February 17

Births

1941: Gene Pitney (Singer)

1957: Loreena McKennitt (Singer)

1963: Larry The Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney)

1967: Chanté Moore (R&B Singer)

1970: Tim Mahoney (Lead Guitar for 311)

1971: Denise Richards

1972: Billie Joe Armstrong (Singer & Guitar for Green Day)

1972: Taylor Hawkins (Drummer for Foo Fighters)

1974: Bryan White (Country Artist)

1981: Paris Hilton (ummm…. Singer?)

Events

1960: Elvis Presley won his first Gold record for the album 'Elvis'.

1965: Governor Frank G. Clement declares Patti Page's smash "Tennessee Waltz" the official anthem of that state.

1968: Big Brother and the Holding Company, featuring singer Janis Joplin, are signed by Columbia after a performance at the Anderson Theatre in New York City.

1970: Joni Mitchell announced she was retiring from live performances during a concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Joni was on stage again by the end of the year.

1971: Johnny Cash is the guest of honor on NBC-TV's This Is Your Life; a few channels over, on Cash's ABC variety show, a young James Taylor makes his TV debut singing "Fire And Rain" and "Carolina On My Mind."

1973: The band Free, which would mutate into Bad Company, disband after playing their final show at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Florida.

1975: AC/DC released their debut album 'High Voltage'.

1976: Harvard names Bette Midler it's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. Midler declares that the honor "characterizes what the American male wants in a woman... brains, talent and gorgeous t***."

1976: The Eagles release “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” which is tied with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for the best selling LP in the US of all times at 29 Million copies.

1988: A 12-year old fan of Motley Crue set his legs on fire while trying to imitate a stunt in the band's "Live Wire" video. The boy suffered burns over ten percent of his body.

1988: Destiny’s Child release their debut album.

1989: Whitesnake singer David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen (known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake's music videos 'Here I Go Again, 'Is This Love' and 'Still of the Night'). The couple divorced in 1991.

2000: Rapper Trick Daddy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at a North Miami Beach nightclub.

2001: Brad Paisley is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He wears the yellow jacket that Buck Owens wore the night he recorded his "Live At Carnegie Hall" album. Paisley sings "Two People Fell In Love," from his upcoming album.

2008: During a Temptations/Four Tops concert in Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium, Little Richard, sitting in the audience, gets a standing ovation from all 2,400 concertgoers.

February 16

Births

1935: Sonny Bono (Singer & Producer)

1952: James Ingram (R&B Singer)

1958: Ice-T (Tracy Morrow) (Rapper)

1961: Andy Taylor (Guitar for Duran Duran & Power Station)

1965: Dave Lombardo (Drummer for Slayer)

1982: Lupe Fiasco (Wasalu Muhammad Jaco ) (Rapper)

Events

1963: Paul Anka marries Marie-Ann Alison DeZogheb in Paris.

1968: Detroit, MI mayor Jerome P. Cavanagh declares today "Aretha Franklin Day."

1969: George Jones marries Tammy Wynette in Ringgold, Georgia, six months after they announced the marriage.

1971: Hell's Angel biker Alan David Pasaro sues the Rolling Stones, claiming that the group's documentary film Gimme Shelter, a document of the infamous 1969 Altamont concert, constitutes invasion of privacy. The film depicts the stabbing of Meredith Hunter by members of the biker group, but Pasaro himself is later acquitted of the crime.

1972: During his week-long stint as host of the syndicated Mike Douglas Show, John Lennon performs "Memphis" and "Johnny B. Goode" with Chuck Berry, who Lennon refers to as "my hero."

1974: Bob Dylan started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Planet Waves, his first US No.1.

1974: During a tour of America the members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer were arrested in Salt Lake City after swimming naked in the hotel pool. They were each fined $75.

1984: Jerry Lee Lewis surrenders to federal authorities on charges of income tax evasion, charges of which he is eventually acquitted.

1990: Ike Turner is sentenced to four years in prison on eleven separate charges, including possession and transport of cocaine. He is in prison when he and ex-wife Tina are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he is released after serving eighteen months.

1991: The Simpsons were at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Do The Bartman'. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Bryan Lorenand, The Simpsons became the first cartoon characters to make No.1 since the Archies hit 'Sugar Sugar' in 1969. Jackson was a massive fan of The Simpsons and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show.

1999: Rap star Ol' Dirty Bastard was arrested in Hollywood for allegedly wearing body armor, a forbidden garment because of his previous arrests. ODB was initially pulled over for driving erratically.

2005: Kid Rock was arrested for allegedly punching a DJ at a strip club in Nashville, Tennessee. Police were called to the incident but Rock escaped from the club. Shortly after, he was pulled over by an officer who got an autograph but did not do a breath test despite smelling alcohol. (The officer has since been fired). The star was eventually arrested a few hours later, taken to the night court and released on $3,000 bail.

2007: Britney Spears shaved her head.

February 15

Births

1944: Mick Avory (Drummer for The Kinks)

1945: John Helliwell (Sax for Supertramp)

1950: David Brown (Bass for Santana)

1951: Melissa Manchester (Singer)

1957: Jake E. Lee (Jakey Lou Williams) (Guitar for Ozzy Osbourne & Badlands)

1959: Ali Campbell (Singer in UB40)

1964: Chris Farley (Comedian)

1967: Jane Child (Pop Singer / Songwriter)

1969: Birdman (Bryan Williams) (Rapper)

1976: Brandon Boyd (Singer in Incubus)

1976: Ronnie Vannucci Jr (Drummer in The Killers)

1977: Brooks Wackerman (Drummer for Bad Religion)

1980: Conor Oberst (Singer / Songwriter for Bright Eyes, Monsters Of Folk & The Faint)

Events

1941: Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded "Take the "A" Train" for the first time.

