April 19

Birthdays

1927: Don Barbour (The Four Freshmen)

1928: Alexis Korner (Blues Artist)

1936: Ruby Johnson (R&B Singer)

1942: Alan Price (Keyboards in The Animals)

1942: Larry Ramos, Jr. (The Association)

1943: Eve Graham (Vocals in The New Seekers)

1944: Bernie Worrell (Keyboards for Parliament & Funkadelic)

1946: Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show)

1947: Mark Volman (Vocals for The Turtles)

1966: Suge Knight (Producer)

Events

1924: The first national country radio show in the US, The Chicago Barn Dance, debuts on WLS radio. (Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry wouldn't hit the airwaves for another year.)

1956: Drifters singer Clyde McPhatter receives his discharge from the US Army, leading him to immediately leave the group for a solo career.

1962: In another big step forward for soul, Jackie Wilson begins a headlining stint at New York's famous Copacabana Club.

1965: The Beatles release the single "Ticket To Ride" stated that the song was from the upcoming movie "Eight Arms to Hold You" (the original name for the movie "Help!").

1967: The Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years.

1968: With Ringo having left much earlier due to the vegetarian diet, and Paul having left to supervise the launch of Apple, John and George are the last two Beatles to leave the Maharishi Maheshi Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, India, where they had been studying his practices of meditation and yoga. Lennon in particular believes the stories of band associate Alex Mardas, who claims the Maharishi is only interested in the Beatles' money and, although claiming to be celibate, has been making sexual advances at the group's traveling companion, actress Mia Farrow. When the guru asks why everyone is leaving, John shoots back "You're the cosmic one, you should know." When back in London, he writes a song about the incident, entitled "Maharishi" but later changed to "Sexy Sadie."

1978: Patti Smith releases the single "Because The Night".

1979 : David Lee Roth collapsed from exhaustion during a Van Halen show in Spokane, WA.

1980: 32 year old English singer with Geordie Brian Johnson joined Australian group AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott who died after a drinks binge.

1980: R.E.M. played their first gig as R.E.M. at the 11:11 Koffee Club, Athens, Georgia to 150 people. The show ended at 2am when police closed it down due to the venue being unlicensed.

1982: Flush from the success of their recent Central Park concert, Simon and Garfunkel mount their first tour since their breakup, a swing through Europe that sadly falls apart before it can get to the US. The split is so dramatic this time around that Simon wipes all of Garfunkel's contributions to the pair's latest album, Hearts And Bones, and releases it as a solo album instead.

1986: Prince started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Kiss.' Prince also had the No.2 song 'Manic Monday', by The Bangles, which he wrote under the pseudonym 'Christopher.'

1988: Sonny Bono is inaugurated as mayor of Palm Springs, CA.

1990: The TV docudrama Summer Dreams: The History Of The Beach Boys, airs on ABC.

1995: The Stone Roses played their first gig in five years when the appeared at The Rockerfella Club, Oslo, Norway.

1998: Andrea Bocelli performed for Bill and Hillary Clinton with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

2002: Police were investigating how tracks from the forthcoming Oasis album 'Heathen Chemistry' had been illegally circulated on the Internet. They thought the person responsible had access to their private recording sessions.

2002: Layne Staley's accountants contacted Staley's mother Nancy McCallum and informed her that no money had been withdrawn from the singer's bank account in two weeks. McCallum then placed a call with 911 to say "she hadn't heard from Layne in about two weeks."  The police went with McCallum and her husband to Staley's home, where Staley was found dead.   As reported by Rick Anderson of the Seattle Weekly, his body was surrounded, needle in arm, by various drug possessions and paraphernalia.

2003: Alt-rock heroes The White Stripes join Loretta Lynn during a concert in New York to join her on her hits "Fist City," ""Rated X," and "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man."

2005: Elvis Presley Enterprises announces that for the first time it will air TV commercials to lure visitors to the refurbished Graceland mansion where he spent his days.

2010: Ringo Starr comments on the Vatican's recent "apology" for its part in the 1966 "Bigger Than Jesus" scandal, saying, "Didn't the Vatican say we were Satanic or possibly Satanic? And they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles."

