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.
August 21, 2024 ~ Pop singer, songwriter Russell Stone, full name Russell Oliver Stone, passed away ~ Formed the one-hit-wonder duo R&J Stone with his wife Joanne Stone. Previously members of James Last's backing choir, the pair would score a smash hit with the self-penned We Do It off their 1976 debut album of the same name. The single reached top 10 in Ireland, Australia and their native UK, where it peaked at No.5. Following the success of their hitsingle and debut album, Russell abandoned his role as a singer, choosing to focus on writing and producing for his wife instead. The 1977 R&J sophomore album failed to capture their earlier magic, a third album would remain unreleased. Stone recorded sporadically as a solo artist after the death of wife in 1979, releasing three albums in the 2010s, yet would be unable to repeat his earlier success. Stone has also worked as a psychotherapist, counsellor, and teacher ~ Stone was born ca.1946August 21, 2023 ~ Disco, post-disco, Hi-NRG, dance-pop singer, producer, songwriter Denis LePage passed away ~ Scored a late 1970s disco hit with the instrumental The Break under the moniker Kat Mandu, considered a classic to this day. Formed the disco duo Lime with his wife Denyse LePage, known for the 1980s dance hits Your Love, Babe We're Gonna Love Tonight, and Unexpected Lovers ~ LePage was born ca.1949
August 21, 2022 ~ Monnette Goldman, commonly known as guitarist Monnette Sudler, passed away in Germantown, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Dubbed “the Queen of the Jazz Guitar”, Sudler has been a trailblazer on the Philadelphia scene since the early 1970s. Known for her open, free-flowing style, Sudler got her start in music playing with vibraphonist Khan Jamal in the Sounds Of Liberation. As a leader, Sudler recorded over half a dozen albums, including the acclaimed 1976 Time For A Change album. As a sidewoman and collaborator, Sudler has worked with the likes of Hugh Masekela, Cecil McBee, Odean Pope, Shirley Scott, Steve Turre, Cedar Walton, Archie Shepp, Kenny Barron, Hamiet Bluiett, and Grover Washington Jr. She is also known for organizing and hosting the Philadelphia Guitar Summit, held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 2009 through 2019 showcasing guitarists from a range of genres including rock, country, folk, and jazz ~ Sudler was born in 1952
August 21, 2022 ~ Singer, guitarist, songwriter Robert Williams, full name Robertos Konstantinos Williams, passed away in Athens, Greece ~ Co-founding member of pioneering Greek pop group Poll, known for their 1971 Anthrope. The album included the hit Anthrope Agapa (Ti Fotia Stamata) which is regarded as the first anti-war protest song in the history of Greek rock, dubbed “perhaps the most hippie hymn for the Greeks” and released during the junta years. Following the band's disbandement Williams has recorded as a solo singer, noted for his 1976 hit single Talk To Me, and for representing Greece at the 1977 Eurovision Songfestival alongside singers Pascalis, Marianna Toli and Bessy Argyraki reaching 5th place with the song Solfege ~ Williams was born in 1949
August 21, 2021 ~ Singer Don Everly, full name Isaac Donald Everly, passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, USA ~ Formed the sibling duo the Everly Brothers with his brother Phil Everly. Though following in the tradition of other sibling duos, such as the Delmore Brothers, the Everly's would become one of the best known sibling duos, drawing from rock & roll, country, and pop, and influential on country-rock. They duo scored about a dozen Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits starting in the late 1950s, including the charttoppers Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have To Do Is Dream, and Cathy's Clown ~ Everly was born in 1937
August 21, 2018 ~ Rapper Travis Scott releases Sicko Mode featuring Drake, lifted off his Astroworld album ~ Universally acclaimed, Sicko Mode would become Travis Scott's first Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit and earn Grammy Award nominations for both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Rolling Stone described the hard-knocking track as “the apex of Scott's synthetic instincts”, while Entertainment Weekly called it a “mini-suite of bangers” as the song consists of three distinctive parts. The first part features Drake on lead vocals, Scott performed the second part, and both share lead on the third. Songs sampled in Sicko Mode include the Notorious BIG's Gimme The Loot, Uncle Luke's I Wanna Rock, and Big Hawk's Victory Flow. Scott performed Sicko Mode at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show, where he shared the stage with Maroon 5August 21, 2016 ~ Saxophonist Headley Bennett, full name Felix Headley Bennett, passed away ~ Session musician appeared on hundreds of Jamaican recordings since the 1950s. Worked with Lynn Taitt, the Jets, the Mighty Vikings, the Revolutionaries, the Sheiks, Bob Marley, Leslie Kong, the Abyssinians, Alton Ellis, Prince Far I, Ossie Scott, and Adrian Sherwood. Has released two solo albums as a solo artist ~ Bennett was born in 1931
