May 12

Births

1928: Burt Bacharach (Writer & Singer)

1940: Norman Whitfield (Songwriter and Producer)

1942: Ian Dury (Singer & songwriter)

1943: David Walkes (Gary Lewis and the Playboys)

1945: Jayotis Washington (Singer for The Persuasions)

1946: Ian McLagan (Keyboards for Small Faces)

1948: Steve Winwood (Vocals & Keyboards for Spencer Davis Group, Traffic & Solo)

1950: Billy Squier (Guitarist & Singer)

1954: Barry Borden (Drums for Mothers Finest & Molly Hatchet)

1958: Eric Singer (Drummer for Kiss)

1972: Mark Morrison (R&B Singer)

Events

1908: Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Stubblefield

1958: The Everly Brothers started a four-week run at No.1 in the US with 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', (the song was written in 15 minutes).

1960: Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley appeared on the same TV special and performed the other's hit. Elvis sang "Witchcraft" and Sinatra sang "Love Me Tender."

1961: The Beatles, in Hamburg, West Germany, signed a recording contract with producer Bert Kaempfert. That evening they played at The Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg.

1962: Billboard Magazine reported that last year's most-played jukebox record was ‘Big Bad John’ by Jimmy Dean. The second most-played was Chubby Checker's ‘The Twist’.

1963: Bob Dylan walked out of rehearsals for the US TV Ed Sullivan show after being told he couldn't perform 'Talking John Birch Society Blues' due to it mocking the US military.

1964: The Beach Boys started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Beach Boys Concert', the group's first US No.1.

1965: "Satisfaction" was recorded by The Rolling Stones.

  

1967: 'Are You Experienced', the debut album by Jimi Hendrix was released in the UK. Hendrix also played a gig at the Bluesville Club, Manor House in London on this day.

1967: Archie Bell (Drells) was drafted into the U.S. military for a tour of Vietnam.

1968: Jimi Hendrix was arrested by police on his way to Toronto for possession of hashish and heroin. Hendrix claimed the drugs had been planted on him.

1968: Brian Jones (Guitar and was replaced by Mick Taylor) made his final live appearance with The Rolling Stones when they appeared at the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley, England.

1971: Rolling Stone Mick Jagger married Bianca Macias at St Tropez Town Hall. The guest list included the other members of the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Stephen Stills. The couple separated in 1977.

1971: Jerry Lee Lewis was granted a divorce from his cousin Myra.

1973: Led Zeppelin started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Houses Of The Holy', the group's third US No.1.

1975: Jefferson Starship gave a free concert in New York's Central Park in front of 60,000 fans. The band and concert sponsor, WNEW-FM, were forced to pay $14,000 for cleaning up and damage done to the park after the event.

1977: After being dropped by both EMI and A&M records in less than 6 months, Virgin records announced they had signed The Sex Pistols.

1977: Led Zeppelin received the outstanding contribution to British music at the second Ivor Novello Awards held at the Grosvenor Hotel, London.

1981: Meat Loaf filed for bankruptcy with debts of over $1 million.

1985: An honorary Doctor of Music degree was given to Lionel Richie from his alma mater Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

1986: Joe Strummer of The Clash was banned from driving after being convicted of drink driving.

1996: 17-year-old Bernadette O'Brien died the day after being injured 'body surfing' at a Smashing Pumpkins gig at The Point, Dublin.

1999: George Jones pled guilty to driving while impaired and violating the Tennessee's open-container law in Franklin. He was fined $550.

2000: Thieves stole the gates to Strawberry Fields the Merseyside landmark immortalised by The Beatles song. The 10' high iron gates were later found at local scrap metal dealers in Liverpool.

2001: American singer and TV presenter Perry Como died aged 88. He scored fourteen US No.1 singles, from 150 US chart hits and over 25 UK chart hits, including the single 'Magic Moments' and 'Catch A Falling Star.' Como was once the highest-paid performer in the history of television.

2002: At Miami International Airport, Dionne Warwick was arrested when baggage screeners found 11 marijuana cigarettes inside her lipstick container.

2002: Tom Hamilton's (Bass for Aerosmith) home in Cape Cod was destroyed by a fire. The house was under construction at the time.

2004: Barry and Robin Gibb were both presented with honorary degrees from Manchester University. They also picked up a posthumous award for their brother Barry. The brothers had once lived in Manchester, England.

