June 28

Births

1902: Richard Rodgers (Composer)

1924: George Morgan (Country Singer)

1936: Cathy Carr (Pop Singer)

1945: Dave Knights (Bass for Procol Harum)

1958: Oran "Juice" Jones (R&B Singer)

1963: Charles Clouser (Keyboardist & Drummer for Nine Inch Nails)

1965: Saul Davis (Guitar & Violin for James)

1971: Ray Slijngaard (Vocals for 2 Unlimited)

1977: Mark Stoermer (Bass Guitarist for The Killers)

1986: Kellie Pickler (Country Singer)

Events

1957: Jerry Lee Lewis makes his US television debut, performing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On on NBC's Steve Allen Show and making himself a superstar overnight.

1959: Bobby Darin was at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Dream Lover'. It was the singers first No.1 and the song featured Neil Sedaka on piano.

1962: The Drifters recorded "Up On The Roof".

1965: Dick Clark's latest rock n' roll variety show, Where The Action Is, premieres on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Jan & Dean, Dee Dee Sharp and Linda Scott, and also introducing a new house band called Paul Revere and the Raiders. Meanwhile, over on CBS, influential DJ Murray The K's variety special It's What's Happening, Baby! features performances by The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Drifters, The Miracles, The Temptations, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Martha and the Vandellas, The Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones, The Dave Clark Five, Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

1968: At NBC Studios in Hollywood, Elvis Presley tapes the "gospel medley" portion of what would later be known as his "'68 Comeback Special," as well as a controversial "bordello" scene that was never broadcast: NBC censors had no objections, but the sponsor, Singer Sewing Machines, didn't want to upset viewers.

1968: Aretha Franklin is featured on the cover of Time magazine, under a banner headed "The Sound Of Soul."

1969: Neil Diamond released the single "Sweet Caroline".

1973: Helen Reddy begins her own NBC-TV "summer replacement" series called, naturally enough, The Helen Reddy Show.

1973: Following its highly successful "Fifties revival" oldies show the year before, Madison Square Garden holds a British Invasion-themed version, featuring Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, The Searchers, and Wayne Fontana.

1975: American singer songwriter Tim Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people. This was Buckley’s last ever show, he died the following day of a heroin and morphine overdose aged 28.

1975: David Bowie released the single "Fame".

1977: Elton John achieved a life long ambition when he became the Chairman of Watford Football Club.

1980: Roy Orbison begins an amazing Eighties comeback by making the country music charts with "That Lovin' You Feeling Again," a duet with Emmylou Harris.

1986: Wham! played their farewell concert in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

1990: At today's concert in Liverpool, Paul McCartney plays John Lennon-written Beatles songs for the first time: "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Help!" and Lennon's solo "Give Peace A Chance."

1993: Wilson Pickett pleads guilty to drunk driving in New Jersey after hitting an elderly pedestrian in April of the previous year. He is sentenced to a year in jail and five years' probation, as well as a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

1997: George Harrison secretly undergoes surgery to have a cancerous lump removed from his throat. Though it turns out to be benign, the ex-Beatle will eventually succumb to the disease in 2001.

1997: The classic Pink Floyd album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ spent its 1056th week on the US album chart. It was rumoured at the time that if the album was played while watching The Wizard of Oz movie, and started exactly when the MGM lion roared the third time during the movie’s intro, very interesting connections could be made between the two.

1997: Bob Seger crashed in his BMW on the Trans-Canada Highway in Nipigon, Ontario. The singer later appeared in court charged with dangerous driving.

1999: The home of DMX (Earl Simmons) was searched as part of an investigation into the shooting of Ray Copeland. Copeland is the uncle and manager of DMX. Copeland was wounded in the foot the previous day.

June 27

Births

1925: Doc Pomus (Songwriter)

1927: Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan)

1942: Frank Mills (Piano Player)

1942: Bruce Johnston (Guitar & Vocals for The Beach Boys)

1958: Lisa Germano (Singer/Songwriter)

1959: Lorrie Morgan (Country Singer)

1961: Margo Timmins (Vocals for The Cowboy Junkies)

1970: Laurence Colbert (Drums for Ride)

1976: Leigh Nash (Singer for Sixpence None The Richer)

Events

1949: Gene Autry recorded "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer".

