Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

October 27, 1967 Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots is born Scott Richard Kline in San Jose, California. His parents divorce when he is two years old, and he becomes Scott Weiland after his mother marries Dave Weiland.

May 1, 1967 Tim McGraw is born Samuel Timothy McGraw in Delhi, Louisiana. His dad is pro baseball player Tug McGraw of the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

April 17, 1967 Liz Phair is born in New Haven, Connecticut; she is raised by her adoptive parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Winnetka, Illinois. She becomes a '90s indie-rock icon with her debut album, Exile In Guyville, a feminist treatment of the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St.More

February 20, 1967 Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is born in Aberdeen, Washington. He gets his first guitar on his 14th birthday and works on mastering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

January 9, 1967 Dave Matthews is born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He eventually settles in Charlottesville, Virginia, and forms The Dave Matthews Band.

January 8, 1967 R. Kelly is born Robert Sylvester Kelly in Chicago. He performs with the groups MGM (Musically Gifted Men) and Public Announcement before releasing his solo debut, 12 Play, in 1994, featuring the #1 hit "Bump N' Grind."

November 17, 1966 Jeff Buckley, known as Scott "Scottie" Moorhead to his family, is born in Los Angeles, California.More

May 16, 1966 Janet Jackson is born Janet Damita Jo Jackson in Gary, Indiana.

May 13, 1966 Darius Rucker (frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish) is born in Charleston, South Carolina.

August 28, 1965 Shania Twain is born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

February 18, 1965 Dr. Dre is born Andre Romelle Young in Compton, California. He becomes a member of the controversial rap group N.W.A. and co-founds the hot LA rap label Death Row Records, which boasts Tupac Shakur as its star artist.

December 23, 1964 Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam frontman) is born Edward Louis Severson III in Evanston, Illinois. The surname Vedder comes from his mom's maiden name.

July 20, 1964 Chris Cornell (lead singer of Soundgarden, Audioslave) is born Christopher John Boyle in Seattle, Washington.

May 26, 1964 Lenny Kravitz is born in Manhattan, New York, to The Jeffersons actress Roxie Roker and TV executive Sy Kravitz. He releases his debut album, Let Love Rule, in 1989.More

December 26, 1963 Drummer Lars Ulrich is born in Gentofte, Denmark. Transfixed by seeing Deep Purple in concert at age 9, he makes music his life when he moves to America in 1980 at 17. A year later, he forms Metallica with singer/guitarist James Hetfield.

August 22, 1963 Myra Ellen Amos is born to a religious family in Newton, North Carolina. She changes her name to Tori and becomes an alt-rock icon of the '90s with empowering tunes about women, right-wing politics, and religious oppression.More

August 9, 1963 Whitney Houston is born in Newark, New Jersey.

June 25, 1963 George Michael is born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London, England.

March 30, 1962 MC Hammer is born in Oakland, California. His birth name is Stanley Burrell, but he is dubbed "Hammer" when he becomes a batboy for the Oakland A's, since he looks like hall-of-famer "Hammerin'" Hank Aaron.

March 2, 1962 Jon Bon Jovi is born John Francis Bongiovi in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. As a teenager, he gets a gig cleaning up the studio his cousin Tony owns, which he uses to record demos and form the band Bon Jovi.

February 11, 1962 Sheryl Crow is born in Kennett, Missouri. She works as an elementary school music teacher before landing a gig a backing vocalist on Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour in 1987.

February 7, 1962 Garth Brooks is born Troyal Garth Brooks in Tulsa, Oklahoma; he's raised in Yukon, Oklahoma.More

February 6, 1962 Axl Rose, born William Bruce Rose, Jr., is born in Lafayette, Indiana (his stage name is an anagram for "Oral Sex"). Rose forms the band Guns N' Roses.

November 2, 1961 k.d. lang is born Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

August 25, 1961 Billy Ray Cyrus is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer is also known as dad to Hannah Montana alum Miley Cyrus.

May 29, 1961 Melissa Etheridge is born in Leavenworth, Kansas.

November 25, 1960 Amy Grant is born in Augusta, Georgia. The Christian singer makes a controversial transition to secular music with the #1 pop singles "The Next Time I Fall" (a 1986 duet with Peter Cetera) and "Baby Baby."

November 17, 1960 TV personality RuPaul, known for the hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)" is born RuPaul Andre Charles in San Diego, California.

May 10, 1960 Paul Hewson is born in Dublin. He shortens his nickname from Bono Vox (Latin for "good voice") to simply Bono and fronts the band U2.More

January 4, 1960 R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is born in Decatur, Georgia. In 1980, he befriends Peter Buck, a store clerk at Wuxtry Records in nearby Athens who shares his weird taste in music. They quickly bring Mike Mills and Bill Berry into the fold and just one year later release their debut single, "Radio Free Europe."