Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

March 17, 1959 Mike Lindup (keyboardist, singer for Level 42) is born in London, England.

March 16, 1959 Flavor Flav is born William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. He becomes a rapper with Public Enemy and also a reality TV star.

February 27, 1959 Johnny Van Zant is born in Jacksonville, Flordia. He performs and records with the Johnny Van Zant Band and as a solo artist, but is best known for succeeding his deceased brother Ronnie Van Zant as frontman for Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987.

February 27, 1959 Jerry Lee Lewis and his third wife (and first cousin once removed) Myra have a son, Steve Allen Lewis, who is named after the TV host. The boy dies in a swimming pool accident three years later.

February 25, 1959 Mike Peters (lead singer for The Alarm) is born in Prestatyn, Wales.

February 15, 1959 Ali Campbell (lead singer of UB40) is born in Birmingham, England, to Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell.

February 10, 1959 Country singer Lionel Cartwright is born in Gallipolis, Ohio, but is raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia.

February 7, 1959 Brian Travers (saxophonist for UB40) is born in Birmingham, England.

February 3, 1959 Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst of The Cure is born in Horley, Surrey, England. A founding member, he starts out on drums, then moves to keyboards before he is sacked by Robert Smith in 1989.

January 30, 1959 Jody Watley is born in Chicago, Illinois.

January 23, 1959 Earl Falconer (bass player for UB40) is born in Meriden, Warwickshire, England.

January 16, 1959 Sade is born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria. She moves to England with her mother when she's 4, and after studying fashion design in London, she forms the band Sade in 1982. Their first album, Diamond Life, is released in 1984 and includes the hit "Smooth Operator."

January 14, 1959 Geoff Tate (lead singer for Queensryche) is born in Stuttgart, West Germany.

January 14, 1959 Chas Smash (of Madness) is born Cathal Joseph Smyth in London, England.

January 12, 1959 Per Gessle of Roxette is born in Sweden.

January 6, 1959 Kathy Sledge (of Sister Sledge) rounds out the R&B group when she's born the youngest of the five sisters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

January 6, 1959 Neil Simpson (bass player for Climax Blues Band) is born in Stoke-on-Trent, England. At age four, he receives a toy guitar featuring a picture of The Beatles.

December 23, 1958 Folk rocker Victoria Williams, known for "Crazy Mary" and "Century Plant," is born in Shreveport, Louisiana.

December 19, 1958 Pop singer Limahl (lead singer of Kajagoogoo) is born Christopher Hamill in Pemberton, Wigan, England.

December 17, 1958 Mike Mills (bassist, keyboardist for R.E.M.) is born in Orange County, California. He meets future bandmate Bill Berry when he moves to Macon, Georgia, at age 10.

December 14, 1958 Peter "Spider" Stacy (vocalist, tin whistler The Pogues) is born in Eastbourne, London, England.

December 14, 1958 Mike Scott (lead singer for The Waterboys) is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

December 11, 1958 Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx is born Frank Feranna Jr. in San Jose, California. He's the main songwriter in the band; all of their hits (excluding their cover of "Smokin' In The Boy's Room") he writes either on his own or with other members of the group.

December 9, 1958 Nick Seymour (bass guitarist for Crowded House) is born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia.

December 7, 1958 Tim Butler (bassist for The Psychedelic Furs) is born in Teddington, Middlesex, England.

November 30, 1958 Pop singer Stacey Q, known for the 1986 hit "Two of Hearts," is born Stacey Lynn Swain in Fullerton, California. She picks up her stage name as a member of the synthpop band Q, who borrowed its name from the James Bond tech scientist.

November 29, 1958 Michael Dempsey, original bassist for The Cure, is born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, but is raised in England.

November 18, 1958 Michael Ramos (keyboardist, accordionist for the BoDeans) is born.

November 16, 1958 Harry Rushakoff (original drummer for Concrete Blonde) is born in Chicago, Illinois.

October 28, 1958 William Reid (guitarist for The Jesus and Mary Chain) is born in Glasgow, Scotland.