ODETTA, folk singer and the voice of the civil rights movement, died on Dec. 3 from heart disease at age 77.  She was born in Birmingham AL on Dec. 31, 1930.  Her early life was shaped by the songs of the Depression era.  Her father died when she was young and, in 1937, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles.  By the time she turned 10, ODETTA discovered that she could sing.  A teacher suggested that she study singing, but she found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz and folk music, especially.  Although ODETTA earned a degree in music from Los Angeles City College, studying classical music and musical theater, it was folk music that resonated most with her.  She once said, “The folk songs were – the anger.”  ODETTA's professional career began in a San Francisco production of “Finian’s Rainbow” but after the curtain fell each night she performed in coffeehouses.  Performing in nightclubs and releasing her first solo album, Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues, brought her to the attention of folk artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.  At the “March on Washington” in August 1963, ODETTA sang the spiritual “O Freedom.”  She also performed for President Kennedy and her career peaked.  In 1999 ODETTA was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts and Humanities by President Clinton.  She was still performing well into the 21^st Century.  In April of last year she performed in a Bruce Springsteen tribute concert at Carnegie Hall.  According to her manager, ODETTA was hoping to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

MIRIAM MAKEBA, South African singer/activist – known as “Mama Africa” and “the Empress of African Song” - who spread the music and culture of black South Africa and spoke out against racism, died Nov. 10 of cardiac arrest following a concert in Naples, Italy.  She was 76.  MAKEBA was born in Johannesburg in 1932.  Her singing was encouraged from an early age but her career was limited by the introduction of the apartheid government in 1948.  MAKEBA married the first of five husbands, gave birth to her daughter, Bongi, and was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 17.  The cancer was unconventionally, but successfully, treated by her mother, but her marriage ended.  MAKEBA’s big break came in 1954 when she joined the Manhattan Brothers, a vocal group whose harmonies were modeled after the American Mills Brothers and Ink Spots.  She joined a female vocal group called the Sunbeams who later became known as the Skylarks and recorded over 100 songs.  In 1957, MAKEBA was recruited as soloist in the African Jazz and Variety Review which toured Africa for 18 months.  International success came from her singing a small part as herself in the film “Come Back Africa” which led to an invitation to attend a screening at the 1959 Venice Film Festival.  This led to a stint at New York’s Village Vanguard jazz club.  MAKEBA was mentored in New York by legendary performer Harry Belafonte.  In 1960, while performing in the US, the then-apartheid South African government revoked her South African passport, preventing her from attending her mother’s funeral and she lived in exile for the next 30 years.  She was one of the performers at President Kennedy’s birthday celebration made famous by Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday.”  MAKEBA returned to the continent of Africa, visiting Kenya in 1962.  In 1963, she gave the first of several addresses to the UN Special Committee on Apartheid and South Africa banned her records.  In 1964, she married her third husband, African trumpeter Hugh Masekela.  She shared a 1966 Grammy Award with Harry Belafonte for An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba and won another for her 1967 hit “Pata Pata” which was the first song by an African artist to break the Top 20.  Her career was basically derailed by her marriage to fourth husband, black radical Stokely Carmichael.  But she staged a comeback as a featured performer on PAUL SIMON’s 1987 Graceland tour.  Her autobiography, “Makeba: My Story” was published in 1988.  After 30 years, the end of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela, MAKEBA was welcomed back to South Africa and performed there sporadically.  Unfortunately, many younger South Africans had no idea who she was or how she had struggled on their behalf.  Although she announced her retirement in 2005, MAKEBA performed several “farewell tours” until last month in Naples where she collapsed onstage after singing a concert in memory of six immigrants from Ghana who had been shot dead last September.

