June 30

Births

1917: Lena Horne (Jazz Singer)

1943: Florence Ballard (Vocals for The Supremes)

1944: Glenn Shorrock (Vocals for Little River Band)

1949: Andrew Scott (Guitarist for Sweet)

1951: Stanley Clarke (Jazz Bass player in Return To Forever & Solo)

1953: Hal Lindes (Guitar for Dire Straits)

1957: Doug Sampson (Drummer for Iron Maiden)

1963: Yngwie J. Malmsteen (Metal Guitarist)

1968: Philip Anselmo (Vocals for Pantera & Down)

1979: Matisyahu (Matthew Miller) (Reggae Artist)

1981: Andy Knowles (Drummer for Franz Ferdinand)

1982: Dan Jacobs (Guitar for Atreyu)

1984: Fantasia Barrino (Singer & American Idol winner)

Events

1939: Frank Sinatra made his first appearance with Harry James’ band.

1966: The Beatles played the first of three concerts at the Nippon Budokan Hall, Japan. The concert was filmed with The Beatles wearing black suits. The following day's first performance was also filmed; with The Beatles wearing white suits. There was a strict police presence with 3,000 police observing each concert played in front of 10,000 fans.

1966: The Supremes made the studio recording of "You Keep Me Hangin' On."

1975: Cher married Greg Allman four days after her divorcing Sonny Bono, the couple split after ten days, followed by a three year on and off marriage.

1975: The Jackson Five announced that they were leaving Motown Records for Epic Records. The brothers were forced to change their name to The Jacksons since Motown owned the other name.

1976: Police raided the home of Neil Diamond searching for drugs, they found less than one ounce of marijuana.

1976: Stuart Goddard (Adam Ant) placed the following ad in the classified section of the Melody Maker, 'Beat on a bass, with the B-Sides.' Andy Warren answered the ad and the pair went on to form Adam and The Ants.

1977: Marvel Comics launched a comic book based on the rock group Kiss using their own blood mixed in with the ink.

1978: United Artists released The Buzzcocks single 'Love You More', at 1 minute 29 seconds it was the second shortest single ever released. Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs 1960 hit 'Stay' was the shortest hit at one minute 28 seconds.

1978: The Sex Pistols' "My Way" was released.

1983: The Everly Brothers announced plans for a reunion tour, ten years after they had split up.

1989: Police were called in to control over 4,000 Bobby Brown fans trying to see him at the HMV Record store in London's Oxford Street, six fans were hospitalized and one had to be given the kiss of life.

1989: The Stone Roses played at Leeds Polytechnic in England. The gig almost didn't take place after a security man wouldn't let singer Ian Brown into the gig.

1990: Police raided Chuck Berry's estate and seized homemade porn videos, drugs and guns.

1995: American soul singer Phyllis Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York City apartment aged 45. She was found hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo Theatre, in New York.

1995: Garth Brooks was given a star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame. The Country singer buried the master tapes of his 'Hits' album under the star.

2000: Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones) checked into a rehabilitation clinic in London to be treated for alcohol abuse.

2001: American guitarist and producer Chet Atkins died in Nashville aged 77. Recorded over 100 albums during his career, produced records for Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves and Waylon Jennings. Was a major influence on George Harrison and Mark Knopfler.

2001: Beach Boys member Al Jardine went to court in a bid to sue his former band mates, claiming he had been frozen out of the Beach Boys. The $4 million suit was filed against Mike Love, Brian Wilson, the Carl Wilson Trust and Brother Records Incorporated in a New York Superior Court. In 1998 a US judge temporarily barred Jardine from performing under the name “Beach Boys Family And Friends” after representations from Mike Love and Brother Records. Jardine lost the case in 2003.

2004: Kinks founder member Dave Davies was left paralyzed on the right-hand side of his body after suffering a stroke. The 57-year-old guitarist and brother of fellow Kinks star Ray Davies had been promoting his solo material when he collapsed.

2004: Pete Doherty was kicked out of from The Libertines due to his well known addiction problems specifically with crack cocaine and heroin.

2005: Nick Carter from The Backstreet Boys was fined $1,200 after admitting to drink-driving in California. The 25-year-old singer was also put on probation for three years, ordered to attend an alcohol education course and banned from driving for 90 days. 

