Events in Music
Event of Interest
Mar 26 NBC radio performance of Howard Hanson's 3rd Symphony
Howard Hanson
Music Recording
May 2 Ella Fitzgerald records "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
Ella Fitzgerald
- May 28 Hindemiths opera "Mathis der Maler" premieres in Zurich
- Jun 25 "A Tisket A Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb hits #1
- Sep 20 Dmitri Shostakovitch's Suite for jazz orchestra, premieres
Event of Interest
Oct 9 Aaron Copland's & Eugene Loring's ballet "Billy the Kid" premieres in Chicago
Aaron Copland
- Oct 25 The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces Swing music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell".
Birthdays in Music
Birthdays 1 - 100 of 157
- Jan 6 Adriano Celentano, Italian singer and actor
- Jan 7 Paul Revere, American pianist (Paul Revere & Raiders), born in Harvard Nebraska, (d. 2014)
- Jan 13 Paavo Johannes Heininen, composer
- Jan 14 Allen Toussaint [Naomi Neville], American R&B musician & songwriter (Ride Your Pony), born in Gert Town, Louisiana (d. 2015)
- Jan 14 Jack Jones, American singer (Love Boat Theme), born in Los Angeles, California
- Jan 16 Jô Soares, Brazilian author, musician and TV personality
- Jan 19 Eskil Hemberg, composer
- Jan 19 Phil Everly, Brownie Ky, singer (Everly Bros-Wake Up Little Susie)
- Jan 24 Julius Arthur Hemphill, saxophonist
- Jan 25 Etta James [Jamesetta Hawkins], American singer (Roll with Me, At Last), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
- Jan 27 Kim Gardner, rocker (Byrds)
- Jan 31 Daevid Allen [Christopher David], Australian musician and performance artist (Soft Machine, Gong), born in Melbourne (d. 2015)
- Feb 1 Jimmy Carl Black, rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
- Feb 4 Joe Beard, American blues guitarist (No More Cherry Rose), born in Ashland, Mississippi
- Feb 5 Dick van Niehoff, Dutch vocalist (Fouryo)
- Feb 6 Ellsworth Milburn, American composer and educator (Menil Antiphons), born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania (d. 2007)
- Feb 7 Robert Frank Baksa, composer
- Feb 8 Ray Sharpe, singer-songwriter, (Linda Lu), born in Forth Worth, Texas
- Feb 11 Willy Correa de Oliveira, composer
- Feb 11 Bobby "Boris" Pickett, American singer-songwriter (Monster Mash), born in Somerville, Massachusetts (d. 2007)
- Feb 16 John Corigliano, American composer (Fern Hill, Ghosts of Versailles), born in NYC, New York
- Feb 22 Bobby Hendricks, US soul vocalist (Itchy Twitchy Feeling)
- Feb 25 Ed Cobb, American musician, song-writer and producer (Tainted Love), (d. 1999)
- Mar 2 Simon Estes, Centerville Iowa, bass/baritone (Wonton, Don Carlos)
- Mar 3 Douglas Leedy, composer
- Mar 3 Willie Chambers, guitarist/vocalist (Chambers Brothers)
- Mar 5 Paul Evans, singer/pedal guitarist (Damascus Road)
- Mar 6 Lovelace Watkins, American singer known as "The Black Sinatra" (The Big, Big Voice of Lovelace Watkins), born in New Brunswick, New Jersey (d. 1995)
- Mar 8 Lew DeWitt, Va, country singer (Statler Brothers-Flowers on the Wall)
- Mar 9 Lill-Babs [Barbro Margareta Svensson], Swedish singer and actress, born in Järvsö, Gävleborg County, Sweden
- Mar 10 Norman Blake, American traditional stringed instrument artist and songwriter, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Mar 12 Lew De Witt, American country singer and composer (Statler Brothers-Flowers on the Wall)
- Mar 12 Dimitri Terzakis, Greek composer (Die Farben des Ozeans), born in Athens
- Mar 12 Tona Scherchen-Hsiao, composer
- Mar 13 Hans-Joachim Hespos, German composer, born in Emden, Germany
- Mar 13 Jean-Claude Risset, French composer, born in Le Puy-en-Velay, France (d. 2016)
- Mar 13 Erma Franklin, American gospel and R&B singer (Piece Of My Heart), born in Shelby, Mississippi (d. 2002)
- Mar 15 Dick Higgins, composer
- Mar 17 Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer/choreographer (Kirov), born on a train near Irkutsk, Soviet Union (d. 1993)
- Mar 18 Charley Pride, Sledge Miss, country singer (Sweet Country)
- Mar 23 Dave Pike, jazz vibraphone and marimba player, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2015)
- Mar 24 Holger Czukay [Holger Schüring], German musician (Can), born in Danzig, Poland (d. 2017)
- Mar 31 Arthur B. Rubinstein, American composer
- Apr 3 Jeff Barry, American rock writer (Tell Laura I Love Her), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Apr 7 Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter (Art Blakey), born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Apr 8 Barton Keith McLean, composer
- Apr 11 Kurt Moll, German bass opera singer, born near Colonge (d. 2017)
- Apr 13 Frederic Rzewski, Westfield Mass, composer (Spacecraft)
- Apr 19 Jonathan Tunick, composer