2008: Singer-songwriter Neil Young had a spider named after him. US university biologist Jason Bond discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and decided to name it after his favourite musician. Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi was found in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007.

May 11

Births

1888: Irving Berlin (Composer)

1931: Dick Garcia (Jazz Guitarist)

1935: Kit Lambert (Producer and The Who’s Manager)

1941: Eric Burdon (Singer for The Animals)

1943: Arnie Satin (The Dovells)

1943: Les Chadwick (Bass for Gerry and the Pacemakers)

1947: Butch Trucks (Drummer for The Allman Brothers)

1955: Gary Langan (Art Of Noise)

1955: Susan Stenger (Bass & Vocals for Band Of Susans)

1965:Avtar Singh (Bass & Vocals for Cornershop)

1966: Christoph "Doom" Schneider (Drummer for Rammstein)

Events

1957: The Everly Brothers make their stage debut in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry.

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets fail an audition to appear on CBS-TV's Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

1958: Connie Francis was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a cover of the 1923 song 'Who's Sorry Now.' Francis was the first female rock 'n' roll star to reach No.1.

1959: Annette Funicello makes her first appearance as Gina Minelli on tonight's "Gina From Italy" episode of CBS-TV's sitcom Make Room For Daddy.

1963: The Beatles started a 30 week run at No.1 on the UK album charts with their debut album 'Please Please Me', making it the longest running No.1 album by a group ever. The bands follow up 'With The Beatles' replaced it at the top of the charts on 7th December 1963 and stayed there for 21 weeks.

1964: Britain's latest hot group, the Rolling Stones, are nonetheless refused service for lunch at Bristol, England's Grand Hotel because they're not properly attired in jackets and ties. The next day, the Daily Express calls them "the ugliest group in Britain" and remarks, "The Rolling Stones gather no lunch."

1965: The Byrds make their television debut, singing their cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" on NBC's musical variety show Hullabaloo.

1967: ABC-TV broadcasts its musical special ABC Stage 67: Rodgers and Hart Today, featuring the songwriting duo's classics being reinterpreted by the likes of Bobby Darin, The Supremes, The Mamas and the Papas, and Petula Clark.

1967: The Bee Gees make their first big splash on UK television. performing their new single, "New York Mining Disaster, 1941," on the BBC's Top Of The Pops.

1970: Sammy Davis, Jr. marries his third wife, Altovise Gore, a dancer in his current Broadway hit Golden Boy. The Rev. Jesse Jackson presides; the couple would remain married for the rest of Davis' life.

1970: The Beatles released the single "The Long And Winding Road".

1972: John Lennon makes another celebrated guest appearance on ABC-TV's Dick Cavett Show and casually tells Cavett that he believes the FBI is wiretapping his phone in order to gather evidence for his deportment. As it turns out, he's entirely correct.

1972: David Cassidy, then at the very peak of his career, appears in a controversial nearly-naked pose on the cover of Rolling Stone.

1973: Stevie Wonder recorded "Higher Ground".

1974: Elvis Presley plays a show at the Los Angeles Forum, attended by members of Led Zeppelin who were also in town for a gig. Upon learning of his famous fans, Elvis turns to his backup band after a somewhat sloppy opening number and jokingly admonishes them: "Wait a minute. Let's see if we can start together, fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there. Let's try to look like we know what we’re doing." Afterwards, the band meets Elvis backstage and is more than a little starstruck; Zeppelin manager Peter Grant and Elvis spontaneously swap their expensive watches, and then Robert Plant, just before the meeting breaks up, finally summons up the courage to sing Elvis' 1956 hit "Love Me." Elvis joins in for a few bars.

1975: Cher's new boyfriend, rocker Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers, appears as a guest on her CBS-TV show Cher.

1979: Lester Flatt (Flatt & Scruggs) dies of hear failure.

1981: In July 1977, Bob Marley was found to have acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of malignant melanoma from a wounded toe playing football. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death on this day. He was 36.

1988: On the occasion of his 100th birthday, legendary Tin Pan Alley songwriter Irving Berlin is serenaded by a crowd of fans singing his standards outside his New York apartment. That night, Carnegie Hall presents a program of the composer's hits.