1959: West Side Story closes on Broadway after a record 732 performances.

1959: Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes are the musical guests on ABC-TV's variety show Coke Time With Eddie Fisher.

1963: Brenda Lee signs a million-dollar contract with Decca Records.

1964: Jan and Dean released "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena".

1967: Mick Jagger was found guilty of illegal possession of two drugs found in his jacket at a party given by Keith Richards. He was remanded overnight at Lewes jail, England (prison number 7856). Jagger requested books on Tibet and modern art and two packs of Benson & Hedges cigarettes.

1968: As part of the filming of what would become known as his "'68 Comeback" TV special, Elvis Presley and his band tape an informal jam session on center stage at NBC's Studio 4, a performance many consider his best of all time. However, manager "Colonel" Tom Parker, unhappy with the direction of the show, withholds all tickets to the performance, forcing staffers to run into a nearby Bob's Big Boy restaurant (4211 W. Riverside Dr., Burbank) and plead with patrons to come see a real honest-to-goodness Elvis concert. (The King himself is extremely nervous at performing live for the first time in seven years, and is told by Binder that once he goes out there, he can just get up and leave if he can't take it. A close look at the performance shows that, once on stage, he pretends to do just that.) Two shows, an afternoon and an evening, are performed. This legendary performance would later serve as the inspiration for MTV's Unplugged series.

1969: The Denver Pop Festival opened at Mile High Stadium. Violence broke out in the 50,000+ crowd and police moved in with clubs and tear gas.

1970: The UK band Smile, having recently changed their name, performs for the first time as Queen, playing Truro City Hall in Cornwall, England.

1970: With their latest single, "The Love You Save," The Jackson 5 become the first rock-era group to score #1 hits with its first three songs. They'd soon make it four with "I'll Be There."

1971: Legendary rock promoter Bill Graham closes the Fillmore East, the New York version of his equally legendary San Francisco "rock ballroom." The Allman Brothers, The Beach Boys, Edgar Winter, and Country Joe McDonald are on the bill for the final show.

1976: After years of fighting deportation from a government that objected to his public radicalism, John Lennon finally gets his "green card" allowing him to stay in the United States.

1978: Kansas, the band, is named the first musical Ambassadors of Goodwill by UNICEF.

1980: John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin collapsed on stage during a gig in Nuremberg, West Germany.

1987: Whitney Houston became the first women in US history to enter the album chart at No.1 with 'Whitney' she also became the first woman to top the singles chart with four consecutive releases when 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' hit No.1.

1988: Cyndi Lauper got her high school diploma from Richmond High in New York.

1988 - MCA Records bought Motown Records for $61 million.

1989: Tom Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.

1989: The Who perform their rock opera Tommy in its entirety for the first time since 1972, performing it for charity at Radio City Music Hall.

1991: Carlos Santana is arrested in Houston after airport officials find marijuana in his luggage.

1992: Stefanie Ann Sargent (guitarist for 7 Year Bitch) dies of an overdose at 24.

1993: Don Henley was booed in Milwaukee when he dedicates the song "It's Not Easy Being Green" to President Clinton.

1993: Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts were married. They were divorced in 1995.

1994: Aerosmith become first major band to let fans download a full new track free from the internet.

1996: During a free concert by The Fugees in Harlem a man started to fire shots from a gun injuring 22 people.

1998: Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, and Bryan Adams become the first three honorees to be awarded a star on Canada's new Walk of Fame on Toronto's King Street.

2000: The Rolling Stones are found in copyright violation of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain" and "Stop Breaking Down," both of which the Stones had covered and incorrectly labeled as in the public domain.

2000: Nelly's debut album "Country Grammar" was released.

2002: One day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle died at age 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper who woke at 10am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine.

2003: Cat Stevens is given a cash settlement by members of the Flaming Lips after they acknowledge their song "Flight Test" is similar to Stevens' 1970 song "Father And Son."

