October 31

Births

1952: Bernard Edwards (Bass for Chic)

1961: Larry Mullen (Drummer for U2)

1963: Johnny Marr (Guitarist for The Smiths, The The & Modest Mouse)

1963: Mikkey Dee (Drummer for Motorhead)

1964: Darryl Worley (Country Singer)

1964: Colm O'Ciosoig (Drummer for My Bloody Valentine)

1966: Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) (Rapper in The Beastie Boys)

1966: Annabella Lwin (Singer for Bow Wow Wow)

1967: Vanilla Ice (Robert Matthew Van Winkle) (Rapper)

1970: Rogers Stevens (Guitar for Blind Melon)

1981: Frank Iero (Rhythm Guitarist for My Chemical Romance)

2000: Willow Smith (Rapper?)

Events

1952: When his original guitarist has a stroke just before a New Year's Eve gig, popular St. Louis boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson hires for his group The Sir John's Trio a 26-year old hairdresser named Chuck Berry.

1963: The Beatles return from a tour of Sweden to find 50,000 screaming fans waiting for them at London's Heathrow Airport, the surest proof yet that Beatlemania is a national phenomenon. Waiting at the airport is American TV host Ed Sullivan, who notices the furor. "Who are those guys?" he asks a bystander, who tells him they are "England's foremost singing group." Having never heard them, Sullivan nevertheless immediately contacts manager Brian Epstein to book the band for three appearances on his CBS show early in 1964.

1964: Ray Charles is arrested at Boston's Logan Airport for possession of heroin, his third drug since 1958. The singer is ordered to rehab in order to avoid jail time.

1967: The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones is released on $1500 bail from Wormwood Scrubs prison in London after being charged with marijuana possession. Seven fans are arrested for demonstrating outside the prison gates.

1967: The Stooges make their live debut at a Detroit, MI, Halloween party.

1968: Paul McCartney's new girlfriend, Linda Eastman, moves into his London home.

1970: Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas marries actor Dennis Hopper, a marriage that is annulled seven days later.

1974: Members of Led Zeppelin launch their new artist-owned label, Swan Song, at the Chislehurst Caves in England, with the Pretty Things, Bill Wyman, and Groucho Marx -- not to mention several dozen naked models -- attending.

1976: Elvis Presley makes his last recording, singing Jim Reeves' "He'll Have To Go" over a pre-recorded backing track in the Jungle Room of his Graceland home.

1988: Singer Debbie Gibson held a seance at her Halloween party to contact the spirits of Liberace and Sid Vicious.

1989: The very first MTV unplugged show was recorded in New York, featuring UK band Squeeze, the program was aired on 26th Nov 1989.

1990: During a gig in Seattle, Washington, Billy Idol dumped 600 dead fish in Faith No More's dressing room. They responded by walking on stage, naked during Idol's set.

1993: Tupac Shakur was arrested for allegedly shooting two off-duty Atlanta policemen.

1995: James Brown is charged with assault at his home in Aiken, SC, after allegedly striking his wife Adrienne with a mirror.

1996: Slash announced he was no longer in Guns N' Roses. The guitarist said that Axl Rose and he had only been civil to each other on two occasions since 1994.

2005: The Isley Brothers' Ron Isley is sentenced to 26 years in federal prison on tax evasion charges.

2005: The white suit John Lennon wore on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road sells at a Las Vegas Amnesty International charity auction for $118,000.