1989: The late Roy Orbison is posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York, with Eric Clapton presenting the award to Orbison's widow.

1990: The late Ritchie Valens is finally awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Blvd.

1995: Jimmy Vaughn, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray reunited for a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn. All five had played with Vaughan at his last show on August 26, 1990, before he was killed in a helicopter crash.

2002: Over 500 Michael Jackson fans held a demonstration outside the Sony records building in Berlin complaining that the label hadn’t promoted the singer's latest album ‘Invincible.’

2003: Jackson Browne is the guest star (as himself) on tonight's "Brake My Wife, Please" episode of Fox-TV's The Simpsons.

2003: Noel Redding (Guitarist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience) died from "shock haemorrhage due to oesophageal varices in reaction to cirrhosis of the liver".

2004: John Whitehead (McFadden and Whitehead) was murdered by two unknown gunmen while fixing his car on the street outside his Philadelphia home with his nephew.

2004: Willie Nelson cancels ten upcoming concerts in order to get some much-needed carpal tunnel surgery.

2006: George Michael was involved in his second minor car crash in a month after a tabloid photographer found Michael asleep in his parked car in central London. The singer crashed into a bollard after he woke up and was driving away.

2007: Rapper, The Game ,was arrested at his home in connection with an incident at a basketball game in South Los Angeles in February 2007. He was alleged to have threatened a person with a gun. The rapper was released the next day, after posting $50,000 bail.

2008: John Rutsey (Original Drummer for Rush) died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack, related to complications from diabetes.

May 10

Births

1899: Fred Astaire (Singer)

1909: Mother Maybelle Carter (Country Singer)

1935: Larry Williams (R&B Singer)

1938: Henry Fambrough (Singer in The Spinners)

1940: Arthur Alexander )Country Singer)

1941: Danny Rapp (Danny and the Juniors)

1944: Jackie Lomax (Singern& Guitarist)

1946: Dave Mason (Singer & Guitar for Traffic)

1946: Donovan (Singer)

1946: Graham Gouldman (10cc)

1947: Jay Ferguson (Spirit)

1951: Ron Banks (The Dramatics)

1952: Sly Dunbar (Reggae Drummer in Sly & Robbie)

1957: John Ritchie (Sid Vicious) (Bass & Vocals for The Sex Pistols)

1957: Karl Hyde (Vocals & Guitar for Underworld)

1960: Paul Hewson (Bono) (Vocals & Guitar for U2)

1967: Young MC (Marvin Young) Rapper

1968: Richard Patrick (Guitarist for Filter & Nine Inch Nails)

Events

1940: Jimmy Dorsey recorded "Perfidia".

1960: A group from Liverpool named the Beatals changes its name to the Silver Beatles after local scenester Brian Casser declares the first name ridiculous. The five-piece (which at this point includes Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Tommy Moore on drums) audition to become singer Billy Fury's backing group. Though they don't get the main gig, they do score a gig backing up fellow Liverpudlian Tommy Quickly on a Scottish tour.

1963: The Rolling Stones make their first recordings for Decca Records, including the Chuck Berry cover "Come On," but all are rejected by the label as "dreadful."

1964: Dusty Springfield makes her television debut on CBS' Ed Sullivan Show, singing "I Only Want To Be With You."

1965: The Rolling Stones recorded "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

1966: Struggling singer Janis Joplin, back home in her native Texas, is invited back out to San Francisco by her friend Chet Helms, who invites her to audition with a group he's managing called Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1967: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards appeared at Chichester Crown Court, Sussex, charged with being in possession of drugs, they elect to go to trial pleading not guilty and were both granted $180 bail.

1968: Reacting to alleged abuse of audience members by policemen, Jim Morrison incites a riot at a Doors concert at the Chicago Coliseum.

1969: Tricia Nixon, daughter of the US President, invites The Temptations and the Turtles to perform at a White House ball. For some reason, Turtles guitarist Mark Volman keeps falling off the stage; rumors persist later that he and the band had prepared for the gig by snorting cocaine off of Abraham Lincoln's desk.

1969: Frank Sinatra's version of 'My Way' made the British Top ten for the first time. Over the next three years it re-entered the Top 50 singles chart on eight different occasions. Paul Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, after he told Anka he was quitting the music business. Anka changed the melodic structure and lyrics to the song with Sinatra in mind.

