Born Gordon Sumner on October 2, 1951, in Wallsend, England, Sting earned his nickname from a striped yellow and black sweater he wore in his early jazz playing days, long before he became the frontman and bassist of The Police. Alongside guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland, Sting fused reggae influenced basslines with punk energy and pop songwriting instincts on records like Outlandos d'Amour, Reggatta de Blanc, and Synchronicity, turning tracks like "Roxanne" and "Every Breath You Take" into some of the most enduring singles of the era. The trio's chemistry was famously volatile, with fights between Sting and Copeland becoming as legendary as the music itself. After the Police split in 1984, Sting built a massive solo career spanning jazz, world music, and pop, collecting 16 Grammy Awards along the way.

Born October 2, 1950, in Guildford, England, Mike Rutherford co-founded Genesis while still at Charterhouse School, spending the next four decades as the band's guitarist and bassist, one of only two members present for every lineup change alongside Tony Banks. Rutherford's inventive use of a custom made double neck guitar and bass let him weave intricate low end and lead lines simultaneously during the band's progressive rock era with Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, before helping steer Genesis toward the polished pop rock sound of Invisible Touch in the 1980s. Outside the band, he fronted the successful side project Mike and the Mechanics, scoring hits like "The Living Years" and "Silent Running." Rutherford also composed film scores, showing a range far beyond his role as Genesis's steady rhythmic backbone.

Tom Petty, frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died on October 2, 2017, in Santa Monica, California, at age 66, just one week after wrapping the 40th anniversary tour for his band. Formed in Gainesville, Florida, the Heartbreakers backed Petty through decades of plainspoken, hook driven rock anthems like "American Girl," "Free Fallin'," and "Refugee," records that blended Byrds style jangle with Southern rock grit and never chased passing trends. Petty also found time to join the all star supergroup the Traveling Wilburys alongside Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, and released the massively successful solo album Full Moon Fever in 1989. His death was ruled accidental, caused by an unintentional overdose of multiple medications while treating a fractured hip. Rock lost one of its most consistent, unpretentious voices that day.