June 30

Births

1917: Lena Horne (Jazz Singer)

1943: Florence Ballard (Vocals for The Supremes)

1944: Glenn Shorrock (Vocals for Little River Band)

1949: Andrew Scott (Guitarist for Sweet)

1951: Stanley Clarke (Jazz Bass player in Return To Forever & Solo)

1953: Hal Lindes (Guitar for Dire Straits)

1957: Doug Sampson (Drummer for Iron Maiden)

1963: Yngwie J. Malmsteen (Metal Guitarist)

1968: Philip Anselmo (Vocals for Pantera & Down)

1979: Matisyahu (Matthew Miller) (Reggae Artist)

1981: Andy Knowles (Drummer for Franz Ferdinand)

1982: Dan Jacobs (Guitar for Atreyu)

1984: Fantasia Barrino (Singer & American Idol winner)

Events

1939: Frank Sinatra made his first appearance with Harry James’ band.

1966: The Beatles played the first of three concerts at the Nippon Budokan Hall, Japan. The concert was filmed with The Beatles wearing black suits. The following day's first performance was also filmed; with The Beatles wearing white suits. There was a strict police presence with 3,000 police observing each concert played in front of 10,000 fans.

1966: The Supremes made the studio recording of "You Keep Me Hangin' On."

1975: Cher married Greg Allman four days after her divorcing Sonny Bono, the couple split after ten days, followed by a three year on and off marriage.

1975: The Jackson Five announced that they were leaving Motown Records for Epic Records. The brothers were forced to change their name to The Jacksons since Motown owned the other name.

1976: Police raided the home of Neil Diamond searching for drugs, they found less than one ounce of marijuana.

1976: Stuart Goddard (Adam Ant) placed the following ad in the classified section of the Melody Maker, 'Beat on a bass, with the B-Sides.' Andy Warren answered the ad and the pair went on to form Adam and The Ants.

1977: Marvel Comics launched a comic book based on the rock group Kiss using their own blood mixed in with the ink.

1978: United Artists released The Buzzcocks single 'Love You More', at 1 minute 29 seconds it was the second shortest single ever released. Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs 1960 hit 'Stay' was the shortest hit at one minute 28 seconds.

1978: The Sex Pistols' "My Way" was released.

1983: The Everly Brothers announced plans for a reunion tour, ten years after they had split up.

1989: Police were called in to control over 4,000 Bobby Brown fans trying to see him at the HMV Record store in London's Oxford Street, six fans were hospitalized and one had to be given the kiss of life.

1989: The Stone Roses played at Leeds Polytechnic in England. The gig almost didn't take place after a security man wouldn't let singer Ian Brown into the gig.

1990: Police raided Chuck Berry's estate and seized homemade porn videos, drugs and guns.

1995: American soul singer Phyllis Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York City apartment aged 45. She was found hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo Theatre, in New York.

1995: Garth Brooks was given a star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame. The Country singer buried the master tapes of his 'Hits' album under the star.

2000: Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones) checked into a rehabilitation clinic in London to be treated for alcohol abuse.

2001: American guitarist and producer Chet Atkins died in Nashville aged 77. Recorded over 100 albums during his career, produced records for Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves and Waylon Jennings. Was a major influence on George Harrison and Mark Knopfler.

2001: Beach Boys member Al Jardine went to court in a bid to sue his former band mates, claiming he had been frozen out of the Beach Boys. The $4 million suit was filed against Mike Love, Brian Wilson, the Carl Wilson Trust and Brother Records Incorporated in a New York Superior Court. In 1998 a US judge temporarily barred Jardine from performing under the name “Beach Boys Family And Friends” after representations from Mike Love and Brother Records. Jardine lost the case in 2003.

2004: Kinks founder member Dave Davies was left paralyzed on the right-hand side of his body after suffering a stroke. The 57-year-old guitarist and brother of fellow Kinks star Ray Davies had been promoting his solo material when he collapsed.

2004: Pete Doherty was kicked out of from The Libertines due to his well known addiction problems specifically with crack cocaine and heroin.

2005: Nick Carter from The Backstreet Boys was fined $1,200 after admitting to drunk-driving in California. The 25-year-old singer was also put on probation for three years, ordered to attend an alcohol education course and banned from driving for 90 days. 

