Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

July 4, 1972 William Goldsmith (drummer for Foo Fighters) is born in Seattle, Washington.

June 25, 1972 Mike Kroeger (bassist for Nickelback) is born in Hanna, Alberta, Canada.

June 9, 1972 Puddle Of Mudd leader Wes Scantlin is born in Kansas City, Missouri. After getting a demo tape to Fred Durst in 1999, he signs with Durst's label and, with a new band lineup, releases their debut album, Come Clean, with the hits "Blurry" and "She Hates Me."

May 21, 1972 The Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, is born Christopher George Latore Wallace in Brooklyn, New York. He releases just one solo album before he is murdered in 1997, but leaves a legacy as one of the most creative and distinctive rappers of his time.

May 20, 1972 Rapid-fire rapper Busta Rhymes is born Trevor George Smith Jr. in Brooklyn, New York. Chuck D of Public Enemy provides his stage name, which comes from a college football player named George "Buster" Rhymes.

May 19, 1972 Jenny Berggren (lead singer of Ace of Base) is born Jenny Cecilia Petrén in Gothenburg, Sweden.

May 8, 1972 Darren Hayes (frontman for Savage Garden) is born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

May 4, 1972 Green Day bass player Mike Dirnt is born Michael Pritchard in Berkeley, California, where he is adopted by a couple from nearby El Sobrante.

April 13, 1972 Staind frontman Aaron Lewis is born in Rutland City, Vermont, raised in Massachusetts.

April 8, 1972 Bass player Paul Gray, a founding member of Slipknot, is born in Los Angeles but is raised in Des Moines, Iowa, where he forms the band. Gray is just 38 when he dies from a drug overdose in 2010.

April 4, 1972 Magnus Sveningsson (bass guitarist for The Cardigans) is born in Falkoping, Sweden.

April 4, 1972 Jill Scott is born in Philadelphia, where she makes the scene in the late '90s collaborating with The Roots. In 2000 she releases her debut solo album, Who Is Jill Scott?, with the single "A Long Walk." She later moves into acting, with roles on the TV series Girlfriends and the movie Why Did I Get Married?

March 17, 1972 Bass player Melissa Auf der Maur is born in Montreal, Quebec. She's in Courtney Love's group Hole from 1994-1999, and does a stint in Smashing Pumpkins from 1999-2000.

March 15, 1972 Mark Hoppus (bassist, co-lead vocalist of blink-182) is born in Ridgecrest, California. He writes blink-182's first hit, "Dammit," on a guitar that only has three strings and finishes it in a matter of minutes with the rest of the band. The fictional breakup song is the second single from their 1997 sophomore album, Dude Ranch.

March 13, 1972 Rapper Common is born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. in Chicago, Illinois.

March 10, 1972 Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley is born in Norfolk, Virginia. In the '90s, he makes a name for himself producing tracks for Aaliyah and Ginuwine; the next decade finds him crafting hits for Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, and many others.

December 25, 1971 Noel Hogan (guitarist for The Cranberries) is born in Moyross, Limerick, England. He writes most of the music for their songs, with Dolores O'Riordan adding the lyrics.

December 21, 1971 Fuel frontman Brett Scallions is born in Brownsville, Tennessee.

December 16, 1971 Michael McCary (original bass singer for Boyz II Men) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

December 10, 1971 Scot Alexander (bass guitarist for Dishwalla) is born in Santa Barbara, California.

December 9, 1971 Portishead instrumentalist Geoff Barrow is born in Somerset, England.

December 3, 1971 "This Is How We Do It" singer Montell Jordan is born in Los Angeles, California.

November 19, 1971 R&B singer-songwriter Tony Rich is born Antonio Jeffries Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. Known for the 1996 hit single "Nobody Knows."

November 5, 1971 Jonny Greenwood (lead guitarist, keyboardist of Radiohead) is born in Oxford, England.

November 4, 1971 Shawn Rivera (of the R&B group Az Yet) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

November 2, 1971 John Hampson (vocalist, guitarist for Nine Days) is born in the US.

October 21, 1971 Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Bianca have a daughter they name Jade. It's Mick's first child.

October 17, 1971 Chris Kirkpatrick is born in Clarion, Pennsylvania. He joins 'N Sync, and also makes cameo appearances in music videos for A Day to Remember's "2nd Sucks," and Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous."

October 11, 1971 Rapper MC Lyte is born Lana Michele Moorer in Brooklyn, New York.

October 3, 1971 Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys is born in Lexington, Kentucky.