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''

When Bruce Dickinson Heard About His Replacement in Iron Maiden

Everyone knows the story of how former Wolfsbane vocalist Blaze Bayley replaced iconic front man Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden.

The early to mid 1990s was a tough time for Iron Maiden. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith had left the band to pursue solo careers. Which left Maiden without a singer and guitarist. Luckily, they had covered the guitarist space with former Gillan/White Spirit guitarist Janick Gers. And also, luckily, they were able to find a replacement for Bruce. Maiden's former vocalist had quit the band in 1993, after completing the Raising Hell special on TV, with magician Simon Drake. The magician had shoved the singer into an iron maiden torture device before Eddie came up and removed Bruce's bloody head from his equally bloody body

The band's next move was to find a replacement. At that time, bassist Steve Harris was going through a divorce and suddenly found himself wondering how to care for his four kids Lauren, Kerry, Faye and George. Luckily, the singer stress was relieved when the band found a perfect singer in Wolfsbane front man Blaze Bayley. In the eyes of the press, it was a controversial decision because they couldn't imagine Iron Maiden without Bruce Dickinson. Still, Blaze Bayley had one person cheering for him: Bruce Dickinson himself.

In a 2007 Classic Rock Magazine interview, Bruce said "When Blaze got the job, I was, like 'Wow, I hope this works out.' I thought it would probably be more difficult than he could imagine, even though he was having a great time. And look, if Iron Maiden offered you the job, you're not going to turn it down, are you?" Meanwhile, the press was having a field day with the tensions flying back and forth between Iron Maiden and their former vocalist. Bassist Steve Harris and tour manager Dickie Bell accused Bruce of being "f---ing awful" at some of their last shows together. There could have been awkwardness between Bruce and Blaze, but instead Bruce sent Blaze a most unusual gift. He had sent Blaze a pair of house bricks painted yellow

"I saw an interview with him, and there was a line at the end where he said 'I feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz'", replied Bruce. "I thought 'That's really sweet - I know exactly how you feel.' So I painted up two bricks and sent them to him." Dickinson stated he admired Bayley for taking what was going to be a near impossible job. "Absolutely. Hats off. Full respect to him for that. His voice is very different to mine. And there was a point where he got the job where I thought 'How the hell is he going to manage to do those songs? Maybe they just won't do them. It's gonna be hard.' I said to someone at the time 'Why don't they really do something off the wall and really outrageous. Get a woman! There's some of these female Finnish vocalists kicking around, and they have the most outrageous voices! Do something to really, really knock people's socks off.' But I'd have been f---ed then. I'd have never come back.'"

He did come back, in 1999, along with Adrian Smith. Nowadays, the Blaze era of Maiden is said to be very divisive among the Maiden fans. Some love everything about the Blaze era. Some hate the fact that Bruce was replaced by this virtual unknown. A lot of critics are quick to judge the two albums made with Blaze - 1995's The X Factor and 1998's Virtual XI - as the band's weakest albums. Mostly because of the adult-oriented lyrics replacing the space travel, sci-fi, horror-type lyrics Maiden once wrote about. Those who have read the excellent book Run to the Hills: Iron Maiden, The Authorized Biography by Mick Wall will know that, at the time those albums were written, Steve Harris was going through a lot of personal problems at the time. Bruce Dickinson had just left the band. Steve Harris was going through a divorce and wondering how he would care for his four kids Lauren, Kerry, Faye and George. He was very down at the time and it was guitarist Dave Murray who gave him the strength to carry on. He simply said that the band should carry on with a new vocalist. And that they did. When Bruce was asked if he had heard those records, here is his response.

Bruce said "No. It was all a little bit fraught. The only time I've actually listened to the albums was when Steve said 'We need to go and record one of these songs.' I thought 'Oh, how does it go then? I'd better go and have a listen to it.'" 

