1983
Miranda Lambert, American country music artist who gained fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star. Her fifth album Platinum peaked at No.1 in 2014 on the US album chart.
1979
Chris Joannou, bassist from Australian rock band Silverchair who had the 1997 Australian No.1 single ‘Freak’ and the 1995 Australian No.1 album Frogstomp plus three other Australian No.1 albums. During their career, Silverchair won more ARIA Music Awards than any other artist in history with 21 wins.
1978
Drew McConnell, bassist who was a member of Babyshambles, fronted the musical collective Mongrel with Jon McClure and members of Arctic Monkeys and played bass in Liam Gallagher’s band.
1978
Eve, US female rapper, (2001 UK No.4 single, featuring Gwen Stefani, ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’).
1975
Jim Adkins, lead singer and guitarist with Jimmy Eat World.
1973
British singer Jacqui Abbott, with The Beautiful South. Amongst their most successful hits during her stint with the group were: ‘Rotterdam’, ‘Perfect 10’, ‘Don’t Marry Her’ and ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’.
1970
Derry Brownson, keyboards from British dance music/rock band EMF who had the 1990 UK No.3 & US No.1 single ‘Unbelievable’. Their debut album, Schubert Dip, went to No.3 on the UK albums chart.
1970
Warren G, US rapper, (1994 UK No.5 single, ‘Regulate’, 1996 UK No.2 single with Adina Howard, ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’).
1969
Paul ‘Kermit’ Leveridge, Black Grape, (1995 UK No.8 single ‘In The Name Of The Father’).
1968
Steve Brookstein, singer, winner of the first ever X Factor UK TV show in 2004. (2005 UK No.1 single Against All Odds’).
1967
Andrew Vowles, Mushroom, Massive Attack, (1991 UK No.13 single ‘Unfinished Sympathy’).
1966
Steve Mackey, from English rock band Pulp, who had the 1995 UK No.2 single ‘Common People’. He quit the band in January 1997. Pulp were regarded among the Britpop “big four”, along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.
1961
Junior Giscombe, (1997 UK No.6 single with Kim Wilde, ‘Another Step Closer To You’).
1959
Frank Maudsley, A Flock Of Seagulls, (1982 UK No.10 & US No.26 single ‘Wishing, If I Had A Photograph Of You’).
1957
Chris Joyce, drummer from Simply Red, who had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Holding Back The Years‘. They have had five No.1 albums in the UK, with their 1991 album, Stars, one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.
1954
Mario Cipollina, bassist from Huey Lewis and the News who had the 1985 UK No.11 & US No.1 single ‘The Power Of Love’. Their third, and best-selling, album was the 1983 Sports, and they contributed to the soundtrack of the 1985 feature film Back to the Future.
1950
Ronnie Hammond (former frontman for Atlanta Rhythm Section) is born in Macon, Georgia.
1949
Peter Bramall, singer, with British pub rock band The Motors who had the 1978 UK No.4 single ‘Airport’.
1948
English bassist, guitarist, singer, songwriter, Greg Lake, who worked with King Crimson and Emerson Lake and Palmer who had the 1977 UK No.2 single ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’. He scored the 1975 solo 1975 UK No.2 hit single ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’. Lake died on 7th Dec 2016 age 69 after a battle with cancer.
1947
Glenn Buxton, guitarist with the Alice Cooper Band, who had the 1972 UK No.1 & US No.7 single ‘School’s Out’, the 1972 hit ‘Elected’ and the 1973 US & UK No.1 album Billion Dollar Babies. He died on 19 October 1997.
1947
American songwriter Allee Willis. She co-wrote many hit songs including ‘September’ and ‘Boogie Wonderland’ by Earth, Wind & Fire and ‘I’ll Be There for You’ by the Rembrandts, the theme from the TV sitcom Friends. Her compositions sold over 60 million records. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. She died on 24 December 2019 age 72.
1947
Country/pop singer Dave Loggins, known for “Please Come to Boston” (1974), is born in Mountain City, Tennessee.
1946
American singer Jim Gilstrap best known for his work as a session musician and his 1975 solo hit single ‘Swing Your Daddy. Gilstrap appeared on Stevie Wonder’s albums, Talking Book and Innervisions and sang the opening two lines of the Wonder song, ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life.’ He also appeared on Michael Jackson’s album Off The Wall and worked with Keith Moon, Joe Cocker, Willy DeVille and Starship.
1945
Country singer Donna Fargo is born Yvonne Vaughan in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Known for “The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA” and “Funny Face,” both crossover pop hits in 1972.
1941
Kyu Sakamoto, (1963 US No.1 & UK No.6 single ‘Sukiyaki’, the first ever Japanese US No.1). Killed in a plane crash on 12th August 1985.
1939
Rock singer Tommy Facenda is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
1929
Pop songwriter Marilyn Bergman is born in New York. Along with husband Alan Bergman, she writes “The Theme From the Summer Of ’42” and “The Way We Were,” plus country hits “All His Children” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”. Died January 8, 2022
1923
English vocalist Anne Shelton who is remembered for providing inspirational songs for soldiers both on radio broadcasts, and in person, at British military bases during the Second World War. She had the 1956 UK No. 1 ‘Lay Down Your Arms’. Shelton died of a heart attack on 31 July 1994 age 70.
1909
Pop songwriter Johnny Marks is born in Mount Vernon, New York. Specializing in holiday songs, he writes Gene Autry’s “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas”. Died September 1985.
