Births
1898 Waldo Semon, invented vinyl in 1926, which was used to make LP and 45 records. Died on 26th May 1998 aged 100.
1939 Cynthia Lennon first wife of John Lennon, the couple divorced on 8th November 1968.
1945 Jose Feliciano, singer, songwriter, guitarist, born blind, (1968 US No.3 & UK No.6 single 'Light My Fire').
1946 Danny Hutton, vocals, Three Dog Night, (1970 UK No.3 & US No.1 single 'Mamma Told Me Not To Come').
1949 Barrie Barlow, Jethro Tull, (1969 UK No.3 single 'Living In The Past').
1950 Don Powell, drums, Slade, (1971 UK No.1 single 'Coz I Luv You' plus 5 other UK No.1 singles and 18 Top 40 hits).
1950 Joe Perry, guitar, Aerosmith, (1989 UK No.13 single 'Love In An Elevator', 1989 album 'Pump' spent 53 weeks on the US charts, 1993 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Get A Grip', 1998 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing').
1951 Peter Tolson, The Pretty Things, (1964 UK No.10 single 'Don't Bring Me Down').
1955 Pat Mastelotto, Mr Mister, (1985 US No.1 & 1986 UK No.4 single 'Broken Wings').
1956 Johnnie 'Fingers' Moylett, The Boomtown Rats, (1979 UK No.1 single 'I Don't Like Mondays', plus 10 other UK Top 40 hits).
1957 Carol Decker, vocals, T'Pau, (1987 UK No.1 single 'China In Your Hand', 1987 US No.4 single 'Heart And Soul').
1957 Siobhan Fahey, vocals, Bananarama, (1984 UK No.3 single 'Robert De Niro's Waiting', plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles, 1986 US No.1 single 'Venus'). Shakespeare's Sister, (1992 UK No.1 single 'Stay').
1966 Robin Goodridge, Bush, (1997 UK No.7 single 'Swallowed').
1980 Mikey Way, bass, My Chemical Romance, (2006 UK No.1 single 'Welcome to the Black Parade', 2006 US No.2 album 'The Black Parade').
1984 Matthew Followill, lead guitarist, Kings of Leon, (2007 UK No.1 album 'Because of the Times').
1985 Matthew Johnson, vocals, One True Voice, (2002 UK No.2 single 'Sacred Trust/After You're Gone').
Deaths
1996 Music journalist Ray Coleman died of cancer. Coleman had worked with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and had been the editor of the UK music weekly Melody Maker.
Events
1956 Record stores were swamped with requests for Elvis' "Love Me Tender" which had not been released yet.
1962 The BBC banned Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt Kickers single 'Monster Mash' saying it was offensive. The single went on to be a UK No.3 hit in 1973.
1963 during a chance meeting between The Rolling Stones at Studio 51 Jazz Club in London with Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the two played the Stones a partly finished song 'I Wanna Be Your Man' which the Stones later record.
1964 The Kinks third single 'You Really Got Me', was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. Future Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page played tambourine on the track.
1964 Rod Stewart recorded his first single, a version of Willie Dixon's 'Good Morning Little School Girl.' Future Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones played on the session.
1964 Rod Stewart recorded his first single "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl."
1966 The Rolling Stones appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
1966 "The Last Train to Clarksville" was released by the Monkees.
1966 The Beatles started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Revolver', the groups ninth US chart topper.
1966 The Supremes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Can't Hurry Love', the groups sixth US No.1. It made No.3 in the UK and gave Phil Collins a UK No.1 in 1982.
1968 The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hey Jude', the groups 15th UK No.1 and the longest chart topper ever at seven minutes and ten seconds. The single was the first release on the groups Apple records label.
1971 During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse.
1973 BBC Radio banned the song "Star Star" by the Rolling Stones.
1974 The original New York Dolls split up.
1975 "Alive" was released by KISS. The album contained live performances from KISS' first three albums.
1977 Elvis Presley's '40 Golden Greats' went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1979 Pattie Smith announced that she was performing her last show in front of 85,000 people in Florence, Italy. She returned to performing a decade later.
1980 "She's So Cold" by the Rolling Stones was released.
1980 The song "Uptown" was released by Prince.
1980 Peter Comita replaced Tom Peterson in Cheap Trick.
1983 Former Stevie Wonder guitarist Michael Sembello, started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Maniac'. The track was featured in the film 'Flashdance'. A No.43 hit in the UK.
1984 Iron Maiden kicked off a 24-date UK tour at The Apollo Glasgow.
1988 Guns N' Roses started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sweet Child O' Mine', the groups first US No.1, a No.24 hit in the UK.
1988 Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'A Groovy Kind Of Love', also a hit for The Mindbenders in 1966.
1989 Wet Wet Wet topped the bill at a free concert held in Glasgow Scotland.
1990 Will Smith made his debut in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
1990 The Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, NV, opened.
1991 Nirvana's single 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was released in the US.
1992 Howard Stern appeared as Fartman on the MTV Video Music Awards.
1992 Slash from Guns N' Roses married actress and model Renee Suran.
1994 REM were at No.9 on the UK singles chart with 'What's The Frequency Kenneth', the song the inspired by a bizarre incident when a US newsreader was attacked.
1995 Cyndi Lauper won an Emmy for her guest appearance on "Mad About You."
1996 Wal-Mart banned Sheryl Crow's 2nd album because of the song "Love is A Good Thing."
1997 An electric chair, which was used in Alcatraz and once owned by Andy Warhol, sold for Ł4,800 at an auction in Bristol. Warhol used to sit in the chair and watch horror movies.
1998 Gary Glitter appeared in court on child pornography charges.
1999 Paul McCartney made headline news after being seen at a New York City party minus one of his front teeth after a crown broke off when he was eating. He'd lost the tooth in a motorcycle accident in 1967.
2000 Modjo started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Lady'.
2001 Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay pleaded not guilty to assault charges after being accused of hitting a photographer and destroying camera equipment outside London night-club. Photographer, Dennis Gill, alleged that on April 14, Jay Kay punched him and destroyed camera equipment worth L250 outside the Attica night-club in London's West End, the case was adjourned until October 22.
2002 Chris Cowey the man behind the UK's longest running music TV show Top Of The Pops, accused record bosses of controlling the singles chart with marketing scams and as a result the chart lacked credibility and was 'full of crap records.'
2005 The 1967 Beatles track 'A Day In The Life' from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was voted the best British song of all time by music experts. The survey by Q magazine called the track "the ultimate sonic rendition of what it means to be British". The Kinks' song 'Waterloo Sunset' came second in the poll and 'Wonderwall' by Oasis was voted in third place.
2007 Girls Aloud broke the record for most consecutive top 10 hits in the U.K. singles chart by a female act. Their latest single 'Sexy! No No No' entered the chart at number five giving them a run of 16 top 10 hits. The previous record was held by Destiny's Child, who had 11 consecutive top 10 singles in the UK chart.
2007 Pamela Anderson's ex-husband Kid Rock was involved in an alleged assault on drummer Tommy Lee, (who was also married to the actress up until 1998). Police interviewed witnesses to a tussle involving the pair at the MTV Music Video Awards in Las Vegas. Lee was removed from the ceremony while Rock, was allowed to stay.