June 29

Births

1901: Nelson Eddy (Pop Singer)

1943: Little Eva (Eva Narcissus Boyd) (Pop Singer)

1948: Ian Paice (Drummer for Deep Purple & Whitesnake)

1953: Colin Hay (Singer for Men At Work)

1953: Don Dokken (Singer for Dokken)

1961: Greg Hetson (Guitar for Redd Kross, Circle Jerks & Bad Religion)

1965: Tripp Eisen (Guitar for Static-X & Dope)

1976: Bret McKenzie (Vocals & Guitar in Flight Of The Conchords)

1978: Nicole Scherzinger (Lead Singer in Eden’s Crush, Pussycat Dolls & Solo)

1983: Aundrea Fimbres (Singer in Danity Kane)

Events

1957: The government of Iran officially bans rock and roll after declaring rock dancing "as harmful to health." The ban would stay in place until the 1990s.

1957: Buddy Holly recorded "Peggy Sue".  It was originally named “Cindy Lou” after Buddy’s niece, but changed to be named after the drummer’s girlfriend and future wife.

1959: Dick Clark announces his first series of four "Caravan of Stars" concerts over the course of the next year, with his first being headlined by the Skyliners of "Since I Don't Have You" fame.

1963: Beatles' 1st song "From Me to You" hits UK charts.

1967: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is sentenced to three months in jail and lead singer Mick Jagger to a full year after a raid of Richards' home in February turned up cannabis residue. After a public outpouring of sympathy, including a famous essay in the London Times defending the pair ("Who Breaks A Butterfly Upon A Wheel?" July 1, 1967), Richards' charges are dropped and Jagger's reduced to probation.

1967: While on tour with the Hollies, Graham Nash writes a song called "Marrakesh Express," which will later find a home (and a hit) with his new band, Crosby Stills and Nash.

1969: The Jimi Hendrix Experience play their last gig together at the Denver Pop Festival.

1969: R&B Singer Shorty Long and a friend drowned when their boat capsized on the Detroit River in Michigan.  He was 29 Years old.

1970: NBC-TV presents the Liza Minnelli special Liza, also starring songwriters Anthony Newley, Jimmy Webb, and Randy Newman.

1973: Deep Purple "Mark II," the most famous incarnation of the band, comes to an end after tonight's show in Osaka, Japan, with lead singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover abruptly quitting the group.

1974: Neil Peart replaces John Rutsey as the drummer for Rush.

1974: Singer songwriter Gordon Lightfoot scored his only US No.1 single with 'Sundown'.

1975: Elton John appears onstage with the Doobie Brothers in Oakland, CA, for an impromptu duet on the Doobies hit "Listen To The Music."

1975: Singer/Songwriter Tim Buckley died from a morphine & heroin overdose at age 28.

1976: The Memphis City Council votes to change Elvis' home street, Highway 51 South, to "Elvis Presley Boulevard."

1978: While driving with his girlfriend in the Bahamas, Peter Frampton crashes and severely injures himself, breaking his arm, cracking several ribs, causing a concussion, and cutting short his rise to superstardom as he mends in a local hospital for months.

1979: Lowell George (Singer for Little Feat) collapsed in his Arlington, Virginia hotel room and died. An autopsy showed that he died of an accidental drug overdose.

1985: New York's Cooper-Hewitt museum fetches a record $3,006,385 for John Lennon's "Roller," a 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom V painted groovy psychedelic colors by Apple associates The Fool.

1985: In order to create a new single as part of the massive Live Aid series of concerts, Mick Jagger and David Bowie rush into a recording studio and produce their hit cover of Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing In The Street" in under 12 hours. As with the concerts, all proceeds go to feed victims of the Ethiopian hunger crisis.

1988: Brenda Richie, wife of former Commodore and current solo star Lionel, is arrested for assault after allegedly striking her husband after finding him in bed with another woman. She is later released on $5,000 bail.

1994: Barbra Streisand sets a new record after grossing $16 million for a series of Madison Square Garden comeback shows.

1995: Ringo Starr's first-ever TV commercial, for Pizza Hut, debuts in the US, as does a similar spot by the newly-reformed Monkees.

1996: It was reported that US record company bosses were considering random drug tests for pop stars similar to those carried out on athletes to try and reduce the drug death toll in the industry.

1998: George Harrison shocks the world with an announcement that he is currently undergoing chemotherapy for throat cancer, assuring his fans that he's fine and that "I'm not going to die on you folks just yet." Harrison would succumb to the disease three years later.

1999: Former teen heartthrob Leif Garrett is arrested in Los Angeles for possession of cocaine.

1999: Michael Jackson suffered severe bruising after falling over 50 feet when a bridge collapsed during a concert at Munich's Olympic stadium. Jackson was singing 'Earth Song' at the time of the accident.

