August 10

Births

1909: Leo Fender (Founder of Fender Guitar)

1928: Jimmy Dean (Country Singer)

1928: Eddie Fisher (Pop Singer)

1940: Bobby Hatfield (Singer in The Righteous Brothers)

1943: Ronnie Spector (Lead Singer in The Ronettes)

1943: James Griffin (Singer & Guitar for Bread)

1947: Ian Anderson (Vocals & Flute for Jethro Tull)

1948: Patti Austin (R&B Singer)

1961: Jon Farriss (Drummer for INXS)

1962: Julia Fordham (Singer / Songwriter)

1962: Dan Donovan (Keyboards for Big Audio Dynamite)

1968: Michael Bivins (Singer for New Edition & Bell Biv DeVoe)

Events

1959: Four members of the Platters -- the male four -- are arrested in Cincinnati and charged with "aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness, and assignation" after local police found the singers in a Sheraton Gibson Hotel after-show party entertaining four scantily-clad nineteen-year-olds, including three white girls. The members would be acquitted of the charges in December, but in the meantime, the arrest led to the Platters being banned in several major radio markets.

1963: 13 year-old Little Stevie Wonder started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Fingertips part II', making him the youngest singer to top the charts.

1964: On his way to visit two injured fans in Liverpool, England, Mick Jagger is pulled over and fined $50 for speeding and driving without insurance.

1970: Jim Morrison of the Doors goes on trial in Miami, FL, for an infamous incident on March 1, 1969, where he allegedly exposed himself on stage. (Though no doubt drunk, disinterested, and verbally taunting the audience, according to firsthand accounts, Morrison is generally thought these days to have been innocent of the major charge, sparking talk of a posthumous public vindication by Florida officials.)

1972: Paul and Linda McCartney are arrested backstage in Gothenburg, Sweden, for possession of six ounces of marijuana. The couple are released after paying a combined fine of $1,200.

1975: The jazz vocal group Manhattan Transfer debut their summer variety series on CBS-TV.

1976: Elton John begins a historic record-breaking ten-night run of concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

1982: Johnny Lyon (Asbury Jukes) married Jill Glasner.

1983: Kajagoogoo fired their lead singer Limahl who took up a solo career with the theme to “The Neverending Story”. The group scored the 1983 UK No.1 single 'Too Shy'.

1985: Madonna's "Like A Virgin" became the first album by a female to be certified for 5 million sales.

1985: Canadian singer, guitarist Bryan Adams scored his first US No.1 album with 'Reckless.'

1985: 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits peaked at No.4 on the UK singles chart. Notable for its groundbreaking music video and a cameo appearance by Sting singing the song's falsetto introduction and backing chorus, "I want my MTV," who also co-wrote the song with Mark Knopfler. The video was also the first to be aired on MTV Europe when the network started on 1 August 1987.

1985: Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (every Beatle songs) for $47 Million.

1985: Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran was air lifted to safety when his boat 'Drum' overturned while racing off the English coast. Le Bon was trapped under the hull with five other crew members for twenty minutes, until being rescued by the Royal Navy.

1987: Wilson Pickett is found guilty of threatening patrons at a New Jersey bar with a loaded shotgun after a brawl inside the club. He is given two years' probation and fined $1000.

1987: A Chorus Line, the Broadway smash that had become the longest-running show on Broadway four years earlier, celebrates a historic 5,000th performance.

1993: The Dave Matthews Band played at The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia, the gig was recorded with some of tonight’s songs ending up on the bands first major label album ‘Remember Two Things.’

1995: Jimmy Buffett led a birthday celebration for U.S. President Clinton's birthday at the White House.

1999: it was announced that Oasis rhythm guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthur's had quit the band after finishing his guitar parts on the bands new album.

2001: The Dixie Chicks' Martie Seidel marries Gareth Maguire in Kailua, Hawaii.

2002: When The Dixie Chicks perform on the Grand Ole Opry, Natalie Maines interrupts the proceedings to announce the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame: Opry members Porter Wagoner and "Jumpin'" Bill Carlisle.

2004: The Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts confirms that he is undergoing treatment for throat cancer, which will eventually go into remission.

2007: Spice Girl Emma Bunton gave birth to a baby boy called Beau at London's private Portland Hospital. Bunton and her partner Jade Jones, a former member of defunct boy band Damage, had been together for eight years.

2008: singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes died at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 65. Police were called to his home after his wife found him unconscious. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Hayes won an Oscar for the 1971 hit Theme From Shaft as was also known as the voice of Chef from the hit cartoon show, South Park. He was married four times and had 12 children.

