X).
1980: Andy Orr (Irish singer; Six)
1978: Memphis Bleek/Malik Thuston Cox (US rapper)
1978: Frédéric Leclercq (French bassist; DragonForce)
1977: Jason Mraz (US singer, songwriter)
1976: Joe Becker (US guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist).
1975: KT Tunstall/Kate Victoria Tunstall (Scottish singer, songwriter)
1973: Carter Albrecht (US keyboardist, singer guitarist; Edie Brickell & New Bohemians/others)*03. Sept.2007.
1973: Marie N/Marija Naumova (Latvian singer)
1970: Martin Deschamps (Canadian singer)
1970: Yann Tiersen (French composer)
1970: Guillaume Yann Tiersen (French piano, accordion, violin, multi-musician)
1966: Chico DeBarge/Jonathan Arthur DeBarge (US singer; DeBarge)
1966: Richie Ren (Taiwanese singer)
1966: Mark Chadwick (UK guitar, vocals, songwriter; Levellers).
1966: James MacPherson (US drummer, percussionist; The Breeders/Amps/Guided by Voices).
1965: Bonehead/Paul Arthurs (UK guitar; Oasis/freelance).
1963: Steve Shelley (drums, record producer; Crucifucks/Sonic Youth).
1962: Richard Coles (UK multi-musician, clarenet, Curate; Bronski Beat/Communards).
1962: Chuck Billy (US singer; Testament).
1960: Donald Harrison (US jazz saxophonist).
1957: Lee John/John Leslie McGregor, (songwriter, singer; Fizz/Imagination).
1956: Randall "Randy" Jackson (US bassist, singer, record producer, A&R executive, TV personality).
1955: Glenn Danzig/Glenn Allen Anzalone (US singer, multi-musician; The Misfits, Samhain, Danzig)
1948: Myles Goodwyn (Canadian guitarist, vocalist; April Wine)
1948: Luther Kent (US blues singer)
1947: Jimmy Castor (US singer, saxophonist, percussionist; Jimmy Castor Bunch).
1943: James Levine (US conductor)
1941: Robert Hunter (US lyricist, poet; The Grateful Dead)
1940: Adam Faith/Terence Nelhams-Wright (UK singer and actor)*08.March.2003.
1940: Jimmy Castor (US pop and funk saxophonist)*16.Jan.2012.
1940: Stu Sutcliffe (Scottish original bassist with The Beatles)*10.April.1962.
1937: Niki Sullivan (US guitarist, songwriter; The Crickets)*06.April.2004.
1936: Fred Waring, Jr. (US jazz trombonist)
1929: June Carter (US country singer, multi-musician, wife of Johnny Cash)*15.May.2003.
1927: Kenneth McKellar (Scottish tenor, solo artist)*09.April.2010.
1925: Sahib Shihab/Edmond Gregory (American jazz saxophonist)*24.Oct.1989.
1923: George Russell (American jazz composer)*27.July.2009.
1913: Helen Humes (American jazz and blues singer)*09.Sept.1981.
1910: Milton John "Milt" Hinton (US jazz double bassist; the dean of jazz bass players)*19.Dec.2000.
1823: Carl Reinecke (German pianist, conductor, composer)*10.March.1910.

June 24th.
1988: Nichkhun Horvejkul (Thai-American singer; 2PM)
1986: Solange Knowles (US singer)
1978: Emppu Vuorinen (Finnish guitarist; Nightwish)
1978: Ariel Pink/Ariel Marcus Rosenberg (US freak folk singer).
1970: Glenn Medeiros (born in Hawaii, singer, songwriter).
1969: Sissel Kyrkjebø (Norwegian soprano)
1967: Richard Z. Kruspe (German guitarist; Rammstein)
1967: Jeff Cease (guitar; Black Crowes/Shake Your Money Maker).
1966: Hope Sandoval (US singer, songwriter; Mazzy Star/Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions)
1961: Curt Smith (UK vocals, bass; Tears For Fears/Graduate).
1961: Dennis Danell (US lead guitarist; Social Distortion)*29.Feb.2000.
1960: Siedah Garrett (US singer)
1959: Andy McCluskey (UK lead singer, songwriter; O.M.D.)
1958: Kathy Troccoli (US singer)
1957: Terence 'Astro' Wilson (toasting, rhyming, percusion, trumpet; UB40).
1949: John Illsley (bass; Dire Straits).
1948: Patrick Moraz (Swiss keyboardist; Mainhorse/Moody Blues).
1947: Michael Fleetwood (UK drummer; Fleetwood Mac) ((date from Rock n Roll H of F Inductee records))
1945: Colin Blunstone (UK singer, guitar; Zombies/solo).
1944: Arthur Brown (UK singer; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown).
1944: John 'Charlie' Whitney (UK guitar; Family/Streetwalkers).
1944: Chris Wood (UK saxophonist, flute; Traffic/sessionist)*12.July.1983.
1944: Jeff Beck (UK guitarist; Upp/Yardbirds/Honeydrippers/Beck/Bogert & Appice/solo).
1939: Paul 'Oz' Bach (bass, vocals, Spanky And Our Gang/others)*21.Sept.1998.
1935: Terry Riley (US composer)
1934: Jean-Pierre Ferland (Canadian singer)
1922: Tata Giacobetti (Italian singer, lyricist; Quartetto Cetra)*02.Dec.1988.
1909: Milton Katims (US violist, conductor)*27.Feb.2006.
1908: Hugo Distler (German composer)*01.Nov.1942.
1906: Pierre Fournier (French cellist)*08.Jan.1986.
1904: Phil 'Wonga' Harris (US singer, drums, jazz musician, bandleader)*11.Aug.1995.
1901: Marcel Mule (French saxophonist; Garde Republicaine/Quatuor de Saxophones de Paris)*19 Dec.2001.
1900: Captain John Handy (American jazz alto saxophonist)*12.Jan.1971
1900: Gene Austin (American singer, songwriter)*24.Jan.1972.

June 25th.
1987: Lil' Wil/Wilbert Martin (American rapper).
1986: Aya Matsuura (Japanese singer).
1986: Betty Curse/Megan Burns (British actress, singer).
1982: Rain/Jeong Ji-Hoon (Korean singer, dancer, model, actor, CEO and designer).
1975: Chenoa/María Laura Corradini Falomir (Spanish singer).
1974: Jim LaMarca (US bass guitarist; Chimaira)
1974: Mario Calire (US drummer; The Wallflowers/Ozomatli).
1972: Mike Kroeger (Canadian bassist; Nickelback).
1970: Roope Latvala (Finnish guitarist; Children of Bodom/Sinergy/Stone/Dementia).
1969: Zim Zum/Timothy Michael Linton (US guitarist; Marilyn Manson/solo/Pop Culture Suicides).
1968: Candyman/Candell Manson (Los Angeles rapper; Tone-Loc/solo).
1965: Kjeld Tolstrup (Danish radio disc jockey)*21.March.2011.
1963: George Michael/Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (UK singer, songwriter; Wham!/solo).
1954: David Paich (US singer, songwriter, keyboardist; Toto/sessionist).
1952: Ljubiša "Louis" Stojanovic (Serbian singer)*31.July.2011.
1952: Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn OBE(New Zealand singer-songwriter, multi-musician; Finn Brs/Split Enz/others).
1946: Ian McDonald (UK sax player, multi-musician; King Crimson/Foreigner/sessionist).
1946: Allen Lanier (guitar, keyboards; Blue Oyster Cult).
1945: Carly Simon (US singer, guitarist, songwriter).
1944: Robert Charlebois (Canadian singer, composer, musician, author, actor).
1944: Broery/Broery Marantika (Indonesian singer)*07.April.2000.
1942: Manolo Otero (Spanish singer)*01.June.2011.
1940: Clint Warwick/Albert Clinton Eccles (UK bassist; Moody Blues)*15.May.2004.
1939: Harold Melvin (US soul singer, pianist; Blue Notes)*24.March.1997.
1935: Eddie Floyd (US soul singer, songwriter).
1930: Mary Beth Peil (US opera singer, actress).
1928: Bill Russo (US jazz composer, arranger, musician)*11.Jan.2003.
1924: Madan Mohan (Iraqi Bollywood film music director)*14.July 14.1975.
1860: Gustave Charpentier (French composer)*18.Feb.1956.

June 26th.
1993: Ariana Grande (US actress, singer)
1992: Jennette McCurdy (US actress, singer)
1986: Casey Desmond (US award winning vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist).
1981: Damien Sargue (French singer).
1980: Sinik/Thomas Idir (French singer and rapper).
1979: Ryan Tedder (US singer, guitarist, songwriter, record producer).
1978: Alexandra Canto (French singer; L5's).
1975: KJ-52/Jonah Sorrentino (US hip hop artist; Sons of Intellect/solo).
1974: Nicole Saba (Lebanese singer).
1974: Jeff Frankenstein (US keyboardist, synth bass, backing vocals; Newsboys)
1973: Gretchen Wilson (US country singer).
1972: Jussi Sydänmaa (Finnish guitarist, vocals; Lordi).
1972: Garou/Pierre Garand (Canadian singer)
1969: Colin Greenwood (UK bass guitar, keyboards, synthesisers; Radiohead).
1968: Randall Padilla (US speed guitarist; planning 25.5 notes per second record).
1967: Mark Decloedt (UK drummer; EMF).
1966: Jürgen Reil (US drummer; Kreator)
1963: Harriet Wheeler (UK singer; Sundays).
1961: Terri Nunn (US singer; actress; Berlin/solo).
1960: Zachary Breaux (US jazz guitarist; Roy Ayers)*20.Feb.1997.
1959: Stef Burns (US guitar, vocals; Huey Lewis and the News)?
1957: Patty Smyth (US vocalist and leader of the band Scandal/solo).
1957: Laurie McAllister/Laurie Hoyt (US bassist; the Runaways/the Orchids)*25.Aug.2011.
1956: Chris Isaak (US singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor).
1955: Mick Jones (UK singer, guitarist;The Clash/Big Audio Dynamite/Gorillaz)...not Mick from Foreigner
1943: Georgie Fame/Clive Powell (UK singer/songwriter/keyboard; Animals/solo/Rhythm Kings).
1942: Gilberto Gil Moreira (Brazilian singer, Minister of Culture)
1940: Billy Davis Jr. (US vocals, actor; Fifth Dimension).
1934: Dave Grusin (US jazz pianist)
1933: Claudio Abbado (Italian conductor)
1929: June Bronhill OBE/June Mary Gough (Australian soprano opera singer)*24.Jan.2005.
1928: Don Lanphere (US t.& s. saxophonist; Woody Herman/Charlie Parker/freelance)*09.Oct.2003
1928: Jacob Druckman (US composer)*24.May.1996.
1926: Kenny Baker (US fiddle player; Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys/others)*08.July.2011.
1918: Roger Voisin (French born US trumpet player; Boston Symphony)*13.Feb.2008.
1916: Giuseppe Taddei (Italian operatic baritone singer)*02.June.2010.
1914: Doc Williams/Andrew John Smik Jr (US country singer, band leader)*31.Jan.2011.
1909: Colonel Tom Parker/Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk (Dutch entertainment impresario; Elvis)*21.Jan.1997.
1906: Alberto Rabagliati (Italian popular singer, actor)*07.March.1974.
1902: Hugues Cuénod (Swiss tenor)*03.Dec.2010.

June 27th.
1990: Aselin Debison (Canadian singer)
1986: Drake Bell (US actor, guitar, singer, composer).
1983: Alsou Ralifovna Abramova (Russian singer)
1983: Evan Taubenfeld (US singer-songwriter, guitarist; Avril Lavigne/others)
1980: Jennifer Goodridge (US keyboard player; Seaspin/Your Enemies Friends)
1979: Benjamin Speed (Australian musician and film composer).
1979: John Warne (US bassist; Relient K/Ace Troubleshooter).
1978: Stefan Arason (Icelandic composer).
1978: Lolly/Anna Kumble (UK singer)
1977: Sabine Dünser (German lead singer; gothic metal band Elis)*08.July.2006.
1976: Leigh Nash (US singer, composer; Sixpence None The Richer).
1974: Christian Kane (US actor, singer)
1973: Abbath Doom Occulta/Olve Eikemo (Norwegian guitarist, multi-musician, songwriter; Immortal)
1972: Dawud Wharnsby (Canadian poet, singer-songwriter)
1972: Tony McCarroll (UK drummer; Oasis/Raika)
1971: DJ Screw/Robert Earl Davis Jr (US hip-hop musician, music mixer; Screwed Up Click)*16.Nov.2000.
1970: Vitamin C/Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick (US singer).
1970: Laurence Colbert (UK drummer; Ride)?
1964: Otmaro Ruíz (Venezuelan pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger).
1962: Michael Ball (UK singer).
1961: Margo Timmins (Canadian vocalist; Cowboy Junkies).
1959: Loretta "Lorrie" Morgan (US country music singer).
1958: Lisa Germano (US singer, songwriter, multi-musician).
1958: Brian Helicopter/Gareth Holder (UK bass guitarist; The Shapes/HellsBelles/Rogue Male)
1958: Magnus Lindberg (Finnish composer)
1958: Jeffrey Lee Pierce (US singer, songwriter, guitarist; The Gun Club)*31.March.1996.
19??: Bobby Valentino/Robert Beckingham (UK vocals, violin, guitar; Fabulous Poodles/Los Pistoleros/sessionist)
1951: Gilson Lavis (UK drummer; Squeeze).
1948: Camile Baudoin (US guitarist; The Radiators)
1942: Frank Mills (Canadian pianist, composer)
1942: Bruce Johnston (US vocalist, bass, The Beach Boys).
1939: Rahul Dev Burman (Indian composer, actor)*04.Jan.1994.
1935: Byron Lee (Jamaican musician and record producer)*04.Nov.2008.
1934: Ersel Hickey (rockabilly singer; Bluebirds over the Mountain)*12.July.2004.
1932: Anna Moffo (US soprano)*09.March.2006.
1931: Alojz Srebotnjak (Slovenian composer, educator)*01.Dec.2010.
1925: Doc Pomus/Jerome Solon Felder (US blues singer, songwriter)*14.March.1991.
1924: Rosalie Allen (American singer and disc jockey)*24.Sept.2003.
1923: Jacques Berthier (French composer)*27.June.1994.
1885: Guilhermina Suggia (Portuguese cellist)*30.July.1950.

June 28th.
1991: Seohyun/Seo Joo-hyun (Korean singer, dancer)
1987: Bailey Tzuke (English singer-songwriter)
1986: Kellie Dawn Pickler (US country singer, songwriter).
1984: Imran Khan (Pakistani-Dutch Musician, singer, composer)
1983: Maui Taylor (Filipino model, singer)
1981: Capt'n Spin-kick/Michael Crafter (Australian singer-songwriter; Confession)
1979: Felicia Day (US actress, writer, director, violinist, singer)
1978: Ha Ji-won (South Korean actress, singer)
1977: Harun Tekin (Turkish singer, piano, guitar; Mor ve Ötesi)
1977: Mark Stoermer (US bass guitarist; Killers).
1975: Jon Nödtveidt (Swedish lead guitarist, singer; Dissection)*13.Aug.2006.
1974: Siphiwo Ntshebe (South African opera singer)*25.May.2010.
1971: Tichina Arnold (US actress, singer)
1971: Ray Slijngaard (Dutch vocalist; 2 Unlimited/VIP Allstars)
1968: Chayanne/Elmer Figueroa Arce (Puerto Rican singer)
1965: Saul Daveis (UK guitarist, violinist; James)?
1964: DJ Quicksilver/Orhan Terzi (Turkish disc jockey, music producer)
1963: Charlie Clouser (US multi-musician; Nine Inch Nails/Burning Retna/others).
1963: Beverley Craven (UK singer, songwriter).
1963: Andy Cousin (UK bassist; All About Eve/The Mission/The Lucy Nation)
1959: Clint Boon (UK keyboardist, Farfisa organ; Inspiral Carpets/The Clint Boon Experience).
1958: Félix Gray (French singer, songwriter)
1955: Thomas Hampson (US baritone)
1951: David "Frankie" Toler (US drummer; Allman Brothers/Marshall Tucker/others)*04.June.2011.
1950: David Lanz (US musical composer)
1945: Raul Seixas (Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter, pioneer, producer)*21.Aug.1989.
1945: David Knights (UK original bassist; Procol Harum/Ruby).
1942: David Miner (US guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer; The Great Society)
1940: Renato Pagliari (Italian-born British singer; Renee and Renato/solo)*29.July.2009.
1915: David "Honeyboy" Edwards (US blues guitarist, singer)*29.Aug.2011.
1912: Sergiu Celibidache (Romanian conductor)*14.Aug.1996.
1903: Adrian Rollini (US multi musicain, California Ramblers/Goodman/own)*15.May.1956
1902: Richard Rodgers (US award winning composer)*30.Dec.1979.

June 29th.
1988: Becky Jane Taylor (English singer)
1987: Ana Free (Portuguese singer, songwriter).
1984: Derek Lee Rock/Derek Lee Smith (US drummer; Mêlée/Suburban Legends)
1983: Aundrea Fimbres (US singer)
1981: Nino Ksipolitas (Swedish born, Greek singer)
1980: Katherine Jenkins (Welsh mezzo soprano)
1979: Richard "Abz" Breen (UK vocals, singer, songwriter, 5ive aka Five).
1979: Baris Akarsu (Turkish rock singer, actor)*04.July.2007.
1978: Nicole Scherzinger (US singer, Eden's Crush/Pussycat Dolls).
1978: Sam Farrar (US bass guitar player; Phantom Planet).
1976: Bret McKenzie (New Zealand singer; guitarist, comedian, actor; Flight of the Conchords )
1972: Nawal Al Zoghbi (Lebanese singer)
1971: Matthew Good (Canadian singer, guitarist; Matthew Good Band/solo)
1970: Emily Skinner (US actress, singer)
1968: Richard Battersby (UK drummer; The Wildhearts).
1967: Murray Foster (Canadian bassist; Moxy Früvous)
1967: Melora Hardin (US actress, singer)
1965: Tripp Eisen (US guitarist; Static-X/Dope/Murderdolls/Ace Frehley)
1964: Stedman Pearson (UK singer; Five Star).
1963: Anne-Sophie Mutter (German violinist)
1961: Greg Hetson (US punk-rock guitarist; Redd Kross/Circle Jerks/Bad Religion)
1960: Evelyn "Champagne" King (US R&B and disco singer)... most sources have July 1st 1960.
1959: James Freud/Colin Joseph McGlinchey (Australian vocalist, bassist; Models/solo)*04.Nov.2010.
1957: María Conchita Alonso (Cuban-Venezuelan singer, actress)
1957: Robert Forster (Australian singer, guitarist; The Go-Betweens/solo)
1953: Colin Hay (Scottish-Australian lead singer, guitar; Men At Work).
1948: Ian Paice (UK drummer, Deep Purple/Whitesnake).
1943: Roger Spear (US saxophone, Jew's harp, musical toys; Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band).
1948: Derv Gordon (US lead vocals; The Equals).
1948: Lincoln Gordon (US guitar; The Equals).
1943: Bob Brunning (UK bassist; Fleetwood Mac/Savoy Brown)*18.Oct.2011.
1943: Little Eva/Eva Narcissus Boyd (US singer)*10.April.2003.
1940: Vyacheslav Artyomov (Russian composer)
1925: Hale Smith (US composer, editor)
1924: Ezra Laderman (US composer)
1924: Flo Sandons/Mammola Sandon (Italian singer)*17.Nov.2006.
1923: Chou Wen-chung (Chinese-American composer)
1922: Tony Osborne (86) British musician, band leader, arranger, sessionist)*01.March.2009.
1914: Rafael Kubelík (Czech conductor)*11.Aug.1996.
1911: Bernard Herrmann (US film music composer)*24.Dec.1975.
1910: Frank Loesser (American composer)*28.July.1969.
1908: Leroy Anderson (US composer)*18.May.1975.
1901: Nelson Eddy (American singer and actor)*06.March.1967.
1893: Aarre Merikanto (Finnish composer)*29.Sept.1958.
1881: Curt Sachs (German musicologist)*05.Feb.1959.

