John Warren Geils, namesake of one of the most deserving bands not to have gotten into the Rock Hall Of Fame, was born on this day in New York City in 1946. The future J. Geils Band guitarist's father was a big jazz fan and got his son interested in playing trumpet. While attending Northeastern, John played in the University's marching band. After transferring to Worcester Poly Tech and switching to guitar, Geils started a band with a bass player Danny Klein and harp player 'Magic Dick' Salwitz. After relocating to Boston, they brought drummer Steve Bladd and WBCN DJ Peter Wolf on as vocalist and began playing as the J. Geils Blues Band. Geils passed away on April 11, 2017.
Other Rockers of note born on February 20th include Steely Dan's Walter Becker (1950-2017), Spirit's Randy California (1950-1997) and Kurt Cobain (1967-1954).
Happy anniversary to Pat Benatar and her guitarist/producer/husband Neil Giraldo. The couple married on this date in 1982.
Bob Dylan was given the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Grammys on this night in 1991.
And on Feb. 20.2003, more than 100 died and 200 more injured when flammable acoustic foam ignited by pyrotechnics being used during a Great White set in a Warwick, Rhode Island night club started an inferno that consumed the entire structure.