April 18

Births

1882: Leopold Stokowski (Conductor)

1924: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (Blues Guitarist)

1938: Hal Galper (Jazz Pianist)

1946: Skip Spence (Guitar for Moby Grape & Jefferson Airplane)

1958: Les Pattinson (Bass for Echo And The Bunnymen)

1960: Mick Sweda (Vocals & Guitar for The Bulletboys)

1961: Kelly Hansen (Vocals for Hurricane and currently for Foreigner)

1963: Conan O'Brien (Talk show host)

1964: Mark 'Bez' Berry (Dancer for Happy Mondays)

1970: Greg Eklund (Drums for Everclear)

1974: Mark Tremonti (Guitar for Creed & Alter Bridge)

Events

1957: Buddy Knox is inducted into the Army Reserve, leading his record label to rush him into the studio to record no less than twenty follow ups to his hit "Party Doll." None make the charts.

1969: Lulu marries Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees at St. James' Church, Buckinghamshire, England, a marriage that will last four years. 3,000 fans attend, as do John Lennon's wife, Cynthia, and producer Mickie Most.

1970: While on stage with Led Zeppelin in Phoenix, lead singer Robert Plant collapses from "exhaustion."

1970: Steel Mill (featuring Bruce Springsteen) played in the Main Gym at Ocean County College in New Jersey. Tickets cost $2.00.

1971: The Diana Ross television musical special Diana, featuring guest stars Jackson 5, Bill Cosby, and Danny Thomas, airs on ABC.

1975: The Alice Cooper television special ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ airs on ABC.

1975: An entire crowd of Bay City Rollers fans attempt to swim across a nearby lake to meet the band at a BBC Radio-sponsored event in Mallory Park racetrack, Leicestershire, England. 39 fans are brought to the hospital, four of whom are admitted.

1981: Yes bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White begin rehearsals with the remaining members of Led Zeppelin, leading to rumors of the death of Yes and the beginning of a new band dubbed XYZ (Ex-Yes and Zeppelin). The rumored band never materializes, and Yes reforms under their old name for the hit 1983 album 90125.

1984; Michael Jackson underwent surgery in a Los Angeles hospital to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1985: Liberace breaks his own record at Radio City Music Hall, pulling in two million dollars for his latest engagement.

1985: Wham! Became the first-ever Western pop act to have an album released in China.

1987: Aretha Franklin scores a #1 US hit with "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me," a duet with George Michael of Wham! Her first Number One in 19 years and ten months, it breaks the record for the longest span between #1 hits.

1988: The accused murderer of reggae legend Peter Tosh, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, goes on trial in Jamaica.

1995: Oasis drummer Tony McCarrol was told by phone that he was being fired from the group. McCarrol sued the Manchester group for millions in unpaid royalties and in 1996 Oasis agreed to pay him a one-off sum of $935,000.

1996:  Nile Rodgers was named JT Superproducer of the Year in Japan, and was invited to perform there with Chic in April of that year. Just before the concert at the Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Bernard Edwards fell ill, but despite Rodgers' insistence, he refused to cancel the gig. He managed to perform but had to be helped at times. After the concert he retired to his hotel room where he was later found dead by Rodgers. The cause of death was ruled to be pneumonia.

2003: Etta James received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2005: Reebok pulled a UK TV ad featuring 50 Cent after a mother whose son was shot dead complained it glamorized gun crime. Lucy Cope, from London went to the Advertising Standards Authority about the campaign featuring the US rapper. The ASA had been investigating 54 other complaints from viewers over a reference to the rapper having been shot nine times.

2009: The Black Eyes Peas started a 12 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Boom Boom Pow’. The single was knocked off the No.1 position by the bands next single ‘I Gotta Feeling’.