2009: Brooks & Dunn announce in a five-sentence note to their fans that they're ending their run as a duo after one last tour. "It's time to call it a day".

August 9

Births

1934: Merle Kilgore (Country Singer / Songwriter)

1939: Billy Henderson (Singer for The Spinners)

1946: Marinus Gerritsen (Bass for Golden Earring)

1947: Barbara Mason (R&B Singer)

1963: Whitney Houston (Singer)

1972: Arion Salazar (Bass for Third Eye Blind)

1972: Juanes (Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez) (Colombian Singer & Guitarist)

Events

1958: Cliff Richard, a seventeen-year-old who would become England's first homegrown rock star of note, signs his first recording contract with EMI.

1963: ITV television in Britain premieres the legendary rock and roll variety show Ready! Steady! Go!, which would run until 1966. The first episode features co-host Dusty Springfield as well as musical guests The Searchers, Pat Boone, and The Tremeloes.

1964: Bob Dylan and Joan Baez share the stage for the first time, singing "With God On Our Side" at the Newport Folk Festival.

1964: The crowd of over three thousand at tonight's Rolling Stones gig in Manchester, England, prove hard to control, accidentally breaking the ribs of one policeman and causing another two to faint in the crush.

1967: At England's National Jazz and Blues Festival in Sunberry, Jerry Lee Lewis is kicked off the stage after the overenthusiastic crowd responds to his set with a near-riot.

1967: Scott McKenzie was at No.1 on the singles chart with 'San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair).' The singers only Top 40 hit was written by John Philips of Mamas & Papas.

1974: Four members of the jazz-rock group Chase, who'd scored a hit three years earlier with "Get It On," are killed in a plane crash near Jackson, MN, including leader Bill Chase.

1978: Muddy Waters performs at the Carter White House.

1980: AC/DC scored their first UK No.1 album with 'Back In Black'.  It only went to #4 in the US. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, (who died on 19 February 1980 at the age of 33), and was dedicated to him. The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the best selling hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as the best selling album ever released by a band.

1980: Ten original Gerald Scarfe drawings for Pink Floyd’s album ‘The Wall’ were stolen from the foyer of Earls Court, London, England where they were being exhibited.

1985: After the massive success of the Motown 25 TV special on NBC, the network debuts the ill-fated Motown Revue variety series, which would only run for five weeks.

1986: Queen give what would prove to be their last live performance ever at the annual Knebworth Park Festival in England, closing as usual with "We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions" and "God Save The Queen."

1991: The 5th Dimension are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

1991: Rick James pled innocent to charges that he imprisoned, tortured and sexually assaulted a woman in his California home.

1994: During an Oasis gig at The Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, guitarist Noel Gallagher was hit in the face by a man who had jumped on the stage. Noel refused to carry on playing and after leaving the stage a mob of over 300 people attacked the bands bus as they were leaving.

1995: The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia’s body was discovered in his room at the rehabilitation clinic. The cause of death was a heart attack. Garcia had long struggled with drug addiction, weight problems, and sleep apnea, all of which contributed to his physical decline. He was well known for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarist's of All Time"

2002: Lisa Marie Presley is married to actor Nicolas Cage, in a union that lasts less than four months.

2005: Singer / Songwriter Marc Cohn survived being shot in the head during an attempted car jacking as he left a concert in Denver, Colorado. Cohn was struck in the temple by the bullet but it did not penetrate his skull. Police said a man tried to commandeer Cohn's tour van as it left after a show, the attacker was fleeing police after trying to pay a hotel bill with a stolen credit card.

2007: As the first Phil Spector / Lana Clarkson murder trial winds down, the legal teams visit the famed producer's Alhambra mansion in California to take a look at the scene of the crime.

2007: Amy Winehouse cancelled a series of European shows after being admitted to hospital suffering from "severe exhaustion". The 23-year-old singer was taken to University College London Hospital and later discharged. In the past few weeks she had pulled out of the T in the Park festival - also citing "exhaustion", Liverpool's Summer Pops event and concerts in Norway and Denmark.

2007: Jennifer Lopez won $545,000 in a case against her first husband, who planned to publish a book claiming she had several affairs. Lopez claimed Ojani Noa had violated a previous legal settlement preventing him from revealing private details about their relationship. The star claimed Mr Noa offered not to publish the book in return for $5 million.

2011: Singer Gavin DeGraw suffered a broken nose and was hospitalized after he was attacked by a group on a New York City street.

