Died On This Date (February 15, 1984) Ethel Merman / Singing Star Of Stage And Screen
themusicsover Ethel Merman
January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984
Ethel Merman was a singer and actress who was one of the biggest stars of the Broadway stage and screen during the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Her break came in the fall of 1930 when she was cast to star in the Gershwin musical, Girl Crazy. Her performances made her an instant star. In 1934, she starred in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, the first of five Porter shows she would star in. Throughout the rest of her career, she helped make hits out of such musicals as Annie Get Your Guns, Red, Hot and Blue, and Gypsy. And songs that she made into hits include “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Anything Goes,” and her signature song, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Ethel Merman was 76 when she died as a result of a brain tumor on February 15, 1984.
Joe Cuba was a Puerto Rican conga player who has been called the “Father of Latin Boogaloo.” He began playing professionally when he was 19 years old, and 12 years later, made his first recording. His career spanned nearly 60 years. During the ’60s, Cuba became very popular in New York City after he started merging the R&B with Afro-Cuban percussion. It became a style of music called Latin Boogaloo. Joe Cuba died as the result of a bacterial infection on February 15, 2009. He was 77 years old.
Mick Tucker is best remembered as the drummer for the internationally acclaimed ’70s glam rock band, Sweet (sometimes referred to as The Sweet). In 1968, Tucker and 
Louie Bellson was one of jazz’s greatest drummers. If there were a Mt. Rushmore of jazz drummers, Bellson would likely sit there alongside 