June 26

Births

1909: Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis Manager)

1938: Billy Davis Jr. (Singer for 5th Dimension & Solo)

1943: Jean Knight (R&B Singer)

1955: Mick Jones (Guitar & Vocals for The Clash)

1955: Ivan Julian (Guitarist for Richard Hell And The Voidoids)

1956: Chris Isaak (Singer & Guitar)

1957: Patty Smyth (Singer for Scandal & Solo)

1961: Terri Nunn (Vocals for Berlin)

1963: Harriet Wheeler (Vocals for The Sundays)

1969: Colin Greenwood (Bass for Radiohead)

1973: Gretchen Wilson (Country Singer)

1979: Nathan Followill (Drums for Kings Of Leon)

Events

1954: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls a young singer named Elvis Presley, who had recorded a few songs there earlier in the year, and asks him to record two songs, "Without You" and "Rag Mop." He sings the first, attempting to match a demo made by an unknown person hanging around the studio, but it proves too much for him, and, according to Dave Marsh's book Elvis, beats the walls of the studio, repeatedly shouting "I hate him! I hate him!" The singer whom Elvis could not match is lost to history. Phillips mollifies the young Elvis by asking him to sing something else, and Presley impresses him anyway, to the point that he makes plans to set the singer up with musicians for a future date.

1955: Decca Records, home to Bill Haley and His Comets, announces that the group has sold three million records in the past year, due mostly to "Rock Around The Clock" and "Shake, Rattle And Roll."

1956: Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown is killed in a car crash at age 25.

1961: The Marcels make their US television debut, performing "Blue Moon" on ABC-TV's American Bandstand.

1963: After a Beatles performance at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, John Lennon and Paul McCartney write "She Loves You" in their hotel room, originally an answer song of sorts to the Bobby Rydell hit "Forget Him."

1965: The Byrds went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man'. Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, the drummer Hal Blaine played on the track also played on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.

1971: WNEW-FM in New York becomes the first radio station to play Don McLean's new single, "American Pie," which it features in its 8:36 entirety.

1973: Model and singer Marsha Hunt, inspiration for the Rolling Stones song "Brown Sugar," names Mick Jagger in a paternity suit, claiming the singer fathered her two-year-old daughter Karis. That same day, Stones guitarist Keith Richards is busted, along with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, in his Chelsea home for possession of heroin, illegal pharmaceuticals, guns, and ammo.

1974: Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.

1977: Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant.

1979: Elton John Drummer Nigel Olsson runs a stop sign, crashes and kills a driver.

1982: Roxy Music leader Bryan Ferry marries his first wife, model Lucy Helmore. The same day, Marie Osmond marries her first husband, Brigham Young University basketball player Steve Craig.

1986: James Hetfield (Metallica) broke his wrist while trying to skateboard down a hill. One show was cancelled and the remainder of dates on the tour James was on vocals only and John Marshall (later with Metal Church) was on guitar.

1993: Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers marries his first wife, R&B singer Angela Winbush.

2000: Britney Spears hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana announced that a new museum, due to open early next year, would include a section including fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singers clothing.

2008: Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ as the world's worst cover version ever, the magazines editor Stephen Lawson said Dion's cover was "sacrilege". In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ The Beatles' rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’, (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N' Roses version of the Wings song ‘Live and Let Die’.

2011:  Johnny Depp joined Alice Cooper on stage at the 100 Club in London to play guitar on “18”, “Another Brick In The Wall” and “School’s Out”.

June 25

Births

1937: Eddie Floyd (R&B Singer)

1939: Harold Melvin (Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes)

1940: Clint Warwick (Bass for The Moody Blues)

1945: Carly Simon (Rock Singer)

1946: Ian McDonald (Sax for King Crimson & Foreigner)

1946: Allen Lanier (Keyboards & Guitar for Blue Oyster Cult)

1952: Tim Finn (Singer & Songwriter for Split Enz & Crowded House)

1954: David Paich (Keyboards for Toto)

1963: George Michael (Singer for Wham and Solo)

1968: Candyman (Candell Manson) (Rapper)

1972: Mike Kroeger (Bass for Nickelback)

Events

1957: In response to several successful concerts and dance contests, Egypt bans rock and roll from public places and from being mentioned in the press, deeming it "an imperialist plot" and citing it as a prime example of "Western degeneracy."

