Musician and singer James Ambrose Johnson, Jr., better known as Ricj James, was born on February 1, 1948, in Buffalo, New York. The third of eight children, Rick James was raised in a strict Catholic household by his single mother. [...]

Ray Anderson born October 16, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois is an independent jazz trombone and trumpet player. Anderson is a boisterous trombonist who is masterful at multiphonics. Trained by the Chicago Symphony trombonists, he is regarded as pushing the limits [...]

Malik Isaac Taylor born November 20, 1970, better known by his stage name Phife Dawg, is an American rapper of Trinidadian descent, and a member of the acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest with high school classmates Q-Tip and Ali [...]

Peggy Lee was an American jazz singer, songwriter and actress whose career spanned six decades. In 1942 Lee had her first 1 hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place." Peggy Lee grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota to Marvin, a [...]

Singer. Born Patricia Louise Holte on May 24, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Henry Holte, a railroad worker, and Bertha Robinson Holte, a homemaker. A shy girl, Patricia gained confidence through her singing, which she did every Sunday in [...]

Whitfield was a native of Harlem, New York, and spent much of his teen years in local pool halls. In his late teens, he and his family moved to Detroit, Michigan, so that his father could join his sister and [...]

Neil Percival Young was born in Toronto, Canada on 12 November 1945. His father, Scott Alexander Young was a journalist and sportswriter who would later rise to prominence in Canada for his work.His mother, Edna Blow Ragland "Rassy" Young was [...]

Nathaniel Adderley always had a flare for music. In fact, he began playing the trumpet when he was just a teenage boy in 1946. Four years later, he switched to the smaller cornet.From 1951-53 he played in the U.S. Army [...]

Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. Davis was influenced by his blues pianist mother to play the piano at an early age, but he instead chose to go with his father’s preference, the trumpet. His [...]

Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood born 24 June 1947 is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and co-founder of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname and that of John McVie [...]

Melvin Franklin was born David Melvin English on October 12, 1942 in Montgomery Alabama where he grew up with his mother and stepfather. His stepfather was a minister who had him singing in the church choir by the age of [...]

Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947, in Dallas, Texas. The son of Orvis Aday, a police officer, and his wife, Wilma, Meat Loaf he's never been clear as to how he got the [...]

Ernie was born in Cincinnati where his older brothers formed The Isley Brothers, first as a gospel group, then as a secular singing group. In 1960 his family moved to Englewood, Teaneck, New Jersey. Jimi Hendrix lived in the Isley [...]

Collie was bor in January 18, 1956 to a large family as one of six kids. Is an American country music artist and occasional actor. He learned he had a talent for music at an early age. Initially playing piano, [...]

Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in the Washington D.C. Ellen Naomi Cohen, Mama Cass Elliot was an American singer and member of the 60’s band The Mamas & [...]

Mahalia Jackson is viewed by many as the pinnacle of gospel music. Her singing began at the age of four in her church, the Plymouth Rock Baptist Church in New Orleans. Her early style blended the freedom and power of [...]

Singer, songwriter. Born April 20, 1951, in New York City. The youngest of four children, and all of them suffered from diabetes. Vandross was raised by his mother after his father died. He became interested in R&B music during high [...]

Quote: “The most important thing for me is to be in tune!” Leslie West was born Leslie Weinstein in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. He quit school after his parents’ divorce and worked for a jeweler in Manhattan’s diamond district; [...]

David Crosby was a founding member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and their first album earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1969. Crosby has earned many gold and platinum records and was inducted into the Rock [...]

Nobody thought for even a second that Crystal Bowersox's second-place finish on "American Idol 2010" meant that the 26-year-old was headed back to her native Elliston, Ohio, to resume a quiet life. Instead, she moved 2,000 miles west to a [...]