Born On This Day In Music, May 8th

1985 – Matt Willis
Matt Willis, bassist from English pop rock band Busted. Formed in 2000, the band had four UK No.1 singles, and released two studio albums – Busted (2002) and A Present for Everyone (2003) – before disbanding in January 2005.

1978 – Ana Maria Lombo
Ana Maria Lombo, singer from Eden’s Crush, the American girl group who were created on the American television series Popstars who scored the 2001 Canadian No.1 and US No. 8 single ‘Get Over Yourself’.

1977 – Joe Bonamassa
American blues rock guitarist and singer Joe Bonamassa, who has released nine studio albums as well as being a member of Black Country Communion.

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09:43

1976 – Ian Watkins
H, (Ian Watkins), singer with British dance-pop group Steps. Between 1997 and 2001 Steps scored two No.1 singles in the UK, two No.1 albums and 14 consecutive top 5 singles in the UK.

1976 – Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright, Canadian / American, singer-songwriter, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and sister of Rufus Wainwright. Appeared on recordings by her family members and has released several independent EPs. Her full length self-titled debut was released in 2005.

1975 – Enrique Iglesias
Spanish singer, songwriter, actor, Enrique Iglesias, who had the 2000 US No.1 single ‘Be With You’ and the 2002 UK No.1 & US No.3 single ‘Hero’. He is widely regarded as the King of Latin Pop and has sold over 170 million records (albums and singles combined) worldwide.

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04:28

1972 – Darren Hayes
Australian singer-songwriter, comedian, Darren Hayes, who with Savage Garden had the 1998 US No.1 & UK Top 5 single ‘Truly Madly Deeply’, the hit ‘To the Moon and Back’, and the solo 2002 UK No.8 single ‘Insatiable’.

1971 – Candice Night
Candice Night, who forms Blackmore’s Night with her husband, Ritchie Blackmore, is born Candice Lauren Isralow at Hauppage, New York.

1964 – Dave Rowntree
Dave Rowntree, drummer with Blur who had the 1994 UK No.1 album ‘Parklife’ which spent over 2 years on the UK chart, and the 1995 UK No.1 single ‘Country House’, plus over 12 other UK Top 40 singles. Rowntree now also works as a solicitor, animator, radio presenter and political activist.

1963 – Michel Gondry
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is born in Versailles, France. The imaginative director is also known for his surreal music videos for artists like Bjork, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, and others.

1953 – Alex Van Halen
Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen who had the 1984 US No.1 & UK No.7 single ‘Jump’. Alex has become an ordained minister and presided at the wedding of his brother Eddie Van Halen in 2009.

1953 – Billy Burnette
Billy Burnette, guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, is born Dorsey William Burnette III in Memphis, Tennessee.

1951 – Chris Frantz
American musician Chris Frantz, drummer, with Talking Heads, who had the 1983 US No.9 single ‘Burning Down The House’, 1985 UK No.6 single ‘Road To Nowhere’.

1951 – Philip Bailey
Philip Bailey, American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter with Earth, Wind & Fire, who had the 1975 US No.1 single ‘Shining Star’, and the 1981 UK No.3 single ‘Let’s Groove’. The band has received 20 Grammy nominations and were the first African-American act to sell out Madison Square Garden. As a solo artist he scored the 1985 UK No.1 single ‘Easy Lover’ a duet with Phil Collins.

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1944 – Bill Legend
Bill Legend, English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex. Legend played drums on four albums: Electric Warrior, The Slider, Tanx and Zinc Alloy.

1944 – Gary Glitter
Glam rocker Gary Glitter is born Paul Francis Gadd in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. He had eleven consecutive Top 10 singles, from “Rock and Roll, Parts 1 and 2” in 1972 to “Doing Alright with the Boys” in the summer of 1975.

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1943 – Danny Whitten
Danny Whitten, guitarist, singer, songwriter. Member of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and writer of ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It’, covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose on Nov 18th 1972).

1943 – Paul Samwell-Smith
English musician Paul Samwell-Smith, bassist with The Yardbirds, who had the 1965 UK No.3 and US No.6 single ‘For Your Love’. The Yardbirds spawned such noteworthy musicians as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.

1943 – Toni Tennille
Toni Tennille, from husband-and-wife duo The Captain and Tennille who had the 1980 US No.1 & UK No.7 single ‘Do That To Me One More Time’ and the hit ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’. They divorced in July 2014.

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03:20

1942 – Jack Blanchard
Jack Blanchard is born in Buffalo, New York. He marries Misty Morgan, with whom he gains a novelty hit with “Tennessee Bird Walk” in 1970

1941 – John Fred
John Fred Gourrier, from John Fred and His Playboy Band who had the 1968 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)’ which was a parodic play on the title of The Beatles’ song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’. He died on 15th April 2005 after a long battle with kidney disease aged 63.

1940 – Ricky Nelson
American rock and roll star Ricky Nelson, who had the 1958 US No.1 ‘Poor Little Fool’, the 1961 UK No.2 single ‘Hello Mary Lou’ plus over 30 US Top 40 hit singles. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1972, Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with ‘Garden Party’. Nelson died in a plane crash northeast of Dallas in De Kalb, Texas on 31st December 1985.

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02:04

1911 – Robert Johnson
American blues singer-songwriter Robert Johnson. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 influenced later generations including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton (Cream covered ‘Crossroads), The Rolling Stones (‘Love In Vain’). Johnson is now recognised as a master of the blues. He died on 16th August 1938 at the age of 27.

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