March 3

Births

1947: Jennifer Warnes (Singer / Songwriter)

1953: Robyn Hitchcock (Singer / Songwriter)

1963: Jason Curtis Newsted (Bass for Metallica)

1966: Tone-Loc (Anthony Terrell Smith) (Rapper)

Events

1931 - The "Star Spangled Banner" was adopted as the American national anthem. The song was originally known as "Defense of Fort McHenry."

1931: The first jazz album to sell a million copies was recorded. It was "Minnie The Moocher" by Cab Calloway.

1957: Chicago's Cardinal Stritch bans rock and roll from all area Catholic schools.

1963: Patsy Cline gives her final show, along with Dottie West & George Jones. Tickets are $1.50, and the money benefits the widow of late Kansas City deejay "Cactus Jack" Call.

1964: The Beatles begin shooting the train scenes for A Hard Day's Night.

1966: The band The Herd is formed in Los Angeles, featuring unknowns Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay (later of Poco), Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin. It would later be renamed Buffalo Springfield and play a huge role in birthing the folk-rock movement.

1967: The Jeff Beck Group makes its debut on a London stage, featuring unknowns Ron Wood, Aynsley Dunbar, and singer Rod Stewart.

1980: Sotheby's holds its first auction of rock and roll memorabilia.

1983: A Hell's Angels biker identified only as "Butch" confirms, in front of a US Senate hearing, that the motorcycle gang had indeed taken out a contract to kill Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones leader was seen as having blamed the gang for the death of concertgoer Meredith Hunter at Altamont. "There’s always been a contract on the band," he stated, noting "two attempts to kill them that I know about. They will some day. They swear they will do it."

1986: Metallica released their third album, the highly influential album, Master of Puppets, considered by many in the metal community to be the best metal album of all time. This was the last Metallica album with bassist Cliff Burton who was killed when the group's tour bus over-turned in southern Sweden while touring to promote the album.

1994: Kurt Cobain of Nirvana lapsed into a coma in Italy after taking a combination of Valium and champagne.

1995: Foo Fighters made their live debut during a benefit show at The Satyricon in Portland, Oregon.

2006: Gary Glitter is sentenced to three years in a Vietnamese prison after local officials find him guilty of sexual abuse in the case of two underage girls found at his home.