Births 1939 Lolly Vegas, Redbone, (1971 UK No.2 & US No.21 single 'The Witch Queen Of New Orleans').
1941 Ron Meagher, The Beau Brummels, (1965 US No.8 single 'Just A Little.')
1945 Don McLean, US singer, songwriter, (1971 US & 1972 UK No.1 single 'American Pie', a song inspired by the death of Buddy Holly).
1949 Richard Hell, vocals, The Voidoids, (1977 album 'Blank Generation' features the track 'Love Comes In Spurts').
1950 Mike Rutherford, guitar, Genesis, (1986 US No.1 single 'Invisible Touch', 1992 UK No.7 single 'I Can't Dance' & 6 UK No.1 albums). & Mike And The Mechanics, (1989 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'The Living Years').
1951 Sting, (Gordon Sumner), singer, songwriter, The Police, (1983 UK & US No.1 single 'Every Breath You Take', plus 4 other UK No.1 singles). Solo, (1990 UK No.15 single 'Englishman In New York' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles). One time member of Last Exit.
1952 John Otway, UK singer, songwriter, guitarist, (1977 UK No.27 single 'Really Free', with Wild Willy Barrett). 2002 UK No.7 single 'Bunsen Burner'.
1955 Phil Oakey vocals, Human League, (1981 UK No.1 & 1982 US No.1 single 'Don't You Want Me' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).
1956 Freddie Jackson, US soul singer, scored US 10 R&B No. 1's.
1961 Robbie Nevil, singer, (1987 UK No.3 single 'C'est La Vie').
1962 Sigtryggur Baldursson, drums, The Sugarcubes, (1992 UK No.17 single 'Hit').
1969 Badly Drawn Boy, (Damon Gough), singer, songwriter, 2002 UK No.9 single 'You Were Right', 2002 UK No. 10 album, 'Have You Fed The Fish'.
1971 Tiffany, US singer (1987 US No.1 & 1988 UK No.1 single 'I Think We're Alone Now').
1973 Lene G Nystrom, Aqua, (1997 UK No.1 single 'Barbie Girl').
Deaths1998 America's singing cowboy Gene Autry died aged 91. During his career he scored 25 successive Top 10 Country hits.
Events1928 DeFord Baily recorded eight masters in Nashville, TN. The songs that were issued were the first recording sessions to be made in what is now known as Music City, USA.
1929 Composer Kenneth Leighton was born.
1939 "Flying Home" was recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet.
1954 Don Cornell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hold My Hand'.
1961 "Banks of the Ohio" was released by Joan Baez.
1961 Phil Spector and partner Lester Sill released the first single on their new label Philles, The Crystals', 'Oh Yeah Maybe Baby.' A little over a year later, they had a No.1 hit with 'He's a Rebel,' and soon after, 'Da Doo Ron Ron' and 'Then He Kissed Me.'
1965 The Who made their debut on U.S. TV on the show "Shindig!"
1965 The McCoys went to No.1 on the US singles chart 'Hang On Sloopy', a No.5 hit in the UK. The song was first released by the Vibrations and called 'My Girl Sloopy'.
1967 The Grateful Dead, all six members, were arrested for possession of marijuana. They were released six hours later on bail.
1971 Rod Stewart started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Maggie May / Reason To Believe', his first solo No.1. Stewarts album 'Every Picture Tells A Story' also started a four-week run on this day at No.1 on the UK and US chart.
1976 John Belushi came out on stage with Joe Cocker while he was performing on "Saturday Night Live."
1976 "Tonight's The Night" by Rod Stewart was released.
1976 'The Best Of The Stylistics Vol. 2' went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1977 The bodies of Elvis Presley and his grandmother were moved to Graceland.
1977 Gene Simmons (KISS) received a platinum record for his solo album.
1979 The Buzzcocks kicked off a 25- date UK tour at the Mountford Hall, Liverpool, England.
1980 Leaveil Degree of the Whipers began serving a two-year prison term for his role in a 1979 gem heist.
1981 Terry Hall, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding all left The Specials to form Fun Boy Three.
1982 Dire Straits started a four-week run at No.1 on UK the album charts with 'Love Over Gold'.
1982 John Cougar started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Jack and Diane', his first US No.1a No.25 hit in the UK.
1982 Musical Youth were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pass The Dutchie'. The song was originally called 'Pass The Kutchie', but was changed to avoid the song being banned for it's drug reference.
1982 Mick Jagger began a world tour.
1983 Abba singer Agnetha Faltskog was taken to hospital suffering from concussion after being involved in a car crash in Skane Sweden.
1983 Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler was at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Jim Steinman written and produced track 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' also No.1 in the UK.
1985 The Prince single "America" was released.
1985 Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." tour ended in Los Angeles, CA.
1986 The Everly Brothers were given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1993 Carter The Unstoppable *** Machine kicked of a 17- date UK tour at Bangor University.
1994 Stan Lynch played his last show with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.
1994 John Mellencamp announced that it was true that he had suffered a mild heart attack.
1995 Journey announced that there were plans for the group to reunite for an album and possibly a tour.
1995 Oasis released their second album '(What's The Story), Morning Glory', which entered the UK chart at No.1.
1996 A Pearl Jam show in Hartford Connecticut ended in a riot when mass fighting broke out among the 30,000 strong crowds.
1997 Juanita L. Evans filed suit against Wu-Tang members RZA and Method Man, rapper Redman, and a Pennsylvania university and its student government. Evans claimed that she was distracted by Redman and therefore did not see Method Man when he leapt off stage and landed on her. Evans was knocked unconscious.
1998 Paul McCartney conducted an "incognito" live Internet Q&A session and "music remix" in the guise of the Fireman at
www.fire-man.com.1999 Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas married model Marisol Maldonado. Marisol appeared in the Santana video 'Smooth' with Thomas.
2000 Coldplay kicked of a 17-date UK tour at The Junction, Cambridge.
2000 UK music magazine Q launched their music TV channel on Sky Digital.
2002 Adam Ant escaped a prison sentence after a judge ruled that an incident in which he threatened drinkers with a replica pistol in a London pub was a result of mental illness. The 1980's pop star had been voluntarily having psychiatric treatment since the incident.
2002 Robbie Williams signed the most lucrative British record deal in history when he signed with EMI records for L80m. Asked what he was going to do with money Robbie said, "I'm going to count it all."
2003 Police were called to a suspected burglary at the Los Angeles house of Courtney Love's former boyfriend and ex-manager Jim Barber in the early hours. Ms Love was picked up in the street outside and detained - with officers noting "Miss Love's behaviour was consistent with being under the influence of a controlled substance". Shortly after her arrest, Ms Love was taken to hospital with a suspected drug overdose.
2004 Billy Joel married 23-year-old Kate Lee at his Centre Island, New York mansion. It was the third marriage for Joel.
2005 James Blunt kicked off a 17 date UK tour at Barrowlands, Glasgow, Scotland.
2005 Katie Melua scored her second UK No.1 album when 'Piece By Piece' went to the top of the charts.
2007 Britney Spears was ordered to hand over her two young children to her former husband Kevin Federline by a judge in Los Angeles. The court ruled that Federline would be given custody of Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James, until further notice. Last month Judge Scott Gordon had said Ms Spears showed "a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol." The singer was ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week as part of her child custody dispute with Mr Federline.
