Births
1908: Lionel Hampton (Jazz Vibraphonist)
1923: Tito Puente (Salsa Artist)
1945: Jimmy Winston (Keyboards for The Small Faces)
1948: Craig Frost (Keyboards for Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band & Grand Funk Railroad)
1951: Luther Vandross (R&B Singer)
1967: Mike Portnoy (Drummer for Dream Theater)
1971: Mikey Welsh (Bass for Weezer)
1972: Stephen Marley (Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers)
1972: Carmen Electra (Singer)
Events
1949: Phil Spector's father, Benjamin, commits suicide over mounting debt, prompting Phil Spector to write "To Know Him Is To Love Him" a decade later for the Teddy Bears (the title being inspired by the legend on Benjamin's headstone).
1957: Elvis Presley started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'All Shook Up.' It went on to be the biggest single of 1957 selling over 2 million copies.
1959: Dolly Parton's first single, "Puppy Love," was released. She was 13 at the time.
1963: Ricky Nelson marries his first wife, Kris Harmon, daughter of college football legend Tom Harmon and brother of actor Mark Harmon, in Los Angeles. A pregnant Kris gives birth to daughter Tracy only six months later. The couple divorce in 1982.
1968: Deep Purple make their stage debut at the Vestpoppen, in Kastrup, Denmark.
1968: Apple Music, the Beatles' new label, runs their famous "This Man Has Talent" ads in Britain's New Musical Express, seeking demo tapes from unknown artists. Most are never heard but pile up in Apple's offices, and the majority of the label's signings are acquired through more conventional means.
1969: Papa Zita (The Funk Brothers) died of a stroke at the age of 43.
1970: The New York Times reports that Catholic and Protestant youth groups are adopting the Beatles' "yellow submarine" image, from the song and movie of the same name, as a symbol of their faith.
1976: At tonight's Monty Python concert, held in New York, George Harrison joins the lads onstage, replete with mountie outfit, for a rousing rendition of their "Lumberjack Song."
1979: Lighting director Billy Duffy was killed in an accident during a Kate Bush concert in Southampton, England. 21-year old Duffy fell twenty feet through an open trap door on the stage. Kate Bush held a benefit concert on 12th May with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at London's Hammersmith Odeon for his family.
1981: John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas is sentenced to five years for helping a Los Angeles-area pharmacist sell fake prescriptions, as well as drug possession. His sentence will be reduced to one month, however, after he agrees to perform 250 hours of community service in the form of anti-drug lectures.
1987: Ozzy Osbourne released the album "Tribute." It was a live album recorded with Randy Rhoads. Rhoads had died in 1982.
1987: Rhode Island police arrest a teen accused of biting the head off a gerbil in tribute to his hero, Ozzy Osbourne.
1987: A record store in Callaway, Florida was forced to closed down and a part-time clerk was arrested after selling a copy of '2 Live Is What We Are' by 2 Live Crew to a 14 year old boy. Officials had deemed the recording "obscene" because of its pornographic lyrics.
1990: Janet Jackson was bestowed with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at the start of 'Janet Jackson week' in Los Angeles.
1991: Steve Marriott (Guitarist for The Small Faces & Humble Pie) died in a fire supposedly lit by his cigarette after he fell in a deep drunken sleep at age 44.
1991: John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival marries his second wife, Julie Lebiedzinksi, in Bristol, IN. The two are still married.
1992: 'A Concert For Life' took place at Wembley Stadium as a tribute to Queen singer Freddie Mercury and for aids awareness. Acts appearing included; Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), David Bowie, Mick Ronson, James Hetfield, George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Robert Plant, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen, Axl Rose and Slash.
1992: Madonna signed a deal with Time Warner to set up a multimedia company (Maverick Records). The deal reportedly made Madonna the highest paid woman in pop music.
1993: Aerosmith released the album ‘Get a Grip’, which became their first album to debut at No.1. It went on to sell 7 million copies in a 2-year timespan in the United States alone and sold 20 million copies worldwide as well as winning the band two Grammy awards.
1993: Shania Twain released her self-titled debut album.
1994: Barbra Streisand begins her first tour since 1966, performing in London.
1997: Michael Jackson attended an unveiling of a wax statue of himself at the Grevin Museum of Wax in Paris, France. Jackson provided one of his own outfits to dress the figure.
1999: At tonight's concert at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, Billy Joel announces his retirement from touring and recording pop music. (He eventually returns to the stage.)
1999: Rapper Ma$e announces his retirement from the music industry in an interview with Funkmaster Flex on New York’s Hot 97FM, citing religious reasons.
2002: In the dispute over who owned the rights to Nirvana's recordings former members Dave Grohl and Kirst Novoselic asked a Seattle Court to prove that Courtney Love was mentally stable. They told the court that Love was 'irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable.' They also claimed a contract was invalid because Love was 'stoned' at the time.
2006: Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty was arrested in east London on suspicion of drugs possession only hours after a court appearance. Doherty had earlier admitted to seven charges of possessing drugs when he appeared before magistrates in east London. He was given a community order with two years supervision and 18 months drug rehabilitation and was also banned from driving for six months.
2011: K.K. Downing, a founding member and principal guitarist of the legendary Metal band Judas Priest, confirmed that he was quitting after 42 years of metal mayhem.
