January 20th: Born on this day

January 20th: Born on this day          Paul Stanley

1889, Born on this day, Leadbelly, (Huddi William Ledbetter), Blues musician, who wrote 'Goodnight Irene', 'The Rock Island Line', and 'The Midnight Special'. He was once jailed for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman. Leadbelly died on 6th December 1949.

1924, Born on this day, Slim Whitman, American country singer, (1955 UK No.1 single 'Rose Marie', 1977 UK No.1 album 'Red River Valley'). He died of heart failure on June 19, 2013 surrounded by family at Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Florida aged 90.

1933, Born on this day, Ron Townson, The 5th Dimension, (1969 US No.1 & UK No.11 single 'Aquarius'). Died on 3rd August 2001.

1942, Born on this day, Billy Powell, vocals, The O'Jays, (1973 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Love Train'). Powell died on 26th May 1982.

1943, Born on this day, Rick Evans, singer, Zager and Evans, (1969 US & UK No.1 single 'In The Year 2525').

1945, Born on this day, Eric Stewart, guitar, keyboards, vocals, Mindenders, (1966 UK No.2 single Groovy Kind Of Love'), Hotlegs, (1970 UK No.2 single 'Neanderthal Man'), 10cc, (1975 UK No.1 & US No. 2 single 'I'm Not In Love' plus 10 other Top 30 hits).

1946, Born on this day, Jimmy Chambers, singer, Londonbeat, (1990 UK No.2 & 1991 US No.1 single 'I've Been Thinking About You').

1947, Born on this day, George Grantham, drums, Poco, (1979 US No.17 single 'Crazy Love').

1948, Born on this day, Mel Pritchard, Barclay James Harvest, 8 UK Top 40 albums from 1974-87.

1952, Born on this day, Paul Stanley, guitar, vocals, Kiss, who had 1976 US #11 album 'Rock and Roll Over' which spent 26 weeks on the chart. Plus the 1987 UK #4 single 'Crazy Crazy Nights'. Kiss have been awarded 24 gold albums to date, the most of any American rock band - selling more than 40 million albums.

1952, Born on this day, Ian Hill, bass, Judas Priest, (1980 UK No.12 single 'Living After Midnight', 1980 UK No.4 album 'British Steel').

1959, Born on this day, American guitarist and singer-songwriter, Rusty Anderson, best known as the accompanying lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's tours since 2001. Anderson has also worked with Gwen Stefani, Steven Tyler, Richie Sambora, Regina Spektor, Dido, Cat Stevens, Miley Cyrus, Eros Ramazzotti, Nelly Furtado and Meat Loaf.

1965, Born on this day, Heather Small, singer, M People, (1993 UK No.2 single 'Moving On Up' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).

1969, Born on this day, Nicholas Allen Jones, Manic Street Preachers, (1996 UK No.2 single 'A Design For Life' 1998 UK No.1 album 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours').

1969, Born on this day, Tina O'Neill, drummer, We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It, (1989 UK No.11 single 'International Rescue').

1971, Born on this day, Gary Barlow, vocals, piano, songwriter, Take That, (1995 UK No.1 single ‘Back For Good’ plus eight other UK No.1 singles, 1993 UK No.1 album 'Everything Changes spent 78 weeks on the UK chart). Solo, (1996 UK No.1 single ‘Forever Love’). Written songs for Donny Osmond, Charlotte Church, Bryan McFadden and Atomic Kitten. Re-formed Take That without Robbie Williams in 2006 for a sold-out European tour. Topped the UK singles and album charts simultaneously for the first time in their career when the single ‘Patience’ and album ‘Beautiful World’ both reached No.1 in Dec 2006.

1979, Born on this day, Rob Bourdon, drums, Linkin Park, (2002 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'In The End', 2002 US No.2 & 2001 UK No.4 album 'Hybrid Theory').

1979, Born on this day, Will Young, singer, UK TV's Pop Idol winner, (2002 UK No.1 single 'Anything Is Possible / Evergreen').

1981, Born on this day, Nathan Connolly, Snow Patrol, (2006 UK No.1 album 'Eyes Open', 2006 UK No.6 single 'Chasing Cars').  listen to ‘This Day in Music Jan 20th’ on audioBoom