June 30th.
1985: Rafal Blechacz (Polish classical pianist)
1984: Fantasia Barrino (US singer; American Idol winner).
1983: Anton Gordon (vocals, member of uk TV's created boy band, One True Voice)?
1983: Cheryl Cole née Tweedy (UK vocals; Girls Aloud).
1983: Brendon James (British drummer; Thirteen Senses)
1983: Patrick Wolf/Patrick Denis Apps (UK singer-songwriter, ukulele, piano, viola)
1982: Andy Knowles (UK drummer, keyboards; Skuta/Franz Ferdinand)
1981: Edward "DreadEd" Campbell (UK lead singer; FatalFear-Fatal Fear Korea).
1979: Matisyahu/Matthew Paul Miller (US Hasidic Jewish reggae singer).
1969: Tom Drummond (bassist; Better Than Ezra)?
1968: Philip Anselmo (US singer; Viking Crown/Down/Necrophagia/Pantera)
1967: Peter 'Cammy' Camell (guitar; La's)?
1963: Yngwie Malmsteen/Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck (Swedish guitarist, composer, multi-musician)
1962: Julianne Regan (UK vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard; All About Eve/Mice).
1960: Murray Cook (Australian singer; The Wiggles)
1959: Brendan Perry (UK singer, multi-musician; Dead Can Dance)
1958: Esa-Pekka Salonen (Finnish conductor and composer
1958: Rick Frank (US jazz drummer)
1956: Philip Adrian Wright (visual effects, synthesizers; Human League)?
1953: Hal Lindes (guitarist, composer; Dire Straits).
1951: Stanley Clarke (jazz bass player).
1949: Andy Scott (UK guitarist, singer; Sweet)
1949: Barrie Lee Hall Jr (US trumpeter, music director, band leader; Duke Ellington Small Band)*24.Jan.2011.
1946: Billy Brown (vocals, The Moments)?
1944: Glenn Shorrock (Australian singer, harmonica, guitar; Twilights/Axiom/Little River Band).
1943: Florence Ballard (US vocalist; Supremes/solo)*22.Feb.1976.
1940: Mark Spoelstra (US folk singer)*25.Feb.2007.
1939: Tony Hatch (UK composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger, producer).
1938: Apostolos Nikolaidis (Greek singer)*22.April.1999.
1936: Dave Van Ronk (US singer, guitarist; nicknamed Mayor of MacDougal Street)*10.Feb.2002
1931: Andrew Hill (US jazz pianist, composer)*20.April.2007.
1917: Lena Horne (US jazz singer)*09.May.2010.
1899: Harry Shields (American jazz clarinetist)*19.Jan.1971.

Back to Top
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH

June 1.
1948: Sonny Boy Williamson I/ John Lee Williamson (34) US blues singer & harmonica player; easily the most important harmonica player of the pre-war era, he almost single-handedly made the humble mouth organ a worthy lead instrument for blues bands, leading the way for the amazing innovations of Little Walter and a platoon of others to follow. He recorded prolifically both as a bandleader and a sideman over the entire course of his career, mainly for the Bluebird record label, with many early sessions taking place at the Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois; most later sessions were recorded in Chicago. His final recording session took place in December 1947, backing Big Joe Williams. (killed in a mugging on Chicago's South Side, as he walked home from his final performance at The Plantation Club at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern just a block and a half away from his home at 3226 S. Giles) b. March 31st 1914.
1966: Papa Jack/George Vital Laine (93) American drummer, band leader; the most busy and perhaps the most important band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I and many of the New Orleans musicians who first spread jazz around the USA in the 1910s and 1920s got their start in Papa Jack's bands, his musicians included individuals from most of New Orleans' many ethnic groups... African American, English, French, German, Italian, Jewish, Latin American, Scottish etc. He started leading bands before the Jim Crow codes went into effect in New Orleans. Even after segregation laws started demanding "whites" and "coloured" be kept separate, Papa Jack continued to hire light and medium light skinned African-American musicians, claiming that they were "Cuban" or "Mexican" if any segregationist tried to start trouble. Hence some musicians who played with black bands like those of Buddy Bolden and Joe "King" Oliver also played with Papa Jack. This made for a wide cross-fertilization of musical ideas in his bands.(?) b. September 21st 1873
1984: Nate Nelson (52) US tenor and lead vocalist with the Flamingos from 1954 till 1960 having many hits such as "I'll Be Home", thier first national hit in 1955, reaching No.5 in the billboard chart and later covered by Pat Boone, "Would I Be Crying", "Mio Amore", "Your Other Love", "Nobody Loves Me Like You" and "I Was Such a Fool". He and Terry Johnson split to form the Modern Flamingos in 1961, also went on to record as The Starglows before joining The Platters with the Buck Ram line-up in the mid 60s (heart attack) b. April 10th 1932.
1991: David Ruffin (50) US singer with The Temptations; at the age of 15, he went to Hot Springs, Arkansas with the jazz musician Phineas Newborn, Sr. They played at the Fifty Grand Ballroom and Casino. He continued to sing at talent shows, worked with horses at a jockey club, and eventually became a member of the The Dixie Nightingales. He also sang with the Soul Stirrers briefly after the departure of Johnnie Taylor. He met and came under the guardianship of Eddie Bush and Dorothy Helen who took David to Detroit, Michigan and introduced him to Gwen Gordy Fuqua, Berry Gordy's sister, and Billy Davis. At Motown he started as a background singer, joining The Tempations in 1963. In Nov '64, songwriter/ producer Smokey Robinson wrote a single especially for him to sing lead on. That song, "My Girl", became the group's first #1 single and its signature song, and elevated David to the role of lead singer and front man. In the late 60's tensions grew and he was sacked from the the group, but continued with Motown as a solo artist. His first solo single "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" reached the US pop & R&B Top Ten. His final Top Ten hit was 1975's "Walk Away From Love". After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 with the other Temptations, David, Kendrick, and Dennis Edwards began touring and recording as "Ruffin /Kendrick/ Edwards: Former Leads of The Temptations". Sadly he project was cut short, when David Ruffin died. Known for his unique raspy and anguished tenor vocals, David was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2008 (sadly died from a drug overdose) b. January 18th 1941.
2000: Tito Puente Sr./Ernesto Antonio Puente Jr. (67) American musician; an influential Latin jazz and mambo musician, often credited as "El Rey" of the timbales and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for Latin jazz compositions and dance-oriented mambo over his 50 year career. After serving three years in the Navy during World War II he was discharged with a Presidential Commendation for serving in nine battles. He next went Juilliard School of Music, where he studied conducting, orchestration and theory. In the '50s, he helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, son, and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences. Later, he included pop music, bossa nova and fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres that became known as "salsa". He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. In 1979 Tito won the first of five Grammy Awards for albums A Tribute to Benny Moré, On Broadway, Mambo Diablo, and Goza Mi Timbal. In 1990, he was awarded the "James Smithson Bicentennial Medal." and also awarded a Grammy at the first Latin Grammy Awards, winning Best Traditional Tropical Album for Mambo Birdland. He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. (Tito sadly died due to heart problems) b. April 20th 1923.
2006: Rocio Jurado (61) Spanish actress, singer nicknamed "La más grande";debuted on the big screen in 1962 with Los guerrilleros. She also played a main role in 1966's Proceso a una Estrella and 1971's Una Chica Casi Decente. While temporarily living in Argentina, she participated in a successful musical called La Zapatera Prodigiosa. After teaming with composer Manuel Alejandro, Rocío became a major and beloved figure on the Latin music scene, acclaimed throughout South America and Spain after releasing Muera el Amor and Señora & other hits. (diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004 and treated for liver failure 2 months before she sadly died from heart failure) b. Sept 18th 1944.
2007: Tony Ulysses Thompson (31) American R&B/soul singer and vocalist; born in Waco, but raised in Oklahoma City. He started singing solos in the local church choir at the age of eight. He joined up with the R&B group Hi-Five in 1990. The band's self-titled debut album went multi-platinum and created several hits, including "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)," "I Can't Wait Another Minute," and "Just Another Girlfriend". He went solo in 1995 debuting with Sexsational, before forming his own record label, N'Depth and later reformed Hi-Five in 2005.(drug over-dose; he died of a freon aka huffing overdose, confirmed through autopsy results).b. September 2nd 1975.
2011: Manolo Otero (68) Spanish singer born in Madrid, Spain; his first album "All the Time in the World" propelled him to fame in 1974, making him one of the most popular romantic singers in the Latin countries between the 70s and 80s with hits like "Más no más", "Vuelvo a ti", "Bella mujer", "Champagne" and "Qué hacer h and for olvidarte" (sadly Manolo died fighting liver cancer) b. June 25th 1942.

June 2.
1937: Louis Vierne (66) French organist, composer, born in Poitiers, Vienne; born nearly blind due to congenital cataracts but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. He considered one of the greatest musical improvisers of his generation. Most of his works were never written down. His few improvisations that were preserved on early phonograph recordings sound like finished compositions. He took his successful music and concerts worldwide (suffered a stroke while giving his 1750th organ recital at Notre-Dame de Paris. He had thus fulfilled his often stated lifelong dream - to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame) b. October 8th 1870.
1942: Bunny Berigan/Rowland Berigan (33) American jazz trumpeter born in Hilbert, Wisconsin, he rose to fame during the swing era. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues" in 1935. His 1937 classic jazz recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1928 he played in Hal Kemp's orchestra, Bunny's first recorded trumpet solos came with the Kemp orchestra, and he was with the unit when they toured England By 1931, he had become a sought-after studio musician; Fred Rich, Freddy Martin and Ben Selvin were just some who sought his services. He recorded his first vocal, "At Your Command", with Rich that year. From late 1932 through 1933, he was also employed by Paul Whiteman, before playing with Abe Lyman's band in 1934. He continued freelancing in the recording and radio studios, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and on Glenn Miller's earliest recording date as a leader in 1935, playing on "Solo Hop". At the same time, Bunny made the association that graduated him to fame in his own right: he joined Benny Goodman's re-forming band (cirrhosis of the liver) b. November 2nd 1908.
1968: André Mathieu (39) Québécois pianist and composer, born in Montréal, Canada; at aged 6 he gave his first recital of his own composition at the Ritz Carleton Hotel in Montréal, on Feb 25th 1935. In 1936 he performed his Concertino No.1 for Piano and Orchestra as a soloist on the CBC network. He was later given a grant by the Québec government that enabled him to go to Paris and study piano with Yves Nat and Mme. Giraud-Latarse. In December 1936 Mathieu gave a recital of his works at Salle Chopin-Pleyel, and again at Salle Gaveau on March 26, 1939. His recitals were received very enthusiastically by the Parisian critics. They unanimously agreed that André was a "little Quebecer Mozart". Rachmaninov pronounced him, "a genius, more so than I am". In 1943 he returned to Montréal and gave many concerts performing Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Ravel, as well as his own works. Among his works for piano and violin are Fantaisie brésilienne, a sonata, a berceuse, and Complainte. His vocal works include Le ciel est si bleu, Hymne du Bloc Populaire, Les Chères Mains, and Quatre Mélodies (died suddenly) b. February 18th 1929.
1983: Stan Rogers (33) Canadian folk musician and songwriter. noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing villages of the Maritime provinces and, later, the farms of the Canadian prairies and Great Lakes. His influence on Canadian folk music has been deep and lasting. His best known songs include "Northwest Passage" , "Barrett's Privateers", "The Mary Ellen Carter", "Make and Break Harbour", "The Idiot", "The Field Behind the Plow", "White Squall", "Lies", "Fogarty's Cove", and "Forty-Five Years" (Stan tragically died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797 on the ground at the Greater Cincinnati Airport) b. November 29th 1949.
1984: Georgios Kasassoglou (75) Greek musician, music education pioneer; he composed in many genres from hymns to ballet music. For years he committed himself tirelessly, with much willpower, courage and conviction, to the introduction of instrumental music in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church. He dedicated himself to the propagation of music schools, which barely existed at the time. He applied himself to the creation of the mixed chorus in Nea Smyrni, a district of Athens where he had lived since 1960 (?) b. December 1st 1908.
1987: Andres Segovia (94) Spanish classical guitarist, from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia and is considered to be the father of the modern classical guitar movement by most modern music scholars. He claimed that he "rescued the guitar from the hands of flamenco gypsies," and built up a classical repertoire to give the guitar a place in orchestrial concert halls. His first public performance was in Spain at the age of 15, and a few years later he held his first professional concert in Madrid. After World War II, Segovia began to record more frequently and perform regular tours of Europe and the U.S., a schedule he would maintain for the next thirty years. Two films were made of his life and work—one when he was 75 and the other, 84. They are available on DVD called "Andrés Segovia - in Portrait". His final RCA LP record, "Reveries", was recorded in Madrid in June 1977. In 1954, Joaquín Rodrigo dedicated Fantasía para un gentilhombre/Fantasy for a Gentleman to him and Andrés won the 1958 Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance, Instrumentalist for his recording Segovia Golden Jubilee. In recognition of his contributions to music and the arts, Andrés was ennobled on June 24th 1981 by King Juan Carlos I, who gave him the hereditary title of Marquis of Salobreña. (sadly Andres died of a heart attack) b. Feb 21st 1893.
1987: Sammy Kaye (77) American reeds player, band leader of one of the so-called "Sweet" bands, whose tag line "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye" became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era, backing the likes of Nat King Cole and Perry Como. He made a large number of records for Vocalion Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, and Decca label. In the musical Bye, Bye, Birdie he is mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Kids": "Why can't they dance like we did?/What's wrong with Sammy Kaye?". Sammy was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992 and for his contribution to the recording industry has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sammy and his orchestra are featured in Iceland, a 1942 film about the US Marines in Iceland during WW2. (?) b. March 13th 1910.
1996: Pilar Lorengar/Lorenza Pilar García Seta (68) Spanish soprano born in the El Gancho district of Zaragoza, she is best known for her interpretations of opera and the Spanish genre Zarzuela, and as a soprano she was known for her full register as well as a distinctive vibrato. Pilar made her professional debut in 1950 in Oran, Algeria, playing the role of Maruxa. In 1951 she made her Spanish debut in the principal role in the Zarzuela El canastillo de fresas. Her international opera career started in 1955 at the Festival international d'Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence, where she played Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. She went on to play in London, Glyndebourne and Buenos Aires. In 1958 she signed a contract with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a relationship that would last for thirty years. In 1963 she was distinguished with the title of Kammersänger from the Senate of Berlin. In 1994, she was awarded the "Order of Merit" of the State of Berlin (sadly died of cancer) b. January 16th 1928.
1997: Doc Cheatham/Adolphus Cheatham (91) American jazz trumpeter born in Nashville, Tennessee played in Albert Wynn's band, occasionally substituted for Armstrong at the Vendome Theater, and recorded on sax with Ma Rainey before moving to Philadelphia in 1927, where he worked with the bands of Bobby Lee and Wilber de Paris before moving to New York City the following year. After a short stint with Chick Webb he left to tour Europe with Sam Wooding's band. Cheatham returned to the United States in 1930, and played with Marion Handy and McKinney's Cotton Pickers before landing a job with Cab Calloway. Cheatham was Calloway's lead trumpeter from 1932 through 1939. He performed with Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Fletcher Henderson, and Claude Hopkins in the 1940s; after World War II he started working regularly with Latin bands in New York City, including the bands of Perez Prado, Marcelino Guerra, Ricardo Ray (he played exquisitely, but uncredited, particularly on the track "Mr. Trumpet Man"), Machito, and others. In addition to continuing Latin gigs, he played again with Wilbur de Paris and Sammy Price. He led his own band on Broadway for five years starting in 1960, after which he toured with Benny Goodman (?) b. June 13th 1905
1999: Franklin Delano Alexander "Junior" Braithwaite (46) Jamaican singer; one of the founders of, and the first lead singer of The Wailers, he was with the band for eight months and sung lead on such songs as, "Habits," "Straight and Narrow Way," "Don't Ever Leave Me," and "It Hurts To Be Alone". He left the band in 1964 and moved to the United States with hopes of pursuing a medical career. (brutally shot, murdered in the home of a fellow musician in Kingston, leaving only Bunny Wailer and Beverley Kelso as surviving members of the original Wailers) b. April 4th 1949
2004: Nicolai Ghiaurov (74) Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. Born in the small mountain town of Velingrad in southern Bulgaria, as a child, he learned to play the violin, piano and clarinet. He began his musical studies at the Bulgarian State Conservatory in 1949 under Prof. Hristo Brambarov. From 1950 until 1955, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi. Ghiaurov married the Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978. The two singers frequently performed together. He made his US debut in Gounod's Faust in 1963 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. During the course of his career, he also performed at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, and Paris Opéra (heart attack) b.September 13th 1929.
2006: Vince Welnick (55) American keyboardist born in Phoenix, best known for playing with the San Francisco based rock band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s. He also became involved in solo efforts, formed and played in the band Missing Man Formatin, and is a is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (possible suicide, after suffering a long time with depression) b. February 21st 1951.
2007: Haneken/Kentaro Haneda (58) Japanese pianist, composer and arranger of popular anime and movies and video game music. Born in Tokyo he was best known as composer of Wizardry music which was ported to NES and SNES console by Ascii at early 1990, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross series, Barefoot Gen, Ys Symphony, Symphony Sorcerian and Genso Suikoden Ongaku-shu. He also taught as a professor at the Tokyo College of Music. (sadly Haneken died of liver cancer) b. January 12th 1949
2008: Bo Diddley/Ellas Otha Bates (79) American rock and roll and blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist; a key figure in the transition from blues to rock 'n' roll, he introduced more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged guitar sound and he was also known for his characteristic rectangular cigar box guitar. Born in McComb, Mississippi, he moved to Chicargo in 1934, where he became an active member of his local Ebenezer Baptist Church, studying the trombone and the violin, becoming proficient enough for the musical director to invite him to join the orchestra playing violin, in which he performed until the age of 18. In his late teens, inspired musically by John Lee Hooker, he became interested in the guitar, playing on street corners with friends, ... READ MORE ... (heart failure) b. December 30th 1928.
2009: Palghat R. Raghu (81) Burmese-born Indian musician and percussionist; he was inducted into mridangam lessons very early in his life. He has toured extensively in Europe, USA, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. In addition to his brilliance in carnatic music, he has performed with such renowned artists such as Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, Flute Hariprasad Chaurasia, Santoor Shivkumar Sharma alongside the Tabla Wizard Alla Rakha in numerous concerts in India and abroad. He has also been involved in East-West fusion music. He has been visiting professor of music at Wesleyan University, CT, San Diego State University and University of Berkeley. He regularly conducts advanced mridangam classes for the benefit of his students and upcoming mridangam artists (cardiac arrest) b. January 9th 1928.
2010: Giuseppe Taddei (93) Italian operatic baritone born in Genoa; he began his career at the age of 18 performing in a Wagner opera directed by Italian composer Arturo Toscanini, and sang in opera houses throughout the world past his 70s. His American debut took place at the San Francisco Opera in 1957, followed by his appearance with Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1959. Giuseppe sang regularly at the Royal Opera House in London from 1960 to 1967. His acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York came at the age of 69. A Verdi and Mozart specialist, he played both Leporello and Don Giovanni in Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' and Iago in Verdi's 'Otello' and also sang with opera legends Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti (he sadly passed away in his own house in Rome) b. June 26th 1916
2011: Ray Bryant (79) American jazz pianist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he began playing the piano at the age of six, also performing on bass in junior High School and tuenwd professional in his late teens. He accompanied many other leading players such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Melba Liston, and Coleman Hawkins, as well as singers Carmen McRae and Aretha Franklin. From the late 1950s, he led a trio, performing throughout the world, and also worked solo. In addition, he was a noted Jazz composer, with well-known themes such as "Cubano Chant," "The Madison Time," "Monkey Business," and "Little Susie" to his credit. Ray also formed a trio along with his bass playing brother Tommy and Oz Perkins as the back-up band for the off-Broadway run of the comedy show Cambridge Circus, at Square East in 1964. The show starred John Cleese, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Hatch, Jo Kendall, Graham Chapman, Jonathan Lynn, and Jean Hart. (Ray sadly died after long illness) b. December 24th 1931.

