Tampa Calling

Now that the first wave of rock legends has passed that used-to-be retirement age of 65, a new crop of important artists is closing in on 60. Over the last few months, it surprised me to discover just how many prominent rockers were 59. Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder, to name a handful.

I got curious if this was a particularly good age for rockers. Rather than telling you how many rock artists are 59 at this very moment, I did a search and unearthed which ones were born in 1950, the height of the post-WWII baby boom. Quite a few, as it turns out. Here’s a chronological list of pop artists born in 1950. A pretty good year. The list is extensive but not all-inclusive:

January 9, 1950, David Johanson (New York Dolls, Buster Poindexter)
January 5, 1950, Chris Stein, (Blondie)
January 21, 1950, Billy Ocean
January 23, 1950, Danny Federici (E Street Band)

January 23, 1950, Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers)

February 6, 1950, Natalie Cole
February 12, 1950, Steve Hackett (Genesis)
February 20, 1950, Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
March 2, 1950, Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters)
March 4, 1950, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
March 21, 1950, Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)
March 26, 1950, Teddy Pendergrass
March 27, 1950, Tony Banks (Genesis)
April 5, 1950, Agnetha “Anna” Faltskog-Ulvaeus (Abba)
April 12, 1950, David Cassidy
April 22, 1950, Peter Frampton
April 25, 1950, Steve Ferrone (Average White Band, Petty’s Heartbreakers)
April 27, 1950, Paul “Ace” Frehley (Kiss)
May 2, 1950, Lou Gramm (Foreigner)
May 9, 1950, Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick)
May 12, 1950, Billy Squier
May 13, 1950, Peter Gabriel
May 13, 1950, Stevie Wonder
May 22, 1950, Bernie Taupin
June 3, 1950, Suzie Quatro
June 5, 1950, Laurie Anderson
June 8, 1950, Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)
June 19, 1950, Ann Wilson (Heart)
June 21, 1950, Joey Kramer (Aerosmith)
July 12, 1950, Eric Carr (Kiss)
August 1, 1950, Jim Carroll
August 12, 1950, Kid Creole ( August Darnell)
August 25, 1950, Willy DeVille (Mink DeVille)
September 10, 1950, Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
September 17, 1950, Fee Waybill (Tubes)
October 2, 1950, Michael Rutherford (Genesis)
October 8, 1950, Robert ‘Kool’ Bell (Kool and The Gang)
October 9, 1950, Jackson Browne
October 20, 1950, Tom Petty
November 1, 1950, Dan Peek, (America)
November 18, 1950, Graham Parker
November 21, 1950, Livingston Taylor
November 22, 1950, Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads)
November 22, 1950, Little Steven/Miami Steve (Steven Van Zandt) (E Street Band)
December 28, 1950, Alex Chilton (The Box Tops/Big Star)
December 9, 1950, Joan Armatrading

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