May 5

Soul's most powerful modern voice Adele celebrates her 38th birthday today, born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, the British singer whose heartbreak albums '21' and '25' proved that old-fashioned vocal prowess could still dominate streaming-era pop while her reclusive nature made every appearance an event…

 

Piedmont blues lost its most spiritual voice today in 1972 when Reverend Gary Davis died at 76 from a heart attack, ending the career of the blind guitarist whose finger-picking mastery and gospel fervor influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia…

 

New wave royalty united today in 1984 when Simple Minds' Jim Kerr married the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde in New York City, beginning the six-year marriage between two of Britain's most successful 1980s artists before creative differences and separate careers led to divorce…

 

We remember Georgia blues' most haunting voice Blind Willie McTell on his birthday today in 1898, the guitarist whose twelve-string mastery and "Statesboro Blues" influenced the Allman Brothers while his Atlanta street performances preserved pre-war blues until his death in 1959…

 

We honor country's First Lady Tammy Wynette on her birthday today in 1942, the "Stand by Your Man" singer whose five marriages to George Jones and tumultuous personal life proved as dramatic as her songs about suffering women before her mysterious death in 1998 at 55.