September 26

Births

1898: George Gershwin (Composer & Pianist)

1925: Marty Robbins (Country Artist)

1926: Julie London (Torchsong Singer)

1945: Bryan Ferry (Singer for Roxy Music & Solo)

1947: Lynn Anderson (Country Singer)

1948: Olivia Newton-John (Pop Singer)

1955: Carlene Carter (Country Artist)

1960: Doug Supernaw (Country Artist)

1962: Tracey Thorn (Vocals for Everything But The Girl)

1964: John Tempesta (Drummer for Exodus, White Zombie & Testament)

1964: Nicki French (Dance music Singer)

1965: Cindy Herron (Vocals for En Vogue)

1967: Shannon Hoon (Singer for Blind Melon)

1972: Shawn Stockman (Vocals for Boyz II Men)

1981: Christina Milian (Singer)

Events

1908: The first stereo advertisement, for an Edison Phonograph, appears in the Saturday Evening Post.

1937: Bessie Smith died at age 43 after being critically injured in a car accident outside of Memphis, Tenn.

1955: Debbie Reynolds marries Eddie Fisher in New York City, a marriage that will last just four tumultuous years before Fisher leaves America's Sweetheart for Elizabeth Taylor.

1956: The mayor of Tupelo, MS declares today Elvis Presley Day in honor of its favorite son; among others, a young Tammy Wynette is in the audience at the concert Elvis gives later.

1957: The musical West Side Story, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with New York City gang members, debuts on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre. It would run for 732 performances.

1961: Folksinger Bob Dylan lands his first major gig, opening for the Greenbriar Boys for two weeks at Gerde's Folk City in New York. Critic Robert Shelton of the New York Times says of today's performance: "Bob Dylan is one of the most distinctive stylists to play in a Manhattan cabaret in months... there is no doubt that he is bursting at the seams with talent... Mr. Dylan's voice is anything but pretty... a searing intensity pervades his songs. Mr. Dylan's highly personalized approach toward folk song is still evolving." This review essentially launches Dylan's career.

1964 : The Kinks released the single "You Really Got Me” in the US.

1965: At the end of a European tour Roger Daltry knocked out Keith Moon and was fired from The Who. The band were playing two shows in one night in Denmark, when an argument broke out between all four band members. Daltry was reinstated the following day.

1965: Queen Elizabeth II presents the Beatles with the Order of the British Empire, recommended by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who said later: "I saw the Beatles as having a transforming effect on the minds of youth, mostly for the good. It kept a lot of kids off the streets." The Beatles, who reportedly get high in a bathroom before the event, are said to be delighted, though many older and more conservative honorees return their honors in protest.

1967: Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.

1969: Legendary promoter Bill Graham opens the Fillmore West, a West Coast version of his popular New York "rock ballroom," in San Francisco.

1970: Motown announces that its newest singing sensation, the Jackson 5, have sold ten million records worldwide in just nine months.

1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and a young unknown singer who goes only by the name of Meat Loaf, opens in Westwood, CA. A film version of the popular off-Broadway musical hit, it is an instant flop nationwide, and is miraculously resuscitated some time later when audiences at the midnight showings in New York City begin to talk back to the screen, creating a cult phenomenon that lasts to this day.

1979: The Clash released their first U.S. single. It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."

1981: Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).

1984: Paul Anka is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd.

1988: "Talk Is Cheap" was released by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. It was his first solo album.

2002: Country artist Doug Supernaw is arrested outside a bar in Brenham, Texas, after fighting with five police officers. He's charged with public intoxication, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

2003: Robert Palmer, a heavy smoker, died in Paris, France, from a heart attack at the age of 54.

2012: Singer Andy Williams died after a long battle with bladder cancer at age 84.