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.
October 14, 2025 ~ R&B, neo soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, bassist, percussionist, saxophonist, songwriter Michael Eugene Archer, commonly known as D'Angelo, born in Richmond, Virginia, USA ~ Ushered in the neo soul movement with his acclaimed Brown Sugar debut album, released in 1995. Would gain a devoted following despite long intermissions between releases. Well-known songs include Brown Sugar, Cruisin', Lady, and Untitled (How Does It Feel). Guested on albums by the Roots, Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill), Method Man, Angie Stone, the Wu-Tang Clan, Common, and Erykah Badu (Mama's Gun) ~ Archer was born in 1974October 14, 2025 ~ Pop singer, songwriter Dick Addrisi passed away ~ Formed the sibling duo the Addrisi Brothers with Don Addrisi. Both brothers auditioned for Mickey Mouse Club, but were rejected. As a duo the brothers scored hits with songs such as Cherrystone, We've Got To Get It On Again and Slow Dancin' Don't Turn Me On. The pair also wrote Never My Love, a 1967 Billboard Hot 100 No.2 hit for the Association ~ Addrisi was born in 1941
October 14, 2022 ~ Operatic soprano Mariana Nicolesco passed away in Bucharest, Romania ~ Best known for her association with the Metropolitan Opera, performing the role of Nedda in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci from 1978 through 1986. Has also worked with La Scala, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra ~ Nicolesco was born in 1948
October 14, 2021 ~ Bluegrass guitarist, dobroist Phil Leadbetter passed away in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ~ Member of JD Crowe & the New South from 1990 through 2001. Subsequently co-founding member of Wildfire, Grasstowne, and of Flashback. Has also worked with Vern Gosdin, the Whites, Dale Ann Bradley. Three solo albums to his name, 1999's Philibuster, 2005's Slide Effects and 2014's The Next Move ~ Leadbetter was born in 1962
October 14, 2021 ~ Jazz drummer, surfboard builder, surfer Tom Morey, full name Tom Hugh Morey, passed away ~ Honed his talent as a drummer and ukulele player from his early youth, working professionally by age 12. Has backed artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Stu Williamson, Bud Shank and Conte Candoli. Best known as a surfboard builder and professional surfer ~ Morey was born in 1935
October 14, 2020 ~ Hard rock bassist Paul Matters passed away in Toronto, Australia ~ Briefly a member of AC/DC, joining right after the recording of the band's 1975 High Voltage debut album and fired within weeks to be replaced by Mark Evans ~ Matters was born in 1952
October 14, 2020 ~ Marilyn Louis, commonly known as actress, singer Rhonda Fleming, passed away in Santa Monica, California, USA ~ Dubbed “the Queen of Technicolor” best known as an actress, appearing in over 40 films starting in the 1940s. Has also starred in a number of musical comedies, notably playing the female lead in 1949's A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court opposite Bing Crosby ~ Louis was born in 1923
October 14, 2019 ~ Choi Jin-ri, commonly known as K-pop singer, actress Sulli, passed away in Seongnam, South Korea ~ Member of girl group fx, known for songs such as Nu Abo, Pinocchio (Danger), Electric Shock, and Rum Pum Pum Pum. Jin-ri has ventured into acting and released her sole solo album, Goblin, in 2019 ~ Jin-ri was born in 1994
October 14, 2016 ~ Southern rock, country rock outfit Blackberry Smoke release their Like An Arrow album ~ Like their previous album, 2015's All The Roses, the album reached the top of the Billboard Country charts. The album would also do well in the UK, reaching top 10, and on the all-genre Billboard Hot 200 chart, where it peaked at No.12. The album's closing track Free On The Wing features guest co-lead vocalist Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, whom they considered an inspiration to the band. It is one of the last recordings featuring Allman, who passed away in 2017
October 14, 2016 ~ Folk, blues singer, guitarist, songwriter Werner Lämmerhirt passed away in Bodenwerder, Germany ~ Influenced by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Big Bill Broonzy, and Mississippi John Hurt. Rose to local fame in the late 1960s Berlin folk clubs. Debuted as a recording artist in 1974 with the album Ten Thousand Miles. Collaborated with Tom Paxton, Alex Campbell, Hannes Wader, and Wizz Jones ~ Lämmerhirt was born in 1949
