February 25

Births

1927: Ralph Stanley (Bluegrass Artist)

1943: George Harrison (Guitar & Vocals for The Beatles, The Traveling Wilbury’s & Solo)

1954: John Doe (Vocals & Bass for X & Solo)

1971: Daniel Powter (Singer / Songwriter)

1973: Justin Jeffre (Singer in 98 Degrees)

Events

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded "That'll Be The Day." The song would be their first hit. A previously recorded version, on July 22, 1956, was produced poorly and the vocals were performed differently.

1961: A big day for Elvis. First, Elvis Presley Day is declared in Memphis by Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington. At a luncheon in his honor, RCA presents him with a diamond watch commemorating his 75 million records sold, and Elvis holds a press conference. As part of the festivities, he performs two rare charity shows at the city's Ellis Auditorium. A private party is held at Graceland late in the evening.

1967: ABC-TV's Hollywood Palace broadcasts two Beatles promo videos for the first time in the US: "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane."

1987: Frank Sinatra guest stars as "" on tonight's "" episode of CBS-TV's Magnum P.I..

1992: At tonight's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, James Brown is presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

1995: Frank Sinatra performs for what would be the last time, singing his hits for a private party of 1,200 at his own golf tournament, the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic in Palm Springs, CA. His last song? "The Best Is Yet To Come."

1998: Bob Dylan is interrupted during his performance of "Love Sick" at tonight's Grammy Awards by a background dancer named Michael Portnoy, who rips off his shirt to reveal the words "SOY BOMB" painted on him, rushes to the front of the stage, and begins dancing spastically. That same night, Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to Bo Diddley and (posthumously) Roy Orbison.  Also, during Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, Ol Dirty Bastard grabbed the microphone and made various observations such as "Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best" and "Wu-Tang is for the children". He was then escorted offstage.

2001: Rapper Lil' Kim said a shooting which happened after she left a New York radio station was unconnected to her. One man was wounded in the incident outside the radio station Hot 97 in New York when five men fired 22 bullets. The New York Daily News reported the incident was the result of a feud between Lil' Kim and rival rappers, Capone-N-Noreaga.

2003: Financier Ralph Whitworth pays one million dollars to have Paul McCartney play at his wife Wendy's 50th birthday party. McCartney presents the CNN exec with a dozen roses after singing "Birthday" to her and then, as agreed, donates the full amount to the charity Adopt-A-Minefield.

2005: Edward Patten of Gladys Knight and the Pips is admitted to a hospital in Detroit after a stroke; he passes away the next day.

2006: George Michael was found slumped over in a car in Hyde Park, London. A concerned person spotted the singer and called police who after being checked by paramedics was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs and then released on bail.

2009: Calling him "the soundtrack of my youth," US President Barack Obama presents Stevie Wonder with the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize.

2010: Tragedy strikes Marie Osmond when her son, Michael Blosil, leaps to his death from the eighth-floor window of his Los Angeles apartment.

February 24

Births

1950: George Thorogood (Singer & Guitarist)

1955: Steve Jobs (Co-Founder of Apple)

1958: Sammy Kershaw (Country Singer)

1962: Michelle Shocked (Singer / Songwriter)

1974: Chad Hugo (Producer in The Neptunes)

1974: Noah "Wuv" Bernardo Jr (Drummer in P.O.D.)

Events

1956: Looking for a legal loophole with which to shut down rock and roll shows, police in Cleveland, OH enforce a 1931 ordinance forbidding minors from dancing without adult supervision.

1969: Johnny Cash records the "Johnny Cash At San Quentin" album, including "A Boy Named Sue." He brings the entire touring ensemble, including June Carter, Carl Perkins, The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers.

1969: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played its last British concert before breaking up.

1973: The Byrds break up for the first time after playing one last gig at The Capitol Theatre, in Passaic, NJ.

1973: Roberta Flack had her second US No.1 when 'Killing Me Softly With His Song', started a five-week run at the top. The song was written about US singer songwriter Don McLean.

1976: The Eagles' "Greatest Hits" album became the first album in the U.S. to be certified platinum by the RIAA selling over 1 Million copies.

1981: Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone and singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop guest-star on tonight's "I Do, I Do" episode of ABC-TV's sitcom Laverne and Shirley.

1984: Country band Sawyer Brown pockets $100,000 as the winner of "Star Search".

1988: As a joke, Alice Cooper runs for Governor of his native Arizona, as a member of the "Wild" Party.

1990: The Byrds' David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and Chris Hillman reunite for the first time in years at a tribute concert for the recently deceased Roy Orbison, performing "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

1992: The US Postal Service's infamous "Elvis stamps" are unveiled, with the institution allowing fans to vote for which of two versions -- a thin, '50s Elvis or a fat '70s one -- will make the final cut. Eventually, thin wins by 3 to 1.

1992: Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love in Waikiki, Hawaii. The press reported that the couple were expecting a baby on Sept 10th of this year.

1998: England's Queen Elizabeth II knights Elton John during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

1998: Drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) was arrested and charged with hitting his wife Pamela Anderson Lee.

2002: Charlie Daniels appears as himself on tonight's "Peggy's Fan Fair" episode of Fox-TV's animated sitcom King Of The Hill.

