Sep 13 2026
Few singers have ever sounded quite like Yma Sumac. At one moment, her voice could descend into a dark, resonant register that seemed almost impossibly low. Seconds later, she could leap upward into brilliant coloratura, trills, birdlike calls, and piercing high notes that appeared to come from an entirely different singer. Even among the flamboyant …
Sep 11 2026
Bola de Nieve did not have the kind of voice the recording industry usually tries to manufacture into perfection. It could be rough, intimate, conversational, playful, weary, tender, and suddenly enormous with feeling. He did not smooth away those qualities. He built an entire art around them. Sitting at the piano in immaculate evening clothes, …
Sep 08 2026
Born on September 8, 1932, in Winchester, Virginia, Patsy Cline possessed one of the most recognizable voices of the mid-20th century. In a recording career that lasted less than a decade, she helped change the possibilities for women in country music while carrying the genre far beyond its traditional audience. Songs such as “Walkin’ After …
Aug 29 2026
Born on August 29, 1942, on Long Island, New York, Sterling Morrison became an essential part of one of the most influential bands of the 1960s without ever becoming its most famous member. As a guitarist in the Velvet Underground, Morrison played alongside Lou Reed, John Cale, and Maureen Tucker in a group whose music …
Aug 26 2026
Born on August 26, 1944, in Queens, New York, Maureen “Moe” Tucker became one of rock music’s most distinctive drummers by ignoring many of the conventions associated with the instrument. She often played standing rather than sitting. Her drum setup was famously spare, and she generally avoided the elaborate cymbal work and flashy fills that …
Aug 25 2026
Born on August 25, 1933, in Newark, New Jersey, Wayne Shorter spent more than six decades refusing to stay in one musical place for very long. As a tenor and soprano saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and collaborator, he became part of some of the most adventurous music created during the second half of the 20th century. …
Aug 23 2026
Born on August 23, 1900, in San Francisco, Malvina Reynolds became one of the most distinctive voices of the American folk revival by proving that a songwriter did not need youth, glamour, or a conventional entertainment career to make an enormous cultural impact. Reynolds was already well into middle age when songwriting became the center …
Aug 16 2026
Born on August 16, 1934, in Hope, Arkansas, Ketty Lester built one of those wonderfully unpredictable careers that could only belong to a performer with more than one talent. She first became internationally known through “Love Letters,” a beautifully restrained recording that stood apart from much of the louder, more heavily arranged pop music of …
Aug 15 2026
Born on August 15, 1944, in Iskrets, Bulgaria, Sylvie Vartan became one of the defining faces and voices of French popular culture during the 1960s. With her blond hair, sharp fashion sense, energetic stage presence, and recordings that blended American rock and roll with French pop, she emerged as one of the great stars of …
Aug 10 2026
Born Veronica Yvette Bennett on August 10, 1943, in New York City, Ronnie Spector became one of the most recognizable voices and images of the 1960s. As the lead singer of the Ronettes, she helped create records that combined teenage longing, streetwise confidence, enormous orchestral production, and a visual style that was every bit as …
