Birthdays
1933: Buddy Knox (Rockabilly Singer)
1935: Loretta Lynn (Country Singer)
1945: Ritchie Blackmore (Guitarist for Deep Purple)
1948: Larry Ferguson (Hot Chocolate)
1965: Martyn LeNoble (Bass for Porno For Pyros)
1973: David Miller (Tenor in Il Divo)
1980: Win Butler (Lead Vocalist & Songwriter for Arcade Fire)
Events
1759: George Frideric Handel died.
1956: Bobby Helms auditions for Decca Records and is signed on the spot.
1960: Inspired by the hysteria surrounding Elvis Presley and his Army stint, the musical Bye Bye Birdie, starring Dick Van Dyke, Dick Gautier, and Paul Lynde opens on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre. It will run for 607 performances.
1963: The Beatles visit the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, England, to see an unsigned band called The Rolling Stones.
1965: Elvis Presley's 17th movie, Girl Happy, co-starring Shelley Fabares, opens in US theaters.
1967: ABC-TV airs the final episode of their afternoon rock music variety show Where The Action Is, featuring the house band it made famous, Paul Revere and the Raiders.
1968: Famed producer Phil Spector takes his first wife, Ronnie Bennett of Ronettes fame. The legendarily unhappy marriage will finally end in 1972.
1969: The Monkees' dismal last gasp, the NBC-TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, airs to bad ratings and worse reviews.
1969: In a first for the Academy Awards, the Oscar for Best Actress is a tie: Katherine Hepburn for The Lion In Winter and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl.
1970: Stephen Stills breaks his wrist while driving into a parked car, forcing the cancellation of CSNY's upcoming American tour.
1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival makes their live UK debut at London's Royal Albert Hall.
1971: The Illinois Crime Commission issued a list of 'drug-oriented records' including 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane, 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' by Procol Harum and The Beatles 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.'
1973: Led Zeppelin started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Houses Of The Holy', also a No.1 in the US. The young girl featured on the cover of the album climbing naked up Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is Samantha Gates who was 6 years old at the time of the photo shoot.
1974: Pete Townshend of the Who makes his solo concert debut at the Roundhouse in London, backed solely by his own pre-recorded audio tapes.
1975: After a long audition process during the recording of their album Black and Blue, and after a slew of rumors about who would fill the position, the Rolling Stones announce former Faces member Ron Wood as their new guitarist, replacing the departed Mick Taylor.
1976: Stevie Wonder signs the largest music contract to that time when he resigns with Motown/Tamla for $13 million.
1976: Eric Faulkner of the Bay City Rollers takes too many Seconal and Valium and nearly dies from the overdose, which he claims is accidental and was brought on by sheer exhaustion from the group's touring and recording schedule.
1980: New Jersey considers a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" the new official state anthem, but eventually designate it as merely the Garden State's "rock anthem."
1980: Olivia Newton John's TV special Olivia's Hollywood Nights, also starring Elton John, The Carpenters, and Andy Gibb, airs on ABC.
1980: Iron Maiden's self-titled debut album was released.
1983: The Pretenders bass player Pete Farndon died from a drug overdose. He was sacked from the group on June 14th 1982, (two days before Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure). Farndon was in the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon when he died.
1989: Tom Petty released his first solo album "Full Moon Fever."
1999: Tammy Wynette's body was exhumed and an autopsy performed in Nashville at the request of her husband, George Richey.
2001: Sean Puffy Combs, (P. Diddy), was arrested in Miami for riding a scooter in South Beach on a suspended driver's license. He was released 20 minutes later after signing a promise to appear in court.
2002: Ashanti started a ten week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Foolish' and on the same day started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with her self-titled album.
2003: A man was arrested accused of making up a Bjork concert then selling tickets. Alex Conate allegedly sold tickets worth $14,000 at $40 each after persuading a San Diego nightclub owner that Bjork had agreed to play there. He was accused of taking the money and moving to Hawaii, where he was arrested.
2007: Don Ho died in Waikiki from heart failure.
2008: Liverpool's John Moore University names a new Chancellor -- Queen's Brian May.
2009: George Harrison is posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine -- not coincidentally in front of the offices of George's old US label, Capitol.