April 18

Birthdays

1882: Leopold Strokowski (Conductor)

1918: Tony Mottola (Jazz Guitarist)

1924: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (Blues Guitarist)

1936: Lennie Baker (Sax for Sha Na Na)

1938: Hal Galper (Jazz Pianist)

1939: Glen Hardin (Piano for The Crickets)

1942: Mike Vickers (Guitar for Manfred Mann)

1944: Skip Spence (Moby Grape & Jefferson Airplane)

1958: Les Pattinson (Bass for Echo And The Bunnymen)

1964: Mark 'Bez' Berry (Happy Mondays)

1970: Greg Eklund (Drums for Everclear)

1974: Mark Tremonti (Guitar for Creed)

Events

1936: Gene Autry, "Back In The Saddle Again"

1957: Buddy Knox is inducted into the Army Reserve, leading his record label to rush him into the studio to record no less than twenty followups to his hit "Party Doll." None make the charts.

1963: Backstage at a Royal Albert Hall performance in London for the radio show Swingin' Sound '63, the Beatles' Paul McCartney meets an actress and TV personality named Jane Asher.

1964: The Beatles appeared on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show, playing ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and also participate in comedy sketches with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The Beatles also held the UK and US No.1 position on this day with 'Can't Buy Me Love'.

1969: Lulu marries Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees at St. James' Church, Buckinghamshire, England, a marriage that will last four years. 3,000 fans attend, as do John Lennon's wife, Cynthia, and producer Mickie Most.

1970: While on stage with Led Zeppelin in Phoenix, lead singer Robert Plant collapses from "exhaustion."

1970: Steel Mill, (featuring Bruce Springsteen) played in the Main Gym at Ocean County College in New Jersey. Tickets cost $2.00.

1971: The Diana Ross television musical special Diana, featuring guest stars Jackson 5, Bill Cosby, and Danny Thomas, airs on ABC.

1975: The Alice Cooper television special Welcome To My Nightmare airs on ABC.

1975: An entire crowd of Bay City Rollers fans attempt to swim across a nearby lake to meet the band at a BBC Radio-sponsored event in Mallory Park racetrack, Leicestershire, England. 39 fans are brought to the hospital, four of whom are admitted.

1981: Yes bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White begin rehearsals with the remaining members of Led Zeppelin, leading to rumors of the death of Yes and the beginning of a new band dubbed XYZ (Ex-Yes and Zeppelin). The rumored band never materializes, and Yes reforms under their old name for the hit 1983 album 90125.

1984; Michael Jackson underwent surgery in a Los Angeles hospital to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1985: Liberace breaks his own record at Radio City Music Hall, pulling in two million dollars for his latest engagement.

1985: Wham! Became the first-ever Western pop act to have an album released in China.

1987: Aretha Franklin scores a #1 US hit with "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me," a duet with George Michael of Wham! Her first Number One in 19 years and ten months, it breaks the record for the longest span between #1 hits.

1988: The accused murderer of reggae legend Peter Tosh, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, goes on trial in Jamaica.

1988: Legendary Motown songwriters Holland/Dozier/Holland are inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

1995: Oasis drummer Tony McCarrol was told by phone that he was being sacked from the group. McCarrol sued the Manchester group for millions in unpaid royalties and in 1996 Oasis agreed to pay him a one-off sum of $935,000.

1996:  Nile Rodgers was named JT Superproducer of the Year in Japan, and was invited to perform there with Chic in April of that year. Just before the concert at the Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Bernard Edwards fell ill, but despite Rodgers' insistence, he refused to cancel the gig. He managed to perform but had to be helped at times. After the concert he retired to his hotel room where he was later found dead by Rodgers. The cause of death was ruled to be pneumonia.

2003: Etta James received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2005: Reebok pulled a UK TV ad featuring 50 Cent after a mother whose son was shot dead complained it glamorised gun crime. Lucy Cope, from London went to the Advertising Standards Authority about the campaign featuring the US rapper. The ASA had been investigating 54 other complaints from viewers over a reference to the rapper having been shot nine times.

2009: The Black Eyes Peas started a 12 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Boom Boom Pow’. The single was knocked off the No.1 position by the bands next single ‘I Gotta Feeling’.

