Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 18
1943
Keith Richards is born, the human riff of the Rolling Stones
Keith Richards is born in Dartford, England: the man who turned open G tuning and five strings into a philosophy of life. His riffs on “Satisfaction”, “Jumpin' Jack Flash” and “Start Me Up” are the skeleton of rock itself. A survivor of every imaginable excess, he is walking proof that rock and roll, properly understood, doesn't kill.
Keith Richards
The Rolling Stones
1897
Fletcher Henderson is born, the chemist who invented the language of big bands
On December 18, 1897, Fletcher Henderson was born in Georgia, a chemistry graduate who came to New York for postgraduate work and ended up in music because no laboratory would hire a Black man. His orchestra, with Louis Armstrong in it, invented how to write for a big band. When it went broke he sold his arrangements to Benny Goodman, who became the king of swing playing them.
Fletcher Henderson
Benny Goodman
Louis Armstrong
1938
Chas Chandler is born, who sold his basses to take Jimi Hendrix to London
On December 18, 1938, Chas Chandler was born near Newcastle, bass player for the Animals. Tired of the band, he moved into management; in 1966 he watched an unknown guitarist play in a New York club and was convinced. He sold several of his own basses to pay the airfare and brought Jimi Hendrix to London, where within three months he was the talk of the city.
Chas Chandler
Jimi Hendrix
The Animals
1968
Alejandro Sanz is born, who carried the flamenco of his home into the pop ballad
On December 18, 1968, Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro was born in Madrid, son of a guitarist from Cádiz who taught him flamenco as a child. His first album flopped; the second, in 1991, turned him into a phenomenon. "Corazón partío", from 1997, crossed the ballad with handclaps and flamenco metre and opened the Latin American market to him. He has more than twenty Latin Grammys.
Alejandro Sanz
1970
DMX is born, the only rapper whose first five albums went straight to number one
On December 18, 1970, Earl Simmons was born in Mount Vernon, New York, raised between foster homes and juvenile facilities. As DMX he brought rap a broken barking voice and a register that switched between violence and prayer on the same record. His first five albums all debuted at number one in the United States, something nobody else had managed. He died in 2021.
DMX
1975
Sia is born, who wrote hits for others until she decided to sing them with her face covered
On December 18, 1975, Sia Furler was born in Adelaide. After years of albums that did not sell she turned to writing for others: songs of hers were recorded by Rihanna, Beyoncé and Flo Rida. When she returned as a performer with "Chandelier" in 2014, she decided always to appear in a wig that covered her face, so as not to repeat the experience of fame.
Sia
Rihanna
1980
Christina Aguilera is born, the greatest voice of her pop generation
Christina Aguilera is born in Staten Island, New York: Britney's generational rival since the Mickey Mouse Club. While 2000s pop bet on production, she imposed a vocal instrument of unusual power, vindicated on “Beautiful” and in her Spanish-language era with “Mi Reflejo”. Among the millennium's divas, hers is the voice singers cite.
Christina Aguilera
2001
Billie Eilish is born, who recorded the album that swept the Grammys in a bedroom
On December 18, 2001, Billie Eilish was born in Los Angeles, daughter of actors and home-schooled. She recorded her first album in her brother Finneas's bedroom, using whispers instead of shouts and silence where a chorus was expected. In 2020, at eighteen, she won all four main Grammy categories in a single night, something that had not happened since 1981.
Billie Eilish
Finneas
1941
Wadada Leo Smith is born, who invented his own system of musical notation
On December 18, 1941, Wadada Leo Smith was born in the Mississippi delta, raised among bluesmen and later a leading figure of Chicago's avant-garde jazz. Traditional writing was not enough for him: he designed a notation system of his own, with symbols indicating intention and space rather than exact pitches. His work on the civil rights era was a Pulitzer finalist.
Wadada Leo Smith
1943
Bobby Keys is born, the Stones' saxophonist, on the same day as Keith Richards
On December 18, 1943, Bobby Keys was born in Lubbock, Texas, on exactly the same day as Keith Richards. When they met and discovered the coincidence, they became friends for life. The saxophone solo on "Brown Sugar" is his, along with much of the colour of the Rolling Stones' seventies records. He played with them for forty years.
Bobby Keys
The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards
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