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 25, 2023 ~ José Gonzaga Ferreira, commonly known as pop singer Carlos Gonzaga, passed away in Velletri, Italy ~ Well over a dozen albums to his name since the late 1950s, enjoying popularity in his native Brazil. Best known for his 1958 rendition of Diana, a translation of Paul Anka's Diana released a year earlier. Other well known songs include Oh Carol, Juramente De Playboy, Bat Masterson, Sereno, and Cavaleiros Do Céu ~ Gonzaga was born in 1924
August 25, 2022 ~ Jazz, bebop organist, trumpeter, saxophonist Joey DeFrancesco passed away in Phoenix, Arizona, USA ~ Son of organist John DeFrancesco, brother of blues guitarist Johnny DeFrancesco. Signed his first record deal at age 16. Revived the organ as a viable jazz instrument. Well over two dozen albums to his name as a leader, especially acclaimed for his 1989 All Of Me debut album and its follow-up Where Were You released a year later. In-demand sideman, both on record and tour. Has worked with Miles Davis, Houston Person, John McLaughlin. Other notable collaborations include Ray Charles, Bette Midler, Jimmy Smith and Van Morrison ~ DeFrancesco was born in 1971
August 25, 2022 ~ Blues, R&B, gospel singer Mable John passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA ~ First female to be signed to Berry Gordy Jr's Tamla-Motown label where she released the singles Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That, No Love and Actions Speak Louder Than Words. Dropped from the label for lack of success by 1962. Would go on to work as a backing singer for Ray Charles. By the mid 1960s John landed at Stax/Volt, for whom she scored a Billboard R&B top 10 hit with Your Good Thing (Is About To End) ~ John was born in 1930
August 25, 2021 ~ Jesús Arturo Garcia Peña, commonly known as cumbia singer, songwriter Mario Gareña, passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ~ Active since the early 1950s. Member of the Orquestra Sonolux. As a solo singer known best for Yo Me Llamo Cumbia and Te Dejo La Ciudad Sin Mi. Has also ventured into acting, notably on the telenovela Oro in the 1980s. Ran in the 1990 Colombian presidential election, receiving only some 2,400 votes, after which he retired from music ~ Peña was born in 1932August 25, 2020 ~ Saxophonist, composer Georges Boeuf passed away in Marseille, France ~ Composed operas, film scores, orchestral works and chamber music. Notable film scores include Transit, Le Matelot 512 and Retour A Marseille. Also well known for the opera Verlaine Paul based on the work of poet Franck Venaille, which premiered in 1996 ~ Boeuf was born in 1937
August 25, 2019 ~ Singer, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist Anne Grete Preus passed away in Oslo, Norway ~ Member of Veslefrikk. Member of Can Can. Has recorded over half a dozen albums as a solo artist, acclaimed especially for her Millimeter released in 1994 ~ Preus was born in 1957
August 25, 2018 ~ Singer, guitarist Neil Young and actress Daryl Hannah get married ~ In a secret ceremony in Atascadero, California, Neil Young and Daryl Hannah get married. It would be Hannah's first marriage, Young had been previously married to Pegi Young from 1978 through 2014 and to Susan Acevedo from 1968 through 1970
August 25, 2016 ~ Recording engineer Rudy van Gelder, full name Rudolph van Gelder passed away in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA ~ Revered recording engineer. Worked with just about anyone in jazz including on key albums such as A Love Supreme (John Coltrane), Walkin' (Miles Davis), Saxophone Colossus (Sonny Rollins), and Song For My Father (Horace Silver). Also recorded sessions with Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, and Grant Green ~ Van Gelder was born in 1924
August 25, 2014 ~ Ska, rocksteady, reggae DJ, percussionist, singer, producer Uziah Thompson, also known as Uziah Sticky Thompson, passed away in Miami, Florida, USA ~ In-demand session musician and sideman. Appeared on classic recordings by the Skatalites, notably Ball Of Fire, El Pussy Cat Ska and Guns Of Navarone. Would go on to work with Joe Gibbs, Big Youth, Dennis Brown, the Congos, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Grace Jones, Joe Cocker, Serge Gainsbourg, Sinéad O'Connor, Stephen Marley, and the GG All-Stars ~ Thompson was born in 1936August 25, 2006 ~ Singer Bob Minsky passed away ~ Formed the Roommates with Steve Susskind, then both aged 15. The duo would become a quartet with the addition of Jack Carlson and Felix Alvarez. The band would record a number of unnoticed singles, until teaming up with singer Cathy Jean for Please Love Me Forever. Billed as Cathy Jean & the Roommates the single would reach top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961 ~ Minsky was born in 1942