Goldfinger (1964)

The third installment in the famed James Bond series

Summary

-During an investigation into smuggling from a gold magnate, a plot to contaminate Fort Knox's gold reserves is uncovered

Cast

-Sean Connery: James Bond

-Gert Frobe: Auric Goldfinger

-Honor Blackman: Pussy Galore

-Shirley Eaton: Jill Masterson

-Tania Mallet: Tilly Masterson

-Harold Sakata: Oddjob

-Bernard Lee: M

-Cec Linder: Felix Leitner

-Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny

Did You Know?

-This movie is the first appearance of a laser beam in any 007 movie

-Every scene that appears to be the US was actually filmed at Pinewood Studios in London. One instance to explain this is when Connery flips the light switch down to find the gold-painted corpse of Jill. Light switches in England are designed to flip down to turn on lights instead of flipping them up as is done in the US

-Goldfinger is seen wearing something yellow or gold-colored in almost every scene. He even has a gold revolver. In the James Bond series, he is the first "man with a golden gun"

-Honor Blackman, who plays Pussy Galore, had been playing the character Cathy Gale on the 1961 TV program The Avengers. She had to quit that role for this one. An episode of The Avengers from 1965 makes a reference to this by having John Steed receive a Christmas card from Cathy Gale, sent from Fort Knox, Kentucky.

-This film was the first movie role for American-born Japanese wrestler/weightlifter Harold Sakata, who plays Oddjob

-Sean Connery was married at the time to Diane Cilento. He wore a flesh-colored bandage over his wedding ring

-The original car for this movie was not an Aston Martin DB5, but an E-Type Jaguar, which was a lot cheaper. The car model was driven by production designer Ken Adam. Aston Martin's David Brown supplied two production prototypes of the then newly released Aston Martin DB5. One was to be used for driving and the other to be used for adding gadgets. It was not until 2002's Die Another Day that a Jaguar-type spy car was used

-This was the first film that Pierce Brosnan, who would play James Bond in the future, saw in theatres

-After accepting his role as Goldfinger, actor Gert Frobe was asked if he had any private interests or hobbies. He replied he loved football (soccer). Resulting from this, a Rolls Royce would arrive later every Saturday at the London hotel where he stayed and would take him to the matches

-The most famous of the James Bond cars, seen in this movie and 1965's Thunderball, was a 1964 silver birch Aston Martin DB5. This car was never driven by Roger Moore as James Bond

-The original novel states that Bond drove an Aston Martin DB3 and the only upgrades he had to it were reinforced bumper guards and a secret compartment for his Colt .45 pistol

-When Sir Sean Connery died on October 31, 2020, Shirley Easton, who played Jill Masterson, is the last surviving cast member. Honor Blackman died on April 5, 2020 and Margaret Nolan, who played Dink, died on October 5, 2020. Nolan and Connery died within six weeks of each other

-In a 2007 interview, Margaret Nolan said she enjoyed working with Sean Connery. She said he was a gentleman and would give her a lift home in his Rolls Royce after filming

-In the novel, Goldfinger was only five feet tall while in real life, Gert Frobe, who played Goldfinger, was 6'1''

-This was the debut of the Aston Martin

-In 1965, Sears paired up with AC Gilbert to sell an exclusive James Bond-themed Road Race playset. It was a slot car track that came with two cars and scenes from the mountainside road chase

-Despite what everyone thinks, it was in the film Dr. No that Sean Connery had worn a hair piece, not Goldfinger. He had started losing his hair at 17 and had to wear a hair piece for a lot of his films

-Bond makes a joke about drinking room temperature champagne being like "listening to the Beatles without earmuffs". Richard Vernon, who plays Col. Smithers, was in A Hard Day's Night (1964). He played a businessman arguing with The Fab Four on a train

-The airport in the UK that Bond and Goldfinger fly to Switzerland from is the real Southend Airport in Essex. During the period of which this movie was filming, it was in a British Air Ferries period, making it the third busiest airport in London. The map tracker clearly shows where it's at. It was originally known as RAF Rochford. Since the mid 2010s, it's been known as London Southend Airport, whose airport code is SEN

-Despite the fact that Oddbjob is Korean, the actor who plays him is American-born Japanese

