Born December 10, 1974, Megan Martha White, known to White Stripes fans simply as “Meg,” isn’t your typical rock goddess. Exceedingly shy to the point of paranoia, she forced the duo to cancel a 2007 tour due to her acute anxiety. She gladly ceded the spokesperson role to bandmate Jack…

Controversy creates headlines, and in the music world, it’s often integral to the marketing machine. Artists who foster outrage find their names instilled in the public psyche, sometimes to the point that their music becomes secondary to their mayhem. Sinead O’Connor fits that category; despite some early critically acclaimed albums,…

Thomas Alan “Tom” Waits, born December 7, 1949, is one of America’s most distinctive and eclectic raconteurs, an artist who’s known as a superior songwriter, an animated storyteller, an intuitive soundtrack composer, a roughshod singer, a versatile actor, and a man whose many guises have kept his devotees amazed, enthralled,…

On the occasion of his 79th birthday, Little Richard becomes one of the oldest members of that first great wave of rock ‘n’ roll pioneers who set the standard in the mid ’50s. An original inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame – he was honored during the…

Call him the Prince of Darkness. Or the Godfather of Metal Mayhem. Call him incoherent. Or call him by his given name, John Michael Osbourne. No matter what he’s called, Ozzy Osbourne is a genuine phenomenon. He’s not only one of Rock’s most successful artists of all time — having…

It seems inevitable that no matter how brilliant an artist, the specter of an untimely death always hangs heavy over any and all accomplishments. Take Janis, Jimi, and Kurt, for example — each was an innovator, but any discussion of their careers often veers to the subject of their early…

To the world at large, Billy Idol will be forever remembered as the sneering, attitude-intensive punk whose hits “White Wedding,” “Dancing With Myself,” and “Rebel Yell” made him a staple on MTV early on. Idol turns 56 today, but thankfully, he retains that same insurgent stance. In keeping with MTV’s early…

Considered one of the godfathers of British Blues — a distinction he shares with late Alexis Korner — vocalist and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall gave a jumpstart to that particular idiom well before it took hold with the masses in the latter part of the ’60s through bands like Fleetwood Mac,…

Arguably the greatest rock guitarist of all time, James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942) achieved a reputation that lingered well past the accidental overdose that took his life on September 18, 1970. Known for his flamboyant stage performances, his singular form of psychedelia, and…

It’s been three years since Tina Turner came out of retirement to play a farewell tour, and whether that will be a one-off series of gigs or (hopefully) lead to another Tina return remains to be seen. And despite the fact that she turns an amazing 72 today, it’s best…

His heads-down, unassuming demeanor notwithstanding, Bruce Hornsby is easily one of America’s most versatile and accomplished musicians of the past 25 years. Few other artists can claim such wide musical parameters, from the early Americana that brought him big hits like “The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain,” and “The Valley…

“They call me Dr. John, known as the Night Tripper.” With that guttural growl, the once and future Mac Rebennack assumed the persona that would continue to define his guise going forward. One of New Orleans true originals and a musician who helped further the Crescent City sound, he was…

Like Elvis Costello, with whom he first shared the spotlight at the height of England’s punk music revolution, Graham Parker drew his image as an irascible, rebellious rocker who was perpetually defiant and decidedly anti-authority. Born 61 years ago today, Parker may have since matured, but that cynicism and intensity…

Had Jeff Buckley not died from a freak drowning accident some 14 years ago, he would have turned 45 today and hopefully added to a recorded legacy that was capped at only an EP, one album, and a handful of demos and posthumous live recordings. It’s tantalizing to imagine what…

Petula Clark, born November 15, 1932, is best-known for a series of effusive, infectious songs that helped define the image of the “Swinging London” during its glory years in the mid-1960s. Indeed, for those whose memory is still flush with those halcyon days when all things English dominated pop culture,…