August Birthdays

Since it's August, time to say Happy Birthday

Valtteri Bottas

-Birth name: Valtteri Viktor Bottas

-DOB: 8/28/1989

-Where: Nastola, Finland

-He drove for Mercedes from 2017-2021

Bruce Dickinson

-Birth name: Paul Bruce Dickinson

-DOB: 8/7/1958

-Where: Worksop, United Kingdom

-He is often known for his outspoken nature

Joe Elliott

-Birth name: Joseph Thomas Elliott

-DOB: 8/1/1959

-Where: Sheffield, England

-He moved to Ireland because it was similar to an English culture

Rob Halford

-Birth name: Robert John Arthur Halford

-DOB: 8/25/1951

-Where: Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom

-He realized that, as early as ten years old, that he was gay

Glenn Hughes

-DOB: 8/21/1951

-Where: Cannock, United Kingdom

-He got sober for good in the 1990s after an EMT threatened bodily harm to him if he didn't be quiet during his ambulance ride to the hospital

James Jagger

-DOB: 8/28/1985

-Where: New York City, New York

-He told the New York Times he shared a drama class in high school with Robert Pattinson

Shawn Michaels

-Birth name: Michael Shawn Hickenbottom

-DOB: 7/22/1965

-Where: Chandler, Arizona

-He developed a lazy eye after an injury in the ring

Sean Connery

-Birth name: Thomas Sean Connery

-DOB: 8/25/1930

-Where: Edinburgh, Scotland

-DOD: 10/31/2020

-Where: Lyford Cay, The Bahamas

-Out of all the actors who played James Bond, he is the only one who, like James Bond, actually served in the Royal Navy

Mark Webber

-Birth name: Mark Alan Webber

-DOB: 8/27/1976

-Where: Queanbeyan, Australia

-He drove in Formula 1 from 2002-2013

Raoul Bova

-DOB: 8/14/1971

-Where: Rome, Italy

-His father was an employee of Alitalia Airlines and his mother was a housewife

April Birthdays

Since it's April, time to say Happy Birthday

Jet Li

-Birth name: Li Lian Jie

-DOB: 4/26/1963

-Where: Beijing, China

-He's known for his incredibly lightning fast martial arts

Ritchie Blackmore

-Birth name: Richard Hugh Blackmore

-DOB: 4/14/1945

-Where: Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England

-Even as a teenager, when he played guitar, he felt the need to play incredibly fast

Jeremy Clarkson

-Birth name: Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson

-DOB: 4/11/1960

-Where: Doncaster, United Kingdom

-He's known for his outspoken nature

Eddie Murphy

-Birth name: Edward Regan Murphy

-DOB: 4/3/1951

-Where: Brooklyn, New York

-His mother was a telephone operator and his father was a transit police officer who also did amateur stand up comedy and acting in his spare time

Roddy Piper

-Birth name: Roderick George Toombs

-DOB: 4/17/1954

-Where: Saskatoon, Canada

-DOD: 7/31/2015

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He earned his nickname "The Piper" from his talent at playing the bagpipes

Sebastian Bach

-Birth name: Sebastian Philip Bierk

-DOB: 4/3/1968

-Where: Freeport, The Bahamas

-When growing up in The Bahamas, he was the only Caucasian child in a class of predominantly black children

Federico Castellucio

-DOB: 4/29/1964

-Where: Naples, Campania, Italy

-Because of his role as Furio on The Sopranos, with his very convincing Italian accent, people thought he was an actual Italian actor who spoke broken English when he in fact he was born in Naples, Italy, but grew up in Paterson, New Jersey

Geddy Lee Announces Title of His Memoir and The Release Date

For all fans of Geddy Lee and Rush, your day is about to be made. Bassist / vocalist Geddy Lee has announced he is writing a memoir. Better yet, he's also releasing the date in which this book will be appearing on shelves at bookstores everywhere.

November 14 of this year is when fans of both Geddy Lee and Rush can start expecting to see the book, titled My Effin' Life, on bookstore shelves. Lee had previously teased the world with the rumor of a memoir, but now those rumors are being laid to rest and replaced with a positive confirmation from the man himself.