October 14, 2014 ~ Randolph Isaiah Owens, commonly known as progressive rock, experimental rock, neo-psychedelia, hip-hop keyboardist Isaiah Ikey Owens, passed away in Cholula, Mexico ~ Best known as co-founding and longtime member of influential progressive rock band the Mars Volta, known for their energetic live shows and concept albums, as well as its predecessor At The Drive-in. Also closely associated with other acts from the Long Beach music scene, released the Looking For Lauryn Hill In Hollywood solo debut album in 2010, and was an in-demand collaborator and producer. Notable credits include the Free Moral Agents, Look Daggers, De-Facto, Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Reel Big Fish, Sublime, Saul Williams, the Visionaries, and Run The Jewels ~ Owens was born in 1974October 14, 2013 ~ Virginia Dinning, commonly known as singer Ginger Dinning, passed away ~ Member of sibling outfit the Dinning Sisters, alongside Lou Dinning and Jean Dinning, known for late 1940s top 20 hits such as My Adobe Hacienda, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now, I Beg Your Pardon and Buttons And Bows ~ Dinning was born in 1924
October 14, 2012 ~ Blake Baker Cunnningham Jr, commonly known as garage rock singer, organist BB Cunningham Jr, passed away in Memphis, Tennessee, USA ~ Lead singer, organist of 1960s garage rock one-hit wonder the Hombres, known for Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out). The song would reach the Billboard top 20 and later be covered by John Mellencamp on the 1989 Big Daddy album as well as by David Lee Roth on the 2003 Diamond Dave album. Cunningham would go on to back several artists, perhaps most notably Jerry Lee Lewis ~ Cunningham was born in 1942
October 14, 2007 ~ Kenneth Doniell Moore, commonly known as rapper Big Moe, passed away in Houston, Texas, USA ~ Co-founding member of DJ Screw's Screwed Up Click, considered one of the pivotal Southern rap acts. Released his City Of Syrup solo debut album in 2000. Best known for his 2003 single Just A Dog taken of the Moe Life album ~ Moore was born in 1974
October 14, 2006 ~ Baldemar Garza Huerta, commonly known as Tejano, country, rock, swamp pop singer, guitarist, songwriter Freddy Fender, passed away in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA ~ Merged country, rock, swamp pop and Tex-Mex. Active since the 1950s. Became a household name in the mid 1970s, scoring the Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit Before The Next Teardrop Falls. Subsequent hits included Wasted Days And Wasted Nights, Secret Love, and You'll Lose A Good Thing. Fender was also a member of supergroups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados ~ Huerta was born in 1937October 14, 2005 ~ Jazz composer, conductor, bandleader Oleg Lundstrem, full name Oleg Leonidovich Lundstrem, passed away in Obraztsovo, Russia ~ Led the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra, one of the earliest jazz bands in Russia active since the mid 1930s. In 1994, the Guinness Book of Records recognized the ensemble as the oldest continuously existing jazz band in the world ~ Lundstrem was born in 1916
October 14, 1990 ~ Violinist Daniel Guilet passed away in New York, New York, USA ~ Member of the Calvet Quartet. Toured France as Maurice Ravel's accompanist. Relocated to America during World War II, joining the NBC Symphony Orchestra a few years later initially serving under Arturo Toscanini promoted to concertmaster in the early 1950s. Best known for co-founding the Beaux Arts Trio in 1954 with cellist Bernard Greenhouse and pianist Menahem Pressler ~ Guilet was born in 1899
October 14, 1990 ~ Composer, conductor Leonard Bernstein passed away in New York, New York, USA ~ Longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic. As a composer best known for composing the scores of West Side Story, Peter Pan, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On The Waterfront ~ Bernstein was born in 1918
