Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today August 25
1949
Gene Simmons is born, the demon who turned rock into a franchise
On August 25, 1949, Chaim Witz was born in Haifa, Israel; he emigrated to New York as a child and was reborn as Gene Simmons, the Demon of Kiss. With fake blood, fire and makeup he built the definitive rock spectacle, and with logo-stamped coffins and credit cards, merchandising taken to genius absurdity. Nobody understood better that rock is also circus and business.
Gene Simmons
Kiss
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1954
Elvis Costello is born, new wave's bespectacled sniper
On August 25, 1954, Declan MacManus was born in London, cheekily rebaptized Elvis Costello. Emerging from the punk class of 1977, he proved to be his generation's most venomous and versatile lyricist: from 'This Year's Model' to country, classical and collaborations with Bacharach and McCartney. Four decades on he keeps firing words with undiminished aim.
Elvis Costello
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1963
Shock G is born: the Oakland joker who handed Tupac his first microphone
On August 25, 1963, Gregory Jacobs was born in Brooklyn. As Shock G he led Digital Underground, an Oakland group that in 1990 turned 'The Humpty Dance' into a national hit with him dressed as a character in a fake nose. That same year he hired a nineteen-year-old dancer and roadie named Tupac Shakur and gave him his first recorded verse. He died in 2021, in a Tampa hotel.
Shock G
Digital Underground
2Pac
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1975
Born to Run: the all-or-nothing bet that saved Springsteen
On August 25, 1975, Columbia released Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen's third album and his last shot after two records that didn't sell. Cut in obsessive sessions with Mike Appel and Jon Landau, it condensed New Jersey street epics into eight cinemascope songs. The album hit number 3 on Billboard, and in October Bruce landed on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. Rock and roll had found its future, just as Landau had prophesied.
Bruce Springsteen
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1998
'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill': the album that won everything and had no sequel
On August 25, 1998, 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' was released in the United States. It sold 422,000 copies in its first week, the highest figure by a woman up to then, and became the first number-one album by an unaccompanied female rapper. At the Grammys it took ten nominations and five awards, including Album of the Year: hip-hop had never won it before. Hill never released a second studio album.
Lauryn Hill
Fugees
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1933
Wayne Shorter is born: the saxophonist who wrote modern jazz’s riddles
On August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter was born in Newark. He was the principal composer of Miles Davis's second quintet and later founded Weather Report, the band that plugged jazz into synthesizers and opened the door to fusion. His melodies have a rare quality: they sound like questions without answers. Asked to explain a composition, he tended to reply with a parable, and that was the whole explanation.
Wayne Shorter
Weather Report
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1951
Rob Halford is born: the Metal God who dressed the genre in leather
On August 25, 1951, Robert John Arthur Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield, England — the voice of Judas Priest since 1973. His multi-octave operatic range and leather-and-studs image defined heavy metal's uniform and sound forever. With albums like British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance, Priest turned metal into a stadium phenomenon. In 2022 he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, long since consecrated as the Metal God.
Rob Halford
Judas Priest
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1966
Terminator X is born: the DJ who never spoke and retired to farm ostriches
On August 25, 1966, Norman Rogers was born in New York. As Terminator X he was Public Enemy's DJ and the man responsible for the organised chaos holding up 'Fear of a Black Planet': sirens, scratches, noise turned into rhythm. In a group where Chuck D preached and Flavor Flav interrupted, he never said a word. He left music in the early 2000s and took up ostrich farming in North Carolina.
Terminator X
Public Enemy
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1970
The Troubadour night: Elton John conquers America in 300 seats
On August 25, 1970, an unknown Elton John made his American debut at West Hollywood's Troubadour club, opening a six-night sold-out run. Before a 300-strong crowd that included Quincy Jones, Leon Russell and members of the Beach Boys, the pianist blew the room away with Your Song and Take Me to the Pilot. Critic Robert Hilburn wrote that he would become one of rock's biggest and most important stars. He was right: that night launched one of the most colossal careers in popular music.
Elton John
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