March Birthdays

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

Michael Imperioli

-Birth name: James Michael Imperioli

-DOB: 3/26/1966

-Where: Mount Vernon, New York

-In 2003, he took up taekwondo to help him quit smoking

Steve Harris

-Birth name: Stephen Percy Harris

-DOB: 3/12/1956

-Where: Leytonstone, London, England

-During the writing of 1995's The X Factor, Steve, who is usually the primary songwriter, had been undergoing massive amounts of stress at the time, leading to an overly ominous tone on many of the album's songs. This led the album to be more adult oriented than geared towards all ages

Elizabeth Jagger

-Birth name: Elizabeth Scarlet Jagger

-DOB: 3/2/1984

-Where: New York City, New York

-Has a half brother named Lucas

Carrie Underwood

-Birth name: Carrie Marie Underwood

-DOB: 3/10/1983

-Where: Muskogee, Oklahoma

-She gained fame in music from appearing on American Idol

Michael Caine

-Birth name: Maurice Joseph Mickelwhite

-DOB: 3/14/1933

-Where: Rotherhithe, London, England

-Served in the British Army during the Korean War

Elton John

-Birth name: Reginald Kenneth Dwight

-DOB: 3/25/1947

-Where: Harrow, London, England

-He suffered from drug and alcohol addiction in addition to bulimia. He also suffers from epilepsy

Dee Snider

-Birth name: Daniel Dee Snider

-DOB: 3/15/1955

-Where: Massapequa, Long Island, New York

-Shares a birthday with Bret Michaels of Poison

Eric Idle

-DOB: 3/29/1943

-Where: South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England

-In 2002, he beat Charles Barkley and Martha Stewart on the celebrity edition of Jeopardy!

Freema Agyeman

-DOB: 3/20/1979

-Where: London, England

-In 2000, she graduated with a BA in performing arts from Middlesex University. She also took courses in theatre at Radford University in Radford, Virginia in 1998

Gary Oldman

-Birth name: Gary Leonard Oldman

-DOB: 3/21/1958

-Where: New Cross, London, England

-One of his best known roles is that of Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious in the biopic Sid & Nancy

Angus Young

-Birth name: Angus McKinnon Young

-DOB: 3/31/1955

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-Does not consume any alcohol

February Birthdays

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

Tony Iommi

-Birth name: Anthony Frank Iommi

-DOB: 2/19/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-Is the only member of Black Sabbath to have appeared on every album

Duff McKagan

-Birth name: Michael Andrew McKagan

-DOB: 2/5/1964

-Where: Seattle, Washington

-On 5/10/1994, he had a near death experience when his pancreas exploded. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors connected this to prolonged abuse of drugs and alcohol. Doctors told he needed to change his lifestyle and he's been sober ever since

Rod Smallwood

-Birth name: Roderick Charles Smallwood

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England

-Initially, he didn't want to go back into managing bands after having a rough time with former band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. He initially thought about pursuing a law degree when someone gave him an EP for an up and coming band called Iron Maiden. After listening to it, he reconsidered music management and chose to become their manager, which he's been doing since then

Adrian Smith

-Birth name: Adrian Frederick Smith

-DOB: 2/27/1957

-Where: Hackney, London, England

-Is goof friends with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen

Alice Cooper

-Birth name: Vincent Damon Furnier

-DOB: 2/4/1948

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-He plays golf to keep himself sober

Steve Irwin

-Birth name: Stephen Robert Irwin

-DOB: 2/22/1962

-Where: Victoria, Australia

-DOD: 9/4/2006

-Where: Queensland, Australia

-In January 2004, he almost faced child endangerment charges when he was holding, in one arm, his then one month old son Robert and using his other hand to feed a 13' crocodile. Steve and his wife Terri claimed and proved that no one was in danger

Matt Groening

-Birth name: Matt Abram Groening

-DOB: 2/15/1954

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-He is the creator of the famed cartoon series The Simpsons

George Harrison

-DOB: 2/25/1943

-Where: Arnold Grove, Liverpool, England

-DOD: 11/29/2001

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-Discovered Hinduism in the late 60s, early 70s and was a fervent follower until his death. In fact, one of the last things he did before he died was take a special trip to India and went to all the special places in the Hindu religion and even bathed in the Ganges River

Vince Neil

-Birth name: Vincent Neil Wharton

-DOB: 2/8/1961

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He punched Guns 'N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin at the MTV Music Awards on 9/11/1989. Stradlin suffered a cut lip from one of Vince's rings

Rachel Bolan

-Birth name: James Richard Southworth

-DOB: 2/9/1963

-Where: Toms River, New Jersey

-He's a big punk fan, especially of bands like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols

Henry Rollins

-Birth name: Henry Lawrence Garfield

-DOB: 2/13/1961

-Where: Washington, D.C.

