August 23

Births

1912: Gene Kelly (Singer & Dancer)

1917: Tex Williams (Country Singer)

1946: Keith Moon (Drummer for The Who)

1949: Rick Springfield (Guitar & Singer)

1951:Jimi Jamison (Singer for Survivor)

1960: Stephen Maynard Clark (Lead Guitar for Def Leppard)

1961: Dean DeLeo (Guitar for Stone Temple Pilots)

1962: Shaun Ryder (Vocals for Happy Mondays & Black Grape)

1974: Shifty Shellshock (Seth Brooks Binzer)(Singer for Crazy Town)

1978: Julian Casablancas (Guitar & Vocals for The Strokes)

1986: SkyBlu (Skyler Gordy) (Rapper in LMFAO)

Events

1962: John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell, already two months pregnant with their son Julian, at Liverpool's Mount Pleasant Registry Office, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison as witnesses. Fans milling about the offices find out about the marriage immediately, spoiling plans to keep it a secret. Manager Brian Epstein, who had served as best man, then buys lunch for the wedding party at the local cafeteria Reece's and gives the new couple use of his apartment. The marriage would last six years. On the same day, local paper Mersey Beat officially announces the replacement of Pete Best with Ringo Starr.

1963: The Rolling Stones appeared on UK TV show Ready, Steady, Go! for the first time, performing their debut single ‘Come On.’ The group made a total of 20 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966.

1965: The Beatles' second film, Help! has its US premiere in New York City.

1967: Enjoying a wild birthday party Keith Moon drummer with The Who drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool.

1970: Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club 'Max's Kansas City'. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years at $40 per week.

1974: The local papers report that John Lennon, while staying in mistress' May Pang's New York apartment during his infamous "lost weekend," has spotted a UFO. John's next album, Walls and Bridges, contains this notation in the inner booklet: "On 23 August 1974, I saw a UFO J.L."

1975: Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until his death when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England at the age of 23.

1987: A 20th anniversary "Summer Of Love" concert headlined by the Grateful Dead at Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angel Camp, CA goes horribly wrong when an escaped felon, wandering in the crowd, shoots a pursuing police officer while trying to escape.

1993: News of Michael Jackson's child molestation investigation is finally made public by the Los Angeles police.

1993: Duran Duran received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

1995: Dwayne Goettel (Keyboards for Skinny Puppy) was found dead of an apparent heroine overdose at the home of his parents in Canada.

1998: "Scary Spice" Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls announced that she was pregnant.

1999: Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers marries his third wife, Patti Arnold, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

2000: Kenny Loggins is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2004: Queen becomes the first band officially sanctioned by the Iranian government since the 1979 cultural revolution that outlawed rock groups. Lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar of Indian parents, had remained quite popular in the country.

2004: The Pocahontas Village Board in Illinois votes to rename the town's Pocahontas Community Park as Gretchen Wilson Park.

2005: Bay City Rollers' lead singer Les McKeown is arraigned on cocaine possession and distribution charges in London. He is eventually acquitted of the intent to distribute.

2007: Queen guitarist Brian May is finally awarded his doctorate in astrophysics by London's Imperial College -- the very Ph. D. title he was seeking when he left the college during the band's first flush of success.

August 22

Births

1862: Claude Debussy (Composer)

1917: John Lee Hooker (Legendary Blues Guitarist)

1946: Gary "Mutha" Withem (Keyboards for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap)

1948: David Marks (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals for The Beach Boys)

1957: Holly Dunn (Country Singer)

1958: Vernon Reid (Guitar for Living Colour)

1959: Juan Croucier (Bass for Dokken & Ratt)

1960: Collin Raye (Country Singer)

1961: Debbie Peterson (Drums & Vocals for The Bangles)

1961: Roland Orzabal (Singer & Guitarist for Tears For Fears)

1963: Tori Amos (Singer / Songwriter)

1966: GZA/ The Genius (Gary Grice) (Rapper in Wu-Tang Clan)

1967: Layne Staley (Singer for Alice In Chains)

1972: Paul Doucette (Rhythm Guitar for Matchbox Twenty)

1973: Howie D (Howard Dwaine Dorough) (Backstreet Boys)

1978: Jeff Stinco (Lead Guitar for Simple Plan)

Events

1906: The Victor Talking Machine Company, headquartered in Camden, NJ, begins manufacturing the world's first mass-market home record player, the Victrola. Price: $200.

1956: Elvis begins shooting his first movie, Love Me Tender, a Civil War drama that has been renamed from The Reno Brothers in order to capitalize on his new single. Elvis is billed third, but his role, originally offered to Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter, is beefed up to match his new popularity.

1956: The Frank Tashlin-directed film The Girl Can't Help It has its Hollywood premiere. Featuring performances by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, The Platters, Fats Domino, and Julie London, this comedy is usually considered the best of the Fifties' rock and roll movies.

1963: EMI announces a half-million advance orders in Britain for the Beatles' upcoming single, "She Loves You."

1964: Alvin and the Chipmunks' label, Liberty, reports that their cover album of Beatles songs is moving 25,000 copies a day.

1965: Awaiting their favorite group at Granada Television's Manchester, England studios, over 200 screaming Rolling Stones fans break through security barriers, causing the security guards on duty to turn the fire hoses on them.

1966: New York City teenagers Carol Hopkins and Susan Richmond climbed out onto the ledge on the second floor of a city hotel and threatened to jump unless they could get to meet The Beatles. Police talked then down.

1968: Having come home from vacation to find her husband in bed with Yoko Ono, John Lennon's first wife Cynthia files for divorce -- one day before their sixth anniversary.

1968: Ringo Starr quit The Beatles during the White Album sessions when the constant bickering and tension became too much for him. The news of Ringo's departure was kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on September 3. After Ringo walked out, the remaining Beatles recorded ‘Back In the USSR’, with Paul on drums and John playing bass.

