Births
1911 Robert Johnson, blues singer, guitarist. Influenced Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton, (Cream covered 'Crossroads) The Rolling Stones, ('Love In Vain'). Johnson died on 16th August 1938.
1940 Paul Gadd, (Gary Glitter), 1973 UK No.1 single 'I'm The leader Of The Gang' & 17 other UK Top 40 singles including three No.1's. Glitter was sentenced to four months in a Bristol prison in 1999 after being found guilty of downloading child pornography from the Internet.
1940 Ricky Nelson, US singer, (1958 US No.1 'Poor Little Fool', 1961 UK No.2 single 'Hello Mary Lou' plus over 30 US Top 40 hit singles). Played himself on his parent's US TV The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet.' Nelson died on 31st December 1985.
1941 John Fred from John Fred and His Playboy Band, (1968 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Judy In Disguise').
1942 Mothers of Invention member Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood born.
1943 Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith born. He left the band in 1966 and was replaced by Jimmy Page.
1943 Toni Tennille, The Captain and Tennille, (1980 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Do That To Me One More Time').
1944 Bill Legend, T Rex, (1971 UK No.1 single 'Hot Love'. Plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles).
1947 Rick Derringer, producer, guitar, vocals, The McCoys, (1965 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Hang On Sloopy'), Edgar Winter Group, (1973 US No.1 & UK No.18 single 'Frankenstein').
1951 Chris Frantz, drummer, Talking Heads, (1983 US No.9 single 'Burning Down The House', 1985 UK No.6 single 'Road To Nowhere').
1951 Vocalist and percussionist Philip Bailey, who was a member of Earth Wind & Fire (1971) and then a solo act, born in Denver, Colorado.
1951 Chris Frantz of Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club, born.
1955 Alex Van Halen, Van Halen, drums, (1984 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Jump').
1964 Dave Rowntree, Blur, (1994 UK No.1 album 'Parklife' spent over 2 years on the UK chart, 1995 UK No.1 single 'Country House', plus over 12 other UK Top 40 singles).
1972 Darren Hayes, singer, songwriter, Savage Garden, (1998 US No.1 & UK Top 5 single 'Truly Madly Deeply.' Solo 2002 UK No.8 single 'Insatiable').
1975 Enrique Iglesias, singer, (2000 US No.1 single 'Be With You', 2002 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'Hero').
1976 H, (Ian Watkins), vocals, Steps, (1998 UK No.1 single 'Heartbeat / Tragedy', 1999 UK No.1 album 'Steptacular' spent over a year on the UK chart).
1976 Martha Wainwright, Canadian / American, singer-songwriter, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and sister of Rufus Wainwright. Appeared on recordings by her family members and has released several independent EPs. Her full length self-titled debut was released in 2005.
1978 Ana Maria Lombo, Eden's Crush, (2001 US No. 8 single 'Get Over Yourself').
1985 Matt Jay, Busted, (2003 UK No.1 single 'You Said No', 2002 UK No.2 album, 'Busted').
Deaths
1974 British bluesman Graham Bond dies after falling under a tube train at Finsbury Park London.
1982 Producer, founder of Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart dies at the age of 39 from cancer.
Events
1941 Anita O’Day recorded "Let Me Off Uptown" with Gene Krupa and his band.
1955 Tony Bennett was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Stranger In Paradise', the US singers only UK No.1.
1964 The Beatles had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for 14 weeks with 3 No.1's in succession. 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' for 7 weeks, 'She Loves You' for 2 weeks and 'Can't Buy Me Love', for 5 weeks.
1967 Gerry And The Pacemakers announced they were splitting up, recognising they can no longer keep pace with the rapidly changing UK rock scene
1970 The Beatles last studio album 'Let It Be', was released in the UK.
1971 The Rolling Stones album 'Sticky Fingers' went to No.1 on the UK chart. The sleeve was designed by Andy Warhol complete with a real zip fastener on a pair of Jeans, the album included 'Brown Sugar' and 'Wild horses'
1972 Billy Preston became the first rock performer to headline at Radio City Music Hall.
1974 UK keyboard player Graham Bond committed suicide after throwing himself under a London tube train at Finsbury Park station. It took police two days to identify his body which was crushed beyond all recognition.
1976 BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Walker announced he was quitting the station after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers Rollers.
1976 Former lead singer of the Lovin' Spoonful John Sebastian went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Welcome Back', taken from the US TV show 'Welcome Back Kotter'.
1976 Abba scored their third UK No.1 single with 'Fernando'. And also on day Abba started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with their 'Greatest Hits' album.
1977 Olivia Newton-John made her New York City debut with a concert at the Metropolitan Opera House.
1982 Paul McCartney scored his 5th UK No.1 album when 'Tug Of War' went to the top of the charts.
1982 Vangelis went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Chariots Of Fire', his only US No.1, a No.12 hit in the UK.
1989 Appearing at The Warehouse, Leeds, England, The Stone Roses.
1990 Tom Waits won $2.5 million when a Los Angeles court ruled that Frito-Lay unlawfully used a Waits sound alike in its Doritos ads.
1992 Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and songwriter Sheree Zampino were married.
1993 Aerosmith entered the US album chart at No.1 with 'Get A Grip', a No.2 hit in the UK. The album went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide as well as winning the band two Grammy awards.
1993 Mark Knopfler received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
1996 A Los Angeles judge ruled against Tommy Lee and wife Pamela Anderson in their bid to keep Penthouse magazine from publishing still photos from an X-rated home movie that was stolen from their home.
1998 Johnny Winter was inducted into Hollywood's Rock Walk.
1998 The Smashing Pumpkins filed a suit against Westwood One. The claim was that the radio syndicator had breached an oral and implied agreement when they licensed a 1991 interview with the band.
1999 Ricky Martin went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Livin' La Vida Loca', also a UK No.1.
2002 It was announced that Mariah Carey had signed a deal that included her own label.
2005 Bruce Springsteen was at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Devils and Dust' his 13th No.1 studio album.
2006 Eric Clapton kicked off a 12 date UK tour at the SECC in Glasgow, Scotland.
2006 The Rolling Stones called off their forthcoming European tour after guitarist Keith Richards underwent emergency brain surgery. The 62 year-old guitarist suffered "mild concussion" when he fell out of a coconut tree on holiday in Fiji.
