March 20

Art met Beatle today in 1969 when John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the British Consulate Office in Gibraltar, beginning the controversial partnership that would produce avant-garde albums and bed-ins for peace while fans blamed her for breaking up the Beatles…

 

Rock's most devastating personal tragedy struck on this date in 1991 when Eric Clapton's four-year-old son Conor fell to his death from the 53rd floor of a New York City apartment, the accident inspiring "Tears in Heaven" while nearly destroying the guitarist with grief…

 

We remember nu-metal's most tormented voice Chester Bennington on his birthday today in 1976, the Linkin Park frontman whose screaming vocals on "In the End" channeled childhood trauma before his suicide in 2017 at 41 ended the career of alternative rock's most anguished vocalist…

 

Country lost its smoothest gambler on this day in 2020 when Kenny Rogers died at 81 from natural causes at his Georgia home, ending the career of the silver-bearded singer whose "The Gambler" and crossover success made him one of music's most beloved storytellers…

 

Beatles royalty received belated recognition today in 2018 when Ringo Starr was knighted by the Duke of Cambridge for services to music, the drummer finally getting his due decades after being dismissed as the band's least talented member…

 

Jazz lost one of its greatest arrangers on this day in 1988 when Gil Evans died at 75, ending the career of the orchestrator whose collaborations with Miles Davis on 'Sketches of Spain' and 'Birth of the Cool' proved that jazz could embrace classical sophistication…

 

Texas blues' elder statesman Jimmie Vaughan celebrates his 75th birthday today, Stevie Ray's older brother whose Fabulous Thunderbirds and continued blues traditionalism proved that staying authentic mattered more than matching his sibling's fame…

 

Progressive rock's most powerful drummer Carl Palmer turns 76 today, the Emerson, Lake & Palmer timekeeper whose technical precision and showmanship on extended solos made him one of the genre's most respected percussionists across five decades…

 

Art-rock's most literate frontman Alex Kapranos celebrates his 54th birthday today, the Franz Ferdinand vocalist whose danceable post-punk on "Take Me Out" proved that Glasgow could revive new wave for the 2000s with intelligence and groove.