He went on the band's Twitter page and posted an old photo of him with the words "More soon...". He announced that he would release a then untitled autobiography in September 2021. The announcement was done via Instagram and referred to it as an "epic-length account" of his life both "on and off stage". He said the idea came to him while at home during the COVID-19 lockdown

He stated "Little did I know that as of March 2020 I'd be locked down for over a year and a half - the longest time I'd spent in Toronto since I was 19 and hit the Northern Ontario bar circuit with Rush". He also gave credit to co-writer Daniel Richler, who had helped write 2018's Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass and stated that Richler was the one who pushed him to take a look at his life. "[He] saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of [former bandmate Neil Peart's 2020] passing and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return." According to the September 2021 post, the book's release was scheduled for 2022.

January Birthdays

Since it's January, it's time to say Happy Birthday

Janick Gers

-Birth name: Janick Robert Gers

-DOB: 1/27/1957

-Where: Hartlepool, England

-His onstage antics, such as dancing around and throwing his guitar around, often raise criticism from fans and often have them remarking, often negatively, about his not so good guitar playing

Peter Steele

-Birth name: Petrus Thomas Ratajcyk

-DOB: 1/4/1962

-Where: Red Hook, New York

-DOD: 4/14/2010

-Where: Scranton, Pennsylvania

-He appeared in Playgirl magazine

Ian Hill

-Birth name: Ian Frank Hill

-DOB: 1/20/1951

-Where: West Bromwich, England

-He is one of the founding members of Judas Priest

Paul Stanley

-Birth name: Stanley Bert Eisen

-DOB: 1/20/1952

-Where: Inwood, New York

-He was born with a condition called microtia, which is an underdevelopment of the ears. He was rendered completely deaf on his right side until a surgery in the mid 1980s, using cartilage from his ribs, gave him a new right ear

Richie Faulkner

-Birth name: Richard Ian Faulkner

-DOB: 1/1/1980

-Where: London, England

-Previously played guitar for hard rock singer Lauren Harris

Rod Stewart

-Birth name: Roderick David Stewart

-DOB: 1/10/1945

-Where: London, England

-He's still friends with his former Faces band mate Ronnie Wood

Jimmy Page

-Birth name: James Patrick Page

-DOB: 1/9/1944

-Where: Heston, Hounslow, England

-He formed Led Zeppelin from the remains of his previous band, The Yardbirds. He intended to call his new band The New Yardbirds, but Who drummer Keith Moon told him it would go down like a lead balloon

David Bowie

-Birth name: David Robert Jones

-DOB: 1/8/1947

-Where: Brixton, London, England

-DOD: 1/10/2016

-Where: New York City, New York

-He was not born with two different colored eyes. He had gotten that as a result of a condition called anisocoria, which is known for two different sized pupils in a person's eyes. He has blue eyes, but with one being permanently dilated, it gives the impression he has one brown eye and one blue eye

James May

-Birth name: James Daniel May

-DOB: 1/16/1963

-Where: Bristol, United Kingdom

-He's usually called "Captain" something or other by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear

Malcolm Young

-Birth name: Malcolm Mitchell Young

-DOB: 1/6/1953

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-DOD: 11/18/2017

-Where: Elizabeth Bay, Australia

-He is one of the founding members of AC/DC

Kate Middleton

-DOB: 1/9/1982

-Where: Reading, England

-Amidst all of the Kate and William and Harry and Meghan drama, she has kept her opinions to herself, despite being painted in a bad light by Meghan. Frankly, she's far more beautiful and classy than Meghan Markle

Phil Collins

-Birth name: Phillip David Charles Collins

-DOB: 1/30/1951

-Where: London, England

-His daughter Lily is an actress, known for the program Emily in Paris

John Paul Jones

-Birth name: John Richard Baldwin

-DOB: 1/3/1946

-Where: Kent, England

-He worked as a session musician prior to joining Led Zeppelin

March Birthdays

Since it's March, it's time to say Happy Birthday!