August 25, 2003 ~ Hip hop, R&B act OutKast release The Way You Move featuring Sleepy Brown, lifted off their Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album ~ Produced by Carl-Mo and Sleepy Brown, who co-wrote the song with OutKast's Big Boi, The Way You Move spent eight consecutive weeks at No.2 Billboard Hot 100 behind OutKast's own Hey Ya, before bumping the latter off the top spot. It would also reach top 10 in over half a dozen other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The Way You Move is noted especially for its chorus featuring regular collaborator Sleepy Brown in a saucy call-and-response with the horn section. Brown is best known for The Way You Move, but has also co-written TLC's Waterfalls, En Vogue's Don't Let Go (Love), and about half a dozen other OutKast tracks
August 25, 2001 ~ Singer Aaliyah Dana Houghton, commonly known simply as Aaliyah, passed away in Marsh Harbour, the Bahamas ~ First gained attention at age 10 appearing on Star Search singing alongside Gladys Knight. Signed to Jive Records at age 12. Debuted in 1994 with the Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, produced by R Kelly. Would go on to work with producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott on her 1996 sophomore album One In A Million. Best known for Billboard top 20 hits such as At Your Best (You Are Love), The One I Gave My Heart To, Try Again, and Miss You. Killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas ~ Houghton was born in 1979
August 25, 2000 ~ Fiddler, bandleader Cliff Bruner, full name Clifton Lafayette Bruner, passed away in Texas City, Texas, USA ~ Popular Western swing bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, merging elements of traditional music, blues, folk, jazz and country. Best known for songs such as It Makes No Difference Now, Sorry, Kelly Swing, I'll Keep On Loving You, When You're Smiling and perhaps his best known Truck Driver's Blues. Many of Bruner's recordings would feature a then-unknown and future piano star Moon Mullican on vocals ~ Bruner was born in 1915
August 25, 2000 ~ Bernard Alfred Nitzsche, commonly known as keyboardist, saxophonist, producer, arranger, songwriter Jack Nitzsche, passed away in Hollywood, California, USA ~ Important behind the scenes musician and mentor to many, especially the top stars of the 1970s. First gained attention in the early 1960s as arranger serving as producer Phil Spector's right-hand. Credited on several early albums by the Rolling Stones as playing “the Nitzsche-phone” which would basically mean piano, keyboard or organ. Present on albums such as The Rolling Stones Now, Out Of Our Heads, Aftermath and Between The Buttons. Noted for his contributions to hit singles such as Paint It Black and Let's Spend The Night Together and especially for the piano solo on Angie. Wrote the music for over a dozen feature films including The Excorcist and One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Has also worked with Earl Palmer, Leon Russell, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Parker ~ Nitzsche was born in 1937
August 25, 1992 ~ Louis Kevin Celestin, commonly kn0own as electronic, hip-hop, electronic, dance, funk, house producer, DJ Kaytranada, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti ~ Forms the alternative hip-hop duo the Celestics with his brother Lou Phelps. As a solo artist debuted in 2016 with the acclaimed 99.9% album. Its follow-up, 2019's Bubba, would earn him two Grammy Awards. Has served as producer for acts such as Costa Joe, Koriass, the Alaclair Ensemble, Mobb Deep, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Anderson Paak, Chance the Rapper, Alicia Keys, Matt Martians, Snoop Dogg, and Craig David
August 25, 1992 ~ Country singer Wynonna Judd releases No One Else On Earth, lifted off her Wynonna debut album ~ Written by Jill Colucci, Stewart Harris, and Sam Lorber, No One Else On Earth would become a signature song for Wynonna Judd. Gavin Report described the song as “unstoppable, with a funky groove”, and the song became the third consecutive Billboard Country No.1, spending four weeks atop the chart before being bumped off the top position by Alabama's I'm In A Hurry (And Don't Know Why). The singer herself regarded the song as one of her sassier, and when she performed the song at the Grand Ole Opry in 2005, she introduced the song saying: “As time went on, the more you listened, the sassier I got, and this next song pushed me over the edge. I like it there”August 25, 1990 ~ Singer James Ingram releases I Don't Have The Heart, lifted off his It's Real album ~ Ingram had previously reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 twice, duetting with Patti Austin in 1983 on Baby Come To Me which reached the top spot, and duetting with Linda Ronstadt in 1986 on Somewhere Out There, a No.2 hit off the An American Tail animated feature film soundtrack. Although James Ingram, a