2004: Singer Lena Horne threatens to withdraw permission for a TV movie of her life after star Janet Jackson suffers her shocking "wardrobe malfunction" at Super Bowl XXXVIII. Jackson quits the project.

2004: After EMI refuses to let DJ Danger Mouse release his Grey Album, a mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album with samples from the Beatles' "White Album," the DJ makes the album available as a download, for free, on his website for one day.

2009: The United States Mint launched a new coin featuring American composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a US coin.

February 23

Births

1685: George Handel (Composer)

1944: Johnny Winter (Guitarist & Singer)

1946: Rusty Young (Guitar for Poco)

1948: Steve Priest (Bass for Sweet)

1952: Brad Whitford (Rhythm Guitar for Aerosmith)

1955: Howard Jones (Singer / Songwriter)

1958: David Sylvian (Lead Singer for Japan & Solo)

1962: Michael Wilton (Guitar for Queensryche)

1963: Rob Collins (Keyboards for The Charlatans)

1971: Jeff Beres (Bass for Sister Hazel)

1972: Steve Holy (Country Singer)

1979: D-Rock (De'Angelo Holmes) (Rapper in Ying Yang Twins)

Events

1970: 5th Dimension guest star more or less as themselves on tonight's "To Sing a Song of Murder" episode of ABC-TV's drama series It Takes A Thief.

1970: Ringo Starr makes the first solo TV appearance of a Beatle when he appears on NBC's Laugh-In.

1972: Backstage at Elvis Presley's final Vegas show of his latest engagement, wife Priscilla informs him that she's been seeing karate master Mike Stone, whom Elvis introduced to her. The King is furious. The next day, she moves out of Elvis' California home.

1978: At tonight's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Marvin Gaye wins his very first awards: two for the comeback single "Sexual Healing."

1978: David Coverdale's Whitesnake made their debut at the Sky Bird Club, Nottingham, England.

1979: Dire Straits played their first American show when they appeared in Boston.

1985: Stevie Wonder is among the anti-apartheid protesters arrested in front of Washington DC's South African Embassy, but is soon released.

1989: Isaac Hayes is sentenced to by an Atlanta judge for failing to pay his ex-wife over $346,000 in alimony and child support, but is released upon making a $22,000 down payment.

1990: Reba McEntire has a son, Shelby Stephen Blackstock, at Nashville's West Side Hospital.

1999: Oasis guitarist Paul Arthurs was arrested and jailed overnight for being drunk and disorderly. Police found the guitarist outside a Tommy Hilfiger store in London.

1999: Eminem's first album, "The Slim Shady LP", was released.

2002: The Bee Gees play what turns out to be their final show as a trio, at Miami Beach's Love and Hope Ball.

2002: Counry singer LeAnn Rimes marries dancer Dean Sheremet at the Perkins Chapel in Dallas.

2003: The British tabloid News Of The World claims that Michael Jackson has had a number of painful skin operations to peel his skin white.

2003: Howie Epstein bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers died of a suspected drug overdose in New Mexico.

2003: Norah Jones cleaned up at the 45th Grammy Awards, held at Madison Square Garden, New York. The singer, songwriter won, Album of the year and Record of the year, with 'Don't Know Why.' Song of the year, Best new artist and Best female pop vocal for 'Don't Know Why'.

February 22

Births

1938: Bobby Hendricks (Singer in The Drifters)

1968: Bradley Nowell (Lead Singer & Guitar for Sublime)

1973: Scott Phillips (Drummer for Creed & Alter Bridge)

1974: James Blunt (Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1968: Johnny Cash proposes to June Carter when they perform in London, Ontario. She says yes.

1969: In Britain's Oz Magazine, reviewer Felix Dennis says, of Led Zeppelin's debut album: "Very occasionally a long-playing record is released that defies immediate classification or description, simply because it's so obviously a turning point in rock music that only time proves capable of shifting it into eventual perspective."

1969: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs make their final public appearance on the Grand Ole Opry before a nasty split.

1976: Florence Ballard (The Supremes) died of cardiac arrest caused by a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries.  She was 32.

1978: The Police appeared in a Wrigley's Chewing Gum commercial for US TV, the band dyed their hair blonde for the appearance.

1978: Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen were arrested in New York and charged with drug possession.

1986: A Fine Young Cannibals concert in Boston was delayed until 2AM because somebody had thrown tear gas into the club.

1987: Andy Warhol died from cardiac arrhythmia after a gall bladder operation at age 58.

1989: A category for Heavy Metal was included at the Grammy Awards for the first time. Metallica performed on stage, but the award went to Jethro Tull. Many audience members booed.  Also, the same year Milli Vanilli won the best new artist award.

1993: Radiohead's first album, "Pablo Honey", was released.

2000: The recently departed soul legend Curtis Mayfield is honored at a First African Methodist Episcopal Church service in Los Angeles, featuring performances from Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, and, spontaneously, Lauryn Hill.

2008: After much controversy and debate over whether or not to honor recently deceased musician and Mississippi native Ike Turner, the state legislature compromises and passes a resolution that honors his musical achievements only.

2010: Johnny Marr was said to be "ecstatic" after getting back one of his guitars which had been stolen in 2000 after a gig at the Scala nightclub in Kings Cross, London. Smiths fan Stephen White told a London court he was "disgusted" with himself for taking the cherry red 1964 Gibson SG when he went backstage after the gig at The Scala.