| 1917 | Buddy Rich, The drummer's jazz career began in 1937 when he began playing with Joe Marsala at New York's Hickory House. By 1939, he had joined Tommy Dorsey's band, and he later went on to play with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rich toured with his own bands and opened two nightclubs, Buddy's Place and Buddy's Place II. Both clubs were regularly filled to capacity by fans of the great master drummer.
On April 2, 1987, Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. Longtime friend, Frank Sinatra, spoke a touching eulogy at Rich's funeral. Today, Buddy Rich is remembered as one of history's greatest musicians. According to jazz legend Gene Krupa, Rich was "The greatest drummer ever to have drawn breath."
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| 1922 | Oscar Pettiford, Bassist for Charlie Barnet, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Stan Getz. He died in Copenhagen on September 8, 1960.
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| 1933 | Cissy Houston, Between 1967 and 1970 she was lead vocalist with the Sweet Inspirations, an impressive quartet who sang on countless releases, primarily for Atlantic Records. Houston's subsequent solo releases included "I'll Be There" (1970), "Be My Baby" (1971) and "Think It Over" (1978). She is also the mother of pop superstar Whitney Houston.
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| 1935 | Jill Corey, (Born Norma Jean Speranza) was a traditional pop music singer. By the age of 14, she was working seven nights a week, earning $5 a night, with a local orchestra led by Johnny Murphy. By age 17 she was a celebrity in her local area.
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| 1935 | Johnny Mathis, Singer - "It's Not For Me To Say". One of the last and most popular in a long line of traditional male vocalists who emerged before the rock-dominated 1960s.
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| 1942 | Frankie Lymon, Lead vocalist with the Teenagers, Frankie Lymon became the first black teenage singing idol. The group's success inspired the formation of a number of youthful black vocal groups, from the Students in the late '50s to the Jackson Five in the '60s. - "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". Frankie died 28 February 1968 in New York City.
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| 1943 | Marilyn McCoo, Singer with 'The Fifth Dimension' - "Up, Up and Away".
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| 1952 | Bernard (Bunchy) Johnson, He was a multi-talented drummer and actor with extensive resumes in both arenas. At 19, Bunchy went on tour with King Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, and Candi Staton. He also performed and/or recorded with Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, The Dixie Cups, Jon Cleary, Irma Thomas, Lloyd Price, etc. When drummer James Black died Johnson took his place in Dave Bartholemew’s band. Bunchy passed away on March 21, 2010. He was 57. (74) |
| 1953 | Deborah Allen, A country-pop singer strongly influenced by Patsy Cline, Deborah Allen scored a few major hits in the early '80s and subsequently reinvented herself with a newly sensual image for the '90s. - "Baby I Lied".
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| 1954 | Patrice Rushen, Keyboardist, singer, songwriter, arranger and musical director who has had an outstanding career with several Top Ten R&B hits, including "Haven't You Heard," "Forget Me Nots," "Feels So Real," and "Watch Out."
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| 1958 | Marty Stuart, Country singer who was one of the most eclectic singers, moving between honky tonk, rockabilly, country-rock, traditional country, and bluegrass.
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| 1962 | Marley Marl, Rapper-producer. He was one of hip-hop's first (and finest) superproducers. He was an early innovator in the art of sampling, developing new techniques that resulted in some of the sharpest beats and hooks in rap's Golden Age.
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| 1982 | Magnolia Shorty (Renetta Yemika Lowe-Bridgewater), A rapper and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. She and Ms. Tee (Trishell Williams) were the first women signed to Cash Money Records. Her 1997 debut album Monkey on the Dick is considered a bounce classic, and she "was already considered a legend of bounce music" at the time of her death. Nicknamed "Queen of Bounce," she collaborated with many Cash Money artists beginning in the 1990s, including Juvenile and Hot Boys. She was shot and killed in a drive by shooting in 2010 in a double homicide at the Georgetown of New Orleans apartments complex in the New Orleans East neighborhood of Edgelake. She was 28.
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