2003: Rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty to charges that he forced his hairstylist to perform sex acts on him and two bodyguards. Mystikal, (real name Michael Tyler), had been charged with aggravated rape. He agreed to plead guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation.

2009: Black Eyed Peas went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘The E.N.D.’ the group’s fifth studio album. The album's lead single, 'Boom Boom Pow' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, the second single, 'I Gotta Feeling' replaced 'Boom' and spent 14 weeks at No.1. Giving the group 26 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.

June 26

Births

1909: Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis Manager)

1940: Billy Davis Jr. (Singer for 5th Dimension)

1942: Larry Taylor (Bass for Canned Heat)

1943: Jean Knight (R&B Singer)

1955: Mick Jones (Guitar & Vocals for The Clash)

1955: Ivan Julian (Guitarist for Richard Hell And The Voidoids)

1956: Chris Isaak (Singer & Guitar)

1957: Patty Smyth (Singer for Scandal & Solo)

1961: Terri Nunn (Vocals for Berlin)

1963: Harriet Wheeler (Vocals for The Sundays)

1969: Colin Greenwood (Bass for Radiohead)

1969: Mark Decloedt (Drummer for EMF)

1973: Gretchen Wilson (Country Singer)

1979: Nathan Followill (Drums for Kings Of Leon)

Events

1954: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls a young singer named Elvis Presley, who had recorded a few songs there earlier in the year, and asks him to record two songs, "Without You" and "Rag Mop." He sings the first, attempting to match a demo made by an unknown person hanging around the studio, but it proves too much for him, and, according to Dave Marsh's book Elvis, beats the walls of the studio, repeatedly shouting "I hate him! I hate him!" The singer whom Elvis could not match is lost to history. Phillips mollifies the young Elvis by asking him to sing something else, and Presley impresses him anyway, to the point that he makes plans to set the singer up with musicians for a future date.

1955: Decca Records, home to Bill Haley and His Comets, announces that the group has sold three million records in the past year, due mostly to "Rock Around The Clock" and "Shake, Rattle And Roll."

1956: Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown is killed in a car crash at age 25.

1961: The Marcels make their US television debut, performing "Blue Moon" on ABC-TV's American Bandstand.

1963: After a Beatles performance at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, John Lennon and Paul McCartney write "She Loves You" in their hotel room, originally an answer song of sorts to the Bobby Rydell hit "Forget Him."

1964: The album "A Hard Day’s Night" was released by The Beatles.

1965: The Byrds went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan's 'Mr Tambourine Man'. Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, the drummer Hal Blaine played on the track also played on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.

1971: WNEW-FM in New York becomes the first radio station to play Don McLean's new single, "American Pie," which it features in its 8:36 entirety.

1973: Model and singer Marsha Hunt, inspiration for the Rolling Stones song "Brown Sugar," names Mick Jagger in a paternity suit, claiming the singer fathered her two-year-old daughter Karis. That same day, Stones guitarist Keith Richards is busted, along with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, in his Chelsea home for possession of heroin, illegal pharmaceuticals, guns, and ammo.

1974: Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.

1976: Peter Frampton released "Baby, I Love Your Way".

1977: Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant.

1979: Elton John Drummer Nigel Olsson runs a stop sign, crashes and kills a driver.

1982: Roxy Music leader Bryan Ferry marries his first wife, model Lucy Helmore. The same day, Marie Osmond marries her first husband, Brigham Young University basketball player Steve Craig.

1986: James Hetfield (Metallica) broke his wrist while trying to skateboard down a hill. One show was cancelled and the remainder of dates on the tour James was on vocals only and John Marshall (later with Metal Church) was on guitar.

1993: Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers marries his first wife, R&B singer Angela Winbush.

2000: Britney Spears hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana announced that a new museum, due to open early next year, would include a section including fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singers clothing. 