June 3.
1875: Georges Bizet (36) French composer of piano and opera, famous for his dramatic music and for the opera Carmen (The reception of Carmen left him acutely depressed; he fell victim to another attack of quinsy and soon after suffered two heart attacks from which he died) b. Oct 25th 1838.
1899: Johann Strauss II /Jr (73) Vienna's greatest composer of light music, a self-taught musician who established a musical dynasty in Vienna. The son of the famous “Waltz King,” he became the leading composer of late 19th-century Viennese operetta. He wrote only one ballet score, Cinderella, which was discovered after his death. (died from pneumonia in Vienna) b. Oct 25th 1899.
1975: Ozzie Nelson (69) American 40's & 50's radio and TV show presenter, entertainer and bandleader. He also originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons. He graduated from Rutgers University, where he played football despite his slight build, was a member of Cap and Skull, and entered law school. In college, he played saxophone in a small band and coached football to earn money, but faced with the Depression, he turned to music as a full-time career. He formed and led the Ozzie Nelson Band, from 1930 through the 1940s Nelson's band recorded prolifically, enjoying success with songs such as "Over Somebody Else's Shoulder" "Wave the Stick Blues", "Subway", "Jersey Jive", "Swingin' on the Golden Gate", and "Central Avenue Shuffle" and his number one hit with "And Then Some". He developed and produced his own radio series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The show went on the air in 1944, with the sons played by actors until 1949, and in 1952 it moved to television. The show starred the whole family, and America watched Ozzie and his wife Harriet, raise their 2 boys David and Ricky. Among the films Ozzie was involved with was "Love and Kisses",which he wrote, produced, and directed; it starred Ricky Nelson and Ricky's wife Kristin. In 1973, he published his autobiography, "Ozzie", and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the television industry, and an additional star with his wife for their contribution to radio (cancer). b. March 20th 1906.
1990: Richard Sohl (37) American keyboard player, born in New York City; best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy (sadly died of a heart attack while vacationing on Fire Island, New York) b. May 26th 1953.
1990: Stiv Bators (40) American singer and guitarist, born in Youngstown, Ohio. He played with a variety of bands beyond those for which he was best known. These short-term bands included Hormones, Frankenstein, The Wanderers and The Whores of Babylon and also recorded as a solo artist with Bomp! Records. But it was as the lead singer and driving force of the Dead Boys, however, that Stiv helped pioneer the punk rock sound, look and attitude. The band quickly became a popular staple at CBGB's, the music club in New York City's East Village. The Dead Boys were featured in the punk rock film Punking Out-1978, Live at CBGB's-1977 and Crash 'n' Burn-1977. (Stiv was struck by a taxi in Paris. He was taken to hospital but reportedly left before seeing a doctor, after waiting several hours. Reports indicate that he died in his sleep as the result of a concussion) b. October 22nd 1949.
1996: Ferdinand Leitner (86) German conductor; after studying composition and piano under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel Karl Muck and Robert Kahn, through the help of Fritz Busch, he became a conductor in the 1930s. Between 1943-47 he was conductor of the Nollendorfplatz Theater in Berlin; in Hannover; and in Munchen; and starting in 1947 he became the General Music Director of the Württemberg State Opera in Stuttgart. He is famous as a conductor of opera, his favourite composers being Wagner, Richard Strauss, Mozart, and 20th century composers Carl Orff and Karl Amadeus Hartmann. He succeeded Erich Kleiber in 1956 as conductor for the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. From 1976 to 1980, he worked in The Hague as principal conductor of Het Residentie Orkest. Among his more than 300 recordings is a celebrated recording of Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust (?) b. March 4th 1912.
1998: Poul Bundgaard (75) Danish actor, singer; Poul is probably best known for his role as the henpecked Kjeld in the Olsen Banden films. In addition to having appeared in a large number of Danish films, he starred in a number of operettas in the late 1940s and 1950s, and worked at the Royal Danish Theatre as a singer between '58-73; however, he focused mostly on acting later on in his career (died during the shooting of Olsen Bandens "sidste stik") b. October 27th 1922.
2004: Quorthon/Tomas Forsberg (38) Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist and multi-musician born in Hägersten, Stockholm. He was the founder and songwriter of the pioneering Swedish black metal band Bathory, composing the music and wrote the lyrics on all of Bathory's albums and he is also credited with creating the Viking metal genre. At seventeen years old he was joined by bassist Hanoi and drummer Vans in 1983 to form Bathory. Their first recording deal came that same year, when Quorthon managed to secure the consent of Tyfon Grammofon's boss to record two tracks for the compilation Scandinavian Metal Attack. The tracks which he recorded gained unexpected attention by fans. Soon afterward, Tyfon Grammofon contacted Quorthon and asked him to record a full-length album. Bathory's 1984 self-titled debut album, and the subsequent releases The Return - 1985 and Under the Sign of the Black Mark -1987 are now regarded as major influences on the Norwegian bands which extended black metal's musical progression and popularity in the beginning of the 1990s. Quorthon and Bathory recorded 12 albums between 1984 and 2003, the last being Nordland II. (sadly he died of heart failure) b. February 17th 1966.
2006: Johnny Grande (76) US pianist and accordionist; original member of Bill Haley's backing band, The Comets. He was involved in the classic 1954 recording of "Rock Around the Clock". He also appeared with the band in most of their motion picture appearances, including Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. He left the group in late 1962 or early 1963, following a tour of Germany. In 1987, he reunited with other members of the 1954-55 Comets and continued to tour the world and record until the spring of 2006 when ill health forced him to retire (He died in his sleep in Clarksville, Tennessee of cancer-related causes) b. January 14th 1930.
2009: Sam Butera (81) American saxophonist; born in New Orleans, he started his career in Ray McKinley's orchestra directly after high school and was named one of America's top upcoming jazzmen by Look magazine when he was only 18 years old, by his early twenties, he had landed positions in the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Joe Reichman, and Paul Gayten. In '56 he formed his own band The Witnesses remaining their bandleader for the next twenty years. During that time, he performed with Louis Prima and/or Keely Smith on such Prima-associated classics as "Old Black Magic," "Dig That Crazy Chick," "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody," "(Come on a) My House," and "I Want to Be Like You" (from Disney's The Jungle Book). He also played a part in the movie the Rat Race starring Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. He played a scam artist along with Joe Bushkin who fleeced Curtis out of his instruments. The music can be heard on the LP and the CD released by Dot as a soundtrack of The Rat Race (Alzheimer's disease) b. August 17th 1927.
2009: Koko Taylor/Cora Walton (80) American blues singer, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues.". She left her home in Memphis for Chicago in 1952 and began singing in the blues clubs where she was spotted by Willie Dixon, this led to her first recording contract. In 1965 "Wang Dang Doodle" was a major hit reaching number four on the R&B charts. Heavy touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan base, and she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. She recorded nine albums for Alligator, 8 of which were Grammy-nominated, and dominated the female blues singer ranks, winning twenty five W. C. Handy Awards. The 1990s saw Koko in films such as Blues Brothers 2000. Over the years she influenced musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi. In the years prior to her death, she performed over 70 concerts a year (complications from gastrointestinal surgery) b. September 28th 1928.
2010: Pance Pondaag (59) Indonesian pop singer and songwriter, born in Makassar he was one of Indonesia’s most famous pop musicians in the 1970s and 80s and also known for his sentimental lyrics sung by beautiful singers such as Meriam Bellina (complications from a stroke) b. February 18th 1951.
2010: Danny Bank (87) American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist and in his day one of the most in-demand studio musicians; he played with Charlie Barnet from 1942–44, and would return to play with him repeatedly over the next few decades. He also played with Benny Goodman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Paul Whiteman in the 1940s. Following this he recorded with Charlie Parker, Rex Stewart, the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, Johnny Hodges, Urbie Green, Clifford Brown and Helen Merrill, Art Farmer, Wes Montgomery, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Smith, Chico O’Farrill, Betty Carter, Ray Charles, and Tony Fruscella. Maybe Danny is best known for his association with Miles Davis in Gil Evans's orchestra; he appears on the albums Sketches of Spain, Miles Ahead, and Porgy and Bess. He also played with Miles on his 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. Later in the 1960s he recorded with the big bands of Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, and Stanley Turrentine (?) b. July 17th 1922.
2011: Andrew Maurice Gold (59) American musician, born in Burbank, CA. He was a prolific multi-instrumentalist, film composer, artist, producer, session musician, actor, painter and singer. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" in 1977, as well as "Thank You for Being a Friend"-'78, and "Never Let Her Slip Away"-'78. By the '70s he was working as a musician, songwriter and record producer for many musicians. He was a member of the LA band Bryndle with Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman and Karla Bonoff. He played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for Ronstadt's breakthrough album, 1974's Heart Like a Wheel, and her next four albums. In 1975, he began recording as a solo artist, releasing four studio albums in the 1970s and over twelve since then. His hit "Lonely Boy" reached No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Andrew's biggest UK hit song "Never Let Her Slip Away", reached No.5 twice, by him and again at No.5 14 years later by Undercover. Freddie Mercury, who was a friend of Andrew, assisted him with the harmony background vocals of the song. Throughout the years, he played on Stephen Bishop's hit, "On and On"; played and/or sang on records and/or live performances with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Cher's hit album, Heart of Stone, wrote hits for Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna Judd, for whom he co-wrote the No.1 single "I Saw The Light" with Lisa Angelle. The theme from the television series Mad About You, titled "Final Frontier," was used as the wake-up call for the Mars Pathfinder space probe in 1996 (sadly died of a heart attack) b. August 2nd 1951.
2011: Benny Spellman (79) American R&B singer born in Pensacola, Florida, best known for his 1962 hit "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)," and the original version of "Fortune Teller", covered by The Rolling Stones among others."Lipstick Traces" reached No. 28 on the Billboard Black Singles chart and No.80 on the Hot 100. He worked with Huey "Piano" Smith and sang backup on Ernie K-Doe's #1 hit, "Mother in Law". He recorded a single, "Word Game", on Atlantic Records in 1965, then he semi-retired from music to work in the beer industry. In 2009, Benny Spellman was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (sadly Benny died of respiratory failure) b. December 11th 1931

