May 1

Births

1907: Kate Smith (Singer)

1928: Sonny James (Bandleader)

1930: Little Walter (Blues Harmonica Player)

1933: Titus Turner (R&B Singer)

1939: Judy Collins (Folk Singer)

1944: Rita Coolidge (Singer)

1946: Nick Fortune (Bass in The Buckinghams)

1954: Ray Parker, Jr. (Singer in Raydio and Solo)

1957: Steve Farris (Guitar for Mr Mister)

1959: Phil Smith (Sax for Haircut 100)

1966: Johnny Colt (Bass for The Black Crowes)

1967: Tim McGraw (Country Singer)

1968: D'arcy Wretsky-Brown (Bass for Smashing Pumpkins)

1970: Bernard Butler (Guitar & vocals for Suede)

1978: Chris Kelly (Rapper in Kris Kross)

Events

1931: Kate Smith makes her radio show debut with the twice-weekly Kate Smith Sings show on NBC.

1942: The US government seizes the nation's jukebox factories and puts them to work making war materials.

1955: A St. Louis guitarist named Chuck Berry is signed to Chess Records in Chicago after bluesman Muddy Waters recommends him to the label.

1957: The Kingston Trio form in Palo Alto, CA.

1963: Lesley Gore performs her first big hit, "It's My Party," on ABC-TV's American Bandstand.

1965: Spike Jones (Lindley Armstrong) died of emphysema.

1966: The Beatles perform what is to be their last British concert when they appear at the Empire Pool in Wembley, England, to perform at the "1965-66 Annual Poll-Winners' All-Star Concert" given by the New Musical Express. The fifteen-minute set consists of "I Feel Fine," "Nowhere Man," "Day Tripper," "If I Needed Someone," and "I'm Down." Due to legal wrangling over license, this performance is, sadly, not filmed for posterity.

1967: Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys is arrested by the FBI for draft-dodging and refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. Wilson, a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, is eventually exonerated by his draft board and rejoins the band, touring in Ireland.

1967: Elvis Presley's entourage flies to Vegas to meet the singer and fiance Priscilla Beaulieu, and the couple are married at 9:30 am in the Aladdin Hotel suite of hotel owner (and Parker friend) Milton Prell. Elvis' best men are Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker. The officiating judge is David Zenoff, a Nevada Supreme Court Justice. After the ceremony the group decamps to the lobby, where a press conference is held. Mafioso Red West, furious at being excluded from the ceremony, refuses to attend the breakfast reception.

1969: Bob Dylan guest stars on ABC-TV's The Johnny Cash Show, featuring the two icons collaborating on three Dylan songs: "I Threw It All Away," "Living The Blues," and "Girl From The North Country.".

1969: Jimi Hendrix was arrested at Toronto International Airport for possesion of narcotics and was released on $10,000 bail.

1970: Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin combined for the first time on Elton’s first American album "Elton John".

1972: Paul Simon released his self-titled solo debut album.

1973: Washington, DC mayor Walter Washington officially declares today Marvin Gaye day in the singer's hometown.

1973: Bachman-Turner Overdrive released its first LP (self-titled) with former Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman.

1974: The Carpenters are invited to the Nixon White House in order to perform for the President and his visitor, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.

1975: The Rolling Stones announce their upcoming tour by being driven down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, performing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck.

1979: Elton John performs in Israel, the first Western pop act to do so.

1980: the South African government banned Pink Floyd's single 'Another Brick In The Wall' after black children adopted the song as their anthem in protest against inferior education.

1983: The Style Council played their first-ever live gig at the Empire Theatre Liverpool.

1984: Fleetwood Mac drummer and founder member Mick Fleetwood filed for bankruptcy.

1989: A suspicious man is arrested in a Los Angeles jewelry store after anonymous calls to the police; the man in question turns out to be Michael Jackson in a ludicrous disguise.

1997: The house where Kurt Cobain committed suicide went up for sale. The asking price for the five-bedroom house built in 1902 was $3 million. The carriage house where the Nirvana guitarist died had been demolished.