June 25

Births

1935: Eddie Floyd (R&B Singer)

1939: Harold Melvin (Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes)

1940: Clint Warwick (Bass for The Moody Blues)

1945: Carly Simon (Rock Singer)

1946: Ian McDonald (Sax for King Crimson & Foreigner)

1946: Allen Lanier (Keyboards & Guitar for Blue Oyster Cult)

1952: Tim Finn (Singer & Songwriter for Split Enz & Crowded House)

1954: David Paich (Keyboards for Toto)

1963: George Michael (Singer for Wham and Solo)

1972: Mike Kroeger (Bass for Nickelback)

Events

1957: In response to several successful concerts and dance contests, Egypt bans rock and roll from public places and from being mentioned in the press, deeming it "an imperialist plot" and citing it as a prime example of "Western degeneracy."

1964: The British Invasion gets a taste of its own medicine when Roy Orbison becomes the first American to hit #1 in the UK in 47 weeks, scoring with his single "It's Over."

1966:  R&B singer Jackie Wilson was arrested for inciting a riot and refusing to obey a police order at a nightclub in Port Arthur, Texas. Wilson had a crowd of 400 whipped into a frenzy and refused to stop singing when requested to do so by police. He was later convicted of drunkenness and fined $30.

1966: Neil Diamond makes his television debut, singing his hit "Solitary Man" on today's broadcast of ABC's American Bandstand.

1967: The world's first worldwide satellite broadcast entitled Our World, which features performances from all over the globe, airs the live English portion of the program, as the Beatles introduce their new single, a message of hope from John Lennon entitled "All You Need Is Love." Broadcast live around the world from the Abbey Road Studios in London, it features the band singing and playing along to a pre-recorded track, joined in the studio by guests Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richard, Keith Moon, Eric Clapton, George's wife Pattie, Paul's fiance Jane Asher and his brother Mike, Graham Nash and his wife, and others. 200 Million tuned in to watch the program.

1967: During a north American tour The Jimi Hendrix Experience gave a free afternoon concert in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. They then played another two shows that evening at the Fillmore West.

1969: The Hollies recorded 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother'. Elton John played piano on the session.

1970: The band Whole Oats, a duo consisting of Philadelphians Daryl Hall and John Oates, goes into the studio to record their first demos.

1977: Pink Floyd's concert at Cleveland Stadium sets a single-concert record for attendance.

1980: Billy Joel becomes the first rock act to perform before 100,000 fans at Madison Square Garden.

1984: Bruce Springsteen takes on a new backup singer named Patti Scialfa, who will eventually become his second wife after their affair leads to the breakup of his first marriage to model and actress Julianne Phillips. Nine years later to the day, he becomes the last musical guest on the NBC-TV show Late Night With David Letterman.

1984: The soundtrack "Purple Rain" was released five weeks ahead of the film.

1988: Singer Jimmy Soul died of a heart attack at 45.

1988: Hillel Slovak, original guitarist and founding member of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, died from a heroin overdose shortly after the band returned from a European tour. Slovak recorded two albums with the band, Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

1992: Billy Joel got his high school diploma. He had overslept and missed English and Gym finals 25 years before

1994: Five people attending this years UK Glastonbury Festival were shot and injured when a lone madman pulled a gun and started shooting into the crowd.

1995: Pearl Jam canceled their tour because of an ongoing feud with Ticketmaster.

1997: Jamaica issues a warrant for singer Sade, who fails to report to court on charges of failure to obey a cop who signaled her to stop.

2003: Boston's mastermind, Tom Scholz, sues his record label for failure to promote the band's latest comeback album, ironically entitled Corporate America.

2003: The Recording Industry Association of America disclosed its plans to fight Internet piracy. The plan was to sue hundreds of individual computer users who illegally share music files online. The process was planned to begin the next day.

2004: Rapper DMX was arrested on charges that he and another man tried to steal a car from New York's Kennedy airport. DMX - real name is Earl Simmons - and Jackie Hudgins were held after the city's Port Authority police interrupted a dispute. The pair were arrested on charges of attempted robbery, criminal impersonation and criminal mischief. A spokesman said a preliminary investigation indicated that Mr Simmons may have identified himself as a federal agent.

2006: Nicole Kidman married her country singer boyfriend Keith Urban at ceremony in Sydney, Australia. X-Men actor Hugh Jackman, media magnate Rupert Murdoch and actress Naomi Watts were among the guests at the service.

2009: Michael Jackson died at age 50 of acute propofol intoxication after he suffered cardiac arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.