-Gert Frobe had incredibly strong reservations about Goldfinger using nerve gas to rid himself of witnesses. He felt that, with him being German, there would be strong Nazi concentration camp suggestions. This movie was banned in Israel for years after Gert Frobe revealed he was a member of the Nazi Party. The ban was lifted after, most surprisingly, a Jewish family came forward to praise Frobe for protecting them from persecution during WWII

From Russia with Love (1963)

The second installment to the James Bond series

Summary

-The famed British agent gets involved in an assassination plot involving a Russian beauty and retrieving a stolen Soviet encryption device stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Cast

-Sean Connery: James Bond

-Daniela Bianchi: Tatiana Romanova

-Pedro Armendariz: Ali Kerim Bey

-Lotte Lenya: Rosa Klebb

-Robert Shaw: Donald 'Red' Grant

-Bernard Lee: M

-Eunice Gayson: Sylvia Trench

Did You Know?

-The knife shoe weapon Rosa Klebb uses is an actual weapon used by the KGB

-Sir Sean Connery had eight specially made Saville Row suits for this film. Each one cost $2,000

-Pedro Armendariz was terminally ill with cancer during filming. It's possible he contracted cancer from filming near a US nuclear test site during The Conqueror (1956). He accepted the role in this film to provide financial security for his wife. The schedule for shooting was modified to film his scenes while he was able to. Towards the end, director Terence Young had to have a stand in film the longer shots. One month after all his scenes were completed, it was discovered Armendariz had shot himself inside a Los Angeles hospital

-Vladek Sheybal, a highly respected Polish actor and good friend of Sean Connery, was hesitant to take his role in this movie because he thought it wouldn't be a good career move. His good friend Sean Connery convinced him to take it and the risk paid off. It helped his career big time

-When filming scenes with Sean Connery, Robert Shaw revealed on The Tonight Show that he had to stand on wooden crates because he was four inches shorter than Connery

-Daniela Bianchi, at 21, was the youngest actress to play a leading Bond girl

-Sean Connery was introduced to the game of golf during this movie by Robert Shaw

-Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig, two actors who would play James Bond themselves later on, cited this as their favorite Bond movie

-In the novels, Bond often drives his favorite car, a Bentley. The car appears in this movie for only time in the series

-Col. Rosa Klebb was based on a real-life Russian Colonel that Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond stories, once wrote about in The Sunday Times

Bruce Dickinson on Iron Maiden

The Iron Maiden front man reflects on the band he has sung with, off and on, since 1982.

The legendary British metal band had recently released Senjutsu, a seemingly Japanese-themed album. This was the most recent album to be released, a large gap between now and 2015's The Book of Souls. He describes the music as "real music played by a bunch of old geezers."

"Every now ang again we come up with an album that really seizes the day and, Senjutsu is one of them. The last album where I think we had a similar sort of sensation was probably [Bruce's return to Maiden 2000 album] Brave New World, because there were lots of cynics going 'It's just going to be retreads and a lot of old crap.

It wasn't and people went "Oh my God, it's really good." After that, people went "oh well, it's another Maiden album, it's another Maiden tour." But quietly we were getting a lot bigger than we ever were back in the day.

But this time you had covid, and people were locked in and they missed going to see this big, monstrous band with Eddies and everything. They were thinking "Where the hell is that in my life?" and then you come with an album like Senjutsu - which was recorded before covid was even dreamt of - and it fills that hole.

It's very heartening that people really got it. Musically it's a stunning album - it's complex, it's emotional, it's got multiple layers. People go [disgruntled voice] "It doesn't sound a bit like 1983". No, of course it doesn't, we've all moved on a little bit. As we get older, we get more contrarian and cantakerous. It's a bit like Neil Young - he's been at it for years, but he still manages to come up with things that rub the establishment the wrong way.

We did have our little animated secret weapon, which was the video for [first single] "Writing on the Wall". I knew we weren't going to be going anywhere for a while, and Maiden certainly weren't going to be setting up our gear in some rehearsal studio and pretending we're playing some huge live gigs, cos we'd just look like a proper bunch of Charlies. So I said "We should put our resources into doing an incredible video." My template for it was the Rammstein video [for Deutschland], which was a piece of art. Rammstein and Maiden are different styles, but what I was after was the emotional impact that video had. And I think we captured the emotional impact.

