Born on this day in music, October 17th

17 Oct, 1987
Singer/songwriter Jameson Rodgers is born in Batesville, Mississippi. He earns hits as an artist with his 2019 single “Some Girls” and his 2020 Luke Combs collaboration “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” and also co-writes Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” and Florida Georgia Line’s “Talk You Out Of It”;

17 Oct 1972
Eminem, US Rapper, (Marshall Bruce Mathers III), 2000 UK No.1 single ‘The Real Slim Shady’, 2000 world wide No.1 album ‘The Marshall Mathers LP.’

17 Oct 1972
Haitian rapper, musician Wyclef Jean, who with The Fugees had the 1996 UK No.1 single ‘Killing Me Softly’ and the 1998 solo 1998 UK No.3 single ‘Gone Till November’. Jean has won three Grammy Awards for his musical work.

17 Oct 1971
Chris Kirkpatrick, singer from American boy band *NSYNC. Among the group’s singles, ‘Bye Bye Bye’, ‘This I Promise You’, ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ reached the top 10 in several international charts. The group’s second album, No Strings Attached, sold over one million copies in one day.

17 Oct 1968
Ziggy Marley, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, (1988 UK No.22 single ‘Tomorrow People’). His father Bob Marley had his last haircut the year Ziggy was born.

17 Oct 1967
Rene Dif, from Danish eurodance group Aqua, who scored the 1997 UK No.1 single ‘Barbie Girl’ a song that topped the charts worldwide.

17 Oct 1958
Alan Jackson, country music singer, who has recorded over a dozen studio albums. More than 50 of his singles have appeared on Billboard’s list of the Top 30 Country Songs, for which of Jackson’s entries, 35 were No.1 hits. He is the recipient of two Grammys, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

17 Oct 1956
American musician Fran Cosmo best known as a former lead singer of the band Orion the Hunter (who toured with Aerosmith in 1984), and the band Boston. In 1994, Cosmo was featured as the lead vocalist on the platinum Boston album Walk On, which reached No.7 on the Billboard Charts and produced three hit singles.

17 Oct 1947
David St Hubbins, vocals, Spinal Tap, (1984 rock film ‘This Is Spinal Tap’).

17 Oct 1946
Jim Tucker, guitarist from the American rock The Turtles who had the US 1967 No.1 single ‘Happy Together’ and the 1967 hit ‘She’d Rather Be with Me’.

17 Oct 1946
The Doobie Brothers drummer Mike Hossack is born in Paterson, New Jersey.

17 Oct 1942
Gary Puckett (frontman for Union Gap) is born in Hibbing, Minnesota, but would be raised in Yakima, Washington (not far from the city Union Gap).

17 Oct 1941
Alan Howard, bassist 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’.

17 Oct 1941
American singer, songwriter Jim Seals, one half of Seals & Croft. Between 1972 and 1976, Seals and Crofts had a run of five gold albums, culminating in an double-platinum greatest hits collection. He died on 6 June 2022 age 80.

17 Oct 1935
Michael Eavis, the farmer whose land is used to hold Glastonbury Festival, the first being in 1970 with T. Rex headlining to a crowd of 1,500. Now regarded as a major event in British culture, Eavis hosted the first festival, then called Pilton Festival, after seeing an open-air Led Zeppelin concert at the 1970 Bath Festival.

17 Oct 1934
Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez from The Specials, who had the 1981 UK No.1 single ‘Ghost Town’. He also performed and recorded with Jools Holland, Paul Young, and others. Rodriguez died on 4th Sept 2015.

17 Oct 1933
Jeanne-Paule Marie “Jeannine” Deckers, “The Singing Nun,” is born in Brussels, Belgium. In 1963, she has a #1 hit in America with “Dominique.” She died on 29 March 1985

17 Oct 1923
American jazz guitarist Barney Kessel was a member of the the Wrecking Crew. Kessel was also a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio and worked with Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke and many others. He also appeared on The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album. Kessel died of a brain tumor on May 6, 2004, at the age of 80.

17 Oct 1914
Jazz musician John Clifford Mosley Jr., a trumpeter who also played the flugelhorn, the long horn and the flute, is born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. That’s Mosley playing the flute during the intro of The Isley Brothers’ 1971 cover of “Spill the Wine.” Died on 15 December 2010.