On May 26th, 1949, actress, model, 70's cultural icon, and Blaxploitation Film Legend-Pam Grier (Pamela Suzette Grier) was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She’s most known for her starring roles in 70s Blaxploitation films like: Coffy, Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Sheba Baby, Hitman, Cool Breeze, Scream Blacula Scream, Bucktown, Drum and Greased Lightning. She also co-starred in cult classics like The Big Bird Cage, Beyond the Valley of Dolls, Women in Cages and The Big Doll House. All of these movies were released from 1970 to 1977. She continued to star in movies during the 80s and 90s, and saw a huge revival in the interest of her work after she co-starred in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film-Jackie Brown.
From 2000 to the current date, she’s appeared in over 11 TV shows and miniseries, while her film appearances have dwindled. Some of the more prominent roles she had on TV during the 21st century include: The L Word, Smallville and Law & Order-Special Victims Unit. She never married, but had some 'celebrity' significant others like Freddie Prinze, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Richard Pryor. She got her start as an employee at the American International Pictures (AIP) film company in L.A., CA. She was a switchboard operator that was discovered by director Jack Hill who cast her in her debut film-The Big Doll House (1971). Hill also gave her a co-starring role in The Big Bird Cage (1972) before giving her the starring role in Coffy (1973). After this and up to the 80s, she was ‘type-cast’ as a urban heroine. In the 80s, she was given broader roles. She’s 70 today.
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On May 26th, 1948, seminal rock vocalist, songwriter, multi-label recording artist, former member of Fleetwood Mac and co-founder of Buckingham Nicks-Stevie Nicks (Stephanie Lynn Nicks) was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Stevie is most known for her songs with Fleetwood Mac like Rhiannon and Landslide. The former was voted one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine. She also was voted as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (both Rolling Stones magazine). She's sold over 140 million records as a member of Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham Nicks and as a solo artist (combined). She also has racked up over 40 top 50 hits in her career. Stevie Nicks is a two-time member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. She was inducted as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and as a solo artist in 2019.
She got her start singing duets with her father when she was 4. Her nickname of Stevie came from her inability to pronounce her first name Stephanie when she was a toddler. She’d say ‘tee dee’ and Stevie stuck. She got her first guitar and wrote her first song when she turned 16. She met her future love interest and longtime music collaborator-Lindsey Buckingham when she was senior in high school. They both were into psychedelic rock and Buckingham was a member of the band Fritz. After a couple members left the band, Nicks joined them. In 1968, they opened for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Feeling that Nicks was a strong songwriter, Buckingham encouraged her to pursue music full-time. She dropped out of college and they signed to Polydor in 1973-releasing Buckingham Nicks. They joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974. Buckingham is solely responsible for her joining the band making sure that Mick Fleetwood knew if he wanted Buckingham, he had to take Nicks because they were a package deal. That’s down ass dude. She’s 71 today.
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On May 26th, 1926, pop culture icon, jazz mogul, composer, trumpeter, arranger, pianist, be bop innovator, cool jazz pioneer, flugelhornist, sideman, fusion jazz trailblazer, bandleader and one of the most recognizable figures in American music-Miles Davis (Miles Dewey Davis III) was born in Alton, Illinois (near St. Louis, MO). TOV covered the artist’s death on the September 28th post. Please refer to it for more information. Miles is most known for his overall style in all he did. He was considered one of the ‘coolest’ men on the planet. His fashion, music and personality had a huge effect on citizens of all ages in an international sense. He was ‘cultured’, so much so that people that didn’t know of him were considered backwards, sheltered, not hip, and/or the opposite of cool.
He worked with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Gil Evans. These 4 figures, along with Miles, helped shape the sound and imagery associated with ‘hip culture’ and jazz from the late 40s to the 80s. He’s a Jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame musician, and one of the only jazz musicians that was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. He also was the bandleader of a couple of ‘Great Quintets’. The first one included: Sonny Rollins (sax), Philly Joe Jones (drums), Red Garland (piano) and Paul Chambers (bass). They helped bring the sound of cool jazz to the mainstream. The second great quintet included: Ron Carter (bass), Herbie Hancock (piano), Tony Williams (drums), Wayne Shorter (sax). The yhelped Miles transition to fusion jazz. Miles is the one of the greatest musicians of our time. He was 65 when he passed.
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,HONORABLE MENTION: On May 26th, 1916, mystic musician, inventor, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, legally blind horned helmet wearer, drummer, singer, pianist, arranger, songwriter, pioneer of experimental music, multi-label recording artist, and the man known as ‘The Viking Of 6th Ave’-Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin) was born in Marysville, KS. Moondog went blind when he was 16 due to a farm accident with dynamite. He was a self-taught musician. He moved to NYC and studied the styles of Benny Goodman and Charlie Parker (Bird). He was mainly a street musician and poet during the height of jazz and got his name from a dog that used to howl at the moon. He was a firm believer in Nordic Mythology which you can hear in his music and writings. He was 83 when he passed.
On May 26th, 1964, rock ‘n’ roll musician, songwriter, guitarist, drummer, singer, bassist, harmonica player, pianist, percussionist, producer, actor, former husband of Lisa Bonet, son of Roxie Roker (Helen on The Jeffersons), and the man who was told his music wasn’t Black (or White enough)-Lenny Kravitz (Leonard Albert Kravitz) was born in NYC, NY. Lenny's major influences were soul, funk, jazz, and rock-and you can hear all of it in his music. He also was heavily influenced by Fela Kuti. Kravitz got his big break via Cosby Show musical director Stephen Elvis Smith. His first album was mostly dedicated to Lisa and his daughter Zoe. Lenny Kravitz is 54 today.
On May 26th, 1968, we lost rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, soul music vocalist, songwriter, and the original writer & singer of the infamous hit song Fever-Little Willie John (William Edward John). He was discovered by Johnny Otis (the father of Shuggie Otis) when he was singing in gospel groups in Detroit. Otis took him to Henry Glover, who signed him to King Records. Little Willie wrote Fever in 1956, which went on to become a Top 40 Pop Hit and #1 on the R&B chart. Both The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac did covers of Little Willie's Need Your Love So Bad, and Leave My Kitten Alone. He was dropped from King in 1963, convicted of manslaughter in 1966, and died in The Washington State Penitentiary in 1968. He was 30.
On May 26th, 1975, actress, rapper, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and former member of The Fugees-Lauryn (Noelle) Hill was born in East Orange, New Jersey. As a member of The Fugees, L-Boogie sold over 10 millons records. Lauryn's solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/Columbia Records, 1998), was the first hip hop album to win a Album Of The Year Grammy. She was also a trendsetter in receiving five awards, in one night, which was unheard of for any female artist at the time. Prior to the launch of her music career, Lauryn appeared in movies and TV shows like Sister Act II, As The World Turns, and narrated Concerning Violence. Lauryn Hill turns 44 today.
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