Then there was the teaser stuff we did. I can't take any credit for that - it was all assembled by Sarah, who does all the social media and internet magic. When she and her team came up with it, I said 'Is this really going to work? Are people really going to be fascinated by this or is it just a bunch of Maiden geeks?' Which shows how much I knew. We went head to head with Drake the week the album was released [the rapper narrowly beat Maiden to the No.1 spot]. I don't really get what he does, though a lot of people do, but going head to head with him felt like 'No, this is real music played by a bunch of old geezers who make no concessions to the times in which we live.' People say 'You're dinosaurs.' And we go 'Yeah, and there aren't too many of those left.'

This is who we are, it's what we do. But by and large our audience has moved on with us. Maiden's audience is like a table made of plywood: every year you add a new layer and the table just gets bigger and bigger. We've grown organically - not through social media or any of that stuff. We've grown by going out and doing it in front of people. I can't wait to get back out there and play these songs. We're still fired up, and to get back together in a room with the guys to just play music is something I'm looking forward to more than you can ever imagine. I did this gig in Hungary recently with me and [Deep Purple bassist] Roger Glover doing [Purple's] Concerto for Group and Orchestra, and that was the first time I've played music in front of an audience for a few years. It was unbelievable. Roger was in tears. And the Maiden thing will be that to the power of ten."

Dr. No (1962)

The first James Bond film to start the series. This is the film that got everyone interested in the highly skilled British spy known simply by "Bond. James Bond"

Summary

-A highly skilled British government agent is looking for answers in the disappearance of a colleague and disruptions in the American space program

Cast

-Sean Connery: James Bond

-Ursula Andress: Honey Rider

-Joseph Wiseman: Dr. No

-Jack Lord: Felix Leiter

-Bernard Lee: M

-Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny

-Anthony Dawson: Professor Dent

-Zena Marshall: Miss Taro

-John Kitzmiller: Quarrel

-Eunice Gayson: Sylvia Trench

Did You Know?

-All the sets were created smaller than they were in real life to make Bond appear larger

-Since Sean Connery had started losing his hair at 17, he had to be fitted with a wet toupee for water scenes and a dry one for other scenes. From Goldfinger on, he wore a full wig.

-Sean Connery was deathly afraid of spiders. The scene with the spider in his bed was filmed with a sheet of glass between him and the spider

-Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond stories, called this movie "dreadful"

-Initially, Bernard Lee, who plays M, states he works for MI7. He said, during the take, MI6. It had been dubbed out of fear of offending the real-life MI6. In the later movies, it's clear Bond works for the famed British intelligence agency

-Ian Fleming was strongly against Connery being cast as Bond because of the vast differences. Connery was Scottish while Bond was English. Bond came from an upper-class background while Connery came from a working-class background. Bond was highly educated and refined while Connery seemed too rugged. After seeing the film, Fleming relented and agreed Connery was perfect. In the film In Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond revealed his Scottish heritage and Bond's girlfriend Theresa "Tracy" Vicenzo was described using Ursula Andress' details

-Producers were skeptical of whether Connery could play Bond. Because of Connery's working-class background and leaving school at fifteen to join the Royal Navy and holding various jobs, including milkman, his working-class background made him perfect

-The suits Connery wore were made by Anthony Sinclair, a tailor on London's famous Saville Row. Sinclair stated that his suits would be truly great and take a lot of abuse and still look good afterwards. To prove a point, Sean Connery was asked to sleep in his suit. When he woke up the next morning, it still looked good

-Sean Connery won the role of James Bond after producer Albert Broccoli saw Connery's film Darby O'Gill & The Little People

-The rumors of Ursula Andress being naked in the shower are false. The scene showing her "naked" after washing off the radiation are false. She's actually wearing a nude-colored one-piece swimsuit

