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 20, 2024 ~ Barbara Jean Spillman, commonly known as folk, blues, jazz singer, guitarist, political activist Barbara Dane, passed away in Oakland, California, USA ~ Praised for her rich voice, known for her political activism. Described as “Bessie Smith in stereo” by noted jazz critic Leonard Feather, and as “one of the true unsung heroes of American music” by the Boston Globe. Early on in her career, Dane turned down an offer to tour with Alvino Rey's band, favoring singing at factory gates and in union halls. Starting with the highly acclaimed Trouble In Mind in 1957, Dane has recorded over a dozen albums as a singer, including collaborations with Benny Carter, Lightnin' Hopkins, and the Chamber Brothers. Dane has also co-founded Paredon Records in the early 1970s, a label known for recordings by artists from across the globe addressing racial justice, feminism and anti-imperialism. Dane would later comment on the need for the label: “I saw that whenever the movement in a particular country was strong, there was an emerging music to go with it. It struck me that this stuff needed to be heard in the voices of the people who wrote the songs” ~ Dane was born in 1927
October 20, 2022 ~ Songwriter Bettye Crutcher, full name Bettye Jean Crutcher, passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, USA ~ Perhaps best known for co-writing Who's Making Love, originally a hit for Johnnie Taylor in 1968 and covered by Tony Joe White, Elkie Brooks, the SOS Band, and the Blues Brothers. Songs written or co-written by Crutcher have also been recorded by the Staple Singers (The Ghetto), William Bell, Ann Peebles (How Strong Is A Woman), Little Sonny (It's Hard Going Up But Twice As Hard Coming Down), the Sweet Inspirations, Shirley Brown (It's Worth A Whipping), Ben E King, Marlena Shaw, and BB King (Take Off Your Shoes) ~ Crutcher was born in 1939
October 20, 2021 ~ Singer Allan Wilmot passed away ~ Member of vocal group the Southlanders, active from the mid 1950s through 1961. The Caribbean-themed band is known for their signature song The Mole, a concert favorite sung at every performance. The 1957 Alone (Why Must I Be Alone) UK top 20 hit would be the band's only charting single ~ Wilmot was born ca.1925October 20, 2016 ~ Mieke Berendina Johanna Telgenkamp, commonly known as singer Mieke Telkamp passed away in Zeist, the Netherlands ~ Best known for her covers of American jazz and pop songs including Here In My Heart, Never On Sunday and Changing Of The Tides, her Dutch million-seller and longtime funeral favorite Waarheen Waarvoor, and for her German schlagers ~ Telkamp was born in 1934
October 20, 2015 ~ Jazz saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, arranger Don Rendell passed away in London, UK ~ Son of Percy Rendell who was musical director for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Leader and sideman. Rendell worked with artists such as George Evans, Oscar Rabin, Johnny Dankworth, Billie Holiday, Tony Crombie, Ted Heath, Stan Kenton, Tony Kinsey, Woody Herman, Ian Carr, Barbara Thompson, Michael Garrick, Brian Priestley, Neil Ardley, Kenny Graham, Richard Hewson, Jutta Hipp, Cyril Stapleton, Stan Tracey, Guy Warren, and Amancio d'Silva ~ Rendell was born in 1926October 20, 2013 ~ Robert C Thomas, commonly known as jazz drummer Bobby Thomas passed away ~ Best known as a member of Junior Mance's trio in the early 1960s present on albums such as The Soulful Piano Of Junior Mance, and for his association with the Montgomery Brothers appearing on the 1961 Groove Yard album. Thomas has also guested on albums by Gigi Gryce, Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, Art Farmer, and Dave Pike ~ Thomas was born in 1932
October 20, 2010 ~ Ariane Danielle Forster, commonly known as singer, keyboardist Ari Up, passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA ~ Best known as member of the Slits, co-founded with drummer Palmolive. Brought the reggae and dub influences to the band. Member of the New Age Steppers. Has collaborated with Lee Scratch Perry, Mark Stewart, and Vic Ruggiero ~ Forster was born in 1962
October 20, 2009 ~ Rapper, singer Jay-Z releases Empire State Of Mind featuring Alicia Keys, lifted off his The Blueprint 3 album ~ The song's title is a play on an and tribute to New York's nickname, Empire State. Despite initial discouraging remarks when first offered to Roc Nation, Jay-Z's then-newfound record label, the end result would be a major hit, warmly received by critics and a top 10 hit in over two dozen countries including topping the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. The song would also earn three Grammy Award nominations, winning the awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Native New Yorker Alicia Keys would later explain to MTV News how the collaboration came about: “I've admired Jay-Z for a long time. Reasonable Doubt is my all-time favorite album, period, and he's been on the scene for long time. I always figured that we would do some type of collaboration, and finally, it came together with this. He reached out to me said, ‘I have this big New York record. I feel its right for us to do it together. It has this big Frank Sinatra, take-it-there feeling. I feel like you could really do something with it’”October 20, 2007 ~ Bassist Paul Raven, full name Paul Vincent Raven, passed away in Geneva, Switzerland ~ Best known as a member of post-punk outfit Killing Joke, including on their UK top 20 hit Love Like Blood of their 1985 Night Time album. Has also worked with Neon Hearts, Kitsch, Dogs D'Amour, Tony McPhee, Murder Inc, Prong, Zilch, Society 1, Ministry, and Pigface ~ Raven was born in 1961
