June 16

Births

1939: Billy "Crash" Craddock (Rockabilly Singer)

1941: Lamont Dozier (R&B Singer, Songwriter & Producer)

1942: Eddie Levert (Vocals for The O'Jays)

1946: Iain Matthews (Singer for Fairport Convention)

1952: Gino Vannelli (Singer)

1953: Ian Mosley (Drums for Marillion)

1958: Patrick Waite (Bass & Vocals for Musical Youth)

1962: Femi Kuti (Afrobeat Musician)

1969: MC Ren (Lorenzo Jerald Patterson ) (Rapper for NWA)

1971: 2Pac (Tupac Amaru Shakur) (born Lesane Parish Crooks) (Rapper)

1981: Ben Kweller (Singer / Songwriter)

1982: Matt Costa (Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1962: A young David Bowie makes his stage debut when his band, the Konrads, performs at Bromley Technical in Kent, England.

1965: Bob Dylan recorded ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City.

1966: The Beatles made a surprise live appearance on the UK television program Top of the Pops, performing ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’. It became The Beatles' last live musical television appearance, with the sole exception of the June 1967 worldwide transmission of ‘All You Need Is Love’.

1967: The first of the major rock festivals, Monterey Pop, is held in California, featuring established acts such as The Mamas and The Papas, Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Association, Booker T. and the MGs, The Who, and the Byrds, and also making superstars of several relatively new acts such as Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Steve Miller Band. 50,000 attendees paid between $3.50 and $6.50 to see more than two dozen acts, all of whom agreed to play for free so all proceeds could go to charity. The event kicked off the famous "Summer of Love," in which thousands of college-age rock fans visited San Francisco, and also inspired John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas to write "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)," later a hit for Scott McKenzie. Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker's acclaimed 1969 documentary Monterey Pop was filmed during the festival.

1970: The organizers of the Woodstock music festival report that they have lost over $1.2 million on the event (money which they will later make up through movie and soundtrack rights).

1975: John Lennon sues US Attorneys General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst for alleged harassment during his recent deportation investigation.

1976: No longer just five, The Jacksons -- all six sons and three daughters -- get their own summer replacement variety show on CBS-TV.

1979: The Electric Light Orchestra started a five-week run at No.1 on the album chart with 'Discovery' their first No.1 LP, featuring the tracks 'Shine A Little Love', 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'The Diary Of Horace Wimp'.

1980: The movie The Blues Brothers, adapted from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's classic SNL skit, premieres in Chicago. A love letter of sorts to Sixties R&B and soul, it will help re-establish the careers of its musical co-stars, including James Brown, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin.

1982: Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died following sustained cocaine and heroin addiction.

1982: Donny Van Zant of 38 Special was arrested on stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma, (a dry town) for drinking alcohol in a public place.

1987: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead officially gives permission for Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to name a new flavor after him.

1988: Vince Neil of Motley Crue married mud wrestler Sharisse Rudell.

1989: Smokey Robinson launches his own perfume for women, entitled simply "Smoke."

1990: The Rolling Stones' "Paint, It Black," re-released in the Netherlands as a single, climbs to the top of the charts 24 years after its initial release.

1994: Kristen Pfaff (Bass for Hole) died of a heroin overdose at the age of 26.

1997: The Radiohead album "OK Computer" was released.

1999: Phil Collins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000: On the first night of his 'Up in Smoke' tour in Chula Vista, Snoop Dogg's tour bus was stopped at the Temecula border checkpoint in San Diego after the border patrol smelled marijuana wafting from the tour bus. One member of the crew was arrested.

2001: Four-year-old Daniel Karven-Veres drowned in Tommy Lee's swimming pool while attending a birthday party for Lee's 5-year-old son, Brandon. His parents, James Veres and Ursula Karven, sued Lee for negligence, claiming they should have been told that a swimming pool was involved, (their son could not swim). Lee was cleared by a jury in April 2003.

2002: A remixed version of Elvis Presley's 1967 single "A Little Less Conversation" hits #1 in the UK, released as part of a plan by his estate to regain the UK record for Number Ones from the Beatles.

2004: The original members of the New York Dolls reunite on stage after nearly 30 years, in a concert arranged by their #1 fan, Morrissey of the Smiths.

