September 26

Births

1898: George Gershwin (Composer & Pianist)

1925: Marty Robbins (Country Artist)

1926: Julie London (Torchsong Singer)

1945: Bryan Ferry (Singer for Roxy Music & Solo)

1947: Lynn Anderson (Country Singer)

1948: Olivia Newton-John (Pop Singer)

1955: Carlene Carter (Country Artist)

1960: Doug Supernaw (Country Artist)

1962: Tracey Thorn (Vocals for Everything But The Girl)

1964: John Tempesta (Drummer for Exodus, White Zombie & Testament)

1964: Nicki French (Dance music Singer)

1965: Cindy Herron (Vocals for En Vogue)

1967: Shannon Hoon (Singer for Blind Melon)

1972: Shawn Stockman (Vocals for Boyz II Men)

1981: Christina Milian (Singer)

Events

1908: The first stereo advertisement, for an Edison Phonograph, appears in the Saturday Evening Post.

1937: Bessie Smith died at age 43 after being critically injured in a car accident outside of Memphis, Tenn.

1955: Debbie Reynolds marries Eddie Fisher in New York City, a marriage that will last just four tumultuous years before Fisher leaves America's Sweetheart for Elizabeth Taylor.

1956: The mayor of Tupelo, MS declares today Elvis Presley Day in honor of its favorite son; among others, a young Tammy Wynette is in the audience at the concert Elvis gives later.

1957: The musical West Side Story, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with New York City gang members, debuts on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre. It would run for 732 performances.

1961: Folksinger Bob Dylan lands his first major gig, opening for the Greenbriar Boys for two weeks at Gerde's Folk City in New York. Critic Robert Shelton of the New York Times says of today's performance: "Bob Dylan is one of the most distinctive stylists to play in a Manhattan cabaret in months... there is no doubt that he is bursting at the seams with talent... Mr. Dylan's voice is anything but pretty... a searing intensity pervades his songs. Mr. Dylan's highly personalized approach toward folk song is still evolving." This review essentially launches Dylan's career.

1964 : The Kinks released the single "You Really Got Me” in the US.

1965: At the end of a European tour Roger Daltry knocked out Keith Moon and was fired from The Who. The band were playing two shows in one night in Denmark, when an argument broke out between all four band members. Daltry was reinstated the following day.

1965: Queen Elizabeth II presents the Beatles with the Order of the British Empire, recommended by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who said later: "I saw the Beatles as having a transforming effect on the minds of youth, mostly for the good. It kept a lot of kids off the streets." The Beatles, who reportedly get high in a bathroom before the event, are said to be delighted, though many older and more conservative honorees return their honors in protest.

1967: Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.

1969: Legendary promoter Bill Graham opens the Fillmore West, a West Coast version of his popular New York "rock ballroom," in San Francisco.

1970: Motown announces that its newest singing sensation, the Jackson 5, have sold ten million records worldwide in just nine months.

1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and a young unknown singer who goes only by the name of Meat Loaf, opens in Westwood, CA. A film version of the popular off-Broadway musical hit, it is an instant flop nationwide, and is miraculously resuscitated some time later when audiences at the midnight showings in New York City begin to talk back to the screen, creating a cult phenomenon that lasts to this day.

1979: The Clash released their first U.S. single. It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."

1981: Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).

1984: Paul Anka is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd.

1988: "Talk Is Cheap" was released by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. It was his first solo album.

2002: Country artist Doug Supernaw is arrested outside a bar in Brenham, Texas, after fighting with five police officers. He's charged with public intoxication, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

2003: Robert Palmer, a heavy smoker, died in Paris, France, from a heart attack at the age of 54.

2012: Singer Andy Williams died after a long battle with bladder cancer at age 84.

September 25

Births

1946: Bryan MacLean (Guitar & Vocals for Love)

1955: Steve Severin (Bass for Siouxsie and the Banshees)

1961: Heather Locklear

1968: Will Smith (Rapper- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)

1970: Dean Ween (Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr) (Guitar for Ween)

1974: Richie Edwards (Bass for The Darkness)

1974: Daniel Kessler (Guitar for Interpol)

1980: T.I. (Clifford Joseph Harris Jr.) (Rapper)

Events

1956: Elvis Presley's upcoming single, "Love Me Tender," becomes the first 45 to reach one million in pre-orders.

1964: The Temptations begin recording ’My Girl’ which went on to be their first US number one and the first of fifteen US Top Ten hits.

1965: The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.

1970: The Partridge Family's self-titled TV show debuts on ABC.

1975: While performing "Lonely Teardrops" onstage at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ during a Dick Clark oldies revue, Jackie Wilson collapses from a heart attack, bashing his head on the stage and lapsing into a come from which he will remain until his death in 1983.

1980: John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died at age 32 after a heavy drinking session. ‘Bonzo’ was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page's house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption (40 shots in 4 hours).

1981: An infamous Rolling Stones concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, PA, is recorded for use in the upcoming flop concert pic Let's Spend The Night Together.

