January 4

 

Alternative rock's most enigmatic frontman Michael Stipe celebrates his 65th birthday today, the R.E.M. vocalist whose cryptic lyrics and passionate delivery helped make the Athens, Georgia band college rock's most important American group before their amicable 2011 breakup…

 

Soft rock lost one of its most distinctive voices today in 2010 when Gerry Rafferty died at 63 after battling alcoholism and illness, ending the life of the Scottish singer-songwriter whose "Baker Street" saxophone solo and introspective lyrics made him a 1970s icon…

 

Rock's most elegant sophisticate proved age was just a number on this day in 2012 when 66-year-old Bryan Ferry married 29-year-old Amanda Sheppard, the Roxy Music frontman's third marriage showing that his romantic appeal endured across generations…

 

Jazz-fusion's most spiritual guitarist John McLaughlin was born today in 1942, the British virtuoso whose Mahavishnu Orchestra brought Eastern philosophy and lightning-fast technique to jazz-rock while his collaborations with Miles Davis helped define fusion's possibilities…

 

Rock lost one of its most poetic warriors on this day in 1986 when Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott died at 36 from pneumonia and heart failure brought on by drug and alcohol abuse, the Irish bassist-vocalist's "The Boys Are Back in Town" outliving his tragic early death…

 

Music management lost one of its most successful moguls on this day in 2016 when Robert Stigwood died at 81, ending the life of the Australian impresario who managed Cream and the Bee Gees while producing 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Grease,' dominating 1970s pop culture.