June 4.
1939: Tommy Ladnier (39) American jazz trumpeter. born in Louisiana he moved to New Orleans in his youth. He was influenced by early New Orleans trumpet/cornet players Bunk Johnson and Joe "King" Oliver. About 1919 he moved to Chicago, where he started making records in 1924. In 1926 he moved to New York City to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. Two years later Tommy toured Europe with Sam Wooding's band, then returned to the States to rejoin Fletcher Henderson, and then played in Noble Sissle's Orchestra, with whom he again toured Europe. In the 1930s he co-led a band with Sidney Bechet called The New Orleans Feetwarmers, with whom Tommy made some of his best recordings (Tommy died so young, of a heart attack in New York City) b. May 28th 1900
1951: Sergei Koussevitzky (76) Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949. In 1922, he commissioned what has come to be known as one of the greatest and most popular examples of orchestration in the repertoire, Maurice Ravel's arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's 1874 suite for piano, Pictures at an Exhibition. It was premiered in Paris in 1923, and quickly became the most famous and celebrated orchestration of the work. As an avid supporter of new music, Sergei created the Koussevitzky Music Foundations in 1942. The basic aim of the foundations was to assist composers by commissioning new compositions and underwriting the cost of their performance (?) b. July 26th 1874.
1973: Murry Gage Wilson (55) American record producer, born in Hutchinson, Kansas. His family moved west to Los Angeles when he was five. While unsuccessfully writing songs, his biggest success was with a dance song, "Two-Step Side-Step", which was featured by Lawrence Welk on his radio program in 1952 and covered on record by RCA Victor Western Swing artist Johnnie Lee Wills, as well as country music singer Bonnie Lou. He also wrote songs recorded in the early 1950s by doo-wop group The Hollywood Flames. Murry is best remembered as the father of The Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson, uncle of bandmate Mike Love, and was also the original manager of the band and served as their music publisher (sadly died after suffering a heart attack) b. July 2nd 1917.
1992: Harold 'Geezil' Minerve (70) Cuban freelance alto saxophonist and flautist; he toured with Ray Charles and was the musical director for Arthur Prysock. He raised in Florida and began playing music at age 12, playing with Ida Cox early in his career. He worked with Buddy Johnson from '49-57, with Mercer Ellington in '60, Ray Charles 62-64, and then Arthur Prysock. In 1971 he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, filling Johnny Hodges's spot after Hodges's death. He remained with the Ellington Orchestra until '74, then returned to play with Mercer Ellington. (?) b. Jan 3rd 1922.
1994: Derek 'Lek' Leckenby (51) English guitarist born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. , most famous for his work with Herman's Hermits. He played on many of the band's early hits and composed songs with band. He is credited with arranging the band's first big hit, "I'm into Something Good". His skills on guitar and dobro are heard on releases such as the LP A Whale of a Tale and the later singles, such as "Ginny Go Softly" and "Heart Get Ready for Love". He went on to be sort after session player (sadly died frrom non-Hodgkin lymphomas) b. May 14th 1994.
1997: Johnny "Hammond" Smith (53) American organist, in Louisville, KY, and a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ, thus earning "Hammond" as a nickname. His career took off as he was serving as accompanist to singer Nancy Wilson. One of his last accomplishments also included Nancy Wilson. He wrote the song "Quiet Fire" for her "Nancy Now" release in 1989. In 1959, he began recording as a leader for Prestige, an association that would last through 1970 and produce highlights like That Good Feelin', Talk That Talk, Black Coffee, Open House, Ebb Tide, and Soul Talk, among others. His bands featured singers such as Etta Jones and Houston Person. As time passed, Smith's style got progressively funkier, and in 1971, he shortened his name to Johnny Hammond. In the late 70s Johnny largely retired from jazz, settling in Southern California and investing in real estate. He began recording sporadically again in the '90s. (died after a battle with cancer) b. December 16th 1933.
1997: Ronnie Lane (53) English singer, songwriter, bassist and co-founder of Small Faces and Faces, born in the East End of London. He quit school at 16 to a band with Kenney Jones called "The Outcasts". Ronnie played lead guitar, but it was quickly decided that he should switch to bass guitar. He bought his bass guitar from a shop were Steve Marriott who was working. Steve introduced him to Motown and Stax. Ronnie and Steve set out to put together a band, and recruited friends Kenny Jone and Jimmy Winston, who switched from guitar to the organ, Steve was chosen to be the vocalist and in 1965 Small Faces was born (by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's keyboardist). With memorable hit songs such as "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", "All or Nothing", "Tin Soldier", and their concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, they later evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic acts before disbanding in 1969. After which Ronnie, Ian and Kenney were joined by Ronnie Wood (guitar) and Rod Stewart (lead vocals), both from The Jeff Beck Group, and the new line-up was renamed Faces. Ronnie left Faces in 1973 to form his own band, Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance. The same year they recorded the hit singles "How Come" and "The Poacher", then the album "Anymore For Anymore", showcasing his own blend of UK rock, folk, and country music. In 1977 while recording the album Rough Mix, a collaboration between himself and The Who guitarist Pete Townsend Ronnie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Nonetheless, he toured, wrote, and recorded, with Eric Clapton, and many others, and managed to release yet another album, See Me, which features several songs written by Lane and Clapton. Glen Johns organised concerts at the Royal Albert Hall to help fund the Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, a London-based organization. The concerts featured Ronnie, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Kenney Jones, Andy Fairweather-Low, and more. With the addition of Joe Cocker and Paul Rodgers, they all toured the U.S. It was during this time that Rodgers and Page started the band, The Firm. Ronnie and his Family moved to Texas in 1984, where the climate was more beneficial to his health, and continued playing, writing, and recording. He formed an American version of Slim Chance. For close to a decade Ronnie enjoyed his rock status in the Austin area and even toured Japan. His health continued to decline, and his last performance was in 1992 at a Ronnie Wood gig. Also in the band that night was Ian McLagan. (Ronnie sadly died of pneumonia) b. April 1st 1946.
2001: John Hartford (63) American folk singer, guitar, fiddle, and banjo player, songwriter and double Emmy Award Winner; Born in New York City but brought up in in St. Louis, Missouri. By age 13, he was an accomplished old-time fiddler and banjo player, and he soon learned to play guitar and mandolin as well. He formed his first bluegrass band while still in high school at John Burroughs School. In 1965, he moved to Nashville, the center of the country music industry and in 1966, he signed with RCA Victor, and produced his first album, Looks at Life, in the same year. In 1967, Hartford's second album Earthwords & Music spawned his first major hit, "Gentle On My Mind". At the 1968 Grammies, the song netted four awards, two of which went to John, and it became one of the most widely recorded country songs of all time. He also had extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore, his love for the river influenced his music throughtout his career. John's Grammy-winning Mark Twang features him playing solo, reminiscent of his live solo performances playing the fiddle, guitar, banjo, and amplified plywood for tapping his feet. At the same time, he developed a stage show, which toured in various forms from the mid 1970s until shortly before his death (sadly taken by Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) b. December 30th 1937.
2004: Steve Lacy/Steven Norman Lackritz (59) American jazzman, soprano saxophonist born in New York City; he came to prominence in the 1950s as a progressive Dixieland musician, and went on to a long and prolific career. He worked extensively in experimental jazz and dabbled in free improvisation, but his music was typically melodic and tightly-structured. He began his career at sixteen playing Dixieland music with much older musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen, Pee Wee Russell, George "Pops" Foster and Zutty Singleton and then with Kansas City jazz players like Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, and Jimmy Rushing. He then became involved with the avant-garde, performing on Jazz Advance in 1956, the debut album of Cecil Taylor, and appearing with Taylor's groundbreaking quartet at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival; he also made a notable appearance on an early Gil Evans album. His most enduring relationship, however, was with the music of Thelonious Monk: he recorded the first album to feature only Monk compositions, Reflections-1958 and briefly played in Monk's band in 1960 and later on Monk's Big Band/Quartet album-1963. In 1992, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, nicknamed the "genius grant" (sadly died of cancer) b. July 23rd 1934.
2006: Peter Greenwell (76) English composer and pianist known for his work with Noel Coward who later developed a tribute show described by Alan Jay Lerner as "the best Noel Coward since Noel Coward. Born in Hampton-in-Arden, Warwickshire, Greenwell started his theatrical career in Ireland in the 1940s, and came to prominence in the London theatre in 1955 with Hattie Jacques's production at the Players' Theatre, beneath Charing Cross station, of Twenty Minutes South, which moved to the St Martin's Theatre. Peter and Coward had met for the first time in 1962. They worked together on concerts and recordings until Coward's death in 1973. Collaborating for several years with the late Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin, led to his first stage appearance in April 1984 in Noel, a charity performance in honour of Coward at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. In it he sang and played Coward songs. Three months later his cabaret debut at the Pizza on the Park confirmed his ability to evoke Coward himself, as a performer of Coward's songs, he was unrivalled, as with his winks, nods and allusions on Coward's additions to Cole Porter's Let's Do It. In 1995 Greenwell played at Chichester in David Kernan's Let's Do It and the following year his one-man show, A Talent to Amuse (Vaudeville), displayed his subtle wit and timing. In 1999 he appeared at the Coward conference at Birmingham University, after which he moved to Spain (?) b. August 12th 1929.
2006: Raul Indipwo (72) Portuguese singer, in the late 1950's he was part of a famous duet called "Duo Ouro Negro" with Milu Mac-Mahom Vitória Pereira. He greatly contributed to the diffusion of Angolan music abroad (sadly lost to cancer) b. November 30th 1933.
2006: Richard Kapp (69) American conductor; he founded the chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York in 1968 and has been their Artistic Director since then. The orchestra became a fixture on the New York-area musical scene until it suspended concerts in 2004, when he became ill (sadly died of cancer) b. October 9th 1936.
2007: Freddie Scott (74) American singer; began his career as a songwriter for Colpix Records, along with Carole King and Gerry Goffin, famous for his chart-topping hit "Hey, Girl". His 1968 "You Got What I Need" was sampled for the 1989 Biz Markie hit, "Just a Friend". It was also sampled for Ghostface Killah's "Save Me Dear" in 2004. The song was also parodied by New York DJ Rob Gee. Scotts "Baby I'm Sorry" was recorded by Ricky Nelson for his 1957 debut album Ricky. Freddie later hit the oldies circuit, and released 2 albums in the 1990s, one in 2001, and one in 2004. He also was a contributor to Van Morrison's Vanthology album released in 2003 (sadly died of a heart attack) b. April 24th 1933.
2008: Bill Finegan (91) American jazz arranger and bandleader; born in Newark, New Jersey, he spent time studying at the Paris Conservatory and led his own piano trio. In the mid-late 30s he was offered a job as a staff arranger for Glenn Miller after Tommy Dorsey bought a copy of Bill's "Lonesome Road". Bill remained with Miller until '42, and arranged such hits as "Little Brown Jug", "Sunrise Serenade", "Song of the Volga Boatmen", and "Jingle Bells", arranged in collaboration with Glenn Miller. Bill also arranged music for films in which the band appeared, such as Sun Valley Serenade-1941 and Orchestra Wives-1942. He then worked off and on for Tommy Dorsey from 1942 to 1952, including on the 1947 film The Fabulous Dorseys. Bill lived in Europe from 1948-1950. After returning to the US, he and Eddie Sauter formed a highly successful ensemble, the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, which remained active until 1957. His composition "Doodletown Fifers" was one of the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra's best-known originals. Following this he found work writing music for commercials. In the 1970s he arranged for the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Mel Lewis's orchestra and taught jazz at the University of Bridgeport in the 1980s. (sadly pneumonia) b. April 3rd 1917.
2009: Jean Sagadeev (42) Russian rock singer, bassist, guitarist; a founder member and leader of the russian monster of rock and heavy metal band E.S.T /Electro-convulsive therapy. They made their debut at the “Festival of Hope” Moscow Rock Laboratory in 1988 and won first place at many all-union competitions, they quickly acquired the status of “cult” group and have become the “monsters of rock USSR.” After their second German tour E.S.T. released their first album - "Electro Shock Therapy", recieving positive comments in U.K. and Europe. E.S.T. toured intensively in Russia and abroad - Austria, Belgium, Germany, Finland and USA, performing along side world rockers including Sepultura, Faith no More, Nazareth, Uriah Heep, Motorhead, among others. In 1991, the band participated in the famous concert at Tushinskaya airport in Moscow, with the monster bands AC/DC and Metallica. In 2007, Jean received from the Secretary-General of the charity movement VI Maslov medal “For the sake of life on Earth” with the wording “For the noble thoughts and deeds” (suspected, but suspitious suicide by hanging, awaiting an autopsy) b. July 8th 1967.
2011: Dimi Mint Abba/Loula Bint Siddaty Ould Abba (52) Mauritanian singer, her professional career began in 1976, when she sang on the radio and then competed, the following year, in the Umm Kulthum Contest in Tunis. Her winning song "Sawt Elfan"/"Art's Plume" has the refrain "Art's Plume is a balsam, a weapon and a guide enlightening the spirit of men", which can be interpreted to mean that artists play a more important role than warriors in society. Her first international release was on the World Circuit record label, following a recommendation from Ali Farka Touré. On this album, she was accompanied by her husband Khalifa Ould Eide and her 2 daughters. She composed famous and popular Mauritanian songs like "Hailala" and "Koumba bay bay" (sadly Dimi died of a brain hemorrhage in Casablanca, Morocco following a stage accident in Aioun ten days earlier when she was singing for Sahrawi public) b. December 25th 1958.
2011: David "Frankie" Toler (59) American drummer for The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman Band, and Marshall Tucker Band among others. He came to national attention as the drummer on Dickey Betts & Great Southern’s 1978 album “Atlanta’s Burning Down” and toured extensively with the group. He was then asked to be the drummer for the Allman Brothers Band and appeared on their 1981 album “Brothers of the Road,” which featured the Top 40 hit single “Straight from the Heart”. When Gregg Allman began planning his solo album at the time, he only had one drummer in mind for his new band: Frankie. Frankie recorded two albums with Allman, including the 1986 gold record “I’m No Angel”, and toured as the drummer with The Gregg Allman Band. He was a big part of that era of the Brothers (sadly Frankie died after a long illness following liver transplant) b. June 28th 1951.
2011: Martin Rushent (63) English record producer born in Enfield, Middlesex. He got employment at Advision Studios as a 35mm film projectionist. After approximately 3 months, he began working in the audio department as a tape operator alongside Tony Visconti. He worked on sessions for Fleetwood Mac, T-Rex, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Petula Clark, Jerry Lee Lewis and Osibisa. He went on to set up his own studio, and produced the likes of The Human League, XTC, Generation X, Altered Images, The Go-Go's, The Pipettes, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Killa Kela and Hazel O'Connor's. At the time of his death, Martin was working on a 30th anniversary version of Dare remixed like Love and Dancing but using musical instruments instead of synthesizers (?) b. July 11th 1948.

June 5.
1990: Jim Hodder (42) American drummer, born in Boston he was the original drummer with Steely Dan in 1972, but left in 1974. While part of Steely Dan, he worked on the ''Can't Buy a Thrill'' and "Countdown to Ecstasy" albums as well as part of "Pretzel Logic". In 1972 he sang the lead vocal on "Midnight Cruiser" and the vocal on "Dallas" which appeared only on a 7" record and was reissued on a 12" EP titled Plus Fours from 1978. Jim continued working as a session musician for musicians such as Sammy Hagar and David Soul (drowned in his swimming pool) b. December 17th 1947.
1993: Conway Twitty (59) US country singer, guitarist; in Friars Point, Mississippi and moved to Helena, Arkansas at 10 years of age, where he put together his first singing group, the Phillips County Ramblers. Two years later, he had his own local radio show every Saturday morning. After his call up he had his first hit in 1958 "It's Only Make Believe" which was the first of nine Top 40 hits, reaching No.1 and selling eight million copies, as well as being an international hit. He is thought of as a country music singer, but he also enjoyed success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. Until 2006, he held the record for the most #1 singles of any country act, with 40 #1 Billboard country hits. (George Strait broke the record in 2006 with the single "Give It Away"). Over his long and highly successful career Conway has been honoured with 6 awards from the Academy of Country Music, 4 from the Country Music Association and 2 Grammy awards, He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (died in Cox South Hospital from an abdominal aortic aneurysm) b. September 1st 1933.
1999: Mel Torme (73) American jazz singer and songwriter born in Chicago, Illinois, a child prodigy, he first sang professionally at age 4 with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. Between 1933 and 1941, he acted in the network radio serials The Romance of Helen Trent and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. He wrote his first song at 13, and three years later, his first published song, "Lament to Love," became a hit recording for Harry James. He played drums in Chicago's Shakespeare Elementary School drum and bugle corps in his early teens. While a teenager, he sang, arranged, and played drums in a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers, in 1943, he made his movie debut in Frank Sinatra's first film, the musical Higher and Higher and graduated from Chicago's Hyde Park High School in 1944. He went on to sing and act in many films and television episodes throughout his career, and hosting his own TV show in 1951–52. In 1944 he formed the vocal quintet "Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones, and went solo in 1947 and his versions of "Again" and "Blue Moon" became signature tunes. In the 60s and 70s he was performing as often as 200 times a year around the globe. In 1976, he won an Edison Award (the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy) for best male singer, and a Down Beat award for best male jazz singer and in Feb '99 Mel was honoured with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. (1996, a stroke abruptly ended his 65-year singing career; sadly another stroke ended his life.) b. September 13th 1925.
1999: Ernie Wilkins (76) American jazz arranger, writer and tenor saxophone born in St. Louis, Missouri. Maybe best known for his work with Count Basie, but he also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to that he was musical director for albums by Cannonball Adderley, Dinah Washington, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich; while in Denmark he formed the "Almost Big Band" so he could write for a band of his own formation. The idea was partly inspired by his wife Jenny, the band was made up of noted American ex-patriates like Kenny Drew and Ed Thigpen (sadly Ernie died of a stroke) b. July 20th 1922.
2002: Dee Dee Ramone/Douglas Colvin (50) German-American songwriter and bass player, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band The Ramones. Born in Fort Lee, Virginia, while an infant his family relocated to Berlin, Germany, due to his father's military service. At 15, he, his mother and sister Beverley, moved to the Forest Hills section of New York City. He soon met John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi and together they formed The Ramones. Dee Dee wrote or co-wrote most of the Ramones' repertoire, such as "53rd and 3rd" (a song about male prostitution at 53rd Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan, allegedly based on personal experience), "Glad to See You Go" (written about his then-girlfriend, a stripper and fellow drug user with a volatile personality), "It's a Long Way Back to Germany", "Chinese Rock" and "Wart Hog" (a song Dee Dee wrote in rehab). After he quit the Ramones, Dee Dee continued to write songs for them, contributing at least three songs to each of their albums. He had many projects including a brief hip hop career as rapper "Dee Dee King" with the album Standing in the Spotlight and the band I.C.L.C, who in 1994 toured 22 countries over a 10-month period, to promote the I Hate Freaks Like You album. (Dee Dee struggled with drug addiction since his teens, sadly he died from a heroin overdose) b. September 18th 1951.
2003: Manuel Rosenthal (98) French composer and conductor; Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht appointed him his assistant when the Orchestre National de France was founded in 1934 and he continued to compose, largely chansons for various shows. His breakthrough as a conductor came in 1936, when the Radio PTT - the forerunner of Radio France - set up its own orchestra and appointed him to its head. In 1947 an invitation from Jack Hilton brought him and his orchestra to join Sir Thomas Beecham and his, the Royal Philharmonic, in a concert that filled the Harringay Arena with 13,500 listeners. In 1948 he was appointed chief conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He was music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Liège from 1964-1967. Manuel also served as professor of conducting at the Paris Conservatoire from 1962 to 1974. He conducted the first performance of Pelléas et Mélisande in Russia in Moscow in 1988, and later that year gave the premiere of the same work in Caracas, Venezuela (?) b. June 18th 1904.
2004: Iona Brown OBE (63) British violinist and conductor born in Salisbury; from 1963-66, Iona was a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1964, she joined the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, working her way up through the ranks to become a soloist and director in 1974. She formally left the Academy in 1980, but continued to work with them for the remainder of her life. In 1981, she was appointed artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She served as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 1992. From 1985 to 1989, she was guest director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As her health declined and she suffered from arthritis, she shifted her focus from the violin to conducting, and ended her violin career in 1998. In the last years until her death, she was chief conductor of the Sth Jutland Symphony Orchestra Denmark. (sadly died of cancer) b. January 7th 1941.
2006: Elizabeth Fretwell OBE (85) Australian prima donna opera singer best known for her performances with the Sadler's Wells company. Born in Murrumbeena, Melbourne, she came to the UK to study under the tenor Joseph Hislop. After returning to Australia she quickly started to make a name for herself, taking soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, amongst others. After an extramaritol scandal, Betty returned to the UK, where her first professional engagement was for Dublin's Grand Opera company. Her performances there came to the attention of Sadler's Wells and in 1955 they engaged her services as principal soprano. From the early 1960s to 1970 she went back and forth between Australia and the UK performing. In 1965 she gave her only performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Aida and Il tabarro. She also performed with Scottish and Canadian companies and in North America. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 (a ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm) b. August 13th 1920.
2009: Boris Pokrovsky (97) Russian operatic stage director of the Bolshoi Theatre between 1943 and 1982. After which he founded the Moscow Chamber Opera Theatre. He also served as the artistic director of the Bolshoi in 1952-1963 and 1973-1982 and was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1961. His production of Vano Muradeli's opera The Great Friendship was the target of the second Zhdanov Ukase in1948, and it was he who first staged Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace in 1946. Boris's many awards include four Stalin Prizes in 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950; a Lenin Prize in 1980; two Orders of Lenin in 1967, 1976; as well as two State Prizes in 1995 and 2004 (?) b. January 23rd 1912.
2009: Jeff Hanson (31) American singer-songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist; from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He started learning guitar at 4 and by 13 he formed the indie rock band M.I.J. In 2000, the band released the album "Radio Goodnight" before Jeff started his solo carreer. With his soft falsetto voice, he rose to underground fame in 2003 when he was signed to Kill Rock Stars, the label that launched Sleater-Kinney and Elliott Smith. He released three records for the label, including last year's "Madam Owl" and an eponymous 2005 album that earned a 7.8 rating out of 10 from trendsetting music blog PitchforkMedia.com. He has toured overseas including Japan and more recently toured the West Coast and Scandinavia this spring.. 2009, with fellow songwriter Chris Koza (found dead in his St. Paul apartment that he had recently moved into. The cause was a possible tragic fall or other household accident) b. 1978
2010: Arne Nordheim (78) Norwegian contemporary classical composer, born in Larvik. He was educated at Oslo's Music Conservatory and he frequently received guidance in composition by the Danish composer Vagn Holmboe. Arne also studied electronic music with Gaudeamus in Bilthoven, Netherlands. His musical output is focused around themes of 'solitude, death, love, and landscape' (Aksnes); these themes are evident in his song cycle Aftonland (Evening Land, 1959), a setting of poems by the Swedish poet Pär Lagerkvist, which brought him national recognition. The 1961 Canzona per orchestra was his international breakthrough. Inspired by Giovanni Gabrieli's canzone, the work showcases Nordheim's historical leanings, as well as his occupation with space as a parameter of music. His later compositions include The Tempest; Klokkesong; Magma; the Violin Concerto; and Fonos for trombone and orchestra. On August 18th 2006, Arne received the honorary doctors degree at the Norwegian Academy of Music (?) b. June 20th 1931.
2011: Leon Botha aka DJ Solarize (26) South African artist and musical DJ; born in Cape Town, he was diagnosed with progeria around the age of 4 years. He had no formal training in art beyond high school courses, but became a full-time painter after gradu tion, doing commissioned works. In 2005, Botha successfully underwent heart bypass surgery to prevent a heart attack due to progeria-related atherosclerosis. In January 2007, Botha had his first solo art exhibition, entitled "Liquid Sword; I am HipHop", revolving around hip-hop culture as a way of life. He was also engaged in deejaying and turntablism under the name DJ Solarize. He was featured alongside Watkin Tudor Jones, aka Ninja, in the music video "Enter the Ninja" from Die Antwoord (sadly died from progeria-related heart failure) b. June 4th 1985.
2011: Azam Khan (61) Bangladeshi pop singer and founded a band called Uchcharon in the early 1970s. He is honored as Guru of Pop Music in Bangladesh. Azam together with pop music contemporaries Fakir Alamgir, Pilu Momtaz, Najma Zaman and Ferdous Wahid, is credited with pioneering and popularizing Bangla pop music in the years immediately following the country's independence. He was a Freedom fighter who fought against the Pakistani army in the Liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. After the war, he introduced an energetic brand of music. His first concert in television was broadcasted in 1972 in Bangladesh Television. His popular tunes included Ore Saleka, Ore Maleka, Jibone Kichhu Pabona Re, Ami Jare Chaire, Ashi Ashi Bole Tumi, Obhimani, Rail liner bostite, Hei Allah Hei Allah Re and many others (sadly Azam died of cancer) b. February 28th 1950.
2011: Gordon Lorenz (61) British songwriter and record producer, born in Childwall; he made his fame by writing the UK Christmas number one hit "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" for St Winifred’s School Choir. Since the song's release, he has become one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record), selling eight million records, and earning seventeen platinum, gold and silver discs. He has worked with dozens of arists including Cliff Richard, John Dankworth, Ruthie Henshall, Howard Keel, George Hamilton IV, Atomic Kitten, Joe Longthorne, David Soul, Ken Dodd, Richard Fleeshman, Gloria Gaynor, Paul Jones, Lorna Luft, Humphrey Lyttleton, George Melly, Anthony Newley, Roger Whittaker, Toyah Wilcox and many more as well as several different choirs and orchestras (?) b. 1949.