LEVI STUBBS, powerful lead singer of the legendary FOUR TOPS, passed away on Oct. 17 at the age of 72.  Stubbs was born on June 6, 1936 in Detroit.  He was a cousin of rhythm & blues singer Jackie Wilson.  Stubbs and high school friends, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton formed a singing group called the Four Aims in 1954, sang four-part harmony as a supper club jazz act and signed with Chess Records in 1956.  They changed their name to the Four Tops and, in 1963, made an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” then hosted by Jack Paar, and sang a jazz arrangement of “In the Still of the Night.”  Later that year, they signed with Motown Records and were assigned to the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland who changed their sound to feature Stubbs as lead singer.  Among the Four Tops’ over 40 hits on the Billboard pop charts were “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” – which was No. 1 in 1965 - “It’s the Same Old song,” “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” and “Still Water (Love).”  Stubbs was a natural baritone, but a common practice at Motown was to raise keys to give lead vocals a sound of urgency.  This is especially evident in Stubbs’ lead on the group’s hit song, “Bernadette.”  The group left Motown in 1971 and in 1973 they recorded their hit song (written by Payton) “Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got.”  The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.  Stubbs also performed as an actor, providing the voice for “Audrey II,” the carnivorous plant, in the 1986 film version of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the voice of “Mother Brain” in the animated TV series, “Captain N: The Game Master” from 1989 to 1991 and appeared as himself on camera in a number of TV shows.  Although the Four Tops featured Stubbs, he recorded a solo single, “I Believe in You and Me” (later covered by Whitney Houston on the soundtrack to “The Preacher’s Wife”) on the group’s 1992 album, When She Was My Girl.  In 1995, Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer.  The Four Tops remained a solid team until Payton died in 1997.  In 2000, Stubbs retired from performing live after a series of strokes, but participated in the Four Tops’ 50^th anniversary concert in 2004, which was broadcast on public television.  Benson died in 2005.  After a long illness, Stubbs passed away in his sleep at his home in Detroit.  Of his friend and group mate, Abdul “Duke” Fakir said Stubbs was “one of the best singers in the world, period, of all time and a great man.” He is survived by his wife since 1960, Clineice, five children and 11 grandchildren.

JANUARY

January 1 – XAVIER CUGAT (bandleader, 1900)

January 2 – ROGER MILLER (1936)

January 3 – NELL RANKIN (1924)/STEPHEN STILLS (1945)

January 4 – GRACE BUMBRY (1937)/MICHAEL STIPE (1960)

January 6 – BONNIE FRANKLIN (1944)

January 7 – KENNY LOGGINS (1948)

January 8 – ELVIS PRESLEY (1935)/SHIRLEY BASSEY (1937)/DAVID BOWIE (1947)

January 9 – JOAN BAEZ (1941)/CRYSTAL GAYLE (1951)/DAVE MATTHEWS (1967)

January 10 – JOHN RAITT (1917)/JOHNNIE RAY (1927)/FRANK SINATRA JR. 1944/ROD STEWART (1945)/PAT BENATAR (1953)/SHAWN COLVIN (1956)

January 12 – THEODOR UPPMAN (1920)/RAY PRICE (1926)/RUTH BROWN (1928)

January 14 – JACK JONES (1938)

January 15 – CHARO (1951)

January 16 – ETHEL MERMAN (1909)/RONNIE MILSAP (1944)/MARILYN HORNE (1934)/SADE (1959)/AALIYAH (1979)

January 17 – EARTHA KITT (1927)

January 18 – JOHNNY BRAGG (The Prisonaires, 1926)/DAVID RUFFIN (1941)

January 19 – PHIL EVERLY (1939)/JANIS JOPLIN (1943)/DOLLY PARTON (1946)/ROBERT PALMER (1949)

January 20 – EVA JESSYE (1895)/GWEN OUTEN (1971)

January 21 – PLÁCIDO DOMINGO (1941)/RICHIE HAVENS (1941)/MAC DAVIS (1942)

January 22 – WILLIAM WARFIELD (1920)/SAM COOKE (1935)/STEVE PERRY (1949)

January 23 – CHITA RIVERA (1933)/ANITA POINTER (1948)

January 24 – NEIL DIAMOND (1941)/AARON NEVILLE (1941)

January 25 – FLORENCE MILLS (1896)

January 27 – WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (composer, 1756)/WILL COOK (composer, 1869)/JEROME KERN (composer, 1885)

January 29 – HUDDIE “LEADBELLY” LEDBETTER (1885)/JONNY LANG (1981)

January 30 – DOROTHY MALONE (1925)/PHIL COLLINS (1951)/JEANNIE HOLLOWAY-CARTER

January 31 – MARIO LANZA (1921)/CAROL CHANNING (1921)

FEBRUARY

February 1 – DON EVERLY (1937)/RICK JAMES (1948)/LISA MARIE PRESLEY (1968)

February 2 – GRAHAM NASH (1942)

February 3 – MABEL MERCER (1900)

February 4 – ELLA SHEPPARD (original Fisk Jubilee Singer, 1851)/NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1975)

February 6 – BOB MARLEY (1945)/NATALIE COLE (1950)

February 7 – EUBIE BLAKE (composer, 1883)

February 8 – BRANITA GRIFFIN-HENSON (1959)

February 9 – CARMEN MIRANDA (1909)/KATHRYN GRAYSON (1922)/CAROLE KING (songwriter, 1942)/BARBARA LEWS (1943)

