Births
1017: Buddy Rich (Jazz Drummer)
1935: Johnny Mathis (Pop Singer)
1935: Z.Z. Hill (Blues Artist)
1942: Dewey Martin (Drummer for Buffalo Springfield & The Dillards)
1942: Frankie Lymon (R&B Singer)
1943: Marilyn McCoo (Singer in The 5th Dimension)
1947: Marc Bolan (Singer for T. Rex & Solo)
1952: John Lombardo (Guitar for 10,000 Maniacs)
1954: Patrice Rushen (R&B Singer)
1958: Marty Stuart (Country Singer)
1964: Robby Takac (Bass for Goo Goo Dolls)
1964: Trey Anastasio (Guitarist & Singer with Phish)
1985: T-Pain (Faheem Rasheed Najm) (Rapper)
Events
1933: WLS radio in Chicago's popular program The National Barn Dance, one of the first country music radio programs, goes national with a move to NBC radio.
1935: The Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess opens at Boston's Colonial Theatre. While not commercially successful, a revival in 1942 would turn it into one of the longest-running musicals in history.
1955: James Dean, icon of Fifties youth, dies in a car accident. Upon hearing the news in his Gladewater, TX, hotel room while on tour, Elvis Presley breaks down and cries.
1965: Elvis Presley is introduced to singer Tom Jones on the set of the King's latest film Paradise, Hawaiian Style. The two become fast friends.
1965: Donovan made his US television debut on Shindig! along with The Hollies, The Turtles and the Dave Clark Five.
1967: The UK radio network BBC Radio One takes the airwaves tonight with an opening spin of the Move's "Flowers In The Rain."
1969: Christine Hinton the girlfriend of David Crosby was killed in a car crash near San Francisco.
1974: Police were called to a Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Oyster Cult concert after a fight broke out between two sound engineers. The Skynyrd roadie claimed that the sound had been deliberately turned off during the bands set.
1977, Mary Ford died from cancer after being in a diabetic coma for 54 days. One-half of the husband-and-wife musical team, Les Paul and Mary Ford.
1987: Roy Orbison engineers his comeback with the taping of the star-studded, acclaimed HBO special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night at Los Angeles' Coconut Grove. It features Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, and J.D. Souther, and is indeed filmed in black and white!
1988: John Lennon is posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine St.
1989: Bette Midler is awarded $400,000 in a landmark "intellectual property" lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. when the car giant used a soundalike version of Midler on one of their commercials.
1992: US singer Steve Earle was arrested in Nashville after he failed to report for jury service.
1993: On tonight's fifth-season episode of The Simpsons, entitled "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," David Crosby and George Harrison make guest appearances.
1993: Kate Pierson from The B-52's was charged with criminal mischief and trespassing during an anti-fur protest at 'Vogue's' New York City offices.
1995: Mariah Carey made chart history when she started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Fantasy', making her the first female act to enter the chart in pole position.
1998: Joe Walsh, Rick Neilsen, Dave Mustaine, Matthew Sweet, Slash, and Joey Ramone appear on tonight's "In Ramada Da Vida" episode of ABC-TV's Drew Carey Show.
2007: Country music singer Keith Urban crashed his motorcycle on the way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The 39-year-old, who was not injured, said he was being followed by a photographer when the accident happened near his home in Sydney, Australia.