June 6.
1922: Lillian Russell/Helen Louise Leonard (60) American actress and singer born in Iowa but raised in Chicago. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. At the age of 18, she moved to New York with her mother, where she quickly began to perform professionally, singing for Tony Pastor and playing roles in comic opera, including Gilbert and Sullivan works. She married composer Edward Solomon in 1884 and created roles in several of his operas in London, but in 1886 he was arrested for bigamy. In 1885, Lillian returned to New York and continued to star in operetta and musical theatre. For many years, she was the foremost singer of operettas in America, performing continuously through the end of the 19 century. In 1899, she joined the Weber and Fields's Music Hall, where she starred for five years. After 1904, she began to have vocal difficulties and switched to acting roles. She later returned to her singing but this time in vaudeville, finally retiring from performing around 1919. In her later years, Lillian wrote a newspaper column, advocated women's suffrage and was a popular lecturer (She suffered which were thought to be minor injuries on her return trip from an immigration fact finding mission in Europe for President Warren Harding, but her injuries led to complications, and she sadly died after ten days of illness. Her findings were instrumental in a 1924 immigration reform law. Lillian was buried with full military honors) b. December 4th 1861.
1966: Claudette Orbison/Claudette Frady (25) Roy Orbison's first wife (killed when a truck pulled out of a side road and collided with the motorbike that she and Roy were riding on) b. Sept 1941
1968: George Wettling (60) American Jazz drummer; worked with the big bands of Artie Shaw, Bunny Berigan, Red Norvo, Paul Whiteman, and even Harpo Marx: but he was at his best for his work in small 'hot' bands led by Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, and himself (?) b. November 28th 1907
1986: Dick Rowe (?) British record producer for Decca; He was one of the most important producers and record executives in the '50s and early '60s, the man who signed The Rolling Stones, Them (Van Morrison), The Moody Blues, The Animals, The Zombies, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, The Tornados, Tom Jones, and The Small Faces, among others. But probably more famous for being the man who would not sign the Beatles, thinking they had no future. As a producer he had many chart hits including The Stargazer -"Broken Wings", Lita Roza - "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", Jimmy Young - "Unchained Melody", Them - "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Gloria"; The Bachelors - "My Charmaine" and "Marta", Dickie Valentine - "Christmas Alphabet", Billy Fury - "Halfway to Paradise"and "Jealousy", Al Hibbler - "Unchained Melody to mention just a few (diabetes) b. ??
1991: Stan Getz/Stanley Gayetzky (64) American jazz saxophone player born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. In 1943 at the age of 15, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Stan was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949. In the mid to late 1950s working from Scandinavia, Stan played cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. A 1953 line-up of the Dizzy Gillespie/Stan Getz Sextet featured Gillespie, Getz, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Max Roach. He continued playing with many greats. In the mid-1980s he worked regularly in the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Stanford University where he was artist-in-residence at the Stanford Jazz Workshop until 1988 when he worked with Huey Lewis and the News on their Small World album. Towards the end of his life he played with a group including the pianist Kenny Barron. Stan was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1986 (sadly died of liver cancer) b. February 2nd 1927.
1996: William Palmer (84) American filmmaker, inventor, and audio recording pioneer; working with Bing Crosby, ABC, and Ampex just after World War II, he was the essential catalyst that began the era of high-quality audio magnetic tape recording in America, when William and his colleague, John T. Mullin, perfected an American version of the German "Magnetophon" high-fidelity audio tape recorder in 1946. Using the Mullin-Palmer tape machines in 1946, Merv Griffin in San Francisco was the first U.S. performer to master a commercial disc on tape, "Songs by Merv Griffin", with Lyle Bardo and his Orchestra. In the early 1950s, before the successful introduction of the VTR, William invented a unique system for recording the TV image on 16mm film, a modified "kinescope" process, the Palmer Television Film Recorder, which eliminated the "kine" shutter bar problem was used around the world even after video tape. The 3-2 pull-down system used a "blending" shutter device that eliminated the characteristic "shutter bar" that plagued kine recordings. During the pre-videotape era, Palmer also recorded television shows on film (kinescopes) for San Francisco Bay Area TV stations, including the award-winning series, "The Standard Hour", broadcast on ABC's KGO-TV in 1951 (?) b 1911.
2001: Professor Douglas Gordon Lilburn (85) A prolific and influential New Zealand composer, described as "the elder statesman of New Zealand music" and the "grandfather of New Zealand music". He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Otago in 1969 and was presented with the Citation for Services to New Zealand Music by the Composers' Association of New Zealand in 1978. In 1988 he was awarded the Order of New Zealand. His prizes and scholarships included: the Percy Grainger Competition, 1936, for his tone poem Fores; the Cobbett Prize, Royal College of Music, 1939 for Phantasy for String Quarte; the Foli Scholarship and Hubert Parry Prize, Royal College of Music, 1939; three out of four of the prizes in the New Zealand National Centennial Music Celebrations Competitions, 1940; and the Philip Neill Memorial Prize in 1944. He was founder of Waiteata Press Music Editions in 1967 and founder of the Lilburn Trust of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, 1984.(died peacefully at his home) b. November 2nd 1915.
2002: Robbin Crosby (42) American guitarist, songwriter and producer, born in La Jolla, California. Robbin joined the Glam metal band Ratt towards the end of 1981 and co-wrote many of Ratt's songs including "Round and Round", "Wanted Man" and "Lay it Down". Out of the Cellar went to triple platinum based on Robbin's co-penned "Round and Round". He aslo worked as a producer for metal band Lillian Axe. (heroin overdose) b. August 4th 1959.
2003: Dave Rowberry (62) English keyboardist, pianist and organ player; born in Mapperley, Notts, he entered the Newcastle blues and jazz music scene in the early 1960s, while at University there. He joined The Mike Cotton Jazzmen in 1962, before replacing Alan Price in the UK rock-blues band The Animals. He played many of the group's big hits, including "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Inside-Looking Out", and "See See Rider". From the 90's he worked as free-lance musician in the London jazz scene and was a member of Shut Up Frank, with Noel Redding, Dave Clarke and Mick Avory of The Kinks. They toured extensively and recorded several albums, which are still available on Mouse Records (an ulcer haemorrhage) b. July 4th 1940.
2006: Billy Preston (59) American soul singer, keyboardist from Houston, Texas, but raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his successful, Grammy-winning career as a solo artist, Billy collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Eric Burdon, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, King Curtis, Sammy Davis Jr., Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, Quincy Jones, Mick Jagger, Richie Sambora, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others. He played the Fender Rhodes electric piano and the Hammond organ on the Beatles' Get Back sessions in 1969. He made his last public appearance in late 2005 at the Los Angeles press junket for the re-release of the Concert for Bangladesh movie. He was in good spirits and talked to many in the press. Afterwards he played a three song set of "Give Me Love", "My Sweet Lord" and "Isn't It a Pity", featuring Dhani Harrison on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums for the final song only (Although he received a kidney transplant in 2002, his health continued to deteriorate. He died of complications of malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications. He had been in a coma since November 21st 2005) b. September 2nd 1946.
2006: Hilton Ruiz (54) Puerto Rican-American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, but was also a talented bebop player. He began playing piano at the age of eight, and gigged with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Newman when he was young. Later, he was Roland Kirk's main pianist from 1974 to 1977 and was featured on such records as The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color and The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man. Ruiz also recorded several solo albums between the 1980s and 2000s. (He tragically died from injuries 18 days after a fall; he was found unconscious on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Police concluded that he stumbled and fell, not been attacked) b. May 29th 1952.
2010: Dana Key (56) American Christian rock guitarist, singer, producer and the great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of the famous Francis Scott Key, author of The Star-Spangled Banner. Dana was co-founder of the Christian rock group DeGarmo & Key along with old school friend and keyboardist Eddie DeGarmo. They toured the world, headlining and opening with other major Christian Rock bands including Servant, Petra, Joe English, Amy Grant, Resurrection Band, Jesse Dixon, Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, and dc Talk and recorded over 16 albums. Dana also released two solo albums, "The Journey: Walking with Jesus" and "Part of the Mystery", Following his retirement, he served as the head of Ardent Records, and hosted a TV show, featuring new, younger, Christian bands and he had also been serving as the pastor of a small church in Cordova, Tennessee, The Love of Christ Church (passed away due to ruptured blood clot) b. December 30th 1953.
2010: Marvin Isley (56) American bassist, he grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1972. Marvin became the youngest member of the soulful Isley Brothers R&B group. The original group formed in 1954 with the three eldest brothers Isley, O'Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald, which recorded several singles, including "Shout," "This Old Heart of Mine" and the Grammy winning "It's Your Thing". In the late-1960s, Marvin formed a trio with older brother Ernie and brother-in-law Chris Jasper. By 1973, Marvin's group had joined the older half of the Isleys as its instrumentalists, when the Isley Brothers group officially expanded to six performers. The fuller group enjoyed massive radio airplay with hits including "That Lady," "The Heat is On," "Go For Your Guns" >>>READ MORE<<< (sadly died from complications with diabetes) b. August 18th 1953.
2011: Nils-Bertil Dahlander aka Bert Dale (83) Swedish jazz drummer, he played his first concerts as a drummer in Gothenburg in the age of 13. He moved to New York in 1948, and joined the vibraphonist Terry Gibbs band and went on to play with the legendary pianist Teddy Wilson and Earl Hines , and later accompany such as Chet Baker. During his many years in the United States he played with almost all great musicians (?) b. May 13th 1928.
2011: Tillmann Uhrmacher (44) German singer, DJ, music producer and radio host; his first musical success was as a member of the band Mysterious Art in 1988. Their first single, The Omen was a No.1 hit in Germany and sold over 400,000 copies. The song was a total of 29 weeks in the German charts and was the second most successful single of the year. Their second single was also in the top 10 and in 1990 they supported Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour. Tillmann recorded his first solo single Bassfly in 1999. His 2001 single On The Run reached number 16 in the UK singles charts. As well as his singing career he worked on radio, the radio show MaxiMal, and he hosted the live coverage of the Nature One on Sunshine-Live (?) b. May 14th 1967.

June 7.
1964: Meade "Lux" Lewis (58) American pianist and composer noted for his work in the Boogie Woogie style. His best known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues" has been recorded in various contexts, often ii big band arrangements. He became the leading boogie-woogie pianists of the day, his trio performed extended engagements at Café Society, toured regularly, and inspired the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939. Their success led to a decade long boogie woogie craze with big band swing treatments by Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley and others, as well as influencing numerous country boogie and early rock 'n' roll songs (Car accident) b. September 4th 1905.
1976: Bobby Hackett (60) American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and many others. He made his name as a follower of the legendary cornet player Bix Beiderbecke. Benny Goodman hired him to recreate Bix's famous "I'm Coming Virginia" solo at his 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Although he admired and played like Bix, he not like the "new Bix" tag, Bobby idolised Louis Armstrong, his dream come true in 1947 with his inclusion in Louis Armstrong's Town Hall Jazz Concert. He was invited into Glenn Miller's band as a guitarist in 1941, despite having some temporary lip problems at that time, he still played the occasional, beautiful short solo on the cornet and trumpet, he can be heard playing a famous one with the Glenn Miller Orchestra on "A String of Pearls." During the 1950s, he made a series of albums of ballads with a full string orchestra, exhibiting a gorgeous, dreamy, vibrato-free sound (Bobby sadly died of a heart attack) b. January 31st 1915.
1998: Wally Gold (70) US songwriter, composer, saxophonist and producer, having a successful partnership with Aaron Schroeder. Born in Brooklyn he started as a saxophonist in dance orchestras, and a member of the US Navy Band during World War II, after which he sang in a quartet, the Four Esquires, before becoming a songwriter. In 1960 he and his partner, Aaron Schroeder, wrote many hits including ''It's Now or Never,'' which Elvis Presley took to No.1, "It's Now or Never", "In Your Arms", "Lucky Devil", "Twixt Twelve and Twenty", "Time and the River", "Because They're Young", "Utopia", "Hither and Thither and Yon", "She Can't Find Her Keys", "Half Heaven - Half Heartache", "It's My Party", and "Fools Hall of Fame", "Look Homeward Angel", "Good Luck Charm", and "Sweet Bird of Youth". Later Wally worked as a record produce in various companies. While working in the 1970s as a producer and agent for Don Kirshner's label, distributed by Columbia Records, he discovered and signed the progressive rock band Kansas (Wally sadly died from complications of crohn's disease) b. May 15th 1928.
2001: Carole Denise Fredericks (49) American singer most famous for her recordings in France. Carole emerged from the shadow of her brother, the legendary blues musicologist Taj Mahal, to achieve fame and popularity in Europe and the French-speaking world. For more than two decades Paris, France was her adopted home but she never left her roots. Steeped in the fertile music traditions of her parents, striving professionals from the Carolinas and the West Indies, she emerged as a powerful singer who wove the passionate threads of blues, jazz, gospel and R&B into a uniquely French tapestry (sadly died of a heart attack) b. June 5th 1952
2006: Carl Dengler (91) American bandleader, percussionist, member of The Buster Brown Boys (?)
2009: Hugh Hopper (64) British progressive rock-jazz fusion bass guitarist born in Canterbury; he started in 1963 as bassist with The Daevid Allen Trio, before joining psychedelic rock band, The Soft Machine. He had already composed for their first self titled album and played bass on one of its tracks. His first solo album, “1984,” was released in 1973, the year he left Soft Machine. In later years he toured and recorded with numerous fusion bands, including the Carla Bley Band, Gong, Isotope, and, more recently, a descendant of Soft Machine, PolySoft (leukaemia) b. April 29th 1945.
2009: Kenny Rankin (69) American singer-songwriter; raised in New York, he developed a large following during the 70s with a steady flow of albums, debuting with Mind-Dusters in 1967, three of his thirteen albums broke into the Billboard Album Chart. TV host Johnny Carson was so impressed with Kenny's voice and music, he appeared on The Tonight Show more than twenty times. His unique reworking classic songs such as The Beatles' "Blackbird," which he recorded for his Silver Morning album, so impressed Paul McCartney that he asked Kenny to perform his interpretation of the song when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. As a songwriter himself, Kenny's compositions have been performed by artists such as Mel Tormé and Carmen McRae, Stan Getz, Stephen Bishop and Leon Russell (lung cancer) b. February 10th 1940.
2010: Stuart Cable (40) Welsh rock drummer and broadcaster; born in Cwmaman near Aberdare, he is maybe best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics. He along with childhood friends Kelly and Richard Jones began playing in a series of outfits in their early teens, playing classic rock and soul covers. They began writing and performing music in working men's clubs together in 1992 as a teenage covers band known as Tragic Love Company, The band later changed their name to The Stereophonics in 1996 >>> READ MORE <<< (tragically, Stuart was found dead at his home in Llwydcoed. South Wales Police have ruled out any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, however, a post mortem is yet to be conducted to officially determine the exact cause of death) b. May 19th 1970.
2011: Buddy Gask (64) British rock and roll singer and founding member of the Showaddywaddy; they specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 50s and early 60s, and dressed as Teddy Boys. The 8-piece group sold millions of records during the 1970s including top five hits Under the Moon of Love, You Got What It Takes and Three Steps To Heaven. As well as singing lead on the group's debut hit "Hey Rock and Roll" in April 1974, he performed lead vocals on hit singles including Rock 'n' Roll Lady, Heartbeat and Good Timing, as well as a number of album tracks and B-sides. Buddy left the band in 1987. He retired to Spain in 2006 (sadly Buddy died after a long illness) b. December 18th 1946
2011: Walid Gholmieh (73) Lebanese composer, conductor and musicologist, who went on to become the director of the Le Conservatoire libanais national supérieur de musique or The Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music and considered one of the most prominent Middle-Eastern conductors and composers. Born in Marjeyoun, he initially studied Mathematics at the American University of Beirut before dedicating his education and life to music. He was the founder of both the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra and the Lebanese National Arabic Oriental Orchestra. Established in 2000, the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, was able to prove itself both locally and regionally. In a period of 25 months, the Orchestra presented more than 60 performances in different cities, including a varied international repertoire by world-renowned classical music composers. Walid composed 6 symphonies, and many compositions for Cinema and Theatre (sadly died after a long illness) b. April 14th 1938.

