October 21

Births

1917: Dizzy Gillespie (Jazz Trumpeter)

1925: Celia Cruz (Salsa Singer)

1940: Manfred Mann (Keyboardist)

1941: Steve Cropper (Guitar for Booker T. and the MGs)

1942: Judge Judy Sheindlin

1946: Lux Interior (Erick Lee Purkhiser) (Singer for The Cramps)

1952: Brent Mydland (Keyboards for Grateful Dead)

1953: Charlotte Caffey (Guitar for The Go- Go's)

1957: Steve Lukather (Guitar & Vocals for Toto)

1957: Julian Cope (Vocals for The Teardrop Explodes & Solo)

1976: Josh Ritter (Singer / Songwriter)

1980: Kim Kardashian (umm.. Don’t know..)

Events

1908: The first two-sided vinyl record was offered for sale by the Columbia label in an ad running in this week's Saturday Evening Post.

1956: Elvis Presley visits his favorite local movie theater, the Memphian, and is attacked by an adoring crowd who scratch his new Cadillac. This begins Elvis' new habit of renting the entire theater whenever he wants to watch a movie.

1958: Buddy Holly recorded his last studio session including “True Love ways”.

1961: Bob Dylan recorded "Bob Dylan," his first album. He was 20 years old when he did the recording for Columbia Records. The cost to produce the session was $400.

1965: Bill Black, Elvis Presley's bass player from 1954-57, died four months after receiving surgery to remove a brain tumor, he was 39.

1971: In Paris, Mick Jagger and girlfriend Bianca become the proud parents of Mick's first child, Jade.

1975: The city of Los Angeles declares this "Elton John Week" and awards the musician his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Blvd.

1976: Keith Moon played his last show with The Who at the end of a North American tour at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto. On September 7, 1978, Moon died of an overdose of a sedative Heminevrin that had been prescribed to prevent seizures induced by alcohol withdrawal.

1992: Elvis' first grandson, Benjamin Storm, is born to Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough.

1992: Elton John sues the syndicated US television show Hard Copy for alleging that the singer moved to the Atlanta suburbs to be near an AIDS treatment facility.

1994: Neil Diamond publicly announces his divorce from his second wife, Marcia Murphey, whom he has been with since 1969.

1995: Green Day singer Billie Joe was arrested and fined $141 after mooning at the audience during a gig in Milwaukee.

1995: Shannon Hoon (Singer for Blind Melon) dies of a cocaine overdose at 28.

2003: Elton John signs the deal for the first of his famous "Red Piano" concerts at Las Vegas' Ceasar's Palace.

2004: Bo Diddley postpones a concert in California to have a toe amputated due to complications from diabetes.

2006: Sandy West (Drummer for The Runaways) was diagnosed with lung cancer, which later spread to her brain.  She died on this day at age 47.

2007: Kid Rock and five members of his entourage were arrested after an argument with a man escalated into a fight in a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. Kid Rock’s tour bus was pulled over by police after it left the scene; Rock was released after posting $1,000 bail.

October 19

Births

1944: Peter Tosh (Reggae Legend)

1945: Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead) (Drag Queen)

1948: Patrick Simmons (Guitar & Vocals for The Doobie Brothers)

1960: Jennifer Holliday (R&B Singer)

1972: Pras (Pras Michel) (Rapper in The Fugees)

Events

1958: Brenda Lee records "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville.

1964: The incredibly influential English concert called the "American Negro Blues Festival" kicks off, featuring Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Sonny Boy Williamson, among others. It is the first glimpse of these bluesmen for many upcoming British R&B and rock legends.

1966: The Yardbirds, now featuring Jeff Beck on lead guitar and Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar, arrive in New York City to start their first American tour.

1970: Working from a design sketched out by his wife and himself, Elvis Presley orders a dozen 14-karat gold pendants from a Beverly Hills jeweler featuring the letters "TCB" set around a lightning bolt. Designed as totems for the Memphis Mafia (and also for security issues), the symbol stands, in Elvis' words, for "Taking Care of Business in a Flash." They would eventually come to symbolize the '70s era for Presley.

1981: At the Holiday Star Theater in Merriville, IN, Bob Dylan calls up longtime friend Larry Kegan, wheelchair-bound since the age of 15, and lets his perform Chuck Berry's "No Money Down" as tonight's encore.

