This Day in Pop Culture for October 21

1953: Keith Green is Born

Christian music pianist, singer and songwriter Keith Gordon Green was born on this day in 1953. Green began his musical career at age three playing the ukulele, the guitar at age five and the piano at age 12. By 1965, Green had already written 40 songs. He and his father, Harvey, signed a five-year contract with Decca Records. In February 1965, having written forty original songs already, Green and his father, Harvey, signed a five-year contract with Decca Records with plans to make Green a teen idol. At 11 years old, became the youngest person ever to sign with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), but Decca’s plan failed as Donny Osmond rose to stardom. Green was raised in Christian Science, but was fascinated with eastern mysticism, drugs and “free love.” In the early 1970’s, Green and his new wife, Melody, became Christians, then became involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Southern California. In a sense, Green did become a star in Christian music, but his life was cut short at age 28 when he died in a plane crash in 1982.

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