June 8.
1940: Frederick Converse (69) American composer of classical music; born in Newton, Massachusetts, he was educated at Harvard College, where he came under the influence of the composer John K. Paine. He had already had instruction in piano playing, and the study of musical theory was a most important part of his college course. Upon his graduation in 1893, his violin sonata (op. 1) was performed and won him highest honors in music. He then spent two years at the Royal Academy of Music in Munich, and his symphony in D-minor had its first performance on the occasion of his graduation. During 1899-1902, he taught harmony at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then joined the faculty of Harvard University as instructor in music, and was appointed assistant professor in 1905. Two years later he resigned, and afterwards devoted himself exclusively to composition (?) b. January 5th 1871.
1972: Jimmy Rushing (70) American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, he started out touring the Mid-West and California as an itinerant blues singer in 1923-24 before moving to LA, where he sang with Jelly Roll Morton. He sang with Billy King before moving on to Page's Blue Devils in 1927. He, along with other members of the Blue Devils, defected to the Bennie Moten band in 1929. In 1935 Jimmy joined Count Basie for the next 13 years, noted for his performances of "Sent For You Yesterday" and "Boogie Woogie" with the Count Basie Orchestra. After leaving Basie, his recording career soared, as a solo artist and a singer with other bands. He also made a guest appearance with Duke Ellington for the 1959 album Jazz Party (he sadly died after fighting leukemia) b. August 26th 1901.
1983: Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (38) English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing; in 1951, when he was sixteen, Tubby joined Kenny Baker's sextet, later playing for big-band leaders such as Ambrose, Terry Brown, Tito Burns, Roy Fox, Vic Lewis, and Jack Parnell. In 1955 he formed his own octet, with which he toured the UK for eighteen months. From 1957 to 1959 he joined Ronnie Scott in co-leading a quintet, The Jazz Couriers, perhaps the most fondly remembered of British Modern Jazz groups. Subsequently, he reformed his quartet, and toured Germany with Kurt Edelhagen. Then in 1961 he was invited to play at the Half Note Club in New York; a new transatlantic Musicians' Union agreement meant that, in exchange, Zoot Sims played at Ronnie Scott's. While in America, Tubby recorded ''Tubbs in NY'' with Clark Terry, Eddie Costa, and Horace Parlan, and in 1962 he returned for another visit, this time recording Return Visit with James Moody, Roland Kirk, Walter Bishop Jr, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes. Back in London, he formed his own big band, working in television, film, and radio, and even having his own television series 1961–63. He also appears on recordings by many UK jazz musicians, such as the Harry South Big Band, the Ian Hamer Sextet. and appeared in a number of films, including All Night Long-61 with Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck, and his group; A King in New York, by Charles Chaplin-57; The Beauty Jungle-64 and Dr Terror's House of Horrors-1965. He also played at a wide range of jazz festivals, including Reading, Windsor, Antibes, Lugano, Vienna, and Berlin (In the late 1960s Tubby underwent open-heart surgery; he was able to start performing again in 1971, although he had more heart surgery that same year, and in 1972 he toured Norway and Sweden. But in 1973 Tubby tragically died during another heart operation) b. January 30th 1935.
1980: Ernst Busch (80) German singer and actor born in Kiel; he first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin cabaret scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera, as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie Kuhle Wampe and made a haunting recording of Peat Bog Soldiers (?) b. January 22nd 1900.
1984: Gordon Jacob (88) English composer, born in London; in WWI he was taken prisoner of war in 1917, and was one of only 60 men in his battalion of 800 to survive. He he went on to teach at the Royal College of Music from 1924 until his retirement in 1966. The height of his renown was in the 1950s, during which his Music for a Festival was used for the 1951 Festival of Britain, and his trumpet-heavy fanfare arrangement of the National Anthem was used for the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Gordon was prolific, publishing over 700 pieces of music in addition to his four books and numerous essays on music (?) b. July 5th 1895.
1987: Yogi Horton (33) American session drummer; a highly in-demand, colourful and energetic drummer for hundreds of sessions with dozens of artists and bands, such as Diana Ross, Odyssey, Grover Washington Jr., John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, The B-52s, The Rolling Stones, as well as being the long time touring and recording drummer for the late R&B singer Luther Vandross and the singer songwriters Ashford & Simpson. Also, he was a member of the Alessi Brothers band for three years in the mid-’80s, touring and recording with Barnaby Bye bandmates and twins Billy & Bobby Alessi (jumped from a 17th floor hotel window) b. ??
1993: Root Boy Slim/Foster MacKenzie 111 (48) American singer-songwriter; he attended Yale University, where he formed a band named Prince La La and the Midnight Creepers with classmate and fraternity brother Greenlee. Band members wore ermine capes, silver lamay hot pants and boasted that they were never invited for return engagements. One day he took a lot of LSD and went to the White House and climbed the fence. He was apprehended by the Secret Service as he ran up the lawn toward the White House. He was the first intruder since the War of 1812 to get completely over the fence.The large dose of LSD he had consumed caused a psychotic break that led to schizophrenia, with the result that he would be medicated for the rest of his life. Foster found further fame as Root Boy Slim with his band the Sex Change Band when in 1978 music producer Gary Katz signed the band to Warner Bros. Records, which resulted the band's eponymous debut album."Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band with the Rootettes.". They released 6 albums the last being Root 6 in 1990 (died in his sleep at his home in Orlando) b. July 9th 1945.
2000: Abe Lincoln (93) Jazz trombonist; in 1921, a 14-year-old Abe performed for the public throughout southern Pennsylvania with a newly formed six-piece jazz band led by his big brother Bud Lincoln. When he was 16, with his father's permission, he was hired by bandleader Ace Brigode and soon found himself working in New York City. In 1925 he joined James B. Dimick's Million Dollar Sunny Brook Orchestra, before joining the California Ramblers (who never played on the west coast). He joined Ozzie Nelson's orchestra in 1934, and traveled with them to Los Angeles, where he spent many years in Hollywood studio ensembles backing entertainers like Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Judy Garland, Hoagy Carmichael, Fred Astaire, Johnny Mercer, Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, and Ella Mae Morse. His trombone was also audible in several Woody Woodpecker cartoon soundtracks. Abe was one of three "president" jazzmen, along with trumpeter, Thomas Jefferson and trombonist, George Washington, he performed in many Dixieland settings during the late '40s and throughout the '50s. In 1956 he helped put across some of the most authentic Dixieland recordings ever released under the name of Pete Fountain. He continued to freelanced throughout the '60s 70s and '80s, playing with among others.. Wingy Manone, Rampart Street Paraders, Red Nichols, Bob Scobey, Wild Bill Davison, Pete Fountain and Matty Matlock (died in Van Nuys, CA) b. March 29th 1907.
2008: Šaban Bajramovic (72) Serbian Romani musician, singer-songwriter and composer; at 19 he ran away from the army out of love for a girl. As a deserter, he was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison on the island Goli otok, where he joined the orchestra which played the jazz Louis Armstrong, Sinatra, John Coltrane and Spanish and Mexican pieces. Once free again, he made his first record in 1964. He went on to make around 20 albums, some 50 singles and composed 650 pieces. In 2008, it was revealed that Saban was living impoverished in Niš with serious health complications and was no longer able to walk. The government of Serbia intervened to provide him with some funds (sadly died from a heart attack) b. April 16th 1936.
2010: Porfi Jiménez (82) Dominican-born Venezuelan trumpet player, arranger, composer and bandleader. After moving to Caracas in 1954, he started to play with orchestras led by Rafael Minaya, Pedro José Belisario and Chucho Sanoja, as well as for the Billo's Caracas Boys. Porfi enjoyed huge success in the mid 1980s with albums combining salsa, cumbia, and his native Dominican merengue. Some of his most popular songs include La negra Celina, Se hunde el barco, Dolores and Culu Cucú, which reached No.1 on the Colombian, Dominican and Venezuelan charts. Beside this, he conducted a 17-piece Jazz orchestra to promote the big band tradition by featuring his own repertoire and selected works of Thad Jones, Chico O'Farrill, among others. In January 2007 Porfi was honored in New York City by the United Nations Orchestra, created by Dizzy Gillespie (?) b. February 16th 1928.
2010: Tony Cennamo (76) American disc jockey born in Brooklyn, New York; Tony was a jazz disc jockey on Boston University's WBUR for 25 years, he had a morning show in the 1970s and 1980s he began his show with Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments. In 1986 he represented the city of Boston in an exchange program with Melbourne, Australia to lecture about jazz history and appear on radio programs. Tony helped a lot of Boston Jazz musicians, always ready to offer them support and airplay (sadly passed away a after long illness) b. September 30th 1933.
2010: Crispian St. Peters/Robin Peter Smith (71) British pop singer, best known for his 1966 hit, "The Pied Piper". Born in Swanley, Kent, Crispian gave his first live performance in 1956, as a member of The Hard Travellers. Through the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was a member of The Country Gentlemen, Beat Formula Three, and Peter & The Wolves. In 1964, it was as a member of Peter & The Wolves, he made his first commercial recording. He signed to Decca Records in 1965, recording "No No No" and "At This Moment", and he appearanced in the TV shows Scene At 6.30 and Ready Steady Go!. In 1966, he finally yielded a Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart, with "You Were On My Mind". He scored a major hit with "The Pied Piper" during the summer of 1966, when his single went to No.4 in the US and No.5 in the UK (passed away after a long illness) b. April 5th 1939.
2011: Alan Rubin aka Mr. Wonderful (68) American trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet and a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live Band, with whom he played at the Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games. As a member of The Blues Brothers, he portrayed Mr. Fabulous in the 1980 film, the 1998 sequel and was a member of the touring band. Over his long career Alan played with an array of artists, such as Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Duke Ellington, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Eumir Deodato, Sting, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Frankie Valli, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Miles Davis, Yoko Ono, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles and Dr. John. (sadly died fighting lung cancer)*February 11th 1943.

June 9.
1952: Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (60) German violinist and composer born in Siegen, Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering, but he also learnt much from his future father-in-law Hugo Grüters in Bonn. In 1912, Adolf founded the Vienna Konzertverein Quartet, consisting of the principals from the Konzertverein orchestra, which made its debut at the 1913 Salzburg Festival. After World War I, he founded the Busch Quartet, which from the 1920–21 season included himself-violin, Gösta Andreasson-violin, Karl Doktor-viola, and Paul Grümmer-cello. The quartet was in existence with varying personnel until 1951. he was also a great soloist, as well as a chamber musician, and live recordings exist of him playing the Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorák, Busoni Concertos, and the Brahms Double Concerto.. As a composer, he was influenced by Max Reger. He was among the first to compose a Concerto for Orchestra, in 1929. A number of his compositions have been recorded, including the Violin Concerto, String Sextet and Quintet for Saxophone and String Quartet (?) b. August 8th 1891.
1989: Rashid Behbudov (73) Azerbaijani singer and actor; from 1938-1944, he worked at Yerevan State Philharmonia and Opera House, and in 1945, upon the invitation of Tofig Guliyev, he moved to Baku. In the same year, he was assigned the main role of Asgar in the remake of Azerbaijani musical comedy film The Cloth Peddler/"Arshyn Mal Alan", his role in this film combined with his vocal skills brought him fame throughout Azerbaijan, and became a prominent Azerbaijani pop singer. His combination of vocal masterpieces ranged from classical performances to lyrical songs. His rare vocal talent gave him opportunity to travel beyond the "Iron Curtain" of the Soviet Union, and as a singer he toured with concert performances in several countries of the world, including Iran, Turkey, China, India, Japan, Argentina, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In 1966, he created the State Song Theater, which still carries his name, and he became its soloist and artistic manager (sadly died from kidney desease) b. December 14th 1915.
1991: Claudio Arrau León (88) Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Debussy. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. In his honor The Robert Schumann Society established the Arrau Medal in 1991. (Claudio died in Mürzzuschlag, Austria in the midst of a tight European concert tour, he was working on a recording of the complete works of Bach for keyboard, and had Haydn, Mendelssohn, Reger, Busoni and Boulez's 3rd Sonata in preparation) b. February 6th 1903.
1992: Clarence Horatio "Big" Miller (69) American big voiced singer and occasional jazz trombonist; one of the last old time 'blues shouters', men with voices so powerful they could sing over an entire big band without using a microphone. In the days before the wide spread use of microphones and audio amplifiers, only those performers who could be clearly heard by theatre-goers sitting in the back row of seats had any chance of employment. He recorded for Savoy Records early in his career, with The Five Pennies as backing musicians. His jazz activities included work with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. After performing with John Hendricks's revue, The Evolution of the Blues, he signed with Columbia Records. In the 1970s Clarence toured with Big Joe Turner, then moved to Canada, settling in Edmonton, Alberta, where he lived for the rest of his life. He played a major role in the growth of the Edmonton Jazz Society and worked with local musician Tommy Banks. He was the subject of a documentary released by the National Film Board of Canada in 1987 (?) b. December 18th 1922.
1995: Frank Chacksfield (81) English pianist, organist, composer and conductor of popular orchestral easy listening music, born in Battle, Sussex. After WW2, he worked on BBC Radio as an arranger and conductor. He also worked as musical director for both Henry Hall and Geraldo, and began recording under his own name as "Frank Chacksfield's Tunesmiths". In early 1953 he had his first top ten hit, "Little Red Monkey". In 1953, he formed a 40-piece orchestra with a large string section, the "Singing Strings". His first record release for Decca, Charlie Chaplin's themes for his film Limelight, won him a Gold Disc in the USA, and in Britain, where it reached No.2 in the charts, won him the New Musical Express award as Record of the Year. His next 78 single, "Ebb Tide", became the first British instrumental recording to reach No.1 in some American charts, providing a second Gold Disc, and he was voted the most promising new orchestra of the year in the US. He became one of Britain's most well known orchestra leaders internationally, and is estimated to have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide (sadly died of Parkinson's Disease) b. May 9th 1914.
2000: Bernard Flood (92) American jazz trumpeter, following his graduate of Atlanta's famed Tuskegee Institute in the '20s, Bernard became associated with a series of bandleadersincluding Bob Neal, Fess Williams, Teddy Hill, Luis Russell, Chick Webb and Charlie Johnson. In 1939 he became part of Louis Armstrong's big-band project, dropping out for the spring of 1941 with James Reynolds before rejoining Louis Armstrong. In 1946 he worked with both Luis Russell and Duke Ellington, as well as starting up his own combo. He also collaborated with Happy Caldwell in both the late '40s and early '50s. He retired from fulltime music in the early 70s and sadly became a sufferer from diabetes and lost both of his legs due to the effects of the disease (?) b. December 16th 1907.
2006: Delbert Lavern "Vern" Williams (76) American bluegrass mandolin player and singer; born in Arkansas he began playing music with his family at an early age. He moved to California in 1952 with the Marine Corps, where he continued to play music, first with his younger brother John Jr., then with Ray Park beginning in 1959, and lastly beginning in 1974 with his own “Vern Williams Band” who also backed up country-bluegrass legend Rose Maddox. Over his 40 year career he has inspired and influenced countless top quality coast musicians and is generally accepted as the father of bluegrass music on the West Coast of the United States (?) b. December 9th 1930.
2006: Drafi Deutscher (60) German Schlager singer and composer born in Berlin; his best known song was the 1965 Schlager "Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht" / "Marble, Stone and Iron Breaks" which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It later featured in the 2006 film Beerfest, during the Oktoberfest scene. Between 1964 and 1966 Drafi had a lot of hits in Germany, including No.1 hit Shake Hands, Keep Smiling,, Cinderella Baby, Heute male ich dein Bild, Cindy-Lou also a chart topper. After his 1965 hit Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht, his career in Germany was in full swing until shaken by a 1967 verdict for public indecency after he had urinated from a balcony while drunk, in plain view of a group of schoolchildren watching him from street level. He also composed several worldwide hits for Boney M, Nino de Angelo and Tony Christie. In the 1980s he achieved success with his duo, Mixed Emotions, together with Oliver Simon. Deutscher also worked with Christopher Evans Ironside, collaborating with him in the band named Masquerade, and on their co-written hit "Guardian Angel" (sadly Drafi died from heart failure) b. May 9th 1946.
2011: Claude Léveillée (78) Canadian actor, sing-songwriter, composer and pianist born in Montreal; in 1955, he created his first song, Your Dreams and was offered the role of Bozo in the TV series " Rudolph, the secret of the lost river of the Father Ambroise Lafortune. Claude got involved in the children's program Domino to Radio-Canada, where he played the role of Tintinet, which later became Clo-Clo, and he composed several hundred songs. In 1959 he met Edith Piaf, for whom he composed several songs: The Old Piano, Hurricane, and Boulevard du crime. Following his experience in France, Claude won the Grand Prix du Disque Canadian Radio CKAC in 1962 and on April 23rd 1963, he co-founded the Theatre of Threepenny. During the 1960s, he produced several hits like the old piano, Fred, The legend of White Horse, The appointment, Scene, Take me to the end of the world and Winter evening. He wrote several musicals including "She will turn the earth" in 1967 which was presented at the Comédie-Canadienne in Montreal that same year. On May 21st 1967, he performed the song "The appointment" on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York and in 1968, accompanied by Andre Gagnon, he went on a tour of 26 shows in USSR . In 1972, he represented Canada at the Song Festival of Sopot in Poland and again went on tour in the USSR. Throughout his long career he composed songs for many artists, toured much of Europe and produce around 36 albums. In 2004 he suffered 2 strokes the first April 27th while he was giving a show in Ville Émard celebrating his 50 years in show business, the second on October 20th left him severely disabled (sadly Claude died of a heart attack) b. October 16th 1932

