Births
1905: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (Blues Singer & Guitarist)
1915: Wynonie Harris (R&B Singer)
1924: Louis Teicher (Piano for Ferrante and Teicher)
1938: Mason Williams (Guitarist & Composer)
1938: David Frieberg (Vocals & Bass for Quicksilver Messenger Service & Jefferson Airplane / Starship)
1942: Jimmy Soul (Pop Singer)
1943: John Cipollina (Lead Guitar for Quicksilver Messenger Service)
1945: Ken Hensley (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards for Uriah Heep & Blackfoot)
1945: Malcolm Duncan (Tenor Sax for Average White Band)
1947: Jim Fox (Drummer for James Gang)
1948: Jean-Michel Jarre (Composer & Producer)
1951: Jimmy Farrar (Vocalist for Molly Hatchet)
1961: Mark Bedford (Bass for Madness)
1961: Colin Angus (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards for The Shamen)
1963: John Bush (Vocals for Anthrax & Armored Saint)
1968: Andreas Kisser (Lead Guitar for Sepultura)
1973: Dave Chappelle (Comedian)
Events
1956: Little Richard plays the Cotton Club in Lubbock, TX, making an indelible impression on audience member Buddy Holly.
1963: Stevie Wonder became the first artist ever to score a No.1 album and single in the same week. Wonder was at No.1 on the album chart with 'Little Stevie Wonder / The 12 Year Old Genius' and had the No.1 single 'Fingertips part 2'. This was also the first ever live recording to make No.1.
1964: Taking him up on his telegram invitation to help out in any way he can in America, Beatles manager Brian Epstein meets Elvis Presley manager "Colonel" Tom Parker for the first time when they have lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
1966: The Doors started recording their first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios, West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
1967: 17-year old singer and guitarist Bruce Springsteen joined a group called Earth.
1967: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and their entourage attend a lecture by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the lobby of the London Hilton. The Maharishi (as he would come to be known) entrances the Beatles with his philosophy of TM, or Transcendental Meditation, which involves mental repetition of a single word or phrase to center the mind and relax the body. After the lecture, the three Beatles meet the Maharishi and accept his invitation to attend his next lecture in Bangor, Wales.
1967: Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, drives his Lincoln Continental (not a Rolls Royce, as is often thought), into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, MI to celebrate his 21st birthday, earning the entire band a lifetime ban from the chain.
1969: Folksinger Arlo Guthrie's film Alice's Restaurant, based on his hit song of the same name, premieres in both Los Angeles and New York.
1969: John Lennon writes, rehearses, and records a song about his recent heroin withdrawal entitled "Cold Turkey," where he also puts into practice his recent introduction to "primal scream" therapy. Fans and critics are shocked and appalled by the emotionally raw recording, a prelude to his eventual Plastic Ono Band album.
1975: Queen started recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales, (the song was recorded over three weeks). Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.
1977: Country legend Waylon Jennings is arrested for cocaine possession in New York City by federal agents, an event which will inspire his song "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand?" The charges are later dropped.
1977: Johnny Paycheck records the David Allan Coe-penned "Take This Job And Shove It" at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.
1978: Following headaches and episodes of memory loss, Jazz singer Louis Prima sought medical attention, and found out he had a brain stem tumor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went into a coma following surgery to remove the tumor. He never recovered, and died three years later (on this day in 1978) having been moved back to New Orleans.
1979: "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince was released. It was his first U.S. hit.
1981: John Lennon's killer is given a sentence of 20-years-to-life in prison, where he will be denied parole five times over the next 27 years.
1983: Jerry Lee Lewis' fifth wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens, dies of a methadone overdose at their home in Nesbit, MS, although several journalists suspect foul play. The couple had only been married three months. Lewis' fourth wife had died an accidental death only a year earlier.
1989: The Who perform a special 20th anniversary charity concert of their rock opera Tommy at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, featuring guests Elton John (as the Pinball Wizard), Patti Labelle (as the Acid Queen), Steve Winwood (as the Hawker), Phil Collins (as Uncle Ernie), and Billy Idol (as Cousin Kevin).
1990: Singer Sinead O'Connor refused to perform if the United States National Anthem was played before her show at the Garden State Arts Plaza in Homdel, NJ, as is custom. A patriotic uproar ensued which led to several radio stations banning her music.
1990: Judas Priest successfully defended themselves against a lawsuit, after two fans attempted suicide while listening to the Stained Class album. Both fans eventually died, one immediately from a shotgun blast, and the other on a second attempt three years later by a methadone overdose. The prosecution claimed that there were subliminal messages in the group’s music that caused the two seventeen year olds to carry out the suicide pact in 1985.
1994: Dave Abruzzese quit Pearl Jam. He was replaced with drummer Jack Irons.
1996: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher failed to turn up for the recording of the bands MTV unplugged session at London's Royal Festival Hall in front of 400 fans. He later sat in the audience and watched the show with his brother Noel taking over on vocals.
1998: 53-year-old Ingrid Pedersen announces that she is the long-lost illegitimate half-sister of John Lennon, explaining that she kept her secret for so many years as a way of protecting her now-deceased adoptive parents.
1998: A Shania Twain concert in Syracuse, NY was halted when lightning hit the ground 40 yards behind the stage. The concert was almost over at the time of the lightning strike.
1999: Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut album was released.
2001: The Backstreet Boys resumed their "Black & Blue World Tour 2001." The tour had been put on hold on July 9, because A.J. McLean entered a treatment center for depression and alcohol abuse.
2001: June Carter Cash undergoes surgery to have a pacemaker installed.
2007: During a routine medical exam in Gainesville, FL, Bo Diddley complains of dizziness and nausea and is admitted to a local hospital, where he is diagnosed as having had a heart attack. The rock legend had suffered a stroke only a few months earlier.
2010: George Michael pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in London to driving under the influence of drugs. The singer had been arrested in July when he was returning home from the London Gay Pride parade and crashed his car into the front of a Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead, North London.