- Apr 20 Johnny Tillotson, American singer (Gidget, Poetry in Motion), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- Apr 26 Duane Eddy, American guitarist (Peter Gunn, Cannonball), born in Phoenix, Arizona
- Apr 26 Maurice Williams, American rocker (Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Apr 29 Klaus Voormann, German rock bassist (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn), born in Berlin, Germany
- May 4 Tyrone Davis, US R&B singer (Are you serious)
- May 5 Johnnie Taylor, Crawfordsville, Arkansas, R&B and multi-genre singer (Disco Lady, I Believe in You), (d. 2000)
- May 10 Maxim Shostakovich, Leningrad Russia, conductor (Atlanta Symph)
- May 10 Philip Gordon Winsor, American composer, Born in Morris, Illinois (d. 2012)
- May 11 Carla Bley [Carla Borg], American musician (Escalator Over the Hill), born in Oakland, California
- May 11 Harvey Sollberger, flutist/composer (2 Oboes Troping), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- May 17 Pervis Jackson, American R&B singer (Spinners), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2008)
- May 20 Marinella, Greek singer and actress
- May 26 Jackie Liebesit, rocker (Can)
- May 26 Teresa Stratas [Anastasia Stratakis], Canadian operatic soprano (Salome), born in Toronto, Ontario
- May 26 William Elden Bolcom, composer (Oracles), born in Seattle, Washington
- May 28 Prince Buster, Jamaican reggae musician and producer (Madness), born in Kingston, Jamaica (d. 2016)
- Jun 9 Charles Wuorinen, American composer (Pulitzer 1980), born in NYC, New York
- Jun 13 Gwynne Howell, British opera singer
- Jun 16 Mickie Finn, Hugo Oklahoma, TV hostess/banjo player (Mickie Finn's)
- Jun 18 Don "Sugarcane" Harris, rocker/actor (Soup for 1, Greeased Lightning)
- Jun 20 Nikolay Avksentevich Martinov, composer
- Jun 24 Lowell Cross, composer
- Jun 29 Billy Storm, singer (Valiants-This is the Night)
- Jun 29 Edmund Falkiner, jazz saxophinist/probation officer
- Jun 30 Chris Hinze, Dutch flutist (Vivat Vivaldi)
- Jun 30 Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek singer (d. 1999)
- Jul 4 Bill Withers, Slab Fork WV, rhythm & blues singer (Lean on Me)
- Jul 5 Stanley Joel Silverman, composer
- Jul 6 Franco, Zaire, composer/guitarist/leader (Masumbuku)
- Jul 9 Paul Seiko Chihara, US/Japanese composer, born in Seattle, Washington
- Jul 10 Lee Morgan, American hard-bop trumpeter
- Jul 11 Terry Garthwaite, US guitarist/singer (Joy of Cooking)
- Jul 14 Bob Scholl, rocker (Mellow Kings)
- Jul 16 Thorkell Sigurbjornsson, composer
- Jul 17 Stan Bronstein, rocker
- Jul 18 Dudu Pukwana, [Mtutuzel], South African/British saxophonist/composer
- Jul 18 Ian Stewart,Scottish keyboardist, road manager, and co-founder of the Rolling Stones, born in Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland (d. 1985)
- Jul 20 Natalie Wood [Natasha Gurdin], American actress (Gypsy, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1981)
- Jul 21 Anton Emil Kuerti, composer
- Jul 24 Mike Mainieri, American vibraphonist (Steps Ahead), born in the Bronx, New York
- Jul 26 Bobby Hebb, American country singer and songwriter (Sunny), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2010)
- Jul 27 Isabelle Aubret, French singer
- Jul 28 George Cummings, rocker (Dr Hook & Medicine Show)
- Aug 8 Connie Stevens [Concetta Ingoglia], singer/actress (Hawaiian Eye, Back to Beach), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Aug 8 Jacques Hetu, composer
- Aug 11 Allegra Kent, ballerina, born in Santa Monica, California
- Aug 11 Rainer Boesch, composer
- Aug 13 Dave "Baby" Cortez, American pop keyboardist
Kenny Rogers
Aug 21 Kenny Rogers, singer (Through the Years), born in Houston, Texas
Kenny Rogers
Weddings in Music
Wedding of Interest
Oct 11 Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (37) weds longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith
Louis Armstrong
Divorces in Music
Divorce of Interest
Sep 30 Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (37) divorces pianist Lil Armstrong (40) after more than 14 years of marriage
Louis Armstrong
Divorce of Interest
Dec 6 Actress Bette Davis (30) divorces musician Harmon Nelson (31) due to cruel and inhuman manner after more than 6 years of marriage
Bette Davis
Deaths in Music
- Feb 21 Albert Huybrechts, composer, dies at 39
- Mar 2 Ben Harney, American composer and pianist (b. 1871)
- Mar 9 Sydney Baynes, composer, dies at 59
- Mar 18 Cyril Rootham, composer, dies at 62
- Apr 10 Joe "King" Oliver, American musician (b. 1885)
- Apr 18 Richard Runciman Terry, musicologist, dies
- Aug 2 Bjarni Thorsteinsson, composer, dies at 76
- Aug 6 Warner Oland, Swedish actor (The Jazz Singer, Charlie Chan), dies at 58
- Aug 10 Joseph Moorat, composer, dies at 73
- Aug 14 Landon Ronald, British composer, pianist and teacher (Guildhall School of Music), dies at 65
Robert Johnson
Aug 16 Robert Johnson, US Delta-blues singer/guitarist, poisoned at 27
Robert Johnson