May 15

Births

1918: Eddy Arnold (Country Artist)

1932: Baba Oje (Singer in Arrested Development)

1942: K.T. Oslin (Country Singer / Songwriter)

1947: Graham Goble (Guitar & Vocals for The Little River Band)

1948: Gary Thain (Bass for Uriah Heep)

1948: Brian Eno (Producer and Keyboardist for Roxy Music)

1951: Dennis Frederiksen (Vocals for Toto)

1953: Mike Oldfield (Keyboardist)

1959: Andrew Eldritch (Vocals for The Sisters Of Mercy)

1961: Melle Mel (Rapper in Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five)

1966: Pete Wiggs (DJ in Saint Etienne)

1970: Prince Be (Singer / Rapper in P.N. Dawn)

1981: Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano)

1982: Jessica Sutta (Singer in Pussycat Dolls & Solo)

1983: Devin Bronson (Guitarist with Avril Lavigne)

Events

1954: A Memphis truck driver named Elvis Presley auditions with the house band at Memphis' Hi Hat Club and is told he'll never make it as a singer.

1961: Brenda Lee guest stars as struggling singer "Tina Davis" on tonight's "Teenage Thrush" episode of CBS-TV's Make Room For Daddy.

1963: The Rolling Stones sign to Decca Records.

1963: At the 5th Annual Grammy Awards, most of the big prizes go to Henry Mancini for his instrumental movie theme "The Days Of Wine And Roses." Best Album and Best Female Vocal go to The Barbra Streisand Album, while Nino Tempo and April Stevens inexplicably win Best Rock and Roll Recording for "Deep Purple." However, Ray Charles does win the top R&B award for "Busted."

1967: While attending a concert by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames at London's ultra-hip Bag O'Nails club, Paul McCartney meets a young photographer named Linda Eastman. They will meet again one year later to the day when Paul appears with John on NBC-TV's Tonight Show to talk about their upcoming venture, Apple Records.

1969: John Lennon’s 'Life With The Lions' was released on Apple’s avant-garde imprint Zapple. One side of the album was recorded on a cassette player at London’s Queen Charlotte Hospital during Yoko Ono’s pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage.

1970: The Beatles' last LP, "Let It Be," is released in US.

1971: Pink Floyd play London's Crystal Palace Bowl, situated in front of a large lake in which, thanks to the band's volume, most of the fish will die.

1972: The Temptations recorded the single "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone".

1973: Former Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop backup singers the Pointer Sisters make their stage debut as an act of their own, singing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

1974: Bill Wyman (Bass for Rolling Stones) released his first solo album, "Monkey Grip." It was the first solo effort by a member of the Rolling Stones.

1974: Frank Zappa and his wife announced the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan, after the Japanese movie monster that lived of a steady diet of 707 planes.

1975: The latest and ultimately most famous lineup of Fleetwood Mac -- Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks -- play their first show together in El Paso.

1976: The Sylvers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Boogie Fever'; the group were made up by nine family sisters and brothers.

1977: Procol Harum plays what will prove to be their last live show at the Academy of Music in New York.

1981: Former Sex Pistol John Lydon's band Public Image Ltd performed a show at New York's Ritz Club posing behind a video screen while the music was played from tapes. They were showered with missiles and eventually booed off stage.

1982: Rock Supergroup Asia (included former members of veteran progressive rock bands Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Uriah Heep, U.K., Roxy Music, Wishbone Ash and The Buggles) went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album. It spent a total of nine weeks at No.1.

1984: Nils Lofgren replaced "Miami" Steve Van Zandt in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

1986: Bob Dylan signs for his first true acting gig, the disastrous love triangle Hearts Of Fire, also starring Rupert Everett and future pop-metal afterthought Fiona.

1991: Manic Street Preacher guitarist Richey Edwards carved '4 real' into his arm with a razor blade while being interviewed by music paper The NME.

1992: Barbara Lee of the Chiffons died from a heart attack the day before her 45th birthday. She had the 1963 US No.1 single 'He's So Fine.'

1994: Sting and Nancy Wilson received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

1995: Scott Weiland (Singer for Stone Temple Pilots) was arrested for trying to buy drugs in a motel parking lot in Pasadena, CA.

1997: Courtney Love sold the Seattle mansion she shared with Kurt Cobain. A local family purchased the house in the salubrious Denny Blaine area for $3m.

1998: Sony and Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999: Rob Gretton, manager of The Joy Division and New Order, died from a heart attack at age 46. He was also a partner in Factory Records, proprietor of the Rob's Records label and a co-founder along with Tony Wilson of The Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, England.

2001: Brian Pendleton of The Pretty Things died of cancer aged 57, (1964 UK No.10 single 'Don't Bring Me Down'). The bands 1974 album Silk Torpedo was the first album release on Led Zeppelin's own label Swan Song.

2002: Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay claimed he was assaulted at the premiere of 'Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones' in London. The singer suffered facial injuries after an incident with a photographer after the star-studded event.

2003: June Carter Cash died in Nashville, Tennessee of complications following heart valve replacement.

2008: Neil Diamond reached the top of the US Billboard album chart for the first time in his career with ‘Home Before Dark’ the 67-year-old's 29th studio album. His previous highest chart position was in 1973 when the soundtrack to the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull peaked at No.2. At the age of 67, Diamond became the oldest artist to have a US number one, the record was previously held by Bob Dylan in 2006 with ‘Modern Times’ released when he was 65.

2009: Randy Bachman of the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive is presented with Canada's highest civilian honor, an officer of the Order of Canada.