September 5

Births

1735: Johann Christian Bach (Composer)

1945: Al Stewart (Singer / Songwriter)

1946: Buddy Miles (Drummer for Jimi Hendrix Band Of Gypsys)

1946: Freddie Mercury (Vocals & Piano for Queen)

1946: Loudon Wainwright III (Folk Singer)

1949: Dave Clempson (Guitar for Humble Pie)

1963: Terry Ellis (Vocals for En Vogue & Solo)

1968: Brad Wilk (Drums for Rage Against The Machine & Audioslave)

1969: Dweezil Zappa (Guitarist)

1982: Sondre Lerche (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

Events

1955: Tennessee Ernie Ford sings "Sixteen Tons" on his daytime variety show. Fan mail pours in, and Ford records it two weeks later.

1964: The Animals started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'House Of The Rising Sun'. When first released the record company printed the time of the song on the record as three minutes feeling that the real time of four minutes was too long for radio airplay.

1968: On their first ever visit to the UK, The Doors appeared on Top of The Pops performing ‘Hello I Love You’ live on the TV show.

1968: John Lennon takes a plane to Germany to begin filming his first and only major movie role, appearing as "Pvt. Gripweed" in director Richard Lester's latest movie, the WWI satire How I Won the War. While filming, Lennon is quite taken with the "granny glasses" his character uses, and begins to wear them upon returning home, resulting in a major piece of his visual iconography.

1976: During Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day Telethon on NBC-TV, musical guest Frank Sinatra announces that he's brought a friend along -- and produces Dean Martin, Lewis' former comedy partner, who has not spoken to him since the duo's dissolution twenty years earlier. The tearful crowd erupts in laughter when Lewis greets Martin with, "So, you working?"

1976: Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington was seriously injured in a car crash in Florida.

1987: After a full three decades on ABC, Dick Clark's American Bandstand is canceled, largely due to MTV's influence on the younger generation. The show will limp along on the USA cable channel and in syndication for another three years, with a different host, before finally throwing in the towel.

1987: Ian Astbury of The Cult was arrested after a show in Vancouver ended in a riot. Staff at the concert claimed they were assaulted by Astbury, who spent the night in the local police cells.

1990: B.B. King received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

1992: John Mellencamp and Elain Irwin get married.

1992: Vince Gill earns his first #1 single in Billboard with "I Still Believe In You"

1993: Dave Navarro, guitarist, joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

1998: Aerosmith scored their first US No.1 single with the Diane Warren written song 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing'.

September 4

Births:

1951: Martin Chambers (Drums for The Pretenders)

1956: Blackie Lawless (Singer & Guitar for W.A.S.P.)

1958: George Hurley (Drummer for The Minutemen & fIREHOSE)

1960: Kim Thayil (Lead Guitar for Soundgarden)

1963: Sam Yaffa (Bass for Hanoi Rocks)

1969: Sasha (Producer & DJ)

1970: Igor Cavalera (Drummer for Sepultura)

1971: Ty Longley (Guitarist & Singer for Great White)

1974: Carmit Bachar (Singer & Dancer in The Pussycat Dolls)

1974: Nona Gaye (Singer & Marvin Gaye’s Daughter)

1975: Mark Ronson (DJ, Producer & Guitarist)

1981: Beyonce Knowles (Singer with Destiny’s Child & Solo)

Events:

1954: To coincide with the release of his second Sun single, ‘Good Rockin' Tonight’, Elvis Presley, along with Bill Black and Scotty Moore made their first appearance at The Grand Old Opry. The audience reaction was so poor, the Opry's manager, Jim Denny told Elvis that he should go back to driving a truck.

1959: After 17-year-old gang member Salvador Agron fatally stabs two teens in New York, station WCBS bans the Bobby Darin hit "Mack the Knife."

1962: The Beatles' first formal recording session at EMI's Abbey Road studios took place. George Martin was unhappy with a previous session on June 6, so he called The Beatles back into the studio to try again. They recorded six songs, including ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me.’

1964: The Animals gave their debut performance in Brooklyn, NY, at the U.S. Paramount Theater.

1965: The Who had their van stolen containing over $10,000 worth of equipment outside the Battersea Dogs Home. The band was inside the home at the time buying a guard dog. The van was later recovered. 

