February 4
Rock's original shock master Alice Cooper celebrates his 78th birthday today, born Vincent Furnier, the Detroit preacher's son whose guillotines, snakes, and theatrical horror made parents terrified while proving that theatricality and hard rock could create lasting careers… Pop lost its most angelic voice today in 1983 when Karen Carpenter died of cardiac arrest at her parents' Downey home at 32, her death from anorexia nervosa bringing eating disorders into public consciousness while silencing one of popular music's purest vocalists… Scottish rock lost its most theatrical showman today in 1982 when Alex Harvey died of a heart attack at 46 while waiting for a ferry after performing, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band frontman's sudden death ending one of glam rock's most underrated careers… Soul-funk mourned its visionary bandleader today in 2016 when Maurice White died at 74 after battling Parkinson's disease, ending the life of the Ear...
