Births
1934 South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba is born in Johannesburg.
1937 Jazz bassist Ron Carter born.
1944 Bobby Womack is born in Cleveland.
1944 Mary Wilson of the Supremes born in Mississippi.
1948 Yes founding bass player Chris Squire is born in London.
1950 Guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is born in Houston.
1951 Singer/songwriter and racing-car enthusiast Chris Rea is born in Middlesborough.
1963 Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is born in Battle Creek, Mich.
1971 Fergal Lawler, drummer with the Cranberries, is born.
Deaths
1986 Lyricist Howard Greenfield dies in Los Angeles. With Neil Sedaka, he wrote standards such as "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Love Will Keep Us Together."
1986 The Band pianist and vocalist Richard Manuel hangs himself following a gig at the Cheek to Cheek nightclub in Winter Park, Fla. He was 41.
Events
1967 Stevie Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood announce that they will leave the Spencer Davis Group after a show on April 2. Stevie Winwood goes on to form Traffic.
1970 In Tampa, Fla., Janis Joplin is fined $200 for using obscene language during a November 1969 concert there.
1971 The Rolling Stones kick off a U.K. tour and announce that they are moving into a tax exile in France.
1973 Pink Floyd kick off an American tour behind Dark Side of the Moon in Madison, Wis.
1977 The Rolling Stones perform a rare club gig at Toronto's El Mocambo.
1978 Adrian Wright joins Human League. He hangs onto his day job of driving an ice cream van around Wakefield, England.
1982 Rolling Stone announces that Moon Unit Zappa and Dweezil Zappa have united to form Fred Zeppelin. Their first single, they say, will be called "My Mother Is a Space Cadet."
1993 Ragga superstar Shabba Ranks is booted off The Tonight Show after producers learn of anti-gay remarks he made while touring England.
1994 Blondie's Chris Stein enters a New York hospital feeling ill, but not knowing what's the matter. He remains for two months, treated for pemphigus, a genetic disease.
1999 No. 1 on the American singles chart today is Cher with "Believe." It's her first chart-topper since "Dark Lady" in 1974.
2001 Napster begins screening files to make sure copyright protected music isn't downloaded.
2001 A London record store stays open for Michael Jackson, who is in England to address the Oxford Student Union. Jackson and pal Macauley Culkin spend $2,200 on CDs and videos.
