Huddie William “Lead Belly” Ledbetter is believed to have born on January 23, 1888, in Mooringsport, Louisiana. Called the “king of the 12-string guitar players,” he was a popular folk and blues performer known for such songs as “Goodnight, Irene, “Midnight Special,” and “In the Pines.”
Ethel Agnes Zimmermann was born on January 16, 1908, in Astoria, Queens, New York. Known as the “Queen of Broadway,” her dazzling career lasted more than 50 years.
Jazz pianist and composer Erroll Garner died on January 2, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. He’s been called “one of the most distinctive of all pianists” and a “brilliant virtuoso.”
Franz Waxman was born on December 24, 1906, in Königshütte, Upper Silesia, German Empire (present-day Chorzów, Poland). Waxman was the first composer to win an Academy Award for best film score two years in a row.
Composer Edward Alexander MacDowell was born on December 18, 1860, in New York City. He composed several notable works and was one of the first people inducted into the American Academy of Arts and letters.
On December 15, 1944, big band leader and composer Glenn Miller was aboard a plane that disappeared over the English Channel. Miller had put his successful civilian music career on hold to serve in the US Army during World War II.
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was killed outside his home in New York City. A musical pioneer, Lennon and his former bandmates the Beatles had introduced millions of people to the new sound and attitude of rock ‘n’ roll.
John Herndon Mercer was born on November 18, 1909, in Savannah, Georgia. A lyricist, songwriter, and singer, Mercer wrote more than 1,500 songs during his career, many of which were popularized in films and on Broadway.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was born on November 6, 1860, in Kuryłówka, Podolia (in present-day Ukraine). He was an accomplished pianist and composer as well as the first Prime Minister of independent Poland.