June 3

Births

1906: Josephine Baker (Singer & Dancer)

1927: Boots Randolph (Sax Player)

1942: Curtis Mayfield (Singer for The Impressions & Solo)

1943: Michael Clarke (Michael James Dick) (Drummer for The Byrds & The Flying Burrito Brothers)

1946: Ian Hunter (Singer for Mott The Hoople & Solo)

1946: John Paul Jones (John Baldwin) (Bassist for Led Zeppelin)

1947: Dave Alexander (Bass for The Stooges)

1947: Mickey Finn (Drummer for T Rex)

1950: Suzi Quatro (Singer & Bassist)

1950: Deniece Williams (R&B Singer)

1952: Billy Powell (Keyboards for Lynyrd Skynyrd)

1954: Dan Hill (Country Singer)

1956: Danny Wilde (Singer for The Rembrandts)

1962: David Cole (Producer in C & C Music Factory)

1964: Kerry King (Guitar for Slayer)

1964: Doro Pesch (Singer for Warlock & Solo)

1965: Mike Gordon (Bass for Phish)

1973: Lyfe Jennings (R&B Singer)

1974: Kelly Jones (Vocals & Guitar for Stereophonics)

Events

1949: Elvis Presley, still an 8th grader, receives his final grades for the year at Humes High School, including an "A" in language but only a "C" in music.

1949: Hank Williams makes his last appearance on Shreveport's Louisiana Hayride.

1955: A car dealership in Lubbock, TX, holds a promotional autograph signing for two rising stars -- Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley.

1959: Billboard Magazine responds to the growing popularity of stereophonic recordings by splitting its album chart in two: one chart for mono, one for stereo.

1959: Stricken with tonsillitis while in the Army, Elvis Presley enters the base hospital in Germany and remains there for six days, during which a fruitless search is undertaken for a doctor who will operate on the famous throat. The inflammation is instead allowed to run its course.

1963: The mayor of Aurora, IN, declares today "Lonnie Mack Day" in honor of the native guitarist, recently on the charts with his famous instrumentals "Memphis" and "Wham!"

1964: The Rolling Stones perform their cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" on tonight's episode of ABC-TV's musical variety show Hollywood Palace, hosted this week by Dean Martin.

1964: During a photo shoot for The Saturday Evening Post, an exhausted Ringo Starr collapses and is rushed to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with tonsillitis and pharyngitis. With the band scheduled to leave for a world tour in only 27 hours. Producer George Martin and manager Brian Epstein agree on his replacement, session drummer Jimmy Nicol, who had already drummed on a Beatles covers album. Nicol is immediately rushed to the studio to rehearse six songs, and then joins the group on tour for eleven days. When John and Paul ask how he's doing on the tour, Nicol always replies with "It's getting better," which will eventually inspire the song "Getting Better" on Sgt. Pepper.

1967: A truly surreal edition of ABC-TV's American Bandstand features Jefferson Airplane performing "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit."

1967: The Doors single "Light My Fire" was released.

1968: Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol and art critic and curator Mario Amaya at Warhol's studio in New York City. Solanas had been to see Warhol after asking for the return of a script which had apparently, been misplaced. Warhol was seriously wounded in the attack and barely survived.

1970: With the BBC refusing to air the Kinks' new single, "Lola," due to its reference to "Coca-Cola" (brand names being a no-no for the corporation), lead singer Ray Davies is forced to fly all the way from London to New York to record the words "cherry cola" for a alternate release.

1982: Elvis Presley's fabled home, Graceland, is opened to the public.

1983: Already undergoing psychiatric treatment and suffering from, among other things, voices in his head, Derek and the Dominoes drummer Jim Gordon brutally murders his own mother with a hammer and knife in their home. Gordon, who co-wrote the band's biggest hit, "Layla," is sentenced to life in prison.

1987: George Michael's "I Want Your Sex" was banned by the BBC.

1989: Country singer Rebe McEntire weds her manager Narvel Blackstone.

1990: Michael Jackson was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica after complaining of chest pains. Test showed that he had bruised ribs from dance practice.

1991: To pay off his $16 million tax bill to the IRS, Willie Nelson releases a new album entitled Who'll Buy My Memories: The IRS Tapes.

1994: Pearl Jam rocker Eddie Vedder (29) weds Beth Liebling (27).

1998: Van Halen canceled a show at the Docks club in Hamburg, Germany, after a piece of ceiling plaster fell and hit Alex Van Halen. He suffered a bruised arm.