April 17

Birthdays

1934:  Don Kirshner (Music Producer)

1943:  Roy Estrada (Bass for Frank Zappa band)

1948:  Jan Hammer (Keyboard for Mahavishnu Orchestra)

1954:  Michael Sembello (Guitarist & Singer)

1955:  Pete Shelley (Guitar & Vocals for The Buzzcocks)

1964:  Maynard James Keenan (Singer for Tool, A Perfect Circle)

1967:  Matt Chamberlain (Session drummer)

1967:  Liz Phair (Singer & Guitarist)

1970:  Redman (Rapper)

1974:  Victoria Adams (Posh Spice in The Spice Girls)

Events

1960: Touring in the UK, 21-year-old US singer Eddie Cochran was killed when the taxi he was traveling in crashed into a lamppost on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, (where a plaque now commemorates the event). Songwriter Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Cochran's current hit at the time was 'Three Steps to Heaven'. The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined $100, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sent to prison for six months.

1964: The FBI lab reported that it could not determine the lyrics to "Louie Louie."

1964: Them (Van Morrison’s First Band) made their first concert appearance.

1965: Paul McCartney spent the day shopping for furniture in Portobello Road, London disguised in a cloth cap, moustache, glasses and overcoat.

1969: The Band played its first concert as an independent group.

1970: Johnny Cash played at the White House for President Nixon, who requested that he played 'A Boy Named Sue.'

1970: Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released.

1971: All four Beatles had solo singles in the UK charts, Paul McCartney with 'Another Day', John Lennon, 'Power To The People', George Harrison, 'My Sweet Lord' and Ringo Starr, 'It Don't Come Easy.'

1971: Three Dog Night started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Joy To The World'. The group's second US No.1.

1972: Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) Girlfriend Anita Pallenberg gave birth to their second child, daughter Dandelion.

1973: Pink Floyd's album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' went gold in the US. The LP went on to stay in the US chart for more than ten years and become the longest charting rock record of all time.

1973: Tito and John Jackson from The Jackson Five were arrested for buying stolen TV and stereo equipment.

1974: Vinnie Taylor (guitarist with US rock 'n roll revival band Sha Na Na) was found dead in a Holiday Inn hotel room in Charlottesville, Virginia from a drug overdose.

1975: Elvis Presley bought a Convair 880 Jet formally owned by Delta Airlines for $250,000, which he re-christened Lisa Marie. Presley spent a further $600,000 refurbishing the Jet to include personal quarters, a meeting area and a dance floor.

1983: Felix Pappalardi, producer and bass player with American rock band Mountain was shot dead by his wife Gail Collins during a jealous rage. Collins was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years in prison.

1987: Reggae drummer and percussion player Carlton Barrett of The Wailers was shot dead outside his house in Kingston, Jamaica. He Joined Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1970, wrote the Marley song ‘War.’ Barrett was the originator of the one-drop rhythm, a percussive drumming style.

1991: Nirvana appeared at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, where they played a new song, ‘Smell’s Like Teen Spirit’ live for the first time.

1993: Former Bangles leader Susanna Hoffs married screenwriter M. Jay Roach in Los Angeles.

1998: Linda McCartney died after a long battle against cancer. She Married Paul McCartney in 1969 when she was working as a photographer.

2002: Music weekly The NME published a list of the 50 most influential icons. At No.10, Public Enemy, 9, U2, 8, The Jam, 7, Radiohead, 6, Oasis, 5, The Sex Pistols, 4, David Bowie, 3, The Stone Roses, 2, The Beatles and No.1 The Smiths.

2003: Earl King the New Orleans Blues guitarist died aged 69.

2004: Kurt Cobain's Mark IV-style Mosrite Gospel guitar sold for $100,000 at the Icons of 20th Century Music auction held in Dallas, Texas. Other items sold included Elton John and Bernie Taupin's song writing piano which sold for $140,000 and a 1966 Rickenbacker guitar owned by The Byrds Roger McGuinn's sold for $99,000.

2007: Bryan Ferry was forced to make an apology after praising Nazi iconography in a German magazine. Talking to Welt am Sonntag, he said the Nazis "knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves...I'm talking about the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and the mass marches and the flags. Just amazing - really beautiful." British MPs asked shoppers to think twice about shopping in Marks and Spencer asking for Ferry to be dropped as the face of the M&S Autograph menswear collection. Ferry said he was "deeply upset" by the publicity surrounding the interview.

2008: Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen and a member of The E Street Band, died of cancer at the age of 58. Federici had worked with Springsteen for over 40 years, starting with Steel Mill and Child with Springsteen.

