Music History Events: Births
June 3, 1950 Suzi Quatro is born in Detroit. She makes her musical mark in England, where she moves in 1971 after Mickie Most signs her to his label. In America, she's best known for her role as Leather Tuscadero on the TV series Happy Days.
May 22, 1950 Bernie Taupin is born in Lincolnshire, England. He becomes Elton John's lyricist, and also co-writes #1 hits for two other acts: "These Dreams" for Heart and "We Built This City" for Starship.
May 13, 1950 Stevie Wonder is born Stevland Morris in Saginaw, Michigan.More
May 2, 1950 Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm is born Louis Andrew Grammatico in Rochester, New York. He and guitarist Mick Jones, the main songwriters in the group, are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
March 2, 1950 Karen Carpenter (of the Carpenters) is born in New Haven, Connecticut.
December 22, 1949 The twins Maurice and Robin Gibb are born in Douglas, Isle Of Man, and raised in Manchester, England. They join older brother Barry to form the Bee Gees.
September 23, 1949 Bruce Springsteen is born in Long Branch, New Jersey. He builds one of the most loyal fanbases in rock history with a vast collection of songs that evoke every sort of emotion, and with live shows that can run for four hours.
August 12, 1949 Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler is born in Glasgow, Scotland. The group earns a huge following in the '80s with hits like "Money For Nothing" and "Walk Of Life," but Knopfler puts them out to pasture in the '90s, preferring a less hectic lifestyle that includes scoring films like Wag The Dog and playing on albums for the likes of Nanci Griffith and Bryan Ferry.
June 20, 1949 Lionel Richie is born in Tuskegee, Alabama. He becomes a member of the Commodores before finding fame as a solo artist.More
May 9, 1949 Billy Joel is born in The Bronx, New York, raised in Hicksville on Long Island.More
January 22, 1949 Steve Perry is born in Hanford, California. He becomes Journey's lead singer in 1977, debuting on Infinity, their fourth album. His songwriting chops and instantly identifiable vocals help Journey become one of the top bands of the '80s. He and the band part ways in 1998 when Perry develops a hip condition that keeps him from touring.
December 20, 1948 Alan Parsons (of The Alan Parsons Project) is born in London, England. He starts his music career as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he engineers Paul McCartney's Wild Life and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
December 13, 1948 Ted Nugent is born Theodore Anthony Nugent in Detroit, Michigan.
August 20, 1948 Robert Plant is born in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. Best known at Led Zeppelin's lead singer, he wins the Album of the Year Grammy for Raising Sand, his 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss.
July 21, 1948 Cat Stevens is born Steven Demetre Georgiou in Marylebone, London, England. In 1977, he becomes a Muslim and changes his name to Yusuf Islam.
June 19, 1948 Folk artist Nick Drake is born in Rangoon, Burma. Raised in England, the mercurial and highly influential musician releases three albums before his death in 1974.
May 31, 1948 Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England.
May 15, 1948 Ambient composer Brian Eno is born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.More
March 22, 1948 Andrew Lloyd Webber is born in Kensington, London, England.More
February 5, 1948 Actor Christopher Guest, known as Alan Barrows of the fictional folk trio The Folksmen and Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, is born in New York City. The mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap tells us Tufnel was born in Squatney, London.
January 7, 1948 Kenny Loggins is born in Everett, Washington, but eventually settles with his family in Alhambra, California.
October 18, 1947 Celebrated songwriter Laura Nyro, whose compositions include "Wedding Bell Blues" and "And When I Die," is born in New York City. She dies of cancer in 1997 at age 49; in 2012 she is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
August 10, 1947 Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson is born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Safe to say he's the biggest rock star whose primary instrument is flute, as heard on classics like "Aqualung" and "Bungle In The Jungle."
July 22, 1947 Don Henley of the Eagles is born in Gilmer, Texas.
July 19, 1947 Queen guitarist (and astrophysicist) Brian May is born in Hampton, Middlesex, England.
March 25, 1947 Elton John is born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Middlesex, England. His stage name, taken at age 20, comes from two members of the band Bluesology: Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
February 18, 1947 Styx founder Dennis DeYoung is born in Chicago, where his neighbors are future bandmates Chuck and John Panozzo.
January 24, 1947 Warren Zevon is born in Chicago, Illinois. He tours as a keyboardist with The Everly Brothers in the '70s while attempting to kickstart a solo career. He gets a boost when Linda Ronstadt begins recording several of his tunes.
January 8, 1947 David Jones is born in London. At age 18, he changes his name to David Bowie (after the Bowie knife) to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees.More
December 30, 1946 Punk rock icon Patti Smith is born in Chicago. Never all that popular (her big hit is a reworking of "Because The Night," written by Bruce Springsteen), she's one of the most influential singer-songwriter-poets of her time.More
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