Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

October 26, 1911 Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

October 24, 1911 Bluesman Sonny Terry is born Saunders Terrell in Greensboro, Georgia. Terry begins focusing on music when an injury to his eyes leaves him blind at age 16.

October 19, 1911 George Cates, known as the music director for the long-running Lawrence Welk Show, is born in New York City.

October 7, 1911 Vaughn Monroe, big band leader, singer, and actor, is born in Akron, Ohio. His signature song was "Racing With the Moon"

October 7, 1911 Jazz drummer "Papa" Jo Jones is born Jonathan David Samuel Jones in Chicago, Illinois. He was a member of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1934-1948.

September 13, 1911 Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe is born near Rosine, Kentucky, becoming the youngest of eight children in the Monroe family.

July 31, 1911 George Liberace, violinist and elder brother to the mononymous entertainer Liberace, is born in Menasha, Wisconsin.

July 16, 1911 Ginger Rogers is born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri. She begins her partnership with Fred Astaire in the 1933 RKO musical Flying Down to Rio.

July 7, 1911 Composer Gian Carlo Menotti, known for the popular Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, is born in Cadegliano-Viconago, Italy.

July 4, 1911 Mitch Miller, an influential A&R executive at Columbia Records throughout the '50s and '60s, is born in Rochester, New York. Signed Aretha Franklin to her first record deal.

June 29, 1911 Bernard Herrmann, a film composer who often collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock, is born Max Herman in New York City.

May 18, 1911 Bluesman Big Joe Turner is born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr in Kansas City, Missouri.

May 13, 1911 Jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, known for her 1937 swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond," is born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania.

May 8, 1911 Blues musician Robert Johnson is born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi.

April 10, 1911 Pianist Martin Denny is born in New York City.

January 30, 1911 Jazz trumpeter Roy Eldridge is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

December 28, 1910 Billy Williams is born Wilfred Williams in Waco, Texas. He has a hit cover of Fats Waller's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter" in 1957.

December 17, 1910 Jazz bandleader Sy Oliver is born in Battle Creek, Michigan.

December 7, 1910 Louis Prima is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

July 18, 1910 Jazz pianist Joe "Fingers" Carr is born Louis Ferdinand Busch in Louisville, Kentucky. He will eventually become an A&R man and studio pianist for Capitol Records, playing on tracks from Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford, and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

June 29, 1910 "Baby It's Cold Outside" songwriter Frank Loesser is born in New York City.

June 17, 1910 Country singer Red Foley, known for the 1951 gospel hit "Peace in the Valley," is born Clyde Julian Foley in Blue Lick, Kentucky.

June 15, 1910 Songwriter/orchestra leader David Rose is born in London, England. Under the pseudonym Ray Llewellyn, he'll write music for many television shows, including Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza.

June 10, 1910 Chicago blues singer Howlin' Wolf is born Chester Arthur Burnett in White Station, Mississippi.

May 28, 1910 T-Bone Walker, a pioneer of jump blues and electric blues, is born Aaron Thibeaux Walker in Linden, Texas.

May 23, 1910 Jazz clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw is born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky in New York City.

March 9, 1910 Composer Samuel Barber is born in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

January 23, 1910 Jazz guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt is born in Belgium.

January 10, 1910 The French conductor Jean Martinon is born in Lyon, France.

November 18, 1909 Singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer is born in Savannah, Georgia. Composed '40s hits like "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)," and "That Old Black Magic," and added lyrics to popular instrumentals like "Laura," "Midnight Sun," and "Satin Doll."