October 20, 2006 ~ Jazz saxophonist Frank Vicari passed away in New York, New York, USA ~ In-demand sideman. First gained attention as a member of Maynard Ferguson's big band from 1960 through its disbandement in 1965. Would go on to back Buddy Rich and notably Woody Herman, remaining with the latter until 1970. Has also worked with Steve Gadd, Mike Mainieri, the Brecker Brothers, White Elephant, George Benson, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Billy Eckstine, Tom Waits, John Lennon (Walls And Bridges), Urbie Green, the Manhattan Transfer, Bette Midler, Art Farmer, and James Brown ~ Vicari was born in 1931
October 20, 2004 ~ Crathman Plato Spencer, commonly known as R&B singer, songwriter, producer CP Spencer, passed away ~ Closely associated with the Motown label. Best known as member of the Originals. Also worked with the Marvelettes, the Carpenters, the Spinners, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, and Edwin Starr ~ Spencer was born in 1938October 20, 2004 ~ Operatic tenor William Brown passed away in Jacksonville, Florida, USA ~ Worked with the Baltimore Opera Company, the Little Orchestra Society, the Lake George Opera, the New York City Opera, the Connecticut Opera, and the New York Philharmonic ~ Brown was born in 1938
October 20, 1997 ~ Guitarist Henry Vestine, full name Henry Charles Vestine, passed away in Paris, France ~ Influenced by T-Bone Walker, Sonny Sharrock, Freddie King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker. Briefly a member of Frank Zappa's backing unit the Mothers Of Invention, leaving shortly before the recording of their debut album. Co-founding member of Canned Heat, remaining with the band from 1966 through 1969 and rejoining on occasion in later years. Present on the band's first four albums, Canned Heat, Boogie With Canned Heat, Living The Blues, and Hallelujah. Missed the famed 1969 the Woodstock Music and Art Fair gig, having quit the band the week before. Has alo worked with avant-garda jazz saaxophonist Albert Ayler ~ Vestine was born in 1944October 20, 1989 ~ Jessica Hannah Glynne, commonly known as singer, songwriter Jess Glynne, born in London, UK ~ First gained attention in 2014 as featured vocalist on Clean Bandit's Rather Be and Route 94's My Love. Released her I Cry When I Laugh solo debut album the following year, spawning the hit singles Hold My Hand and Don't Be So Hard. Would continue her success with hits such as I'll Be There, These Days, Thursday, and One Touch
October 20, 1988 ~ Darold Ferguson Jr, commonly known as hip-hop, trap rapper, songwriter A$AP Ferg born in New York, New York, USA ~ Member of hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, alongside A$AP Nast and A$AP Rocky. Released his full-length solo debut album, Trap Lord, in 2013. Best known for Move Ya Hips featuring Nicki Minaj and MadeinTYO. Has also collaborated with G-Eazy, Elle Varner, Haim, Sicko Mobb, Liam Bailey, Meek Mill, NORE, DJ Premier, Octavian, and Big Sean
October 20, 1988 ~ Pop rock singer Noémie Wolfs, full name Noémie Maria Alexis Ghislaine Wolfs, born in Scherpenheuvel, Belgium ~ Best known as lead singer of Hooverphonic, joining the band in 2010 as replacement for Geike Arnaert. First appeared on the single The Night Before, a top 10 hit in the band's native Belgium. Subsequent hits featuring Wolfs included Anger Never Dies and Amalfi. Following her departure from the band Wolfs released her Hunt You solo debut album in 2016, which spawned the hit single BurningOctober 20, 1987 ~ Bassist Dries Laheye born in Belgium ~ Best known as member of avant-garde jazz ensemble STUFF. Also worked with BRZZVLL, Hoera, DERVISH, Lidlboj, Liesa van der Aa, Jameszoo, Sir Yes Sir, Pudding oO, and the Kyteman Orchestra
