August 26

Births

1938: Maurice Williams (R&B Singer)

1940: Nik Turner (Sax, Flute & Vocals for Hawkwind)

1942: Chris Curtis (Drums for The Searchers & Deep Purple)

1942: Maureen "Moe" Tucker (Drums for The Velvet Underground)

1948: Valerie Simpson (Vocals in Ashford and Simpson)

1948: Jet Black (Brian Duffy) (Drums for The Stranglers)

1960: Branford Marsalis (Jazz Sax player)

1965: Annie Holland (Bass for Elastica)

1966: Dan Vickrey (Lead Guitarist for Counting Crows)

1969: Adrian Young (Drummer for No Doubt)

1986: Cassie (Cassie Ventura) (R&B Singer)

Events

1967: The Beatles follow their favorite new lecturer, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to University College in Bangor, North Wales, along with Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull. After his lecture the group holds a press conference to announce that they've become his disciples in the "Spiritual Regeneration Movement" and officially renounced the use of all drugs.

1969: Although Elvis Presley has written a soprano part for backup singer Cissy Houston during "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" her actual live performance of it tonight at the International Hotel in Vegas strikes Elvis as amazingly funny for some reason, leading to a collector's classic: a performance where the King cannot stop laughing. "That's it, man, fourteen years right down the drain," he jokes as the song ends.

1969: Elvis Presley released the single "Suspicious Minds”.

1970: The famous three-day Isle of Wight rock festival begins in England, featuring Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Mungo Jerry, Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Spirit, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free, and, in what would be his last appearance on a British stage, Jimi Hendrix.

1970: After an all-night jam, the Allman Brothers' Duane Allman asks Eric Clapton if he can attend the recording sessions for his new group, Derek and the Dominoes. Clapton agrees, only on the condition that Allman also play on the sessions.

1973: 10cc makes its stage debut at the Palace Lido on England's Isle of Man.

1974: John Denver records "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles in his first night of concerts that become the album "An Evening With John Denver".

1977: The Pretenders played their first public gig, opening for Strangeways.

1980: Tom Peterson quit Cheap Trick due to the "personal and musical differences." He was replaced by Pete Comita. However, he returned to the group in 1988.

1981: The mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day" in honor of its native son.

1983: The film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, opens in New York City.

1987: Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher announces his intention to run for mayor of Palm Springs, CA, after frustration over his inability to get a new sign approved by the city council for his local restaurant, Bono's. He won and served one four-year term, and eventually became a Congressman for the district in 1994.

1990: Randy Newman wins an unlikely Emmy for his score to the legendary ABC-TV flop series Cop Rock.

1993: A recording of the Beatles playing "Kansas City" and "Some Other Guy" at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962 fetches a record of approximately $32,000 at Christie's auction house in London.

1995: Ronnie White (The Miracles) died after a battle with leukemia at age 56.

1997: Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was admitted to hospital after crashing on his motorbike while driving down Sunset Boulevard.

1997: Creed released their debut album "My Own Prison".

2000: Country singer Jamie O'Neal marries Rodney Good in Seaside, Florida, just weeks after she finishes recording her debut album.

2000: Country singer Pam Tillis joins the Grand Ole Opry, performing "All The Good Ones Are Gone" and "Maybe It Was Memphis," on the same evening that Darryl Worley makes his Opry debut.

2000: Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox and his wife, Tara, have their first daughter, Brittany Kay, in Nashville.

2000: Douglas Allen Woody former bass player with The Allman Brothers & Gov’t Mule was found dead in New York.

2002: Herman's Hermits leader and lead singer Peter Noone files an unsuccessful lawsuit against former Hermits drummer Barry Whitwam, attempting to block him from touring with new musicians under the group name.

2004: Singer Laura Branigan died of a brain aneurysm at age 47. She had had a 1982 US No.2 & UK No.6 single with ‘Gloria’ and a 1984 US No.4 & UK No.5 with ‘Self Control’. She had also played Janis Joplin in the US musical Love, Janis.

2005: A post office in Los Angeles is officially renamed after singer Ray Charles due to its close proximity to the studio where he recorded later in life.