2007: 61-year-old Rod Stewart marries his third wife, 35-year-old model Penny Lancaster, on board the yacht Lady Ann Magee in Portofino, Italy.

June 15

Births

1937: Waylon Jennings (Country Singer)

1941: Harry Nilsson (Singer / Songwriter)

1946: Noddy Holder (Guitar & Vocals for Slade)

1949: Russell Hitchcock (Vocals for Air Supply)

1951: Steve Walsh (Singer & Keyboards for Kansas)

1956: David Hinds (Rhythm Guitar & Lead Vocals for Steel Pulse)

1957: Brad Gillis (Guitarist & Vocalist for Night Ranger)

1963: Scott Rockenfield (Drummer for Queensryche)

1969: Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson) (Rapper)

1976: Gary Lightbody (Rhythm Guitar & Lead Vocals for Snow Patrol)

1976: Dryden Vera Mitchell (Singer & Rhythm Guitar for Alien Ant Farm)

1981: Billy Martin (Lead Guitarist & Keyboards for Good Charlotte)

Events

1956: John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for 1st time as Lennon's rock group Quarrymen perform at a church dinner.

1963: Kyu Sakamoto started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Sukiyaki’, the first-ever Japanese song to do so.

1966: Capitol releases the Beatles' newest US album, a compilation of sorts entitled Yesterday and Today, featuring a bizarre cover by arty photographer Robert Whitaker where the group, dressed in butcher smocks, is surrounded by decapitated baby dolls and raw meat. The ensuing outrage forces the label to rush-release a new version with the group sitting in and around a large steamer trunk. Despite popular rumor, the photo has never been proven as a statement by the group on Vietnam or Capitol's practice of "butchering" their UK albums for US releases; Whitaker alone remains responsible for the idea, which at least one Beatle later described as "gross" and "stupid." Capitol merely stuck the new "trunk cover" over the original, and therefore, steamed "Butcher Covers" of the album are among the most popular collectibles in existence.

1967: Guitarist Peter Green quit the John Mayall Band. Green went on to form Fleetwood Mac. 

1968: Wes Montgomery, jazz guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 48.

1969: "Hee Haw" makes its prime time debut on CBS-TV, replacing the controversial "Smothers Brothers" show. The cast includes: Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones, among others. The first guests: Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn.

1970: Jimi Hendrix opens his new Electric Ladyland Studios in New York.

1976: The Sex Pistols recorded their first demos in Clapham's Majestic studios followed by a gig that night at The 100 club, London.

1977: The Sex Pistols held a party on a boat as it sailed down The River Thames in London. The Pistols performed 'Anarchy In The UK' outside The Houses Of Parliament resulting in members from the party being arrested when the boat docked later that day.

1982: Pete Farndon bass player with The Pretenders was fired from the group, he went on to form a group with Topper Headon from The Clash. Farndon was found dead in his bath on 14th April 1983.

1985: Dire Straits started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Brothers In Arms'.

1986: U2 and Sting headlined a concert in New Jersey celebrating 25 years of Amnesty International.

1988: During Bruce Springsteen's stay in Rome during a world tour a photographer took a shot of Bruce in his underpants sharing an intimate moment with his backing singer Patti Scialfa. The picture confirmed the rumors that Bruce and Patti were having an affair.

1989: Nirvana's debut album 'Bleach' was released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster 'Bleach Your Works' urging drug users to bleach their needles.

1991: Minnie Pearl performs in Joliet, Illinois, in what turns out to be her final show. She suffers a stroke two days later.

1994: Kristen Pfaff (Bass Guitarist for Hole) was found dead in her apartment by Paul Erickson, a friend with whom she had planned to leave for Minneapolis that day. On the floor there was a bag containing syringes and drug paraphernalia. Pfaff's death was attributed to "acute opiate intoxication," and ruled accidental.

1996: US jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. Already blinded by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993.

2000: Rapper Flesh-N-Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was convicted of assault with a firearm and for being an ex-convict in criminal possession of a firearm after threatening a friend with an AK-47.

2002: A rare autographed copy of The Beatles’ album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for $57,800, more than five times the estimated price. 

2010: Kellie Pickler gets engaged to "More Than A Memory" songwriter Kyle Jacobs on a beach in Florida.