-James Bond author Ian Fleming served in the military during WWII. He served in British Naval Intelligence and was friendly with David Niven, who was then a Major in the British Commandos. David Niven was Fleming's choice to play James Bond. Niven even has the honor of being the only actor mentioned in the novels, specifically You Only Live Twice

-United Artists financed this movie on June 20, 1961 after many other studios labelled this film "too British" or "too blatantly sexual"

-Two weeks prior to filming, the role of Honey Rider was yet to be cast. A picture of an unknown actress named Ursula Andress in a wet t-shirt was seen and producers offered her the role without meeting her

-Despite filming on location in Jamaica, the majority of the film crew were British. During the time of filming, Jamaica was part of the West Indies Federation and a British Crown Colony. Jamaica won its independence from Britain on Aug. 6, 1962, two months prior to the release of the movie

-Due to the low budget, Lois Maxwell, who plays Miss Moneypenny, wore her own clothes to cut costs

-This film has the most unique card games in a James Bond film. The card games are Bridge, Patience (solitaire), Texas Hold 'em and Chemin de Fer/Baccarat. Bond plays the first three

-Lois Maxwell won the role of Miss Moneypenny after Ian Fleming thought she fit the character perfectly

-Marguerite LeWars, who plays Annabel, had been working as a flight attendant for then airline British West Indies Airlines. Terence Young approached her with the old cliche line "Would you like to be in movies?" LeWars' brother-in-law Reggie Carter plays the chauffeur, the first villain James Bond meets

-This film marks what is the first technical "Bond Car". It's a 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible. The first car James Bond drives that he chooses is a Sunbeam Tiger convertible. The novels state he drives a 1930 Bentley convertible. This car is seen once, parked in From Russia With Love. It's not until the third film in the series, Goldfinger, that Bond drives the iconic Aston Martin DB5

-The music of this movie is said to have started the reggae/ska trend in Britain

-During a scene on the beach where Dr. No's henchmen come on to the beach to kill Bond, Quarrel and Honey, the gunfire attracted the attention of US Naval officers, who were off duty and were curious about the gunfire

Glenn Tipton denies KK Downing's "crazy" Judas Priest stories

It's been forever known that, while both KK Downing and Glenn Tipton were the twin lead guitarists of Judas Priest, outside their leather-clad guitar playing time, the two weren't friendly with each other. Glenn is now coming out with his two cents on the "crazy" stories from KK

Glenn Tipton recently heard about some of the stories KK had said and he said that's "just crazy". Downing had quit Judas Priest in 2011, citing tensions with management and Tipton as being some of the reasons, according to his 2018 memoir Heavy Duty: Nights and Days in Judas Priest. The band was due to start their Epitaph tour when Downing quit. He was quoted as saying "an ongoing breakdown in working relationships between myself, elements of the band and management for some time." He also revealed in his memoir that he "never found Glenn to be particularly easy to get along with" and "If you were going to relate to him, you would do so entirely on his terms".

Downing now performs with former vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens. He had expected Judas Priest to quit after the Epitaph tour. But he said "They didn't want any part of me, even though I was one of the original members."

Tipton now gets to put his two cents in on the subject in an interview with Guitar World. "I never wanted to get into a public argument after KK left. I never said a word and I stuck to my guns for 10 years, but there comes a point when you read things that have been said that are just crazy. It's time to say something, really because he's saying things that he really shouldn't be saying. They aren't fair. He's insinuated that he's the driving force of the band. It just isn't true. Priest [are] made up of five guys working together. [There's] not just one person driving the band. He's said all these things that, I think, are meant to upset us and get us to say something in response and for a long time we didn't. But I've got a lot to say and enough's enough."

Tipton took offense to Downing's accusations that Tipton's pre-show drinking and post-show drinking was "slowing us down". "Everyone knows it's not true. Like I said, the fans aren't stupid and they've seen me for 50 years playing around the world. I may have had a couple of beers onstage, but that's all. It's never affected the concert or my performance whatsoever and he knows that."