August 21, 2016 ~ Norwegian DJ, producer Kygo performs at 2016 Rio Olympics closing ceremony ~ Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, commonly known as Kygo becomes the first house DJ, producer to perform at an Olympics Closing Ceremony. Kygo was joined by singer Julia Michaels for a live rendition of Caarry Me of his 2016 debut Cloud Nine album. The appearance harkened back to Dutch DJ Tiësto's performance who performed in the 2004 Athens Olympics Opening Ceremony
August 21, 2009 ~ R&B, doo-wop singer Johnny Carter passed away in Harvey, Illinois, USA ~ Co-founding member of the Flamingos, for whom he wrote Golden Teardrops. Following a stint in the Army joined the Dells in 1960 replacing Johnny Funches, with whom he remained until his death. Both groups have been inducted in the the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, making Carter one of the few multiple inductees ~ Carter was born in 1934August 21, 2007 ~ Mezzo-soprano, soprano opera singer Rose Bampton passed away in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Enjoyed an international career during the 1930s and 1940s. Sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1932 to 1950. Known for roles in operas composed by Richard Wagner as well her performances of works by Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg and Samuel Barber ~ Bampton was born in 1907
August 21, 2005 ~ Engineer, inventor, electronic music pioneer Robert Moog, full name Robert Arthur Moog, passed away in Asheville, North Carolina, USA ~ Best known for co-inventing the Moog synthesizer with Herbert Deutsch in 1964. Moog pursued his work as a hobby, and is regarded as a poor businessman. Commentators have speculated that he would have become extremely wealthy had he patented his designs, his only patent being the synthesizers filter design, yet their availability in the public domain helped the synthesizer industry flourish. Moog did receive a number of honors though, notably receiving a Technical Grammy Award in 2002 and inclusion in the National Inventors Hall Of Fame in 2013 ~ Moog was born in 1934August 21, 1991 ~ Dimitra Papadea, commonly known as pop, R&B, dance pop singer, songwriter, actress Demy, born in Athens, Greece ~ Debuted in 2012 with her #1, which topped the Greek album charts and reached Platinum status in Greece and Cyprus. Known for songs such as Mono Mprosta, I Zoi (To Pio Omorfo Tragedi), I Alitheia Moaizzei Psema and This Is Love
August 21, 1991 ~ Walter D Williams Jr, commonly known as producer, label executive Dootsie Williams, passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA ~ Leader of the Harlem Dukes in the 1940s. Would found the Blue Records label by the end of the decade. Has worked with Papa John Creach, the Penguins (Earth Angel), Redd Foxx, and the Medallions ~ Williams was born in 1911
August 21, 1989 ~ Post-punk outfit the Cure release Lovesong, lifted off their Disintegration album ~ Written for Robert Smith's long-time girlfriend and then-fiancée, Mary, as a wedding present, this delightfully cheerful, and for the band almost unnaturally upbeat song would become their sole Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit, peaking at No.2. Smith would later state: “It's an open show of emotion. It's not trying to be clever. It's taken me ten years to reach the point where I feel comfortable singing a very straightforward love song.”August 21, 1989 ~ Country singer Garth Brooks releases If Tomorrow Never Comes, lifted off his eponymous debut album ~ Written by Kent Blazy, the song tells of a man who wants to make sure his wife known that if something happens to him, that he did love her. Blazy had pitched the song around town, including to George Jones who kept the song on hold, but to no avail. It was when Garth Brooks filled in at The Bluebird in Nashville for somebody who got sick, and got the chance to perform one song. The then-unknown Brooks chose If Tomorrow Never Comes and it would land him a record deal. Linda Schultz from Capitol Records had passed on Brooks several times, but when she heard this performance she asked him to come back in. If Tomorrow Never Comes would become the first Billboard Country No.1 hit for songwriter Kent Blazy as well as the first for Brooks, who would go on to score 18 more charttoppers including Somewhere Other Than The Night and Ain't Going Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up), both of which co-written by Blazy
August 21, 1989 ~ Singer Janet Jackson releases Miss You Much, lead single off her Rhythm Nation 1814 album ~ Following the success of her Control breakout album, Janet Jackson took a nearly two-year hiatus before issuing its follow-up Rhythm Nation 1814, which became even a bigger hit. Its lead single Miss You Much became one of Jackson's biggest hits, spending four consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 before being bumped by Roxette's Listen To Your Heart. The song also earned Jackson Grammy Award nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The Rhythm Nation 1814 parent album would spawn six more Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including the No.1 hits Escapade, Black Cat, and Love Will Never Do (Without You)
