January 6

 

Bebop lost its most exuberant voice on this date in 1993 when Dizzy Gillespie died of pancreatic cancer at 75, ending the life of the trumpeter whose puffed cheeks, bent horn, and harmonic innovations helped revolutionize jazz while his playful personality made him the music's greatest ambassador…

 

Soul music's smoothest baritone was silenced today in 2006 when Lou Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at 72, ending the career of the vocalist whose velvet voice on "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" made him a favorite across five decades…

 

We remember Pink Floyd's lost genius Syd Barrett on his birthday today in 1946, the troubled founder whose psychedelic vision on 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' established the band's direction before mental illness ended his involvement, his death in 2006 closing a sad chapter…

 

British folk-rock lost its greatest voice when we remember Sandy Denny on her birthday today in 1947, the Fairport Convention singer whose powerful vocals influenced generations before her tragic death from a brain hemorrhage at just 31 in 1978 cut short a brilliant career…

 

Bluegrass found its defining sound when Earl Scruggs was born on this day in 1924 near Boiling Springs, North Carolina, the banjo innovator whose three-finger picking style revolutionized the instrument and became bluegrass's signature sound before his death in 2012…

 

AC/DC's rhythmic engine Malcolm Young was born today in 1953, the guitarist whose relentless power chords were the true foundation of the band's thunder before dementia forced his retirement and death in 2017, proving he was the real rock behind the world's loudest band…

 

Live rock reached its commercial peak today in 1976 with the release of 'Frampton Comes Alive!,' Peter Frampton's double album that became one of the best-selling live records ever, proving that arena rock captured on tape could dominate the charts and FM radio.