October 20, 1986 ~ Pop rock group Crowded House release Don't Dream It's Over, lifted off their eponymous debut album ~ Following the disbandement of Split Enz singer Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester formed Crowded House. Having gained notoriety with their previous outfit particularly in Australia and New Zealand and a cult following across Europe, the new band was off to a good start. Crowded House's debut album would be welcomed by critics and spawned several hits. Don't Dream It's Over would reach No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, held off the top spot by the Aretha Franklin and George Michael duet I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me). Crowded House would continue to enjoy popularity down under as well as in Europe, but would reach the American top ten just once more, Something So Strong also lifted off their debut album, reaching No.7. Decades after Don't Dream It's Over became a hit, frontman Neil Finn, who wrote the song, told ABC: “I really enjoy singing it every time I do it, and I'm super pleased and proud that the song that is almost the most identifiable for us is, I think, one of my best songs”October 20, 1986 ~ Charles Jawanzaa Worth, commonly known as rapper, songwriter King Chip, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA ~ Closely associated with Kid Cudi. Perhaps best known for his 2007 track Club Rockin' featuring Akon on backing vocals. Also known for co-producing Hi-Tek's 2007 Hi-Teknology album
October 20, 1986 ~ Singer Peter Gabriel releases Don't Give Up featuring Kate Bush, lifted off his So album ~ Initially, Peter Gabriel had approached country singer Dolly Parton to join him for the recording, yet as Parton declined, Gabriel turned to Kate Bush who had regularly sung backup on Gabriel's songs. The song was inspired by Depression-era photographs of poverty-stricken Americans, Gabriel in particular citing the 1973 book In This Proud Land which documented the era, as well as the 1980s unemployment under Margaret Thatcher's premiership in the UK. Following the success of Sledgehammer, lead single off the same parent album, Don't Give Up would reach No.9 in the UK. The song also reached top 10 in Australia, the Netherlands, and IrelandOctober 20, 1984 ~ Albert J Johnson, commonly known as jazz, swing, bebop, R&B saxophonist, arranger Budd Johnson, passed away in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ Johnson initially played drums but after picking up the tenor saxophone, he would become a key figure in early bebop, and one of the first sax players strongly influenced by pre-bop legendary saxophonist Lester Young. Johnson has recorded a number of albums as a leader, perhaps most acclaimed for Let's Swing and Budd Johnson And The Four Brass Giants both issued in 1960s, but is best known as a bandleader and arranger in support of others starting in the early 1930s. Notable associations include Earl Hines, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, and Billie Holiday. Johnson was also a key member of the mid 1940s house band at The Onyx Club in New York, considered by some to be the first bebop group, which besides Johnson also featured Dizzy Gillespie, George Wallington, Oscar Pettiford, and Max Roach. Johnson would remain an in-demand collaborator and session player in both jazz and R&B throughout his lengthy career, to R&B audiences perhaps best known for his saxophone solo on Ruth Brown's 1950 breakout hit Teardrops From My Eyes, served as a jazz educator, founded and led the JPJ Quartet which performed on an occasional basis during the first half of the 1970s, and was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993. Johnson's grandson is rapper and producer Albert Johnson, commonly known by his stage name Prodigy, of hip hop outfit Mobb Deep ~ Johnson was born in 1910
October 20, 1984 ~ Heavy metal, extreme metal, deathcore singer, bassist, songwriter Mitch Lucker, full name Mitchell Adam Lucker, born in Riverside, California, USA ~ Influenced by artists such as Korn, the Deftones, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, and Van Halen. Lucker is best known as lead singer of deathcore band Suicide Silence, with whom he recorded four albums including the acclaimed No Time To Bleed until his death at age 28 in a motorcycle accident ~ Lucker passed away in 2012
October 20, 1983 ~ Country, western swing, folk, gospel singer, songwriter Merle Travis, full name Merle Robert Travis, passed away in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA ~ Known for songs such as Divorce Me COD, So Round So Firm So Fully Packed, Sixteen Tons, Re-enlistment Blues, I Am a Pilgrim, and Dark As A Dungeon ~ Travis was born in 1917
October 20, 1982 ~ Singer, bassist, guitarist Damien Starkey, full name Damien Joel Starkey, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ~ Singer for Society Red and Burn Season. Bassist for Puddle Of Mudd. Prolific film and TV composer with over 70 credits to his name, notably the 2012 comedy action film Nitro Circus The Movie. Producer for acts such as Saliva, Daughtry and Avril LavigneOctober 20, 1981 ~ Rebecca Louise Chilcott, commonly known as country, Americana singer, songwriter Ruby Boots, born in Perth, Australia ~ Released her full-length Solitude debut album in 2015, containing No Stranger co-written with the WAiFS' Vikki Thorn and the title track Solitude co-written with You Am I's Davey Lane. Has recorded to critical acclaim since