Christmas has gifted us more than our favorite pair of socks, a handful of festive tunes, and timeless memories with the one we love. Christmas has also gifted us some of our favorite musicians.
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Here’s a Merry Christmas, but an even bigger happy birthday to these 10 Santa babies.
1. Noel Hogan of the Cranberries
On this day in 1971, Noel Hogan was born. He may not have known it then, but he would grow up to become co-founder, lead guitarist, and co-songwriter of one of the most popular Irish alt-rock bands of all time, the Cranberries.
2. Annie Lennox
A baby Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day in 1954. One of two artists behind the 1980s pop band the Eurythmics, Lennox would grow up to become not only a hit-making musician but an activist and philanthropist as well.
3. O’Kelly Isley of The Isley Brothers
The eldest of the Isley Brothers, O’Kelly Isley was born on Christmas in 1937. He passed away in 1986, but first helped to cement the Isley Brothers as one of the most influential pop groups to this day.,
4. Shane MacGowan of The Pogues
The soon-to-be Celtic punk rocker Shane MacGowan also came into the world on Christmas Day. Before he was crying out “Fairytale of New York” every Christmas, he was, well, crying in 1957.
His website explains the day of his birth as told by his brother, “The nurses in the hospital were busy celebrating and my mum didn’t get a lot of attention as Christmas Eve turned into one long night, so she wasn’t enamored with the hospital. But [Shane] did get to have his picture on the nursery wall as the Christmas baby.”
5. Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles entered the world a Christmas baby in 1958 and would soon become a young songstress, writing music around the age of nine. Years later, “Black Velvet” would be her zenith.
6. Robin Campbell of UB40
Christmas 1954 gave us Robin Campbell, who would later become co-founder and guitarist of the legendary reggae-infused pop band.
7. Jimmy Buffett
Before trop-rocker Jimmy Buffett was just that, he was a newborn baby on this day in 1946. All those years ago today, he had bottles and naps on the brain before “Boat Drinks” and “Margaritaville.”
8. Noel Redding of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s bassist, Noel Redding, was born today in 1945. Little did he know then, he would grow up to back one of history’s most legendary guitarists and be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for it.
9. Bill Horton of The Silhouettes
Born on Christmas Day in 1929, Bill Horton would soon doo-wop his way into history as a member of the Silhouettes, one of the most classic singing groups of the 1950s.
10. Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
Henry Vestine was a 1944 Christmas baby, who wouldn’t grow up to play carols but would instead master rock. He would become a guitarist for Canned Heat, then Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, and more musical groups throughout his career.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage
