Births
1915 Al Hibbler, (1955 UK No.2 & US No.3 single 'Unchained Melody').
1945 Kevin Ayers, singer, songwriter, founder member of Soft Machine, (1970 UK No.18 album, 'Third.'
1945 Gary Loizzo, American Breed, (1967 US No.5 & UK No. 24 single 'Bend Me, Shape Me').
1946 Gordon Fleet, The Easybeats, (1966 UK No.6 & 1967 US No. 16 single 'Friday On My Mind').
1948 Barry Hay, Golden Earring, (1974 UK No.7 & US 13 single 'Radar Love').
1949 Scott Asheton, drums, Iggy Pop And The Stooges, (1973 album 'Raw Power').
1953 James Taylor, Kool & The Gang, (1981 US No.1 & UK No.7 single, Celebration. 1984 UK No.2 single 'Joanna', and over 15 other top 40 hits).
1957 Tim Farriss, guitar, INXS, (1988 UK No.2 & US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight'). 1987 album 'Kick' has sold over 10m copies in the US alone and features four Top 10 singles; 'Need You Tonight,' 'Devil Inside', 'New Sensation,' and 'Never Tear Us Apart.'
1958 Madonna, (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone), singer, actress, (first hit 1984 UK No.6 single 'Holiday', 1984 US No.1 'Like A Virgin', first UK No.1 1985 'Into The Groove', plus 6 other UK No.1 & over 10 US No.1 singles and over 30 other top 40 hits).
1964 Matt Lukin, bass, Mudhoney, (1991 UK No.60 single 'Let It Slide').
1967 MC. Remedee, Cookie Crew, (1988 UK No.5 single 'Rock Da House').
1968 LL Cool J, (1995 US No.3 single 'Hey Lover', 1997 UK No.1 single 'Ain't Nobody' and 2000 US No.1 album 'G.O.A.T.).
1972 Emily Erwin, singer, Dixie Chicks, (1999 UK No.26 single, 'There's Your Trouble', 2000 single 'Cowboy Take Me Away').
1980 Venessa Carlton, (2002 UK No.6 single 'A Thousand Miles').
1980 Bob Hardy, bass, Franz Ferdinand, (winners of the 2004 Mercury Music Prize for their self-titled debut album).
Deaths
1938 Blues musician Robert Johnson died, influenced Muddy Waters Elmore James, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones.
1977 Elvis Presley was found dead lying on the floor in his bathroom by his girlfriend Ginger Alden, he had been seated on the toilet reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'. He died of heart failure at the age of 42.
1997 Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan died aged 48. He had recorded with Bruce Springsteen Eddie Vedder and Peter Gabriel.
Events
1940 Frankie Masters and his orchestra recorded "Marching Along Together."
1962 Little Stevie Wonder, (aged 12), released his first single, 'I Call It Pretty Music, (But The Old People Call It The Blues)', the single featured Marvin Gaye on drums.
1962 Ringo Starr was picked to replace Pete Best as the drummer for the Beatles. Best had been with the group for about 2 1/2 years.
1966 The Monkees' first single, "Last Train to Clarksville," was released.
1966 During a US tour The Beatles appeared at the John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia playing their set during huge electric storm.
1968 The Jackson Five made their formal debut with Diana Ross and The Supremes at the Great Western Forum, California.
1969 Appearing at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young supported by Joni Mitchell.
1970 This week's UK Top 5 singles: No.5, Free, 'All Right Now', No.4, Shirley Bassey, 'Something', No.3, Hotlegs, 'Neanderthal Man', No.2, The Kinks, 'Lola' and No.1, Elvis Presley, 'The Wonder Of You.'
1970 The final day of the three day UK Yorkshire Folk, Blues & Jazz Festival at Krumlin, Yorkshire, featuring The Kinks, Mungo Jerry, Yes, Ginger Bakers Air Force and Edgar Winter. Weekend tickets, L3.
1974 The Ramones played their first concert at New York's CBGB.
1975 Peter Gabriel announced that he was leaving the group Genesis. Phil Collins would be the new lead singer after the group auditioned more than 400 potential musicians.
1975 The Stylistics were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)', the groups only UK No.1.
1976 Cliff Richard set out on a tour of Russia, starting with a night at the Hall Of The October Revolution in Leningrad.
1977 Manchester punk band The Buzzcocks signed to EMI's United Artists label.
1980 Keyboard player Jools Holland left Squeeze, (he re-joined in 1985).
1980 Appearing at this years UK Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, Rainbow, Judas Priest, Scorpions, April Wine, Saxon and Riot. Tickets L8.50.
1981 U2 played at Slane Castle in Dublin Ireland.
1983 Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher were married. They divorced in 1985.
1984 RCA Victor Records released the Elvis Presley single "Baby, Let's Play House."
1985 Madonna and Sean Penn were married in Malibu, CA. They were divorced in 1989.
1986 Madonna started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Papa Don't Preach.' The singers fourth US No.1, & No.1 in the UK. Also on this day Madonna went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'True Blue'.
1997 On the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death over 30,000 fans descended on Memphis Tennessee for a 10-minute mourning circuit circling his grave. A poll found that almost a third of the fans were keeping an eye out for him in the crowd.
1997 Will Smith started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Men In Black' taken from the film of the same name.
1997 Appearing at the two day V97 festival in Chelmsford and Leeds, Blur, Prodigy, Beck, Kula Shaker, Dodgy, Foo Fighters, Placebo, James, Ash, Dodgy, Gene. Weekend tickets, L50.
2000 Alan Caddy guitarist with The Tornadoes died. (1962 UK & US No.1 single 'Telstar'. The first major hit from a UK act on the American chart).
2003 A U.S. postage stamp featuring Henry Mancini was unveiled. The design showed Mancini conducting while titles of his works scroll past on a screen behind him.
2005 "Tommy Lee Goes to College" debuted on NBC-TV. The classes were taken at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
2005 At her home outside London, Madonna suffered serveral broken bones in a horse riding accident. She was treated and released after cracking three ribs and breaking her collarbone and hand.
2005 P Diddy appeared on the US TV Today Show and announced that he was altering his stage name again, dropping the "P." and referring to himself simply as "Diddy." The name change to Diddy upset Richard "Diddy" Dearlove, a London based DJ who took out court proceedings against P Diddy over the use of the name. He won when an out of court settlement of Ł110,000 was agreed and as a result, Combs is no longer be able to use the name Diddy in the UK.
2007 A fan of the 1980s pop band Wham! was silenced after becoming the first noise nuisance to be prosecuted by Newcastle city council's night watch team. Brian Turner had tormented neighbours by playing their hit song 'Last Christmas' all night at full volume from 1am onwards. Magistrates fined Turner, of Sandyford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Ł200 and ordered him to pay Ł215 costs.
