Today's birthdays:
Brian Johnson, 76
Brian Johnson is a British singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC.
Johnson was one of the founding members of the rock band Geordie formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1971. After a few hit singles, including UK Top 10 "All Because of You" (1973), the band split up in 1978. Following the death of Bon Scott on 19 February 1980, Johnson was asked to audition for AC/DC. AC/DC guitarists and founders Angus and Malcolm Young initially reached out to Brian remembering when Bon had been impressed with him after seeing him perform with Geordie. His first album with AC/DC, Back in Black, became the second-best-selling album of all time, according to most estimates. The Guardian ranked the successful transition to Johnson at No. 36 on their list of 50 key events in rock music history.
He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In March 2016, he temporarily stepped away from the band during the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing problems. In September 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed that Johnson along with fellow band-mates Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams had rejoined the band in August 2018 to record the band's 2020 album, Power Up.
Johnson is known for his distinctive singing voice and strong Geordie accent. In July 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Northumbria University in the city of Newcastle in recognition of his significant contribution to the music industry.
Steve Miller, 80.
Steven Haworth Miller is an American musician. He is the founder and only remaining original member of the Steve Miller Band, which he founded in 1966, and is the principal songwriter, lead singer, harmonicist, keyboardist, and one of the guitarists. He began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more pop-oriented arena rock genre during the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, releasing popular singles and albums. Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 1973, The Joker marked the start of the second phase of Miller's career: this work was less blues oriented and simpler in composition. The album received significant radio airplay, which helped the title track reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single hit No 1 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1990 after it was used for a television commercial.
Miller followed up with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976, and Book of Dreams in 1977. (The songs for both had been recorded at the same time, and released over two single albums rather than one double-album.) This pair of albums represented the peak of Miller's commercial career, both reaching the top echelons of the album charts and spawning a lengthy series of hit singles, including "Fly Like an Eagle", "Rock'n Me", "Take the Money and Run", "Jet Airliner", and "Jungle Love". The Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with the Eagles in 1978.
Russell Mael, 75.
Russell Craig Mael is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his far-reaching falsetto. He has a flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence which contrasts sharply with Ron Mael's inexpressive demeanour. The band released an album with British rock band Franz Ferdinand, as the supergroup FFS, titled FFS, released in 2015. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.
He has recorded 26 albums with his band, Sparks. The band has a cult following around the world and are best known for the song "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
Bob Geldof, 72.
Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part of the punk rock movement. The band had UK number one hits with his co-compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays". Geldof starred as Pink in Pink Floyd's 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. As a fundraiser, Geldof organised the charity supergroup Band Aid and the concerts Live Aid and Live 8, and co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?", one of the best-selling singles to date.
On this day today:
1945 - Brian Connolly (lead singer for Sweet) is born in Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland.
1958 - Cliff Richard and The Shadows play their first ever gig, appearing on a bill with the Kalin Twins and Eddie Calvert at Victoria Hall in Hanley, England.
1959 - Bobby Darin's swinging version of "Mack the Knife," a song about a killer from The Threepenny Opera, hits #1 on the Hot 100 and stays there for an astonishing nine weeks. Darin, who is known for lighter fare like "Splish Splash," gains a more adult following, putting him on par with Frank Sinatra.
1959 - Nina Simone's debut single, "I Loves You Porgy," peaks at #18 on the Hot 100, the highest she will ever place on the chart
1962 - Parlophone releases the first Beatles single, "Love Me Do," in the UK. Radio Luxembourg puts it on the air, marking the first time a Beatles single is played on the radio.
1965 - Henry Mancini's soundtrack LP The Pink Panther is certified gold.
1966 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience forms in London.
1970 - Led Zeppelin releases Led Zeppelin III.
1973 - Elton John releases Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, his most successful studio album.
1974 - The Beach Boys' LP Endless Summer hits #1.
1974 - Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" hits #1 for the first of two weeks, making it her first chart-topper in the US.
1975 - Original Wailers members Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer play together for the last time at the Wonder Dream Concert, which is a benefit organized by Stevie Wonder, in Kingston, Jamaica.
1978 - Dolly Parton becomes the first country singer to pose for Playboy.
1979 - ABBA visits the White House while on tour for the first and only time in America. They meet President Carter's daughter Amy, who is a big fan.
1979 - The Who's soundtrack album The Kids Are Alright is certified Platinum.
1987 - Bruce Springsteen releases his album Tunnel Of Love. He got married for the first time two years earlier, but there are few signs of domestic bliss in the songs. (The release date is often listed as October 9, but news clips from the time show that October 5 is correct.)
1991 - Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion II debuts at #1, followed by Use Your Illusion I on Billboard's albums chart.
1992 - Spin Doctors release their first single, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong."
1996 - Joan Osborne, Soul Asylum, Jewel, Extra Fancy, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Dog's Eye View, among others, perform at the first annual "Concert to Benefit The Pedro Zamora Foundation." The show raises money for the PZF to use toward educating kids about AIDS. Zamora, who died of an AIDS-related illness two years earlier, was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.
1997 - Garth Brooks fans snap up more than 139,000 tickets in less than four hours, selling out eight shows at Chicago's Rosemont Horizon.
1998 - HBO is the home of the world premiere of Janet Jackson's new music video "Every Time." The premiere takes place just before the 8 p.m. showing of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and serves as a prelude to HBO's premiere of the live concert special from Madison Square Garden, Janet: The Velvet Rope.
1999 - The Corrs perform live on MTV's Unplugged at Ardmore Studios in Wicklow, Ireland. The resulting CD and DVD have sold well over 2 million copies.
1999 - After breaking up in 1983, The Who reform when Roger Daltrey announces that they will play a concert in Las Vegas.
2002 - Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" goes from #52 to #1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record for biggest leap to the top spot. The previous record was held by The Beatles, whose "Can't Buy Me Love" went from #27 to #1. Maroon 5 beat Clarkson's record in 2007 when "It Makes Me Wonder" rose to the summit from #64.
2003 - Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice collects the third annual Shortlist Music Prize, climaxing a four-and-a-half hour concert, featuring Rice and seven of the nine nominees at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Styled as a US equivalent to Britain's Mercury Prize, the Shortlist Prize honors cutting-edge performers whose latest albums have sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of their nomination.
2008 - After 17 years living as a couple, Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night finally tie the knot. Blackmore is formerly of the bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. Night and Blackmore were brought together through a shared love of Renaissance music and together form the band Blackmore's Night, which enjoys nominal success as a British traditional folk / Renaissance music project.
2011 - The Martin Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World premieres on HBO. Ringo Starr says in the film: "He had the bag of love-beads personality and the bag of anger."
2012 - Adele posts her new theme to Skyfall, the 23rd film in the James Bond series. The theme song, written by Adele and her songwriting partner Paul Epworth, features a 77-piece backing orchestra. In an informal Billboard poll, 69% of responses vote it the best theme to a Bond film ever.
