Today's birthdays:
Dennis Wilson (1944-1983).
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. Dennis was the only true surfer in the Beach Boys, and his personal life exemplified the "California Myth" that the band's early songs often celebrated. He was also known for his association with the Manson Family and for co-starring in the 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop.
Wilson served mainly on drums and baritone backing vocals for the Beach Boys. His playing can be heard on many of the group's hits, belying the popular misconception that he was always replaced on record by studio musicians. He originally had few lead vocals on the band's songs due to his limited baritone range, but his prominence as a singer-songwriter increased following their 1968 album Friends. His music is characterized for reflecting his "edginess" and "little of his happy charm". His original songs for the group included "Little Bird" (1968), "Forever" (1970) and "Cuddle Up" (1972). Friends and biographers have asserted that he was an uncredited writer on "You Are So Beautiful", a 1974 hit for Joe Cocker frequently performed by Wilson in concert.
During his final years, Wilson struggled with alcoholism and the use of other drugs (including cocaine and heroin), exacerbating longstanding tensions with some of his bandmates. His solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue (1977), was released to warm reviews and moderate sales comparable to those of contemporaneous Beach Boys albums. Sessions for a follow-up, Bambu, disintegrated before his death. In 1983, Wilson drowned at age 39. In 1988, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys.
Gary Rossington (1951-2023).
Gary Robert Rossington was an American guitarist. He is best known as a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, in which he played lead and rhythm guitar. He was the longest-surviving founding member of the band. Rossington was also a founding member of the Rossington Collins Band, along with former bandmate Allen Collins.
Jay-Z, 54.
Shawn Corey Carter, known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Known for his involvement in the creative and commercial success of numerous artists, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023. He is the founder and chairman of entertainment company Roc Nation, and was the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007.
Born and raised in New York City, Jay-Z began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 and released his debut studio album Reasonable Doubt in 1996, which was met with critical praise. He went on to release twelve additional albums to further critical acclaim and commercial success, including The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017). He released the collaborative albums Watch the Throne with Kanye West in 2011 and Everything Is Love with his wife Beyonce in 2018. Jay-Z holds the record for the most number-one albums (14) of any solo artist on the Billboard 200.
Through his business ventures, Jay-Z became the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019. In 1999, he founded Rocawear, a clothing retailer. In 2003, he founded 40/40 Club, a luxury bar chain. Both businesses grew to multi-million-dollar corporations, enabling him to launch Roc Nation, a multi-disciplinary entertainment agency in 2008. In 2015, he acquired the technology company Aspiro and led the expansion of Tidal, the company's media streaming service. As of 2023, he is the wealthiest musical artist in the world with a net worth of US$2.5 billion.
One of the world's best-selling music artists with 140 million records sold, Jay-Z has won 24 Grammy Awards, the tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Kanye West. He has been awarded the NAACP's President's Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Sports Emmy Award, and been nominated for a Tony Award. Ranked by Billboard and Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest artists of all time, Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first solo living rapper inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.
On this day today:
1965 - The Rolling Stones release December's Children (And Everybody's) in the US.
1965 - Jacques Brel makes his American concert debut, performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
1971 - During a Frank Zappa concert, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland catches fire when someone fires a flare gun, inspiring Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." Deep Purple are there to record their album Machine Head the following day, but end up using the Grand Hotel and including the song as a last-minute addition.
1971 - Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
1975 - Kiss earn their first Gold album with Alive!.
1980 - Led Zeppelin make it official: they will not continue after the death of their drummer, John Bonham. They never fully re-form, but do play some shows with Jason Bonham filling in for his father.
1987 - 16-year-old Alison Krauss releases her debut album, Too Late To Cry, backed by her band Union Station.
1988 - In Akron, Ohio, Roy Orbison plays his last concert (his final song: "Running Scared"). The legendary singer dies of heart failure two days later.
1990 - The Simpsons extend their pop culture dominance into music with the album The Simpsons Sing The Blues. Led by the Michael Jackson-assisted single "Do The Bartman," it sells over 2 million copies in America.
2013 - REO Speedwagon, Styx, Richard Marx and Survivor play a "Rock to the Rescue" concert in Bloomington, Illinois to benefit victims of a November 17 tornado in the area. Longtime REO guitarist Gary Richrath joins the band for "Ridin' the Storm Out," his first appearance with the group since he left in 1989. It's the last time he plays with the band, as he dies in 2015.
2014 - The day after a fake MSNBC story reports the death of Axl Rose, the very much alive Guns N' Roses frontman tweets: "if I'm dead do I still have to pay taxes?"
2014 - ASCAP lists its Top 30 Holiday Songs of the Century, with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" topping the tally.