2011: Two men from Manchester were held on suspicion of conspiracy to rob and murder after being arrested close to the Devon home of the singer Joss Stone. The men, aged 33 and 30, were arrested after residents reported a suspicious looking vehicle in the Cullompton area. A UK police source said they were found with swords, and a body bag, as well as detailed maps and aerial photos of Stone's property.

June 14

Births

1909: Burl Ives (Singer)

1936: Obie Benson (Bass Singer for The Four Tops)

1941: Jr. Walker (Singer & Sax in Jr. Walker and the All-Stars)

1945: Rod Argent (Keyboard & Vocals for The Zombies & Argent)

1949: Alan White (Drummer for Yes & Plastic Ono Band)

1956: King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen) (Singer for King Diamond & Mercyful Fate)

1958: Nick Van Eede (Singer for The Cutting Crew)

1961: Boy George (George O'Dowd) (Singer for The Culture Club)

1963: Chris Degarmo (Guitar for Queensryche)

1969: MC Ren (Lorenzo Jerald Patterson) (Rapper)

1975: Bob Nanna (Guitar & Vocals for Braid & Hey Mercedes)

Events

1957: Ava Gardner divorces Frank Sinatra after 6 years of marriage and left for Spain to be with Ernest Hemingway.

1961: After a performance at the Majestic Theatre in Newcastle, England Gene Vincent is mobbed by admirers who accidentally push him down a flight of stairs, where he is knocked out.

1961: Patsy Cline is involved in an infamous head-on collision on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, TN. She is thrown into the windshield by the impact and sustains major head, wrist, and hip injuries. She will be hospitalized for a month, during which time she will become a convert to Christianity.

1964: Workers at a London railway station open a tea chest addressed to the Beatles and find 12-year-old Carol Dryden, a fan who'd decided to mail herself to the group.

1965: Bob Dylan recorded "Like A Rolling Stone."

1965: Paul McCartney recorded "Yesterday" for the album ‘Help!’.

1968: Rod Stewart becomes a star in the US after the Jeff Beck Group, for which he sings lead, opens at New York's Fillmore East. The 23-year-old Stewart is still so new to the stage that he hides behind a stack of speakers during the first song.

1969: In London's Hyde Park, Mick Taylor attends his first photo shoot as a new member of the Rolling Stones.

1969: R&B Singer Wynonie Harris died of esophageal cancer.

1970: Derek and the Dominoes step on the stage for the first time under that name as they play the Lyceum in London.

1970: Blood Sweat and Tears become the first Western rock band to perform "behind the iron curtain" in a Soviet country.

1970: Grand Funk Railroad unveil their famous "Closer To Home" billboard in New York, which costs $100,000 and takes a full city block to promote their new single of the same name.

1971: In London, the first Hard Rock Cafe opened.

1972: Yet another unruly crowd at a Rolling Stones concert, with cops dispensing tear gas into the audience at today's gig in Tucson, AZ.

1979: Little Feat announce their breakup.

1986: Three fans died during an Ozzy Osbourne gig at Long Beach Arena, California after falling from a balcony.

1988: The Fat Boys filed a $5 million law suit against Miller Beer and Joe Piscopo for using their likeness in a Miller Lite "Rappin "Fats" Piscopo commercial.

1988: Chuck Berry is sued for five million dollars by a woman who claimed he punched her in the mouth during an argument.

1989: Pete De Freitas, drummer with Echo And The Bunnymen, was killed at the age of 27 when his motorcycle collided with a car.

1993: Pepsi's famous "You got the right one, baby!" ads featuring Ray Charles are pulled after medical waste begins showing up in some cans of the product.

1994: Composer Henry Mancini died of pancreatic cancer at age 70.

1995: Guitarist Rory Gallagher complications from a liver transplant at age 47.

1995: Michael Jackson appeared on TV with his wife Lisa Marie Presley in a live interview with Diane Sawyer.

1996: George Martin, Beatles producer, is made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II.

1997: Puff Daddy and Faith Evans started a 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I'll Be Missing You', a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G.

2002: In Lubbock, TX, a power failure ended a Britney Spears concert after only two songs.

2002: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II; one year later to the day, Gerry and the Pacemakers' Gerry Marsden is awarded the MBE.

2006: Rufus Wainwright, son of folksinger Loudon, recreates the whole of Judy Garland's legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert at the famous institution in order to mark the show's 35th anniversary.