October 7

Births

1927: Al Martino (Pop Singer)

1949: David Hope (Bass for Kansas)

1951: John Cougar Mellencamp (Singer / Songwriter)

1953: Tico Torres (Drums for Bon Jovi)

1955: Yo Yo Ma (Classical Cellist)

1957: Michael W. Smith (Pop & Christian Singer)

1967: Toni Braxton (R&B Singer)

1968: Thom York (Vocals & Guitar for Radiohead & Solo)

Events

1950: CBS debuts The Frank Sinatra Show, a variety program and the first TV show for the crooner. Though he has a five-year contract, the show only lasts two seasons.

1952: The Philadelphia dance show Bandstand, hosted by Bob Horn and, later, by Dick Clark as American Bandstand, debuts on WFIL-TV.

1964: The Beatles appear (on tape) during a special British Invasion-themed episode of the popular ABC-TV variety show Shindig!, performing "Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," "I'm A Loser," and "Boys."

1967: After a London hotel accuses the Mamas and the Papas' Cass Elliot of running out on her bill, the singer is jailed overnight and strip-searched, forcing the cancellation of both an upcoming gig and television appearance.

1967: Promoter Sid Bernstein, who had promoted the Beatles at their first two Shea Stadium concerts, offers one million dollars to the group, who is retired from the road, to perform a third concert there. They refuse.

1975: The US Court of Appeals overturns the longstanding deportation order for John Lennon, ruling that Lennon, in being held accountable for violating a foreign law (a 1968 rap for possession of marijuana in England), had been denied due process.

1976: Dennis Edwards announces he is leaving the Temptations. Four years later, he would rejoin for the group's successful Power album.

1977: Guitarist Steve Hackett quits Genesis.

1978: The Rolling Stones perform their new single, "Beast Of Burden," on tonight's episode of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.

1978: Merle Haggard marries third wife Leona Williams, a bass player and singer with Loretta Lynn. The marriage lasts six years.

1978: Billboard magazine reveals that Marvin Gaye has declared bankruptcy twice in the past year claiming debts of over seven million dollars.

1981: Morris Day & The Time made their live debut.

1982: Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is given a one year suspended sentence for cocaine possession.

1995: Alanis Morissette went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Jagged Little Pill'. The album went on to become the biggest selling album ever by a female artist with sales over 30m.

1995: Rapper Tone Loc was arrested in Los Angeles, CA, for taking $80 from a pizza parlor. He later pled no contest.

2001: Peter Criss played his final show with Kiss in Charleston, SC. He was replaced by Eric Singer. Singer had been a member of Kiss prior to the reunion tour in 1995.

2004: 53 year old Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars had a hip replacement operation in a LA hospital.

2005: Boy George was arrested in New York after Police found traces of drugs in his apartment. George had called the police after he thought somebody was breaking into his apartment. When police arrived and made a search they found traces of cocaine on a computer table.

2007: 25 year-old Hip-hop artist Lil' Wayne was arrested during a US tour after a concert in Idaho on a warrant stemming from a drug possession charge. Because of the nature of the charges, the rapper - real name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr - was not eligible for bail.

October 4

Births

1947: Jim Fielder (Bass for Buffalo Springfield, Mothers of Invention & Blood, Sweat and Tears)

1952: Jody Stephens (Drummer for Big Star)

1957: Russell Simmons (Co-Founder of Def Jam)

1959: Chris Lowe (Keyboards for The Pet Shop Boys)

1962: Jon Secada (Singer)

1989: Lil Mama (Niatia Jessica Kirkland) (Rapper)

Events

1961: Bob Dylan debuts at Carnegie Hall, playing for a grand total of 53 fans.

1961: Popular "recording" group Alvin and the Chipmunks get their own TV show when The Alvin Show debuts on CBS.

1963: A 17-year-old Eric Clapton joins the Yardbirds for tonight's gig at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England, replacing original guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham.

1964: Dusty Springfield interviews the Beatles on this, their first appearance on England's ITV television program Ready Steady Go!

1968: Cream begins their announced farewell tour with a performance at Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA.

1969: Creedence Clearwater Revival started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Green River', the group's first US chart topper.

1970: Singer Janis Joplin was found dead at the Landmark Hotel Hollywood after an accidental heroin overdose at age 27.

1974: Thin Lizzy debut their new twin-guitar attack with new additions Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson at tonight's concert in Wales.

1975: Willie Nelson picks up his first #1 single as an artist with "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain".

1978: Country singer Tammy Wynette is allegedly kidnapped at a Nashville shopping center by an unknown man in a ski mask, beaten, and forced at gunpoint to drive roughly 90 miles. Doubt still exists as to whether this incident took place, due to a puzzling lack of physical evidence.

1980: For their work on the recent Fleetwood Mac single "Tusk," the University of Southern California Country marching band is presented with a platinum version of the album of the same name by three members of the rock band.

