June 26

Births

1909: Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis Manager)

1938: Billy Davis Jr. (Singer for 5th Dimension & Solo)

1943: Jean Knight (R&B Singer)

1955: Mick Jones (Guitar & Vocals for The Clash)

1955: Ivan Julian (Guitarist for Richard Hell And The Voidoids)

1956: Chris Isaak (Singer & Guitar)

1957: Patty Smyth (Singer for Scandal & Solo)

1961: Terri Nunn (Vocals for Berlin)

1963: Harriet Wheeler (Vocals for The Sundays)

1969: Colin Greenwood (Bass for Radiohead)

1973: Gretchen Wilson (Country Singer)

1979: Nathan Followill (Drums for Kings Of Leon)

Events

1954: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls a young singer named Elvis Presley, who had recorded a few songs there earlier in the year, and asks him to record two songs, "Without You" and "Rag Mop." He sings the first, attempting to match a demo made by an unknown person hanging around the studio, but it proves too much for him, and, according to Dave Marsh's book Elvis, beats the walls of the studio, repeatedly shouting "I hate him! I hate him!" The singer whom Elvis could not match is lost to history. Phillips mollifies the young Elvis by asking him to sing something else, and Presley impresses him anyway, to the point that he makes plans to set the singer up with musicians for a future date.

1955: Decca Records, home to Bill Haley and His Comets, announces that the group has sold three million records in the past year, due mostly to "Rock Around The Clock" and "Shake, Rattle And Roll."

1956: Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown is killed in a car crash at age 25.

1961: The Marcels make their US television debut, performing "Blue Moon" on ABC-TV's American Bandstand.

1963: After a Beatles performance at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, John Lennon and Paul McCartney write "She Loves You" in their hotel room, originally an answer song of sorts to the Bobby Rydell hit "Forget Him."

1965: The Byrds went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man'. Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, the drummer Hal Blaine played on the track also played on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.

1971: WNEW-FM in New York becomes the first radio station to play Don McLean's new single, "American Pie," which it features in its 8:36 entirety.

1973: Model and singer Marsha Hunt, inspiration for the Rolling Stones song "Brown Sugar," names Mick Jagger in a paternity suit, claiming the singer fathered her two-year-old daughter Karis. That same day, Stones guitarist Keith Richards is busted, along with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, in his Chelsea home for possession of heroin, illegal pharmaceuticals, guns, and ammo.

1974: Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.

1977: Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant.

1979: Elton John Drummer Nigel Olsson runs a stop sign, crashes and kills a driver.

1982: Roxy Music leader Bryan Ferry marries his first wife, model Lucy Helmore. The same day, Marie Osmond marries her first husband, Brigham Young University basketball player Steve Craig.

1986: James Hetfield (Metallica) broke his wrist while trying to skateboard down a hill. One show was cancelled and the remainder of dates on the tour James was on vocals only and John Marshall (later with Metal Church) was on guitar.

1993: Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers marries his first wife, R&B singer Angela Winbush.

2000: Britney Spears hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana announced that a new museum, due to open early next year, would include a section including fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singers clothing.

2008: Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ as the world's worst cover version ever, the magazines editor Stephen Lawson said Dion's cover was "sacrilege". In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ The Beatles' rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’, (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N' Roses version of the Wings song ‘Live and Let Die’.

2011:  Johnny Depp joined Alice Cooper on stage at the 100 Club in London to play guitar on “18”, “Another Brick In The Wall” and “School’s Out”.