February 21

Births

1933: Nina Simone (Jazz Singer)

1943: David Geffen (Record Executive)

1949: Jerry Harrison (Keyboards & Guitar for The Talking Heads & The Modern Lovers)

1958: Mary Chapin Carpenter (Country Singer)

1961: Ranking Roger (Singer for The English Beat & General Public)

1967: Michael Ward (Guitar for The Wallflowers)

1970: Eric Wilson (Bass for Sublime)

1975: Wish Bone (Rapper with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)

1986: Charlotte Church (Singer)

Events

1952: A 17-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis marries his first wife, preacher's daughter Dorothy Barton, in what is rumored to be a shotgun wedding.

1958: The first Flying V, a guitar by Gibson, was shipped from a factory in Kalamazoo, MI.

1964: A young pianist named Billy Joel joins his first rock band, a New York outfit called The Echoes, which specializes in covering the new "British Invasion" bands.

1970: The Jackson 5 made their television debut on ABC's American Bandstand.

1976: The Four Seasons finally score a UK #1 -- their first and last -- with their latest single, "December '63 (Oh What A Night)."

1981: Dolly Parton started a two week run at No.1 on the US charts with '9 to 5', the singers first No.1.

1981: Prince appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and performed "Party Up." It was his first appearance on the show.

1986: Pat Boone is the guest star (as himself) on tonight's "Beach Blanket Bounty" episode of NBC-TV's The Fall Guy.

1987: 26 years after becoming a hit in America, Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" becomes a #1 in the UK, following its release in the movie of the same name.

1987: Sly Stone was jailed on drug charges.

2001: Johnny Cash, recovering from pneumonia, is judged fit for release from a Nashville hospital so that he can attend this evening's Grammy ceremonies and pick up his statuette for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

2001: Robbie Williams was attacked and thrown from the stage during a concert in Stuttgart, Germany after a man got onto the stage and pushed Williams into the security pit. The attacker was arrested and taken to a secure psychiatric clinic.

2008: In what is reported as one of eBay's most expensive sales yet, the online auction house brokers a deal between an unnamed US music collector and an unnamed Irish collector for three million albums and singles in various formats, for a grand total of about one dollar per item.

2008: Crystal Gayle is inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.

2008: A computer expert was jailed for two years for electronically stalking Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington. Devon Townsend worked at a US national security laboratory in New Mexico, where she used a computer to track Bennington, she admitted to obtaining family photos, accessing e-mail and voicemail, and threatening his wife Talinda.

February 20

Births

1937: Nancy Wilson (Jazz Singer)

1946: J. Geils (Lead Guitar for J. Geils Band)

1950: Walter Becker (Guitar & Bass for Steely Dan)

1951: Randy California (Vocals & Guitar for Spirit)

1953: Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace) (Vocals & Guitar for The Cramps)

1960: Kee Marcello (Guitar for Europe)

1963: Ian Brown (Lead Vocals for The Stone Roses)

1967: Kurt Cobain (Vocals & Guitar for Nirvana)

1972: Neil Primrose (Drummer for Travis)

1975: Brian Littrell (Singer in Backstreet Boys)

1981: Chris Thile (Mandolin for Nickel Creek)

1988: Rihanna (Robyn Rihanna Fenty) (Pop Singer)

Events

1949: A nine-year old Ricky Nelson joins the cast of his parents' NBC Radio show, The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet, replacing a child actor who'd been portraying him.

1958: Bill Haley and his Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Everly Brothers and Jimmie Rodgers begin the "Big Gold Record Stars" tour in Florida.

1960: Jimi Hendrix makes his stage debut, playing guitar in the basement of Seattle's Temple De Hirsch synagogue. He is fired between sets for "showing off."

1974: Cher files for separation from husband Sonny Bono after ten years of marriage.

1976: KISS is invited to put their feet and handprints in the famous wet cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

1977: At tonight's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder cleans up with a Best Album win (Songs In The Key Of Life) and Best Vocal Performance ("I Wish"). Most infamous is the Best New Artist award for the Starland Vocal Band, of "Afternoon Delight" fame, which is sometimes cited as the beginning of that award's "curse" of quick anonymity.

1982: Singer Pat Benatar married musician-producer Neil Geraldo in Hawaii. It was Benatar's second marriage.

1996: Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg and a bodyguard were found not guilty of first-degree murder. The jury was deadlocked on voluntary manslaughter charges resulting in a mistrial.

1996: Alan Jackson makes a guest appearance on "Home Improvement," singing "Mercury Blues" on the fictitious handyman show "Tool Time"

2007, The US hair salon where pop star Britney Spears shaved her head set up a website to auction her hair for more than $1m. The website, buybritneyshair.com, claims to have been set up by salon owner Esther Tognozzi and includes photos of the hair, saying it is "absolutely authentic". As well as the hair, the winning bidder will also get the hair clippers Spears used, a blue lighter she left at the salon and the can of Red Bull she was drinking at the time. Meanwhile, Spears has been spotted in Hollywood sporting a short blonde wig.

2008: Pink split from her husband Carey Hart following two years of marriage.