2007: Police who raided the home of US rap star DMX, found 12 neglected pit bull terrier dogs and a number of guns. The bodies of three more dogs had been buried. No arrests were made and DMX told police he had not been at the property in Arizona for at least two months. The rapper who had launched his own range of dog clothing, including caps, scarves and raincoats for canines also featured on the cover of his latest album, Year of the Dog... Again, with a pit bull straining at the leash.

2007: Country singer Billy Currington travels to Hawaii to begin therapy for anger issues related to the abuse he suffered from a stepfather in childhood. The abuser was actually the subject of Currington's first hit, "Walk A Little Straighter".

August 25

Births

1918: Leonard Bernstein (Conductor)

1933: Wayne Shorter (Jazz Saxophonist in Weather Report)

1942: Walter Williams (Vocalist for The O'Jays)

1949: Gene Simmons (Chaim Weitz) (Bass and Vocals for Kiss)

1949: Henry Paul (Singer for The Outlaws & BlackHawk)

1950: Willy DeVille (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

1951: Rob Halford (Singer for Judas Priest & Solo)

1955: Elvis Costello (Declan McManus) (Singer / Songwriter)

1961: Billy Ray Cyrus (Country Singer)

1962: Vivian Campbell (Guitarist for Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard & Thin Lizzy)

1963: Candida Doyle (Keyboards for Pulp)

1966: Terminator X (Norman Rogers) (DJ for Public Enemy)

1970: Jo Dee Messina (Country Singer)

Events

1956: George Jones joins the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.

1962: Little Eva went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Loco-motion'. The Carole King and Gerry Goffin song was offered to Dee Dee Sharp (Mashed Potatoes), who turned it down. The writers had their babysitter record it who took it to No.1.

1965: Two female Beatles fans hired a helicopter to fly over the house The Beatles were renting in Beverly Hills, California and jumped from the helicopter into the swimming pool.

1967: After a two-year bout with stage fright, Beach Boys founder and resident genius Brian Wilson returns to playing live with the band.

1970: Singer-songwriter Elton John begins a seventeen-night run at Los Angeles club The Troubadour, his first US club appearance and a move which will catapult him into pop stardom. On the first night, he is introduced by labelmate Neil Diamond. Quincy Jones and Leon Russell are in the audience, as is future Eagles member Don Henley. The first night's show includes the favorites "Your Song," "Take Me To The Pilot," and "Country Comfort."

1970: Emerson Lake and Palmer made their live debut at The Guildhall, Plymouth, England.

1970: Jimi Hendrix throws a party to celebrate the official opening of 'Electric Ladyland' studios in New York City, New York. Artists who went on to record at the studio include: Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, AC/DC, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa and Guns N' Roses.

1973: Bobby Darin performs what is to be his last concert before his death, appearing at the Vegas Hilton. He died at the age of 37 on December 20th 1973 following open-heart surgery.

1973: Butch Trucks, drummer for the Allman Brothers, crashes his car near Macon, GA, breaking his leg in the process.

1975: Bruce Springsteen released his third album ‘Born to Run’.

1976: Boston released their debut album ‘Boston’.

1977: California governor Jerry Brown appoints singer and longtime environmental activist Helen Reddy to the state's Parks Commission.

1979: The Knack started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Sharona', the group's only chart topper. Lead singer Doug Fieger said he was inspired to write the tune by Sharrona Alperin, a 17 year old senior at Los Angeles' Fairfax High.

1981: R.E.M. appeared at The Scorpio, Charlotte, North Carolina. This show was billed as "Charlotte's First Gay New Wave Disco and Costume Party", with the $3 tickets benefiting various gay-lesbian charities.

1987: Boogie Down Production’s DJ, Scott la Rock, was shot dead in New York the latest victim in the Brooklyn, Bronx street war.  He died on August 27^th at 25 Years old.

1989: Chicago mayor Richard Michael Daley declares today "Pops Staples Day" in honor of the native musician and leader of the Staple Singers.

1993: Snoop Doggy Dogg was released on $1 million bail after being accused of being involved with the murder of a member of the By Yerself gang during a shooting in Los Angeles. He was acquitted of the charges in 1996.

