September 4

Births:

1951: Martin Chambers (Drums for The Pretenders)

1956: Blackie Lawless (Singer & Guitar for W.A.S.P.)

1958: George Hurley (Drummer for The Minutemen & fIREHOSE)

1960: Kim Thayil (Lead Guitar for Soundgarden)

1963: Sam Yaffa (Bass for Hanoi Rocks)

1969: Sasha (Producer & DJ)

1970: Igor Cavalera (Drummer for Sepultura)

1971: Ty Longley (Guitarist & Singer for Great White)

1974: Carmit Bachar (Singer & Dancer in The Pussycat Dolls)

1974: Nona Gaye (Singer & Marvin Gaye’s Daughter)

1975: Mark Ronson (DJ, Producer & Guitarist)

1981: Beyonce Knowles (Singer with Destiny’s Child & Solo)

Events:

1954: To coincide with the release of his second Sun single, ‘Good Rockin' Tonight’, Elvis Presley, along with Bill Black and Scotty Moore made their first appearance at The Grand Old Opry. The audience reaction was so poor, the Opry's manager, Jim Denny told Elvis that he should go back to driving a truck.

1959: After 17-year-old gang member Salvador Agron fatally stabs two teens in New York, station WCBS bans the Bobby Darin hit "Mack the Knife."

1962: The Beatles' first formal recording session at EMI's Abbey Road studios took place. George Martin was unhappy with a previous session on June 6, so he called The Beatles back into the studio to try again. They recorded six songs, including ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me.’

1964: The Animals gave their debut performance in Brooklyn, NY, at the U.S. Paramount Theater.

1965: The Who had their van stolen containing over $10,000 worth of equipment outside the Battersea Dogs Home. The band was inside the home at the time buying a guard dog. The van was later recovered. 

1968 - "Street Fighting Man," by the Rolling Stones, was banned in several cities in because authorities feared it might incite public disorder.

1968: The Beatles recorded promotional videos for ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ at Twickenham Film Studios. The vocals are recorded live over the pre-recorded instrumental tracks to get round the current British Musicians Union ban on lip-sync performances. For ‘Hey Jude’, The Beatles were accompanied by a 36-piece orchestra and 300 fans and other assorted extras who join in singing the long refrain.

1971: Taken from the album 'Ram', Paul and Linda McCartney went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the US only released 'Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey'. McCartney's first US solo No.1.

1972: Concessionaire Francisco Caruso was killed during a Wishbone Ash concert in Texas after refusing to give a fan a free sandwich.

1972: John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon Show.

1976: Fleetwood Mac went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album after being on the charts for over a year. The album went on to sell over 5 million copies in the US and was the first of three No.1 albums for the group.

1976: The Sex Pistols made their television debut when they appeared on the Manchester based Granada TV program 'So It Goes'.

1981: MCA releases George Strait's debut album, "Strait Country".

1986: After just getting his driving license back after a five-year suspension, Gregg Allman from The Allman Brothers Band was arrested in Florida for drunk driving.

1987: Mike Joyce, drummer with The Smiths, quit the band saying that 'the present role within the group had been fulfilled'.

1991: Dottie West died at the age of 58. She died from injuries incurred in a car accident 5 days earlier. West was the first female country Grammy winner.

1996: Oasis created outrage at the MTV awards held at New York's Radio City Hall. During the bands performance of 'Champagne Supernova' singer Liam spat on stage and threw a beer into the crowd.

1997: After performing at the MTV Video Music Awards, Pat Smear publicly announced that he would no longer be the guitarist for the Foo Fighters.

2001: Trace and Rhonda Adkins have a daughter, Brianna Rhea Adkins, in Nashville.

2002: Singer Kelly Clarkson was voted the first "American Idol" on the Fox TV series.

2005: Mike Gibbins, drummer with Badfinger, died in his sleep at his Florida home aged 56. 

2008: The first guitar torched on stage by Jimi Hendrix sold for $500,000 at an auction of rock memorabilia. The Fender Stratocaster was burned at the end of a show at the Astoria in Finsbury Park, north London, in 1967. The sale held in London also included the Beatles' first management contract, signed in 1962 by all four members of the group and manager Brian Epstein, sold for $400,000.

2008: Friends and family of Michael Jackson paid their last respects to the singer at a funeral held at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Macaulay Culkin, Berry Gordy and Lisa Marie Presley were among the 200 invited guests. The singer's family arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles, Jackson's brothers - Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon - acted as pallbearers carrying Jackson’s gold-plated coffin.