Legend: BTD – Born Today OTD – On This Day

DateArtist/GroupDescriptionImage
BTD May21,1901 Horace Heidt#BTD May21,1901 #HoraceHeidt pianist, #bigband leader; Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights 3 US #1s 1937 Gone with the Wind, 1938 Ti–Pi–Tin, 1941 Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, +48 Top40 singles; toured vaudeville, performed on radio & TV during the 1930s and 1940s
BTD May21,1904 Fats Waller#BTD May21,1904 #FatsWaller (Thomas Waller) RIP jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer best-known compositions, 1929 "Ain't Misbehavin'" and 1934 "Honeysuckle Rose" Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with collaborator #AndyRazaf
BTD May21,1923 Rick Jason#BTD May21,1923 #RickJason (Richard Jacobson) RIP actor TV/Film; films such as 1953 Sombrero, 1956 The Lieutenant Wore Skirts; TV 1960s best known for his role as 2nd Lt. Gil Hanley on the series "Combat!" Jason served from 1943 to 1945 in US Army Air Corps, during World War II
BTD May21,1940 Tony Sheridan#BTD May21,1940 #TonySheridan (Anthony McGinnity) RIP singer, songwriter, guitarist 1962 "My Bonnie" peaked at #62 on the US charts 1964 with The Beat Brothers (later The #Beatles). The only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single
BTD May21,1941 Ronald Isley#BTD May21,1941 #RonaldIsley songwriter, producer, lead singer founding member of The #IsleyBrothers 1968 US #12 & UK #3 "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", 1969 US #2 "It's Your Thing", +9 US, 10 UK and 59 R&B Top40 singles with 7 R&B #1s #HBday @TheRealRonIsley
BTD May21,1943 Hilton Valentine#BTD May21,1943 #HiltonValentine RIP original guitarist The #Animals 1964 UK & US #1 "The House of the Rising Sun", +12 UK & 13 US Top40 singles. 1994 inducted into the @rockhall of Fame as a member of The Animals #HBday @HiltonValentine
BTD May21,1943 John Dalton#BTD May21,1943 #JohnDalton bass guitarist, a member of The #Kinks from 1966 & 1969 to 1976; replacing original member Pete Quaife. The Kinks had 19 UK Top40 singles @TheKinks
BTD May21,1943 Vincent Crane#BTD May21,1943 #VincentCrane (Vincent Cheesman) RIP keyboards The Crazy world of Arthur Brown 1968 UK #1 & US #2 single "Fire" & #AtomicRooster 1971 UK #4 "The Devil's Answer" & 1971 UK #11 "Tomorrow Night"
BTD May21,1948 Leo Sayer#BTD May21,1948 #LeoSayer (Gerard Hugh Sayer) singer, songwriter, career spans 4 decades. 1976 US & UK #1 "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", 1977 UK & US #1 "When I Need You", +14 UK and 6 US Top40s. 2006 UK #1 "Thunder in My Heart Again" a remix by DJ Meck featuring Leo Sayer
BTD May21,1955 Stan Lynch#BTD May21,1955 #StanLynch songwriter, record producer, original drummer for #TomPetty & The #Heartbreakers (left in 1994). Worked with many others and has toured with the #Eagles. 2002 inducted in the @rockhall with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
OTD May21,1961 Del Shannon#OTD May21,1961 #DelShannon is still at #1 on the @billboard Hot100 Singles chart with "Runaway" for the last week of a 4wk run at #1
OTD May21,1963 Beatles#OTD May21,1963 #Beatles at the Playhouse Theatre London, working on two #BBC radio programs, they record 5 songs for "Saturday Club" & 6 songs for "Steppin' Out"
OTD May21,1964 Ella Fitzgerald#OTD May21,1964 #EllaFitzgerald peaks at #34 on the UK Singles Chart with her version of "Can't Buy Me Love" written by Paul McCartney; credited to Lennon–McCartney. Fitzgerald is the 1st artist to break the Top40 with a Beatles cover
OTD May21,1964Four Pennies#OTD May21,1964 The #FourPennies are at #1 on the UK singles chart with "Juliet" Their only UK #1. Written by Mike Wilshaw, Lionel Morton and Fritz Fryer. The song is named after Fryer's 2yo niece. "Juliet" is the only 1964 #1 by a UK group not to chart in the US
OTD May21,1964Beatles#OTD May21,1964 The US release of The #Beatles single "Sie liebt dich" written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney with German translated lyrics by Camillo Felgen. The German-language version of the Beatles song She Loves You (Sie liebt dich) will peak at #97 in the US on Jun27
OTD May21,1965 Time Magazine#OTD May21,1965 #Time magazine cover with #Shindig dancers, Beach Boys, Petula Clark, Trini Lopez, Righteous Brothers, Herman's Hermits and the Supremes @TIME
OTD May21,1966Castiles#OTD May21,1966 The #Castiles (All juniors in High School) play at Freehold Regional High School NJ with #BruceSpringsteen on vocals
OTD May21,1966Mamas and The Papas#OTD May21,1966 The Mamas and The Papas are still at #1 on the @billboard Hot100 Singles Chart with "Monday, Monday" for the last week of a 3wk run at #1. The song won the #Grammy for Best Pop Performance #MamasandthePapas
OTD May21,1967 Jimi Hendrix#OTD May21,1967 #JimiHendrix signs with #Reprise Records. Reprise Records eventually releases albums "Are You Experienced?" & "Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland"
OTD May21,1970 Crosby Stills Nash Young#OTD May21,1970 #CrosbyStillsNashYoung record "Ohio" a protest song written by #NeilYoung in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May4,1970. The song will enter the #Billboard Hot100 charts on Jun27 at #58 and peak at #14 Aug8
OTD May21,1971 Marvin Gaye#OTD May21,1971 #MarvinGaye releases his 11th studio album “What’s Going On” via #Motown Records label #Tamla. His 1st LP to credit him as a producer & credits Motown's studio band the #FunkBrothers. The LP has 3 R&B #1 singles What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me, Inner City Blues
OTD May21,19722nd British Rock Meeting#OTD May21,1972 The 2nd day of the 2nd British Rock Meeting Germersheim, West Germany. Article about the event with Pink Floyd, The Faces, The Kinks & more @pinkfloyd @TheKinks
OTD May21,1975Beatles#OTD May21,1975 TV special with The #Beatles hosted by #DavidFrost called "David Frost Salutes the Beatles" is broadcast in the US
OTD May21,1977 Stevie Wonder#OTD May21,1977 #StevieWonder starts a 3wk run at #1 on the @billboard Hot100 Singles Chart with "Sir Duke" written & produced by Stevie Wonder; a tribute to Duke Ellington. Lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Wonder's 6th US #1
OTD May21,1983 David Bowie#OTD May21,1983 #DavidBowie is at #1 on the @billboard Hot100 Singles Chart with "Let's Dance" written by David Bowie; featuring a guitar solo by then-rising blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan
OTD May21,1983 Prince#OTD May21,1983 #Prince peaks at #6 on the @billboard Hot100 singles chart with "Little Red Corvette" written and produced by Prince
OTD May21,1988 Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine#OTD May21,1988 #GloriaEstefan & Miami Sound Machine are still at #1 on the @billboard Hot100 Singles Chart with "Anything For You" for the last week of a 2wk run at #1 @GloriaEstefan
OTD May21,2018 Clint Walker#OTD May21,2018 #ClintWalker (Norman Eugene Walker) actor dies at the age of 90. Known for his starring role as cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the ABC/Warner Bros. western series "Cheyenne" from 1955-63 and in many movies such as 1967 "The Dirty Dozen" as Samson Posey