Steve Harris

-Birth name: Stephen Percy Harris

-DOB: 3/12/1956

-Where: Leytonstone, London, England

-Prior to discovering music, he wanted to be a professional footballer for West Ham United

Carrie Underwood

-Birth name: Carrie Marie Underwood

-DOB: 3/10/1983

-Where: Muskogee, Oklahoma

-Has two sisters named Shanna and Stephanie

Daniel Craig

-Birth name: Daniel Wroughton Craig

-DOB: 3/2/1968

-Where: Cheshire, England

-When cast as James Bond, he refused to dye his hair black to look like the other actors in the past

Sting (Wrestler)

-Birth name: Steve Borden

-DOB: 3/20/1959

-Where: Omaha, Nebraska

-His black and white face paint, paired with his black and leather clothing, were inspired by the film The Crow

Michael Caine

-Birth name: Maurice Joseph Micklewhite

-DOB: 3/14/1933

-Where: London, England

-He joined the British Army after leaving school at fifteen and served in Korea during the Korean War

Elton John

-Birth name: Reginald Kenneth Dwight

-DOB: 3/25/1947

-Where: Middlesex, England

-Got his stage name "Elton John" from a combination of saxophonist Elton Dean and musician Long John Baldry

Dee Snider

-Birth name: Daniel "Dee" Snider

-DOB: 3/15/1955

-Where: Astoria, New York

-He and his wife Suzette have been married since 1981

Eric Idle

-DOB: 3/29/1943

-Where: South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England

-His fellow Pythons had tasked him with composing a response to an angry piece of fan mail for one of their fellow Pythons. Graham Chapman was openly gay and a letter quoting Bible verses "condemning" him to a death by stoning for being homosexual was sent to the comedy troupe. Idle jokingly said they had stoned Chapman to death

Freema Agyeman

-DOB: 3/20/1979

-Where: London, England

-She is a self-confessed big fan of Star Trek. She watched all the Star Trek shows and even attended a convention once

Gary Oldman

-Birth name: Gary Leonard Oldman

-DOB: 3/21/1958

-Where: New Cross, London, England

-He is known for playing borderline psychotics

Angus Young

-Birth name: Angus McKinnon Young

-DOB: 03/31/1955

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-The schoolboy uniform was inspired by the fact that when Angus started in music, he would come straight from school without changing out of his school uniform

Michael Imperioli

-Birth name: James Michael Imperioli

-DOB: 3/26/1966

-Where: Mount Vernon, New York

-He took up taekwondo in 2003 to help him stop smoking

Mark Calaway aka "The Undertaker"

-Birth name: Mark William Calaway

-DOB: 3/24/1965

-Where: Houston, Texas

-WWE billed him as 6'10''. In real life, his actual height is only 6'8''

November Birthdays

Since it's November, it's time to say Happy Birthday

Roger Glover

-Birth name: Roger David Glover

-DOB: 11/30/1945

-Where: Brecon, United Kingdom

-He initially had a thing for wearing hats, but was tired of looking like he had just gotten out of the shower from sweating so much. He switched to head scarves and it ended up working out much better for him

Billy Idol

-Birth name: William Michael Albert Broad

-DOB: 11/30/1955

-Where: Stanmore, United Kingdom

-For a while, as a child, he and his family lived in Long Island, New York, where the young Billy Idol talked with an American accent. It was only when he and his family moved back to the UK that he started speaking what he calls "the Queen's English"

Tommy Thayer

-Birth name: Thomas Cunningham Thayer

-DOB: 11/07/1960

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-He was a guitarist in the band Black 'N' Blue before coming to Kiss

Rick Allen

-Birth name: Richard John Cyril Allen

-DOB: 11/01/1958

-Where: Dronfield, United Kingdom

-He signed with Def Leppard at age 15. While on tour, he had to have a tutor come with him to help him finish his education and he even got to celebrate his 16th birthday on tour

Bobby Dall

-Birth name: Robert Harry Kuykendall

-DOB: 11/02/1963

-Where: Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

-His first job was working as a cook at a truck stop

DJ Ashba

-Birth name: Daren Jay Ashba

-DOB: 11/10/1972

-Where: Monticello, IN

-He was previously in the band BulletBoys

Dave Ellefson

-Birth name: David Warren Ellefson

-DOB: 11/12/1964

-Where: Jackson, Minnesota

-He holds a Bachelor's Degree in business and actually does lectures on business and music-related topics

Frankie Banali

-DOB: 11/14/1951

-Where: Queens, New York

-DOD: 08/20/2020

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He joined Quiet Riot in 1982, prior to the release of their classic album Metal Health

Rudy Sarzo

-Birth name: Rodolfo Sarzo

-DOB: 11/18/1950

-Where: Havana, Cuba

-He is known for playing guitar in Quiet Riot, with Ozzy Osbourne and more