On This Day

Musicians Born on April 8

  • 1533 Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer, born in Correggio, Italy (d. 1604)
  • 1692 Giuseppe Tartini, Venetian Baroque composer and violinist (Trillo del Diavolo), born in Piran, Venice (d. 1770)
  • 1697 Pierre Prowo, German composer, born in Altona (d. 1757)
  • 1708 Georg Zarth, Bohemian composer, born in Hochtann, Bohemia (d. 1778)
  • 1756 Joseph Gehot, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1820)
  • 1776 Thaddäus Weigl, German-Austrian composer, publisher, and conductor, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1844)
  • 1798 Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet of the Greek national anthem, born in Zakynthos Island, Greece (d. 1857)
  • 1843 Asger Hamerik [Hammerich], Danish composer, and educator (Peabody Institute, 1878-91), born in Frederiksberg, Denmark (d. 1923)
  • 1878 Rudolf Nelson, German composer, born in Berlin (d. 1960)
  • 1881 Fernand Lamy, French composer, born in Chauvigny, France (d. 1966)
  • 1885 Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1951)
  • 1888 Victor Schertzinger, American composer and director (Uptown NY), born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania (d. 1941)
  • 1889 Adrian Boult, British conductor (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 1930-50; London Philharmonic, 1950-59), born in Chester, England (d. 1983)
  • 1895 Sigurdur Thordarson, Icelandic composer (d. 1968)
  • 1896 Karl Hermann Pillney, Austrian composer and painist, born in Graz, Austria-Hungary (d. 1980)
  • 1896 Yip Harburg [Isidore Hochberg], American lyricist ("Over The Rainbow"; "It's Only A Paper Moon"), born in NYC, New York (d. 1981)
  • 1897 Herbert Eimert, German composer and musicologist (Glockenspiel)
  • 1902 Josef Krips, Austrian conductor (London Symphony, 1950-54; Buffalo Philharmonic, 1954-63; San Francisco Symphony, 1964-70), born in Vienna, Austria (d. !974)
  • 1902 Elmer Feldcamp, American big band baritone vocalist, saxophone, and clarinet player (Freddy Martin Orchestra), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1938)
  • 1904 John Antill, Australian composer (Corroboree; New Guinea Patrol), born in Sydney (d. 1986)
  • 1906 Raoul Jobin, French Canadian operatic tenor, born in Quebec City, Quebec (d. 1974)
  • 1909 George Dixon, American jazz trumpeter, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1994)
  • 1909 Olavi Pesonen, Finnish composer, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1993)
  • 1918 Lenore Engdahl, American classical pianist, and educator (Boston University School of Music, 1972–83), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2018)
  • 1920 Carmen McRae, American jazz singer and pianist ("Dream of Life"), born in New York City (d. 1994)
  • 1921 Jan Novák, Czech classical composer, born in Nová Říše, Morovia (d. 1984)
  • 1923 Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (Carmen), born in Ancona, Italy (d. 2003)
  • 1927 Oliver "Ollie" Mitchell, American musician and bandleader (The Wrecking Crew), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2013)
  • 1928 Fred Ebb, American musical theater lyricist, with John Kander (Cabaret; Chicago; New York, New York; Funny Lady), born in New York City (d. 2004)
  • 1929 Jacques Brel, Belgian singer, songwriter, actor, director and composer (Le Far West, Pain in the A--), born in Schaerbeek, Brussels (d. 1978)
  • 1929 Walter Berry, Austrian singer, ex-husband of Christa Ludwig
  • 1929 Eiji Kitamura, Japanese jazz clarinetist, born in Tokyo, Japan
  • 1930 John Reardon, American stage actor and operatic baritone (Metropolitan Opera, 1965-77), born in NYC, New York (d. 1988)
  • 1933 Jaroslav Smolka, Czech composer (Metamorfosi), music director, dramaturge, pedagogue, and musicologist, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 2011)
  • 1938 Barton Keith McLean, American composer, born in Poughkeepsie, New York
  • 1941 Peggy Lennon, American singer (Lennon Sisters), born in Los Angeles, California
  • 1941 Murray Khouri, New Zealand classical clarinet player (Australia Ensemble), writer, and broadcaster, born in Wellington, New Zealand (d. 2018)
  • 1942 Roger Chapman, British progressive rock vocalist (Family - "In My Own Time"), born in Leicester, England
  • 1944 Santiago Jiménez Jr, American folk and Tejano accordionist (El Mero Mero, Viva Seguin), born in Texas

Steve Howe

1947 Steve Howe, English progressive rock guitarist (Yes - "Roundabout"; Asia - "Heat Of The Moment"), born in London, England

Steve Howe
Rock Guitarist Steve Howe
  • 1947 Larry Norman, American musician and pioneer of Christian rock music ("Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?"), born in Corpus Christi, Texas (d. 2008)
  • 1950 Carmen Twillie, American session singer (The Lion King - "Circle of Life"; Celene Dion; Pink Floyd), born in Playa del Rey, California
  • 1951 Mel Schacher, American bassist (Grand Funk Railroad - "Some Kind of Wonderful"'; "We're An American Band"), born in Owosso, Michigan
  • 1951 Phil Schaap, American Grammy Award-winning jazz historian, DJ, author and educator, born in Queens, New York City (d. 2021)
  • 1952 Adam Woods, British rock drummer (The Fixx - "One Thing Leads To Another"; "Saved By Zero")
  • 1954 George Mesterhazy, Hungarian-American jazz pianist, and arranger, born in Hungary (d. 2012)
  • 1956 Justin Sullivan, British rock singer-songwriter (New Model Army), born in Jordans, Buckinghamshire, England
  • 1962 Izzy Stradlin [Jeff Isabelle], American guitarist (Guns & Roses), born in Lafayette, Indiana
  • 1962 Adam Mole, British guitarist (Pop Will Eat Itself - "Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!"), born in England
  • 1963 Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter ("Too Late for Goodbyes"), philanthropist (The White Feather Foundation), photographer, and son of John, born in Liverpool, England
  • 1963 Donita Sparks, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (L7), and podcaster (The Hi-Low Show), born in Chicago, Illinois
  • 1964 Biz Markie [Marcel Hall], American rapper, DJ and record producer ("Just A Friend"), born in New York City (d. 2021)
  • 1972 Paul Gray, American heavy metal bassist (Slipknot), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2010)
  • 1974 Chino XL [Derek Keith Barbosa], American rapper and actor, born in The Bronx, New York
  • 1975 Anouk [Teeuwe], Dutch singer, born in The Hague, Netherlands
  • 1979 Alexi Laiho, Finnish guitarist and singer (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut), born in Espoo, Finland (d. 2021)
  • 1980 Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer, born in Steyregg, Austria
  • 1984 Ezra Koenig, American rock singer-songwriter, musician (Vampire Weekend), and broadcaster (Time Crisis), born in New York City
  • 1986 Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress, model and singer, born in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan
  • 1989 Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer, born in Shiogama, Japan
  • 1989 Matthew Healy, British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (The 1975 - "I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It"), born in London, England
  • 1990 Jonghyun [Kim Jong-hyun], South Korean singer-songwriter, radio host, and author (SHINee), born in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea (d. 2017)


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