Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 30, 1989 Singer Samantha Fish is born in Kansas City, Missouri.

December 1, 1988 Newlyweds Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet welcome a baby girl, Zoe. She grows up to be a model and actress like her mom, who found fame on The Cosby Show, and a singer like her dad, who wrote "Flowers For Zoe" for her. More

December 1, 1988 Tyler Joseph, the frontman and primary songwriter in Twenty One Pilots, is born in Columbus, Ohio. Many of the songs he writes deal with his personal fears, anxieties and doubts, often told through characters like Blurryface and Clancy.

June 18, 1988 Josh Dun, the drummer in the duo Twenty One Pilots, is born in Columbus, Ohio. Known for his unorthodox patterns, he's laconic off the stage but lets loose when performing, often going shirtless and doing backflips.

March 25, 1988 DJ/producer Ryan Lewis (of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) is born in Spokane, Washington.

March 17, 1988 Grimes is born Claire Elise Boucher in Vancouver.

January 15, 1988 DJ/producer Skrillex is born Sonny Moore in Los Angeles.

October 28, 1987 Singer/songwriter/rapper Frank Ocean is born Christopher Edwin Breaux in Long Beach, California, raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He takes his stage name from the 1960 classic film Ocean's 11 and its star, Frank Sinatra.

September 27, 1987 Austin Carlile is born in Pensacola, Florida. He fronts the metal groups Attack! Attack!, and later, Of Mice & Men, leaving in 2016 when his genetic condition called Marfan syndrome becomes too much to bear.

June 17, 1987 Kendrick Lamar is born in Compton, California. At 8 years old, he watches Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film their "California Love" video in his neighborhood and decides he wants to be a rapper.

May 6, 1987 Rapper Meek Mill is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

March 1, 1987 Kesha Sebert is born in Los Angeles. Using the stage name "Ke$ha" (she drops the $ in 2014), she becomes a pop superstar when her first album Animal tops the US chart in 2010.

November 20, 1986 Bring Me the Horizon lead singer Oli Sykes is born in Ashford, Kent, England.

November 14, 1986 Bette Midler's first and only child is born, a daughter named Sophie von Haselberg. Midler's husband is artist Martin von Haselberg.

August 28, 1986 Florence Welch, who forms Florence + the Machine with keyboard player Isabella "Machine" Summers, is born in London. Their first album, Lungs, is released in 2009 and makes a big impact, going to #1 in the UK.

June 2, 1986 Blues singer ZZ Ward is born Zsuzsanna Ward outside of Philadelphia.

April 29, 1986 Amy Heidemann of Karmin is born in Seward, Nebraska. She becomes Amy Noonan when she marries her Karmin partner, Nick. When Karmin is retired in 2017, she becomes the rapper Qveen Herby.

April 1, 1986 Hillary Scott of Lady A is born in Nashville. Her mother is the singer Linda Davis.

March 30, 1986 Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold is born in Seattle, Washington.

February 8, 1986 Anderson Paak is born in Oxnard, California.

December 29, 1985 Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley have a daughter, Alexa Ray, her name a tribute to Ray Charles. She becomes a singer like her dad.

December 1, 1985 Sci-fi soul singer Janelle Monáe is born in Kansas City, Kansas.

October 23, 1985 R&B singer Miguel is born Miguel Jontel Pimentel in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.

June 21, 1985 Lana Del Rey is born Elizabeth Grant in New York City.

January 28, 1985 J. Cole is born Jermaine Cole on an American military base in Frankfurt, Germany. He's raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 2009 he becomes the first artist signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label.

January 22, 1985 Singer/songwriter Orianthi Panagaris is born in Adelaide, Australia. She was slated to be Michael Jackson's lead guitarist for his This Is It concert series.

January 20, 1985 Country singer Brantley Gilbert is born in Jefferson, Georgia. His 2009 debut album, Modern Day Prodigal Son, puts him on the map with the hit "Country Must Be Country Wide," and he quickly becomes one of the biggest names in country music, known for high-energy performances and blue-collar hits like "Bottoms Up" and "What Happens In A Small Town."

December 8, 1984 Country singer-songwriter Sam Hunt is born in Cedartown, Georgia. He has a huge hit in 2017 with "Body Like a Back Road," which sets a record with 34 weeks at #1 on the Country chart.

November 28, 1984 Rapper Trey Songz is born Tremaine Aldon Neverson in Petersburg, Virginia.

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.