About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
April 22, 2026 ~ Evelyne Verrechia, commonly known as singer Evelyne Lenton, passed away in Pordenone, Italy ~ Rose to fame as lead singer and sole constant member of Paris-based female vocal trio Belle Epoque, with whom she recorded three albums. The trio are best known for their disco version of Black Is Black, lifted off their 1977 Miss Broadway debut album. Originally the song had been a hit for Spanish outfit Los Bravos a little over a decade earlier, which reached top 10 in over a dozen countries including the UK and America. At least in Europe, Belle Epoque's cover version, their biggest hit, would do equally well and reach top 10 in the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, and the UK. The song would also top the charts in Australia. In their native France, Belle Epoque's hit would fall just short of the top 10, peaking at No.11. In America, the trio enjoyed considerably less success, their sole charting single Miss Broadway only barely making it to the Billboard Hot 100 where it stalled at No.92. Prior to her success with Belle Epoque, Lenton had recorded as a solo artist under the moniker Evy. Lenton's baby brother is keyboardist, songwriter and producer Albert Verrecchia ~ Verrecchia was born in 1945
April 22, 2025 ~ Keyboardist David Briggs, full name David Paul Briggs, passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, USA ~ Reportedly played his first professional session at age 14. Would go on to become an in-demand and revered session pianist, organist, named as a member of a loose collective of Nashville-based first-call session musicians dubbed the Nashville Cats. Well known for his work backing Elvis Presley, starting on some tracks of the How Great Thou Art album, recorded in 1960, as a last-minute replacement for Floyd Cramer. Briggs would continue to record and tour with Presley until Presley's death in 1977, including on albums such as That's The Way It Is, He Touched Me, and Today. Over the course of his career, Briggs has also appeared on albums by Roger Miller, Joan Baez (One Day At A Time), Area Code 615, Loretta Lynn, Nancy Sinatra, Kris Kristofferson (The Silver Tongued Devil And I), Jerry Jeff Walker, Lonnie Mack, Ronnie Milsap, JJ Cale (Naturally), Charley Pride, Dolly Parton (Coat Of Many Colors), Tony Joe White, Steve Goodman, the James Gang, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Dan Fogelberg (Home Free), John Prine, Kinky Friedman (Sold American), Willie Nelson (Shotgun Willie), Dobie Gray, Waylon Jennings (Honky Tonk Heroes), Mickey Newbury (Heaven Help The Child), Leon Russell, the Pointer Sisters (That's A Plenty), Bob Seger, Dave Loggins, Guy Clark (Old No.1), Eddie Rabbitt, Glen Campbell, the Statler Brothers, Alabama, the Oak Ridge Boys, Charly McClain, Moe Bandy, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Mark Chesnutt (Too Cold At Home), Sammy Kershaw, Ronnie McDowell, Shania Twain, and Kenny Chesney ~ Briggs was born in 1943
April 22, 2024 ~ Robert Lee Romero, commonly known as rock & roll singer, guitarist Chan Romero, passed away ~ Best remembered for penning and first recording Hippy Hippy Shake. The song failed to make the American Billboard Hot 100 charts, but would be a hit overseas and has remained popular throughout the decades. The song has been used in several films, and would be covered by over 50 artists including the Swinging Blue Jeans, Billy Fury, Mud, the Beatles, the Georgia Satellites, Shane MacGowan, and Die Toten Hosen. In 2019, a bill to make Romero's Hippy Hippy Shake the official state rock & roll song of his native state Montana failed to pass the Legislature. Regardless, Romero is remembered as one of the state's greatest musicians ~ Romero was born in 1941
April 22, 2022 ~ Singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter Jan Rot passed away in Rotterdam, the Netherlands ~ Member of Streetbeats. Member of Ratata. Debuted as a solo artist with the album Single released in 1982. To pop audiences perhaps best known for the singles Counting Sheep, Op Een Mooie Pinksterdag with Rick de Leeuw, and Naast Jou with Boudewijn de Groot. Earned critical acclaim and peer admiration from the 2000s onwards for Dutch translations of pop, rock songs originally by the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan, as well as translations of musicals and classical works, notably Johann Sebastian Bach's Matteus Passion ~ Rot was born in 1957