-In December 1991, he was sharing a house with his good friend Joe Cole, son of actor Dennis Cole, when the house was broken into. The robbers shot and killed Cole and to this day, this case remains unsolved

Rickey Medlocke

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-Had a short stint with Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1971-1972. But he's mostly known for being the frontman/guitarist for Southern rockers Blackfoot

Billie Joe Armstrong

-DOB: 2/17/1972

-Where: Oakland, California

-He wrote the Green Day song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" as a tribute to his father, who died of esophageal cancer on 9/10/1982

Johnny Van Zandt

-Birth name: Johnny Roy Van Zandt

-DOB: 2/277/1960

-Where: Birmingham, Alabama

-He is the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt and brother of .38 Special vocalist Donnie Van Zandt

January birthdays

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

Peter Steele

-Birth name: Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk

-DOB: 1/4/1962

-Where: Brooklyn, New York

-DOD: 4/14/2010

-Where: New York City, New York (heart failure)

-He was incredibly self-conscious about his height. Being 6'8'', he often sat down in photos with the band or had the photos taken at an angle where people couldn't tell how tall he was or how much he towered over his band mates

Paul Stanley

-Birth name: Stanley Bert Eisen

-DOB: 1/20/1952

-Where: Queens, New York

-He's a fan of classical opera

Ian Hill

-Birth name: Ian Frank Hill

-DOB: 1/20/1952

-Where: Birmingham, England

-Joined the band Judas Priest that guitarist K.K. Downing and then vocalist Al Atkins had formed

Janick Gers

-Birth name: Janick Robert Gers

-DOB: 1/27/1957

-Where: Hartlepool, England

-His father, Boleslaw Gers, was in the Polish Navy

Richie Faulkner

-Birth name: Richard Ian Faulkner

-DOB: 1/1/1980

-Where: London, England

-Played guitar for hard rock singer Lauren Harris' backing band prior to joining Judas Priest

Rod Stewart
-Birth name: Roderick David Stewart
-DOB: 1/10/1945
-Where: Highgate, London, England

-Despite having English in his heritage on his mother's side, he also has Scottish heritage on his dad's side and considers himself a Scotsman and supports Glasgow Celtic FC

Jimmy Page

-Birth name: James Patrick Page

-DOB: 1/9/1944

-Where: Heston, Middlesex, England

-His trademark instrument is a Gibson Les Paul

David Bowie

-Birth name: David Robert Haywood Jones

-DOB: 1/8/1947

-Where: Brixton, London, England

-DOD: 1/10/2016

-Where: Manhattan, New York City, New York (liver cancer)

-He has what looks like two different colored eyes as a result of getting punched in the face by a friend when he was 15

James May

-Birth name: James Daniel May

-DOB: 1/16/1963

-Where: Bristol, England

-He plays flute, piano and saxophone quite well

Georgia May Jagger

-Birth name: Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger

-DOB: 1/12/1992

-Where: London, England

-Her sister, Elizabeth Jagger, is also a model

Rowan Atkinson

-Birth name: Rowan Sebastian Atkinson

-DOB: 1/6/1955

-Where: Consett, County Durham, England

-Has degrees in electrical engineering from Newcastle University and Oxford University

Kate Middleton

-DOB: 1/9/1982

-Where: Reading, Berkshire, England

-Is a distant relative of actress Dakota Fanning and her sister Elle Fanning

Malcolm Young

-Birth name: Malcolm Mitchell Young

-DOB: 1/6/1953

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-DOD: 11/18/2017

-Where: Elizabeth Bay, Australia

-He died four weeks after his brother George Young

Phil Collins

-Birth name: Phillip David Charles Collins

-DOB: 1/30/1951

-Where: Chiswick, London, England

-He started playing drums at age 5

John Paul Jones

-Birth name: John Richard Baldwin

-DOB: 1/3/1946

-Where: Sidcup, Kent, England

-Before and after being in Led Zeppelin, he worked as a studio manager and arranger

2020: What a year!

Good grief! What a year this has been! The sooner it ends, the better!! I had a year to end all years, like most everyone on the planet!!

Had my first car accident

-It happened on 10/30/2020. I was on my way to work as a temp at Cincinnati Eye Institute. I was going along a stretch of road called Red Bank Road. The road, no matter the weather, is always slick because there are businesses along it with flower beds out front. These flower beds have automatic sprinklers in them to water them. I saw the street light turning yellow, which meant the red light was coming. Rather than run through it, I stopped, skidded and the car behind me rear ended me. Both me and the other driver were okay, but my bumper took a lick or two. It was somewhat hanging on. Of course, I had never been in that kind of situation before, so shock took over. I was scared and panicking. When the police showed, I told them the truth-I didn't want to run the red light, so I tried to stop, but the road was slick. I skidded and the car behind me was tailgating and rear ended me. I was able to make it to work, but I had to rely on rides from my mom to work and rides from either my mom or sister home from work until I could get a rental car, which I got early the following week. I have my car back now, bumper fixed and everything.

I do have a little fear of driving Red Bank Road now, but when I pass the scene where it happened, I take deep breaths. What's hilarious is that a police officer even told me that if it turns yellow, just go through it. The lights have a three second delay between yellow and red. You have exactly three seconds to get through the just-turned-red light to be safe. If the other lights turn green and your light is red and you run it, then the cops can get you. I've only been driving since I was 23 (I'm 30 now) and had a car for maybe 5 years. The officer was surprised that I'm 30 and only just had my first accident. He said he thinks I might be a safe driver for all this time to pass driving and only now have an accident. He told me to keep up the safe driving and that the other person was at fault for tailgating. He said that he and his other fellow District 2 police officers call Red Bank Road "Accident Alley" because of the high number of car crashes and wrecks, some of them fatal. Nowadays, I just take I-71 North to work because it's faster and less dangerous!

