Pick a Day

Born on October 18

1984 Jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding is born in Portland, Oregon. She wins the 2011 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, becoming the first Jazz artist to do so... beating out nominee Justin Bieber in the process.

1979 R&B singer Ne-Yo is born Shaffer Chimere Smith in Camden, Arkansas. He is raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1975 Rapper Baby Bash is born Ronnie Ray Bryant in Vallejo, California. Known for songs like "Cyclone," featuring T-Pain, and "What Is It," featuring Sean Kingston.

1974 Peter Svensson (main songwriter/guitarist for The Cardigans) is born in Huskvarna, Sweden.

1961 Wynton Marsalis, jazz trumpeter, composer and teacher, is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Blood on the Fields, a three-and-a-half hour jazz oratorio telling the story of a couple finding freedom from slavery.

1949 Gary Richrath (guitarist for REO Speedwagon) is born in Peoria, Illinois.

1947 Celebrated songwriter Laura Nyro, whose compositions include "Wedding Bell Blues" and "And When I Die," is born in New York City. She dies of cancer in 1997 at age 49; in 2012 she is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1946 Joe Egan (co-founder of Stealers Wheel) is born in Paisley, Scotland.

1943 Russ Giguere (vocalist/percussionist/guitarist for The Association) is born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but would be raised in San Diego, California.

1940 Songwriter Cynthia Weil is born in New York. Known for her work with husband Barry Mann, including "On Broadway," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," to name a few.

1938 R&B singer Ronnie Bright (of The Coasters) is born in New York.

1926 Chuck Berry is born in St. Louis, Missouri.