People, Locations, Episodes

Sly Stone, Musician, Songwriter, Bandleader, and Singer born

*Sly Stone was born on this date in 1943. He was a Black musician, songwriter, and record producer. Sylvester Stewart (his birth name) came from a deeply religious middle-class household in Denton, Texas. As part of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) doctrines, to which the Stewart family belonged, the parents, K.C. and Alpha […]

George Benson, Musician, and Singer born

*George Benson was born on this date in 1943.  He is a Black jazz guitarist, singer, and songwriter.   George Washington Benson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At seven, he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars. At eight, he played guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and […]

Tania León, Composer, Conductor, and Educator born

*Tania León was born on this date in 1943. She is an Afro Cuban American composer of large-scale and chamber works, a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. She was born Tania Justina León in Havana, Cuba, and has mixed French, Spanish, Chinese, African, and Cuban heritage. Her grandmother recognized that her granddaughter liked […]

Clyde Stubblefield, Drummer born.

*Clyde Stubblefield was born on April 18, 1943. He was a Black funk and blues drummer. Born to Frank D. and Vena Stubblefield, Clyde Austin Stubblefield grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After seeing musicians in a parade, he wanted to drum, and the industrial sounds of factories influenced his sense of rhythm and the trains […]

Mary Wells, Singer born

On this date in 1943, Mary Wells was born. She was an African American soul singer.

Born in Detroit, Mary Esther Wells began singing at the age of ten. In 1961 when she was about 18, she approached Berry Gordy (Motown Records founder) and convinced him to record her version of the song “Bye Bye Baby.” That recording, released as a single that year began a long and prosperous career with Motown. She became famous for her solo vocals, touring the world with the Motown Revue.

Patrick Ellis, Gospel Disc Jockey born

*Patrick Ellis was born on this date in 1943.  He was a Black radio show host and production director.   Patrick Connery Ellis was born at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.  His mother, Ida Delaney Ellis, was a teacher, and his father, Roy Alexander Ellis, was a government labor relations specialist. He had one brother, Roy M. Ellis. After attending public schools, Ellis […]

Kenny Barron, Jazz Pianist born

*Kenny Barron was born on this date in 1943. He is a Black jazz pianist and music professor. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kenny Barron is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron. One of his first performances was as a pianist with the Dizzy Gillespie quartet. Following stretches with Ron Carter in the late seventies, Kenny formed a […]

Little Eva, Singer of the 1960s born

Little Eva was born on this date in 1943. She was an African American singer from Bellhaven, North Carolina.

Ronnie Spector, 1960s Singer born

*Ronnie Spector was born on this date in 1943. She was a Black singer who formed the girl group the Ronettes in 1957 with her elder sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. Veronica Yvette Bennett was born in Spanish Harlem, the daughter of a Black Cherokee mother and an Irish white-American father. Bennett and her […]

Edwin Hawkins, singer born

*Edwin Hawkins was born on this date in 1943.  He was an African American singer. He was the son of Daniel and Mamie Hawkins.  From in Oakland, CA, his father was a longshoreman who liked to play Hawaiian steel guitar. Edwin and his many siblings began singing at local churches as a family group. By […]

Webster Lewis, Entertainer born

*Webster Lewis was born on this date in 1943. He was an African American musician, singer, composer and arranger. From Baltimore, Maryland, his parents were Webster S. Lewis, Sr. and Virgie Gaines Lewis.

Grover Washington Jr., Saxophonist born

On this date in 1943, Grover Washington, Jr., was born. He was an African American saxophonist who played tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone; he also played the clarinet, electric bass, and piano; and he was a composer.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., he grew up in a musical family. Washington started playing the saxophone when he was 10, and was already playing in clubs as a teenager. After graduating from high school at the age of 16, he formed a group called The Four Clefs, was based in Ohio.

Henry Threadgill, Composer and Musician Born.

*Henry Threadgill was born on this date in 1944. Hs is a Black jazz composer, saxophonist, and flautist. Henry Threadgill, a Chicago, Illinois native, played percussion in his high school marching band before taking up baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, and flute. He then studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, majoring in piano, flute, and […]

Bobby Womack, Soul Singer born

*Bobby Womack was born on this date in 1944. He was an African American singer, producer, and composer.

Diana Ross, Entertainer born

*Diana Ross was born on this date in 1944.  She is a Black singer and entertainer.   From Detroit, Michigan, Diana Ernestine Ross was the second of six children born to a Baptist family of Fred Ross and Ernestine Moten in Detroit, Michigan. Her sisters, Barbara and Rita, did not enter show business; instead, Barbara Ross became […]