Pick a Day

Born on December 5

1982 Keri Hilson is born in Decatur, Georgia. She sings on about a dozen hits from 2005-2011, including Timbaland's "The Way I Are" and her own "Knock You Down," but leaves the industry at the height of fame to battle depression. She returns with another album in 2025 and becomes an advocate for mental health in hip-hop.

1968 Glen Graham (drummer for Blind Melon) is born in Columbus, Mississippi.

1965 The Goo Goo Dolls lead singer Johnny Rzeznik is born in Buffalo, New York. His band released their first album in 1987 but didn't catch on until 1995 when their song "Name" became a hit. Their most enduring song is "Iris," which surged in popularity in the 2020s thanks to TikTok.

1960 Great White frontman Jack Russell is born in Montebello, California. The band rocks a shark motif and lands two Platinum albums, Once Bitten (1987) and Twice Shy (1989); the latter includes their hit cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy."

1947 Jim Messina (of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Loggins & Messina) is born in Maywood, California.

1946 Canadian pop rocker Andy Kim is born Andrew Youakim in Montreal, Quebec.

1945 Eduardo "Eddie" Serrato (drummer for ? & the Mysterians) is born

1938 Singer-songwriter J.J. Cale, a forerunner of the Tulsa Sound, is born John Weldon Cale in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1936 Chad Mitchell (of the Chad Mitchell Trio) is born in Portland, Oregon.

1932 Richard Wayne Penniman, who will become known as Little Richard, is born in Macon, Georgia.

1922 Songwriter Don Robertson is born in Beijing, China. Aside from his own 1956 hit, "The Happy Whistler," he penned songs for several artists, including Elvis Presley ("Anything That's Part of You," "Love Me Tonight," among others), The Chordettes ("Born to Be with You") and Les Paul and Mary Ford ("Hummingbird").

1912 Blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson, author of "Eyesight To The Blind" and "One Way Out," is born Alex "Rice" Miller in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. This is the date he claims he was born, but his headstone (erected 12 years after his death) reads March 11, 1908. He became Sonny Boy Williamson after impersonating another blues musician with that name, and is often referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II so they don't get mixed up.