About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
December 17, 1984 ~ John Stephen Sudduth, commonly known as indie pop, alternative rock singer, songwriter Mikky Ekko, born in Nashville, Tennessee, USA ~ Best known as featured artist on Rihanna's 2013 hit Stay. Released his solo debut album, Time, in 2015. Has collaborated with Two Inch Punch, Chris Malinchak, Giorgio Moroder, Clams Casino, Steve Angello, French Montana, and David Guetta
December 17, 1984 ~ Soft rock outfit REO Speedwagon release Can't Fight This Feeling, lifted off their Wheels Are Turnin' album ~ As the band had trouble coming up with songs for their new album, they decided to take a break. Kevin Cronin spent his “off time” on Hawaii, where he finished a ten year old draft in solitude. Issued as the album's second single, Can't Fight This Feeling became the second and final Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit for the band, holding the position for three consecutive weeks. Until the single became a hit, Cronin's bandmates had referred to the song as “that stupid ballad”. Their previous No.1 hit was Keep On Loving You, another ballad written by Cronin
December 17, 1982 ~ Neo-psychedelia, new wave, art rock, synth-pop singer, keyboardist, guitarist, percussionist, songwriter Benjamin Goldwasser, full name Benjamin Nicholas Hunter Goldwasser, born in Mishawaka, Indiana, USA ~ Formed the duo MGMT with Andrew VanWyngarden, their sound descrived as a “brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop” by Spin, the band drawing from psychedelica, synth-pop, indie, and electronica. Active since the late 2000s, they are especially acclaimed for their 2010 Congratulations sophomore album. The duo has also guested on recordings by rapper Kid Cudi, rocker Beck, and guitarist Lou Reed
December 17, 1982 ~ Joseph Lee Williams, commonly known as Delta blues guitarist, singer Big Joe Williams, passed away in Macon, Mississippi, USA ~ Plays a nine-string guitar. Known for songs such as Baby Please Don't Go, Crawlin' King Snake and Peach Orchard Mama. Worked with Sonny Boy Williamson I, Robert Nighthawk, and Peetie Wheatstraw ~ Williams was born in 1903December 17, 1982 ~ Guitarist, songwriter Stephan Meidell born in Kristiansand, Norway ~ Critically acclaimed for his 2014 solo debut album Cascades. Schooled in jazz but draws from rock, pop, noise and sound art. Worked with Cakewalk, Krachmacher, Velkro, the Sweetest Thrill, Vanilla Riot, Øyvind Hegg-Lunde, Mari Kvien Brunvoll, and Stein Urheim
December 17, 1981 ~ Indie rock, alternative R&B, art rock singer, guitarist, songwriter David Longstreth born in Southbury, Connecticut, USA ~ Lead singer, guitarist, sole constant member of the Dirty Projectors, debuting in 2003 with the The Glad Fact and best known for their 2009 break through album Bitte Orca. Also appears on fourfiveseconds, a collaborative hit in 2015 for Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney
December 17, 1979 ~ Hardcore punk, alternative metal, post-hardcore guitarist Justin Beck born in Long Island, New York, USA ~ Along with singer Daryl Palumbo co-founding and constant member of Glassjaw. The band is considered one of the most influentual post-hardcore bands, noted for their unique jazz-like sound and especially acclaimed for their 2000 Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence debut album. Previously Beck has played with straight edge hardcore group the Sons Of Abraham. Beck also co-founded the band merchandise company MerchDirect after refusing to give up the rights to his merchandising to a major label
December 17, 1979 ~ Pop punk, punk rock, alternative rock singer, guitarist, songwriter Ryan Key, full name William Ryan Key, born in Jacksonville, Florida, USA ~ Lead singer, rhythm guitarist for emo, pop punk group Yellowcard, with whom he recorded over half a dozen albums since the early 2000s. The band is known for songs such as Ocean Avenue, Only One, and Lights And Sounds, and is especially acclaimed for their eponymous 2016 Yellowcard album. Key has also recorded with Greetings, Lucky Boys Confusion, and Inspection 12, and recorded several solo EPs starting with Thirteen in 2018
December 17, 1978 ~ Post-hardcore, emo, alternative rock, indie rock, hardcore punk guitarist, singer Beau Burchell born in Orange County, California, USA ~ Best known as co-founding member of Saosin. In-demand collaborator, producer, engineer. Has worked with the Kosmos Express, As Hope Dies, Open Hand, the Higher, the Bled, the Scars Of Tomorrow, Underoath, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Emery, Moose Blood, and Senses Fall
