October 17

Births

1941: Jim Seals (Singer in Seals and Crofts)

1942: Gary Puckett (Guitar & Vocals in Gary Puckett & The Union Gap)

1958: Alan Jackson (Country Singer)

1967: Allen West (Guitarist for Obituary & Cause of Death)

1968: Ziggy Marley (Singer in Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers)

1969: Wyclef Jean (Rapper in The Fugees & Solo)

1971: Chris Kirkpatrick (Singer in *NSYNC)

1972: Eminem (Marshall Mathers) (Rapper)

Events

1945: Ava Gardner marries her second husband, bandleader Artie Shaw.

1957: Elvis' third film, Jailhouse Rock, has its world premiere at the Loews State Theatre in Memphis, TN -- the same movie house where Elvis had his first job as an usher just five years earlier.

1960: Dion and the Belmonts' breakup becomes official when it is reported in Billboard magazine. Lead singer Dion DiMucci claims the group's not bluesy enough; the band claims Dion just wants a taste of solo fame.

1962: The Beatles make their very first television appearance anywhere when part of their afternoon show at the Cavern in Liverpool is broadcast live on Granada television's People And Places. The band performs two songs: "Some Other Guy" and "Love Me Do."

1967: Phil Spector, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart all guest star on tonight's "Jeannie, The Hip Hippie" episode of NBC-TV's I Dream of Jeannie.

1969: Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane was busted for marijuana possession in Honolulu and was fined $350.

1975: Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees marries his second wife, Yvonne Spencely.

1977: "Street Survivors" was released by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three days later vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines (Steve's sister) and road manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed when their plane crashed in Gillsburg, MS. The other four members of the band were seriously injured but survived the crash. The album cover with recalled because it had flames in the background of the band.

1981: One man is killed and another injured in an attempted burglary of Rolling Stones ticket offices in Maryland.

1995: Sting's former accountant Keith Moore was sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of embezzling $9.4 Million from the singer's 108 bank accounts.

1996: Drummer for Lush Chris Acland committed suicide by hanging himself in his parents' house in Burneside, Cumbria.

1999: Having been diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia, Johnny Cash is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville.

2000: At a charity auction organized by Mick Fleetwood in London, singer George Michael pays $2 ½ Million for the upright piano on which John Lennon wrote the 1971 hit "Imagine."

2001: Jay-Z was sentenced to three years probation after he pled guilty to misdemeanor assault charges for stabbing a record producer during a fight in a nightclub on December 1, 1999.

2005: Fats Domino returns to his Ninth Ward home for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to find it utterly destroyed, with his piano and several of his gold records among the ruined items.

2006: Tim McGraw receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His honor is located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Virgin Records store.

2007: The section of West Grand Blvd. in Detroit, MI, that once housed the Motown studios is officially renamed "Berry Gordy Jr. Boulevard."

2007: California claims singer and resident Dionne Warwick owes $2.67 million in unpaid taxes.

2008: Madonna and Guy Ritchie announced that their seven-year marriage was over because they had drifted apart.