June 6

Births

1936: Levi Stubbs (Lead Singer for The Four Tops)

1939: Gary U.S. Bonds (R&B Singer)

1944: Peter Albin (Bass for Big Brother and the Holding Company)

1944: Edgar Froese (Keyboards for Tangerine Dream)

1960: Steve Vai (Guitarist for Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake)

1961: Tom Araya (Vocals & Bass for Slayer)

1966: Sean Yseult (Bass for White Zombie)

1970:  James “Munky” Shaffer (Guitar for Korn)

1974: Uncle Kracker (Matthew Shafer) (DJ for Kid Rock & Solo Singer)

1978: Carl Barat (Singer for The Libertines)

Events

1960: The RIAA presents Bing Crosby with a special platinum record honoring the sale of his 200 millionth record, a total which includes not only 125 albums but 2,600 singles!

1960: Singer Tony Williams leaves the Platters to embark upon a solo career.

1962: The Beatles audition for EMI, recording four demos, the first material the band ever recorded at Abbey Road: three original compositions called "Love Me Do," "Ask Me Why," and "P.S. I Love You," and a cover of the standard "Besame Mucho." Producer George Martin is not at the session, but is called in by engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith when he hears something he likes in "Love Me Do." Martin is not impressed with the group's songwriting, scruffy outfits, and even scruffier equipment (one of the band's amps blows during the audition), and he tells them so, finishing, "Look, I've laid into you for quite a time, you haven't responded. Is there anything you don't like?" To which George quips, "I don't like your tie!" The tension is broken, and Martin, charmed by the group's personality, agrees to work with them. (Though he later says, "They were pretty awful. I understand why other record companies turned them down.") The band members are paid $12 each for the session; drummer Pete Best, whose skills Martin remains unimpressed with, would soon be fired from the group.

1964: An anonymous ad taken out in six American music trade papers declares: "In the public interest, watch the Rolling Stones crush the Beatles!"

1966: Roy Orbison loses his first wife, Claudette, then 25, after the motorcycle they're both riding collides with a truck in Gallatin, TX. The tragedy would haunt Orbison for years.

1969: Rod Stewart signs to the Mercury label.

1970: Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extraveganza '70, at London's Olympia. He was joined on stage by Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

1971: John Lennon and Yoko Ono join Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention onstage at the Fillmore East in New York for a set of lengthy, chaotic, screeching jams later release as a bonus disc with the Lennon/Ono album Some Time In New York City.

1972: David Bowie releases the Album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust’.

1977: Stevie Wonder appears, sponsored by Billboard, as a guest music lecturer at a UCLA symposium, talking about his early Motown days and illustrating his points with performances.

1979: Def Leppard played at Crookes Workingman's Club in Sheffield. The gig was reviewed in UK music paper 'Sounds' and led to a recording contract with Phonogram Records.

1987: Under increasing pressure from the group to tone down his behavior, Michael Jackson officially severs ties with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

1990: A Federal judge in Florida declared that 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" LP was obscene.

1991: Sax player Stan Getz died from liver cancer.

1992: David Bowie and his new wife, model Iman, renew their vows in Florence, Italy after some doubt arises as to the legality of their first ceremony in Switzerland.

1993: The Velvet Underground reform for the first time in 24 years for a show at London's Wembley Arena.

1993: The Who's Tommy, now a Broadway play, takes home five Tony Awards at the annual ceremony in New York.

2001: Saying he "doesn't have time to drive them anymore," Elton John auctions off 20 of his automobiles for a cool $2.75 million.

2003: Dave Rowberry (The Animals) died in London of an ulcer hemorrhage at the age of 62.

2005: A Los Angeles jury begins deliberation in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial.

2006: Billy Preston died in Scottsdale, Arizona, of complications of malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complication.

2010: Marvin Isley, the youngest member of the American R&B band, the Isley Brothers, died, aged 56. Marvin Isley, who was the group's bass player, stopped performing in 1996 because of complications from diabetes, including the loss of his legs.

June 5

Births

1947: Freddie Stone (Frederick Stewart ) (Guitar & Vocals for Sly and the Family Stone)

1947: Laurie Anderson (Performance Artist & Singer)

1947: Tom Evans (Bass & Vocals for Badfinger)

1952: Nicko McBrain (Drums for Iron Maiden)

1956: Richard Butler (Vocals for Psychedelic Furs & Love Spit Love)

1956: Kenny G (Kenneth Bruce Gorelick) (Jazz Musician)

1959: Michael Winans (Gospel Singer)

1969: Brian McKnight (R&B Singer)

1971: Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark) (Rapper?)

1974: Aaron "P-Nut" Wills (Bass for 311)

1979: Pete Wentz (Bassist for Fall Out Boy)

1981: Sebastien Lefebvre (Guitar for Simple Plan)

Events

1943: The Grand Ole Opry takes a new home at the Ryman Auditorium, where it remains until 1974.

