2. uncountable noun [oft in NOUN] Distress is the state of being in extreme danger and needing urgent help. He expressed concern that the ship might be in distress. The constable received a distress call, and saw two youths attacking his colleague. Synonyms: danger, risk, difficulty, peril More Synonyms of distress.
But Dizzy Gillespie -- born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, S.C., on Oct. 21, 1917 -- saw himself primarily as a player. I always thought I was a musician, he told Musician magazine's Chip Stern a year ago. Thought I was a musician before I really was a musician..
Rollins was born Henry Garfield in Washington, D.C., on February 13, 1961. He performed in local hardcore bands as a teenager, and one night when his heroes Black Flag came to town, he leaped up on-stage and began singing with them.