October 25

Births

1825: Johann Strauss II (Composer)

1944: Jon Anderson (Lead Vocals & Keybpards for Yes)

1948: Glenn Tipton (Guitar for Judas Priest)

1951: Richard Lloyd (Guitar & Vocals for Television)

1955: Matthias Jabs (Guitar for The Scorpions)

1961: Chad Smith (Drummer for The Red Hot Chili Peppers)

1968: Speech (Todd Thomas) (Rapper for Arrested Development)

1984: Katy Perry (Singer / Songwriter)

1985: Ciara (Ciara Princess Harris) (R&B Singer)

Events

1960: A 17-year-old art student named Keith Richards runs into his old schoolmate, an economics student named Mick Jagger, at a train station in London. Richards notices the R&B albums under Jagger's arm, and before long the two form their first group -- Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.

1962: The Beatles give their first-ever radio interview, on Radio Clatterbridge, a closed-circuit radio station serving Cleaver and Clatterbridge Hospitals in Wirral, near Liverpool. Paul is quoted as saying "John is, in fact, the leader of the group."

1964: The Rolling Stones make their US television debut when they appear on CBS's Ed Sullivan Show. After screaming fans practically tear the studio seats apart, Sullivan declares to reporters: "I promise you they'll never be back on our show. It took me 17 years to build this up, I'm not going to have it destroyed in a matter of weeks. We won't book any more rock 'n' roll groups. Frankly, I didn't see the group until the day before the broadcast. I was shocked when I saw them." The group returns to the program five times.

1968: The New Yardbirds, soon to be known as Led Zeppelin, make their live concert debut at England's Surrey University, described on the poster as the "first big dance of the term."

1968: The double album 'Electric Ladyland' by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was released. It was also made available as two albums with changed artwork after complaints about the naked women who were pictured on the sleeve. The female models were each paid $9 for the photo shoot and another $9 if they posed completely naked.

1970: Speaking at a US radio conference, President Nixon asked programmers to ban all songs containing drug references.

1974: Al Green was taking a shower at his Memphis home when his ex-girlfriend Mary Woodson burst in and poured boiling hot grit over him. She then shot herself dead. Green suffered second degree burns.

1980: New Order played their debut gig at The Squat in Manchester, England.

1986: Bon Jovi went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Slippery When Wet'. Featuring two US No.1 singles, 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and 'Livin' On A Prayer'. The album went on to sell over 8 million copies world wide.

1986: Dire Straits guitarist, singer Mark Knopfler broke his collarbone after crashing in a celebrity car race before the Australian Grand Prix.

1991: Bill Graham, concert promoter, was killed in a helicopter crash.

1995: Cliff Richard is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, the very first native rock star to receive the honor.

1997: Johnny Cash reaches over to pick up a dropped guitar pick at today's concert in Flint, MI and falls over on stage; apologizing, he reveals to the audience that he is in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. The crowd, thinking Cash is joking, laughs at the comment.

2002: An arsonist destroys Aretha Franklin's mansion in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. The criminal is never caught; fortunately, no one is living there at the time.

2004: UK DJ and producer John Peel died of a heart attack at age 65.  He was BBC’s longest-serving radio DJ and the first DJ to introduce The Ramones, Roxy Music, The Smiths, The Fall, Rod Stewart, Blur, the Sex Pistols, T. Rex and others to the masses.

2006: Forbes.com's sixth annual Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list reports that Elvis Presley's estate comes in second (beaten out by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain). Also in the top twenty: John Lennon, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Ray Charles, and Bob Marley.

2007: Three workers building the set for an Akon outdoor show at Emory University in Atlanta were taken to hospital after a canopy fell on top of them. The concert was later cancelled.