1968: Country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette announce their marriage, although it doesn't actually take place for another six months.

1969: The Beatles hold their very last photographic shoot as a group, occurring on the lawn of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's home in Tittenhurst in Ascot, England.

1970: Songwriter Elton John signs with Uni, a division of MCA, as a solo act.

1970: Bread went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Make It With You', the group's only No.1 hit.

1970: Eric Clapton's loose assemblage of musician friends, dubbed Derek and the Dominoes back in June, begin recording their only album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.

1978: Sex Pistol Sid Vicious made his last live stage appearance when he appeared with Rat Scabies from The Damned, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen at London's Electric Ballroom. In the audience: Elvis Costello, Blondie, Joan Jett , The Slits and Captain Sensible.

1983: Country singer Crystal Gayle and husband-manager Bill Gatzimos have their first baby, Katherine Claire.

1985: Rick Nelson and Fats Domino begin filming the PBS-TV special Rockin' With Rick And Fats, which will turn out to be Nelson's last television appearance before his untimely death in a plane crash.

1998: During his show at the Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center) in Anaheim, CA, Elton John is joined onstage by fan Jim Carrey, who duets with him on a perfectly serious version of "Rocket Man." Carrey then sits at the piano and plays it by bashing his head onto the keys.

2003: Norwegian Elvis impersonator Kjell Bjornestad set a new world record by performing the King's repetoire for 26 straight hours.

2003: The IRS confiscated personal belongings of R&B Singer Peabo Bryson to pay back taxes.

2004: Al Dvorin, the announcer who coined the phrase "Elvis has left the building" while working the King's Seventies concerts, dies in a car crash en route home from a Californian Elvis convention.

2007: Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes was arrested on suspicion of racially abusing a member of staff at a Thai restaurant in Soho, London. Hayes was released on bail pending further inquiries.

2011: Jerry Leiber, who with longtime partner Mike Stoller wrote "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Yakety Yak" and other hit songs that came to define early rock 'n' roll died.  He was 78.

2011: Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died at age 70.  He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment.

August 21

Births

1904: Count Basie (Band Leader & Pianist)

1928: Art Farmer (Jazz Trumpeter)

1938: Kenny Rogers (Country Singer)

1947: Carl Giammarese (Lead Guitar & Vocals for The Buckinghams)

1951: Glenn Hughes (Bass & Vocals for Trapeze, Deep Purple & shortly for Black Sabbath)

1952: Joe Strummer (Singer & Guitarist for The Clash)

1954: Steve Smith (Drums for Journey)

1957: Budgie (Peter Edward Clarke) (Drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees &The Creatures)

1961: David Morales (DJ & Producer)

1967: Serj Tankian (Singer for System of a Down)

1971: Liam Howlett (Keyboards for The Prodigy)

1979: Kelis Rogers (R&B Singer) Married to rapper Nas

Events

1961: Patsy Cline recorded the classic Willie Nelson song, ‘Crazy’. She was still on crutches after going through a car windshield in a head-on collision two months earlier.

1965: The Rolling Stones started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Out Of Our Heads' the group's first US No.1 album.

1966: In an incident that cements the group's desire never to tour again, the Beatles are forced to play under a tarp at the Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, MI, due to heavy rains. (In addition, they'd already played an afternoon show and traveled some 400 miles to make this one.)

1972: At a Jefferson Airplane show in Akron, OH, a fight breaks out on stage between the band and the local police -- present because of an earlier bomb threat -- after guitarist Paul Kantner refers to them as "pigs." During the brawl, lead singer Grace Slick is maced in the eyes, Kantner is injured after being thrown to the floor, and bassist Jack Casady is arrested. Spectators throw rocks at the police, who respond with tear gas.

1976: Worldwide sales of Elvis Presley records pass the four hundred million mark.

1979: "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" brings The Charlie Daniels Band the only gold single of its career

1980: Linda Ronstadt makes her Broadway debut in Joseph Papp's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, also starring Rex Smith and Kevin Kline.

1982: U2 singer Bono married Alison Stewart, his girlfriend from 1975 at All Saints Church, Raheny in Ireland. U2 bassist Adam Clayton acted as Bono's best man.

1983: Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone had a four-hour brain surgery operation, after being found unconscious in a New York Street where he had been involved in a fight.

1993: Following up the claims made by a child who'd recently spent time there, Los Angeles police conduct a raid on Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch, searching for evidence of child pornography.

1993: Elton John's longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin marries his third wife, Stephanie Haymes.

1994: After he crashes his Porsche into a tree near his home in Aspen, CO, John Denver is charged with driving under the influence. It is his second such offense in two years.

1996: Having served two years of his original five year sentence for kidnapping and torturing a guest, Rick James is released from Folsom State Penitentiary in California.

1996: Former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne sued to prevent the rest of the group from touring as "The Heads." The suit was settled out of court.

1997: Former Stone Roses drummer Alan Wren was jailed for seven days after being rude to a top Manchester Magistrate. He was before the court due to having no car insurance and lost his temper after being quizzed about his earnings.

1997: Oasis' third album 'Be Here Now', became one of the fastest selling albums ever in the UK, selling over a million copies on the first day of release.

2003: Johnny Cash holds his final session, recording "Engine One-Forty-Three" at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

2008: Paedophile and ex-pop star Gary Glitter returned to Thailand after being refused entry to Hong Kong. Chinese authorities informed the UK Foreign Office they had barred Glitter from entry. He was earlier deported from Vietnam after spending almost three years in jail for sexually abusing two girls. He flew to Hong Kong from Bangkok after refusing to fly to the UK, and had made a plea for medical treatment after saying he was suffering a heart attack.