1968 - "Street Fighting Man," by the Rolling Stones, was banned in several cities in because authorities feared it might incite public disorder.

1968: The Beatles recorded promotional videos for ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ at Twickenham Film Studios. The vocals are recorded live over the pre-recorded instrumental tracks to get round the current British Musicians Union ban on lip-sync performances. For ‘Hey Jude’, The Beatles were accompanied by a 36-piece orchestra and 300 fans and other assorted extras who join in singing the long refrain.

1971: Taken from the album 'Ram', Paul and Linda McCartney went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the US only released 'Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey'. McCartney's first US solo No.1.

1972: Concessionaire Francisco Caruso was killed during a Wishbone Ash concert in Texas after refusing to give a fan a free sandwich.

1972: John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon Show.

1976: Fleetwood Mac went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album after being on the charts for over a year. The album went on to sell over 5 million copies in the US and was the first of three No.1 albums for the group.

1976: The Sex Pistols made their television debut when they appeared on the Manchester based Granada TV program 'So It Goes'.

1981: MCA releases George Strait's debut album, "Strait Country".

1986: After just getting his driving license back after a five-year suspension, Gregg Allman from The Allman Brothers Band was arrested in Florida for drunk driving.

1987: Mike Joyce, drummer with The Smiths, quit the band saying that 'the present role within the group had been fulfilled'.

1991: Dottie West died at the age of 58. She died from injuries incurred in a car accident 5 days earlier. West was the first female country Grammy winner.

1996: Oasis created outrage at the MTV awards held at New York's Radio City Hall. During the bands performance of 'Champagne Supernova' singer Liam spat on stage and threw a beer into the crowd.

1997: After performing at the MTV Video Music Awards, Pat Smear publicly announced that he would no longer be the guitarist for the Foo Fighters.

2001: Trace and Rhonda Adkins have a daughter, Brianna Rhea Adkins, in Nashville.

2002: Singer Kelly Clarkson was voted the first "American Idol" on the Fox TV series.

2005: Mike Gibbins, drummer with Badfinger, died in his sleep at his Florida home aged 56. 

2008: The first guitar torched on stage by Jimi Hendrix sold for $500,000 at an auction of rock memorabilia. The Fender Stratocaster was burned at the end of a show at the Astoria in Finsbury Park, north London, in 1967. The sale held in London also included the Beatles' first management contract, signed in 1962 by all four members of the group and manager Brian Epstein, sold for $400,000.

2008: Friends and family of Michael Jackson paid their last respects to the singer at a funeral held at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Macaulay Culkin, Berry Gordy and Lisa Marie Presley were among the 200 invited guests. The singer's family arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles, Jackson's brothers - Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon - acted as pallbearers carrying Jackson’s gold-plated coffin.

September 3

Births

1934: Freddie King (Blues Guitarist & Singer)

1942: Al Jardine (Guitar & Vocals for The Beach Boys)

1947: Eric Bell (Guitar for Thin Lizzy)

1948: Don Brewer (Drums & Vocals for Grand Funk Railroad)

1950: Doug Pinnick (Bass for King’s X)

1955: Steve Jones (Guitarist for The Sex Pistols)

1963: Jonathan Segal (Guitar & Violin for Camper Van Beethoven)

1965: Vaden “Danger” Todd Lewis (Guitar & Vocals for Toadies)

1971: Mike Wengren (Drummer For Disturbed)

1975: Redfoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy) (Rapper in LMFAO)

1979: Tomislav 'Tomo' Milichevich Sarajevo (Lead Guitarist for 30 Seconds to Mars)

1980: Jay 'Cone' McCaslin (Bass for Sum 41)

1980: B.G. (Christopher Dorsey) (Rapper)

1982: Andrew McMahon (Singer & Pianist for Jack’s Mannequin & Something Corporate)

Events

1955: Bill Haley & his Comets turned down a $2,000 offer for a 15-date tour of Australia because of their fear of flying.

1963: Three years after its inception, Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records is bought by Warner Brothers.

1965: Yet another riot during a Rolling Stones concert as 30 fans rush the stage during their performance in Dublin, Ireland, knocking lead singer Mick Jagger to the floor and forcing the band to flee.