April 22, 2022 ~ Country singer Zach Bryan releases Something In The Orange, lifted off his American Heartbreak album ~ The song finds Zach Bryan sobbing over a breakup, hoping against better judgment his lover will return. Obviously, ‘something in the orange’ tells him that is never going to happen. Bryan wrote the song while watching a sunset, in all its bright colors. The singer would later explain to Apple Music: “Everyone thinks it was over some deep, dark thing, and it was just me in a cabin in Wisconsin. I thought about the word ‘orange’ and I was watching the sunset and I was like, Oh, that's a cool story to tell in a song.” Something In The Orange would reach No.1 on the Billboard Country chart. On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 it was a sleeper hit, slowly climbing the charts to eventually reach No.10. The song also earned Bryan a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, which he lost to Willie Nelson's Live Forever
April 22, 2019 ~ Vibraphonist, marimba player Dave Samuels, full name David Alan Samuels, passed away in New York, New York, USA ~ Recorded over half a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. Closely associated with Spyro Gyra, appearing on close to two dozen of the ensemble's albums. Founded the Caribbean Jazz Project. Has also worked with Gerry Mulligan, Carla Bley, Gerry Niewood, Paul McCandless, Bobby McFerrin, Double Image, Frank Zappa, Dave Valentin, Paquito d'Rivera, Edie Brickell, and Pat Metheny ~ Samuels was born in 1948April 22, 2019 ~ Operatic soprano Deborah Cook passed away ~ First gained serious attention in the early 1970s singing with Theater Bremen. Would go on to work with the Bavarian State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Oper Frankfurt, the Deutsche Oper Am Rhein, the Santa Fe Opera, the Tetro Dell' Opera Di Roma, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the BBC Sympony Orchestra, the Orchestre De Paris, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Dresden Philharmonic ~ Cook was born in 1938
April 22, 2019 ~ Elaine Yi-Li Wu, commonly known as pianist Wu Yili passed away in Singapore ~ Closely associated with the China National Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Denounced as a so-called “counter-revolutionary” during China's Cultural Revolution, Yili would be imprisoned by the authorities for 10 years ~ Wu was born ca.1931
April 22, 2013 ~ Singer, guitarist Richie Havens, full name Richard Pierce Havens, passed away in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA ~ Havens enjoyed a solid, devoted cult following. Best known for his performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, a major turning point in his career. To mainstream audiences, he is known for his 1971 rendition of Here Comes The Sun, a Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit ~ Havens was born in 1941
April 22, 2011 ~ Bluegrass singer, bassist, guitarist Hazel Dickens, full name Hazel Jane Dickens, passed away in Washington DC, USA ~ Influenced by Uncle Dave Macon, the Monroe Brothers, and the Carter Family. Once described by the New York Times as “a clarion-voiced advocate for coal miners and working people and a pioneer among women in bluegrass music” Closely associated with Alice Gerrard, with whom she recorded the albums Who's That Knocking (And Other Bluegrass Country Music) and Won't You Come & Sing For Me. As a solo artist best known for her contributions to the soundtrack of Harlan County USA, notably the track They'll Never Keep Us Down, and for the 1980s albums By The Sweat Of My Brow and It's Hard To Tell The Singer From The Song. Songs written by Dickens have been recorded by Dry Branch Fire Squad, Hot Rize, Lynn Morris, Dolly Parton (A Few Old Memories), Bill Frisell, Bobby Osborne, and Kathy Mattea ~ Dickens was born in 1925
April 22, 2005 ~ Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein, commonly known as jazz saxophonist Arnie Lawrence, passed away in Jerusalem, Israel ~ Leader and sideman. Actively performing since his teens, including at the famed the Birdland Jazz Club jazz club from age 17 onwards, yet did not record until 1966 appearing on Chico Hamilton's The Dealer. Has worked with Willie Bobo. Toured with Liza Minnelli, toured with Louie Bellson. Founded the New School For Jazz And Contemporary Music in New York in 1986. Relocated to Israel by the late 1990s, where he founded the International Center for Creative Music ~ Lawrence was born in 1938
