Born on the 24th of December

 

In honor of the poor souls who were born on Christmas eve, let’s have a quick look at the most famous musicians who share that tragic fate:

• Ricky Martin, Puerto Rico’s pride and the absolute king of latin-tinged dance pop for the past 25 years, has had one hell of a career — despite being born on December 24th. Emerging on the global scene after years of success in latin countries with 1995’s “Maria”, he only went to bigger things after that. 1999’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” is to this day one of the biggest party songs ever produced in popular music. More recently, the man also became a major LGBT ambassador, further expanding the reach of his social impact… Not bad!
• Declan McKenna, aged 23 today, is perhaps on the other side of the musical spectrum from Martin. A British indie boy wonder who blew up at age 16 with his debut single “Brazil”, he has all but confirmed his initial fame in the years that followed. His sophomore album spawned another excellent single in the form of “Beautiful Faces”, which he performed live and/or remotely during the (recent) pandemic. Let’s wait and see what else the young man has in store for us: should be exciting!
• Louis Tomlinson doesn’t quite need an introduction, now, does he? A member of the second most successful boy band in recent times (after BTS, sorry guys), he could have retired then and there. Then again, he’s only 30 — today. The band is of course One Direction and, much like his former bandmates, Tomlinson decided to keep making headway. His 2017 single “Back to You” (also featuring Bebe Rexha) currently totals 500+ million streams on Spotify. His 2020 debut album Walls was also extremely well received… what’s next?!
• There are many other artists born on December 24th who, while not necessarily being world famous like the names mentioned above, nevertheless carved themselves highly respected careers in their respective countries. Such is the case with (French) Canada’s Diane Tell, who has been enjoying a dual career between Canada and France since the 1980’s. Or Dima Bilan, 40 today and one of Russia’s biggest pop stars since the 2000’s, a status that was only strengthened by his winning the Eurovision song contest back in 2008. Or France’s Miossec, one of the country’s most celebrated singers and songwriters since Alain Bashung, another cult figure in the country in case you didn’t know, and why should you if you’re not French?

In any event, here’s to wishing a very happy birthday to these fine musicians — and a merry Christmas to everyone!