Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 26
1939
Tina Turner is born, the survivor who reigned twice
Anna Mae Bullock, the future Tina Turner, is born in Nutbush, Tennessee. After escaping an abusive marriage to Ike, she rebuilt her career from nothing until “Private Dancer” (1984) crowned her again, past the age of 44. Her story of resilience and her tireless legs made her the undisputed queen of rock.
Tina Turner
1917
Nesuhi Ertegun is born: the Turk who built Atlantic's jazz catalogue
On November 26, 1917, Nesuhi Ertegun was born in Istanbul, son of the Turkish ambassador to the United States. His brother Ahmet had founded Atlantic Records; he joined in 1955 and built the label's jazz division, which recorded John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and the Modern Jazz Quartet. He was also the man who pushed the company to commit to the long-playing record.
Nesuhi Ertegun
Atlantic Records
John Coltrane
1945
John McVie is born, the “Mac” in Fleetwood Mac
John McVie is born in London: the bassist who gave Fleetwood Mac half its name. Understated on stage and solid like few others, he survived every era of the band, from British blues to the pop phenomenon of “Rumours”, an album that documented even his own divorce from Christine. Half a century of storms and his bass never lost the pulse.
John McVie
Fleetwood Mac
1975
DJ Khaled is born, who built a career putting people who were not speaking on the same song
On November 26, 1975, Khaled Khaled was born in New Orleans, son of Palestinian immigrants who played Arabic music. He started as a Miami radio DJ and found a trade of his own: talking rival rappers into recording together. His albums are collections of impossible collaborations on which he barely sings, but shouts his name and produces; with that formula he put three albums at number one.
DJ Khaled
1992
Anuel AA is born, who released his first album from prison and reached number one
On November 26, 1992, Emmanuel Gazmey was born in Puerto Rico, son of a record label executive. He was one of the figures who took Latin trap from the streets of San Juan onto the global charts. In 2016 he was arrested for weapons possession and served more than two years; from prison he kept releasing music down the telephone, and the album that came out on his release went straight to the top.
Anuel AA
Bad Bunny
1891
Scott Bradley is born, who put twelve-tone music into Tom and Jerry cartoons
On November 26, 1891, Scott Bradley was born in Arkansas, composer of the Tom and Jerry scores for more than twenty years. He wrote enormously complex music to accompany two-minute chases, and in some of it he deliberately used Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, the most avant-garde technique of the day, to represent the bewilderment of a cat hit with a frying pan.
Scott Bradley
Tom y Jerry
1929
Slavko Avsenik is born: the Slovenian who invented the sound of the Alpine polka
On November 26, 1929, Slavko Avsenik was born in a village in the Slovenian Alps, an accordionist who in the fifties assembled a quintet with a fixed formula: accordion, clarinet, trumpet, guitar and bass. That sound became the standard for Alpine popular music in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He composed more than a thousand pieces and one of them is among the most played in the German-speaking world.
Slavko Avsenik
1949
Shlomo Artzi is born: the best-selling songwriter in Israel's history
On November 26, 1949, Shlomo Artzi was born in Israel, son of Holocaust survivors, raised in an agricultural community. He started out singing in an army band, like almost every Israeli musician of his generation, and won the country's song festival at twenty. He has been releasing albums for more than fifty years and is the best-selling artist his country has produced.
Shlomo Artzi
1981
Natasha Bedingfield is born, whose song about a blank page keeps coming back to life
On November 26, 1981, Natasha Bedingfield was born in Sussex, daughter of New Zealanders and sister of another singer who also reached number one in Britain. In 2004 she recorded "Unwritten", a song about a future not yet written. It was a moderate hit and then had three more lives: a television show theme, a film soundtrack and a viral phenomenon on social media twenty years later.
Natasha Bedingfield
1990
Rita Ora is born, who arrived in London at one year old fleeing war
On November 26, 1990, Rita Sahatçiu was born in Pristina, in present-day Kosovo. Her Kosovo Albanian family fled to London when she was one, escaping repression in the former Yugoslavia. She grew up in a west London neighbourhood and started out singing in the pub her parents ran. In 2012 she put three singles at number one in Britain in a single year.
Rita Ora
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