1955: Gladys Presley, Elvis' mother, awakens suddenly in Memphis, convinced that her boy is in danger; at that moment, Elvis' first pink Cadillac catches on fire while en route from Fulton, AR. Elvis is unharmed.

1956: Elvis Presley appears on the last broadcast of Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater, performing his brand-new song, "Hound Dog," and also "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." Elvis' hip-swinging dancing to "Hound Dog" shocks the nation, leading the press to describe it as "like the mating dance of an aborigine" and that the singer clearly had "no future in the music business."

1959: A young kid named Robert Zimmerman, a greaser of sorts known for his long hair and black leather jackets, graduates from Hibbing High School in Hibbing, MN. Within a few years, he would become a New York folksinger and change his name to Bob Dylan.

1964: David Jones and his band, The King Bees, releases his first single, "Liza Jane." Within five years, he will become famous as David Bowie, having changed his last name to avoid confusion with the Monkees' Davy Jones.

1964: The Rolling Stones played their first-ever live date in the US when they appeared at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

1968: The favorite for the Democratic party nomination for President, Sen. Robert Kennedy, is assassinated after a rousing speech in Los Angeles, inspiring David Crosby to write "Long Time Gone" and the Rolling Stones to add the line "Who killed the Kennedys?" to their new song-in-progress, "Sympathy For The Devil."

1971: Grand Funk Railroad beats the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium record gross for a concert, after manager Terry Knight has the idea to raise ticket prices at Shea just enough to make that possible.

1974: Sly Stone marries his first wife, Kathy Silva, onstage before his show at Madison Square Garden. Bishop Stewart, the singer's uncle, officiates before the crowd of 19,000; Silva files for divorce five months later.

1975: Syd Barrett, ex-Pink Floyd member and founder who was forced from the band after becoming an acid casualty, quietly appears in the Abbey Road studios during recording of the band's album Wish You Were Here, which was largely written about him. No one notices Barrett, and he soon leaves as quietly as he entered. This was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw Barrett.

1977: Alice Cooper's boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act suffered a fatal bite from a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held auditions for a replacement and a snake named 'Angel' got the gig.

1979: Muddy Waters, 64, marries his third wife, 25-year-old Marva Jean Brooks, in Chicago with Eric Clapton as best man.

1983: During a 48-date North American tour U2 played at Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver. The show was recorded and released as 'U2 Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky.'

1986: The cable-TV music special Fats Domino and Friends, featuring friends Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis, airs on HBO.

1987: The Prince's Trust Rock Gala is held for the fifth time at Wembley Arena in London. The annual charity event features the music of George Harrison, who performs "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Eric Clapton; and Ringo Starr's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends," featuring Jeff Lynne. Other performers include Elton John, Phil Collins, Dave Edmunds, and Ben E. King.

1987: Sly Stone surrenders to authorities in Fort Meyers, FL for violating his probation (for cocaine possession).

1988: Patti Boyd, ex-wife of George Harrison, files for divorce from Eric Clapton, who once wrote the song "Layla" about her.

1989: The Doobie Brothers begin their reunion tour, their first with their original lineup since 1975.

1990: Drummer Jim Hodder (Steely Dan) drowned in his swimming pool at age 42.

1990: Richard Sohl, keyboard player with the Patti Smith group died of a heart attack. He also played live with Iggy Pop.

1993: Conway Twitty became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri, and was in pain while he was on the tour bus. He died in Springfield, Missouri, at Cox South Hospital from an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

1993: Mariah Carey married the President of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola in Manhattan, guest's included Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Ozzy Osbourne. (The couple separated in 1997).

1995: Kelley Deal (Breeders) pled guilty to drug possession charges. She was sentenced to treatment in a rehabilitation center.

1996: An arrest warrant was issued for former Milli Vanilli member Rob Pilatus after he disappeared from a drug treatment center in Los Angeles. He turned up 6 days later at another center.

1997: Noel Gallagher married Meg Matthews at the Little Church Of The West in Las Vegas, (where Elvis married Priscilla). The Oasis guitarist divorced Matthews in 2001.

1997: Ex Small Faces, The Faces and leader of Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane died aged 51 after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis.

1999: Jazz singer and songwriter Mel Torme died aged 73.

2001: Alicia Key's debut album "Songs in A Minor" was released.

2002: Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin), bass guitarist with The Ramones died at his Hollywood, California apartment of a heroin overdose aged 49. He was the group's primary songwriter, penning songs such as 'Rockaway Beach', '53rd & 3rd', and 'Poison Heart'.

2003: A Grandfather who set up his own pirate radio station in Wakefield, Yorkshire was under investigation by local broadcasting authorities. The man known as Ricky Rock had erected a 32ft transmitter in his garden and had been playing hits by The Beach Boys, Beatles and Elvis Presley. Ricky said he set the station up because 'talent-less boy bands and dance music' featured on local stations did not cater to the tastes of his generation.