1994: Billy Joel is officially divorced from model Christie Brinkley. Their marriage lasted nine years.

1994: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin reunite in a London studio to record the concert that would become the MTv special Unledded.

1994: Jimmy Buffett crashed his Grumman G-44 Widgeon seaplane on take-off in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Buffett swam away from the wreckage.

1995: Bass player Doug Stegmeyer shot himself dead. He'd worked with many artists including Billy Joel Hall and Oates and The Carpenters.

1997: A deranged man who had escaped from a mental institution near Helsinki Finland was arrested. The man had planned to set fire to the stage that Michael Jackson was performing from was arrested before he was able to light the gasoline he had put on the stage.

1999: Robert Fisher from Naked Eyes died of cancer aged 39. With Climie Fisher scored the 1988 UK No.2 single 'Love Changes Everything' and wrote songs for Rod Stewart, Milli Vanilli, Fleetwood Mac and Jermaine Jackson. Fisher also worked as a producer, working with various acts including Eric Clapton.

1999: Oasis bass player Paul McGuigan announced he had quit the band just a few days after guitarist Bonehead had left the band.

2000: Academy Award-winning film score composer and record producer Jack Nitzsche died of a heart attack. Produced The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield and The Walker Brothers. Musical scores including The Exorcist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, co-wrote ‘Up Where We Belong with Buffy Sainte-Marie' from 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman.

2001: American singer, actress Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas aged 22. The small Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off killing everyone on board with exception to four passengers who were pulled from the wreckage but later died. Aaliyah had been filming a video for her latest release ‘Rock The Boat’ on the island.

2005: Two former members of Guns N' Roses were suing singer Axl Rose for allegedly naming himself sole administrator of the US rock band's copyrights. Slash and Duff - otherwise known as Saul Hudson and Michael McKagan, accused Rose of "arrogance and ego". The legal action claimed the singer "was no longer willing to acknowledge the contributions of his former partners".

2006: Longtime Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton misses his first gig in 24 years after being diagnosed with throat cancer.

2007: While singing his 1968 hit "Fire" on stage in Lewes, England, Arthur Brown catches on fire after wearing his customary tinfoil hat with a small fire burning in the center.

August 24

Births

1905: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (Blues Singer & Guitarist)

1915: Wynonie Harris (R&B Singer)

1924: Louis Teicher (Piano for Ferrante and Teicher)

1938: Mason Williams (Guitarist & Composer)

1938: David Frieberg (Vocals & Bass for Quicksilver Messenger Service & Jefferson Airplane / Starship)

1942: Jimmy Soul (Pop Singer)

1943: John Cipollina (Lead Guitar for Quicksilver Messenger Service)

1945: Ken Hensley (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards for Uriah Heep & Blackfoot)

1945: Malcolm Duncan (Tenor Sax for Average White Band)

1947: Jim Fox (Drummer for James Gang)

1948: Jean-Michel Jarre (Composer & Producer)

1951: Jimmy Farrar (Vocalist for Molly Hatchet)

1961: Mark Bedford (Bass for Madness)

1961: Colin Angus (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards for The Shamen)

1963: John Bush (Vocals for Anthrax & Armored Saint)

1968: Andreas Kisser (Lead Guitar for Sepultura)

1973: Dave Chappelle (Comedian)

Events

1956: Little Richard plays the Cotton Club in Lubbock, TX, making an indelible impression on audience member Buddy Holly.

1963: Stevie Wonder became the first artist ever to score a No.1 album and single in the same week. Wonder was at No.1 on the album chart with 'Little Stevie Wonder / The 12 Year Old Genius' and had the No.1 single 'Fingertips part 2'. This was also the first ever live recording to make No.1.

1964: Taking him up on his telegram invitation to help out in any way he can in America, Beatles manager Brian Epstein meets Elvis Presley manager "Colonel" Tom Parker for the first time when they have lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

1966: The Doors started recording their first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios, West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

1967: 17-year old singer and guitarist Bruce Springsteen joined a group called Earth.

