| 1782 | Nicolo Paganini, He was an Italian violinist and a composer, considered by many as the greatest of all time.
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| 1907 | Siegfried Christensen, Traditional jazz pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the son of a well-known concert bandleader and became a successful attorney. As a young musician, he was a very good pianist and was a favorite of Johnny Wiggs, Sharkey Bonano, Bill Padron and others. He died in New Orleans in December, 1980.
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| 1924 | George Wallington, He was one of the first and best bop pianists, ranking up there with Al Haig, just below Bud Powell. He was also the composer of two bop standards that caught on for a time: "Lemon Drop" and "Godchild." He passed away on Feb 15, 1993 in New York, NY.
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| 1933 | Floyd Cramer, A session pianist born in Samti, Louisiana. He was a Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville Sound." In the early 50's he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show. During his career he played for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, The Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, and the Everly Brothers, among others. He died of lung cancer in 1997 at the age of 64.
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| 1940 | (Big Chief) Alfred Doucette, A renowned musician, songwriter, entertainer and a native and lifelong resident of New Orleans, Louisiana. Big Chief Doucette is a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian who has been inducted into the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame twice—once as Big Chief of the Flaming Arrow Warriors and again as Chief Council of the Flaming Arrow Warriors. He has been featured in numerous films, television specials, music videos, magazines and newspapers. He has appeared on the television show New Orleans Live, and articles in The New York Times, USA Today, The Times-Picayune, OffBeat Magazine, and Minnesota (the magazine of the University of Minnesota) as well as many cultural and musical shows. He also regularly gives lectures about his cultural heritage at schools and universities.
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| 1942 | Lee Greenwood, CMA Male vocalist of the Year in 1983 and 1984.
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| 1942 | Phillip Catherine, He has been on the forefront of the European jazz scene since the sixties. He's worked great artists like Chet Baker, Larry Coryell, Tom Harrell, NHOP, Stéphane Grappelli, and Charles Mingus. (84) |
| 1948 | Sherman Robertson, He's a blues guitarist, songwriter and singer from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. He's toured with Clifton Chenier, Rockin' Dopsie and appeared on Paul Simon's Graceland. He's released 4 of his own records and conitnues to tour.
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| 1951 | Scott Billington, A songwriter, blues musician and Grammy award winning record producer from Melrose, Massachusetts. He's the VP of A&R for Rounder records and has recorded countless Louisiana artists. He's recorded Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Boozoo Chavis, Irma Thomas and Johnny Adams, Buckwheat Zydeco, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Beau Jocque. For Rounder Records, he created the label’s highly-regarded Modern New Orleans Masters series. (75) |
| 1954 | Wendell Brunious, He is a jazz trumpeter and bandleader, and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He studied at Southern University where he played with Danny Barker. By 1979 was playing regularly at Preservation Hall with Kid Thomas Valentine. He was named leader of the group upon Valentine's death in 1987. He later played with Michael White, Chris Barber, Papa Don Vappie, Bob Wilber and the Pfister Sisters. He remained a regular performer at Preservation Hall into the 2000s.
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| 1958 | Simon LeBon, Singer for the popular group 'Duran Duran' - "Hungry Like the Wolf".
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