June 10.
1970: Earl Grant (39) American pianist, organist and singer he was also skilled at playing trumpet and drums. Born in Idabel, Oklahoma he signed with Decca Records in 1957 and his first single "The End" reached No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Ebb Tide-1961, was his debut album, which also rose to No.7 on the Billboard 200. His instrumental album Trade Winds, single-tracked on the Hammond organ and piano, featuring the love theme from the film El Cid and Chaplin's "Eternally". This album featured some realistic sounding 'tropical bird calls' produced by his electric organ. "The House of Bamboo" was another big selling single. In all, Earl recorded 30 albums for Decca. He also made a few appearances in film and television, including Tender Is the Night-1962, Juke Box Rhythm-1959, and The Ed Sullivan Show-1961 (Earl died instantly in a car accident in Lordsburg, New Mexico) b. January 20th 1931.
1982: Addie "Micki" Harris/Addie Harris McPherson (42) American singer and founder member of The Shirelles, which originally formed in 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey by Shirley Owens Alston Reeves, Doris Coley Kenner Jackson, Addie "Micki" Harris McPherson and Beverly Lee. All students at Passaic High School, they ccalled themselves 'The Poquellos'. Florence Greenberg, who ran a small record label was impressed enough to become the group's manager, and changed their name to The Shirelles by combining frequent lead singer Shirley's first name with doo-woppers the Chantels. They went on to have many hits including "Dedicated to the One I Love", "Welcome Home Baby", "Baby It's You", "Mama Said", "Foolish Little Girl", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", "Sha La La" and "Soldier Boy". They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #76 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" made No.125 and "Tonight's the Night" No. 401 in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (heart attack, after show in Atlanta) b. January 22th 1940.
1992: Hachidai Nakamura (61) China-born Japanese songwriter, composer and jazz pianist born in Qingdao. While in education he worked in several bands including "Yasuhiko Taniguchi and Premier Swing", "The Red Hat Boys", and he formed a jazz band named "Big Four". He went on to work closely with lyricist Rokusuke Ei and many of his songs were popularized by singer Kyu Sakamoto. He wrote the music of the popular Japanese song "Ue o muite aruko," released in 1961 in Japan. The song was released in the United States under the name "Sukiyaki" in 1963, peaking at the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100. He and Ei also worked on the productions of Johnnys' 1964 debut single "Wakai Namida" and Saburo Kitajima's 1965 single "Kaerokana" (?) b. January 20th 1931.
1992: Nat Pierce (66) American jazz pianist; he led his own band which featured Charlie Mariano from 1949-1951, before becoming pianist and arranger for the Woody Herman band from 1951-1955. He moved to New York City freelancing with the likes of Quincy Jones, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Pee Wee Russell, Emmett Berry and Ruby Braff, to name a few. Nat also also arranged the music for The Sound of Jazz, a 1954 CBS television special hosted by John Crosby (complications from an abdominal infection) b. July 16th 1925.
1996: Alan Blakley (54) UK drummer, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and founding member of the Tremeloes with fourteen UK and two U.S. Top 20 hit singles to their name. The band first got together in 1958, when they were all in their teens. In the original line-up Alan on drums, with Brian Poole as vocals and guitarist, Alan Howard playing saxophone and Graham Scott on guitar. But Alan very soon took over on guitar to leave Brian as front man - singer. By 1961, a few line-up changes and Alan now on keyboards, they had turned professional. As Brian Poole and the Tremeloes they first charted with a version of "Twist and Shout" in 1963, quickly followed by their chart topping "Do You Love Me" making them the first south of England group to top the chart in the beat boom era. In 1964 they made tours of South Africa and Australia, followed by a film A Touch of Blarney. When Brian Poole left the band for a solo career in 1966, Alan took over the leadership and the hits kept coming with among others "Even the Bad Times Are Good"; "(Call Me) Number One"; "Me And My Life"; " Hello World "; "Suddenly You Love Me"; "Helule Helule"; "My Little Lady"; "Silence is Golden" and "Here Comes My Baby" the latter two also entered the Top Twenty of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, in addition both tracks sold a million copies globally, each earning gold disc status, as did "Even the Bad Times Are Good". Alan wrote or co-wrote many of the Tremeloes songs and after their decline, he produced records for other acts, including The Rubettes, Bilbo and Mungo Jerry. In 1983 the original quartet reformed and made a cover version of the Europop hit "Words" (sadly died after battling cancer) b. April 1st 1942.
2004: Ray Charles/Ray Charles Robinson (73) US jazz singer, pianist, composer; In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Ray number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and also voted him number two on their November 2008 list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time (liver disease) b. September 23rd 1930 .. read more
2004: Graeme Kelling (47) Scottish guitarist; he developed his guitar technique with various other bands including Tune Cookies and before successfully auditioning for Deacon Blue, named after a Steely Dan song of the 1970s. The band was formed in Glasgow in 1985 their debut album Raintown was released 1987, their best-selling albums included Raintown, Homesick, and When the World Knows Your Name, which topped the charts in 1989. they had a succession of chart-topping hits including "Dignity", "Fergus Sings the Blues" and "Real Gone Kid". The band grew to be one of Scotland's best-known acts of the 1980s, but split in 1994. Graeme went on to write theme music for television, before Deacon Blue reformed in 1999 (pancreatic cancer) b. April 4th 1957.
2006: Ruddy Thomas (54) Jamaican singer, songwriter, producer, studio engineer; he had his greatest successes as a singer in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits including "Every Day Is a Holiday", "Let's Make a Baby" and "Loving Pauper" which was the number one song of the year on the 1978 RJR Top 100. In 1983, he recorded the duet "(You Know How to Make Me) Feel So Good" with Susan Cadogan, which topped the reggae charts and was followed in 1984 by another duet with Cadogan, "Only Heaven Can Wait". Ruddy also recorded duets with J.C. Lodge - "Time For Love", Marcia Aitken - "The Closer I Get To You", Pam Hall - "You Can't Hide" and with Cynthia Schloss - "Don't Want To Lose You", "How Can I Let You Get Away", and "There Is A Fire". He provided backing vocals on several albums, including Peter Tosh's No Nuclear War. He was also part of the horn section on Cornell Campbell's 1982 album What's Happening To Me. He was recording engineer on many releases by the likes of Boris Gardiner, Leroy Smart, Sugar Minott, The Wailing Souls, Beres Hammond, Dennis Brown, Frankie Paul, and Dean Fraser (collapsed and died of a heart attack while performing on stage at the Popular Song Street Blocker in Port Antonio) b. July 12th 1951.
2009: Barry Beckett (66) American record producer, session musician, keyboardist; he started his career as a session musician working with Atlantic Record artists such as Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and Percy Sledge, and others artists at Rick Hall's FAME Studios until 1969 when Barry along with fellow session musicians, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson formed their own session backing band, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers. They opened their busy Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in the Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. In the 1970s, Stax Records also began bringing artists down to Alabama. Other artists who recorded with the Swampers include John Prine, Julian Lennon, Rod Stewart, Elkie Brooks, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnnie Taylor, The Staple Singers, Bob Seger, Joe Cocker, Glenn Frey, Delbert McClinton, J.J. Cale, Alice in Chains, Joe Tex, Bobby Blue Bland, Eddie Floyd, Clarence Carter, Little Milton, Sawyer Brown, Tony Joe White, Oak Ridge Boys and many more. In 1973 they toured backing Traffic and can be heard on Traffic's live album On The Road. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1995 for a "Lifework Award for Non-Performing Achievement" and into the Musician's Hall Of Fame in 2008. In 1982 he left The Swampers to work as a music director for Warner Brothers before working independently. Barry has produced top albums for the likes of Graham Brown, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Dire Straits, Joe Cocker, John Prine, McGuinn-Hillman, Etta James, Eddy Raven, Delbert McClinton, The Staple Singers, Phoebe Snow, Hank Williams, T. Lorrie Morgan, Frankie Miller, Jerry Jeff Walker, Alabama Jr., Neal McCoy, Confederate Railroad, Phish, Tammy Graham, Sonia Dada, Ilse DeLange and so many others (died after long illness) b. February 4th 1943.
2011: Kenny Hawkes (?) English DJ/Producer, a pioneering influence on the UK dance scene for two decades. He grew up in Brighton, at 18 he left for Southern Europe, where he spent endless nights developing his DJ skills playing at some of Europe's most notorious after hours clubs. He returned home in the early 90s, and moved to London to work and ended up managing the Pirate Radio Station "Girls FM" that played Downbeat, Dub, Soul, Techno and Garage, and was soon attracting up to a million listeners a month. His natural grasp of quality dance music, "Girls FM" became the most legendary underground dance music station that London had ever heard. Kenny became one of the UK's hardest working DJ exports, DJing abroad every weekend, travelling to Belgium, New York, Portugal, Paris, Australia, Chicago and Spain to San Francisco, and Southern Asia. In-between his travels, he also found time for production, which enabled him to translate his DJing vibes onto vinyl. He released a Space compilation album back in 1997, and since then has produced singles such as "Jet Sex" and "Ashley's War", "Sleaze Walking" and "Ashley's War Part 2" and more recently "Play The Game" featuring "Louise Carver" and "Dance With Me" featuring "Marcel" and "Kimra" (?) b.????
2011: Darryl Pandy (??) American house vocalist and Chicago house pioneer whose incredible voice helped the burgeoning genre cross over into mainstream success. He sang the lead vocal on a track by Chicago DJ Farley Keith aka Farley Jackmaster Funk, called "Love Can't Turn Around," which gained widespread attention and chart success, and exposed many listeners to house music for the first time upon its release in 1986. Re-released in 1996, the song again made the pop charts (sadly died after a serious illness) b. ????
2011: Sven-Olof Walldoff (82) Swedish record producer, composer and orchestra conductor who is best known for conducting the orchestra for ABBA's song "Waterloo" for the Eurovision Song Contest 1974. He also collaborated on ABBA's first album Ring Ring (?) b. May 2nd 1929.

June 11.
1924: Théodore Dubois (86) French composer and teacher, born in Rosnay in Marne. He won the Prix de Rome in 1861 and in 1868 became choirmaster at the Church of the Madeleine, then in 1871 took over from César Franck as choirmaster at the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde. In 1877, he returned to the Church of the Madeleine, succeeding Camille Saint-Saëns as organist there. From 1871 he taught at the Paris Conservatoire; His fascination with Near-Eastern subjects lead to the composition to his first staged work, La guzla de l'émir, and his first four-act opera, Aben-Hamet, which broke no new ground. His other large-scale opera, Xavière, has a wildly dramatic tale set in the rural Auvergne. His music also includes ballets, oratorios and three symphonies. His best known work is the oratorio Les sept paroles du Christ/"The Seven Last Words of Christ" (?) b. August 24th 1837.
1982: Al Rinker (74) American pianist, vocalist, composer; he began performing as a partner with Bing Crosby in 1925 and the two singers formed the Rhythm Boys, later singer/songwriter/pianist Harry Barris joined them. The three worked with Paul Whiteman's Big Band in L.A. until Bing Crosby dissolved the group to go solo. The Rhythm Boys were filmed for the Paul Whiteman movie The King of Jazz in 1930, singing Mississippi Mud; So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together; I'm a Fisherman; Bench in the Park and Happy Feet. After the breakup, they reunited only once, to appear together on the "Paul Whiteman Presents" radio broadcast on July 4, 1943. In 1952, a song for which Al wrote the lyrics, You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right, appeared in the film Push-Button Kitty and in the television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He also wrote the song Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat, for the Disney cartoon children's movie The AristoCats in 1970 (?) b. December 20th 1907.
1991: Cromwell Everson (65) South African composer born in Beaufort West. He wrote the first Afrikaans opera, and most of his other vocal works were in Afrikaans. His works consist of five sonatas, a trio, an opera, a set of inventions, four song-cycles, a piano suite, miscellaneous movements for the piano and guitar and an incomplete symphony and string quartet. During his career in Worcester, Western Cape he also gave music lessons to the famous musician David Kramer. In 2007 Cromwell received a posthumous acknowledgement from the Afrikaans Language and Cultural society aka ATKV for his Afrikaans opera (?) b. September 28th 1925.
2001: Amalia Mendoza (77) Mexican singer born in in Huetamo, Michoacán; she was one of Mexico's most famous ranchera singers whose career lasted over 40 years. She was nicknamed La Tariácuri after her brothers' group the "Trio Tariácuri". Amalia also acted in six films from 1957 to 1961. She received a starring role in the Mexiscope ranchera Yo... el aventurero, co-starring Antonio Aguilar and Rosa de Castilla (?) b. July 23rd 1923.
2011: Seth Putnam (43) American vocalist born in Boston, Massachusetts, and the founder of grindcore band Anal Cunt also known as AxCx and A.C. in 1988. He was known for his brutal screaming and lyrics that either shock, offend, or invoke morbid humor. Their fairly obsene debut album Morbid Florist was released in 1993 followed by 10 more albums, the last being Wearing Out Our Welcome in 2011. Throughout his career, he had been involved in many side projects, including backing vocals on Pantera's The Great Southern Trendkill and working with bands such as Angry Hate, Satan's Warriors, Adolf Satan, Post Mortem, Insult, Person Killer, Siege, Upsidedown Cross, Shit Scum, Full Blown A.I.D.S., and Death's Head Quartet to mention a few (Seth died sadly of a heart attack) b. May 15th 1968.

June 12.
1917: Teresa Carreño (63) Venezuelan conductor, pianist and composer; in 1862 her family emigrated to New York City, and at the age of 8 she made her debut at Irving Hall that same year. In 1863 she performed for Abraham Lincoln at the White House. In 1866 she moved to Europe, and began touring, making her debut as an opera-singer in 1876. It wasn't until 1885 that she returned to Venezuela, and then only for a short period. In 1889 she returned to Europe for more touring, settling in Berlin as her home base. Teresa was also a composer; she composed at least 40 works for piano, 2 for voice and piano, 2 for choir and orchestra, and 2 as chamber music. She did two gruelling world tours in the twentieth century, before retiring to New York City (?) b. December 22nd 1853.
1957: Jimmy Dorsey (53) American reed player, born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, specializing in alto saxophone and clarinet, and one of the top bandleaders of the swing era. In the early and late periods of his career, he co-led bands with his younger brother Tommy. Jimmy had 11 No.1 hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and the 1940s: "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?", "Change Partners", "The Breeze and I", "Amapola", "My Sister and I", "Maria Elena", "Green Eyes", "Blue Champagne", "Tangerine", "Besame Mucho", and "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby. In 1935, he had two more number ones as part of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway" and "Chasing Shadows". His biggest hit was "Amapola", which was number one for ten weeks in 1941 on the Billboard pop singles chart. On August 17, 1936, Bing Crosby recorded "Pennies from Heaven" with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, a recording that went number one for ten weeks and became one of the top records of 1936. Jimmy appeared in a number of Hollywood motion pictures, including That Girl From Paris, Shall We Dance, The Fleet's In, Lost in a Harem with Abbot and Costello , I Dood It, and the bio-pic with his brother Tommy, The Fabulous Dorseys in 1947. In 1938, Jimmy and His Orchestra also appeared in a movie short performing many of his hits including "It's the Dreamer in Me", "I Love You in Technicolor", and "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps". In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey commemorative postage stamp and in 2008, the Recording Academy added the recording of "Brazil (Aquarela Do Brasil)", Decca 18460B, by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra from 1942 to the Grammy Hall of Fame (sadly throat cancer) b. February 29th 1904.
1962: John Nicholson Ireland (82) English composer, born in Bowdon, near Altrincham. He studied piano, organ and composition at the Royal College of Music; he subsequently became a teacher at the College himself. He began to make his name in the early 1900s as a composer of songs and chamber music. His Violin Sonata no. 1 of 1909 won first prize in an international competition organised by the well-known patron of chamber music W.W. Cobbett. Even more successful was the premiere of his Violin Sonata no. 2, which drew crowds to the Wigmore Hall in London and attracted the interest of a number of publishers (John died of heart failure) b. August 13th 1879
1966: Hermann Scherchen (74) German conductor and violinist, born in Berlin; from 1914-16 he conducted in Riga and in Königsberg from 1928 to 1933, after which he left Germany in protest at the Nazi regime and worked in Switzerland. From 1922 to 1950 he was the principal conductor of the city orchestra Winterthur, today known as Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur. Making his debut with Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, he was a champion of 20th century composers such as Richard Strauss, Webern, Berg and Varèse. He is probably best known for his orchestral arrangement and recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's The Art of Fugue and his 1958 recording of Beethoven's Eroica symphony, containing what is still, as of 2009, the fastest first movement ever recorded and the closest to Beethoven's own, problematic, metronome mark. His 1953 "Lehrbuch des Dirigierens" is a standard textbook. His recorded repertoire was extremely wide, ranging from Vivaldi to Reinhold Glière (?) b. June 21st 1891.
1963: Bob Scobey (46) American dixieland trumpeter, bandleader; he began his career playing in dance orchestras and nightclubs in the 1930s. In 1938 he worked as second trumpeter for Lu Watters in the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. By 1949 he wanted to create his own sound, setting up the Bob Scobey's Frisco Band. They were broadcast in 1952 on Rusty Draper's television show and in 1953 Louis Armstrong sang with them at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. In 1959 Bob opened the Club Bourbon Street in Chicago (sadly taken by cancer) b. December 9th 1916.
1989: Lou Monte/Louis Scaglione (72) Italian-American singer best known for a number of best-selling, Italian-themed novelty records, born in in Manhattan, New York. Before WW2, he played the guitar and started singing as a child, and began his professional career as a singer, comedian, and musician playing clubs in and around the New Jersey. After the war and his time in the army Lou caught the attention of Radio Station WAAT in Newark, New Jersey where he was given his own radio show and soon the radio station rewarded him by convincing their TV outlet to give him a try as well. Lou's first big hit came in 1954, with the release of his version of "Darktown Strutters' Ball". In 1962, he released his first million-seller, "Pepino the Italian Mouse", which was awarded a gold disc. Other of his many songs included "Shaddap You Face", "The Sheik of Napoli", "Mrs. Brown’s Donkey", “Pepino U Soriciello” (The Italian Mouse), "Babalucci", “Dominick The Donkey”,“Italian Cowboy Song”, “Italian Jingle Bells”, and ”Lazy Mary” (?) b. April 2nd 1917.
1995: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (75) Italian classical pianist; born in Brescia, Italy, he began music lessons at the age of three, initially with the violin, but quickly switched to the piano. At ten he entered the Milan Conservatory and in 1938, at age eighteen, he began his international career by entering the Ysaÿe International Festival in Brussels, Belgium. A year later he earned first prize in the Geneva International Competition where he was acclaimed as "a new Liszt". His recording highlights include the live performances in London of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, Chopin's Sonata No. 2 and Schumann's Carnaval, Op. 9 and Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26. As well as his playing of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, Gaspard de la nuit, set standards for those works and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.4. As a composer, Arturo wrote 19 Folksongs a cappella for the SAT men's chorus from Trent, Italy. As a teacher, his pupils included such world-class artists as Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini and Ivan Moravec (He died in Lugano, Switzerland after a long illness) b. January 5th 1920.
1997: Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (73) Russian poet, writer, and singer-songwriter born in Moscow; he was one of the founders of the Russian genre called "author's song". He was the author of about 200 songs, set to his own poetry. His songs are a mixture of Russian poetic and folksong traditions and the French chansonnier style represented by such contemporaries of his as Georges Brassens. Though his songs were never overtly political, the freshness and independence of his artistic voice presented a subtle challenge to Soviet cultural authorities, who were thus hesitant for many years to give official sanction to Buat as a singer-songwriter (?) b. May 9th 1924.
2006: György Sándor Ligeti (83) Hungarian composer, born in Transylvania, Romania. He briefly lived in Hungary before later becoming an Austrian citizen. Many of his works are well known in classical music circles, but to the general public, he is best-known for the various pieces featured in the Stanley Kubrick films 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut (sadly died after a long illness) b. May 28th 1923.
2008: Danny Davis/George Nowlan (83) American country musician; band leader, vocalist producer and founder and leader of the Nashville Brass. By the age of 14 he was trumpet soloist with the Massachusetts All-State Symphony Orchestra and was granted admittance to the New England Conservatory of Music. He left the conservatory after only six weeks when he was offered a job as a trumpeter with the band of legendary drummer, Gene Krupa in 1940. In the 1940s and into the 1950s he worked in several big bands including the band's of Bobby Byrne, Sammy Kaye, Freddy Martin, Vincent Lopez and Art Mooney, he was First Trumpet on Art Mooney's "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover". In the late 50's Danny worked in New York City for the MGM label, producing records for artists such as Connie Francis, Hermans Hermits, Nina Simone, Frank Yankovic and many more. At this time he also put together a session group called "Danny Davis & the Titans" releasing an instrumental album "Today's Teen Beat", followed by the album, "Let's Do the Twist for Adults". In the mid-sixties Davis moved to the RCA label, and transfered to the Nashville office where he was assigned to produce sessions for Waylon Jennings, Dottie West, Floyd Cramer, Hank Locklin and the likes. It was here where he formed Nashville Brass In October of 1968 the first album "The Nashville Brass Play The Nashville Sound" was released, followed by "The Nashville Brass featuring Danny Davis Play More Nashville Sounds" in 1969. Beginning in 1969 and continuing for the next five years Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass dominated the Country Music Association Awards Best Instrumental Group category. Over the years The group garnered eleven more Grammy nominations and received many other awards from recording industry publications and associations. Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass gave their final public performance on July 23, 2005 at the Colonnade in Ringgold, GA. Danny was eighty years old at the time. The group performed two shows and received standing ovations for each (cardiac arrest) b. April 29th 1925
2010: Fuat Mansurov (81) Soviet and Russian conductor born in Alma-Ata, where he studied in a Kazakh school and later graduated from Kazakh University in Alma-Ata. Fuat worked 37 years in Moscow Bolshoi Theatre and had many operatic and ballet premiers. He had a total of 40 performances in his wide-ranging repertoire as a conductor, including classics of the 20th century - Sergei Prokofiev's "Semyon Kotko", Rodion Shedrin's "Dead Souls", Aram Khachaturian's "Spartak", Valeri Gavrilin's "Anuta" and Boris Asafiev's "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai", as well as 19-century foreign masterpieces, like Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Gounod's "Faust", Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride". In 1991 he conducted the Bolshoi at the New York Met for performances of Mlada and Eugene Onegin.(?) b. January 1st 1928.
2011: Carl Gardner (83) American singer his first major career success came with The Robins, a rhythm and blues group which had a big hit in the early 1950s, "Smokey Joe's Café". He left the group in 1955, to form The Coasters with Bobby Nunn, at the behest of the songwriting/producing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Coasters went on to produce several enduring classics of 1950s rock and roll music including "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", and "Poison Ivy". Together with the other members of The Coasters – Cornell Gunter, Billy Guy and Will "Dub" Jones – Carl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (Sadly Carl died from congestive heart failure) b. April 29th 1928.