October 14, 1985 ~ Singer Kate Bush releases Cloudbusting, lifted off her Hounds Of Love album ~ Inspired by the Peter Reich memoir A Book Of Dreams about the relationship between a psychiatrist and his young son Peter on the family's farm. Kate Bush would later explain to Associated Press: “All of us tend to live in our heads. In Cloudbusting the idea was of starting this song with a person waking up from this dream, ‘I wake up crying.’ It's like setting a scene that immediately suggests to you that this person is no longer with someone they dearly love. It puts a pungent note on the song. Life is a loss, isn't it? It's learning to cope with loss. I think in a lot of ways, that's what all of us have to cope with.” The singer wasn't sure if she interpreted Reich's story properly, but was relieved to get his approval as Reich stated she had captured the situation. The single would reach top 20 in the Netherlands, Ireland, and Bush's native UK
October 14, 1983 ~ Country singer, pop songwriter Tebey Ottoh, full name Tebey Solomon Ottoh, born in Peterborough, Canada ~ As a recording artist known for a number of Canadian country hits including Who's Gonna Love You, Somewhere In The Country and We Shook Hands (Man To Man), the latter also charting in the USA. As a songwriter best known for his work outside country music circles, producing and writing for artists including One Direction (They Don't Know About Us), Flo Rida, Fifth Harmony, and Pixie Lott (All About Tonight)October 14, 1979 ~ Contemporary classical composer Marcus Paus, full name Marcus Nicolay Paus, born in Oslo, Norway ~ Son of singers Ole Paus and Anne-Karine Strøm. Critically acclaimed contemporary classical composer. Wrote chamber music, choral works, orchestral works, operas, symphonies. Paus referred to himself as a “melodist” and “anarcho-traditionalist”
October 14, 1978 ~ Usher Raymond IV, mononymoulsy known as R&B, pop, hip-hop singer, songwriter Usher born in Dallas, Texas, USA ~ Rose to fame with his sophomore album, 1997's My Way which spawned the hits Nice & Slow, You Make Me Wanna and My Way. Also known for subsequent releases such as U Remind Me, U Got It Bad, U Don't Have To Call, Yeah, Burn, Love In This Club, and DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love
October 14, 1977 ~ Harry Lillis Crosby Jr, commonly known as singer, actor, songwriter Bing Crosby, passed away in Madrid, Spain ~ Popular from the 1930s well through the 1950s. Over 70 films, over 1,600 songs. Influential on wide array of artists from Frank Sinatra to John Lennon. Noted for his vocal phrasing. Worked with the Rhythm Boys, Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Hoagy Carmichael, and Gus Arnheim. Well known songs include I Found A Million Dollar Baby In A Five And Ten Cent Store, At Your Command, White Christmas, Swinging On A Star, Pistol Packin' Mama, Don't Fence Me In, and I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance ~ Crosby was born in 1903
October 14, 1977 ~ Heavy metal, progressive metal, neo-classical metal, Christian metal guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, singer Carl Johan Grimmark born in Gothenburg, Sweden ~ Revered in Christian metal circles as a technically proficient guitarist, his style regularly compared to the neo-classicism of Yngwie Malmsteen. Best known as a member and key songwriter for Narnia, with whom he has recorded over half a dozen albums since the late 1990s. Grimmark has also regularly teamed up with his bandmate Narnia singer Christian Liljegren's side projects Divinefire and Audiovision, frequently worked with Saviour Machine, Rob Rock, and Beautiful Sin, recorded as a solo artist, and has appeared on albums by Sanctifica, Locomotive Breath, Flagship, Planet Alliance, Fullforce, and Empire 21
October 14, 1974 ~ Singer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter Natalie Maines, full name Natalie Louise Maines, born in Lubbock, Texas, USA ~ Member of all-female country outfit the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, from 1995 onwards, replacing singer Laura Lynch. Co-wrote many of the band's best known including Without You and Not Ready To Make Nice. Released her solo debut album, the Ben Harper co-produced Mother album, in 2007. Sang backing vocals on Pat Green's Dancehall Days debut album. Maines has also collaborated with Charlie Robison, Yellowcard, Stevie Nicks, Patty Griffin, Neil Diamond, Eddie Vedder, Pete Yorn, and Robert Earl Keen