Saturday, November 14: Rock n Roll Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Nov. 14) to guitarist James “J.Y.” Young of Styx. He’s 66. Other rockers celebrating today include drummer Frankie Banali of Quiet Riot (64) and former Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such (64).

James "J.Y" Young is best known as a lead guiatrist, singer, and songwriter in the band Styx. Young began playing piano at the age of 5 and also learned guitar. In 1970, as a student at Illinois Institute of Technology, Young joined the band TW4. That band would later become the first incarnation of Styx. He tends to write the more hard rock material in the band and his best known work includes the songs "Miss America" and Snowblind.

Styx became famous for their 'power pop' rock anthems and strong ballads throughout the mid-1970's and early 1980's. The band has had five consecutive multi-platinum albums and sixteen top 40 singles in the U.S.