Jones in Sydney, Australia, 1968

David Thomas “Davy” Jones (born 30 December 1945) is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees. Jones was born in Manchester, England on 30 December 1945. At the age of 11, he started his acting career and appeared on the British television soap opera Coronation Street as Ena Sharples’s grandson, Colin Lomax. He also appeared in the BBC police series Z-Cars. However, after the death of his mother from emphysema when he was 14 years old, he left acting and trained as a jockey with Basil Foster…

Houston performing “Saving All My Love for You” on the Welcome Home Heroes concert in 1991

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Houston began…

Johnny Otis

Ioannis Alexandros Veliotes (December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012), better known as Johnny Otis, was an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, impresario and pastor. Born in Vallejo, California, he is commonly referred to as the “Godfather of Rhythm and Blues”. Otis was the child of Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island…

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Etta James performing in San Jose, California, in 2000.

Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid-1950s, she gained fame with hits such as “Dance With Me, Henry”, “At Last”, “Tell Mama”, and “I’d Rather Go Blind” for which she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late…

Leslie Carter

Leslie Barbara Carter (June 6, 1986 – January 31, 2012) was an American pop singer best known as the sister of fellow singers Nick and Aaron Carter. Leslie Carter was born in Tampa, Florida, the third of five children of Jane Elizabeth (née Spaulding) and Robert Gene Carter (born September 23, 1952). She was born at the Garden Villa Retirement Home, where the Carter family were living and working at the time. She was the older sister of Aaron Charles (born December 7, 1987), and younger sister of…