March 7

Births

1943: Chris White (Bass for The Zombies)

1944: Townes Van Zandt (Folk Singer / Songwriter)

1945: Arthur Lee (Guitar & Lead Vocals for Love)

1946: Peter Wolf (Singer for The J. Geils Band)

1946: Matthew Fisher (Organ for Procol Harum)

1952: Ernie Isley (Multi-Instrumentalist for The Isley Brothers)

1952: Jules Shear (Singer)

1962: Taylor Dayne (Pop Singer)

Events

1955: In a little-noted but fateful development, Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" becomes the first country song to cross over to the Billboard R&B charts.

1962: The Beatles appear on the BBC for the first time, recording for the radio show Here We Go, also marking the band's first full live performance caught on tape, and the first performance in what would become their trademark collarless suits designed by Beno Dorn.

1967: Actress Sandra Dee officially files for divorce from singer Bobby Darin.

1971: Gilley's nightclub opens in Pasadena, Texas. Named for part-owner Mickey Gilley, the home of the mechanical bull provides the inspiration for the 1980 movie "Urban Cowboy," which results in a short-term country trend.

1976: Elton John becomes only the second rock act (after the Beatles) to be honored with a statue in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London.

1986: Randy Travis makes his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. After an introduction from Little Jimmy Dickens, he performs "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".

1987: The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, 'Licensed To Ill.'

1988: American female impersonator and actor Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead), died in his sleep of heart failure aged 42.

2001: Ex-Trammps member Jerry Collins is convicted of attempted murder after being found of bashing his wife's head into a sink and also pistol-whipping her. He is sentenced to a maximum of 35 years.

2006: Rod Stewart is ordered to pay $3 million to Harrah's in Las Vegas after defaulting on a show in 2000.

2009: Rapper Coolio was charged with drug possession after being arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. The 45-year-old, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr, was later released on $10,000 bail.

March 6

Births

1905: Bob Wills (Country Artist)

1923: Wes Montgomery (Jazz Guitarist)

1937: Domingo Samudio (Singer for Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs)

1944: Mary Wilson (Singer for The Supremes)

1946: David Gilmour (Guitar & Vocals for Pink Floyd)

1947: Kiki Dee (Singer)

1964: Wayne Gacy (Stephen Bier)(Keyboards for Marilyn Manson)

1970: Chris Broderick (Lead Guitar for Megadeth)

1974: Beanie Sigel (Dwight Grant) (Rapper)

1974: Guy Garvey (Singer for Elbow)

1977: Bubba Sparxxx (Warren Anderson Mathis ) (Rapper)

Events

1958: Sam Cooke begins his first residency as a performer at the legendary Copacabana club in New York, but much like Elvis' 50s attempt at Vegas, supper club audiences prove not quite ready for Cooke's brand of proto-soul.

1962: Frank Sinatra records "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues," his last release for Capitol Records before recording exclusively for his own label, Reprise.

1964: After rumors swirl of a torrid off-screen romance with co-star Richard Burton on the set of her latest movie, Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor is divorced by her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher.

1970: On trial for his role in the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders, Charles Manson assembles a collection of home recordings to help pay for legal expenses. Entitled LIE, the cover mocks a typical Life magazine cover.

1973: New York City immigration director Sol Marks orders John Lennon's visa extension canceled after just five days.

1973: UK promoters reach out to Colonel Tom Parker in order to get Elvis Presley to make his first appearance in the country, at London's Earl's Court, but Parker, a Dutch immigrant secretly in the US illegally, declines on fears that his status would be discovered.

1977: Diana Ross' second TV special, entitled simply An Evening With Diana Ross, airs on NBC.

1982: Dick Clark donates his original American Bandstand podium to the Smithsonian.

1989: Smokey Robinson published his first biography, Inside My Life, in which he reveals for the first time that he once struggled with an addiction to crack.

1989: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith becomes the proud parent of his third child, Chelsea Anna.

1998: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher appeared handcuffed in a Brisbane court on charges of head butting a fan during a gig in Australia. Gallagher was released on bail.

1999: George Jones is seriously injured in a one-car accident while driving home in Nashville. The wreck occurs while Jones tries to play his next single, "Choices," for his stepdaughter via cell phone. Authorities later find an opened vodka bottle in the car.

2000: With his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, Eric Clapton becomes the first person inducted three times. (His first two inductions came as members of the Yardbirds and Cream.)

2000: Foxy Brown crashed her car into a fence in Brooklyn, NY. She was admitted for medical attention and released the next morning. Brown was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle by police.

2004: While checking out of his New York hotel, David Crosby leaves behind a bag containing marijuana and an unlicensed handgun; when he returns for the bag, he is nabbed by police, but is soon released on $3,500 bail.

2007: Having had his father's body exhumed and examined by doctors, Jay Richardson, son of J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, confirms that no foul play took place aboard the plane which crashed in 1959, killing Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly.

2010: R&B singer D'Angelo was arrested at the wheel of his Range Rover after trying to pay $40 for sex with an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute. The incident happened in New York City.