2009: Morrissey walked off stage during his set at the Coachella festival in California after declaring he could "smell burning flesh". The committed vegetarian took offence to the smell coming from nearby barbecues. Sir Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure also appeared at the event.

April 16

Birthdays

1924: Henry Mancini (Composer)

1924: Rudy Pompilli (Saxophone for Bill Haley and His Comets)

1929: Roy Hamilton (R&B Singer)

1930: Herbie Mann (Jazz Flutist)

1935: Bobby Vinton (Singer)

1939: Dusty Springfield (Singer)

1943: Lonesome Dave Peverett (Guitar & Singer for Foghat)

1947: Gerry Rafferty (Singer)

1951: John Bentley (Bass for Squeeze)

1956: Paul Buchanan (The Blue Nile)

1959: Stephen Singleton (ABC)

1963: Jimmy Osmond (The Osmonds)

1964: Dave Pirner (Vocals & Guitar for Soul Asylum)

1969: Sean Cook (Bass for Spiritualized)

1971: Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (best known as Singer Selena)

Events

1955: A young Roy Orbison sees Elvis for the first time, performing at the Sportatorium in Dallas, TX.

1956: Buddy Holly's first single 'Blue Days, Black Nights', was released.

1964: The Rolling Stones released their first Album “The Rolling Stones” in the UK.  It charted for 40 weeks, 11 weeks at #1.

1964: The Beatles filmed the "chase scenes" for A Hard Days Night with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. In the evening they recorded the title track for the film, ‘A Hard Day's Night’ at Abbey Road. John and Paul had the title first, and had to write a song to order, completing the track in nine takes.

1965: The Hollies make their US stage debut at New York's Paramount Theatre.

1969: The Elektra label drops Detroit's MC5 from their roster after an infamous ad in a local music zine, replete with Elektra logo, advised buyers to "Stay alive with the MC5 -- and f*** Hudson's." Hudson's was a Michigan record chain that had refused to stock the band's latest album Kick Out The Jams, due to the lyric "Kick out the jams, m************!"

1972: Electric Light Orchestra make their live debut at Croydon, England's Fox and Greyhound pub.

1973: Paul McCartney's first television special, James Paul McCartney, airs on ABC, featuring a few Beatles songs, new Wings tracks, sketches, and a final performance of a song called "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance," originally written for Twiggy.

1974: Queen make their US live debut at Regis College in Denver, CO.

1976: Boz Scaggs goes to visit friend Bobby "Blue" Bland backstage at the famed Antone's in Austin, TX, and is beaten unconscious by two bouncers.

1977: Stevie Wonder becomes the proud father of his second child, son Kieta, by Yolanda Simmons.

1977: David Soul one half of TV cop show "Starsky & Hutch", went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Don't Give Up On Us', his only US hit.

1990: Neil Young, Natalie Cole, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Tracy Chapman, Simple Minds, and more take part in the concert Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa, an "international reception" for the famed civil-rights leader, who had just been released from a 27-year prison sentence.

1993: David Lee Roth was arrested in New York's Washington Square Park for allegedly buying a $10 bag of marijuana.

1993: Paul McCartney headlined a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate 'Earth Day' along with Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Steve Miller. McCartney had last performed there as a member of the Beatles in 1965.

1993: Billy Burnette announced that he was leaving Fleetwood Mac to concentrate on recording country music.

1994: Prince had his first UK No.1 with 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World', (his 37th single release). It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol.

1994: Singer Harry Connick Jr weds model Jill Goodare.

1995: Bob Seger becomes the proud parent of his second child, daughter Samantha Char, by his second wife, Annette Sinclair.

1996: At tonight's Grammy Awards ceremonies in New York, KISS, back again in full makeup, announce their reunion and upcoming tour, the first time all four original members have taken the stage together since 1981.

1996: Judy Collins marries her second husband, designer Louis Nelson.

1997: Elton John is awarded an honorary membership to his old alma mater, Britain's Royal Academy of Music.

1997: R&B Singer Mark Morrison was convicted with threatening a police officer with an illegal 23,000-volt electric stun gun. The singer left Maryebone Magistrates' Court in tears after being warned he was likely to be sent to prison.

1999: Skip Spence (Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape) died in 1999 from lung cancer, two days before his 53rd birthday. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism.

2002 : Sony Music Entertainment filed a complaint against the Dixie Chicks for breach of contract.

