June 22

Births

1936: Kris Kristofferson (Country Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

1939: Bobby Harrison (Drums for Procol Harum)

1944: Peter Asher (Vocals for Peter and Gordon)

1947: Howard Kaylan (Lead Singer for The Turtles)

1948: Todd Rundgren (Singer, Keyboards & Guitar)

1949: Larry Junstrom (Bass for .38 Special & Lynyrd Skynyrd)

1953: Cyndi Lauper (Pop Singer)

1955: Green Gartside (Singer for Scritti Politti)

1957: Gary Beers (Bass for INXS)

1961: Jimmy Somerville (Singer for Bronski Beat)

1962: Bobby Gillespie (Guitar & Vocals for Primal Scream & Drums for The Jesus & Mary Chain)

1964: Mike Edwards (Lead Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards for Jesus Jones)

1970: Steven Page (Guitar & Vocals for Barenaked Ladies)

1973: Carson Daly (Late Night Host & TRL Host)

1976: Gordon Moakes (Multi-instrumentalist with Bloc Party)

1981: Chris Urbanowicz (Lead Guitar for Editors)

Events

1846: Adolphe Sax patents his new musical instrument in Paris, a new style of woodwind called the Saxophone that would function more as a member of the brass family. Although his patent would be challenged by other craftsmen, his instrument became an integral part of jazz, rock and roll, and ska.

1956: Elvis Presley started a three-day run playing 10 shows at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. The stage manager was told; "Pull all white lights. Presley works all in color, Presley act has no encore. When he leaves the stage, immediately close curtains.”

1957: Liverpool skiffle group The Quarrymen, later to morph into the Beatles, play their first major gig at a local gig by performing on the back of a coal truck. Four years later to the day, the Beatles (with Pete Best on drums) would have their first formal recording session, performing "My Bonnie," "When The Saints Go Marching In," "Why Can't You Love Me Again," "Nobody's Child," and "Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby" while backing singer Tony Sheridan. The sessions, produced by Bert Kaempfert in Hamburg, Germany, also feature "Ain't She Sweet" and the instrumental "Cry For A Shadow," which are both performed by the group alone.

1963: The Surfaris released the single "Wipe Out".

1963: 13-year old Stevie Wonder first entered the US singles chart as Little Stevie Wonder with 'Fingertips Parts One and Two.'

1964: Barbra Streisand signs a $200,000 ten-year contract with CBS for a series of television specials.

1967: The drug possession trial of Rolling Stone members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards opened in London.

1968: The Jeff Beck Group makes its US stage debut in New York at the Fillmore East ballroom.

1968: Rolling Stone first reports on the existence of an unissued Bob Dylan album recorded with The Band during his extended convalescence at Woodstock, NY; it would finally see the light of day in 1975 as The Basement Tapes.

1969: Blind Faith's first and only LP was released.  The band consisted of Eric Clapton on guitar & vocals, Steve Winwood on keyboards and Ginger Baker on drums.

1969: Judy Garland was found dead in the bathroom of a rented Chelsea, London house. The coroner, Gavin Thursdon, stated at the inquest that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates at age 47.

1975: Eric Clapton joins the Rolling Stones for a version of "Sympathy For The Devil" during the band's Madison Square Garden concert.

1981: John Lennon's murderer pleads guilty to his crime and is sentenced to 20 Years to Life in New York's Attica State prison. He has since been up for parole five times, and has been denied every time.

1985: Bryan Adams started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Heaven', his first No.1 single. The song had been featured in the film 'Night In Heaven'.

1987: Singer & Dancer Fred Astaire died from pneumonia ay 88 years old.

1988: Peter Tosh's murderer, Dennis Lobban, is sentenced to hanging by a court in his native Jamaica. Lobban, who was known to Tosh, and two others had murdered the reggae star in his home the previous year after a failed robbery.

1988: American session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis died of a heroin overdose after collapsing in a laundry room in Venice, California, aged 43. Worked with Conway Twitty, The Monkees, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Keith Moon, Jackson Browne, Steve Miller, Harry Nilsson and Taj Mahal.

1990: Billy Joel performs a concert at Yankee Stadium, the first rocker ever to do so.

1992: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was rushed to hospital after a gig in Belfast, Northern Ireland suffering from acute stomach pains brought on by ulcers.

1992: Three members of M.C. Hammer's tour crew were wounded in a drive in shooting incident, three days later Joseph Mack, a dancer in Hammer's entourage was shot on stage during a concert in Nevada.

1996: The brother of singer Diana Ross, Arthur Ross and his wife were murdered by suffocation in the basement of their rented Detroit home. The badly decomposed bodies were discovered after neighbors complained of a foul odor coming from the house. Two men were later charged with murder and robbery. Arthur Ross had written songs for Marvin Gaye, The Miracles and Madonna.

2000: After giving himself various new identities' during the 90's, The Artist Formally Known As Prince announced he wanted to be known as Prince again.

2002: U2 guitarist 'The Edge' married his girlfriend of ten years Morleigh Steinberg in Eze in the south of France. The couple first met when she was a belly dancer on the bands Zoo TV tour. Guest's included Bono, Eurythmics Dave Stewart and Lenny Kravitz.

2005: Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill opens in Oklahoma City. The singer is on hand for an opening-day ribbon-cutting ceremony.

2008: Coldplay went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Viva La Vida', their first UK No.1. History was made by this single, as it had no physical CD-single release in the UK, being available by internet download only. The song won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.