2000: The casket holding Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt is stolen from its mausoleum in Jacksonville, FL, but left after vandals were unable to open it; member Steve Gaines' ashes are spilled from his urn, which is also stolen.

2000: Eight men were trampled to death during Pearl Jam's performance at The Roskilde festival, near Copenhagen. Police said the victims had all slipped or fallen in the mud in front of the stage.

2000: Eminem’s mother went to court claiming defamation of character in a $10 million civil suit, after taking exception to the line “My mother smokes more dope than I do” from her son’s single ‘My Name Is’.

2002: Singer Rosemary Clooney died of lung cancer at age 74.

2007: George McCorkle (Guitarist for Marshall Tucker Band) died from cancer at 49 years old.

2007: Lily Allen was questioned by police over an alleged assault on a photographer outside a nightclub in London. She was freed on police bail after she was quizzed about an alleged assault on a male photographer in his 40s near the Wardour club in London's Soho in March.

2011:  Justin Timberlake became co-owner of Myspace with Specific Media.

June 28

Births

1902: Richard Rodgers (Composer)

1954: Steven Morse (Guitarist for The Dixie Dregs & Deep Purple)

1959: Oran "Juice" Jones (R&B Singer)

1963: Charles Clouser (Keyboardist & Drummer for Nine Inch Nails)

1965: Saul Davis (Guitar & Violin for James)

1971: Ray Slijngaard (Vocals for 2 Unlimited)

1977: Mark Stoermer (Bass Guitarist for The Killers)

1986: Kellie Pickler (Country Singer)

Events

1957: Jerry Lee Lewis makes his US television debut, performing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On on NBC's Steve Allen Show and making himself a superstar overnight.

1959: Bobby Darin was at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Dream Lover'. It was the singers first No.1 and the song featured Neil Sedaka on piano.

1962: The Drifters recorded "Up On The Roof".

1965: Dick Clark's latest rock n' roll variety show, Where The Action Is, premieres on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Jan & Dean, Dee Dee Sharp and Linda Scott, and also introducing a new house band called Paul Revere and the Raiders. Meanwhile, over on CBS, influential DJ Murray The K's variety special It's What's Happening, Baby! features performances by The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Drifters, The Miracles, The Temptations, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Martha and the Vandellas, The Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones, The Dave Clark Five, Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

1968: At NBC Studios in Hollywood, Elvis Presley tapes the "gospel medley" portion of what would later be known as his "'68 Comeback Special," as well as a controversial "bordello" scene that was never broadcast: NBC censors had no objections, but the sponsor, Singer Sewing Machines, didn't want to upset viewers.

1968: Aretha Franklin is featured on the cover of Time magazine, under a banner headed "The Sound Of Soul."

1973: Following its highly successful "Fifties revival" oldies show the year before, Madison Square Garden holds a British Invasion-themed version, featuring Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, The Searchers, and Wayne Fontana.

1975: American singer songwriter Tim Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people. This was Buckley’s last ever show, he died the following day of a heroin and morphine overdose aged 28.

1977: Elton John achieved a life long ambition when he became the Chairman of Watford Football Club.

1980: Roy Orbison begins an amazing Eighties comeback by making the country music charts with "That Lovin' You Feeling Again," a duet with Emmylou Harris.

1986: Wham! played their farewell concert in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

1990: At today's concert in Liverpool, Paul McCartney plays John Lennon-written Beatles songs for the first time: "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Help!" and Lennon's solo "Give Peace A Chance."

1993: Wilson Pickett pleads guilty to drunk driving in New Jersey after hitting an elderly pedestrian in April of the previous year. He is sentenced to a year in jail and five years' probation, as well as a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

1997: George Harrison secretly undergoes surgery to have a cancerous lump removed from his throat. Though it turns out to be benign, the ex-Beatle will eventually succumb to the disease in 2001.

1997: The classic Pink Floyd album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ spent its 1056th week on the US album chart. It was rumored at the time that if the album was played while watching The Wizard of Oz movie, and started exactly when the MGM lion roared the third time during the movie’s intro, very interesting connections could be made between the two.

1997: Bob Seger crashed in his BMW on the Trans-Canada Highway in Nipigon, Ontario. The singer later appeared in court charged with dangerous driving.

1999: The home of DMX (Earl Simmons) was searched as part of an investigation into the shooting of Ray Copeland. Copeland is the uncle and manager of DMX. Copeland was wounded in the foot the previous day.