August 31

Births

1918: Alan Jay Lerner (Lyricist & Composer)

1938: Jerry Allison (Drummer for The Crickets)

1945: Van Morrison (Singer / Songwriter)

1945: Itzhak Perlman (Violinist)

1948: Rudolf Schenker (Guitar for The Scorpions)

1949: Rick Roberts (Singer for Firefall)

1957: Gina Schock (Drums for The Go-Go's)

1957: Glenn Tilbrook (Guitar & Vocals for Squeeze)

1959: Tony DeFranco (Singer for The DeFranco Family)

1960: Chris Whitley (Blues-Rock Singer & Guitarist)

1963: Reb Beach (Guitar for Winger & Whitesnake)

1969: Jeff Russo (Singer & Guitarist in Tonic)

1970: Debbie Gibson (Singer)

1977: Craig Nicholls (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist for The Vines)

1977: Del Marquis (Derek Gruen) (Guitar for Scissor Sisters)

1980: Joe Budden (Rapper)

Events

1955: London resident Sidney Turner is brought before the court and fined three pounds for attempting to drive his neighbors "mad" (his words) by playing Bill Haley's version of "Shake, Rattle And Roll" all night long.

1956: Rock and roll's dominance of the UK is complete: for the first time, all of the Top Ten singles are those of American artists (although not quite all are rock).

1958: Ricky Nelson takes the stage for the first time as a solo rock star, performing at Atlantic City's famous Steel Pier for two dates and selling a record 44,000 tickets.

1968: The Beatles' new single, "Hey Jude," debuts at #10, a record for Billboard at the time.

1969: After spending three years supposedly recuperating from a motorcycle accident that happily derailed his stardom, Bob Dylan reappears on stage for the first time since 1966, playing the Isle of Wight festival in England with backing by a group known simply as The Band.

1971: A security guard was stabbed to death at a Who concert in Forest Hills, NY.

1974: The final episode of The Partridge Family airs on ABC-TV.

1974: During his deportation battle, John Lennon testifies in court that President Nixon had started the proceedings in order to silence the ex-Beatle for his anti-Vietnam War stance.

1976: Though no one ever claims George Harrison stole the song intentionally, the ex-Beatle is nonetheless found guilty of "subconsciously" lifting several key melodic elements from the Chiffons' 1963 smash "He's So Fine" for his 1970 smash "My Sweet Lord." Harrison, who always maintained he was really trying to write something like the Edwin Hawkins Singers' hit "Oh Happy Day," would appeal for five years but eventually be ordered to pay the publisher $587,000. The Chiffons, who never saw royalties from their original hit, head back into the studio to cut a version of... "My Sweet Lord."

1980: In Beverly Hills, Karen Carpenter marries her first and only husband, real estate developer Thomas Burris.

1985: 'Brothers In Arms' by Dire Straits started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album charts. The album also topped the charts in 25 other countries and went on to sell over 20 million worldwide.

1986: After living together for 10 years Bob Geldof married TV presenter Paula Yates in Las Vegas with Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon as the best man. Yates died of a drug overdose on 17th September 2000.

1987: The largest pre-order of albums in the history of CBS Records occurred as 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson's ‘Bad’ album were shipped to record stores in the US. The LP followed the Jackson album, ‘Thriller’, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (over 35 million copies sold). ‘Bad’ went on to sell over 13 million copies.

1990: Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sang ‘Amazing Grace’ at a memorial service held for guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan who had been killed in a helicopter crash 4 days earlier.

1991: Metallica started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with, 'Metallica'. The album featured ‘Enter Sandman’ ‘Sad But True’, ‘The Unforgiven’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ went on to sell over 10 million copies in the US alone.

1998: Noreaga, Vincent Santiago, of the musical group Capone-N-Noreaga was charged with assault of an unhappy fan in Harrisburg, PA.

2002: NASA announced that Lance Bass, singer with *NSYNC, was to become the first celebrity astronaut. His $23.8 million, place on a Russian Soyuz module would make him the youngest person at 23 years of age to go into orbit. Bass ended up not taking part in the flight after failing to pay for his $20 million ticket on the craft.

2006: The Times ran a story on the demands of rock stars when on tour. Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue. The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur, Meat Loaf a mask and one small tank of oxygen. David Bowie requests that the dressing room temperature is between 14c and 18c and Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room. Mick Jagger must have an onstage autocue with the lyrics to all the songs, it would also tell him the name of the city in which they were performing.

2007: Hilly Kristal, founder of the New York punk club CBGB died from complications arising from lung cancer at the age of 75. Kristal was credited with discovering Patti Smith and The Ramones and his club became a breeding ground for punk rock. The New York City venue, whose full title CBGB OMFUG stood for 'country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gourmandisers', was originally launched to showcase country music.

2009: Patti Labelle is ordered by the IRS to pay $330,000 in back taxes.