July 18

Births

1929: Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Jalacy Hawkins) (R&B Singer)

1931: "Papa" Dee Allen (Thomas Sylvester) (Percussion & Vocals for War)

1937: Hunter S. Thompson (Writer)

1938: Ian Stewart (Keyboards for Rolling Stones)

1939: Dion DiMucci (Dion) (Singer)

1941: Martha Reeves (R&B Singer)

1941: Lonnie Mack (Blues & Rock Singer & Guitarist)

1950: Glenn Hughes (Biker in The Village People)

1950: Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Records)

1954: Ricky Skaggs (Country Singer)

1955: Terry Chambers (Drums for XTC)

1957: Keith Levene (Guitar for Public Image Ltd & The Clash)

1975: Daron Malakian (Guitar for System of a Down)

1982: Ryan Cabrera (Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1953: An eighteen-year-old truck driver from Memphis, Elvis Presley, visits the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue, later to be known as Sun Studios, in order to record a novelty 45 for his mother's birthday. The two recordings, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," were thought to be lost for decades; Elvis later admits that he made the records to see "what I sounded like," since his mother's birthday was actually in April. Presley pays $3.98 for the privilege. Marion Keisker, assistant to label head Sam Phillips, likes what she hears; she takes down Presley's information and notes that he is a "good ballad singer." As she recalled years later: "I said, 'What kind of singer are you?' He said, 'I sing all kinds.' I said, 'Who do you sound like?' He said, 'I don't sound like nobody.'"

1960: Hank Ballard and the Midnighters released "The Twist." The song didn't become a hit until later in the year when Chubby Checker covered it.

1964: The Rolling Stones make their first hit on the American charts with their cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."

1966: Bobby Fuller, leader of The Bobby Fuller Four, was found dead in his car in Los Angeles aged 22. Fuller died mysteriously from gasoline asphyxiation, while parked outside his apartment. Police labeled it a suicide, but the possibility of foul play has always been mentioned. They had the 1966 US No.9 single 'I Fought The Law' written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets and covered by The Clash.

1972: Thanks to the efforts of Kevin White, then-mayor of Boston, the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are freed from their Warwick, RI jail cell in time for their Boston show. (The pair had been held for assault on a photographer from Providence.)

1972: All six members of Sly and the Family Stone are arrested in Hollywood after police search their tour bus and find two pounds of marijuana and two vials of cocaine.

1978: Def Leppard made their live debut at Westfield School, Sheffield, England in front of 150 students.

1983: Still flush with the success of their free Central Park reunion concert (and hit souvenir album of the event), Simon and Garfunkel embark on a full scale, 19-city US tour, beginning in Akron, OH.

1988: Ike Turner is sentenced to one year in a Santa Monica, CA jail for six grams of crack found in his car during a traffic stop in August 1987.

1988: Nico (Christa Päffgen) died after suffering a minor heart attack while riding a bicycle on vacation with her son in Ibiza, Spain. The German born singer-songwriter and keyboard player with Velvet Underground and had also worked as a fashion model and actress.

1992: Bobby Brown married Whitney Houston at her New Jersey estate who was dressed in a $40,000 Marc Bouwer wedding gown. Those in attendance included Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle and Freddie Jackson. After years of making tabloid headlines, she would file for divorce in September 2006.

1994: Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan married ex Duran Duran manager Don Burton.

2001: Kiss, added another product to their ever-growing merchandising universe: the "Kiss Kasket." The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of the band, the Kiss logo and the words "Kiss Forever." Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was buried in one after he was shot and killed on-stage in Dec 2004.

2002: Rapper Mystikal and two other men were arrested on suspicion of raping a 40-year-old woman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mystikal, (real name Michael Tyler), was charged with the offence as well as one of extortion after giving himself up to police, he was subsequently released on $250,000 bail.

2006: Carmen Electra filed for a divorce from Dave Navarro (Guitar for Red Hot Chili Peppers)

2007: Paul Simon filed a lawsuit against Rhythm USA Inc. a Georgia-based subsidiary of a Japanese firm, claiming the company never had his permission to sell wall clocks that played ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The suit claimed that as one of the best known songs throughout the world, a proper licensing agreement would earn at least a $1 million licensing fee.

2008: Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood was ‘seeking help’ with his battle with alcohol in a rehabilitation centre. The move followed tabloid speculation over the state of his 23-year marriage to former model Jo Wood. ‘Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab,’ his spokeswoman said.