Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 4, 1960 R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is born in Decatur, Georgia. In 1980, he befriends Peter Buck, a store clerk at Wuxtry Records in nearby Athens who shares his weird taste in music. They quickly bring Mike Mills and Bill Berry into the fold and just one year later release their debut single, "Radio Free Europe."

November 5, 1959 Bryan Adams is born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

October 23, 1959 "Weird Al" Yankovic is born Alfred Matthew Yankovic in Downey, California, and raised in Lynwood. More

March 29, 1959 Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is born Peretz Bernstein in Queens, New York City. His stage name is a play on the word "peripheral," in the sense that he's "on the edge." Farrell fronts the bands Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros, but is most famous for launching the Lollapalooza music festival.

January 17, 1959 Susanna Hoffs is born in Los Angeles, California. She forms the Bangles after answering an ad placed by the sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson.

October 27, 1958 Simon Le Bon (lead singer for Duran Duran) is born near Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. He joins the band in 1980 as a replacement for Stephen Duffy - turning up for his audition in a pair of pink leopard print pants.

September 22, 1958 Joan Jett is born Joan Marie Larkin near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Rockville, Maryland. After joining the music scene as the guitarist for the all-girl punk band The Runaways, she goes on to form Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Their debut album is turned down by the first 23 record labels it is offered to, despite containing the future #1 hit "I Love Rock And Roll."

August 29, 1958 Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana.

August 16, 1958 Madonna Louise Ciccone is born in Bay City, Michigan. Shortening her name to a mononym, she becomes the best-selling female singer of all time.More

July 30, 1958 Kate Bush is born in Bexleyheath, Kent, England. At 19, she releases her debut single, "Wuthering Heights," which goes to #1 in the UK.More

June 7, 1958 Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, named after his father's jazz combo, the Prince Rogers Trio. By the time he's 15, he can play at least 10 different instruments. Before his death in 2016, he releases over 400 songs, most of which he wrote and produced. Many more emerge from his vault posthumously.

September 12, 1957 Hans Zimmer is born in Frankfurt, Germany. Known for his innovative style of combining electronic and traditional instrumentation, he becomes one of the most sought-after film composers in Hollywood. He lands his breakthrough gig with the 1988 movie Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, and writes the music on a Fairlight digital synthesizer. He goes on to score hit movies like Gladiator (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), The Lion King (1994), and Dune (2021), with the latter two earning him his first Academy Award wins for Best Original Score.More

November 30, 1955 Billy Idol is born William Michael Albert Broad in Stanmore, Middlesex, England.

April 16, 1955 Kool Herc is born in Kingston, Jamaica. Born Clive Campbell, his stage name is based on "Hercules," a nickname he earns for his strength. When he is 12, his family moves to the Bronx, where Herc becomes a DJ, throwing dance parties where MCs talk over extended breakbeats he creates with two turntables, one of the most important developments in hip-hop.

March 31, 1955 Angus Young is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He later moves to Australia and forms AC/DC with his brother Malcolm.

March 15, 1955 Dee Snider (lead singer of Twisted Sister) is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.More

January 26, 1955 Eddie Van Halen is born in Amsterdam. His family eventually settles in Pasadena, California, where he forms Van Halen with his brother, Alex, and quickly becomes one of the most acclaimed and influential guitarists in rock history.

December 25, 1954 Annie Lennox is born in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1980 she forms Eurythmics with her ex-boyfriend Dave Stewart, and in 1992 she releases her first solo album, Diva, with the hits "Why" and "Walking On Broken Glass."

February 27, 1954 Neal Schon is born on an Air Force base in Oklahoma. The guitarist does time in Santana before founding the groups Journey and Bad English.

February 18, 1954 John Travolta is born in Englewood, New Jersey.More

September 11, 1953 Tommy Shaw of Styx is born in Montgomery, Alabama.

June 22, 1953 Cyndi Lauper is born in Astoria, Queens, New York. She releases an album with her group Blue Angel before going solo, exploding onto the scene with her 1983 album She's So Unusual, which includes the hits "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time."

February 26, 1953 Michael Bolton is born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut. Before reaching soft-rock stardom, he fronts a hard-rock band called Blackjack.More

January 10, 1953 Pat Benatar is born Patricia Andrzejewski in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York. Classically trained as a vocalist, she uses her exceptional range to soar into the choruses of hits like "Love Is A Battlefield" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." A fixture on MTV, she becomes one of the biggest stars of the '80s.

September 19, 1952 Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers is born in New York City. His sophisticated disco group transforms the genre in the '70s with hits like "Le Freak," "Good Times" and "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)." Rodgers becomes a legendary producer for the likes of Diana Ross (Diana), David Bowie (Let's Dance), Daft Punk (Random Access Memories), and Madonna (Like A Virgin).

August 21, 1952 Punk rocker Joe Strummer (of The Clash) is born John Graham Mellor in Ankara, Turkey.

May 18, 1952 George Strait is born in Poteet, Texas. The "King Of Country," he lands a record 44 #1 hits on the Country chart in a remarkable run from 1982-2008.

October 7, 1951 John Mellencamp is born in Seymour, Indiana. He has Spina bifida, but survives thanks to an experimental surgery performed at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.More

October 2, 1951 Sting is born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner in Wallsend, Northumberland, England. He earns his nickname when a fellow musician says he looks like a bee in his yellow-and-black striped sweater. He is working as a schoolteacher when his band The Police hit the big time.More

May 19, 1951 Jeffrey Ross Hyman is born in Queens, New York. He forms the Ramones and takes the stage name Joey Ramone. At first, he's the drummer, but he becomes the lead singer when Dee Dee struggles to sing and play bass at the same time.