February 10 – JIMMY DURANTE (1893)/CHICK WEBB (bandleader, 1909)/LEONTYNE PRICE (1927)/ROBERTA FLACK (1939)

February 11 – SHERYL CROW (1963)/BRANDY (1979)

February 12 – ROBERT TODD DUNCAN (1903)/ROBERTA MARTIN (1907)

February 13 – TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD (1919)/PETER GABRIEL (1950)

February 14 – AIDA OVERTON WALKER (1880)/MARY DAWSON (founder of National Negro Opera Co, 1894)/FLORENCE HENDERSON (1934)/GREGORY HINES (1946)

February 15 – MELISSA MANCHESTER (1951)/LARRY THOMAS/JANE CHILD (1967)

February 16 – PATTY ANDREWS (1920)/SONNY BONO (songwriter, 1935)

February 17 – JOHN STODDART (1971)

February 18 – JOHN TRAVOLTA (1954)

February 19 – WILLIAM “SMOKEY” ROBINSON (1940)/SEAL (1963)

February 20 – BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON (1902)/RUBY ELZY (1908)/BETTYE MILLER (1928)/NANCY WILSON (1937)/SANDY DUNCAN (1946)

February 21 – NINA SIMONE (1933)

February 23 – GEORG FREDERIC HÄNDEL (1685)

February 24 – ENRICO CARUSO (1873)/MICHEL LEGRAND (songwriter, 1932)/BILLY ZANE (1966)

February 25 – IDA COX (1896)/GEORGE HARRISON (1943)

February 26 – SISSIERETTA JONES (1869)/TONY RANDALL (1920)/FATS DOMINO (1928)/JOHNNY CASH (1932)/ERYKAH BADU (1972)

February 27 – MARIAN ANDERSON (1897)/ELISABETH WELCH (1904)/CARL ANDERSON (1945)/ROZONDA “CHILI” THOMAS (1972)

February 28 – BERNADETTE PETERS (1948)

February 29 – DINAH SHORE (1916)

MARCH

March 1 – GLEN MILLER (bandleader, 1904)/HARRY BELAFONTE (1927)/ROGER DALTREY (1944)

March 2 – DESI ARNAZ (1917)/KAREN CARPENTER (1950)/JON BON JOVI (1962)

March 4 – ANTONIO VIVALDI (composer, 1678)/MIRIAM MAKEBA (1932)

March 5 – ANDY GIBB (1958)

March 6 – KIRI TE KANAWA (1944)/KIKI DEE (1947)

March 7 – DENYCE GRAVES (1964)

March 8 – MICKEY DOLENZ (1945)

March 9 – KEELY SMITH (1932)/RAUL JULIA (1940)/JEFFREY OSBORNE (1948)

March 10 – DEAN TORRENCE (1940)/JASMINE GUY (1964)

March 11 – BOBBY McFERRIN (1950)

March 12 – GORDON MacRAE (1921)/AL JARREAU (1940)/LIZA MINNELLI (1946)/JAMES TAYLOR (1948)

March 13 – NEIL SEDAKA (1939)

March 15 – HARRY JAMES (bandleader, 1916)/JEAN CARNE (1947)/SLY STONE (1944)

March 17 – NAT “KING” COLE (1919)

March 18 – GEORGE SCOTT (1929)/CHARLIE PRIDE (1938)/WILSON PICKETT (1941)/IRENE CARA (1959)/DANA OWENS (Queen Latifah, 1970)

March 19 – ROBERT McFERRIN (opera, 1921)

March 20 – ROSETTA THARPE (1915)

March 21 – JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (composer, 1685)/MODEST MUSSORGSKY composer, (1839)/ SON HOUSE (1902), ROSEMARY STONE (1945)

March 22 – STEPHEN SONDHEIM (composer, 1930)/GEORGE BENSON (1943)/ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER (composer, 1948)

March 23 – CHAKA KHAN (1943)

March 25 – BÉLA BARTÓK (1881)/ARETHA FRANKLIN (1942)/ELTON JOHN (1947)

March 26 – JAMES CAAN (1939)/STEVEN TYLER (1948)/VICKI LAWRENCE (1949)

March 27 – SARAH VAUGHAN (1924)/MARIAH CAREY (1970)

March 28 – LEDISI

March 29 – PEARL BAILEY (1918)

March 30 – FRANKIE LAINE (1913)/ERIC CLAPTON (1945)/NORAH JONES (1979)

March 31 – JOSEPH HAYDN (composer, 1732)/SHIRLEY JONES (1934)