2000: Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts is arrested after allegedly trashing his house, threatening his wife's life, and then disappearing. He is captured and ordered to get psychiatric help.

2002: Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Elton John, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard, Ozzy Osbourne, The Corrs, Will Young, Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 are the performers at Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrating the 50th year of her reign.

2003: Barry Manilow suffered a broken nose after he accidentally walked into a wall at his home in Palm Springs, California and knocked himself unconscious. Although he passed out for four hours, he didn't endure any lasting effects as doctors determined that surgery was not necessary.

June 2

Births

1934: Johnny Carter (Doo-Wop Singer in The Flamingos & The Dells)

1941: Charlie Watts (Drummer for The Rolling Stones)

1941: William Guest (Pip in Gladys Knight and the Pips)

1944: Marvin Hamlisch (Piano Player & Composer)

1948: Jerry Mathers (The Beaver)

1950: Chubby Tavares (Lead Singer for Tavares)

1951: Steve Brookins (Drummer for .38 Special)

1955: Micki Steele (Bass for The Runaways & The Bangles)

1960: Tony Hadley (Vocals for Spandau Ballet)

1961: Dez Cadena (Singer & Guitar for Black Flag)

1962: Thor Eldon (Guitar for The Sugarcubes)

1970: B- Real (Louis Freeze) (Rapper in Cypress Hill)

1976: Tim Rice-Oxley (Piano for Keane)

1980: Fabrizio Moretti (Drummer for The Strokes)

Events

1953: Elvis Presley graduates from Humes High School in Memphis.

1956: Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps released "Be-Bop-A-Lula".

1958: Massively influential DJ Alan Freed joins the staff of New York's WABC, where he gets his own weeknight spot.

1958: After wandering the US for a year, 17-year-old Barry Sadler, later of "Ballad of the Green Berets" fame, joins the Air Force. (He wouldn't become an Army Green Beret for a few years.)

1962: "Twist Baby," by Owen Gray, becomes the first 45 issued on the new Island Records label.  The label became home to Free, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Bob Marley and U2.

1964: The Rolling Stones play their first US gig at a high school in Lynn, MA; that same day, they make their American TV debut on WABC's Les Crane Show in New York.

1965: James Brown released the single "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".

1967: The Beatles released the Album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the U.S.  It was released on June 1^st in the UK.

1967: David Bowie released his debut Album, David Bowie.

1972: For the first time since 1960, Dion reunites with his old group, the Belmonts, for an oldies revival show at Madison Square Garden.

1976: Paul McCartney and Wings set a new indoor stadium attendance record of 67,100 at the Seattle Kingdome.

1981: Prince made his live British debut at The Lyceum Ballroom, London, (he will not play the UK again for five years).

1988: James Brown's wife Adrienne attempts to claim diplomatic immunity on charges of drugged driving, speeding and criminal trespass, invoking her status as the wife of the "Ambassador of Soul." Seriously.

1988: Ex-Temptation David Ruffin is sentenced to two years probation in Detroit for a cocaine possession rap the previous year.

1989: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, 52, marries model Mandy Smith, 19, in a secret ceremony. Wyman's 28-year-old son was best man. All other four Stones attended. They would divorce two years later.

1993: Ronald Ray Howard's murder trial began in Austin, TX. Howard killed a state trooper after listening to Tupac Shakur's "2Pacalypse Now" album. Howard was convicted and sentenced to death.

1995: Stone Roses guitarist John Squire smashed his collarbone in a cycling accident causing the band to pull out of major gigs.

1998: Helen Carter (The Carter Family) suffered from gastrointestinal problems which led to heart problems that took her life at age 70.

1999: Junior Braithwaite (Bob Marley and the Wailers) was murdered in the home of a fellow musician in Kingston at age 46.

2002: Jimmy Buffett catches an unexpected gust of wind and crashes his plane into a sign while landing at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.

2003: After a public outcry (and legal protests from Yoko Ono), Paul McCartney agrees to drop his mission to have certain Beatles songwriting credits reversed to read "McCartney-Lennon."

2005: Franz Ferdinand's frontman, Alex Kapranos was detained by Russian police after being suspected of being a spy. Kapranos was attempting to board a plane in Moscow when the altercation took place. Travelling under his actual surname, Huntley, Alex was accused of being an MI6 agent who was previously suspected of stealing information on Russian weaponry. Unlucky for Alex that the surname Huntley was also used by actual former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson who did steal secrets in the early 90s. The singer was freed after he pointed out that the Huntley they were so concerned about was 42, 13 years older than him.