August 8

Births

1907: Benny Carter (Jazz musician)

1920: Jimmy Witherspoon (Blues Singer)

1921: Webb Pierce (Country Singer)

1932: Mel Tillis (Country Singer)

1933: Joe Tex (Soul Singer)

1939: Phil Balsley (Singer in The Statler Brothers)

1944: Michael Johnson (Pop Singer)

1949: Airrion Love (Singer in The Stylistics)

1950: Willie Hall (Funk Drummer)

1955: Ali Score (Drummer for A Flock Of Seagulls)

1958: Christopher Foreman (Guitar for Madness)

1959: Rikki Rockett (Richard Allan Ream) (Drums for Poison)

1961: The Edge (Dave Evans) (Guitar for U2)

1973: Scott Stapp (Singer for Creed)

1976: Joshua “JC” Chasez (Vocals for N’SYNC)

1976: Drew Lachey (Singer in 98 Degrees)

Events

1923: A fourteen-year-old clarinet player named Benny Goodman lands his first professional gig, playing for a cruise ship operating on Lake Michigan near Chicago.

1958: Bing Crosby and wife Kathryn announce the birth of their first child (and Bing's fifth overall), Harry Lillis Crosby III.(Harry is Bing's real first name.)

1960: Decca Records in England refuses to release Ray Peterson's latest single, "Tell Laura I Love Her," going so far as to throw away 25,000 pressings of the teen-tragedy song, which they felt was "too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility." A cover by Ricky Valance proves them wrong by going straight to Number One. (The grisly song, in which a stock-car driver mutters the title words before he dies, ironically only reaches #7 in America.)

1969: Photographer Iain MacMillan shoots the cover for what would be the Beatles' last recorded album, Abbey Road, just outside the studios of the same name where the band recorded most of its classic songs. The photo, which merely shows the band crossing the street while walking away from the studio, has become iconic in its own right, and provides "Paul Is Dead" enthusiasts with several erroneous "clues" to his "death," including the fact that Paul is barefoot. (Supposedly this represents a corpse, but McCartney has stated that it was simply a hot day.) The shoot, which lasts ten minutes, produces six shots, from which Paul picks the cover.

1970: At Philadelphia's Mount Lawn Cemetary, Janis Joplin purchases a headstone for her idol, Bessie Smith, the famous African-American blues singer who died from injuries suffered in a 1937 car crash -- after being refused at a whites-only hospital. (Bessie's widower refused to purchase a stone for her.)

1975: Hank Williams, Jr. falls 500 feet down Ajax Mountain near Missoula, MT, exposing part of his brain and keeping him in and out of hospitals for the next two years. The resultant facial scars would inspire his trademark "hat, beard, and shades" look.

1975: Saxophonist Cannonball Adderley died of a stroke at age 46.

1980: The Greater London Council banned The Plasmatics from blowing a car up on stage during their UK live debut at London's Hammersmith Odeon.

1982: Mickey Thomas (Singer for Jefferson Starship) married Sara Kendrick.

1983: Harold Melvin and three members of the Blue Notes are arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlantic City.

1986: David Crosby (The Byrds, Crosby Stills & Nash) is released from prison after serving only eight months of his original five-year sentence for cocaine and firearms possession.

1992: A riot broke out during a Guns N' Roses and Metallica gig at Montreal stadium when Metallica's show was cut short after singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics. Guns N' Roses took the stage but frontman Axl Rose claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to a riot by the audience who overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires.

1996: Kiss appeared at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio on their 192 date Alive World Tour. During this show a fan threw his fake leg on stage, which all the members signed and handed back to him.

2000: Twenty-eight US states' attorney generals file a class-action suit alleging the major record labels of forcing "discount" CD stores to raise prices.

2000: In Portugal, Oasis walked off stage for the second time in two weeks when drummer Alan White was hit by a rock.

2005: Two jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation case tell NBC-TV's Today that they have come to regret their ruling of "not guilty."

2006: Travis Barker (Drummer for Blink-182) filed for a divorce from ex-beauty queen Shanna Moakler.

August 7

Births

1931: Herb Reed (The Platters)

1939: Ron Holden (Pop Singer)

1942: B.J. Thomas (Pop Singer)

1943: Lana Cantrell (Singer)

1945: Kerry Chater (Bass for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap)

1950: Rodney Crowell (Country Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)

1951: Pete Way (Bass for Fastway, UFO & Ozzy Osbourne)

1958: Bruce Dickinson (Vocals for Iron Maiden)

1960: Jacquie O'Sullivan (Singer for Bananarama)

1964: Ian Dench (Guitar for EMF)

1966: Kristin Hersh (Singer & Guitar for Throwing Muses & Solo)

Events

1954: Johnny Cash married Vivian Liberto at St Ann’s Catholic Church in Memphis. Cash had plans of becoming a Memphis appliance salesman, he instead formed a band with Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant, and was signed to Sun Records a year later.