1974: Eric Clapton recorded "I Shot the Sheriff."

1974: Led Zeppelin launches its new record label, Swan Song, with a swank dinner at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles that quickly devolves into a food fight.

1977: Adam And The Ants made their live debut when they played at the ICA, London.

1983: Metallica began recording the album "Kill 'Em All" in New York. They finished on May 27, 1983.

1985: All girl group The Go-Go's announced they were breaking up. The members went on to enjoy solo success, (Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin) and the group reformed in the late 90's.

1986: Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married TV star Heather Locklear in a courtyard in Santa Barbara California with five hundred guests. Tommy wore a white leather tuxedo.

1986: The Pet Shop Boys went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'West End Girls', the duo's first US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.

1991: Bushwick Bill (Geto Boys) lost his right eye after being shot by his girlfriend.

1994: Rapper Tupac Shakur began serving a 15-day county jail term for attacking director Allen Hughes on a video set.

1994: Barbra Striesand begins her 1st concert tour in 30 years.

1999: American singer, songwriter poet, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books Shel Silverstein died of a heart attack aged 57. Wrote, 'A Boy Named Sue' for Johnny Cash (which Silverstein won a Grammy for in 1970) and many songs for Dr Hook including 'Sylvia's Mother' and 'The Cover of the Rolling Stone.'

2000: Bobby Brown was arrested at Newark airport, New Jersey for breaking his probation order. He had been wanted in Florida since 1999 when his probation officer reported that a urine test proved positive for cocaine use.

2003: Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) was given an honorary doctorate degree in music by the Berklee College of Music.

2004: Glen Campbell is sentenced to 10 days in a jail after he pleads guilty to driving under the influence (and leaving the scene of the ensuing car wreck) the previous November in Phoenix.

2005: Seal married German supermodel Heidi Klum in a low-key ceremony on a beach in Mexico near the singer's home on the luxurious Costa Careyes.

2007: Pink Floyd's original members gather for the first time since 1980 to perform a concert at Barbican Centre, in London, a tribute to their recently deceased ex-frontman Syd Barrett.

2007: US hip-hop artist Akon apologised after footage of him dancing provocatively on stage with a teenage girl was posted on the internet. It led to telecommunications company Verizon pulling out as a sponsor of his US tour with Gwen Stefani. The incident took place on 12 April in Trinidad, where Akon was performing at a nightclub. It was later reported that the girl was just 14. In a statement Akon said he didn't know the girl was underage. He said: "I want to sincerely apologise for the embarrassment and any pain I've caused to the young woman who joined me on stage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert.” 

May 9

Births

1914: Hank Snow (Country Singer)

1937: Dave Prater (Singer in Sam and Dave)

1937: Sonny Curtis (Guitar in The Crickets)

1939: Nokie Edwards (Noel Floyd Edwards)(Bass for The Ventures)

1941: Danny Rapp (Singer for Danny and the Juniors)

1942: Tommy Roe (Singer)

1944: Don Dannemann (The Cyrkle)

1944: Richie Furay (Singer for Buffalo Springfield & Poco)

1945: Steve Katz (Guitar in Blood Sweat and Tears)

1946: Clint Holmes (Singer)

1949: Billy Joel (Singer & Piano Player)

1949: Bob Margolin (Blues Guitarist)

1950: Tom Petersson (Bass for Cheap Trick)

1953: John Edwards (Bass for Status Quo)

1962: Dave Gahan (Vocals for Depeche Mode)

1962: Paul Heaton (Vocals for Housemartins)

1971: Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan (Bass for Oasis)

1975: Ryan 'Nik' Vikedal, (Drums for Nickelback)

1979: Pierre Bouvier (Singer for Simple Plan)

Events

1944: Jimmie Davis became the Governor of Louisiana. He wrote the song "You Are My Sunshine.

1958: Still angry that his employers refuse to back him in his defense of recent charges of inciting a riot at a Boston show, DJ Alan Freed quits New York radio station WINS, claiming they refused to "stand by my policies and principles." The same day, Freed debuts his new package tour in Hershey, PA, starring Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Danny and the Juniors, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Larry Williams, and the Chantels.