1985: A-Ha went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Take On Me', making them the first Norwegian group to score a US No.1.

1989: Alan Murphy guitarist with Level 42 died of pneumonia related to aids. He also worked with Kate Bush, Go West and Mike & the Mechanics.

1991: Oasis played The Boardwalk in their hometown Manchester, the group's first gig with Noel Gallagher in the group.

1999: Capitol releases Keith Urban's self-titled debut album as a solo artist.

2006: Keith Urban checks into the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, to cope with a recurrence of substance abuse.

October 18

Births

1926: Chuck Berry (Guitarist & Singer)

1947: Laura Nyro (Singer / Songwriter)

1949: Gary Richrath (Guitar for REO Speedwagon)

1961: Wynton Marsalis (Jazz Trumpeter)

1974: Peter Svensson (Guitar for The Cardigans)

1977: Simon Rix (Bass for the Kaiser Chiefs)

1982: Ne-Yo ( Shaffer Chimere Smith) (R&B Singer)

1984: Esperanza Spalding (Jazz Bassist)

1987: Zachary Efron (Singer / Actor)

Events

1952: Hank Williams marries Billie Jean Jones Eshliman in Minden, Louisiana. On the way back to Shreveport, their car runs out of gas.

1957: For the Quarrymen's gig at the New Clubmoor Hall, Norris Green, Liverpool, Paul McCartney joins the group on stage for the first time, as a guitar player. Having made a few mistakes on his solo for Arthur Smith's "Guitar Boogie," a distressed and nervous McCartney attempts to repair his image by showing Quarrymen leader John Lennon some of the songs he's composed. John responds in kind, leading to the beginning of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.

1957: ABC-TV debuts The Frank Sinatra Show.

1959: 75 teens are arrested outside of the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, KS after a riot breaks out, further making civic leaders to decry the rock and roll "menace."

1963: Chuck Berry is released from prison after serving 19 months for a Mann Act violation (transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes).

1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their first gig as a band supporting French pop star Johnny Hallyday at the Paris Olympia in France.

1968: John Lennon and Yoko Ono are busted for marijuana possession in their apartment in London's Montague Square, a flat leased to them by Ringo and previously lived in by Jimi Hendrix. Having gotten wind of the bust ahead of time (and also having begun experimenting with heroin), John, Yoko, and John's friend Pete Shotton clean the place to within an inch of its life, but the police nevertheless claim to find approximately 230 grains of cannabis resin, enough to arrest the two. They were fined $250.

1969: In Hawaii, Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane is arrested for possession of marijuana.

1969: Rod Stewart joins the Faces, formerly known as the Small Faces.

1969: A clearly ill Bill Haley plays the First Annual Rock and Roll Revival show at New York's Madison Square Garden and, at the end of his set, receives an eight-minute standing ovation.

1969: The Jackson 5 make their television debut when they appear on tonight's episode of ABC's variety show Hollywood Palace.

1974: Al Green's ex, Mary Woodson, still jealous over his infidelities, breaks into his home in Memphis, TN, and dumps a pot of boiling grits on the singer's naked body while he is in the bathtub, burning Green very badly. A distraught Woodson then goes into the next room and takes her life with a handgun. Green will later point to this incident as one of the major catalysts for his decision to leave secular music behind.

1975: Paul Simon reunites with former partner Art Garfunkel on tonight's second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live, performing "Scarborough Fair," "The Boxer," and their new single, "My Little Town."

1979: Police break up a 15-man robbery ring set up in the parking lot of Madison Square Garden during an Earth, Wind and Fire concert there.

1986: Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie marries her second husband, Portugese music composer Eduardo Quintela.

1989: During a gig at The Los Angeles Coliseum, California, (Opening for The Rolling Stones)Guns N' Roses front man Axl Rose announced to the crowd that he was quitting the band.

1990: The city of Los Angeles declares today "Rocky Horror Picture Show Day" in honor of the 1975 cult classic musical.

1992: Lynn Anderson was released from jail after serving two days in jail in Nashville, TN for a contempt of court sentence for swearing in front of her children.

1998: Metallica performed at the Playboy Mansion.