December 17, 1978 ~ Trumpeter, drummer Don Ellis, full name Donald Johnson Ellis, passed away in Hollywood, California, USA ~ Influenced by Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie. Well over two dozen albums to his name as a leader, including the soundtracks to The French Connection and Ruby. Ellis first gained attention in the early 1960s New York avant-garde jazz scene, appearing on albums by Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, and George Russell, and leading sessions with sidemen such as Jaki Byard, Ron Carter, and Steve Swallow. Ellis would go on to work with several Third Stream projects, merging jazz and classical, and later still explore Eastern music, notably founding the Hindustani Jazz Sextet, considered the first band of its kind in America. To rock audiences, Ellis is perhaps best known for playing the trumpet on Brown Shoes Don't Make It on Frank Zappa's 1967 Absolutely Free album, and for opening for the likes of the Grateful Dead in the early 1970s. Ellis has a strong influence on those with whom he worked, many of his sidemen later becoming stars in their own right. Saxophonist Jim Snodgrass once remarked: “I think in many ways Don was a teacher. One thing his music taught me that I could play anything I absolutely had to” ~ Ellis was born in 1934December 17, 1978 ~ Violinist, bandleader Erskine Tate passed away in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Early figure on Chicago's jazz scene. Has worked with sidemen such as Louis Armstrong, Freddie Keppard, Buster Bailey, Jimmy Bertrand, Ed Atkins, Teddy Weatherford, Stump Evans, Bob Shoffner, Punch Miller, Omer Simeon, Preston Jackson, Fats Waller, and Teddy Wilson ~ Tate was born in 1895
December 17, 1978 ~ Post-grunge, alternative rock drummer, keyboardist, singer, songwriter Neil Sanderson born in Peterborough, Canada ~ Influenced by John Bonham, Danny Carey, Stewart Copeland. Briefly a member of Thousand Foot Krutch. Co-founding member of Three Days Grace, known for songs such as Wake Up, Animal I Have Become, Pain, Break, World So Cold, Chalk Outline, The High Road, Painkiller, The Mountain, Right Left Wrong, and Somebody That I Used To Know
December 17, 1976 ~ Jazz singer, composer Andreas Schaerer born in Visp, Switzerland ~ Known for using an extensive array of vocal techniques and timbres, including scat singing, sprechgesang, and beatboxing, at times incorporating several into the same song. Founded the Hildegard Lernt Fliegen sextet, with whom he toured Europe, Russia, China. Collaborated with Bobby McFerrin on the late 2000s improvised opera Bobble. Has also worked with Banz Oester, Lucas Niggli, Christy Doran, Martin Eberle, Peter Rom, and Elina Duni
December 17, 1975 ~ Theodore Roosevelt Taylor, commonly known as blues singer, guitarist, slide guitarist Hound Dog Taylor, passed away in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Bruce Iglauer, then working at Delmark Records, tried to persuade his employer to sign Taylor, to no avail. The following year Iglauer used a modest inheritance to found his own Alligator Records, and recorded Taylor's Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers debut album. Until his death in 1975, Taylor recorded two more albums for the label, and performed with the likes of Muddy Waters, Freddie King, and Big Mama Thornton. A live recording of Elmore James's The Sky Is Crying by George Thorogood, included on the 1986 Live album, would be dedicated to the memory of the late Hound Dog Taylor ~ Taylor was born in 1915December 17, 1974 ~ Jazz pianist Anders Aarum born in Moss, Norway ~ Worked with Sonny Simmons, Ola Kvernberg, Tine Asmundsen, Sigurd Kohn, Borre Dalhaug, Nora Brockstedt, Even Kruse Skatrud, Mats Eilertsen, Torstein Ellingsen, Thomas Stronen, Ole Morten Vågan, Håvard Fossum, Jens Fossum, Jarle Vespestad, Andreas Bye, Funky Butt, Per Hoglend, Randy Tytingvång, Solvi Hansen, Majken Christiansen, Hilde Louise Asbjørnsen, the Jazzmob, Bertine Zetlitz, Banne Tveter, Christina Bjordal, Guro von Germeten, and Julie Dahle Aagård
