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Today In Music History

August 19 in Music History: Happy Birthday, John Deacon

Queen: Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon and Roger Meddows
Queen: Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon and Roger MeddowsPublicity photo

August 19, 2022

History Highlight:
On this day in 1951, John Deacon was born, making him 71 years old today. He is best known for being the bassist for the rock band Queen. He composed several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits You're My Best Friend, Another One Bites the Dust, and I Want to Break Free; co-wrote Under Pressure, Friends Will Be Friends and One Vision, and he was involved in the band's financial management. He joined Queen in 1971 on the strength of his musical and electronic skills, particularly the homemade Deacy Amp which guitarist Brian May used to create guitar orchestras throughout Queen's career. As well as bass, Deacon played some guitar, keyboards and piano on Queen's studio work. After the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991 and the following year's Tribute Concert, Deacon performed only sporadically with the remaining members of Queen before retiring from the music industry in 1997.

Also, Today In:

1967 - The Beatles scored their 14th U.S. No. 1 single with "All You Need Is Love." Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Marianne Faithfull, and Walker Brother Gary Leeds all sang backing vocals on the track.

1979 - American Rockabilly singer Dorsey Burnette died from a heart attack at his home in Canoga Park, California. He wrote 'It's Late', a hit for Ricky Nelson and Shakin' Stevens.

1980 - "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap single certified Gold.

1988 - Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" were announced as the most-played jukebox songs of the device's first 100 years. The jukebox had been around since 1906, but earlier models had been first seen in 1889.

1999 - Lauryn Hill won New Artist Of The Year and Album Of The Year at the Source Hip Hop Music Awards in Los Angeles. R. Kelly won R&B Artist of The Year; DMX won Artist Of The Year and Solo and Live Performer Of The Year.

2001 - American soul singer Betty Everett died at age 61. She had the 1964 U.S. No. 6 single, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)," later covered by Cher (which was used in the end credits of the movie Mermaids). She is also known for her duet "Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butler, in which Jerry sings "without your sweet love, Betty, what would life be?". Having lived with her sister all her life, Everett died at her home in Beloit, Wisconsin.

2005 - Phil Lynott, the founding member, principal songwriter, lead vocalist and bassist of the band Thin Lizzy, was honored when a statue of him was unveiled in Grafton Street in Dublin, the city where Lynott grew up. The statue-dedication ceremony was attended by Lynott's mother as well as former band members Gary Moore, Eric Bell, Brian Robertson, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton. Lynott had passed away 20 years earlier at his home in London. His grave in St Fintan's Cemetery in northeast Dublin is regularly visited by family, friends and fans.

2008 - Saxophonist LeRoi Moore, a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, died aged 46. Publicist Ambrosia Healy said he died from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in June on his Virginia farm.

2013 - Kate Bush requested fans did not take any photographs or video using mobile devices at her 22-date run of performances in London. Posting on her website, she wrote: "I very much want to have contact with you as an audience, not with iPhones, iPads or cameras." She repeated the request before a string of London dates in 2014.

2016 - Record producer Lou Pearlman died at age 62 from cardiac arrest. He was the manager of successful 1990s boy bands such as Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. In 2006, he was accused of running one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in history, leaving more than $300 million in debts. After being apprehended, he pled guilty to conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding. In 2008, Pearlman was convicted and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

2019 - Bassist Larry Taylor died at age 77. He was best-known as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was the younger brother of Mel Taylor, long-time drummer of The Ventures.

Birthdays:

Johnny Nash was born on this day in 1940. He passed away in 2020.

Joey Tempest of Europe is 59.

Nate Dogg was born today in 1969. He passed away in 2011.

Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire is 46.

Lil' Romeo is 33.

Fat Joe is 52.

Christina Perry is 36.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is 77.

Ginger Baker founder and drummer in Cream was born on this day in 1939. Ginger passed away in 2019.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.