1980: On stage during a concert in Pittburgh, PA, Carly Simon collapses from "nervous exhaustion."

1982: The Smiths made their live debut at the Ritz in Manchester England, supporting Blue Rondo A La Turk.

1982: The group Squeeze broke up.

1988: Determined to finally clean his system of the alcohol and drugs he's been abusing for years, Ringo Starr, along with wife Barbara Bach, flies to Tucson, AZ to enter the Sierra Tucson Rehabilitation Clinic. He will stay six weeks.

1994: Singer Glenn Frey's stomach surgery causes the Eagles to postpone their much-anticipated reunion tour, puckishly titled Hell Freezes Over.

1994: Guitarist Danny Gatton locked himself in his garage in Newburg, Maryland and shot himself.

1996: Van Halen announced that Gary Cherone, formerly of Extreme, would be the singer that would replace Sammy Hagar.

1999: Jimi Hendrix's half-sister Janie announces her plans to exhume the body of her famous brother and move it to a mausoleum where curious onlookers can view it for a price. The public outcry forces her to shelve the idea.

2006: Former R. Kelly employee (who claimed to have been a “mentor and guide” to Kelly since he was a teenager) Henry Vaughn filed a lawsuit against the singer accusing him of assault, false imprisonment, and a breach of contract that defrauded him of songwriting royalties. Vaughn also claimed that Kelly and his associates dragged him to the basement at Kelly’s Olympia Fields home and “repeatedly struck him about the face and body with his fists”.

2008: Dierks and Cassidy Bentley have a daughter, Evalyn Day Bentley, at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

October 3

Births

1938: Eddie Cochran (Guitarist & Singer)

1941: Chubby Checker (Singer)

1949: Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar & Vocals for Fleetwood Mac & Solo)

1950: Ronnie Laws (Sax for Earth Wind and Fire)

1951: Keb' Mo' (Blues Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)

1954: Stevie Ray Vaughan (Guitarist & Singer)

1962: Tommy Lee (Drummer for Motley Crue & Methods of Mayhem)

1966: Frank Hannon (Guitarist for Tesla)

1969: Gwen Stefani (Vocalist for No Doubt & Solo)

1971: Kevin Richardson (Singer for The Backstreet Boys)

1972: Lajon Witherspoon (Singer for Sevendust)

1972: G. Love (Garrett Dutton) (Singer / Songwriter 7 Guitar for G. Love & Special Sauce)

1975: India. Arie Simpson (R&B singer)

1975: Talib Kweli (Rapper)

1983: Danny O'Donoghue (Singer / Songwriter for The Script)

1984: Ashlee Simpson (Singer)

Events

1952: The long-running radio hit The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet, now featuring a 12-year-old Ricky Nelson, debuts on CBS-TV, where it will run for another 14 years, bringing the total life of the show to 22 years!

1955: The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring a 12-year-old Annette Funicello, debuts on ABC-TV.

1965: Johnny Cash is stopped by US Customs officials at the Mexican border on suspicion of heroin smuggling and found to be holding over 1,000 prescription narcotics and amphetamines. He receives a suspended sentence.

1967: Folk music legend Woody Guthrie died of complications of Huntington's disease.

1977: The TV event Elvis In Concert, filmed just weeks before the King's death, is shown on CBS, with good friend Ann-Margret hosting. It shocks many with the depiction of a bloated and drug-addled Elvis Presley in his final days.

1978: Aerosmith posts bail for 30 fans convicted of smoking pot during their show at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, IN.

1990: A storeowner in Florida was found guilty of distributing obscene material. The material in question was 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" album. The man was later fined $1,000.

1991: M.C. Hammer offered a $50,000 reward for the return of Michael Jackson's white glove, which had been stolen from the Motown Museum. This was part of an on-going battle between Hammer and Michael Jackson.

1991: Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, (Stevie Ray Vaughan's birthday), to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day". An annual motorcycle ride and concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.

1992: Sinead O'Connor ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II, on the US TV show 'Saturday Night Live', in a protest at abortion laws. The incident happened as Sinead ended her live performance and out of nowhere, produced a photograph of Pope John Paul II, which she ripped into pieces. There was stunned silence in the studio and the station went to a commercial. NBC was fined $2.5 million dollars by the Federal Communications Commission.

1996: Van Halen gave David Lee Roth the boot for the second time after they had recorded a couple of songs for the bands greatest hits package.

1997: A court battle started between Garth Brooks and Warren G over the trademark of the letter 'G' which both artists used. The dispute was settled out of court the following year.

2000: After being questioned for nearly an hour by his parole board, John Lennon's killer is denied release on his first eligible parole, with the board stating that letting him free would "deprecate the seriousness of the crime."

2000: The Cars co-singer and bass player Benjamin Orr died of cancer at home in Atlanta at the age of 53. He sang lead vocals on the bands hits ‘Just What I Needed’, ‘Let's Go’ and ‘Drive’.