2008: Bo Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida at age 79.

2009: Cher sues Universal Music Group on behalf of herself and her late partner Sonny Bono, claiming the label owes them five million dollars in unpaid royalties.

2010: Faith Hill and Emmylou Harris perform at the White House as Paul McCartney receives the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize. Also playing for the president: Jack White, Elvis Costello and The Jonas Brothers.

2011: Pink (Alecia Beth Moore) and Husband Carey Hard have a baby girl named Willow Sage Hart.

2011: Shania Twain receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

June 1

Births

1921: Nelson Riddle (Composer)

1926: Marilyn Monroe

1934: Pat Boone (Pop Singer)

1947: Ron Wood (Bass for The Faces & The Rolling Stones)

1949: Mike Levine (Keyboardist & bassist for Triumph)

1956: Lisa Hartman Black (Actress & Singer)

1959: Alan Wilder (Keyboards for Depeche Mode)

1960: Simon Gallup (Bass for The Cure)

1963: Mike Joyce (Drums for The Smiths)

1974: Alanis Morissette (Singer)

1981: Brandi Carlile (Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1956: Doris Day signs a major five-year, million-dollar recording contract with Columbia.

1957: NBC-TV chooses Ricky Nelson as one of Five Stars For Springtime on its variety special of the same name, along with Patti Page, Nat King Cole, Gordon MacRae, and Andy Williams.

1961: Experimental FM stereo is heard for the first time in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Schenectady, NY markets.

1964: Having just graduated high school the day before, a young singer named Dolly Parton heads to Nashville to be discovered.

1964: The Rolling Stones visit the US for the first time, arriving at New York's Kennedy Airport in order to kick off their first American tour, an event which would inspire their song "Flight 505."

1965: Art Garfunkel graduates with a Master's in mathematics from New York's Columbia University.

1967: Fairport Convention makes their stage debut with a performance at St. Michael's Hall in the Golders Green section of London.

1971: The two-room shack in Tupelo, MS that served as a birthplace and early home for Elvis Presley is opened to the public.

1971: CBS-TV airs what would be the last Ed Sullivan Show, featuring guest performer Gladys Knight. The show would be canceled the next day, having run an astonishing 23 years.

1972: At Abbey Road Studios in London, Pink Floyd begin recording their landmark album Dark Side Of The Moon.

1973: Former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt broke his spine after attempting to leave a party by climbing down a drainpipe and falling three stories. It left Wyatt permanently crippled and confined to a wheelchair.

1975: On his 28th birthday, Ron Wood makes his stage debut with the Rolling Stones as the band kicks off its latest US tour at LSU in Baton Rouge, LA.

1981: The first issue of the Heavy Metal magazine Kerrang! was published as a special pull-out by UK weekly music paper Sounds. AC/DC had the front cover plus features on Motorhead, Girlschool and Saxon.

1991: Soul Singer David Ruffin (The Temptations) died of a cocaine overdose.

1992: Natalie Cole announces her separation from her husband, producer Andre Fischer.

1992: Rod Stewart is the proud parent of his fifth child, daughter Renee, by his second wife, model Rachel Hunter.

1994: Guns ‘n’ Roses drummer Matthew Sorum files to divorce Kai.

1997: Kenny Rogers marries his fifth wife, assistant Wanda Miller, at his home in Athens, GA.

1997: Spice Girl Baby Spice arrived back in the UK in a wheelchair after breaking her ankle during a Turkish TV show.

1998: Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) was arrested for drug possession in New York.

1999: 18 year old Northeastern University dropout Shawn Fanning invents a file-sharing program he calls Napster.

1999: Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn began a five day journey on a Sea-Doo (from Nashville to New Orleans) to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2003: Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was arrested on drugs and drink-driving charges after he collided with a car after going through a red light in his home town of Des Moines, Iowa. Gray, (who wears a pig mask on stage) then tried to write a check for $1,000 to the other driver, who then called the police. Gray failed two alcohol tests at the scene and was arrested for possession of marijuana, cocaine and drug paraphernalia, as well drunk-driving.

2005: White Stripes singer Jack White married his girlfriend, British model Karen Elson in a canoe on the Amazon in Brazil.

2009: The first event, a George Strait concert, was held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

2011: Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 1,108,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's only the 17th album to sell a million in a week since SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991, and the highest sales week since 2005.