Born On March 18th In Music

Born On This Day in Music, March 18th

1986 – Lykke Li
Lykke Li, Swedish indie pop singer-songwriter. She also worked with Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp on their 2009 album, Junior, and David Lynch among others.

1985 – Marvin Humes
Marvin Humes, singer, with English boy band JLS, runners-up of the fifth series of The X Factor. Their first two singles ‘Beat Again’ and ‘Everybody in Love’ both went to No.1 on the UK singles chart.

1979 – Adam Levine
Adam Levine, guitar, vocals, Maroon 5, who had the 2004 UK No.1 album ‘Songs About Jane’, the 2004 US No.1 & UK No.4 single ‘She Will Be Loved’ and the 2014 US No.1 album V.

1974 – Stuart Zender
Stuart Zender, English bassist with Jamiroquai who had the 1993 UK No.1 album Emergency on Planet Earth and the 1998 UK No.1 single ‘Deeper Underground’. Jamiroquai have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1998.

1970 – Queen Latifah
American rapper, songwriter and singer, Queen Latifah. Her third album Black Reign (1993), spawned the single ‘U.N.I.T.Y.’, which won a Grammy Award and was successful on the Billboard Hot 100.

1967 – Miki Berenyi
English singer, songwriter and guitarist Miki Berenyi who was a member of the alternative rock band Lush who had the 1996 UK No.21 single ‘Single Girl’.

1966 – Jerry Cantrell
American musician Jerry Cantrell who is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist and main songwriter for the rock band Alice in Chains. Cantrell had small roles in the films Jerry Maguire (1996) and Rock Slyde (2009).

1964 – Courtney Pine
Multi-instrumentalist, Courtney Pine, British jazz musician from the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Pine has also worked with Charlie Watts, Mica Paris, and is a composer of film and TV music.

1963 – Vanessa Williams
American actress, singer, and fashion designer Vanessa Williams who spent five weeks at No.1 on the US charts in 1992 with her single ‘Save The Best To Last’. She was the first African-American recipient of the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America in 1983.

1963 – Jeff LaBar
Jeff LaBar (guitarist for Cinderella) is born in Darby, Pennsylvania. Single “Gypsy Road” was in 1988 No.20 on US mainstream Rock Chart. He died July 14, 2021.

1961 – Grant Hart
American musician Grant Hart, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the alternative rock and hardcore punk band Husker Du. After the band’s breakup in 1988, he formed the alternative rock trio Nova Mob. Hart died on September 13, 2017 from liver cancer and Hepatitis C age 56.

1959 – Irene Cara
Irene Cara is born Irene Cara Escalera in The Bronx, New York, songwriter, dancer and actress who had the 1982 UK No.1 & US No. 4 single, ‘Fame‘ & 1983 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Flashdance…What A Feeling’. Cara played Coco Hernandez in Fame.

1952 – Bernie Torme
Bernie Torme, Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, best known for his work with Gillan, and brief stints with Ozzy Osbourne’s backing band and Atomic Rooster. He died on 17 March 2019, a day before he would have turned 67.

1950 – John Hartman
American drummer John Hartman who was a co-founder and original drummer with The Doobie Brothers. They had the 1979 US No.1 single ‘What A Fool Believes’, and the 1993 UK No.7 single ‘Long Train Runnin’. The group has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide throughout its career.

1947 – Barry J Wilson
Barry J Wilson, drums, Procol Harum, who had the 1967 UK No.1 & US No.5 single ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale‘. Wilson died after spending several months in a coma following a car accident on October 8 1990, he was 43.

1945 – Chuck E. Weiss.
American songwriter and vocalist Chuck E. Weiss. He was the subject of Rickie Lee Jones’s hit song ‘Chuck E.’s In Love’, from her 1979 debut album. At the time, Jones was linked romantically to Tom Waits. All three lived in the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles. Weiss died from cancer age 76 on 20 July 2021.

1945 – Eric Woolfson
Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, producer, pianist, and co-creator of The Alan Parsons Project Eric Woolfson. He wrote songs for Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, The Tremeloes, Marmalade, Dave Berry, and Peter Noone. Following the 10 successful albums he made with Alan Parsons, he sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Woolfson died on 2 December 2009 from kidney cancer age 64.

1945 – Bobby Solo
Bobby Solo, musician, actor, born Roberto Satti in Rome, Italy, winner of San Remo Festival with the song “Se piangi, se ridi”.

1943 – Dennis Linde
Dennis Linde, best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, ‘Burning Love’. Linde wrote numerous hit songs for mainly country music singers. In 2000, his song for the Dixie Chicks, ‘Goodbye Earl’, stirred some controversy for its take on spousal abuse. He died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on December 22, 2006 aged 63.

1941 – Wilson Pickett
American singer and songwriter Wilson Pickett, who recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Among his best-known hits are ‘In the Midnight Hour’ (which he co-wrote), ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’, ‘Mustang Sally’, and ‘Funky Broadway’. Pickett died of a heart attack on 19 Jan 2006 aged 64.

1938 – Charley Pride
American singer Charley Pride who has had thirty-nine No.1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the 1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. Pride became the first Black country musician to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He died on 12 Dec 2020 age 86.

1936 – Robert Lee Smith
Robert Lee Smith, from the American vocal group The Tams who had the 1964 US hit ‘What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)’ and the 1971 UK No.1 single ‘Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me’. The group took their name from the Tam O’Shanter hats they wore on stage.