July 17

Births

1928: Vince Guaraldi (Jazz Pianist)

1939: Spencer Davis (Multi-Instrumentalist for Spencer Davis Group)

1947: Wolfgang Flur (Percussion & Keyboards for Kraftwerk)

1947: Mick Tucker (Drums for Sweet)

1948: Ron Asheton (Guitar for The Stooges)

1949: Terence "Geezer" Butler (Bass for Black Sabbath)

1949: Mike Vale (Bass for Tommy James and the Shondells)

1950: Phoebe Snow (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

1952: Nicolette Larson (Singer)

1952: David Hasselhoff (Singer ?)

1957: Bruce Crump (Drummer for Molly Hatchet)

1963: Regina Belle (R&B Singer)

1964: Craig Morgan (Country Artist)

1966: Lou Barlow (Bass for Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh & Folk Implosion)

1975: Paul Hinojos (Bass for At The Drive-In & Mars Volta)

1976: Luke Bryan (Country Artist)

Events

1954: The Newport Jazz Festival, the world's first such event, debuts on the tennis courts of the Newport Casino in Rhode Island.

1955: Walt Disney opens his amusement park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, CA, and on the live ABC television special he introduces his new teen and pre-teen sensations, the Mousketeers, including future star Annette Funicello.

1959: Billie Holiday died in a New York City hospital from cirrhosis of the liver after years of alcohol abuse, aged 43. (While under arrest for heroin possession, with Police officers stationed at the door to her room.) In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank.

1967: After only seven dates as opening act for the Monkees, Jimi Hendrix flips off the audience at New York's Forest Hills Stadium, which won't stop screaming for Davy Jones, and leaves the tour. Australian journalist Lillian Roxon, on tour in an official capacity, invents a fictional story claiming that the Daughters of the American Revolution had Hendrix kicked off the tour for "corrupting the morals of America's youth." Jimi is replaced on the tour by the equally unlikely band Vanilla Fudge.

1967: Jazz Saxophone legend John Coltrane died of liver cancer at age 40.

1968: The Beatles' fourth film, the animated fantasy Yellow Submarine, premiers in London. Although the four "Beatles" in the picture are voiced by professional actors, the band itself makes a cameo in the finale, leading movie audiences through the song "All Together Now."

1972: On tour in Montreal, a bomb explodes under one of the Rolling Stones' trucks, blowing out 30 speakers but fortunately causing no injuries. Although the guilty party is never found (French separatists are suspected), the show goes on anyway. However, a small riot breaks out when three thousand of the fans discover the "tickets" they are holding are phonies.

1974: The Moody Blues open their own 32-track, state-of-the-art recording studio in London, the first in the whole country that can record in the new "Quadrophonic" process.

1974: John Lennon's appeal for US citizenship is denied by the government and he is given sixty days to leave the country.

1975: The divorce between Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox is finalized in London. Starr would marry current wife Barbara Bach in 1981.

1975: Bob Marley and the Wailers play a historic concert at London's Lyceum Theater which would feature the acclaimed Legend version of "No Woman, No Cry."

1979: Gary Moore left Thin Lizzy during a US tour and was replaced by ex Slick & Rich Kids guitarist Midge Ure.

1987: With the fate of his band up in the air, Virgin Records signs the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards to a three-album solo deal.

1987: The Ozzy Osbourne Band started a 16-week tour of US prisons.

1991: Picking up at the exact same spot in the tour where they left off, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunite after the horrible plane crash in 1974 that took the lives of three members. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, killed in the crash, is now replaced by his brother Johnny.

1995: Robbie Williams left Take That. The group had scored six UK No.1 singles and two No.1 albums with Robbie in the group.

1996: Bassist Chas Chandler (The Animals) died of heart failure at age 58.

1996: The Smashing Pumpkins fired Jimmy Chamberlin less than a week after Chambelin was arrested on a drug charge and Jonathan Melvoin died of a heroin overdose.

1999: Kevin Wilkinson, drummer with Howard Jones hung himself at home aged 41. Also worked with China Crisis, Holly and the Italians, Squeeze and The Waterboys.

2004: At the end of her show at the Aladdin Hotel in Vegas, Linda Ronstadt dedicates her encore, a cover of the Eagles' "Desperado," to filmmaker Michael Moore, urging fans to go see his current movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. A shocked audience reacts mostly with boos; approximately half walk out on the spot.

2005: Jamaican musician & Singer Laurel Aitken died from a heart attack. Dubbed as 'the Godfather of Ska', his 1958 'Boogie In My Bones' became the first release on the Island Record label and was No.1 on the Jamaican charts for 11 weeks.

July 16

Births

1925: Cal Tjader (Latin Jazz Musician)

1942: Desmond Dekker (Reggae & Ska Singer)

1948: Rubén Blades (Salsa Singer)

1949: Alan "Fitz" Fitzgerald (Keyboards for Night Ranger)

1952: Stewart Copeland (Drummer for The Police)

1967: Will Ferrell (Cowbell)

1971: Ed Kowalczyk (Singer for Live)

Events

1900: His Master's Voice, the logo of the Victor Recording Company and later RCA Victor, was registered with the US Patent Office. The logo shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone.

1955: Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the national charts as "Baby, Let's Play House" enters the Cash Box country charts at #15.

1962: The Beach Boys sign to Capitol Records following the success of their independently released 45, "Surfin'," and a four-song demo recorded the previous month, featuring work versions of "Surfer Girl," "409" and "Surfin' Safari."

1966: Ex-Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton forms Cream, the original "power trio," with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker of the Graham Bond Organization.

1969: During recordings at Abbey Road studio's in London The Beatles worked on two new George Harrison songs, 'Here Comes The Sun' and 'Something.'

