Portrait of Ronnie Lane

Birthday profile

Ronnie Lane

Ronnie Lane, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (died 1997)

Born
April 1, 1946
Died
June 4, 1997
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1946

About Ronnie Lane

Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–1969) and Faces (1969–1973). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 after meeting Steve Marriott, with whom he subsequently wrote many of their hit singles including "All or Nothing", "Itchycoo Park" and "Lazy Sunday". After Marriott left Small Faces in 1968, band members Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones were joined by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood to form Faces. Like Small Faces, the band achieved critical and commercial success. Lane quit the Faces in 1973 and subsequently collaborated with other musicians, leading his own bands and pursuing a solo career. In 1977, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was supported by charity projects and financial contributions from friends, former bandmates and fans. After living with the disease for 21 years, he died in June 1997, aged 51. For his work in both Small Faces and Faces, Lane was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. He had two children, and two stepchildren who took his name. Lane bought his bass, and went to Marriott's house after work, where Marriott introduced him to his Motown and Stax record collection. By 1972, with the band's frontman Stewart focusing on his own solo career, Lane took a central role during the recording of their fourth and final album, Ooh La La. However, Lane had signed a contract with Atlantic Records as part of the Small Faces and was informed that he owed the company an album.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Ronnie Lane was born

Ronnie Lane was born in 1946. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1946

  • #1 song"The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole
  • Top movieThe Best Years of Our Lives
  • Best-selling bookThe King's General – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst NBA (BAA) season begins
  • Top headlineUnited Nations General Assembly holds its first session
  • Technology milestoneENIAC — first general-purpose electronic computer
  • Defining fadBaby boom begins
  • Notable inventionTupperware
  • World population2.43 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population141.4M

1946 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ronnie Lane's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19462026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,600$435,000
Average income$4,300$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.35$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population141.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.