March 2
We remember rock's darkest poet Lou Reed on his birthday today in 1943, the Velvet Underground founder whose unflinching explorations of New York's underbelly and willingness to challenge audiences made him one of music's most influential and difficult voices before his death in 2013… Pop lost its most soulful British voice today in 1999 when Dusty Springfield died at 59 after battling breast cancer, ending the career of the blue-eyed soul singer whose "Son of a Preacher Man" and beehive hair made her the 1960s' most distinctive female vocalist… Blues-rock mourned its blind virtuoso on this day in 2008 when Jeff Healey died at 41 from cancer, ending the life of the Canadian guitarist who played his Stratocaster flat on his lap while his technical mastery proved that disability couldn't limit musical expression… Smooth jazz found its most sophisticated guitarist when Larry Carlton was born today in 1948, the session legend whose work with ...