COVID-19

-This virus has robbed everyone of everything. People are dying senselessly because they refuse to take even the simplest precautions, like wearing a mask or using hand sanitizer. Sadly, the US is said to be one of the countries with the highest rate of infection and deaths. I swear, no one in the US seems to think it's good to wear masks. They think they know everything and yet we have the highest infection and death rate. Americans seem like spoiled toddlers who think they know everything. They think wearing a mask and taking precautions is a violation of their civil liberties, freedoms and rights. It's not. WEAR A MASK AND TAKE PRECAUTIONS! We'll never get over this unless people start following the rules!!! This virus has not only taken lives of both everyday people and musicians, it's taken jobs away from people, cancelled vacations, concerts, everything. People are getting furloughed then permanently laid off because of lack of work. That right there tells everyone why I got laid off from a local company called General Electric Credit Union. That's what happened to me. I had been working there as a Loan Processor since February 2020. I worked until March 31, until the CEO told us there might be layoffs due to COVID-19. I was on the chopping block. I was furloughed, thinking I was going to go back. NOPE! In early May, I received a letter saying something to the effect of "Due to mitigating circumstances, your employment with General Electric Credit Union will be terminated effective May 31, 2020". I was, in layman's terms, permanently laid off. After that, I relied heavily on unemployment while searching heavily for jobs. It took me six months just to get this temp job at Cincinnati Eye Institute, which will end sometime, but I don't know when. My manager told me I'm still employed here and she'll give me plenty of warning about my last day. But, besides that, everyone is in the same boat, struggling to find work, etc.

Concerts cancelled!

- I was supposed to go to two concerts this year. I was supposed to see The Who at BB&T Arena, the main arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, where their basketball team the Norse play. That got cancelled due to COVID-19. I was supposed to go see the Foo Fighters with my sister at Heritage Bank Arena, formerly US Bank Arena. That got pushed back to October of this year and then cancelled due to the virus.

Stepdad landed in hospital

-Thankfully, it wasn't COVID-19-related. He was having trouble breathing and was sent to the hospital. He ended up having his lungs filled with small blood clots. He spent three days in the local Christ Hospital. We had to take precautions when he came home because on the floor he was on, the doctors and nurses put extra COVID-19 patients there. He, of course and thankfully, was asymptomatic and does not have it. But he's now on blood thinners for the rest of his life. I thought we were going to lose him for a while. But he's still here, making us laugh and more!

December Birthdays

 Since it's December, time to say Happy Birthday! And to also end the year and move on to 2021!

Stevie Young

-Birth name: Stephen Crawford Young Jr.

-DOB: 12/11/1956

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-He joined the band in 2014, to record Rock or Bust

Rick Savage

-Birth name: Richard Savage

-DOB: 12/2/1960

-Where: Sheffield, England

-Suffered with a bout of Bell's Palsy in January 1994, but has later regained most of the feeling in the right side of his face

Richard Hammond

-Birth name: Richard Mark Hammond

-DOB: 12/19/1969

-Where: Solihull, West Midlands, England

-He debuted on Top Gear UK in 2002

Cliff Williams

-Birth name: Clifford Williams

-DOB: 12/14/1949

-Where: Romford, United Kingdom

-He retired from AC/DC in 2016 after suffering with a terrible bout of vertigo, but has since returned to the band

Maggie Smith

-Birth name: Margaret Natalie Smith

-DOB: 12/28/1934

-Where: Ilford, Essex, England

-Underwent chemotherapy for breast cancer while filming Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Phil Collen

-Birth name: Phillip Kenneth Collen

-DOB: 12/8/1957

-Where: Hackney, London, England

-He is good friends with Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith and former vocalist Paul Di'Anno because he grew up in the same area of London as they did

Denzel Washington

-Birth name: Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.

-DOB: 12/28/1954

-Where: Mount Vernon, New York

-His mother Lennis is from Georgia and is a beautician while his father Denzel Washington Sr. is a Pentecostal minister from Virginia

Ozzy Osbourne

-Birth name: John Michael Osbourne

-DOB: 12/3/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-After his dad died in 1977, he spent several times in the hospital for depression

Lemmy Kilmister

-Birth name: Ian Fraser Kilmister

-DOB: 12/24/1945

-Where: Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England

-DOD: 12/28/2015

-Where: Los Angeles, California (prostate cancer, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrythmia)

-Claimed it was a dream to record a song with Janet Jackson

Dave Murray

-Birth name: David Michael Murray

-DOB: 12/23/1956

-Where: Edmunton, London, England

-Other than bassist/founding member Steve Harris, Dave Murray is the only one to appear on every album Iron Maiden has released

Keith Richards

-DOB: 12/18/1943

-Where: Dartford, Kent, England

-Met Mick Jagger in the early 1960s at a train station