1990: The mayor of Macon, GA, renames Mercer University Drive "Little Richard Penniman Boulevard" in honor of its native son.

1990: Drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for Nirvana and was instantly given the job. Grohl’s last band Scream had recently split-up.

1992: Two fans were stabbed and 20 arrests were made after trouble broke out at a Ozzy Osbourne gig in Oklahoma City. The sale of alcohol at the concert was blamed for the incident.

1993: A Patsy Cline commemorative stamp is issued by the United States Postal Service.

1993 Country singer Sara Evans marries Craig Schelske in Boonesboro, Missouri.

1995: Courtney Love was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, fined $1,000 and ordered to attend a anger management course after being found guilty of assaulting Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna.

1995: Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" became only the second single to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The first artist to accomplish this feat was Michael Jackson with "You Are Not Alone."

1998: Johnny Cash suffers a relapse of pneumonia and is admitted to a Nashville, TN hospital, just one year after nearly dying from the disease.

2000: Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion "meaningless", Osbourne went on to say "Let's face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We're a people's band and that suits us just fine."

2001: The first worldwide broadcast of a satellite radio station takes place as XM Radio takes the air.

2011: The New York Post reported that Sly Stone was living in a van, parked in the notoriously rough Los Angeles neighborhood of Crenshaw. The 68-year-old was quoted as saying "I like my small camper. I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving."

September 24

Births

1936: Jim Henson (Muppets)

1941: Linda McCartney (Keyboards for Wings)

1942: Gerry Marsden (Vocals & Guitar for Gerry and the Pacemakers)

1952: Mark Sandman (Singer & Bass for Morphine)

1965: Sean McNabb (Bass for Quiet Riot & Great White)

1969: Shawn "Clown" Crahan (Percussion for Slipknot)

1971: Peter Salisbury (Drums for The Verve)

Events

1942: Bandleader Glenn Miller makes his last radio broadcast on CBS' Moonlight Serenade program before leaving to enlist in the Army.

1955: Judy Garland makes her television debut on CBS' variety show Ford Star Jubilee, breaking all previous ratings records.

1957: Legendary DJ Alan Freed debuts his fourth movie, Mister Rock And Roll, at New York City's Paramount Theatre. The film, named after Freed's nickname, features Alan playing himself and also several musical performances by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Brook Benton, LaVern Baker, Ferlin Husky, Lionel Hampton, and, for some reason, former middleweight boxing champion Rocky Graziano.

1966: En route from New York to London with his new manager, Chas Chandler, the guitarist formerly known as Jimmy James decides to change his name to Jimi Hendrix. Upon arrival, Jimi ends up in a jam session with British bluesman Zoot Money, witnessed by Andy Summers, later the guitarist for the Police.

1967: The Beatles film the (in)famous "Your Mother Should Know" dance segment of their film Magical Mystery Tour at the West Malling Air Force Station in Kent, England. Paul wears a black carnation when the group runs out of red ones, creating more "clues" for the "Paul is Dead" theorists.

1967: Traffic made their live debut when they appeared at Saville Theatre in London, featuring Steve Winwood.

1977: Just a month or so after his untimely death, the first national Elvis Presley convention takes place in Memphis.

1980: The mixing of the forthcoming John and Yoko album Double Fantasy moved from the Hit Factory in New York City to Record Plant East. During this session, John Lennon gave one of last ever interviews to Lisa Robinson from 97-FM in Buffalo.

1988: After allegedly breaking into an insurance class being held in a building he owns and waving a gun around, demanding to know who used his bathroom, James Brown becomes involved in a hour-long, two-state car chase with police in Augusta, GA, who were tipped off that Brown was behaving erratically and armed. Driving over six miles in his pickup truck after authorities shoot out his two front tires, Brown is arrested and charged with illegal possession of drugs and firearms, simple assault, carrying a deadly weapon in public, resisting arrest, and seven misdemeanors. He is released from jail after serving two years of a five-year sentence.

1988: Bobby McFerrin started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Don't Worry Be Happy', the first a-cappella record to be a No.1.  The song would go on to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1989: Prince made an appearance on the 15-year anniversary of Saturday Night Live.

1991: Nirvana’s album ‘Nevermind’ was released in America, entering the chart at No. 144 on its first week, peaking at No.1 in January 1992.  It went on to sell over 30M copies.

1991: The album "The Low End Theory" was released by A Tribe Called Quest.

1993: Following his recent arrest for drunk driving, John Denver is ordered to perform a benefit concert for victims of the same.

1993: Guns N' Roses reached a settlement with their former drummer Steven Adler. Adler had been kicked out of the band for not kicking his heroin habit.

1995: The Charlatans were arrested by 24-armed police after a flight to New York. The band were accused of trying to disrupt the planes flight path, passengers complained of the group being drunk, spitting and interfering with in flight TV sets.

1997: Barry Loukaitis was convicted of shooting and killing two pupils and a teacher at a school in Washington. His defence team claimed he had copied scenes from Pearl Jam's video 'Jeremy'.