1967: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and their entourage attend a lecture by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the lobby of the London Hilton. The Maharishi (as he would come to be known) entrances the Beatles with his philosophy of TM, or Transcendental Meditation, which involves mental repetition of a single word or phrase to center the mind and relax the body. After the lecture, the three Beatles meet the Maharishi and accept his invitation to attend his next lecture in Bangor, Wales.

1967: Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, drives his Lincoln Continental (not a Rolls Royce, as is often thought), into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, MI to celebrate his 21st birthday, earning the entire band a lifetime ban from the chain.

1969: Folksinger Arlo Guthrie's film Alice's Restaurant, based on his hit song of the same name, premieres in both Los Angeles and New York.

1969: John Lennon writes, rehearses, and records a song about his recent heroin withdrawal entitled "Cold Turkey," where he also puts into practice his recent introduction to "primal scream" therapy. Fans and critics are shocked and appalled by the emotionally raw recording, a prelude to his eventual Plastic Ono Band album.

1975: Queen started recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales, (the song was recorded over three weeks). Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

1977: Country legend Waylon Jennings is arrested for cocaine possession in New York City by federal agents, an event which will inspire his song "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand?" The charges are later dropped.

1977: Johnny Paycheck records the David Allan Coe-penned "Take This Job And Shove It" at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.

1978: Following headaches and episodes of memory loss, Jazz singer Louis Prima sought medical attention, and found out he had a brain stem tumor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went into a coma following surgery to remove the tumor. He never recovered, and died three years later (on this day in 1978) having been moved back to New Orleans.

1979: "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince was released. It was his first U.S. hit.

1981: John Lennon's killer is given a sentence of 20-years-to-life in prison, where he will be denied parole five times over the next 27 years.

1983: Jerry Lee Lewis' fifth wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens, dies of a methadone overdose at their home in Nesbit, MS, although several journalists suspect foul play. The couple had only been married three months. Lewis' fourth wife had died an accidental death only a year earlier.

1989: The Who perform a special 20th anniversary charity concert of their rock opera Tommy at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, featuring guests Elton John (as the Pinball Wizard), Patti Labelle (as the Acid Queen), Steve Winwood (as the Hawker), Phil Collins (as Uncle Ernie), and Billy Idol (as Cousin Kevin).

1990: Singer Sinead O'Connor refused to perform if the United States National Anthem was played before her show at the Garden State Arts Plaza in Homdel, NJ, as is custom. A patriotic uproar ensued which led to several radio stations banning her music.

1990: Judas Priest successfully defended themselves against a lawsuit, after two fans attempted suicide while listening to the Stained Class album. Both fans eventually died, one immediately from a shotgun blast, and the other on a second attempt three years later by a methadone overdose. The prosecution claimed that there were subliminal messages in the group’s music that caused the two seventeen year olds to carry out the suicide pact in 1985.

1994: Dave Abruzzese quit Pearl Jam. He was replaced with drummer Jack Irons.

1996: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher failed to turn up for the recording of the bands MTV unplugged session at London's Royal Festival Hall in front of 400 fans. He later sat in the audience and watched the show with his brother Noel taking over on vocals.

1998: 53-year-old Ingrid Pedersen announces that she is the long-lost illegitimate half-sister of John Lennon, explaining that she kept her secret for so many years as a way of protecting her now-deceased adoptive parents.

1998: A Shania Twain concert in Syracuse, NY was halted when lightning hit the ground 40 yards behind the stage. The concert was almost over at the time of the lightning strike.

1999: Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut album was released.

2001: The Backstreet Boys resumed their "Black & Blue World Tour 2001." The tour had been put on hold on July 9, because A.J. McLean entered a treatment center for depression and alcohol abuse.

2001: June Carter Cash undergoes surgery to have a pacemaker installed.

2007: During a routine medical exam in Gainesville, FL, Bo Diddley complains of dizziness and nausea and is admitted to a local hospital, where he is diagnosed as having had a heart attack. The rock legend had suffered a stroke only a few months earlier.

2010: George Michael pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in London to driving under the influence of drugs. The singer had been arrested in July when he was returning home from the London Gay Pride parade and crashed his car into the front of a Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead, North London.