1998: Snoop Doggy Dog and MC Delmar Arnaud were each found with less than an ounce of marijuana and were arrested and booked on one count of misdemeanor marijuana possession each.

1999: The Lyz Art Forum in Siegen, Germany, presents an exhibition of 70 paintings by Paul McCartney, including "Bowie Spewing," which is indeed a young portrait of the singer.

2000: Former Village Voice scribe Jimmy McDonough sues Neil Young for $1.8 million in civil court for allegedly backing down from his agreement to authorize a biography McDonough spent years writing.

2003: While being treated for kidney failure, Barry White suffers a stroke, paralyzing the right side of his body. The singer never fully recovers, and dies a few months later.

2005: Coldplay became the first British band to have a new entry in the US Top 10 singles chart since The Beatles. Coldplay's latest single ‘Speed Of Sound’ entered the chart at number eight, only the second time a UK band has achieved the feat. The Beatles managed it with 'Hey Jude' in 1968.

2005: Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas went to No.1 on the US album chart with his first solo album 'Something To Be.' This marked the first time a male artist from a rock group had debuted at number one with his first solo album since the Billboard Top 200 was introduced 50 years ago.

April 30

Births

1923: Percy Heath (Jazz Bassist)

1925: Johnny Horton (Country Singer)

1933: Willie Nelson (Country Singer)

1933: Willie Nelson (Singer)

1941: Johnny Farina (Santo and Johnny)

1943: Bobby Vee (Pop Singer)

1944: Richard Shoff (The Sandpipers)

1945: Mimi Farina (Singer-Songwriter)

1948: Wayne Kramer (Guitar and Lead Vocals in MC5)

1962: Robert Reynolds (Bass for The Mavericks)

1967: Turbo B (Snap!)

1968: Ben Ayres (Guitar & Vocals for Cornershop)

1969: Paulo 'Destructor' JR (Sepultura)

1971: Darren Emerson (Keyboards for Underworld)

1971: Chris Henderson(Guitarist for 3 Doors Down)

1982: Lloyd Banks (Rapper)

Events

1941: Jazz giant Charlie Parker makes his first appearance on wax, blowing on Jay McShann's song "Swingmatism” on Decca Records.

1953: Frank Sinatra begins working with his new arranger, Nelson Riddle.

1957: Elvis Presley recorded "Jailhouse Rock".

1960: Fats Domino recorded "Walking To New Orleans".

1965: Bob Dylan begins the tour immortalized in the documentary Don't Look Back, performing at the City Hall in Sheffield, England.

1965: Manchester group Herman's Hermits began their first US tour supported by The Zombies.

1965: Herman's Hermits make their US stage debut, with the Zombies as opening act.

1966: Richard Farina (Folk Singer) died in a motorcycle accident on this day.

1969: The Beatles recorded "Let It Be".

1968: Organist Al Kooper announces he's leaving Blood Sweat and Tears.

1968: The Cilla Black Show, featuring the theme song "Step Inside Love" written by Paul McCartney, debuts on the BBC, making Cilla the first Englishwoman with her own TV show.

1970: Allman Brothers tour manager Twiggs Lyndon is arrested for stabbing a club manager to death over a contract dispute. Incredibly, Lyndon gets off by pleading temporary insanity caused by being the tour manager for the Allman Brothers.

1976: The Who's Keith Moon pays $100 to nine different New York cabdrivers to block off a full city block, allowing the drummer to throw all his furniture through the hotel room window and onto the street.

1977: Led Zeppelin break the single-act attendance record for a concert when 76,229 fans pay to see them at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI, breaking the previous record set by the Who, also set at the Silverdome.

1977: The Steve Miller Band released "Jet Airliner".

1980: Roger Daltrey of the Who premieres his first major acting vehicle, the crime drama film McVicar.

1982: Lester Bangs (Rock journalist for Creem and Rolling Stone Magazine) died of an overdose of Darvon, Valium and Nyquil.

1983: Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) died in his sleep from Heart Failure, at his home in Westmont, Illinois.

