Portrait of John Entwistle

Birthday profile

John Entwistle

John Entwistle, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (died 2002)

Born
October 9, 1944
Died
June 27, 2002
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1944

About John Entwistle

John Alec Entwistle (9 October 1944 – 27 June 2002) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, composer and record producer, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals. Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990. Entwistle was the first member of the Who to begin a solo career, which he did in 1971. He released seven solo studio albums, four compilation albums and two live albums. His best-selling studio album is Too Late the Hero (1981), and its title track is his best-selling single. Musicians who played on his albums include the Who's Keith Moon, Peter Frampton of Humble Pie, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Leslie West of Mountain, Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes, Zak Starkey, Howie Casey, Dick Parry, Jimmy McCulloch of Paul McCartney and Wings, Joe Vitale, and Tony Ashton. Renowned for his musical abilities, Entwistle is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock bassists of all time. His instrumental approach featured pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound ("full treble, full volume"). He was voted as the greatest bass guitar player ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers' poll and, in 2020, the same magazine ranked him number three in its list of the "50 Greatest Bassists of All Time". Entwistle was the first member of the Who to begin a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the band, and has released seven solo studio albums, four compilation albums and two live albums.

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

John Entwistle timeline

  1. John Alec Entwistle (9 October 1944 – 27 June 2002) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, composer and record producer, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who.
  2. Entwistle was the first member of the Who to begin a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the band, and has released seven solo studio albums, four compilation albums and two live albums.
  3. Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990.

The world when John Entwistle was born

John Entwistle was born in 1944. 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 1944

  • #1 song"Swinging on a Star" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieGoing My Way
  • Best-selling bookStrange Fruit – Lillian Smith

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGreen Bay Packers win NFL Championship
  • Top headlineD-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6
  • Technology milestoneHarvard Mark I computer begins operations
  • Defining fadBobby socks
  • Notable inventionKidney dialysis machine
  • World population2.39 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population138.4M

1944 versus 2026

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

Measure19442026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,800$435,000
Average income$4,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population138.4M341 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.