Births
1904: Syd Nathan (Country Singer)
1932: Casey Kasem (Radio DJ)
1933: Calvin Newborn (Jazz Guitarist)
1944: Cuba Gooding, Sr. (Singer in The Main Ingredient)
1947: Pete Ham (Vocals & Guitar in Badfinger)
1947: Ann Peebles (R&B Singer)
1947: Gordon Haskell (Singer King Crimson)
1947: Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics)
1947: Gordon Haskell (Blues Singer and Bassist)
1948: Kate Pierson (Vocals for The B-52's)
1949: Herb Murrell (Vocals for The Stylistics)
1951: Ace Frehley (Guitar in KISS)
1959: Marco Pirroni (Guitar for Adam And The Ant)
1959: Sheena Easton (Singer)
1972: Bob Coombes (Keyboards for Supergrass)
1979: Will Boyd (Bass for Evanescence)
1984: Patrick Stump (Lead singer & Rhythm Guitarist for Fall Out Boy)
Events
1956: Capitol Records signs Gene Vincent, intending to market him as the next Elvis.
1957: Elvis makes his second and last appearance outside of the US, wearing his classic gold lame suit for the last time as he plays Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
1959: Lloyd Price, released the single "Personality".
1964: The Beatles release the single "Love Me Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You".
1968: Simon and Garfunkel release the single "Mrs. Robinson".
1969: Joe Cocker makes his television debut, singing "Feelin' Alright" on tonight's episode of CBS' Ed Sullivan Show.
1969: Jose Feliciano's TV special Very Special, guest starring Glen Campbell and Dionne Warwick, airs on NBC.
1970: John Lennon's explicit "Bag One" lithographs are returned to the London Arts Gallery exhibition after a High Court judge rules them "unlikely to deprave or corrupt."
1971: The Grateful Dead appeared at the Fillmore East in New York City. The Beach Boys also appeared on stage with the Dead, who together performed a short set of Beach Boys songs.
1975: 511 audience members are in custody in Los Angeles for smoking marijuana during Pink Floyd's recent five nights at the Los Angeles Arena.
1976: David Bowie is detained at the Poland-Russian border after Nazi memorabilia (mostly books) are found in his luggage. The singer, who claims they're research for an upcoming film about Joseph Goebbels, is released.
1979: At a Duke Ellington tribute concert held at UCLA, Stevie Wonder makes a surprise appearance to sing his hit tribute "Sir Duke" and also Ellington's own "C-Jam Blues."
1980: The legendary New York disco of discos, Studio 54, closes its doors after exactly three years and a day due to violations of city liquor licenses.
1981: Ringo Starr marries his second wife, actress Barbara Bach, a former "Bond girl" and model he met while filming the flop comedy Caveman. The two are married at the Marylebone Registrar's Office in London with the other two surviving Beatles attending.
1984: Blues Singer Z.Z. Hill died in Dallas at the age of 48 from a heart attack after a road accident.
1987: R.E.M.'s first single, "Dead Letter Office", was released.
1988: Poison released the album "Open Up and Say...Ahh!"
1988: Queensryche released the album "Operation: Mindcrime."
1990: Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses) married Erin Everly. The marriage lasted for 27 days.
1990: David Bowie plays his Seventies hits for the last time as he begins his latest American tour, "Sound + Vision."
1993: Prince issued a statement saying he was retiring from studio recordings to concentrate on film and other ventures.
1994: San Francisco's legendary rock venue the Fillmore Auditorium reopens, with performances by Smashing Pumpkins and American Music Club.
1994: A man was arrested after breaking into Ace Of Base singer Jenny Berggren's home. Jenny was asleep at the time and woke up to find the man above her holding a hunting knife.
1999: Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt died, aged 76, in New Orleans of liver failure, after spending the previous year in a wheelchair due to edema in his leg.
1999: UK band The Verve announced that they had split.
2000: Vicki Sue Robinson died eleven days after the release of Red Lipstick. Robinson died of cancer at her home in Wilton, Connecticut. She was thirty-five days short of reaching the age of 46.
2003: Iggy Pop reuintes with the Stooges for the first time in three decades at the close of this year's Coachella festival.
2004: Elton John publicly responds to American Idol's snub of Jennifer Hudson by declaring the call-in voters "incredibly racist."
2006: 63-year-old Keith Richards falls from a palm tree while vacationing in Fiji, landing on his head and causing a hemorrhage that required doctors to drain his skull. He makes a full recovery.
2009: Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was the victim of a robbery outside Southern Tracks Recording studios in Atlanta, where the band were recording. Ament and a band employee had arrived at the rear of the studio when three assailants brandishing knives emerged from the woods wearing black masks and smashed the windows of a rented Jeep. The robbers grabbed a BlackBerry and Ament’s passport and stole $3,000 in cash and $4,320 worth of goods.
2009: Aerosmith were to hold a free concert in Hawaii to placate angry fans who brought a legal case against them. Fans filed a class action case, which claimed the band had cancelled a sold-out show in Maui two years ago, leaving hundreds of fans out of pocket in favour of a bigger gig in Chicago. Lawyers for the would-be concert-goers said Aerosmith had now agreed to put on a new show, and would pay all expenses. ‘Everyone who bought a ticket to the original concert will receive a free ticket.