2002: Original guitarist, vocalist from American psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly Darryl DeLoach died of liver cancer at the age of 56.

2007: The Rolling Stones' "A Bigger Bang" tour, named after their latest album, sets a new world record for grosses when the two-year jaunt rakes in nearly 560 million dollars.

2011: ESPN pulls Hank Williams Jr.'s "Monday Night Football" theme the same day the singer makes a statement on FOX News widely interpreted as comparing president Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.

October 2

Births

1945: Don McLean (Singer / Songwriter)

1948: Chris LeDoux (Country Artist)

1949: Richard Hell (Singer for the Voivods)

1950: Mike Rutherford (Bass for Genesis & Mike & The Mechanics)

1951: Sting (Gordon Sumner) (Singer / Songwriter & Bass for The Police & Solo)

1955: Phil Oakey (Vocals for The Human League)

1956: Freddie Jackson (R&B Singer)

1967: Bud Gaugh (Drummer for Sublime & Long Beach Dub  Allstars)

1969: Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) (Singer / Songwriter)

1971: Tiffany (Tiffany Renee Darwish) (Singer)

1971: #4 (James Root) (Guitar for Slipknot)

Events

1928: The first professional recordings in Nashville take place as DeFord Bailey lays down eight tracks in Victor Records (later RCA) Studios.

1945: Elvis Presley, then just ten years old, makes his first public appearance at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show singing "Old Shep" in a talent contest. He comes in second.

1954: Elvis Presley bombs at the Grand Ole Opry, which does not approve of his take on traditional country music. The Opry's talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. Elvis swears never to return.

1959: 'Stay' by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs entered the US chart on its way to No.1. At just 1:37, it becomes the shortest US chart topper in Rock and Roll history.

1965: The Who made their debut on U.S. TV on the show "Shindig!"

1967: The entire Grateful Dead are arrested for marijuana possession at the groups' 710 Ashbury Street House in San Francisco, California.

1968: Motown sues their most prolific songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, for their refusal to write more songs until their royalty rate is increased. The trio are eventually released from the label and go on to start their own Invictus and Hot Wax labels.

1971: The syndicated half-hour dance show Soul Train, sort of an American Bandstand of R&B, premieres, with special guests Gladys Knight and the Pips, Eddie Kendricks, and the Honey Cone.

1971: Rod Stewart started a five week run at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Maggie May / Reason To Believe', his first solo No.1. Stewarts album 'Every Picture Tells A Story' also started a four-week run on this day at No.1 on the chart.

1976: In response to John Belushi's popular caricature of himself on Saturday Night Live, Joe Cocker appears on the show, singing a dual-Cocker duet with Belushi on "Feelin' Alright."

1977: After a plot is uncovered to steal it, Elvis Presley's body is moved from its Memphis mausoleum to its final resting place in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.

1980: Leaveil Degree from the soul group The Whispers started a two-year prison sentence in Boron California for his part in diamond robbery.

1981: Terry Hall, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding all left The Specials to form Fun Boy Three.

1982: John Cougar started a four week run at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Jack and Diane', his first US No.1.

1982: Musical Youth were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pass The Dutchie'. The group were made up of Birmingham school boys, aged 11-16. The song was a cover of The Mighty Diamonds song called 'Pass The Kutchie', a slang term for a cannabis smoking pipe, but the word was changed to avoid the song being banned for it's drug reference.

1983: Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler was at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Jim Steinman written and produced track 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. It made her the only Welsh artist to score a US No.1.

1983: ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog is involved in a car crash in Skane, Sweden, and suffers a concussion, but soon recovers.

1986: The Everly Brothers are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

1999: Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas married model Marisol Maldonado. Marisol appeared in the Santana video ‘Smooth’ with Thomas.

2000: Paul Anka files papers to end his 37-year marriage to former fashion model Anne de Zogheb.

2002: Adam Ant escaped a prison sentence after a judge ruled that an incident in which he threatened drinkers with a replica pistol in a London pub was a result of mental illness. The 1980's pop star had been voluntarily having psychiatric treatment since the incident.

2003: Police were called to a suspected burglary at the Los Angeles house of Courtney Love's former boyfriend and ex-manager Jim Barber in the early hours. Ms Love was picked up in the street outside and detained - with officers noting "Miss Love's behavior was consistent with being under the influence of a controlled substance". Shortly after her arrest, Ms Love was taken to hospital with a suspected drug overdose.

2004: 55-year-old Billy Joel causes a stir by marrying his third wife, the 22-year-old cooking student Katie Lee, at his Long Island home.

2007: Britney Spears was ordered to hand over her two young children to her former husband Kevin Federline by a judge in Los Angeles. The court ruled that Federline would be given custody of Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James, until further notice. Last month Judge Scott Gordon had said Ms Spears showed "a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol." The singer was ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week as part of her child custody dispute with Mr Federline.