(John Townes Van Zandt)songwriter, singerBorn: 3/7/1944Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas Van Zandt recorded 15 albums, none of them chart-busting hits, but his influence among other musicians has been…
folk/rock musicianBorn: 10/20/1950Birthplace: Gainesville, Florida Having begun playing guitar at 13 with an instrument his mother ordered through the Sears catalog, Petty went on to form (and…
actorBorn: 7/23/1961Birthplace: Midland, Texas Actor whose talent for playing the simple-minded bartender Woody Boyd in Cheers (1985–93) masked his capability for taking on deeper, more complex…
politically active rock group The Grammy award-winning Rage Against the Machine established a reputation for speaking against social and political injustices. Formed in Los Angeles in 1991, the…
musicianBorn: 3/17/1967Birthplace: Elk Grove, Illinois Lead singer of the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, which rose to popularity during the heyday of the grunge era. After playing with a band in…
director, producer, screenwriter, actorBorn: 1926Birthplace: Detroit It's hard to know how Hollywood could have survived without Corman. Hailed as “The king of the B movies,” his legacy is not so…
Richard Patrick RussnovelistBorn: 1914Birthplace: Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, England Fans of historical fiction are familiar with Patrick O'Brian's series of novels, centered on two…
actorBorn: 1968Birthplace: Fairport, N.Y. Versatile character actor known for portraying complex, often dysfunctional characters. He earned his acting chops in theater before making his film debut…
(Amos Blackmore)musicianBorn: 12/9/1934Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee A hard driving vocalist and harmonica player that helped define Chicago blues, John Belushi and Dan Akroyd idolized Wells and…
R&B/hip-hop group Having sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, this Philadelphia-based close harmony group has received nearly as many accolades as platinum records. They hold an NAACP…