1983: To celebrate the 25th anniversary of London's legendary Marquee Club, Manfred Mann reforms in their original Sixties incarnation to play the venue they (and so many others) started in.

1988: For the first time since its release 11 years earlier, Pink Floyd's landmark LP Dark Side Of The Moon leaves the Billboard charts, only to return a few months later.

1990: Prince played a concert at Rupert's Night-club, Minneapolis. The $100 a head ticket proceeds all went to the family of his former bodyguard Charles 'Big Chick.' Huntsberry who had died from a heart attack.

1991: Nirvana signed a recording contract with Geffen's DGC label for $290,000.

1998: Boyzone singer Ronan Keating married Yvonne Connolly on the Caribbean island Nevis.

1999: Darrell Sweet (Nazareth) died of cardiac arrest while on tour.

2001: A light aircraft carrying Sting went off the runway as it landed in Florence. None of the four aboard, Sting a friend and two pilots were hurt. Brake failure was suspected as the cause of the accident.

2002: Roger Daltrey guest stars a music teacher on tonight's "That '70s Musical" episode of Fox-TV's That 70's Show.

2003: Sixties soul icon Earl King is buried in his hometown of New Orleans with an authentic jazz funeral. Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton send their condolences.

2004: Michael Jackson is arraigned on his child molestation charges, pleading not guilty to ten different criminal counts, also including extortion and false imprisonment.

2004: In Los Angeles, CA, Courtney Love (Hole) entered a plea of "not guilty" for two charges of felony drug possession.

2004: Ray Charles appears at his Los Angeles recording studio to attend a ceremony marking it as a national historic landmark. It will be the last public appearance he ever makes.

2005, The Dave Matthews Band agreed to pay $200,000 after their tour bus dumped human waste on a boatload of tourists in Chicago in August 2004. Bus driver Stefan Wohl who was alone on board the bus at the time the sewage was dumped was fined $10,000, the band had already donated $100,000 to two group's that protect the Chicago River and its surrounding area. The Dave Matthews Band offered their "deepest apologies" to more than 100 boat passengers who were on an architectural tour.

2005: American guitarist Norma-Jean Wofford died. Known as 'The Duchess', she worked with Bo Diddley as a Bo-ette from 1962 to 1966.

2007: Zola Taylor (The Platters) died in Los Angeles at age 69, from pneumonia.

2008: Mariah Carey married actor Nick Cannon in the Bahamas following a whirlwind two-month romance. The pop diva met Cannon, 27, while shooting the music video for her single 'Bye Bye.' It was the second marriage for Carey, who married Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola in 1993, which ended in 1998.

2008: A giant inflatable pig which floated away during a Roger Waters concert was recovered in tatters in California. Two families from La Quinta who found what was left of the inflatable, decided to share four life tickets to the Coachella festival that were offered as part of the reward.

2008, Gail Renard, who was given the hand written lyrics to 'Give Peace A Chance' by John Lennon in 1969, announced plans to sell the lyric sheet at a Christie's auction. At the time, Lennon told Renard to hang on to the piece of paper, saying "It will be worth something someday." The piece of music history was expected to fetch around $400,000, but when it was actually sold in July of this year, it went for $790,000.

April 29

Births

1899: Duke Ellington (Composer & Bandleader)

1903: Bob Hope

1928: Carl Gardner (The Coasters)

1936: Sylvia Vanderpool (Mickey and Sylvia)

1942: Sir Monti Rock III (Singer in Disco Tex and his Sex-O-Lettes)

1942: Klaus Voorman (Bass for Manfred Mann & The Plastic Ono Band)

1945: Tammi Terrell (R&B Singer)

1945: Gary Brooker (Singer & Piano in Procol Harum)

1947: Tommy James (Singer in The Shondells)

1949: Francis Rossi (Guitar & Vocals in Status Quo)

1950: Joey Levine (Singer in Ohio Express, Reunion)

1955: Mike Porcaro (Bass player in Toto)

1960: Phil King (Bass for Lush)

1968: Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips)

1970: Master P (Rapper)

1973: Mike Hogan (Bass for The Cranberries)

1981: Tom Smith (Bass guitarist for Editors)

Events

1942: Bing Crosby recorded "White Christmas".