superb, smooth-voiced vocalist with a steady fanbase, had regularly appeared on the Billboard R&B charts, I Don't Have The Heart would become his only solo top 10 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, where it held the No.1 spot for one week. The song also earned Ingram a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. I Don't Have The Heart was the first song written by Allan Rich and Jud Friedman, the latter later commenting on his partner's lyrics: “And the thing about I Don't Have The Heart, among many brilliant things about Allan's idea for the song, is it's an example of taking a phrase that's very well known, ‘I don't have the heart, ’ and flipping it. ‘I don't have the heart to hurt you but I don't have the heart to love you.’ He used it in two different ways, and that was poetic.” Rich and Friedman would later team up again writing for the likes of Whitney Houston (Run To You), Oleta Adams, Chanté Moore, and Melissa Manchester
August 25, 1988 ~ Singer, songwriter, actress Alexandra Burke, full name Alexandra Imela Cecili Ewen Burke, born in Islington, UK ~ Won the 5th edition of The X-Factor in 2008. Known for singles such as Hallelujah, Bad Boys, All Night Long, Start Without You, Broken Heels, and The Silence
August 25, 1987 ~ Singer, guitarist, songwriter Amy MacDonald, full name Amy Elizabeth MacDonald, born in Bishopbriggs, UK ~ Cites Travis, the Killers, and Rammstein as influences. Debuted in 2007 with the album This Is The Life, which spawned the hit singles Mr Rock & Roll and This Is The Life. The album would reach the higher echelons of the charts across Europe including No.1 positions in the Netherlands and the singer's native UK. Macdonald has been recording to critical acclaim and commercial succes since
August 25, 1985 ~ Roots singer, guitarist, songwriter Dani Wilde, full name Danielle Christina Wilde, born in Hullavington, UK ~ Plays roots music, blues infused with country, gospel and soul. Released her Heal My Blues debut album in 2007 and has been recording steadily to critical acclaim since. Has opened for artists such as Journey, Foreigner, Johnny Winter and Robben Ford
August 25, 1984 ~ Jazz bassist, composer Linda May Han Oh born in Malaysia ~ Leader and sidewoman. Released her Entry debut album in 2008, featuring backing from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and drummer Obed Calvaire. Has guested on recordings by Dave Douglas, Art Hirahara, Jim Snidero, Fabian Almazan, Quentin Angus, Dr Anthony Branker, Joe Lovano, and Florian Weber
August 25, 1979 ~ Singer Ray Eberle passed away in Douglasville, Georgia, USA ~ Baby brother of singer Bob Eberly. Pitched by Glenn Miller to join his orchestra despite having no formal training. Sang lead on Miller's classics Sometime, Polka Dots And Moonbeams and At Last, the latter a top 10 hit in 1942. Fired on the spot for getting stuck in traffic and showing up late for a rehearsal. Eberly went on to lead his orchestras, the Ray Eberle Orchestra and the Serenade In Blue Orchestra, from 1943 until his death ~ Eberle was born in 1919
August 25, 1979 ~ Jazz pianist, bandleader, composer Stan Kenton, full name Stanley Newcomb Kenton, passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA ~ Revered bandleader leading his orchestra for well over four decades working in progressive jazz, West Coast jazz, swing, orchestral jazz and other idioms. Has worked with Maynard Ferguson, Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan, Nat King Cole, Anita O'Day, Lucky Thompson, June Christy, Chris Connor, Art Pepper, Pete Rugolo, Peter Erskine, and Eddie Safranski ~ Kenton was born in 1911
August 25, 1975 ~ Jazz, hip-hop percussionist, keyboardist, bassist, turntablist, producer Karriem Riggins born in Detroit, Michigan, USA ~ Son of keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins. Worked with a number of jazz artists, namely Betty Carter, Mulgrew Miller, Stephen Scott, Benny Green, Roy Hargrove and Ray Brown, prior to venturing into hip-hop. Served as bandleader for rapper Common. Has produced for artists such as Slum Village, J Dilla, the Roots, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Kaytranada, Earl Sweatshirt, Phat Kat, Consequence, and Dwele
August 25, 1971 ~ Bandleader, singer Ted Lewis, full name Theodore Leopold Friedman, passed away in New York, New York, USA ~ Known as “Mr Entertainment”. Started serving under Earl Fuller in the late-1910s. Led his own band by the end of the decade, marketed as Columbia Records' answer to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Employed clarinetists such as Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Frank Teschemacher, Don Murray. Also included sidemen such as trumpeter Muggsy Spanier and trombonist George Brunies. Particular popular during the 1920s, second only to Paul Whiteman's orchestra ~ Lewis was born in 1890