June 13.
1972: Clyde McPhatter (39) American lead singer and founder of The Drifters in 1953, who later went on to a solo career. Born in the tobacco town of Durham, North Carolina, he formed a gospel group in 1945 after his family moved from Durham, North Carolina USA to New Jersey. They soon relocated to New York City, where Clyde joined the gospel group Mount Lebanon Singers. In 1950, he joined Billy Ward & the Dominoes, and was present for the recording of "Sixty Minute Man". After recording several more songs, including "Have Mercy Baby", he left the group in 1953. He formed the Difters and signed to Atlantic Records releasing "Money Honey", "Such a Night", "Honey Love", "White Christmas" and "Whatcha Gonna Do". He went on to a solo career releasing hits including "Lover Please", "Treasure of Love" his first solo #1 on the R&B charts, "I Told Myself a Lie", "Think Me a Kiss", "Ta Ta". "I Never Knew" and "Lover Please". In the late 1960s, Clyde spent some time living in England where he was backed by UK band "ICE" (died of complications of heart, liver, and kidney disease in Teaneck, New Jersey) b. November 15th 1932.
1979: Demetrio Stratos/Efstratios Demetriou (34) Italian lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, music researcher, and co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock, jazz fusion band AreA – International POPular Group. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, of Greek parents, he studied piano and accordion at the "National Conservatoire". In 1957 he was sent to Nicosia, Cyprus, and, at 17, moved to Milan, Italy, to attend the Politecnico di Milano University at the Architecture Faculty, where he formed his first musical group. In 1967, Demetrio joined the Italian beat band I Ribelli, and in 1972, founded Area. Demetrio recorded many records, and toured festivals in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, U.S. with Area, as well as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He worked together with musicians, singers, writers, poets, directors, men of learning such as Mogol, Lucio Battisti, Gianni Sassi, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti, John Cage, Tran Quang Hai, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Grete Sultan, Paul Zukofsky, Nanni Balestrini, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Antonio Porta (In April '79 Demetrio was diagnosed with a severe case of aplastic anemia. He sadly died in New York City Memorial Hospital two months later, while waiting for a bone marrow transplant) b. April 22nd 1945.
1986: Benny Goodman (77) American clarinetist, conductor, bandleader born in Chicago; he was the first celebrated bandleader of the Swing Era, dubbed "The King of Swing," his popular emergence marking the beginning of the era. He was an accomplished clarinetist whose distinctive playing gave an identity both to his big band and to the smaller units he led simultaneously. At 16, he joined one of Chicago's top bands, the Ben Pollack Orchestra, with which he made his first recordings in 1926. He became a successful session musician during the late 1920s and early 1930s. A notable March 21st 1928 session found Benny alongside Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Joe Venuti in the All-Star Orchestra, directed by Nat Shilkret. Also in 1928, Benny and Glenn Miller wrote the instrumental "Room 1411", which was released as a Brunswick 78. He also recorded musical soundtracks for movie shorts. Benny and his band's future was boosted and totally secured after their concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on the evening of January 16th 1938. Benny Goodman's band appeared as a specialty act in major musical features, including The Big Broadcast of '37, Hollywood Hotel, '38; Syncopation, '42; The Powers Girl, '42; Stage Door Canteen, '43; The Gang's All Here, 1943; Sweet and Lowdown, '44 and A Song Is Born in '48. Benny was also responsible for a significant step in racial integration in America, he broke with tradition by hiring Teddy Wilson to play with him and drummer Gene Krupa in the Benny Goodman Trio. In 1936, he added Lionel Hampton on vibes to form the Benny Goodman Quartet; in 1939 he added pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian to his band and small ensembles, who played with him until his death from TB less than three years later. This integration in music happened ten years before Jackie Robinson became the first black American to enter Major League Baseball. After winning many polls over the years, Benny was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1957. He's a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the radio division and was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986. Despite increasing health problems, he continued to play until his death (heart attack) b. May 30th 1909.
2001: Makanda Ken McIntyre/Kenneth McIntyre (69) US jazz saxophonist, multi-musician and composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts; in addition to his primary instrument, alto saxophone, he also played flute, bass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and many other woodwind instruments, as well as double bass, drum set, and piano. Over the course of his career, Ken performed or recorded with: Nat Adderley, Jaki Byard, Ron Carter, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, Daoud A. Haroon, Richard Harper, David Murray, Cecil Taylor and Reggie Workman, among others, and was a member of the innovative group Beaver Harris and the 360 Degree Ensemble. He recorded thirteen albums, one of which was released posthumously, composed well over 400 compositions, and wrote about 200 arrangements, reflecting different aspects of his Caribbean and African American roots, including blues, straight-ahead jazz, avant-garde, and calypso (sadly died of a heart attack) b. September 7th 1931.
2005: David Diamond (89) American composer of classical music born in Rochester, New York and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music. His most popular piece is Rounds in 1944 for string orchestra and among his other works are eleven symphonies, the last in 1993, concertos including three for violin, eleven string quartets, music for wind ensemble, other chamber music, piano pieces and vocal music. He also composed the musical theme heard on the CBS Radio Network broadcast "Hear It Now" 1950–51 and its TV successor, "See It Now" 1951–58. He was a long time member of the Juilliard School faculty, his notable students includie Robert Black, Kenneth Fuchs, Daron Hagen, Adolphus Hailstork, Anthony Iannaccone, Philip Lasser, Lowell Liebermann, Alasdair MacLean, Charles Strouse, Francis Thorne, and Eric Whitacre. (sadly died from heart failure) b. July 9th 1915.
2010: Jimmy Dean (81) American country singer, actor, TV host and businessman; born in Plainview, Texas, he was the host of the popular Washington D.C. radio program Town and Country Time on WARL, and with his Texas Wildcats became popular in the Mid-Atlantic region. Jimmy became a national television personality in the 1960s, rising to fame from his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad John" which won him the 1962 Grammy Award for Best C & W Recording. His mid-60s ABC-TV's The Jimmy Dean Show, was one of the few to regularly present country music entertainers to a mainstream audience, including Roger Miller, George Jones, Charlie Rich, Buck Owens and some, like Joe Maphis, who seldom received network exposure. His acting career included a supporting role in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. In 1969, he founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company with his brother Don. The company did well, in part because of Dean's own extemporized, humor-themed commercials. Its success led to its acquisition in 1984 by Consolidated Foods, later renamed the Sara Lee Corporation. Jimmy was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, but sadly, he died before being formally inducted. (died of natural causes) b. August 10th 1928.
2011: Germano Meneghel (49) Brazilian singer and songwriter with the cultural band Olodum from Salvador, and the author of some of their most popular songs like "Alegria Geral" and "Avisa Lá" (Tragically his lifeless body was found at his home in the historic district of Pero Vaz. The cause of dead is as yet unknown, but Germano suffered from high blood pressure, and on Sunday had complained to friends of chest pains) b. ????

June 14.
1969: Wynonie Harris (53) American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. In 1931 at age 16, he dropped out of high school in North Omaha, and began traveling frequently to Kansas City, Kansas where he paid close attention to the blues shouters including Jimmy Rushing and Big Joe Turner. He became a local celebrity in Omaha during the depths of the Great Depression in 1935. His break in Los Angeles was at a nightclub owned by Curtis Mosby, it was here that he became known as "Mr. Blues". Wynonie went on to have fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 - 1952, he is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley among others. His hits include "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well", "Bloodshot Eyes", "Good Rocking Tonight", "Good Morning Judge" and "All She Wants to Do Is Rock". Wynonie was the subject of a 1994 biography by Tony Collins (Wynonie sadly died of esophageal cancer at the USC Medical Center Hospital in Los Angeles) b. August 24th 1915.
1979: Ahmad Zahir (33) Afghan singer, songwriter-composer, known for his unique touch and soulful interpretations, he is considered an icon of music in Afghanistan and is sometimes called the "King of Afghan music". Almost all of his songs are in Persian; many are based on well-recognized Persian poems. He recorded over 22 albums, his first recorded song, "Gar Kuni Yak Nizara", was his own composition, sung in the pilo raga. He continued writing and recording songs such as "Azeezam Ba Yaadat", "Ahista-ahista", "Akhir Ay Darya", "Hama Yaranam", "Agar Sabza Boodam", "Guftam Ke Mekhwaham Tura", "Shabe Ze Shabha" and "Parween-e Man" (allegedly assassinated) b. June 14th 1946.
1989: Pete De Freitas (27) West Indian drummer with Echo & The Bunnymen; born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and educated by the Benedictines at Downside School. He joined the Echo & The Bunnymen in 1979 (he died tragically in a motorcycle accident, on his way to Liverpool from London) b. August 2nd 1961
1986: Alan Jay Lerner (67) American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe and others, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre, including songs for Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Camelot, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Lolita, My Love, Gigi, and Dance a Little Closer among many others and films including Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, Brigadoon, Gigi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and more. Alan won three Tony Awards and three Academy Awards, among other honors. (lung cancer) b. August 31st 1918
1990: Erna Berger (89) German soprano born in Dresden, Germany, but spent some years as a child in India and South America. At the age of 26, she secured a position as a soubrette soprano at the Semper Opera in Dresden, and later held leading positions at the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She also gave concerts in Japan, America, and Australia. Erna retired from the stage at 60 and taught as a professor in Hamburg and Essen. Her recordings include Die Zauberflöte, as the Queen of Night, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, 1937–38, and Rigoletto, with Jan Peerce and Leonard Warren, conducted by Renato Cellini, 1950 (?) b. October 19th 1900.
1994: Henry Mancini (70) American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record twenty Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995. His best-known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series-"The Pink Panther Theme", the Peter Gunn Theme from the television series, and back-to-back Academy Awards for the songs "Moon River" from the Blake Edwards film Breakfast at Tiffany's and "Days of Wine and Roses" from the 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses. He was not the first composer to introduce jazz elements into film and television scoring, but he was the first to become wildly successful with the public (sadly died after a fight with cancer) b. April 16th 1924.
1994: Marcel Mouloudji (71) French singer and actor, born and raised in Paris, he sang Jacques Prévert and Boris Vian. Marcel was also the father to the French singer Annabelle. (sadly died in Paris, France) b. September 16th 1922
1995: Rory Gallagher (48) Irish rock/blues guitar virtuoso, singer, born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and raised in the city of Cork. Rory also played the mandolin, the accordion, the harmonica, the resonator guitar, piano and saxophone. He recorded solo albums throughout the 1970's and 1980's, after being part of the band Taste during the late 1960s. Rory's albums have sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide. Many modern day musicians, including The Edge, Slash, Johnny Marr, Davy Knowles, Glenn Tipton, Vivian Campbell, Joe Bonamassa, and Brian May of Queen, cite Gallagher as an inspiration in their formative musical years (sadly died in London from chest infection following a liver transplant) b. March 2nd 1948
2003: Volker Kriegel (59) German jazz guitarist, born in Darmstadt, Germany; Volker taught himself the guitar and by his late teens had formed a trio that won an award at a 1963 amateur jazz festival. In 1973 he founded Spectrum, a quartet that included Eberhard Weber, among others. In 1975 Kriegel spent a month teaching for the Goethe Institute, an organization which he has worked for at various times throughout his career and was a founding member of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble. In 1976 Spectrum broke up, and Kriegel started another band called the Mild Maniac Orchestra which stayed together in to the 1980s. He is perhaps most noteworthy for his many collaborations with the American vibraphonist Dave Pike. (?) b. December 24th 1943.
2004: Eamonn McGirr (63) Irish-born singer and entertainer, an Irish immigrant to America born in Derry; he first came to prominence in 1966 with a group of fellow Belfast teachers: Gerry Burns, Finbar Carolan, and John Sullivan, known as The Go Lucky Four, soared to the top of the Irish music charts with "Up Went Nelson", maintaining the No.1 spot for eight consecutive weeks. In America, Eamonn was known for his relentless fundraising for local charities such as the Centre For The Disabled' in Albany. In all, he helped raise over $1,000,000 for the Center For The Disabled and families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City. Most notably, he set a Guinness World Record for endurance singing in 1996 in an effort to raise awareness and money for cerebral palsy, which his daughter Mareena suffers from. He owned a pub, Eamonn's, just outside of Albany, New York, which was a favorite spot for local Irish-Americans, especially for its weekly open Irish music sessions. It was severely damaged in a fire on June 20, 2005. Sadly Eamann was paralyzed after a serious fall in his pub in November 1996 (?) b.????
2005: Carlo Maria Giulini (91) Italian conductor born in Barletta; at the age of 18 he auditioned for the viola section of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia's orchestra, at the time Italy's foremost orchestra. Among the guest conductors he played under were Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Richard Strauss, Victor de Sabata, Fritz Reiner, Pierre Monteux, Igor Stravinsky, and Otto Klemperer. His first public performance was the First Symphony of Brahms under Bruno Walter. After the Allies liberated Rome on June 4, 1944, Carlo who was among the few conductors not tainted by associations with Fascism, was chosen to lead the Accademia's first post-Fascist concert, held on July 16, 1944. On the program was the Brahms Symphony No. 4, which he had studied while in hiding. It became the work he conducted most frequently over the course of his career, with a total of 180 performances. His most notable opera recordings include the 1959 Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus versions of Mozart's operas The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni for EMI, as well as his 1955 recording of Verdi's La traviata with Maria Callas. He also made recordings of Verdi's Requiem and the Four Sacred Pieces, which were highly praised (?) b. May 9th 1914.
2008: Jamelão/José Bispo Clementino dos Santos (95) Brazilian samba singer, born Rio's São Cristóvão district; began as a tamborine player, later became a crooner in the samba-canção style, also was the official singer at samba school Mangueira's carnaval parades and has toured Europe as a solo performer. Jamelão's recording career spanned nearly two-dozen LPs and close to 70 years, during which time he scored a series of samba classics including "Mora No Assunto," "Matriz ou Filial," "Exaltação à Mangueira," "Seu Deputado," and "Fechei a Porta." Critics frequently cite his recordings with Severino Araújo's Orquestra Tabajara as the apex of his studio career as well as a pivotal turning point in the maturation of the modern samba sound. (multiple organ failure) b. May 12th 1913.
2008: Esbjörn Svensson (44) Swedish jazz pianist and founder of the jazz band Esbjörn Svensson Trio, born in Skultuna, Sweden. His band E.S.T. was the first European jazz combo to make the front page of the American jazz magazine Down Beat in May of 2006. They got their international breakthrough with their 1999 album From Gagarin’s Point Of View, their first album to be released outside Scandinavia. With the release of their albums Good Morning Susie Soho in 2000 and Strange Place For Snow in 2002, the trio drew the attention of US audiences. In 2002, they went on a 9-month tour through Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Their subsequent albums, Seven Days Of Falling , Viaticum , and Tuesday Wonderland, were equally well received by critics and fans and resulted in several music industry award nominations as well as making the jazz and pop charts (died in a tragic scuba diving accident) b. April 16th 1964
2009: Ivan Della Mea (68) Italian singer–songwriter, composer and author; born in Lucca, then moved to Milan, he was one of the most active authors in the field of the new social and civil song, taking inspiration from the daily arguments. He began to write songs in 1959, and between 1962 and 1963 he participated with Gianni Bosio to form the New Italian Canzoniere. In 1985 he became president of the Milan Circle Arcs and in the 1996 director of the Institute De Martino, in Tuscany. He then went back to recording more albums (died after a long illness) b. October 16th 1940.
2009: Bob Bogle (75) American guitarist and founding member of the instrumental rock band, The Ventures. Born near Wagoner, Oklahoma, he was a self-taught guitar player, his use of the tremolo arm was particularly notable and his playing in their 1960 cover of "Walk, Don't Run" influenced a generation of guitarists including John Fogerty, Steve Miller, Joe Walsh and Stevie Ray Vaughan. After leaving school at 15 he worked as a bricklayer in California. In 1958, while working on different construction sites he met up with fellow mason worker Don Wilson in Seattle, the two formed a band called The Versatones. The duo played small clubs, beer bars, and private parties throughout the Pacific Northwest. They recruited Nokie Edwards as bass player, Skip Moore on drums and changed their name to the Ventures. The band enjoyed their greatest popularity and success in the US and Japan in the 1960s, but they have continued to perform and record up to the present recording in all 38 albums. With over 110 million albums sold worldwide, the group remains the best selling instrumental rock group of all time. Bob with The Ventures was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10th 2008 (sadly died battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma) b. January 16 1934.
2011: Asad Ali Khan (74) Indian rudra veena player; born in Alwar he is the seventh generation of rudra veena players in his family. His ancestors were royal musicians in the courts of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, and Jaipur, Rajasthan in the 18th century. He he has performed in many countries, including Australia, the United States, Afghanistan, Italy and several other European countries, and conducted music courses in the United States. Asad worked at All India Radio, taught the sitar in the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts at the University of Delhi for 17 years, and continued to train students privately after his retirement. He was involved in preserving the playing of the rudra veena, and performed for SPIC MACAY, promoting Indian classical music to young Indians. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977 and the Indian civilian honor Padma Bhushan in 2008 (?) b. 1937.
2011: Wiley "Mack" Self (81) American rockabilly singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Calico Bottoms, Arkansas; after playing on radio station KXJK in Forrest City, Arkansas in 1955, he make a recording of his song "Easy to Love". The demo recording then found its way to Sam Phillips of Sun Records, who invited him to audition. Sam encouraged him to write more songs. In 1959, he re-recorded "Easy to Love" along with several new songs on which he was backed by guitarist Therlow Brown and bass player Jimmy Evans, and released a second single, "Mad At You" / "Willie Brown". In the early 1960s Mack recorded several country singles for the Zone label in Memphis and continued to write songs, setting up his own publishing company. Mack gave up the music business in 1963, and established a heating, air and sheet metal business in Helena, Arkansas. He returned to undertake occasional performances after 1992, with his Silver Dollar Band, and was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1993 (?) b. May 22nd 1930.

June 15.
1968: Wes Montgomery (45) American jazz guitarist, considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others. He started to teach himself guitar in 1943, using his thumb rather than a pick and toured with Lionel Hampton during 1948-50. His most spontaneous jazz outings, small-group sessions, 1959-63,