April 22, 2003 ~ Matlide Genevieve Scaduto, commonly known as songwriter Felice Bryant, passed away in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA ~ Songwriter, usually in partnership with her husband Boudleaux Bryant. Together they wrote some of Nashville's most enduring hits for artists such as Jimmy Dickens (Country Boy), Buddy Holly (Raining In My Heart), Gram Parsons (Love Hurts), Emmylou Harris (Like Strangers), Ricky Van Shelton (Loving Proof), Johnny O'Keefe (She Wears My Ring), and perhaps most extensively for the Everly Brothers (Bye Bye Love, Problems, Wake Up Little Susie). Other artists who have recorded their songs include Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Sonny James, Eddy Arnold, Bob Moore, Charley Pride, Nazareth, Jim Reeves, Leo Sayer, Jerry Lee Lewis, Simon & Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, the Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ray Charles, Joan Jett, Roy Orbison, Solomon King, Sue Thompson, Moon Mullican, and Dillard & Clarke ~ Bryant was born in 1925April 22, 1998 ~ Rock band Faith No More announce that they have broken up ~ The band had recorded half a dozen albums since the mid-1980s, including the Billboard Hot 200 top 20 albums The Real Thing and Angel Dust. In their native America, they are best known for the early 1990s Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit Epic, their sole American top 10 hit. In Europe they are best known for the Commodores-cover Easy, which reached top 10 in several countries including the Netherlands and the UK. The band would reform in 2009
April 22, 1995 ~ Jazz pianist, organist Don Pullen, full name Don Gabriel Pullen, passed away in East Orange, New Jersey, USA ~ Pianist, composer with great variety of his body of work, ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. Recorded well over a dozen albums leading usually smaller ensembles or as a solo pianist. Well known albums include Capricorn Rising, Tomorrow's Promises, and Random Thoughts. Pullen is closely associated with Giuseppi Logan, Charles Mingus, David Murray, Hamiet Bluiett, and notably George Adams, co-leading a quartet with the latter from the late 1970s through the late 1980s. Pullen has also guested on albums by the likes of Milford Graves, Sunny Murray (Hard Cores), Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Marcello Melis, Ivo Perelman, Jack Walrath, Maceo Parker (Life On Planet Groove), and Jane Bunnett ~ Pullen was born in 1941April 22, 1990 ~ Joseph Valery Jr, commonly known as electric blues singer, guitarist Little Joe Blue, passed away in Reno, Nevada, USA ~ Best known for songs such as Encourage Me Baby, Don't Start Me Talking, How Could You Do It To Me and Dirty Work Going On. The latter would be covered by Magic Sam, Shakey Jake Harris and by Willie Kent & the Gents ~ Valery was born in 1934
April 22, 1990 ~ Richard Colson Baker, commonly known as rapper, singer, actor, songwriter Machine Gun Kelly, born in Houston, Texas, USA ~ Known for songs such as Till I Die, Bad Things and Rap Devil. Worked with Jeezy, Victoria Monét, Chief Keef, Camila Cabello, Hailee Steinfeld, Quavo, X-Ambassadors, DMX, Sleeping With Sirens, and Mötley Crüe
April 22, 1986 ~ Sandy Adel Ahmed Hussein, mononymously known as pop singer Sandy, born in Cairo, Egypt ~ Debuted with the single Whatever Is Closer in 2006. Well known for The Sons Of The Nile released in 2011 following the January 2011 revolution. Announced her retirement from music in 2015, after the release of her Hob album, yet reemerged two years later. Married to composer Husam Badran from 2009 until 2017
April 22, 1985 ~ Pop rock group U2 release The Unforgettable Fire, lifted off the album of the same name ~ Lyrically inspired by an art exhibition by victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki held at The Peace Museum, Chicago, Illinois. The melody originated from a short piano composition written earlier by the Edge, who said it was written for no particular purpose, but he envisioned it as a film soundtrack piece. The Unforgettable Fire would be the first No.1 and the first of four consecutive charttoppers for the band in their native Ireland. The single also reached top 10 in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK
