Births
1939 Johnny Tillotson, singer, (1960 US No.2 and 1961 UK No.1 single 'Poetry In Motion').
1945 Jimmy Winston, organ, Small Faces, (left in Nov 1965).
1948 Craig Frost, Grand Funk Railroad, (1974 US No.1 single 'The Locomotion').
1951 Luther Vandross, soul singer, (1989 UK No.13 single 'Never Too Much', first released 1983, US N0.10 and UK No.2 single with Janet Jackson 'The Best Things In Life Are Free'). Also worked with David Bowie, Mariah Carey. Vandross died on 2nd July 2005 aged 54 two years after suffering a major stroke.
1971 Mikey Welsh, bass, Weezer, (1995 UK No.12 single, 'Buddy Holly').
1972 Stephen Marley, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, (1988 UK No.22 single 'Tomorrow People').
1972 Carmen Electra, The Pussycat Dolls, (2005, US No.2 & UK No.1 with their debut single ‘Don't Cha’ featuring Busta Rhymes). The Pussycat Dolls became only the fourth ever girl band to enter the UK charts at No.1 with their debut single. (The other’s being the Spice Girls, B*Witched and Girls Aloud). Carmen has appeared in Playboy magazine and Baywatch and MTV's Singled Out.
Deaths
1979 Lighting director Billy Duffy was killed in an accident during a Kate Bush concert in Southampton, England. 21-year old Duffy fell twenty feet through an open trap door on the stage. Kate Bush held a benefit concert on 12th May with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at London's Hammersmith Odeon for his family.
1991 Steve Marriott dies in a fire at his home in Essex, England. Age 44. He was a guitarist and lead singer for the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie.
2001 Italian conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli dies at the age of 54 after collapsing at the podium while leading a performance of Verdi's "Aida" at Berlin's Deutsche Oper House.
2002 American singer Alan Dale died. During the 50's he had his own US TV & radio show, 1955 US No.7 single 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.'
Events
1931 Louis Armstrong recorded "When It’s Sleepy Time Down South."
1935 "Your Lucky Hit Parade" was first broadcast on radio. It aired for 24 years.
1959 13-year-old Dolly Parton releases her first single, a cover of the song "Puppy Love" (later to be a hit for Donny Osmond).
1960 Elvis Presley's returned to Hollywood to film "G.I. Blues."
1961 Runaway by Del Shannon is No 1 in the US singles chart. Shannon is the first artist to take a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney onto the U.S. pop charts. His version of From Me to You hits the Hot 100 on June 29, 1963, before the release of the Beatles debut American single, I Want to Hold Your Hand.
1963 Rick Nelson and Kris Harmon were married.
1964 The Elvis Presley movie Viva Las Vegas premieres.
1968 Deep Purple makes its live debut in Denmark. The group's three top 10 albums are Machine Head, Made in Japan and Burn.
1970 The New York Times reported that Catholic and Protestant youth groups had adopted The Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' as a religious symbol.
1970 Traffic, Mott The Hoople, If and Bronco all appeared at The Roundhouse, London, tickets, 25 shillings.
1971 Barbra Streisand recorded "We've Only Just Begun."
1974 MFSB and the Three Degrees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'TSOP, (The Sound Of Philadelphia), a No.22 hit in the UK.
1976 The Rolling Stones' "Black and Blue" album was released.
1979 Jerry Dammers (the Specials) announces the formation of 2 Tone Records in the UK, a label
1981 John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to drug possession charges; the sentence was suspended after 30 days. Phillips started touring the US lecturing against the dangers of taking drugs.
1982 The Cure appearing at The Colston Hall, Bristol, England.
1985 Rhe charity record 'We Are The World' by USA For Africa was t No.1 on the UK singles chart. The all-star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan plus the composer's writers of the track, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.
1986 Vladimir Horowitz returned to Russia to perform after being away for almost 60 years.
1987 Ozzy Osbourne released the album "Tribute." It was a live album recorded with Randy Rhoads. Rhoads had died in 1982.