December 17, 1971 ~ Singer David Bowie releases Hunky Dory, his fourth studio album ~ Wary that the young David Bowie would soon tranform his image, the label offered little promotion. Initially the album sold poorly, yet after the commercial success of his Ziggy Stardust breakthrough album, released in 1972, Hunky Dory too gained traction and eventually peaked at No.3 in the singer's native UK. Retrospectively, Hunky Dory, often described as “the album where Bowie starts to become Bowie”, would be acknowledged as a key album in his career, critically acclaimed as one of his best. Highlights of the album include Changes, one of the most famous stutters in rock, Oh You Pretty Things, and Life On Mars. Decades after its release, Bowie looked back on the album, telling Uncut: “Hunky Dory gave me a fabulous groundswell. I guess it provided me, for the first time in my life, with an actual audience. I mean, people actually coming up to me and saying, ‘Good album, good songs.’ That hadn't happened to me before”
December 17, 1971 ~ Actor, comedian, drummer, singer, songwriter Kasper van Kooten born in Zuidoostbeemster, the Netherlands ~ Best known as actor and TV personality. As a singer, songwriter has recorded since the early 2000s, best known for the single Harde Noten released in 2013. Has also backed pop, folk-pop duo Acda & De Munnik
December 17, 1970 ~ Singer Andy Williams records Where Do I Begin (Love Story) ~ Originally intended as an instrumental theme for the 1970 film Love Story, music by Francis Lai, lyricist Carl Sigman was asked to write lyrics. After the film distributor rejected the lyrics it would remain an instrumental version in the film. Sigman did rewrite the lyrics, irritated at first for the rejection he sat about rewriting the lyrics, thinking “where do I begin” and he found his hook. Andy Williams would take the song, now with revised lyrics, to the Billboard Hot 100 top 10. The song would notably covered by Shirley BasseyDecember 17, 1970 ~ Craig Anthony Bullock, commonly known as DJ, turntablist, rapper, singer DJ Homicide, born in Pasadena, California, USA ~ Best known as member of Sugar Ray, joining the band shortly after the completion of their Lemonade And Brownies replacing DJ Lethal. The latter did not care for performing live with the band and suggested his friend Bullock. Previously briefly a member of the Alkoholiks
December 17, 1966 ~ Country bassist, keyboardist, singer Duane Propes born in Texas, USA ~ Co-founding member of Little Texas, remaining with the band through 1997 and rejoining in 2004. Present on most of the band's best known including Some Guys Have All The Love, You And Forever And Me, What Might Have Been, My Love, Amy's Back In Austin and Life Goes On, all of which reached top 10 Billboard Country in the 1990s
December 17, 1966 ~ Jazz samba, bossa nova singer Silvia Telles, full name Silvia D'Atri Telles, passed away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ~ Popular 1950s, 1960s singer. Preceded the advent of bossa nova. Especially known as an interpreter of Antônio Carlos Jobim's songs. Mother of singer Claudia Telles. Worked with Barney Kessel, Lucio Alves, Roberto Menescal, Edu Lobo, Trio Tamba, and the Quinteto Villa-Lobos. Passed away age 32 in a car accident ~ Telles was born in 1934
December 17, 1966 ~ Singer, songwriter Tracy Byrd, full name Tracy Lynn Byrd born in Beaumont, Texas, USA ~ Known for a string of 1990s, early 2000s Billboard Country top 10 hits starting with Holdin' Heaven of his eponymous 1993 Tracy Byrd debut album. Well known songs include Lifestyles Of The Not So Rich And Famous, Keeper Of The Stars, Big Love, Don't Take Her She's All I Got, I'm From The Country, and Ten Rounds With José Cuervo
December 17, 1965 ~ Jazz saxophonist Phil Dwyer born in Duncan, Canada ~ Leader and sideman. Actively recording since the early 1990s. Has collaborated with Dave Young, Hugh Fraser, Joe Sealy, Guido Basso, Don Thompson, Molly Johnson, Terry Clarke, and Diana Panton
December 17, 1964 ~ David Leslie Walls, commonly known as rock guitarist, singer, songwriter Ginger Wildheart, born in South Shields, UK ~ Member of the Quireboys, replaced by Guy Griffin prior to recording their debut album. Best known as founder, frontman, sole constant member of the Wildhearts, merging hard rock with melodic pop. The band has scored UK top 20 hits such as I Wanna Go Where The People Go, Sick Of Drugs, and Stormy In The North (Karma In The South). Wildheart has also recorded over half a dozen albums as a solo artist, starting with Valor Del Corazon released in 2005December 17, 1963 ~ Funk, R&B, pop singer, guitarist Otis Redding III born in Macon, Georgia, USA ~ Son of iconic R&B singer Otis Redding. Formed the Reddings with brother Dexter Redding and Mark Lockett, known best for Remote Control of their 1980 The Awakening debut album. The single remains a radio staple in Europe to this day ~ Redding passed away in 2023