Today's birthdays:
Bette Midler, 78.
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards and a Kennedy Center Honor, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several off-off-Broadway plays, prior to her engagements in Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in the Continental Baths, a local gay bathhouse where she managed to build up a core following. Since 1970, Midler has released 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 million records worldwide, and has received four Gold, three Platinum, and three Multiplatinum albums by RIAA. Many of her songs became chart hits, including her renditions of "The Rose", "Wind Beneath My Wings", "Do You Want to Dance", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and "From a Distance". She won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose", and Record of the Year for "Wind Beneath My Wings".
Midler made her starring film debut with the musical drama The Rose (1979), which won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in numerous films, including Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Beaches (1988), Hocus Pocus (1993)
In 2008, Midler signed a contract with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for a residency, Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On, which ended in 2010. She starred in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which began previews in March 2017 and premiered at the Shubert Theatre in April 2017. The show was her first leading role in a Broadway musical. Midler received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.
Tyler Joseph, 35.
Tyler Robert Joseph is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. Across his career he has recorded seven albums: one solo, and six with Twenty One Pilots. He has been nominated for six Grammy Awards as a member of the duo, of which he has won one.
Janelle Monae, 38.
Janelle Monae Robinson is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. Monae has also been honored with the ASCAP Vanguard Award, as well as the Rising Star Award (2015) and the Trailblazer of the Year Award (2018) from Billboard Women in Music. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society.
Monae's musical career began in 2003 upon releasing a demo album titled The Audition. In 2007, Monae publicly debuted with a conceptual EP titled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase). It peaked at number two on the US Top Heatseekers chart, and in 2010, through Bad Boy Records, Monae released a first full-length studio album, The ArchAndroid, a concept album and sequel to her first EP. In 2011, Monae was featured as a guest vocalist on fun.'s single "We Are Young", which was certified-Diamond from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), topping the charts of more than ten countries and garnering Monae a wider audience. Monae's second studio album, The Electric Lady (2013), debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, and served as the fourth and fifth installments of the seven-part Metropolis concept series.
Monae's third studio album, Dirty Computer, also a concept album, was released in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim; it was chosen as the best album of the year by several publications; it earned Monae two nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. It was accompanied by the science fiction film of the same name. The album peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 and was further promoted by Monae's Dirty Computer Tour. In 2022, she wrote the cyberpunk story collection, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, based on the album. Her fourth studio album, The Age of Pleasure, followed in 2023.
On this day today:
1957 - It's a big night on Ed Sullivan Show: Buddy Holly and the Crickets (performing "That'll Be The Day"), Sam Cooke (performing "You Send Me"), and The Rays (performing "Silhouettes") all perform for the first time on national TV.
1944 - Blue Oyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom is born in New York City.
1956 - One of the first rock movies, The Girl Can't Help It, opens in America. Featuring performances by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, The Platters and Fats Domino, the film stars Jayne Mansfield as an aspiring singer.
1956 - Julee Cruise is born in Creston, Iowa. The singer-songwriter writes the iconic theme ("Falling") to the cult TV series Twin Peaks.
1958 - Life magazine becomes the first major publication to print the phrase "teen idol" when they use it to describe their cover subject, Ricky Nelson.
1958 - Neil Sedaka signs with RCA Records as a solo artist.
1968 - Promises, Promises, a musical adapted from the Billy Wilder film The Apartment, debuts at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The first and only Broadway production with music from Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it yields hits for Dionne Warwick and Bobbie Gentry.
1971 - John Lennon releases "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" in the US.
1973 - The Carpenters "Top Of The World" hits #1 in America. The song is also a #1 Country hit for Lynn Anderson.
1976 - The Sex Pistols appear on the Today programme on London regional TV as a last-minute substitute for Queen. After being goaded by host Bill Grundy, they swear repeatedly, including the dreaded "F" word, shocking sensitive viewers.
1992 - Duran Duran release the single "Ordinary World" earlier than planned after radio airplay creates a huge demand. The song reaches #3 in the US, their biggest hit there since "Notorious" in 1986.
1995 - An auction of his memorabilia nets Frank Sinatra over two million dollars.
1997 - Using a technique called circular breathing, Kenny G sets the Guinness World Record for longest note held on a wind instrument when he keeps it going for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. In 2017, the Nigerian player Femi Kuti breaks the record, going 51:35.
2005 - Rocky Horror Picture Show is entered into the National Film Registry.
2012 - Shania Twain begins a two-year residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, returning to the stage for the first time since 2004.
2020 - South Korea, which requires men to enlist in the military by the time they turn 28, passes a law to defer service for K-pop stars who have "elevated the country's cultural influence around the world" until age 30. This keeps BTS intact, as Jin turns 28 three days later.
