May 20

Pop's most durable chameleon Cher celebrates her 80th birthday today, the singer-actress whose six-decade career from Sonny's partner through "Believe" auto-tune proved that reinvention and cosmetic surgery could sustain superstardom while her outrageous outfits made her fashion's most fearless risk-taker…

 

The Doors lost their musical architect today in 2013 when keyboardist Ray Manzarek died at 74 from bile duct cancer, ending the career of the musician whose hypnotic organ work provided the foundation for Jim Morrison's poetry while his post-Morrison career kept the band's legacy alive…

 

The Bee Gees mourned their middle brother on this day in 2012 when Robin Gibb died at 62 from cancer, ending the career of the fraternal harmony voice whose falsetto contributions had been essential to disco's biggest hits despite his often being overshadowed by Barry's songwriting…

 

We remember blue-eyed soul's most spastic interpreter Joe Cocker on his birthday today in 1944, the Sheffield singer whose air-guitar spasms and guttural cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends" made him rock's most physical vocalist before his death in 2014 ended five decades of raw emotion…

 

The 27 Club's most forgotten member Rudy Lewis died on this day in 1964 from a suspected heroin overdose at 27, the Drifters' lead singer found dead hours before a recording session, his untimely death robbing the group of the voice that had replaced Ben E. King…

 

New wave's punkiest Go-Go Jane Wiedlin was born on this day in 1958, the guitarist-vocalist whose "Our Lips Are Sealed" co-write and solo hit "Rush Hour" proved that all-female bands could write their own material while her Star Trek obsession made her geek culture's unlikely patron saint…

 

Rock royalty wed today in 1968 when Pete Townshend married Karen Astley, beginning the tumultuous union that would produce three children and survive multiple separations before their official 2009 divorce ended one of rock's longest-suffering marriages.