1957: The Quarrymen (minus new member Paul McCartney, away at Scout camp!) make their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Manager Alan Sytner instructs them not to play rock and roll, but midway through their skiffle performance, John lights into a version of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," which the crowd loves.

1957: Paul Anka makes his US television debut, singing "Diana" on ABC's American Bandstand.

1963: The first of the Frankie Avalon / Annette Funicello "beach movies," Beach Party, opens in American theaters, featuring music by surf legend Dick Dale. Exactly 24 years later on this day, the reunion movie Back To The Beach opens, with Frankie and Annette cast as parents with wild and crazy teens of their own, and featuring music by Fishbone and Pee-Wee Herman.

1965: Mike Smith (Singer for Dave Clark Five) had two ribs broken when he was pulled off the stage by a fan in Chicago.

1970: Christine Perfect, now married to bass player John McVie, joins her husband's band, Fleetwood Mac, as its first female member.

1971: The Bee Gees started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart'. It was the group's tenth US hit and first No.1.

1974: J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf marries movie star Faye Dunaway in a Beverly Hills courtroom. They would divorce in 1979.

1982: Dexy's Midnight Runners were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Come On Eileen' their second and last No.1. It was the Best-selling single of 1982 and the song won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards.

1991: Paul Simon gives a free concert in Central Park, much as he had in 1981 with partner Art Garfunkel. The performance eventually became the album Paul Simon's Concert In The Park.

1995: LL Cool J and Simone Johnson were married.

1996: A federal appeals court overturns the ruling that original Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers members Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago co-wrote the group's biggest hit, 1955's "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?," ruling that copyright claims must be filed within three years of the song's publication.

1997: Garth Brooks played to the largest crowd ever in New York's Central Park. An estimated 1 million people attended the live concert with an additional 14.6 million viewing live on HBO.

1999: Violence erupted outside a Dave Matthews Band concert in Hartford, CT. 55 arrests were made in the parking lot of the Meadows Music Theater.

2000: Having recently won back merchandising rights for their son's famous name, the family of Jimi Hendrix succeeds in shutting down the faux-official website www.jimihendrix.com.

2002: Three members of Oasis were injured when the taxi they were travelling in was involved in a crash during a US tour in Indianapolis. Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell and Jay Darlington were all taken to hospital and treated for cuts and bruises.

2003: The Osmonds are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

2006: Barry Manilow cancels some dates at the Las Vegas Hilton while doctors attempt to repair torn cartilage in his hip.

2007: The Isley Brothers' Ron Isley begins serving a 27-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute, IN for income tax evasion.

2007: Lily Allen had her US work visa cancelled after arriving at Los Angeles airport. The 22-year-old, who was due to tour America in September, had flown in for the MTV Video Music Awards launch. She was held at the airport for five hours in connection with an arrest for an alleged assault in London in June.

2007: Pete Doherty was warned by a judge that he could face jail or a community order over drugs offences. In July, the 28-year-old Babyshambles frontman pleaded guilty to driving illegally while in possession of crack cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis. The judge said: "What I have in mind is a community order or prison... if he does not show his motivation, it's prison - it's as simple as that." The singer volunteered to show the position of an implant in his stomach designed to help him give up drugs.

2008: Elvis Presley's peacock jumpsuit, was sold at auction for $300,000, making it the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia ever sold at an auction. The white outfit with a plunging V-neck and high collar featured a blue-and-gold peacock design, hand-embroidered on the front and back and along the pant legs.

August 6

Births

1921: Buddy Collette (Tenor Sax)

1928: Andy Warhol (Artist)

1929: Mike Elliot (Sax for The Foundations)

1948: Allan Holdsworth (Guitar for Soft Machine)

1952: Vinnie Vincent (Guitar for Kiss & Vinnie Vincent’s Invation)

1969: Elliot Smith (Singer / Songwriter)

1972: Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) (Vocals for The Spice Girls)

Events

1956: The Alan Freed movie Rock! Rock! Rock! goes into production, featuring Tuesday Weld (her singing vocals dubbed by Connie Francis), Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, The Moonglows, The Flamingos, and LaVern Baker.

1960: Looking for a drummer for a series of dates in Hamburg, Germany, The Beatles visit Liverpool's Casbah club to invite Pete Best, then of the Black Jacks, to join the group.