1959: A sixteen-year-old singer named Wayne Newton, long ridiculed for his girlish voice, begins a two-week engagement at Vegas' Freemont Hotel, and proves so popular that he would headline at the location for over three years. He would go on to earn $20 million annually.

1962: Brian Epstein met with EMI producer George Martin. Martin signed the Beatles to record demos on June 4, 1962. It was their first recording contract.

1963: The Rolling Stones sign their first management contract with Andrew Loog Oldham's management company Impact, agreeing to license their UK output to Decca.

1964: Chuck Berry makes his UK stage debut at London's Astoria Theatre, with The Animals, The Nashville Teens, and The Swinging Blue Jeans opening for him.

1964: Louis Armstrong went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello Dolly' making him the oldest artist to hit No.1 one at the age of 62.

1965: Bob Dylan gives his first major performance in the UK, opening at London's Royal Albert Hall for an audience that includes the Beatles, the Stones, Donovan, and Marianne Faithfull.

1966: The Doors played at the Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood, California auditioning for the position of the venues house band.

1973: Mick Jagger adds $150,000 to the Rolling Stones' contribution of $350,000 for victims of a recent Nicaraguan earthquake. (Jagger's then-wife Bianca was born in Nicaragua.)

1974: A folk supergroup performs at New York's Felt Forum when Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, and Arlo Guthrie perform "Blowin' In The Wind" and the standard "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" for a Chilean benefit group. Unfortunately, a reportedly inebriated Dylan does not give his best performance.

1974: Bruce Springsteen gives the most important performance of his career, opening for Bonnie Raitt at her Boston Arena show. Playing his full two-hour set at Raitt's insistence, Bruce delivers a show so impressive that Rolling Stone's Jon Landau later wrote in Boston's The Real Paper, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau would later become Springsteen's manager and producer.

1978: Fee Waybill of The Tubes, broke a leg after falling from the stage at the Hammersmith Odeon, London whilst wielding a chainsaw during the bands set.

1979: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr attend Eric Clapton's marriage to George's ex-wife, Patti (whom a lovestruck Clapton wrote "Layla" for), with the "Threetles" performing some old rock and roll songs at Clapton's country manor. Mick Jagger, Elton John, Denny Laine, David Bowie, and Lonnie Donegan also attend. The couple would divorce in 1988.

1979: Jazz singer Eddie Jefferson was shot and killed at Baker's Keyboard Lounge on May 8, 1979, aged 60. He had left the club with fellow bandleader Cole around 1:35 a.m. and was shot while walking out of the building. A late-model Lincoln Continental was spotted speeding away from the scene. The driver was later picked up by Detroit police and identified as a disgruntled dancer with whom Jefferson once worked and had fired from a gig. The suspect was charged with murder, but was later acquitted in a Detroit trial.

1987: Starship started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.' At 48, it made lead singer Grace Slick the oldest female to reach No.1 on the UK chart, (later broken by Cher's 'Believe' in 1999).

1988: Prince's 10th album was released entitled "Lovesexy." Some stores refused to sell the album due to the nude portrait that was on the cover.

1990: Sinead O'Connor refused to perform on "Saturday Night Live" after Andrew Dice Clay was named as host.

1992: Bruce Springsteen finally makes his debut on US television, performing "Lucky Town" on NBC's Saturday Night Live.

1998: The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson performs his first-ever solo concert in St. Charles, IL.

1998: Blues harmonica player Lester Butler died at the age of 39 of a drug overdose.

1998: Jimmy Page appeared on US TV's 'Saturday Night Live' with rapper Sean 'Puffy' Combs and performed 'Come With Me' from the 'Godzilla' movie soundtrack. The song sampled the guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's song 'Kashmir'.

2000: A U.S. federal appeals court upheld a $5.4 million jury decision that Michael Bolton had plagiarized parts of the song "Love is a Wonderful Thing." The original song, of the same name, was released in 1966 by the Isley Brothers.

2005: Country singer Kenny Chesney married Bridget Jones and Chicago actress Renee Zellweger in the Caribbean.

2008: Foxy Brown avoided a further spell in prison after pleading guilty in a New York court to menacing her neighbour with a BlackBerry phone. The 28-year-old rapper admitted hitting Arlene Raymond during an argument over the volume of her car stereo last July. The incident landed the star in prison for violating the terms of her probation on a separate assault charge.