1972: Smokey Robinson performs his final show with the Miracles at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, DC. At the end of the show, Smokey introduces his replacement, 20-year-old Billy Griffin.

1976: After six years, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina decide to split up their partnership, which had three big hits in "Thinking Of You," "My Music," and "Your Mama Don't Dance."

1976: Due the bi-coastal distance (and increasing differences) between Gregg Allman and the other band members, the Allman Brothers call it quits.

1980: Singer Donna Summer marries Bruce Sudano, former member of Brooklyn Dreams, who appeared on her 1979's hit "Heaven Knows."

1981: Singer / Songwriter Harry Chapin died in a car accident on the way to perform a charity concert.  He was 38.

1995: Rapper Queen Latifah was the victim of a car-jacking attempt that went wrong, leaving her bodyguard shot and wounded.

1996: Michael Jackson receives somewhere between $15 and 20 million for his performance at the Sultan of Brunei's private birthday party.

1996: Drummer John Panozzo (Styx) died of gastrointestinal hemorrhaging after years of heavy drinking; he was 47 years old.

2003: Salsa singer Celia Cruz died of brain cancer at age 77.

2009: A stage being built in France for a concert by Madonna collapsed, killing two workers and injuring six others. Technicians had been setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the partially-built roof fell in, bringing down a crane.

July 15

Births

1944: Millie Jackson (R&B Singer)

1945: Peter Lewis (Guitar for Moby Grape)

1946: Linda Ronstadt (Rock Singer)

1948: Artimus Pyle (Drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd)

1952: Jeff Carlisi (Guitar for .38 Special)

1952: Johnny Thunders (John Genzale) (Guitar for The New York Dolls & Solo)

1952: David Pack (Guitar & Vocals for Ambrosia)

1953: Alicia Bridges (Disco Singer)

1956: Ian Curtis (Vocals for Joy Division)

1956: Marky Ramone (Marc Bell) (Drummer for The Ramones)

1956: Joe Satriani (Guitarist)

1966: Jason Bonham (Drummer & Son of John Bonham)

1973: John Dolmayan (Drummer for System of a Down)

1976: Jim Jones (Rapper)

1977: Ray Toro (Lead Guitar for My Chemical Romance)

Events

1952: An eight-year-old singer named Gladys Knight appears on the popular TV show Ted Mack's Amateur Hour, show on the now-defunct Dumont Television Network, and wins the first prize of $2000 for her rendition of Nat King Cole's "Too Young." In five years, she would be an established recording artist.

1952: Popular singer Patti Page begins her summer replacement series on CBS, attempting to hold the audience in Perry Como's usual time slot three times a week for 15 minutes.

1958: While visiting her sister Mimi's house (where her son John now lived), Julia Lennon walks down Menlove Avenue to catch the bus and is struck by a car driven by an off-duty constable still learning to drive. The officer is eventually cleared of all charges, leading Mimi to scream "Murderer!" at him; The 17-year-old John is so distraught at her funeral service that he lays his head on Mimi's lap the entire time. (Ironically, the constable in question would later become a postman with a route that included Paul McCartney's boyhood home.) Several Beatles and Lennon songs are dedicated to or inspired by Julia, including "Julia," "Mother," and "My Mummy's Dead."

1963: Elvis begins filming his 15th film, Viva Las Vegas, with Ann-Margret.

1968: The Beatles' new enterprise, Apple, enters its new corporate headquarters on 3 Savile Row, London, later the site of their famous "rooftop concert."

1972: Elton John started a five week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Honky Chateau', his first US chart topper.

1973: The Edgar Winter Group, Sly & The Family Stone, Canned Heat, Lindisfarne and The Kinks all appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. With his wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquillizers. Davies would return to the stage a week later.

1986: Columbia Records, Johnny Cash's home for 28 years, drops the singer from its roster of artists. Johnny signed with Polygram the next year.

1990: Troy Dixon (Trouble T Roy) from Heavy D & The Boyz was killed from an accidental fall; he and others were partying after a concert and while dancing, Dixon lost his balance, fell from a balcony, hit his head, and died at a hospital.

1994: Phil Collins announced that he was seeking a divorce from his wife Jill.

1995: Sinead O'Connor dropped out of Lollapalooza because she was pregnant. She was replaced with Elastica.

1998: Aerosmith were forced to cancel a forthcoming US tour after Joey Kramer was involved in a freak accident. The drummer's car set on fire and was completely destroyed as he was filling up with petrol. He was admitted to hospital with second-degree burns.

1999: The Rolling Stones report income of $337 million in the last two years, a result of 147 concerts in front of nearly six million fans.

2000: Bob Seger's 62-foot boat Lightning wins its division in the 78th annual sailboat race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, MI.

2004: U2 called in police after thieves stole a copy of the bands latest album 'Vertigo'. The CD was stolen during a photo shoot with the band in the south of France.

2005: Victor Edward Willis, the original policeman in the Village People, was arrested after police found a gun and drugs in his convertible in Daly City, south of San Francisco. Willis also had an outstanding $15,000 felony warrant for possession of narcotics.

2007: Over 10,000 people applied for a job with P Diddy after the rapper posted an advert on Youtube looking to find a new personal assistant. He warned applicants that the job would be far from easy and would involve everything from getting him ready for the red carpet to aiding in billion dollar deals to helping him jump out of planes in movies.

2010: In Massachusettes, Aerosmith Guitarist Joe Perry was rear-ended by a car while riding his motorcyle. He was treated for minor injuries.

2010: Pink suffered minor injuries during a concert when she was dragged into barricades on the stage.

2011: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony split after seven years of marriage.