1964: The British Invasion gets a taste of its own medicine when Roy Orbison becomes the first American to hit #1 in the UK in 47 weeks, scoring with his single "It's Over."

1966:  R&B singer Jackie Wilson was arrested for inciting a riot and refusing to obey a police order at a nightclub in Port Arthur, Texas. Wilson had a crowd of 400 whipped into a frenzy and refused to stop singing when requested to do so by police. He was later convicted of drunkenness and fined $30.

1966: Neil Diamond makes his television debut, singing his hit "Solitary Man" on today's broadcast of ABC's American Bandstand.

1967: The world's first worldwide satellite broadcast entitled Our World, which features performances from all over the globe, airs the live English portion of the program, as the Beatles introduce their new single, a message of hope from John Lennon entitled "All You Need Is Love." Broadcast live around the world from the Abbey Road Studios in London, it features the band singing and playing along to a pre-recorded track, joined in the studio by guests Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richard, Keith Moon, Eric Clapton, George's wife Pattie, Paul's fiance Jane Asher and his brother Mike, Graham Nash and his wife, and others. 200 Million tuned in to watch the program.

1967: During a north American tour, The Jimi Hendrix Experience gave a free afternoon concert in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. They then played another two shows that evening at the Fillmore West.

1969: The Hollies recorded 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother'. Elton John played piano on the session.

1970: The band Whole Oats, a duo consisting of Philadelphians Daryl Hall and John Oates, goes into the studio to record their first demos.

1980: Billy Joel becomes the first rock act to perform before 100,000 fans at Madison Square Garden.

1984: Bruce Springsteen takes on a new backup singer named Patti Scialfa, who will eventually become his second wife after their affair leads to the breakup of his first marriage to model and actress Julianne Phillips. Nine years later to the day, he becomes the last musical guest on the NBC-TV show Late Night With David Letterman.

1984: The soundtrack "Purple Rain" was released five weeks ahead of the film.

1986: Jenifer Strait, the 13-year-old daughter of George Strait, dies in an auto accident when the car, driven by a teenage friend, rolls over during a left turn in San Marcos, Texas.

1987: Reba McEntire files for divorce from Charlie Battles, four days after their 11th anniversary.

1988: Singer Jimmy Soul died of a heart attack at 45.

1988: Hillel Slovak, original guitarist and founding member of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, died from a heroin overdose shortly after the band returned from a European tour. Slovak recorded two albums with the band, Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

1992: Billy Joel got his high school diploma. He had overslept and missed English and Gym finals 25 years before

1994: Five people attending this years UK Glastonbury Festival were shot and injured when a lone madman pulled a gun and started shooting into the crowd.

1995: Pearl Jam canceled their tour because of an ongoing feud with Ticketmaster.

1997: Jamaica issues a warrant for singer Sade, who fails to report to court on charges of failure to obey a cop who signaled her to stop.

2003: Boston's mastermind, Tom Scholz, sues his record label for failure to promote the band's latest comeback album, ironically entitled Corporate America.

2003: The Recording Industry Association of America disclosed its plans to fight Internet piracy. The plan was to sue hundreds of individual computer users who illegally share music files online. The process was planned to begin the next day.

2004: Rapper DMX was arrested on charges that he and another man tried to steal a car from New York's Kennedy airport. DMX - real name is Earl Simmons - and Jackie Hudgins were held after the city's Port Authority police interrupted a dispute. The pair were arrested on charges of attempted robbery, criminal impersonation and criminal mischief. A spokesman said a preliminary investigation indicated that Mr Simmons may have identified himself as a federal agent.

2006: Nicole Kidman married her country singer boyfriend Keith Urban at ceremony in Sydney, Australia. X-Men actor Hugh Jackman, media magnate Rupert Murdoch and actress Naomi Watts were among the guests at the service.

2009: Michael Jackson died at age 50 of acute propofol intoxication after he suffered cardiac arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.