2003: R. Kelly was banned from travelling to LA for a video shoot. He wasn't allowed to leave Chicago after being charged with 21 child porn offences last June over a video, which claimed to show him having sex with an underage girl.

June 4

Births

1937: Freddy Fender (Baldemar Huerta) (Rock & Country Singer)

1944: Michelle Phillips (Singer in The Mamas and the Papas)

1945: Gordon Waller (Peter and Gordon)

1959: Paul Taylor (Guitar & Keyboards for Winger)

1961: El Debarge (Singer / Songwriter)

1964: Chris Kavanagh (Drums for Sigue Sigue Sputnik & Big Audio Dynamite II)

1968: Al B. Sure (R&B Singer)

1972: Nikka Costa (Singer)

1974: Stefan Lessard (Bass for The Dave Matthews Band)

1975: Russell Brand (Comedian)

1990: Zachary Farro (Drummer for Paramore)

Events

1942: The label started the year before by songwriter Johnny Mercer, Liberty Records, is now renamed Capitol, becoming the US's first major West Coast label. New label head Glenn Wallichs comes up with the idea of sending free copies of Capitol 78s to radio stations, thus becoming the first record promoter.

1956: Gene Vincent makes his stage debut, performing in his hometown of Norfolk, VA.

1962: The Beatles sign their first record contract with EMI, though it's merely to produce a series of demos. The band will have to pass its upcoming audition to get signed to make actual records.

1964: The Beatles begin their first world tour, playing the K.B. Hallen Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Session drummer Jimmy Nicol, wearing Ringo's suit, sits in for the ailing drummer for this and the next five dates.

1966: Janis Joplin arrives in San Francisco, having been invited there by Big Brother and the Holding Company in order to become their new lead singer.

1967: At the Emmy Awards in New York, The Monkees wins the statuette for Outstanding Comedy Series.

1968: Brian Jones goes on trial in London for his arrest in May on marijuana possession charges.

1969: Pianist Nicky Hopkins leaves the Jeff Beck Group.

1971: ABC-TV's Bobby Sherman TV Special airs, featuring guest stars 5th Dimension.

1972: Pink Floyd begin to record their next album, tentatively titled Eclipse, at Abbey Road Studios in London. It would eventually be released as Dark Side of the Moon.

1976: The Sex Pistols appeared at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. The now legendary night is regarded as a catalyst to the punk rock movement. In the audience was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division) and Mark E Smith (The Fall).

1979: US President Jimmy Carter hosts Chuck Berry, who plays a concert for The First Family at the White House.

1983: The Police started a four week run at No.1 with 'Every Breath You Take' the group's fifth and final No.1 single. Taken from the bands album Synchronicity, Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance for the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards.

1984: Bruce Springsteen released the album, ‘Born In The USA’, which went on to top the US chart for seven weeks and featured seven Top 10 singles.

1986: After a year-long court battle, the producers of the Beatle tribute Beatlemania! are forced to pay Apple $10 million in royalties.

1990: American punk rock singer Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church died after being hit by a taxi in Paris, France. Bators had been out drinking when he was hit by a taxi while crossing the road. He was taken to hospital but left before seeing a doctor. He died in his sleep as the result of a concussion.

1992: Priscilla Presley announces that the winner of the USPS Elvis stamp battle is the earlier "Thin Elvis" stamp, which got more votes than the '70s "Fat Elvis" stamp by a factor of three to one.

1993: Kurt Cobain was arrested after a dispute at his house in Seattle; the disagreement allegedly concerned the Nirvana's guitarist's collection of firearms.

1994: Guitarist Derek Leckenby (Herman's Hermits) died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 51.

1996: Crowded House announced they had split up. Brothers Neil and Tim Finn from the group were both awarded OBE's in 1993 for their service to their native New Zealand.

1997: Ronnie Lane (Bass for The Faces) died of pneumonia at age 51.

1997: Jeff Buckley’s body was discovered floating in the Mississippi River. A passenger on a tourist boat spotted the body near the southern tip of Mud Island. The singer / songwriter had disappeared when swimming on May 29th.

1998: Ray Charles reunites with his legendary touring band in Chicago to perform in celebration of his 50th year in show business.

2000: A teenage Sisqo fan was shot in the leg at a concert by the R&B star in Phoenix, Arizona when violence erupted after fans began objecting to parking fees of $30 at the venue.

2000: Eminem started an eight-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his debut release 'The Marshall Mathers LP'.

2002: Wyclef Jean was one of ten people arrested for disorderly conduct in a New York rally protesting cuts to education. Jean was arrested and led away in handcuffs following an attempt to perform, which was forbidden by the event’s permit. P. Diddy, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Erykah Badu, Foxy Brown and the Wu-Tang Clan were also at the rally to show their support and protest a proposed $1.2 billion cut to New York’s public education system.

2004: American Idol winner Fantasia was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Believe.' The first time in US chart history a debut single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.