1988 Where Do Broken Hearts Go by Whitney Houston is No 1 in the US single charts.
1990 Janet Jackson was bestowed with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at the start of 'Janet Jackson week' in Los Angeles.
1991 Steve Marriott leader of Small Faces And Humble Pie, died in a fire at his home in Essex. His work became a major influence for many 90's bands. As a child actor he played parts in Dixon of Dock Green and The Artful Dodger in Oliver. Small Faces (1967 UK No.3 & US No.16 single 'Itchycoo Park', plus 1968 No.1 UK album 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'), Humble Pie, (1969 UK No.4 single 'Natural Born Bugie').
1991 Wilson Phillips scored their third US No.1 single with 'You're In Love', a No.29 hit in the UK.
1991 Credence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty marries Julie Lebiedzinksi in Bristol, Ind.
1992 In London, a memorial concert was held for Freedie Mercury (Queen). Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Roger Daltrey, Liza Minnelli, David Bowie, George Michael, Def Leppard, and Spinal Tap performed.
1992 Madonna signed a deal with Time Warner to set up a multimedia company. The deal reportedly made Madonna the highest paid woman in pop music.
1992 'A Concert For Life' took place at Wembley Stadium as a tribute to Freddie Mercury and for aids awareness. Acts appearing included; Extreme, Bob Geldof, U2, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, George Michael with Queen, Elton John, Annie Lennox and David Bowie.
1993 Aerosmith released the album ‘Get a Grip’, which became their first album to debut at No.1. It went on to sell 7 million copies in a 2-year timespan in the United States alone and sold 20 million copies worldwide as well as winning the band two Grammy awards.
1993 Shania Twain released her self-titled debut album.
1994 In London, Barbra Streisand began her first tour in 28 years.
1995 Appearing at The Bataclan Club, Paris, France, Oasis supported by The Verve.
1996 Mark Morrison had his first UK No.1 single when 'Return Of The Mack' started a two-week run at the top of the charts.
1996 For the first time in 15 years all four original members of the '70's rock group KISS join together in original costume and make-up for the reunion tour.
1997 The Chemical Brothers went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their album 'Dig Your Own Hole.'
1999 Bad Boy Entertainment rapper Mase, 21, announces that he is retiring from music in order to "follow God." In a statement, the rapper says his decision is "effective immediately, and that he will only do speaking engagements to promote his current album "Double Up."
1999 The Los Angeles Police Department confirms that Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight is a suspect in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. The rapper, a Bad Boy/Arista artist, was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997.
1999 The "No Security" tour, the Rolling Stones' first arena outing in 20 years finishes with a make-up date at the San Jose Arena in California. The tour takes a massive $64.6 million from a mere 33 dates.
1999 KMFDM released their last album as a group after breaking up in the previous January.
2000 Robert Plant appeared at Disney's Theatre of the Stars in Orlando, Florida to leave his handprints outside the theatre.
2001 A memorial concert for former Small Faces and Humble Pie front man Steve Marriott took place at the London Astoria with Peter Frampton, Midge Ure, Chris Farlowe and Humble Pie.
2001 Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard pleads guilty in a Queens, N.Y., courtroom to criminal possession of a controlled substance originating from a March 1999 crack cocaine arrest.
2002 In the dispute over who owned the rights to Nirvana's recordings former members Dave Grohl and Kirst Novoselic asked a Seattle Court to prove that Courtney Love was mentally stable. They told the court that Love was 'irrational, mercurial, self-centred, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable.' They also claimed a contract was invalid because Love was 'stoned' at the time.
2003 Godsmack were at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Faceless.’
2006 Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty was arrested in east London on suspicion of drugs possession only hours after a court appearance. Doherty had earlier admitted to seven charges of possessing drugs when he appeared before magistrates in east London. He was given a community order with two years supervision and 18 months drug rehabilitation and was also banned from driving for six months.
