music_note
Born On This Day In Music, April 1st
1994 – Ella Eyre
Ella Eyre, English singer and songwriter best known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK No.1 single ‘Waiting All Night’ which won the 2014 Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and DJ Fresh on his single ‘Gravity’.
1986 – Hillary Scott
American country music singer-songwriter, Hillary Scott from Lady A. Winner of seven Grammy awards, seven Academy of Country Music awards, and six Country Music Association awards.
1981 – Hannah Spearritt
Hannah Louise Spearitt, from English pop group S Club 7 who had the 1999 UK No.1 single ‘Bring It All Back’. Their 2000 UK No.1 album 7 spent over a year on the UK chart. The group was formed in 1998 and quickly rose to fame by starring in their own BBC television series, Miami 7.
1971 – Method Man
American rapper, record producer and actor Clifford Smith, (Method Man), from Wu-Tang Clan who had the 1997 US & UK No.1 album Wu-Tang Forever.
1965 – Peter O’Toole
Peter O’Toole, from Irish rock group Hothouse Flowers who scored the 1988 UK No.11 single ‘Don’t Go’. Their first album, People, released in 1988 became the most successful debut album in Irish history. It reached the No.1 slot in Ireland within a week and eventually reached No.2 in the UK Albums Chart.
1961 – Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle, Scottish singer, debut 2009 album ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ was the biggest selling album in the world in 2009.
1961 – Mark White
Mark White, guitarist with English pop band ABC who as part of the New Romantic movement had the 1982 UK No.4 & 1983 US No.18 ‘The Look Of Love’. Their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon of Love, was a UK No.1 and they achieved ten UK and five US Top 40 hit singles between 1981 and 1990.
1954 – Jeff Porcaro
American drummer, songwriter, and record producer Jeff Porcaro, best known for his work with Toto. Porcaro is one of the most recorded session musicians in history – he came to prominence in the United States as the drummer on the Steely Dan album Katy Lied. He also worked with Paul McCartney, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Joe Walsh, Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and many other acts. Porcaro had fallen ill after spraying insecticide in the yard of his home and died that evening on 5th August 1992.
1952 – Billy Currie
Billy Currie, keyboards with British new wave band Ultravox who had the 1981 UK No.2 single ‘Vienna’, plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles.
1951 – Henry Gross
American singer-song writer Henry Gross, best known as a member of Sha Na Na and for his hit song, ‘Shannon’. He was the youngest person, at age 18, to play on the main stage at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
1948 – Simon Cowe
Simon Cowe, guitarist with English group Lindisfarne who had the 1970s hit singles ‘Meet Me on the Corner’, ‘Lady Eleanor and ‘Run For Home’. Their album Fog on the Tyne became the biggest selling UK album in 1972.
1948 – Jimmy Cliff
Reggae musician Jimmy Cliff (“The Harder They Come,” “Hakuna Matata”) is born James Chambers in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica.
1947 – Robin Scott
English singer Robin Scott who as founder of a music project he called M scored the 1979 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Pop Muzik’ from the debut album New York, London, Paris, Munich.
1946 – Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane, bass player and vocalist with Small Faces who had a 1967 UK No.3 & US No.16 single with ‘Itchycoo Park’ and a 1968 UK No.1 album with ‘Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake’. As The Faces they had a 1972 UK No.6 & US No.17 single with ‘Stay With Me’. Ronnie then formed Slim Chance, who had a 1974 UK No.5 single with ‘How Come’. He died on June 4th 1997, aged 51, after a 20 year battle with multiple sclerosis.
1945 – John Barbata
American drummer John Barbata from the American rock The Turtles who had the US No.1 single ‘Happy Together’, and with Jefferson Starship the 1987 UK & US No.1 single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’. Barbata also worked with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. John Barbata died on May 8, 2024, at the age of 79.
1944 – Frank Gari
Pop singer Frank Gari (“Utopia,” “Lullaby of Love”) is born Frank Daniel Garofalo in New York City.
1942 – Alan Blakley
Alan Blakley, who with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had the the UK 1963 No.1 hit ‘Do You Love Me’ and with The Tremeloes the 1967 UK No.1 & US No.11 single ‘Silence Is Golden’. He died of cancer 1st June 1996.
1942 – Phil Margo
Phil Margo, from American male doo-wop-style vocal group The Tokens who had the 1961 US No.1 & UK No.11 single with its cover of Solomon Linda’s ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’. He died on 13 November 2021, age 79.
1939 – Rudolph Isley
Rudolph Isley, from American group The Isley Brothers who first came to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, ‘Shout’, and then the 1962 hit ‘Twist and Shout. The Isley Brothers also scored the hits ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’, ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘Harvest for the World’. Sixteen of their albums charted in the Top 40.
1934 – Jim Ed Brown
Country singer-songwriter Jim Ed Brown (The Browns) is born in Sparkman, Arkansas. Aside from forming The Browns with his two sisters, he’ll find fame as a solo artist and frequent duet partner of Helen Cornelius (“I Don’t Want To Have To Marry You”). He died June 11, 2015.
1932
“Singin’ in the Rain” star Debbie Reynolds is born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas. She died December 28, 2016.
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