1966: After 14 years on TV (and ten years on radio before that), the last episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which made Ricky Nelson a household name, airs on ABC.

1966: Donovan went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sunshine Superman', a No.2 hit in the UK. The track featured then Yardbird and future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The song was written for Donovan's future wife Linda Lawrence.

1968: Sly and the Family Stone's career gets another boost when the band wins the final round on NBC-TV's summer talent competition Showcase '68.

1968: Having quit the band in disgust a few weeks earlier due to endless band infighting during the "White Album" sessions, Ringo returns to Abbey Road Studios to find his drum kit covered in flowers.

1970: Alan Wilson (Lead Singer for Canned Heat) died in Topanga Canyon, California of a drug overdose at age 27. Although Wilson had reportedly attempted suicide twice before and his death is sometimes reported as a suicide, this is not clearly established as he left no note.

1970: The Dave Clark Band call it quits after ten years.

1970: An affair with Mick Jagger is cited in Marianne Faithfull's divorce proceedings from art dealer John Dunbar.

1970: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown suffers a setback when Brown is arrested after a performance at the Palermo Pop Festival in Italy for completely disrobing on stage. He spends four days in solitary confinement, during which he receives a petition signed by 200 locals advising him to leave the country immediately.

1970: The very first "bootleg" recording, a collection of Bob Dylan outtakes entitled Great White Wonder, reaches its peak sales figure of 350,000 copies.

1971: Paul McCartney decides to name his new band "Wings."

1977: The month after his death, Elvis Presley had 27 albums and 9 singles in the Top 100 charts in the UK. 'Moody Blue' was the No.1 album while 'Way Down' was No.1 on the singles chart, (putting him equal with the Beatles, each amassing 17 No.1 hits).

1983: UB40 had their first No.1 single with 'Red Red Wine'. Taken from their album Labour of Love the song was a cover of the 1968 Neil Diamond hit song.

1991: Ike Turner is released from his four-year stint in the California Men's Colony state prison in San Luis Obispo after serving 18 months, (Ike had been arrested ten other times). In an interview with 'Variety' he claimed to have spent over $11 million on cocaine.

1994: R&B Singer Major Lance died from heart failure at age 55.

1994: Brian Setzer (formerly of the Stray Cats) married Christine Schmidt.

1999: The largest music bootleg bust in US history was made. It was estimated that this one operation alone was responsible for $100 million in lost revenues. Recording equipment valued at $250,000 was confiscated, as were almost 1 million CDs and tapes.

2002: The Ronettes sue ex-producer Phil Spector for $3 million in unpaid royalties from movie, TV, and commercial usage of their big early-Sixties hits.

2005: Blues musician Fats Domino was rescued from New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. The 77-year-old singer had been reported missing since the storm in New Orleans which had flooding the city leaving thousands feared dead.

2006: Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums were tampered with in record stores in Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London in the latest stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy. Banksy had replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and gave them titles such as ‘Why am I Famous?’, ‘What Have I Done?’ and ‘What Am I For?’. He had also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog's head.

2007: During a US tour with Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way married Mindless Self Indulgence bassist Lyn Z after a gig in Colorado.

2008: R&B singer Ne-Yo was awarded $700,320 after he was dropped from a US tour with R. Kelly. The singer claimed he was fired as Kelly's opening act last November because fans and critics preferred him - an allegation his co-star denied.

2008: Heavy metal band Slipknot scored their first US number one album - but only after a recount put them ahead of rapper The Game's latest release. Slipknot topped the US chart with their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone which, according to analysts Nielsen SoundScan, sold 239,516 copies - 1,134 more than the Games album.

2010: Mike Edwards a founding member of ELO was killed in a freak accident when a giant bale of hay tumbled down a hill and crashed into his van. The 62 year-old cellist died after the 1,323 lb. bale rolled down a steep field in Devon, southern England, smashed through a hedge and on to the road. Edwards played cello with ELO, the seven-piece band led by Jeff Lynne, from their first live gig in 1972 until he left in January 1975. He quit the band in 1975 to become a Buddhist, changing his name to Deva Pramada and making his living by teaching the cello.