Turning 44 today is keyboardist/producer/songwriter Bruce Hornsby,

known for his own hits, such as "The Way It Is," and collaborations with

others, such as Don Henley and the Grateful Dead.

Bruce Randall Hornsby was born in Richmond, Va. He achieved fame as the

leader of Bruce Hornsby and the Range with the group's 1986 smash debut

album, The Way It Is.

Hornsby was raised in Williamsburg, Va., where he played basketball and

dreamed of being a professional athlete. He was also a good piano player,

though, and he ended up studying music at Boston's Berklee College of

Music. In 1977, he earned his degree from the University of Miami's School

of Music.

In 1980, Hornsby moved to Los Angeles and became a contract writer for 20th

Century-Fox with his brother John. Hornsby did session work and toured with

Sheena Easton's band before forming the Range in 1984. Huey Lewis, who was

then hugely popular, was an early Hornsby fan.

The Way It Is yielded the #1 title track, the top-5 "Mandolin Rain"

and the top-20 "Every Little Kiss." Bruce Hornsby and the Range also won a

Grammy for Best New Artist. Lewis also took Hornsby's "Jacob's Ladder" to

#1 in 1987.

Scenes From the Southside (1988) went top-5, as did its hit, "The

Valley Road." Though the Range's A Night On The Town (1990) was less

successful, Hornsby played keyboards on albums by Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt

and others. Hornsby also wrote material and played keyboard on Don Henley's

1989 smash, "The End of the Innocence."

After Brent Mydland's death in 1990, Hornsby also spent a great deal of

time touring with the Grateful Dead and broke up the Range. Harbor

Lights (1993), Hornsby's first solo LP, featured Raitt, Jerry Garcia,

Phil Collins, Branford Marsalis and other music notables.

Hot House followed in 1995 and didn't set the charts on fire. The LP

included guest appearances by Chaka Khan and Pat Metheny and also included

the cut "Spider Fingers," the Dead's nickname for Hornsby.

This year's Spirit Trail, featuring drumming by Matt Chamberlain,

highlights Hornsby's soulful voice on such cuts as "Sunflower Cat" (a

tribute to Garcia), "Line in the Dust" and the single

href="http://media.addict.com/atn-bin/get-music/Hornsby,_Bruce/Great_Divide.ram"

>"Great Divide" (RealAudio excerpt).

Other birthdays: Betty Everett, 59.