1954: Big Joe Turner recorded the original "Shake, Rattle & Roll".

1958: Due to the amazing daytime success of Dick Clark's American Bandstand, ABC debuts a new prime-time variety show called The Dick Clark Show. Guests on the first episode include Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Chuck Willis, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Royal Teens, and Johnnie Ray.

1961: Singer Jackie Wilson was left with a stomach wound after Juanita Jones, a female fan, went to his New York apartment demanding to see him. Jones' gun went off as he tried to disarm her.

1964: The Beatles scored their first US No.1 album with 'Meet The Beatles!' The album stayed at No.1 for eleven weeks.

1965: Nat "King" Cole died of lung cancer at age 45. In 1956 he became the first black American to host a television variety show.

1967: Music students at Chicago's DePaul University form a seven-piece rock ensemble called The Big Thing. Later, they would change their name to Chicago Transit Authority, and then, simply, Chicago.

1968: Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, along with their wives, travel to Rishikesh, India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The other two band members would soon follow.

1968: US blues harmonica player Little Walter died from injuries incurred in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub in Chicago.

1969: Florida hairstylist Vickie Jones is arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin at a club in Fort Myers, FL. Incredibly, her performance is so believable that no patrons demand a refund.

1970: After a Sly and the Family Stone concert runs hours late and causes over a thousand dollars in damages, the Daughters of the American Revolution impose a ban against any further rock concerts at the venue, Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall.

1975: Capitol Records rushes to release John Lennon's Rock and Roll album after a much shabbier version, called Roots, had begun to be marketed on late-night television. Roots was music exec Morris Levy's version of the "oldies" sessions, which Lennon was court-ordered to undertake as payment for a Chuck Berry line John used in the Beatles' "Come Together." (Levy's copyright was judged to have been infringed by the line "Here come old flat-top, he come groovin' up slowly.")

1976: Bette Midler bails out no less than seven members of her entourage from jail after their arrest on drug possession charges.

1977: Sid Vicious joined the Sex Pistols replacing bassist Glen Matlock.

1981: American guitarist Mike Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag and had played on Bob Dylan's album 'Highway 61 Revisited'.

1991: Rod Stewart's ex-girlfriend, supermodel Kelly Emberg, files a $25 million palimony suit against the singer in Los Angeles Superior Court.

1999: Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura -- a former Rolling Stones concert bodyguard & professional wrestler -- declares today "Rolling Stones Day."

1999: Rapper Big L (Lamont Coleman) was killed after being shot nine times in the face and chest by a childhood friend.

February 14

Births

1943: Maceo Parker (Sax Player)

1945: Vic Briggs (Lead Guitar for The Animals)

1947: Tim Buckley (Singer / Songwriter)

1950: Roger Fisher (Guitar for Heart)

1963: D'Wayne Wiggins (R&B Singer in Tony, Toni, Tone)

1972: Rob Thomas (Singer for Matchbox Twenty & Solo)

1978: Dwele (Andwele Gardner) (R&B Singer)

1985: Havana Brown (Angelique Meunier) (DJ & Singer)

Events

1958: CBS' Walter Cronkite reports that the government of Iran has banned rock and roll for being unhealthy and anti-Islamic. The "unhealthy" claim is backed by Iranian doctors who warn of hip damage due to "extreme gyrations."

1964: Chad and Jeremy guest star on ABC's The Patty Duke Show.

1967: Aretha Franklin recorded her song "Respect" in New York.  Her Sisters sang back up on the song.

1970: The Who play a legendary concert at Leeds University in England which will become the Live at Leeds LP.

1970: Billboard Magazine reports that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is "Mounting Total War Against Tape Pirating of Prerecorded Music."

1972: On the same day the band breaks up for the first time, Los Angeles mayor Sam Yorty declares today "Steppenwolf Day."

1972: John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their week-long stint as guest hosts on the syndicated Mike Douglas Show.

1973: David Bowie collapses due to "total exhaustion" at the end of his Valentine's Day show at New York's Madison Square Garden.

1974: Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille (a/k/a The Captain and Tennille) are married in Virginia City, NV.

1980: Lou Reed marries Sylvia Morales in New York City's Greenwich Village.

1981: Billy Idol left Generation X for a solo career.

1977: Singer / songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine's day cards after indicating in the lyrics of her song 'At Seventeen', she had never received any.

1977: The B-52's made their first live performance appearing in a Greenhouse at a Valentines day party in Athens, Ga.

1978, Dire Straits began recording their first album at Basing Street Studios, London. The whole project cost $21,250 to produce.

1984: Elton John marries sound engineer Renate Blauel in Sydney, Australia. Attendees include Olivia Newton-John and Rod Stewart. The couple divorced three years later.

1986: Frank Zappa guest stars on NBC's Miami Vice. Zappa portrayed a crime boss named 'Mr. Frankie.'

1993: Harry Nilsson suffers his first heart attack.

1994: The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia marries Deborah Koons.

1996: Prince married Mayte Garcia in a Minneapolis church. He also composed a special song for his wife, 'Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother, Wife', which she heard for the first time when they had their first wedding dance. The couple split in 1998.

1998: Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' set a new recorded for the most radio plays in the US with 116 million plays in one week.

1999: Elton John guest stars on Fox's The Simpsons.

2000: KISS announces their "farewell tour."

2004: Dave Holland, former drummer with Judas Priest was jailed for eight years for indecent assault and the attempted rape of a 17-year old boy. The youth, who had learning difficulties, had been taking drum lessons from Holland.

2008: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher married his long-term partner, the ex-All Saints singer Nicole Appleton at a civil ceremony in London.