Today's birthdays:
Jim Morrison (1943-1971).
James Douglas Morrison was an American singer-songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his energetic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, erratic and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.
Together with pianist Ray Manzarek, Morrison founded the Doors in 1965 in Venice, California. The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their number-one hit single in the United States, "Light My Fire", taken from their self-titled debut album. Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and many of which received critical acclaim. He was well known for improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Manzarek said Morrison "embodied hippie counterculture rebellion".
Morrison developed an alcohol dependency throughout his life, which at times affected his performances on stage. In 1971, Morrison died unexpectedly in a Paris apartment at the age of 27, amid several conflicting witness reports. His untimely death is often linked with the 27 Club. Since no autopsy was performed, the cause of Morrison's death remains disputed.
Although the Doors recorded two more albums after Morrison died, his death severely affected the band's fortunes, and they split up two years later. In 1993, Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other Doors members. Magazines including Rolling Stone, NME and Classic Rock, have ranked him among the greatest rock singers of all time.
Gregg Allman (1947-2017).
Gregory LeNoir Allman was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country at times. He wrote several of the band's most popular songs, including "Whipping Post", "Melissa", and "Midnight Rider". Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida and then Macon, Georgia.
He and his brother Duane Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, which reached mainstream success with their 1971 live album At Fillmore East, but shortly thereafter, Duane was killed in a motorcycle crash. The band continued, and released Brothers and Sisters, which became their most successful album, in 1973. Allman began a solo career with Laid Back the same year. He gained some additional fame for his 1975 to 1978 marriage to pop star Cher. He had an unexpected late-career hit with his cover of the song "I'm No Angel" in 1987, and his seventh solo album, Low Country Blues (2011), saw the highest chart positions of his career. Throughout his life, Allman struggled with alcohol and substance abuse, which formed the basis of his memoir My Cross to Bear (2012). His final album, Southern Blood, was released posthumously on September 8, 2017.
Allman performed with a Hammond organ and guitar, and was recognized for his soulful voice. For his work in music, Allman was referred to as a Southern rock pioneer and received numerous awards, including one Grammy Award; he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His distinctive voice placed him 70th in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".
Phil Collen, 66.
Philip Kenneth Collen is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Prior to joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British glam metal scene. Outside of Def Leppard, with which he still records and performs live, he has been involved in a number of side projects most notably the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.
Nicki Minaj, 41.
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer and songwriter based in the United States. Often referred to as the "Queen of Rap", she is known for her musical versatility, animated rap flow, alter egos, and influence in popular music. She first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.
Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday (2010), topped the US Billboard 200 chart; its single "Super Bass" reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified diamond by the RIAA. Follow-up album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) explored dance-pop and debuted atop the Billboard 200, with its lead single "Starships" peaking in the top five of charts internationally. Her third album, The Pinkprint (2014), explored personal topics and marked a return to her hip hop roots. Its lead single "Anaconda" peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and became the first music video by a solo female rapper to reach one billion views on YouTube. Minaj released her fourth album Queen in 2018, which spawned the US top ten single "Chun-Li". In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, "Tusa", became the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100 chart. Minaj has been featured on various songs and achieved her first two Hot 100 number-one singles in 2020 with the collaborations "Say So" (with Doja Cat) and "Trollz" (with 6ix9ine). In 2022, she achieved her first solo number-one with "Super Freaky Girl", the lead single from her fifth studio album Pink Friday 2 (2023).
Minaj is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the top selling female rapper of the 2010s and one of the greatest rappers of all time. She has twenty-three top 10 singles in the US, the most for any female rapper, with six of those being solo songs. Her various accolades include eight American Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2022 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), twelve BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award, three Guinness World Records and twelve Grammy nominations. Outside of music, her film and television career has included voice roles in the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), supporting roles in the films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) and being an American Idol judge. In 2016, Time included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Throughout her career, Minaj's outspoken views, social media disputes and her fanbase have received significant media coverage.
Sinead O'Connor (1966-2023).
Sinead Marie Bernadette O'Connor was an Irish singer, songwriter, and activist. Her debut studio album, The Lion and the Cobra, was released in 1987 and achieved international chart success. Her 1990 album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, was her biggest commercial success, selling over seven million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", was honoured as the top world single of the year at the Billboard Music Awards.
O'Connor achieved chart success with Am I Not Your Girl? (1992) and Universal Mother (1994), both certified gold in the UK, as well as Faith and Courage (2000), certified gold in Australia. Throw Down Your Arms (2005) achieved gold status in Ireland. Her career encompassed songs for films, collaborations with numerous artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts. O'Connor's memoir, Rememberings, was released in 2021 and became a bestseller.
Consistently, O'Connor drew attention to issues such as child abuse, human rights, racism, organised religion, and women's rights. During a Saturday Night Live performance in 1992, she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II to protest against abuse in the Catholic Church, sparking controversy. Throughout her musical career, she openly discussed her spiritual journey, activism, socio-political viewpoints, and her experiences with trauma and struggles with mental health.
On this day today:
1960 - Henry Mancini records "Moon River."
1967 - Traffic release their debut album, Mr. Fantasy.
1967 - The Rolling Stones release Their Satanic Majesties Request, the title a play on their malevolent image. It contains a hit with a much more anodyne title: "She's A Rainbow."
1968 - Graham Nash plays his last gig with The Hollies, a charity concert in London. He moves on with Crosby, Stills and Nash; The Hollies replace him with Terry Sylvester and continue their hit-making ways with "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress."
1969 - The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously) release their only album, Permanent Damage, with Frank Zappa producing. The band is entirely made up of "groupies." The lineup consists of Pamela Miller (later Des Barres), Mercy Fontenot, Cynthia Wells (later Cale-Binion), Christine Frka, Lucy Offerall, Sandra Rowe and Sandy Parker.
1973 - Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor is born in Des Moines, Iowa.
1975 - The benefit concert "A Night of the Hurricane" is held at Madison Square Garden. The last date on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, the show features many non-musical celebrities and raises over $100,000 for the release of wrongly imprisoned boxer "Hurricane" Carter and his alleged accomplice. Carter himself calls the stage from jail.
1976 - An updated version of the musical drama A Star is Born debuts in movie theaters, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and featuring the Academy Award-winning chart-topper "Evergreen."
1979 - The Styx ballad "Babe," which Dennis DeYoung wrote for his wife, hits #1 in America.
1980 - John Lennon mixes Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" at the Record Plant studio in New York. It is the last time he is in a studio, as he is shot and killed when he returns to his apartment building.
1980 - John Lennon, 40 years old, is shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.
1984 - "Out Of Touch" hits the top spot, giving Hall & Oates their sixth and final #1 in America.
1995 - Four months after the death of founding member Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead announce their breakup, stating, "The 'long strange trip' of the uniquely wonderful beast known as the Grateful Dead is over." Members Bob Weir and Vince Welnick continue as Ratdog.
2007 - Thanks to an appearance on Oprah where she declares it one of her "favorite things," the Josh Groban Christmas album Noel goes to #1 in America, where it becomes the top-selling album of 2007.
2013 - Metallica play Antarctica as part of a promotion sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero. A documentary and audio download of the event are later issued under the title Freeze 'Em All.
2017 - Johnny Mathis releases The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection. The 68-disc box set includes 67 remastered albums, including two that have never been released in their entirety: I Love My Lady, a 1981 album written and produced by Chic founders Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and The Island, a Brazilian-flavored album produced by Sergio Mendes in 1989.
2019 - Juice WRLD, a 21-year-old rapper known for his hit "Lucid Dreams," dies after suffering a seizure onboard a private jet.