March 5

Births

1946: Murray Head (Singer)

1948: Eddy Grant (Singer)

1952: Alan Clark (Keyboards for Dire Straits)

1956: Teena Marie (R&B Singer)

1958: Andy Gibb (Singer)

1966: Zachary Stevens (Lead Singer Savatage)

1969: MC Solaar (French Rapper)

1970: John Frusciante (Guitar for The Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Events

1951: Ike Turner, recording as Jackie Brenston and his Kings of Rhythm, records "Rocket '88" for Sam Phillips at his Memphis Recording Service (later Sun Studios) in Memphis, a record now considered by many musicologists to be the first rock and roll record.

1960: At 9:15 am, Elvis Presley is officially discharged from the United States military (though he will remain on reserve for another four years). He collects a final paycheck of nine dollars and eighty-one cents and boards a train for Memphis.

1963: Patsy Cline died in a plane crash at 30 years old.

1969: The rock magazine Creem is published for the first time.

1971: At the beginning of their "Thank You" tour at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Led Zeppelin debut the first live performance of their upcoming song, "Stairway To Heaven." The audience is underwhelmed.

1973: Alabama, billed as Wildcountry, makes its debut at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They remain regulars at the club for the next seven years.

1975: One of the more famous romances in rock begins when Rod Stewart meets Swedish model and actress Britt Ekland at a party thrown by mutual friend Joni Mitchell.

1982: Actor and singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Belushi was one of the original cast members on US TV's Saturday Night Live, played Joliet 'Jake' Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House.

1994: Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane/Starship is arrested by police in Tiburon, CA, for waving a shotgun at them when they arrive at her home to mediate a reported domestic dispute. Slick is eventually sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a dozen Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

2002: MTV began airing "The Osbournes." The reality television show followed the daily activities of rock musician Ozzy Osbourne and his family.

2004: The Sunday edition of Britain's Daily Mail lists Paul McCartney's worth at 1.3 billion US dollars.

2008: Lou Pearlman, the man behind boy bands 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys was set to plead guilty to a $300m fraud scheme. The music mogul admitted to a court in Florida of running scams that defrauded investors and major banks for more than 20 years. The charges carried a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $1m fine.

2009: Taylor Swift makes her TV acting debut, stabbed in the heart with scissors on CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation".

March 4

Births

1944: Bobby Womack (R&B Singer)

1948: Chris Squire (Bass for Yes)

1948: Shakin’ Stevens (Singer)

1951: Chris Rea (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

1963: Jason Newsted (Bass for Metallica)

1967: Evan Dando (Vocals & Guitar for The Lemonheads & Solo)

Events

1959: The very first Grammy Awards are held in New York City, and the winners, to one's surprise, have nothing to do with rock and roll, or, sometimes, even the categories they were nominated in: for some reason, the Champs' "Tequila" wins Best R&B Song, but Record of the Year goes to "Volare" by Domenico Modugno, while Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn soundtrack LP wins Album of the Year.

1967: The Spencer Davis Group is dealt a crippling blow when its star members, Steve Winwood and his brother, Muff, announce their intention to leave. The elder Winwood would eventually go on to form the band Traffic.

1968: Temptations members Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams are hospitalized with minor injuries after skidding on an icy road near Sommerset, PA.

1969: Sonny and Cher Bono are the proud parents of their first and only child, a daughter named Chastity.

1970: Janis Joplin heads to Rio de Janeiro after being fined $200 for using obscene language at a Miami, FL concert the previous November. While there, she announces her intention to quit drugs and alcohol.

1977: CBS released The Clash's self- titled first album in the UK. CBS in the U.S. refused to release it until 1979. Americans bought over 100,000 imported copies of the record making it one of the biggest- selling import records of all time.

1979: The Jackson 5's Randy Jackson is involved in a serious car crash near Los Angeles, breaking both legs and nearly dying when a nurse at the hospital nearby injects him with methadone.

1983: George Jones marries Nancy Sepulveda at the home of his sister, Helen Scroggins, in Woodville, Texas. The newlyweds eat their wedding dinner at a Burger King in Jasper, Texas.

1986: Richard Manuel (Piano for The Band) committed suicide at the age of 41.

1993: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown became parents when Whitney gave birth to a baby girl, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown.

1994: Kurt Cobain was rushed to hospital after overdosing on alcohol and drugs in a Rome hotel during a Nirvana European tour. Cobain had taken 50-60 pills of Rohypnol mixed with champagne; rumors on the internet claimed that Kurt was dead.

1996: Minnie Pearl of complications from a stroke at age 83.

2001: Michael Jackson and friend Macaulay Culkin spend the night shopping at a London record store, which stays open after hours to accommodate the pair.

2002: Doreen Waddell, singer with Soul II Soul was killed after attempting to run across the A27 in Brighton, England after being caught shoplifting.

2010: Rascal Flatts has a guest role on CBS-TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." The script has bass player Jay DeMarcus electrocuted in the opening scene as the band plays "Unstoppable".