Jenny Lewis is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley and has released two solo albums. Lewis currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice. As a child actor in the 1980s and 1990s, she appeared in a number of TV shows, movies and commercials. Lewis was born on this day in 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We’ll all be portions for foxes.
Brian Hugh Warner, better known by his stage name Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician and former music journalist known for his controversial stage persona and image as the lead singer of the eponymous band Marilyn Manson. His stage name was formed from juxtaposing the names of two American cultural icons – actress Marilyn Monroe and murderer Charles Manson. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor produced Marilyn Manson’s debut album in 1994. Manson, now with his own brand of absinthe, was born on January 5, 1969.
Fiona Apple is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She has released four albums, all critically acclaimed: Tidal (1996), When the Pawn… (1999), Extraordinary Machine (2005) and The Idler Wheel… (2012). Apple’s vocal range is contralto and her musical style contains elements of jazz and alternative rock.
Fiona Apple is one of my favorites. Tonight Heidi and I will see her in concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. Blake Mills opens. By the way, in case you’ve forgotten, Fiona’s stunning live cover of Elvis Costello’s “I Want You” still exists.
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed “Lady Day,” she pioneered a new vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists. Holiday is perhaps most celebrated for singing “Strange Fruit,” a protest song that became one of her standards and was made famous with her 1939 recording. She died on this day in 1959.
Björk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter with an eclectic musical style and seven acclaimed studio albums. Three of her 1990s singles from Post charted in the UK Top 10. Björk wore her celebrated “swan dress” to the 2001 Oscars for her Selmasongs duet with Thom Yorke of Radiohead, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.
Trent Reznor is an American singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. Reznor has led the industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist since 1988. In 2010, he and his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, formed the post-industrial band How to Destroy Angels alongside fellow composer Atticus Ross, with whom Reznor has scored two films. Reznor was on born on this day in 1965.
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released solo recordings and worked with various media including film and photography. He was born on this day in 1952.
Note: The inspiration for this 8-bit character is Stop Making Sense, a 1984 concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage. The movie is notable for Byrne’s “big suit,” an absurdly oversized business suit he dons late in the concert for the song “Girlfriend is Better.”
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered an icon of alternative rock and Seattle grunge. Vedder was originally invited to Seattle in 1990 by former Mother Love Bone members to audition for the Temple of the Dog tribute project and their new band Mookie Blaylock (renamed Pearl Jam in 1991).
Ludwig van Beethoven is a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He is one of the most famous and influential of all composers, and is an important figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras. His hearing began to deteriorate in his late twenties, yet he continued to compose, conduct and perform, even after becoming completely deaf. He died on this day in 1827.
An American rhythm and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He was known as “The Originator” because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock & roll. His driving rhythms and hard-edged guitar sound were highly influential. His trademark rectangular guitar is one example of his technical innovations. He was born on this day in 1928.
A prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers. He died on this day in 1791.
A Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963-1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.
The Bob Marley is my favorite American Dream Pizza combo. Toppings: Jamaican jerk chicken, mushrooms, black olives and red onions.
An American rapper popularly known as Biggie Smalls and Big Poppa. He was a focal point of the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry and became a central figure in the East Coast hip hop scene. In March 1997, at age 24, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.
An American rapper and actor known by the stage name 2Pac. Themes of his songs include violence and hardship in inner cities, racism and other social problems. He was a focal point of the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry and died on this day in 1996, after being shot four times in a drive-by shooting following a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. No changes.
An American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs spanned many genres, including rockabilly, rock ‘n’ roll, blues, folk and gospel. The Man in Black died on this day in 2003 at age 71. By the way, I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
An American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur born on this day in 1958. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is the world’s top-selling female recording artist of all time. The Queen of Pop is known for reinventing her image and her music. One trend was the Gaultier cone-bra corset from her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour.
An Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1980s and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Prince. In 1992, she controversially tore a photo of Pope John Paul II to pieces on Saturday Night Live to protest sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and was vilified by the media.
Today MTV is celebrating its 30th birthday. Remember when MTV mattered? You can watch the first 20 minutes of the original August 1, 1981 broadcast.
A singer-songwriter and guitarist from Chicago, Illinois. He is best known as the frontman (and sole permanent member) of The Smashing Pumpkins. I think “The Aeroplane Flies High” might be my favorite Pumpkins song. This is the final character of my eight-day Music Week.
I am in Chicago for the HOW Design Conference 2011 this week. In celebration, two more Chicago-related characters are next.
The King of Pop was the most successful entertainer of all time, from his beginnings with The Jackson 5 to his solo career. His 8-bit outfit is based on the “Smooth Criminal” video. He died on this day in 2009 at age 50. His personal physician was charged with involuntary manslaughter. This is character #7 of my eight-day Music Week.
I am in Chicago for the HOW Design Conference 2011 this week.
Frank Zappa – No. 552
Frank Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter and producer. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. He was born on this day in 1940 and died in 1993.
If you’re reading this, then I guess the world didn’t end. Which means popular interpretations of the Maya calendar and Nostradamus didn’t work out. Shocking!