2002: Citing a contract all group members signed in 1963, the New York Court of Appeals overturns an earlier ruling that awarded three million dollars in unpaid royalties from Phil Spector to the Ronettes, ending a 15-year court battle for the group.

2005: Madonna admitted that she wrote a grovelling letter to Abba asking if she could sample their music on her latest single ‘Hung Up.’ The singer had to seek permission to sample ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ and became only the second act that Abba has allowed to sample their work. The Fugees used part of ‘The Name Of The Game’ on their 1996 track ‘Rumble In The Jungle.’

2007: South African reggae star, Lucky Dube was shot dead by car thieves when he was dropping his teenage son and daughter off in a Johannesburg suburb. Police said Dube's son and daughter were already out of the car when three shots were fired through the car window, witnesses said the wounded singer tried to drive away, but lost control of his car and hit a tree.

2007: Amy Winehouse and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested in Bergen, Norway and held overnight for possession of cannabis. The singer was released the following morning after paying a fine of $714.

2008: Adele appeared on Saturday Night Live along with then US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The show earned its highest ratings in 14 years with a total of 17 million viewers.

2009: Toby Keith is named Songwriter/Artist of the Decade and "Live Like You Were Dying" author Craig Wiseman is honored as Songwriter of the Decade by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

October 17

Births

1941: Jim Seals (Singer in Seals and Crofts)

1942: Gary Puckett (Guitar & Vocals in Gary Puckett & The Union Gap)

1958: Alan Jackson (Country Singer)

1967: Allen West (Guitarist for Obituary & Cause of Death)

1968: Ziggy Marley (Singer in Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers)

1969: Wyclef Jean (Rapper in The Fugees & Solo)

1971: Chris Kirkpatrick (Singer in *NSYNC)

1972: Eminem (Marshall Mathers) (Rapper)

Events

1945: Ava Gardner marries her second husband, bandleader Artie Shaw.

1957: Elvis' third film, Jailhouse Rock, has its world premiere at the Loews State Theatre in Memphis, TN -- the same movie house where Elvis had his first job as an usher just five years earlier.

1960: Dion and the Belmonts' breakup becomes official when it is reported in Billboard magazine. Lead singer Dion DiMucci claims the group's not bluesy enough; the band claims Dion just wants a taste of solo fame.

1962: The Beatles make their very first television appearance anywhere when part of their afternoon show at the Cavern in Liverpool is broadcast live on Granada television's People And Places. The band performs two songs: "Some Other Guy" and "Love Me Do."

1967: Phil Spector, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart all guest star on tonight's "Jeannie, The Hip Hippie" episode of NBC-TV's I Dream of Jeannie.

1969: Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane was busted for marijuana possession in Honolulu and was fined $350.

1975: Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees marries his second wife, Yvonne Spencely.

1977: "Street Survivors" was released by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three days later vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines (Steve's sister) and road manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed when their plane crashed in Gillsburg, MS. The other four members of the band were seriously injured but survived the crash. The album cover with recalled because it had flames in the background of the band.

1981: One man is killed and another injured in an attempted burglary of Rolling Stones ticket offices in Maryland.

1995: Sting's former accountant Keith Moore was sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of embezzling $9.4 Million from the singer's 108 bank accounts.

1996: Drummer for Lush Chris Acland committed suicide by hanging himself in his parents' house in Burneside, Cumbria.

1999: Having been diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia, Johnny Cash is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville.

2000: At a charity auction organized by Mick Fleetwood in London, singer George Michael pays $2 ½ Million for the upright piano on which John Lennon wrote the 1971 hit "Imagine."

2001: Jay-Z was sentenced to three years probation after he pled guilty to misdemeanor assault charges for stabbing a record producer during a fight in a nightclub on December 1, 1999.

2005: Fats Domino returns to his Ninth Ward home for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to find it utterly destroyed, with his piano and several of his gold records among the ruined items.

2006: Tim McGraw receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His honor is located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Virgin Records store.

2007: The section of West Grand Blvd. in Detroit, MI, that once housed the Motown studios is officially renamed "Berry Gordy Jr. Boulevard."

2007: California claims singer and resident Dionne Warwick owes $2.67 million in unpaid taxes.

2008: Madonna and Guy Ritchie announced that their seven-year marriage was over because they had drifted apart.