April 22, 1984 ~ Pop, dance pop singer, songwriter Amelle Berrabah born in Aldershot, UK ~ Member of the Sugababes, replacing founding member Mutya Buena in 2005. First appeared on the album Taller In More Ways, present on the songs No You're Gone, Gotta Be You, Follow Me Home, and Red Dress. Has also recorded as a solo artist, scoring the Never Leave You UK No.1 hit collaborating with Tinchy Stryder
April 22, 1983 ~ Jazz pianist, bandleader Earl Hines, full name Earl Kenneth Hines, passed away in Oakland, California, USA ~ Pioneer of modern jazz, widely regarded as one of the all-time most influential jazz pianists known for his melodic sense and innovative rhythms. Active since the 1920s, with over an estimated 100 albums to his name. Led ensembles which included artists such as Walter Fuller, Ray Nance, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, and Muggsy Spanier. As a composer Hines is probably best known for co-writing and first recording Rosetta, covered by over 250 artists. Other well known compositions written or co-written by Hines include Monday Date, Blues In Thirds, Jimmie Noone's Apex Blues, and Louis Armstrong's You Can Depend On Me. Reflecting on his own career, Hines has been quoted as saying: “I'm an explorer if I might use that expression. I'm looking for something all the time. And oft-times I get lost. And people that are around me a lot know that when they see me smiling, they know I'm lost and I'm trying to get back. But it makes it much more interesting because then you do things that surprise yourself” ~ Hines was born in 1903April 22, 1980 ~ Singer, actress Jane Froman, full name Ellen Jane Froman, passed away in Columbia, Missouri, USA ~ Classically trained. Known though as one of her era's finest interpreters of compositions by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, enjoying popularity from the early 1930s onwards performing on radio, screen and stage notably including a stint with Ziegfeld Follies revue ~ Froman was born in 1907
April 22, 1978 ~ Tyree Cinque Simmons, commonly known as hip-hop DJ, label executive, promoter Drama, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Not to be confused with Dirty South rapper Drama. Co-founded Generation Now, an Atlantic Records imprint, with Don Cannon carrying artists such as Lil' Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow and Skeme. As a DJ best known for his work with TI and as co-founding member of the Aphilliates collective
April 22, 1978 ~ Singer Izhar Cohen and vocal group the Alphabeta win the 23rd edition of the Eurovision Songfestival held in Paris, France ~ Representing Israel, Izhar Cohen and vocal group the Alphabeta win with the song A-ba Ni-bi written by Nurit Hirsh and Ehud Manor. Runner-ups would be Belgium's Jean Vallée with L'Amour Ça Fait Chanter La Vie in 2nd place and France's Joël Prévost with Il Y Aura Toujours Des Violons in 3rdApril 22, 1978 ~ Indie rock, garage rock, alternative rock singer, guitarist Jason Stollsteimer, full name Jason Elliott Stollsteimer, born in Soutfield, Michigan, USA ~ Lead singer, guitarist for the Von Bondies, with whom he recorded four albums starting with the Jack White-produced Lack Of Communication released in 2001. Following the band's disbandement in 2009 has fronted Hounds Below and PONYSHOW
April 22, 1975 ~ Comedy rock, synth-pop keyboardist saxophonist, clarinetist Brian Wecht, full name Brian Alexander Wecht, born in Pompton, New Jersey, USA ~ Originally worked as a theoretical physicist holding research positions at Harvard University and MIT specializing in particle physics. Retired from science in 2015 to focus on his music career. Adopting the moniker Ninja Brian formed the comedy musical duo Ninja Sex Party, and is a member of the video game-based trio Starbomb
April 22, 1975 ~ Blues singer, guitarist, violinist, songwriter Walter Vinson passed away in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Member of the Mississippi Sheiks. Perhaps best known for co-writing the blues standard Sitting On Top Of The World with Lonnie Chatmon, first recorded as a country blues song by the Sheiks ~ Vinson was born in 1901