February 19

Births

1940: Smokey Robinson (R&B Singer)

1943: Lou Christie (Singer)

1948: Mark Andes (Bass for Spirit)

1948: Tony Iommi (Guitar for Black Sabbath)

1954: Francis Buchholz (Bass for The Scorpions)

1956: Dave Wakeling (Singer & Guitar for The English Beat & General Public)

1957: Falco (Johann (Hans) Hölzel ) (Singer)

1963: Seal (Singer)

1964: Doug Aldrich (Guitar for Whitesnake & Dio)

1968: Prince Markie D (Rapper in The Fat Boys)

Events

1878: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison patents his latest (and personal favorite) creation, the phonograph. Beginning life as a telegraph repeater, the device was actually completed by an assistant working from Edison's sketches.

1965: Rod Stewart plays his first major gig in a Harrow, England club, singing with his band, The Soul Agents.

1972: Sammy Davis Jr. makes his notorious guest appearance on CBS' All In The Family, giving the show's main character, white bigot Archie Bunker, a big kiss.

1974: The First Annual American Music Awards, Dick Clark's answer to the Grammys, is broadcast on ABC. Hosts include Smokey Robinson, Helen Reddy and Roger Miller.

1974: KISS make their television debut on an episode of ABC's Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

1976: Rich Stevens of the soul group Tower of Power is arrested in San Jose, CA, for a drug-related triple homicide that had taken place the night before. He will be found guilty in November.

1980: Bon Scott, the lead singer of AC/DC, died in London at the age of 33. He died as a result of choking on his own vomit after drinking heavily.

1982: Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn't go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

1995: Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a Cancun beach, Mexico, the bride wore a white bikini. Anderson and Lee who married only four days after meeting had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation which was later stolen and released on the Internet. After suing the video company who released the tape, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The couple divorced in 1998.

1995: Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea give birth to son Jesse James Louis.

1997: Miles Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998: Eighties rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats reunite for a charity show at Los Angeles' House of Blues. The show benefited the Carl Perkins Center For The Prevention Of Child Abuse.

1999: Spice Girl Melanie B gave birth to a baby daughter and named her Phoenix Chi.

2003: In West Warwick, RI, 99 people were killed when fire destroyed the nightclub The Station. The fire started with sparks from a pyrotechnic display being used by Great White. Ty Longley, guitarist for Great White, was one of the victims in the fire.

February 18

Births

1933: Yoko Ono (Musician)

1934: Skip Battin (Bass for The Byrds)

1941: Irma Thomas (R&B Singer)

1947: Dennis DeYoung (Singer & Keyboards for Styx)

1952: Juice Newton (Country Singer / Songwriter)

1952: Randy Crawford (Jazz Singer)

1953: Robbie Bachman (Drums for Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

1954: John Travolta (Singer, yes he had a album)

1955: Brian James (Guitar for The Damned & Lords Of The New Church)

1965: Dr Dre (Andre Romelle Young) (Rapper)

1977: Sean Watkins (Singer & Guitarist for Nickel Creek)

1980: Regina Spektor (Singer / Songwriter)

1982: Juelz Santana (LaRon Louis James) (Rapper)

Events

1966: Beach Boy Brian Wilson recorded the future classic song 'Good Vibrations', which went on to become the band's third U.S. number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up "vibrations" from people, so that the dog would bark at "bad vibrations" Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1968: David Gilmour joins Pink Floyd as the replacement for founding member and guitarist Syd Barrett, who had already checked into a psychiatric hospital due to declining mental health.

1968: Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, along with their female companions, head to Rishikesh, India to join the other two members of the Beatles in studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

1969: The Bee Gees' Maurice Gibb marries Lulu at St. James' Church, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England. Three thousand fans turn out to see the nuptials.

1973: Four men climb on stage during Elvis Presley's show in Las Vegas, ostensibly to shake his hand. Fearing a threat to his life, Elvis and bassist Jerry Scheff immobilize the men using karate moves. No charges are filed. Elvis tells the audience: "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry I didn't break his goddamned neck, is what I'm sorry about."

1973: The nationally syndicated radio concert series The King Biscuit Flower Hour premieres, featuring Blood Sweat and Tears, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

1974: KISS release their self-titled debut album.

1980: Bill Wyman announces his intention to leave his group, the Rolling Stones, by 1983. The bassist is convinced to stay on, which he does until 1992.

1980: Filming begins on Ringo Starr's new comedy, Caveman.

1992: Vince Neil quit as lead singer of Motley Crue. After 11 years with the group he says he wants to spend more time on his career as a race car driver. The band reunited on the "American Music Awards" 5 years later.

1995: American guitarist Bob Stinson from The Replacements died from a drug overdose, his body was found in his Uptown, Minneapolis apartment.

2001: James Taylor marries his second wife, Caroline.

2005: Britney Spears attacked a US magazine after it published photographs of her honeymoon without permission. Weekly publication Us printed five pages of pictures of Spears and husband Kevin Federline on holiday in Fiji. A statement from US said: "Britney should start her own magazine if she'd like to dictate her own coverage."

2006: In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert before a crowd of over 1 million people at Copacabana Beach.