Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

September 3, 1925 Country singer/songwriter Hank Thompson is born in Waco, Texas. Inspired the Thomas Cobb novel Crazy Heart and the 2009 film of the same name, starring Jeff Bridges.

September 2, 1925 Hugo Montenegro, orchestra leader and film composer, is born in New York City.

September 2, 1925 Pianist Russ Conway is born Trevor Herbert Stanford in Bristol, England. Known for hit instrumental singles like "Side Saddle" and "Roulette," both released in 1959.

August 28, 1925 Song-and-dance man Donald O'Connor is born in Chicago, Illinois. Known for starring in Singin' in the Rain with Gene Kelly.

August 28, 1925 Country singer Billy Grammer is born in Benton, Illinois. Known for his chart-crossing 1959 hit, "Gotta Travel On."

August 18, 1925 Sonny Til (lead singer for The Orioles) is born in Baltimore, Maryland.

August 15, 1925 Jazz pianist/composer Oscar Peterson is born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

August 15, 1925 Bill Pinkney (of The Drifters) is born in Dalzell, South Carolina.

August 11, 1925 Singer/talk show host Mike Douglas is born in Chicago, Illinois.

August 7, 1925 Songwriter Felice Bryant is born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Co-wrote hit songs with husband Boudleaux Bryant, including the widely covered hit "Love Hurts."

July 25, 1925 William "Benny" Benjamin (drummer for the Motown house band, The Funk Brothers) is born in Mobile, Alabama.

July 19, 1925 Sue Thompson is born Eva Sue McKee in Nevada, Missouri. Known for the '60s pop hits "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)" and "Norman."

July 16, 1925 Latin jazz musician Cal Tjader is born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents are Swedish American vaudevillians who eventually settle in San Mateo, California, when Cal is 2 years old. At 16, he wins a Gene Krupa drum solo contest with "Drum Boogie."

July 16, 1925 Nat Pierce, pianist and arranger for the Woody Herman band in the '50s, is born Somerville, Massachusetts.

July 9, 1925 Fifties pop singer Alan Dale ("(The Gang that Sang) Heart of My Heart") is born Aldo Sigismondi in Brooklyn, New York City.

July 6, 1925 Bill Haley is born in Highland Park, Michigan.

June 27, 1925 Doc Pomus, a blues singer and songwriter who would pen several hits of the rock and roll era, is born Jerome Solon Felder in Brooklyn, New York.

June 19, 1925 English entertainer Charlie Drake is born Charles Springall in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, London, England.

June 5, 1925 Singer/actor Bill Hayes is born in Harvey, Illinois. Known for his long-running role as Doug Williams on Days of Our Lives and his chart-topping rendition of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett."

May 20, 1925 Vic Ames, pop singer of the '40s and '50s (The Ames Brothers), is born in Malden, Massachusetts.

May 17, 1925 Bluegrass musician Red Smiley (of Reno and Smiley) is born Arthur Lee Smiley in Asheville, North Carolina.

May 14, 1925 Big Band trumpeter Al Porcino is born in New York City.

April 30, 1925 Country/rockabilly singer Johnny Horton is born in Los Angeles, California.

April 26, 1925 Jazz and pop guitarist Jorgen Ingmann is born in Copenhagen, Denmark.

April 12, 1925 Country singer Ned Miller, known for the 1962 crossover hit "From A Jack To A King," is born in Rains, Utah.

April 12, 1925 R&B singer Prentiss Barnes (of The Moonglows) is born in Magnolia, Mississippi.

March 4, 1925 Paul Mauriat is born in Marseille, France.

January 25, 1925 Jazz pianist Barbara Carroll is born Barbara Carole Coppersmith in Worcester, Massachusetts.

December 10, 1924 Pop singer Ken Albers (The Four Freshmen) is born in Woodbury, New Jersey.

December 7, 1924 Rockabilly singer-songwriter Boyd Bennett is born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Known for the 1955 hit "Seventeen."