Births
1946: Pete Agnew (Bass for Nazareth)
1947: Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (Sha Na Na)
1949: Steve Gaines (Guitar for Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1950: Paul Kossoff (Guitar for Free)
1959: Morten Harket (Lead Vocals for A-Ha)
1967: John Power (Bass & Vocals for The La's)
1970: Graig Montoya (Bass for Everclear)
1970: Mark Webber (Guitar for Pulp)
1973: Nas (Nasir Jones) (Rapper)
1981: Ashley Roberts (Singer in The Pussycat Dolls)
1983: Amy Winehouse (Singer / Songwriter)
Events
1814: Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the "Star-Spangled Banner." The song became the official U.S. national anthem on March 3, 1931.
1963: The Beatles' "She Loves You" becomes England's best-selling single of all time, a record that wouldn't be broken until 1977, when ex-Beatle Paul McCartney will release "Mull Of Kintyre."
1963: Pete Seeger finally agrees to break a general folk music boycott of the ABC-TV variety show Hootenanny and appear, only to change his mind when the network asks him to sign a loyalty oath first.
1964: The ill-fated sitcom The Bing Crosby Show debuts on ABC-TV.
1968: CBS-TV debuts the animated show The Archies. The recording group had contributions from Ron Dante, Andy Kim, Jeff Barry and others. Rock mogul, Don Kirshner (who also brought us The Monkees), was put in charge of the studio group. The following year The Archies started a eight-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sugar Sugar', becoming the longest running one hit wonder in the UK.
1968: Rolling Stone reports that the Who's Pete Townshend is working on a "rock opera" about a boy who is deaf, dumb, and blind.
1968: The US Information Agency sends 40 foreign diplomats to a Blood Sweat and Tears show in Washington CD, considering it a crash course in America's new cultural scene.
1968: Tragedy strikes Roy Orbison when his Hendersonville, TN home burns down during his European tour, trapping and killing two of his three sons, Roy Jr. (age 10) and Tony (age 6).
1969: Genesis take the stage for the first time, playing at the cottage owned by leader Peter Gabriel's former Sunday School teacher.
1970: Stevie Wonder marries his first wife, singer and former Motown secretary Syreeta Wright, in Detroit. They would divorce in 1972.
1976: Bob Dylan's Hard Rain concert airs on NBC-TV.
1979: Kenny Rogers is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley also officially declares today "Kenny Rogers Day" in the city.
1979: The film version of Quadrophenia, the Who's 1973 rock opera about growing up Mod in London, opens in theaters.
1985: The MTV Awards are held for the first time. Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd co-hosted the show.
1987: Though already on its last legs, ABC-TV's American Bandstand today becomes the longest-running entertainment show in America.
1989: Cuban bandleader and composer Perez Prado died of a stroke in Mexico City. Had the US & UK 1955 No.1 single 'Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White'.
1994: The Temptations are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Blvd.
1994: Singer Steve Earle was sentenced to 1 year in jail after being found guilty of possession of crack cocaine.
1997: Over 2000 fans watched Pete Townshend unveil a English Heritage Blue Plaque at 23 Brook Street, Mayfair London, to mark where Jimi Hendrix had lived in 1968-69. Hendrix was the first pop star to be awarded with the plaque.
1999: The Strokes made their live debut at The Spiral in New York.
2000: Paul Simon, Crosby Stills and Nash, and the Eagles' Don Henley and Glenn Frey perform at the joint VH1/Rolling Stone fundraiser for Al Gore.
2001: In the wake of the horrific September 11th attacks, Clear Channel Communications releases its infamous list of songs banned from radio stations until further notice for possibly being upsetting to American listeners. Included are improbably traumatizing oldies such as Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World," The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and "Ticket To Ride," Petula Clark's "Sign Of The Times," Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World," Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band," Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife," The Drifters' "On Broadway," The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Hey Joe," The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," Elton John's "Bennie And The Jets," "Daniel," and "Rocket Man," John Lennon's "Imagine," Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere To Run" and "Dancing In The Street," Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels' "Devil With A Blue Dress On," Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man," Elvis Presley's "(You're The) Devil In Disguise," The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday," Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train," The Surfaris' "Wipeout," The Youngbloods' "Get Together," Zager and Evans' "In The Year 2525," and the Zombies' "She's Not There."
2002: No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani married Gavin Rossdale of Bush in St. Paul's church London.
2005: Britney Spears gave birth to a baby boy by Caesarean section. Spears and husband Kevin Federline had been taken to the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, under police escort, early in the morning.
2005: Actress Renee Zellweger files for an annulment of her marriage to Kenny Chesney in Los Angeles, barely four months after the couple exchanged vows.
2006: Marianne Faithfull announces she's undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
2006: Whitney Houston filed for divorce from singer Bobby Brown, after 14 years of marriage.
2008: Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson was one of the pilots who flew specially chartered flights after 85,000 tourists were stranded in the US, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe after Britain's third-largest tour operator went into administration. The singer, who had worked for the airline Astraeus for nine years, took up flying during a low point in his solo career after he quit the band in 1993.
