Music & Entertainment

Though none of the members were born in Worcester, the band formed at WPI in 1967 and became a classic rock staple. Their best known songs include Give It to Me, House Party, Must of Got Lost, I Do, Whammer Jammer, Freeze Frame, Love Stinks, and their #1 hit Centerfold in 1982.

1918 - 2006

Born in Worcester
Georgia Gibbs, born Frieda Lipschitz,  spent several years with her siblings in a Jewish  orphanage and around the Worcester Academy area, she eventually worked with some of the biggest names in music such as Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw.
Of Russian Jewish descent, she first modeled her style copying  black rhythm & blues, had a versatile singing ability, as her greatest success came in 1952 with Kiss of Fire. 

Her Hollywood Star is located at 6404 Hollywood Blvd

1918 - 1988

Born in Worcester

She was a songwriter and concert pianist whose best known for co-writing the Billie Holiday song  'Good Morning Heartache' , which is considered 

a standard in the jazz repertoire 

She was unusual as she was a black woman who wrote Tin Pan Alley songs when most composers were white  and male.

She co -wrote and worked with some of the top big bands  of the era, including Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman. 

1898 - 1970

Though born in New York City, 

Tobias grew up in Worcester. 

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, he co-wrote  the 1933-1936 Merrie Melodies theme song 'I Think You're Ducky'  and the 1936 - 1964 theme song 'Merrily We Roll Along'. He also co-wrote one of the songs that helped win World War II - Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me) as performed both by the Andrew Sisters and Glenn Miller. 

1915  -  1968

Born in North Adams MA. He was first a manager of  his first wife  Patty Andrews of the Andrew Sisters, who reached stardom with such classics as Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree, co-written by Worcester native Charles Tobias.

After  his marriage to Andrews, he formed a production company and  later married his second wife, Doris Day. He adopted her son Terry. Terry Melcher became a  producer and is also known for being  part 

of the Charles Manson story.

1931 - 2017

Born in Worcester as Francis Cappuccio, he is, as fellow drummer and Holyoke Massachusetts native Hal Blaine, considered a member of the iconic Wrecking Crew. 

Capp began his career playing with Stan Kenton,  but also played with Peggy Lee, Harry James, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, and Stan Getz.

1911 - 1973

Though he was born in Ohio, he formed his first orchestra in Boston, and later built "the Meadows"  in Framingham, on Route 9. 

Of his many hits, he is probably best known for his Christmas classic 'Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow."

1948 - 2011

Born in Boston

The 'Queen of Disco', Summer is best remembered for Bad Girls, Heaven Knows, She Works Hard for the Money, and the sultry Love to Love You, Baby   

b. 1948

Born in Boston

 Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist, Taylor is  known for his warm baritone and songs like “Fire and Rain” , “Carolina in My Mind”, and "How Sweet It Is".  Taylor is considered a definitive songwriter as he's sold more than 100 million albums and is inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame. 

He was married to Carly Simon and collaborated with Linda Ronstadt. 

1928 - 2011

Born in Springfield, Morello is considered to be in the upper echelon of jazz drummer like Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Louie Bellson. 

A pioneer in odd time signatures, he  his best known for his drumming on David Brubeck's Take Five

1929 - 2011

Born in Holyoke, Blaine is one of the most recorded drummers in history, as everyone knows  his famous bass snare "boom, bu-boom chik, boom bu-boom chik"  intro to the Ronette's 1963 classic Be My Baby

b.1954

Born in Whitman, Smith is best known for his work with Journey in the late 1970's - 1980's, recording such rock staples as 

Separate Ways, Don't Stop Believing, Stone In Love, Faithfully, Open Arms, and many more in that era of the band.

1918 - 1990

Born in Lawrence, he was the first conductor to receive international acclaim, and through his career, earned seven Emmy awards, two Tony awards, sixteen Grammy awards, The Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Academy award nomination.

1859 - 1929

Born  and buried in Falmouth, Bates is best known for writing the lyrics (they were first  a poem) for the song 'America the Beautiful'  in 1895.

Read her bio here

Listen to the song here

1933 - 2007

Born in Lawrence

b.1950

The Wellesley born Squier is one of the the most sampled musicians in history, and is best known for the songs 'In the Dark', 'The Stroke', and 'Lonely Is the Night'.

b.1950

Born in Lawrence, Perry is the lead guitarist in Aerosmith.

b.1952

Born in Winchester, Whitford is the second guitarist in Aerosmith. 

b.1953

Though born in Albany NY he was raised in Stockbridge and studied classical music at UMASS.
He has recorded with or toured with top artists  including, but  not limited to Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rod Stewart, and many more. He is best known  for the John Cougar Mellencamp song 'Jack and Dianne'

Watch how he came up with the drum part.

1951 - 2007

Born in Peabody, he was the lead singer for  the band Boston. Their debut album is still one of the top selling debuts in history, featuring  classic rock staples like More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Smokin', Foreplay/Long Time, and 

Rock and Roll Band.

b.1946

Born in Boston and raised in Brookline,  he is one of the most recorded bass players in history (over 500 albums), having done session work with John Lennon, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, and Buddy Rich. 

He is best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, with such songs as 'Sledgehammer' and 'In Your Eyes'.

b.1966

Though born in Azores, Portugal, Bettencourt grew up in Hudson from the time he was 4 years old.

He is best known for his hits 'More Than Words' and 'Get the Funk Out'.

Here is a WCVB interview with Groveland MA native Maria Stephanos 

1941 - 2021

Born in Chelsea, Corea was a jazz pianist, composer and bandleader 

of Return to Forever.

His compositions Spain, 500 Miles High, La Fiesta, Armando's Rhumba, and Windows are considered jazz standards.

Though band members were not from Massachusetts, The Cars originated in Boston.
Their first official show was December 31st 1976 at Pease Air Force Base in NH.

They entered the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2018

Though they had many hits throughout the 1980's including 'Just What I Needed' and 'Bye Bye Love', their highest charting single was the synth heavy ballad 'Drive'