August 21, 1989 ~ British rockers the Rolling Stones release Mixed Emotions, lead single off their Steel Wheels album ~ An upbeat rocker written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards after a period of tension and estrangement between the two. The accompanying video showed a clear contrast to their previous video for One Hit (To The Body), when relations between the two were at an all-time low. Now, the pair seemed to have patched things up. The single would reach top 10 in several countries, including the USA and the Netherlands
August 21, 1989 ~ Singer Tina Turner releases The Best, also known as Simply The Best, lifted off her Foreign Affair album ~ Written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, the same team that had written Tina Turner's 1984 Billboard Hot 100 No.5 hit Better Be Good To Me. The Best had first been offered to singer Paul Young, who passed on it, and was first recorded by Bonnie Tyler in 1988. It would be Turner's version, however, that became the bigger hit. The single reached No.15 Billboard Hot 100, while it peaked inside the top 10 in over a dozen other countries including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the UK. Turner's version differed from Tyler's in that Knight replaced the guitar solo with a bridge followed by a saxophone solo, which would be played by Edgar Winter. While Tyler's original version wasn't released in America and bombed in the UK, only reaching No.95, Turner made the song a signature song and anthem used for a variety of occassions, perhaps most obviously in sports settings. Songwriter Holly Knight has later explained the song could be about anything: “It can be so many things, and that's why it has taken on a life of its own. It can be a love song, it can be love for anything. But it also is very marketable and it has different trajectories depending on who is singing it and why they are singing it”
August 21, 1988 ~ Singer, guitarist, mandolinist Kacey Musgraves, full name Kacey Lee Musgraves, born in Golden, Texas, USA ~ Strong and independent, sincere and often self-penned songs with a broad crossover appeal. Impressed with her 2013 debut Same Trailer Different Park album. Performs and records steadily since. Known for songs such as Merry-go-round, Follow Your Arrow and RainbowAugust 21, 1987 ~ Experimental rock guitarist Rafiq Bhatia born in Hickory, North Carolina, USA ~ Best known as a member of Son Lux since 2015, previously serving as touring and session musician with the band. Bhatia has also recorded as a solo artist, his Yes It Will debut album released in 2012, and has collaborated with the likes of Olga Bell, Marcus Gilmore, Helado Negro, Vijay Iyer, Moses Sumney, and David Virelles
August 21, 1982 ~ In its 12th week on the charts, Nobody by Sylvia hits No.1 Billboard Country ~ The song centers around a woman suspicious her man is cheating on her. When she asks who he has been talking to, who he's been working late with, who phoned and hung up, the man replies ‘Nobody’. Preceded by the serene Drifter the previous year, Nobody became the singer's second and final Billboard Country No.1 hit and despite having all the makings of a crossover artist her only single to reach the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No.15. Sylvia would remain popular through the mid 1980s, and rack up eleven Billboard Country top 10 hits. Nobody was written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan, the same team that around the same time had written Billboard Country charttoppers such as Smoky Mountain Rain and I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World for Ronnie Milsap, and I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool for Barbara Mandrell
August 21, 1979 ~ Kelis Rogers, mononymously known as singer Kelis, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Debuted in 1999 with the Kaleidoscope album, critically acclaimed and spawned the singles Caught Out Here, Good Stuff and Get Along With You. Subsequent releases would regularly reach top 10 in the UK and continental Europe, such as Milkshake, Trick Me, Millionaire and Acapella. Kelis has collaborated with Ol' Dirty Bastard, Guru, Foxxy Brown, Angie Martinez, Royce da 5'9", Busta Rhymes, and Calvin HarrisAugust 21, 1977 ~ Singer, guitarist Allen Bunn, full name Allen Ratheel Bunn, also known as Tarheel Slim, passed away in the Bronx, New York, USA ~ Original member of vocal group the Larks, known for early 1950s songs such as When I Leave These Prison Walls, Eyesight To The Blind and Little Side Car ~ Bunn was born in 1923
August 21, 1977 ~ Rock, pop guitarist, songwriter Junji Ishiwatari born in Towada, Japan ~ Member of Supercar. Merging alternative rock with electronic music the band is especially acclaimed for their 1998 Three Out Change album, considered one of the all-time greatest Japanese rock albums. Following the band's disbandement in the mid 2000s Ishiwatari has primarily worked as songwriter and producer for a wide array of artists
August 21, 1975 ~ Ryu Yeong-gi, commonly known as rapper, producer Verbal, born in Tokyo, Japan ~ Well-known as a member of M-Flo, though Yeong-gi considers his role more as a host than a rapper or producer. Also closely assocaited with acts such as Crystal Kay, BoA, Koda Kumi, and Namie Amuro. Heads the Espionage Records label. As a solo artist known for his 2011 Visionair album which featured collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, and Kylie Minogue