Births
1940 Solomon Burke, US singer, the king of rock & soul, (1961 US No.24 single 'Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms', 1963 US No.1 R&B hit, 'Got To Get You Off My Mind').
1941 John Boylan, American producer and songwriter. Worked with Rick Nelson, the Association, the Dillards. He also managed Linda Ronstadt and introduced her to a then unknown group of musicians who went on to become her backing band in 1971, and later became the Eagles.
1943 Viv Stanshall, vocals, ukulele, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, (1968 UK No.5 single 'I'm The Urban Spaceman'). Stanshall died on March 5th 1995 in a house fire.
1945 Rosemary Stone, vocals, piano, Sly and The Family Stone, (1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.15 single 'Family Affair').
1946 Ray Dorset, singer, guitarist, songwriter, Mungo Jerry, (1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'In The Summertime').
1949 Eddie Money, (Edward Mahoney), US singer, (1978 US No.11 single 'Baby Hold On').
1950 Roger Hodgson, guitar, Supertramp, (1979 US No.6 & UK No.7 single 'The Logical Song').
1951 Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba').
1951 Russell Thompkins Jr, vocals, The Stylistics, (1975 US No.1 single 'You Make Me Feel Brand New', 1975 UK No.1 single 'Can't Give You Anything But My Love' plus 15 other UK top 40 singles).
1953 Robert Johnson, KC and the Sunshine Band, (1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up').
1956 Guy Chadwick, guitar, vocals, House Of Love, (1990 UK No.20 single ‘Shine On’).
1957 John Reddington, King Kurt, (1983 UK No.36 single 'Destination Zululand').
1958 Jonathan Norton, drummer/percussionist/vocalist worked with Eels, Lisa Germano, Tracy Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Michael Penn, Aimee Mann and Lucinda Williams.
1967 Jonas Berggren, Ace Of Base, (1993 UK No.1 single 'All That She Wants', 1994 US No.1 single 'The Sign').
1967 Keith Palmer, vocals, Prodigy, (1996 UK No.1 & US No. 30 single 'Firestarter'. 1997 UK & US No.1 album 'The Fat Of The Land').
1967 Sean Dickson, The Soup Dragons, (1990 UK No.5 single 'I'm Free').
1977 Mark Hamilton, Ash, (1995 UK No.11 single 'Girl From Mars').
1979 Simon, Blue, (2001 UK No.1 single 'Too Close').
1980 Deryck 'Bizzy D' Whibley, Sum 41, (2001 UK No 13 single 'In Too Deep').
Deaths
1991 The inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars Leo Fender died from Parkinson's disease.
Events
1941 Singer Paula Kelly joined Glenn Miller's band.
1952 - The Moondog Coronation Ball, the first "rock 'n' roll" stage show, was held at the Cleveland Arena.
1963 Elliott Gould and Barbara Streisand were married.
1964 Judy Collins made her debut in New York City's Carnegie Hall.
1965 After 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at No.1 with 'She Loves You'.
1970 Faces, with new lead singer Rod Stewart, released their first LP, "First Step."
1970 "ABC" by the Jackson Five was released.
1973 The BBC banned all teenybopper acts appearing on UK TV show, 'Top Of The Pops' after a riot following a David Cassidy performance.
1976 Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room in Rochester, New York.
1978 Dire Straits played at The Marquee Club in London, England. Tickets priced at 70p.
1980 Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers was sent to Pentonville Prison after losing his appeal against a drugs conviction.
1981 REO Speedwagon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Keep On Loving You', the groups first top 40 hit and first No.1, a No.7 hit in the UK.
1982 Donny Osmond starred in the title role on Broadway of "Little Johnny Jones."
1984 Part of Central Park in New York was renamed Strawberry Fields in honor of John Lennon.
1985 Boy George said In "Women's World" magazine that he would never marry, settle down, or become a father.
1986 "Parade" (the soundtrack for "Under the Cherry Moon") by Prince was released.
1987 Club Nouveau started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bill Withers 'Lean On Me', a No.3 hit in the UK.
1987 U2 scored their third UK No.1 album with 'The Joshua Tree', featuring the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', & 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US No.1.
1987 Dean Martin, Jr. (Dino, Desi & Billy) died in a plane crash while in the Air National Guard.
1987 ZZ Top played the last show on the 14 month "Afterburner" tour in Honolulu, HI.
1989 Madonna's LP "Like A Prayer" was released.
1989 Dick Clark announced that he would no longer be hosting the show "American Bandstand." He had been the host for 33 years.
1992 Former nude model Vanessa Williams started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Save The Best To Last', a No.3 hit in the UK.
1994 Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song 'Streets of Philadelphia.'
1996 Guitarist with The Stone Roses John Squire quit the band. He broke the news to the other three members over the phone.
1997 Snoop Doggy Dog was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 (?588) for a firearms violation after a handgun was found in his car when he was stopped for a traffic violation.
1998 Run-DMC VS Jason Nevins started a six week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's Like That.'
1999 Irish girl group B*Witched scored their fourth consecutive UK No.1 single with 'Blame It On The Weatherman.'
1999 Blur went to No.1 on the UK album chart with '13', the bands fourth consecutive No.1 and making them only the third act to have four No.1's in the 90's, Simply Red and REM being the other two.
2000 Pantera released the album "Reinventing The Steel."
2000 Kurt Cobain and Happy Monday’s singer Shaun Ryder both beat older stars such as Keith Richards and Keith Moon in a league of rock 'n' roll excess compiled by UK music weekly Melody Maker. Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson all featured in the Top 10.
2001 Eminem was ordered to pay $476,000 (?280,000) as part of his divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kim. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the “US mansion” and they would share custody of their five-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.
2001 Michael Jackson's interior decorator told The Times newspaper that the singer kept 17 life size dolls, adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company.'
2001 Toploader kicked off a 17 date sold out UK tour at the Brighton Event.
2004 George Michael scored his fifth UK No.1 album with ‘Patience.’
2004 Usher feat L’ll Jon started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Yeah.' Also a US No.1.