August 23

Births

1912: Gene Kelly (Singer & Dancer)

1917: Tex Williams (Country Singer)

1936: Rudy Lewis (Singer with The Drifters)

1946: Keith Moon (Drummer for The Who)

1949: Rick Springfield (Guitar & Singer)

1951:Jimi Jamison (Singer for Survivor)

1960: Stephen Maynard Clark (Lead Guitar for Def Leppard)

1961: Dean Deleo (Guitar for Stone Temple Pilots)

1962: Shaun Ryder (Vocals for Happy Mondays)

1974: Shifty Shellshock (Seth Brooks Binzer)(Singer for Crazy Town)

1978: Julian Casablancas (Guitar & Vocals for The Strokes)

Events

1947: Margaret Truman,  President Truman's daughter, gave her first public performance as a singer. The event was at the Hollywood Bowl and had an audience of 15,000.

1962: John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell, already two months pregnant with their son Julian, at Liverpool's Mount Pleasant Registry Office, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison as witnesses. Fans milling about the offices find out about the marriage immediately, spoiling plans to keep it a secret. Manager Brian Epstein, who had served as best man, then buys lunch for the wedding party at the local cafeteria Reece's and gives the new couple use of his apartment. The marriage would last six years. On the same day, local paper Mersey Beat officially announces the replacement of Pete Best with Ringo Starr.

1963: The Rolling Stones appeared on UK TV show Ready, Steady, Go! for the first time, performing their debut single ‘Come On.’ The group made a total of 20 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966.

1965: The Beatles' second film, Help! has its US premiere in New York City.

1970: Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club 'Max's Kansas City'. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years, at $40 per week.

1974: The local papers report that John Lennon, while staying in mistress' May Pang's New York apartment during his infamous "lost weekend," has spotted a UFO. John's next album, Walls and Bridges, contains this notation in the inner booklet: "On 23 August 1974, I saw a UFO J.L."

1975: Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until his death when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England at the age of 23.

1987: A 20th anniversary "Summer Of Love" concert headlined by the Grateful Dead at Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angel Camp, CA goes horribly wrong when an escaped felon, wandering in the crowd, shoots a pursuing police officer while trying to escape.

1993: News of Michael Jackson's child molestation investigation is finally made public by the Los Angeles police.

1993: Duran Duran received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

1998: "Scary Spice" Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls announced that she was pregnant.

1999: Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers marries his third wife, Patti Arnold, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

2000: Kenny Loggins is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2003: Trace Adkins joins the Grand Ole Opry, officially inducted by Ronnie Milsap and Lorrie Morgan. On his big night, he performs "Chrome," "Hot Mama" and "Then They Do".

2004: Queen becomes the first band officially sanctioned by the Iranian government since the 1979 cultural revolution that outlawed rock groups. Lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar of Indian parents, had remained quite popular in the country.

2004: The Pocahontas Village Board in Illinois votes to rename the town's Pocahontas Community Park as Gretchen Wilson Park.

2005: Bay City Rollers' lead singer Les McKeown is arraigned on cocaine possession and distribution charges in London. He is eventually acquitted of the intent to distribute.

2007: Queen guitarist Brian May is finally awarded his doctorate in astrophysics by London's Imperial College -- the very Ph. D. title he was seeking when he left the college during the band's first flush of success.

August 22

Births

1862: Claude Debussy (Composer)

1917: John Lee Hooker (Legendary Blues Guitarist)

1926: Bob Flanagan (Singer in The Four Freshmen)

1938: Dale Hawkins (Guitarist & Singer)

1945: Ron Dante (Lead Singer for The Archies)

1946: Gary "Mutha" Withem (Keyboards for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap)

1948: David Marks (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals for The Beach Boys)

1957: Holly Dunn (Country Singer)

1958: Vernon Reid (Guitar for Living Colour)

1959: Juan Croucier (Bass for Ratt)

1960: Collin Ray (Country Singer)

1961: Debbie Peterson (Drums for The Bangles)

1961: Roland Orzabal (Singer & Guitarist for Tears For Fears)

1963: Tori Amos (Singer / Songwriter)

1967: Layne Staley (Singer for Alice In Chains)

1972: Paul Doucette (Rhythm Guitar for Matchbox 20)

1973: Howie D (Howard Dwaine Dorough) (Backstreet Boys)

Events

1906: The Victor Talking Machine Company, headquartered in Camden, NJ, begins manufacturing the world's first mass-market home record player, the Victrola. Price: $200.