1958: Little Anthony and the Imperials recorded "Tears On My Pillow".

1959: Herndon Stadium in Atlanta holds one of the first outdoor rock concerts, featuring Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed, and B.B. King. Nine thousand people attend.

1967: The 14 hour Technicolour Dream benefit party for The International Times was held at Alexandra Palace in London. Seeing the event mentioned on TV, John Lennon called his driver and went to the show. Coincidentally, Yoko Ono was one of the performers. Other acts to appear included The Flies, Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown, The Move and Susie Creamcheese.

1967: Aretha Franklin's single "Respect" was released.

1971: Three dozen audiences members attending today's Grateful Dead show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom are treated for hallucinations after drinking apple juice purposefully spiked with LSD (some say by the band themselves).

1972: After seeing his protest song "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" banned by the BBC for its content, Paul McCartney puckishly rush releases a version of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had A Little Lamb" as the followup. In the US, where no one is in on the joke, it actually makes it to #28.

1973: The Byrds officially disband for good (or so it seems) when founder and leader Roger McGuinn performs his first solo concert at New York's Academy of Music.

1973: John Denver began a weekly live UK BBC 2 TV special, 'The John Denver Show'.

1973: Mike Oldfield released the Album Tubular Bells.

1975: The Osmonds' appearance at Wembley Pool in London sets off a riot amongst fans.

1976: After a gig in Memphis Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Elvis Presley's Graceland home and proceeded to climb over the wall. A guard took him to be another crank fan and apprehended him

1977: Elvis leaves his show in Baltimore, MD for a full half-hour, angering and bewildering fans.

1980: Black Sabbath began their first tour with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced Ozzy Osbourne.

1983: KISS play their last concert in their traditional makeup (although, reformed with all original members, they would return to the painted faces in 1996).

1987: Michael Jackson's reputed offer of $50,000 for the bones of John Merrick, the infamous "Elephant Man," is first made public.

1988: Eric Clapton filed for a divorce from Patti "Layla" Boyd.

1989: John Cipollina (Guitarist for Quicksilver Messenger Service) died on from chronic emphysema at the age of 45.

1989: Elvis Presley's first grandchild, Danielle Riley Keough, is born to Lisa Marie Presley.

1990: Floyd Butler of The Friends of Distinction, died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Had the US No.3 single ‘Grazing In The Grass’ in 1969.

1992: After the recent AIDS-related death of lead singer Freddie Mercury, the Queen song "We Are The Champions" is banned from the graduation ceremony at Sacred Heart private school in Clifton, NJ.

1992: Singer Paula Abdul and actor Emilio Estevez were married in a judge's chambers in Santa Monica, California. One of Abdul's managers and Estevez's mother witnessed the ceremony. Abdul filed for divorce two years later.

1993: Guitarist, producer, Mick Ronson died of liver cancer aged 46. Ronson recorded and toured with David Bowie from 1970 to 1973.

1993: An animated Barry White was a guest on "The Simpsons."

1995: Rapper Tupac Shakur married Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility, where he was serving a four-year jail term for sex abuse.

1998: Steven Tyler broke his knee at a concert in Anchorage, Alaska delaying Aerosmith's 'Nine Lives' tour and necessitating camera angle adjustments for the filming of the video for 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing.'

1999: Tommy Lee announced that he had quit Motley Crue to devote time to his new band, Methods of Mayhem, and his family.

1999: Photographers taking shots of old cars wrecked at the bottom of Malibu's Decker Canyon discover the body of Iron Butterfly bassist Philip Kramer, who had gone missing on February 12, 1995. His death is ruled a suicide.

2003: A $5 million lawsuit against former Creedence Clearwater Revival leader John Fogerty was dismissed after a personal-injury lawyer claimed that he suffered hearing loss in his left ear from attending a Fogerty concert. The Judge said the plaintiff assumed the risk of hearing damage when he attended the concert in 1997.