Tipton also claimed that he "used to piece [Downing's] leads together" in the studio and "did a lot of editing to make his lead breaks worthwhile." Tipton had all but retired full time from touring in 2015 after receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease. He remains "actively involved" with the band and will still join them onstage. The band recently announced they would tour as a four-piece unit with one guitarist when they resumed their 50 Heavy Metal Years tour in March, but they decided against it and would return to the five-man band with guitarists Andy Sneap and Richie Faulkner

February Birthdays

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

Rod Smallwood

-Birth name: Roderick Charles Smallwood

-DOB: 2/17/1956

-Where: Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England

-He ran such a tight management with Iron Maiden that the band soon dubbed him Rod Smallwallet because he wouldn't let the band spend ANY money unless it was put back towards pushing the band forward

Tony Iommi

-Birth name: Anthony Frank Iommi

-DOB: 2/19/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-He wrote "Paranoid" in under three minutes because their producer said they needed something to fill the last bit of time on their 1970 album Paranoid

Duff McKagan

-Birth name: Michael Andrew McKagan

-DOB: 2/5/1964

-Where: Seattle, Washington

-He invested in Amazon and Starbucks before they got big because they were local, Seattle-based companies

Adrian Smith

-Birth name: Adrian Frederick Smith

-DOB: 2/27/1957

-Where: Hackey, London, England

-Formed a band called Urchin prior to joining Iron Maiden. His good friend, current Maiden guitarist Dave Murray, played in the band for a bit

Andy Taylor

-DOB: 2/11/1956

-Where: Newcastle, England

-He and fellow Trinity student Rod Smallwood founded Sanctuary Records in 1979

Alice Cooper

-Birth name: Vincent Damon Furnier

-DOB: 2/4/1948

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-His father was a preacher

Alan Rickman

-Birth name: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman

-DOB: 2/21/1946

-Where: London, England

-DOD: 1/14/2016

-Where: London, England (pancreatic cancer)

-He was not the original choice to play Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. The original choice was Tim Roth, who had chosen to star in the 2001 film Planet of the Apes.

Steve Irwin

-Birth name: Stephen Robert Irwin

-DOB: 2/22/1962

-Where: Essendon, Victoria, Australia

-DOD: 9/4/2006

-Where: Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia (sting ray attack)

-He was known for his extraordinary love of animals and wildlife

Matt Groening

-Birth name: Matthew Abram Groening

-DOB: 2/15/1954

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-Best known as the creator of animated series The Simpsons

George Harrison

-DOB: 2/25/1943

-Where: Liverpool, England

-DOD: 11/29/2001

-Where: Los Angeles, California (throat cancer)

-He got the reputation of "the quiet one" because when The Beatles went to America, he was sick and had laryngitis and couldn't talk

Vince Neil

-Birth name: Vince Neil Wharton

-DOB: 2/8/1961

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He and Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley were in a car crash in 1984. Neil was going to the liquor store and was driving drunk when they got into a crash. The wreck killed Razzle

Rachel Bolan

-Birth name: James Richard Southworth

-DOB: 1/9/1966

-Where: Point Pleasant, New Jersey

-Two of his favorite bands are The Ramones and The Sex Pistols

Henry Rollins

-Birth name: Henry Lawrence Garfield

-DOB: 2/13/1961

-Where: Washington, D.C.

-His best friend, Joe Cole, was murdered during a robbery attempt. His murder remains unsolved to this day

Ricky Medlocke

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-He was the former vocalist/guitarist for fellow Southern rockers Blackfoot

Billie Joe Armstrong

-DOB: 2/17/1972

-Where: Piedmont, California

-The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is about the death of his father and how he manages to deal with the grief

Johnny Van Zandt

-Birth name: John Roy Van Zandt

-DOB: 2/27/1960

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-His brother Ronnie was the former frontman Lynyrd Skynyrd and his other brother Donnie is the current front man for .38 Special

Paul Wight aka "Big Show"

-Birth name: Paul Randall Wight Jr.

-DOB: 2/8/1972

-Where: Aiken, South Carolina

-He shares a birthday with Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation) and "Classie" Freddie Blassie