1960: On ABC-TV's American Bandstand, Chubby Checker demonstrates The Twist for the first time, kicking off a dance craze craze that would last the better part of two years.

1964: Rod Stewart makes his TV debut on BBC-TV's The Beat Room, singing as a member of his group, The Hoochie Coochie Men.

1966: As the Fleet Street press in London reports on the "bigger than Jesus" controversy in America, Beatles manager Brian Epstein cuts his vacation short and flies to New York City for a televised press conference where he defends John Lennon's remarks, stating "The quote which John Lennon made to a London columnist has been quoted and misrepresented entirely out of context of the article, which was in fact highly complimentary to Lennon as a person... Lennon didn't mean to boast about the Beatles' fame. He meant to point out that the Beatles' effect appeared to be a more immediate one upon, certainly, the younger generation. John is deeply concerned and regrets that people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended."

1970: Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin, Paul Simon, Poco and Johnny Winter all appeared at the Concert For Peace at New York's Shea Stadium. The concert date coincided with the 25th anniversary of dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

1973: A log from a passing lumber truck crushes Stevie Wonder's car as it speeds near Winston-Salem NC, leaving him in a coma for four days and causing him to permanently lose his sense of smell. Miraculously, he fully recovers and is back in the studio within weeks.

1974: Abba scored their first US top 10 hit when ‘Waterloo’ went to No.6. The Swedish group were also on their first American tour.

1981: Stevie Nicks released her first solo album Bella Donna which contained four top 40 US hits. ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’, (with Tom Petty), ‘Leather and Lace’, (with Don Henley), ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘After the Glitter Fades.’

1982: Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ starring Bob Geldof opened in movie theatres in New York. The film was conceived alongside the double album by Pink Floyd’s, Roger Waters.

1983: Avant-garde musician and former backing singer with David Bowie Klaus Nomi died at the age of 39 of Aids in New York City aged 38. Nomi was one of the first celebrities to contract AIDS.

1987: The Beastie Boys sued the city of Jacksonville, FL for including the phrase "mature audience" on their concert tickets and ads.

1988: 'Appetite For Destruction' Guns N' Roses debut album went to No.1 in the US, after spending 57 weeks on the chart and selling over 5 million copies. Singles from the album, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’ ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Paradise City’ were all US top 10 hits. Worldwide sales now stand in excess of 28 million and the album is the best-selling debut album of all-time in the US, beating Boston's debut album Boston, which has gone 17x platinum.

1989: Adam Clayton of U2 was arrested in The Blue Light Inn car park in Dublin for marijuana possession and intent to supply the drug to another person. His conviction was waived in exchange for paying $50,000 to the Dublin Woman's Aid Centre.

1994: Lisa Loeb started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Stay (I Missed You).  Actor and friend Ethan Hawke had asked her to provide a song for the upcoming movie Reality Bites and 'Stay' was featured in the film.  She did not have a record label distributor at the time.

1996: Vince Neil attempted to play a show at an Indiana club. The show, starting more than four hours late, ended after only three songs. Neil claimed that he wasn't feeling well, and that the audience of "rednecks" didn't appreciate his talent.

1996: Eddie Vedder videotaped the Ramones placing their hands in cement on the Hollywood Rock Walk prior to a Ramones show at The Palace. The Ramones claimed that it was their last show ever.

1999: Dick Latvala died aged 56 after being in a coma caused by a heart attack. Latvala worked with The Grateful Dead since the early 80’s looking after their archives of live performances which became a series of 'Dick’s Picks' albums.

2001: Whitney Houston became one of the highest-paid musicians in the world after signing a new deal with Arista records, said to be worth more than $100m.

2004: Rick James died from pulmonary failure and cardiac failure with his various health conditions of diabetes, stroke, a pacemaker, and a heart attack at age 56.

2007: Marilyn Manson was being sued by a former band member who said he was owed $20m in shared profits. Stephen Bier, who played keyboards under the stage name Madonna Wayne Gacy, claimed he was not paid properly over a period of almost two decades. In legal papers filed in Los Angeles, Bier claimed Manson falsely told him the band was not making much money and used band money to buy a $2m home and collect Nazi memorabilia, including coat hangers used by Adolf Hitler.

2009: Steven Tyler was airlifted to hospital after falling off stage during a gig at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. The 61-year-old Aerosmith singer fell from a catwalk onto a couple of fans, he suffered neck and shoulder injuries. About 30 minutes after the accident, guitarist Joe Perry came out to tell the crowd that the remainder of the show had been cancelled.