July 3

Births

1878: George M. Cohan (Composer & Singer)

1940: Fontella Bass (R&B Singer)

1948: Paul Barrere (Guitar for Little Feat)

1949: Johnnie Wilder (Lead Vocals for Heatwave)

1951: Mike Corby (Guitar & Keyboards for The Babys)

1957: Laura Branigan (Pop Singer)

1958: Aaron Tippin (Country Singer)

1959: Stephen Pearcy (Singer for RATT)

1960: Vince Clarke (Keyboards for Depeche Mode, Erasure & Yazoo)

1969: Kevin Hearn (Keyboards & Guitar for Barenaked Ladies)

1975: Javier Weyler (Drummer for Stereophonics)

Events

1956: Returning to Memphis after his disastrous Steve Allen Show appearance, Elvis Presley meets Gene Vincent at Pennsylvania Station in New York and congratulates him on his success with the Elvis soundalike hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula."

1965: Marking the end of an era, TV singing cowboy Roy Rogers bids farewell to his trusty horse, Trigger, who passed away at the ripe old age of 33. The animal is stuffed and put in Rogers' museum.

1967: Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises, who are handling the Monkees' first UK tour, hold a party for the group at London's Speakeasy Club, featuring Beatles John, Paul and George along with their girlfriends/wives. Also in attendance: Dusty Springfield, The Who, Procol Harum, Manfred Mann, Lulu, and Eric Clapton.

1968: Joni Mitchell hosts a get-together for her musician friends at her home in Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon; there, guests David Crosby of the Byrds, Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash of the Hollies start up an informal jam session which leads directly to the formation of Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

1969: Guitarist Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol after taking a midnight swim in his pool, aged 27. His body was found at the bottom of the pool by his Swedish girlfriend Anna Wohlin. The coroner's report stated "Death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. He was one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones and in the early 60’s used the name "Elmo Lewis”.

1971: Jim Morrison (Singer for The Doors) was found dead in a Paris apartment bathtub. Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play.  Some think he had died of a heroin overdose, having insufflated what he believed to be cocaine. The official cause of dead was listed as a heart attack. He was 27 years old.

1972: Blues Singer & Guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell died of cancer at age 68.

1973: At the end of his Hammersmith Odeon concert with the Spiders From Mars, David Bowie announces the first of his many "retirements" from the stage.

1975: Three Dog Night suffers a fatal blow when singer and defacto leader Chuck Negron is arrested in his Louisville, KY hotel room for cocaine possession. The charges would later be dropped, but the resulting tension between the band members would help destroy the group.

1986: Teddy Pendergrass suffers another debilitating car crash when his handicap-accessible van hits a telephone pole in Philadelphia.

1986: U2 crew member Greg Carroll was killed in a motorcycle accident in Dublin while running an errand for Bono. The song 'One Tree Hill' on the bands Joshua Tree album is dedicated to Carroll.

1995: Scott Weiland (Singer for Stone Temple Pilots) pled innocent to drug charges.

2002: Elton John becomes the first performer to be granted an honorary Doctorate from England's Royal Academy of Music.

2002: The wife of Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne underwent an emergency operation after being diagnosed with cancer.

2003: Libertines singer Pete Doherty was arrested after breaking into band member Carl Barat’s flat and stealing a laptop computer and a guitar.

2004: David Crosby was fined $5,000 by a US court after admitting attempted criminal possession of a weapon. It followed his arrest in New York in March when a gun, knife and marijuana were found in his luggage.

2007: Pete Doherty escaped jail time after a judge decided to defer sentencing him for drugs offences on condition he went into rehab. Doherty pleaded guilty to possessing crack cocaine and heroin at West London Magistrates' Court. He was warned by Judge Davinder Lachhar that he would go into custody if he failed to take up a place he was offered on a detox programme.

2009: A half-century after his untimely demise, Los Angeles officially declares today Ritchie Valens Day.