1981
English actress and former singer-songwriter Kym Marsh who with Hear’Say had the 2001 UK No.1 single ‘Pure And Simple’. She quit the group in 2002 and is now an actress playing Michelle Connor in the long-running UK ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
1978
Singer/songwriter Jason Michael Carroll is born in Houston, Texas. Raised in North Carolina, he debuts in 2006 with a growling, masculine vocal presence, applied to “Alyssa Lies” and “Livin’ Our Love Song”
1976
Jason Brown, singer with English boy band Five who had the 1998 UK No.2 single ‘Everybody Get Up’ and the 1999 UK No.1 single ‘Keep On Movin’.
1970
Rivers Cuomo from American rock band Weezer who had the 1995 UK No.12 single, ‘Buddy Holly’. Weezer achieved mainstream success, helped by music videos directed by Spike Jonze.
1969
Soren Rasted, from Danish eurodance group Aqua, who scored the 1997 UK No.1 single ‘Barbie Girl’ a song that topped the charts worldwide.
1968
David Gray, UK singer, songwriter. His ‘White Ladder’ was the second biggest selling UK album of 2001. He scored the 2000 UK No.5 single ‘Babylon.’
1968
Denise Pearson, from British pop/R&B group Five Star who had the 1986 UK No.3 single ‘System Addict’ plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles.
1963
Paul De Lisle (bassist for Smash Mouth) is born in Exeter, Ontario, Canada
1957
Rolf Brendel, from German group Nena who had the 1984 UK No.1 & US No.2 single ’99 Red Balloons’. The track made them UK One Hit Wonder.
1955
Jorge Santana (guitarist for Malo), younger brother of Carlos Santana, is born in Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico.
1954
Bo Donaldson (of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods) is born Robert Walter Donaldson in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1952
American rock guitarist Russell Javors best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989. Javors also recorded guitar parts for Karen Carpenter’s 1979 self-titled album, which was released in 1996.
1951
Howard Lees, from American rock band Heart who scored the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Alone’. Heart has sold over 35 million records worldwide.
1949
Dennis Locorriere, with American rock band Dr Hook who had the 1970s hits ‘The Cover of Rolling Stone’, ‘A Little Bit More’, ‘When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman’ and ‘Sylvia’s Mother‘.
1941
Marv Tarplin, American guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s who co-wrote several of their biggest hits, including the 1965 Grammy Hall Of Fame inducted ‘The Tracks of My Tears’. He died aged 70 on 30 Sep 2011.
1941
Esther Ofarim, Israeli international singer. She came second in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963 with the song “T’en vas pas”, representing Switzerland. As half of the singing husband and wife duo, Esther & Abi Ofarim she had the 1968 UK No.1 single ‘Cinderella Rockerfella’.
https://youtu.be/HfqyJQqaBdg
1940
Bobby Freeman, American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer, who scored the 1958 US & UK No.5 single ‘Do You Want To Dance’. The song has been covered (as ‘Do You Wanna Dance’) by Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, Johnny Rivers, Bette Midler, John Lennon, Cliff Richard, Marc Bolan & T.Rex, the Mamas & The Papas and the Ramones. Freeman died of natural causes on January 23, 2017, aged 76
1934
Uriel Jones, session drummer for Motown Records’ in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s. Jones played on many Motown classics including ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, by Marvin Gaye, ‘Cloud Nine’ by the Temptations, ‘I Second That Emotion’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and ‘For Once In My Life’ by Stevie Wonder. Jones died on 24th March 2009.
