Births
1917 Nat "King" Cole is born in Montgomery, Ala.
1939 Clarence Collins of Little Anthony and the Imperials born.
1941 Jefferson Airplane/Starship leader Paul Kantner born.
1944 John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful is born in New York.
1946 War drummer Harold Brown born.
1951 Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham is born in Santa Monica, Calif.
1954 Wally Stocker, The Babys, (1977 US No.13 & UK No.45 single 'Isn't It Time').
1957 Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins born.
1959 Mike Lindup of Level 42 born.
1967 Billy Corgan, vocals, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, (1995 US No.1 album 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness', 1996 UK No.7 & US No.36 single 'Tonight Tonight').
1973 Caroline Corr, drums, vocals, The Corrs, (1998 UK No.3 single 'What Can I Do'. 'Talk On Corners' was the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the UK chart).
1975 Justin Hawkins, vocals, The Darkness. (2003 UK No.2 single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, 2003 UK No.1 album ‘Permission To Land’).
1976 Stephen Gately, vocals, Boyzone, (1996 UK No.1 single 'Words' plus 15 other Top 5 singles and 4 UK No.1 albums. Solo 2000 UK No.3 single 'New Beginning / Bright Eyes').
Deaths
1979 Zenon de Fleur Heirowski, guitarist with the UK R&B band the Count Bishops dies of a heart attack as a result of serious injuries suffered in a car accident. He was 28.
1982 Samuel George Jr. of the Capitols was stabbed to death during a family argument. He was 39 years old.
1990 Rick Grech, bass player with Family, Blind Faith and Traffic died of kidney and liver failure.
1997 US singer Jermaine Stewart died of cancer. (1986 UK No.2 single 'We Don't Have To...Take Our Clothes Off'). Also worked with Shalamar, The Temptations and Boy George.
Events
1926 "The Girl Friend" opened in New York City. The musical ran for 409 performances.
1956 Carl Perkins makes his first TV appearance on Ozark Jubilee.
1958 The Champs go to No. 1 in the US with "Tequila."
1958 The Coasters recorded "Yakety Yak."
1962 Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, featuring guitarist Alexis Korner and drummer Charlie Watts, begin a Saturday-night residency at London's Ealing Jazz club. During their stint there, young guitarist Brian Jones joins the band.
1962 The Shirelles release "Soldier Boy." The single becomes the New Jersey girl group's biggest hit, selling a million copies and going all the way to No. 1 in the US.
1962 Today's issue of Billboard reports that Ray Charles has started his own Tangerine record label.
1962 The Shadows started an eight week run at No. 1 in the UK with the single 'Wonderful Land' the bands third No.1.
1963 The first Monterey Folk Festival is held in California. Included on the bill are Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, the Weavers, and Peter, Paul & Mary.
1967 Bobby Vee recorded "Come Back When You Grow Up".
1967 Appearing at London's Finsbury Park Astoria on the first night of a 17 date UK tour, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave and Booker T And The MG's.
1968 The Bee Gees make their U.S. TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, playing "To Love Somebody" and "Words."
1973 Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon first enters the US charts.
1973 Dr Hook's single 'On The Cover Of Rolling Stone peaked at No.6 on the US chart. The single was banned in the UK by the BBC due to the reference of the magazine.
1976 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane" and the benefactor of two "Night of the Hurricane" benefit shows organised by Dylan in NYC and Houston, was granted a retrial for his murder conviction.
1978 "American Hot Wax", a fictionalized movie account of the early days of Alan Freed, premieres in the US.
1979 Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 in the UK with the single 'I Will Survive.'
1979 The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Spirits Having Flown.'
1984 Howard Jones scored his first UK No.1 album with his debut release 'Human's Lib'.
1990 Whitney Houston headlines the That's What Friends Are For AIDS benefit at Radio City Music Hall.
1990 Prince begins shooting his movie Graffiti Bridge.
1995 Suzanne Vega married Mitchell Froom.
1995 Madonna premiered the "Bedtime Stories" video. The gathering was 1,500 guests that were in pajamas and had teddy bears.
1997 The RIAA announced that the Eagles' "Greatest Hits" album had tied Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as the all-time best-selling album in the U.S.
1997 Elvis Presley Enterprises of Memphis, Tennessee, lost its Court of Appeal battle to stop London trader Sid Shaw using the name of 'The King' on his souvenirs.
1998 Van Halen release their first album with new singer Gary Cherone, titled Van Halen III.
2000 It is revealed that ex-Beatle Paul McCartney is worth around $865 million.
2002 Nickelback started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Silver Side Up.'
2002 The Soundtrack album ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart.
2004 The Kinks singer Ray Davies received his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to the music industry.
2005 Justin Hawkins from The Darkness became the centre of the latest hands-on activity at Madame Tussauds in London. His wax double would judge the air guitar skills of visitors who would be invited to play an imaginary guitar with smoke and music pumping out.
2006 The Smiths turned down a $5m (?2.8m) offer to reform for a music festival. The band who split acrimoniously in 1987, rejected the bid to get back together for this year's Coachella US festival.
