Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 2
1981
Britney Spears is born, the pop princess who defined the turn of the millennium
Britney Spears is born in McComb, Mississippi; at 17 she detonated the last great teen-pop era with “...Baby One More Time”. An absolute icon of the 2000s, her career later became a public battle for her legal freedom that changed the conversation about the industry. Few stars have embodied both the glory and the cost of fame so completely.
Britney Spears
1866
Harry Burleigh is born, who sang spirituals to Dvořák and carried them into the concert hall
On December 2, 1866, Harry Burleigh was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, grandson of an enslaved man who had bought his own freedom. As a student in New York he sang spirituals to Antonín Dvořák, who was astonished and used them as raw material for his New World Symphony. Burleigh spent his life arranging those melodies for voice and piano and establishing them as serious repertoire.
Harry Burleigh
Antonín Dvořák
1923
Maria Callas is born, the voice that turned opera into total drama
Maria Callas, “La Divina”, is born in New York: the soprano who restored opera's theatrical and human dimension. Her debated technique and undeniable expressiveness split the history of singing in two, and her life of passion and scandal made her the first modern media diva. Every cult of the total singer, from pop to opera, owes her something.
Maria Callas
1931
Wynton Kelly is born, the pianist Miles called when he wanted real blues
On December 2, 1931, Wynton Kelly was born in Jamaica, a pianist raised in Brooklyn who was already accompanying Dinah Washington at nineteen. He is the only musician who plays on "Kind of Blue" without belonging to the record's modal core: Miles Davis called him in for "Freddie Freeloader" because that track wanted real blues. His light, skipping touch was Wes Montgomery's favourite. He died at 39.
Wynton Kelly
Miles Davis
1948
Toninho Horta is born, the guitarist whose chords became a Brazilian language
On December 2, 1948, Toninho Horta was born in Belo Horizonte, a self-taught guitarist from Clube da Esquina, the collective that brought together Milton Nascimento and the Borges brothers. His open chords and ambiguous harmonies became a language of their own inside Brazilian music, and jazz musicians around the world, Pat Metheny among them, openly acknowledged the debt.
Toninho Horta
Milton Nascimento
1998
Juice Wrld is born, who turned teenage anguish into melody over trap beats
On December 2, 1998, Jarad Higgins was born in Chicago. As Juice Wrld he turned teenage anguish into emo guitar melodies sung over trap beats. "Lucid Dreams" took him from SoundCloud to number two on the Billboard chart in 2018. He died of an overdose six days after turning twenty-one, and his posthumous records have kept reaching number one.
Juice Wrld
1960
Rick Savage is born, the only man who has been in Def Leppard since day one
On December 2, 1960, Rick Savage was born in Sheffield, bass player and the only member of Def Leppard present since the band formed in 1977. He survived the crash that cost the drummer an arm, the death of guitarist Steve Clark and the three years it took to record "Hysteria", the album of endless vocal harmonies that ended up selling twelve million copies.
Rick Savage
Def Leppard
1968
Nate Mendel is born, the bassist who founded emo and then stayed in Foo Fighters
On December 2, 1968, Nate Mendel was born in Richland, Washington, a bass player who survived two separate chapters of rock history. First in Sunny Day Real Estate, the band that defined nineties emo; then in Foo Fighters, where he has been since the first rehearsal in 1995. Along with Dave Grohl, he is the only member present on every record the group has made.
Nate Mendel
Foo Fighters
Sunny Day Real Estate
1983
Action Bronson is born, the chef who broke a leg and started rapping
On December 2, 1983, Ariyan Arslani was born in Queens, son of an Albanian father and a Jewish American mother. He worked as a professional chef until he broke his leg, and used the recovery to record rhymes. As Action Bronson he built a baroque rap style stuffed with culinary and pro-wrestling references, and ended up hosting food travel shows on television.
Action Bronson
1991
Charlie Puth is born, who came off YouTube and turned perfect pitch into a show
On December 2, 1991, Charlie Puth was born in New Jersey. He made his name uploading covers to YouTube from his bedroom. He has perfect pitch and uses it as an act: he posts videos taking his own songs apart chord by chord. "See You Again", his tribute to Paul Walker with Wiz Khalifa, became one of the most watched videos in the platform's history.
Charlie Puth
Wiz Khalifa
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