1938: America's most famous dancing partners, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, appear together on the cover of Life magazine.

1956: Elvis begins shooting his first movie, Love Me Tender, a Civil War drama that has been renamed from The Reno Brothers in order to capitalize on his new single. Elvis is billed third, but his role, originally offered to Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter, is beefed up to match his new popularity.

1956: The Frank Tashlin-directed film The Girl Can't Help It has its Hollywood premiere. Featuring performances by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, The Platters, Fats Domino, and Julie London, this comedy is usually considered the best of the Fifties' rock and roll movies.

1962: Granada Television films the Beatles during a lunchtime gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club for the show Know The North, representing what was then thought to be their very first filmed performance. It was not aired at the time. At the end of one song, fans can be heard shouting "We want Pete!" in reference to drummer Pete Best, who'd just been kicked out of the group.

1963: EMI announces a half-million advance orders in Britain for the Beatles' upcoming single, "She Loves You."

1964: Alvin and the Chipmunks' label, Liberty, reports that their cover album of Beatles songs is moving 25,000 copies a day.

1965: Awaiting their favorite group at Granada Television's Manchester, England studios, over 200 screaming Rolling Stones fans break through security barriers, causing the security guards on duty to turn the fire hoses on them.

1966: New York City teenagers Carol Hopkins and Susan Richmond climbed out onto the ledge on the second floor of a city hotel and threatened to jump unless they could get to meet The Beatles. Police talked then down.

1968: Having come home from vacation to find her husband in bed with Yoko Ono, John Lennon's first wife Cynthia files for divorce -- one day before their sixth anniversary.

1968: Ringo Starr quit The Beatles during the White Album sessions when the constant bickering and tension became too much for him. The news of Ringo's departure was kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on September 3. After Ringo walked out, the remaining Beatles recorded ‘Back In the USSR’, with Paul on drums and John playing bass.

1968: Country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette announce their marriage, although it doesn't actually take place for another six months.

1969: The Beatles hold their very last photographic shoot as a group, occurring on the lawn of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's home in Tittenhurst in Ascot, England.

1970: Songwriter Elton John signs with Uni, a division of MCA, as a solo act.

1970: Bread went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Make It With You', the group's only No.1 hit, it made No.5 in the UK.

1970: Eric Clapton's loose assemblage of musician friends, dubbed Derek and the Dominoes back in June, begin recording their only album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.

1978: Sex Pistol Sid Vicious made his last live stage appearance when he appeared with Rat Scabies from The Damned, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen at London's Electric Ballroom. In the audience: Elvis Costello, Blondie, Joan Jett , The Slits and Captain Sensible.

1979: Led Zeppelin released In Through the Out Door, their last album of original material, ‘Fool in the Rain’ was released as a single in the US.

1983: Country singer Crystal Gayle and husband-manager Bill Gatzimos have their first baby, Katherine Claire.

1985: Rick Nelson and Fats Domino begin filming the PBS-TV special Rockin' With Rick And Fats, which will turn out to be Nelson's last television appearance before his untimely death in a plane crash.

1998: During his show at the Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center) in Anaheim, CA, Elton John is joined onstage by fan Jim Carrey, who duets with him on a perfectly serious version of "Rocket Man." Carrey then sits at the piano and plays it by bashing his head onto the keys.

2001: An attack of severe bronchitis causes Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks to cancel two upcoming shows.

2003: Norwegian Elvis impersonator Kjell Bjornestad set a new world record by performing the King's repetoire for 26 straight hours.

2003: The IRS confiscated personal belongings of R&B Singer Peabo Bryson to pay back taxes.

2004: Al Dvorin, the announcer who coined the phrase "Elvis has left the building" while working the King's Seventies concerts, dies in a car crash en route home from a Californian Elvis convention.

2007: Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes was arrested on suspicion of racially abusing a member of staff at a Thai restaurant in Soho, London. Hayes was released on bail pending further inquiries.