2003: After suffering a stroke in his Manhattan apartment, Luther Vandross is admitted to a local hospital.

2003: Jerry Lee Lewis files for divorce from his sixth wife, former Jerry Lee Lewis fan club president Kerrie McCarver.

2008: Barbra Streisand donates $5 million to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for a women's heart education and research program.

April 15

Birthdays

1894: Bessie Smith (Singer)

1918: Eddy Arnold (Country Singer)

1933: Roy Clark (Country Singer & Guitarist)

1937: Bob Luman (Rockabilly Singer)

1940: Clarence Satchell (Drummer for The Ohio Players)

1942: Allan Clark (The Hollies)

1944: Dave Edmunds (Guitarist)

1965: Oscar Harrison (Drums for Ocean Colour Scene)

1965: Linda Perry (Singer for 4 Non Blondes)

1966: Samantha Fox (Singer)

1967: Frankie Poullian (Bass for The Darkness)

1968: Edward John O'Brien (Guitarist for Radiohead)

1980: Patrick Carney (Drummer for The Black Keys)

Events

1956: Mitch Miller and DJ Alan Freed appear, along with two psychiatrists, on Eric Sevareid's television program CBS Sunday News to discuss the "potentially negative effects of Rock 'n' Roll on teenagers."

1958: Buddy Holly has his guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, stolen from the Crickets' station wagon while the group stops to have lunch before a concert in St. Louis, MO.

1960: Dick Clark's movie Because They're Young, a friendlier Blackboard Jungle of sorts with appearances by James Darren and Duane Eddy, premieres in New York.

1964: After a long day of filming for their first movie, which is still titled Beatlemania!, The Beatles relax as Ringo Starr declares, oddly, that it's been "a hard day's night." John immediately begins writing the song of the same name on the back of an old greeting card; it will eventually become the title track for the film.

1966: Buffalo Springfield make their live debut, opening for the Byrds at the Orange County Showgrounds in San Bernardino, CA.

1966: The Rolling Stones release the Album “Aftermath”.

1966: The Beatles recorded "Paperback Writer”.

1968: Aretha Franklin recorded "Think".

1971: The Illinois Crime Commission releases a list of "drug-oriented rock records" that include Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," but also, for some reason, The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and "Puff The Magic Dragon," by Peter, Paul and Mary.

1971: At tonight's Oscar ceremonies in Los Angeles, The Beatles are awarded their one and only statuette, in the category of Original Song Score, for the title track to the film Let It Be.

1972: Roberta Flack started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.

1978: Television were forced to postpone their gig at Bristol's Colston Hall after the 40 foot truck carrying their equipment was involved in a crash killing the driver.

1982: While riding his motorcycle in his native Long Island, New York (presumably not in the rain), Billy Joel slams into a moving car, breaking his wrist and requiring a month of hospitalization.

1989: Roy Orbison's comeback single, "You Got It," produced by Jeff Lynne, becomes his last big hit as it reaches the US Top Ten four months after his death from a heart attack.

1992: Queen reunites for a tribute charity concert dedicated to their fallen former leader, vocalist Freddie Mercury, who'd passed away from AIDS some six months earlier. Robert Plant, David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Paul Young, Ian Hunter and Roger Daltrey, among others, show up to sing Freddie's and their own hits.

1995: Montell Jordan started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'This Is How We Do It

1996: The remainder of Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia's ashes are scattered near the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco; a week earlier, a portion had been scattered into India's Ganges river.

1996: Milli Vanilli singer Rob Pilatus was jailed for 90 days by a Los Angeles judge for three violent attacks and parole violation.

1999: The body of Tammy Wynette was exhumed from her grave in an attempt to settle a dispute over how the country music legend died. A new autopsy was conducted on her a week after three of her daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her doctor and her husband and manager, George Richey, claiming they were responsible for her death 12 months ago. Richey said he had requested the autopsy because of the allegations made against him.

2001: Punk pioneer Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Ross Hyman) singer of The Ramones died after losing a long battle with lymphatic cancer aged 49.

2003: Beyonce was sued by the Wilhemina Artist Agency who claimed she hadn't paid them the commission for her L'Oral ads. The agency claimed the singer refused to pass on the 10 percent of the $1m deal that was brokered by the agency.

2008: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proclaimed this day as ‘Mariah Carey day’ in Los Angeles, California.