April 7

We remember jazz's most heartbreaking voice Billie Holiday on her birthday today in 1915, "Lady Day" whose vocal phrasing and emotional depth on "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child" made her one of music's greatest interpreters despite heroin addiction and her tragic death at 44 in 1959…

 

Folk lost its greatest storyteller on this day in 2020 when John Prine died at 73 from COVID-19 complications, ending the career of the "Paradise" singer-songwriter whose working-class wisdom and poetic humor influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Jason Isbell across five decades…

 

Hard rock's most volatile partnership ended today in 1975 when Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple to form Rainbow, the guitarist replaced by Tommy Bolin whose jazz-fusion style clashed with the band's identity before his own drug death just two years later…

 

Celebrity tragedy struck again on this day in 2014 when Peaches Geldof was found dead at 25 from a heroin overdose, Bob Geldof and Paula Yates' daughter repeating her mother's fate and proving that fame's children often inherited its darkest demons…

 

We remember Jefferson Airplane's jazz-influenced drummer Spencer Dryden on his birthday today in 1938, the timekeeper whose swing feel gave the psychedelic band's sound its unique groove before his departure and death in 2005 ended a career bridging eras…

 

Blue-eyed soul's smoothest voice John Oates celebrates his 78th birthday today, the Hall and Oates guitarist-songwriter whose partnership with Daryl Hall created the most successful duo in rock history while his mustache became one of the 1980s' most iconic images…

 

We honor session drummer Dallas Taylor on his birthday today in 1948, the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young timekeeper whose work on their early albums showcased his jazz-rock fusion before drug addiction derailed his career and led to his death in 2015…

 

Recording engineering lost a legendary ear on this day in 2013 when Andy Johns died at 61 from stomach ulcer complications, ending the career of the producer whose work on Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones albums captured rock's greatest performances…

 

We remember Indian classical music's greatest ambassador Ravi Shankar on his birthday today in 1920, the sitar virtuoso whose collaborations with George Harrison brought Eastern music to Western audiences while fathering Norah Jones before his death in 2012…

 

Folk's most precocious voice Janis Ian was born today in 1951, the singer-songwriter whose "Society's Child" about interracial dating made her a star at 15 while "At Seventeen" proved her ability to capture teenage pain with devastating honesty.