Births
1910 Django Reinhardt, jazz guitarist. Badly burned his third and fourth fingers of his left hand in a house fire aged 18. Doctors suggested he play the guitar to keep his fingers flexible, giving him his two fingered guitar style. Worked with Stepane Grappelli and Duke Ellington. Reinhardt died of a stroke on 15th May 1953.
1944 Jerry Lawson, singer, The Persuasions, a-cappella group, worked with Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Don McLean.
1948 Anita Pointer, singer, The Pointer Sisters, (1981 US No.2 single, 'Slow Hand', 1984 UK No.2 single 'Automatic').
1950 Danny Federici, organ and keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, (1984 US No.2 & 1985 UK No.4 single 'Dancing In The Dark').
1950 Pat Simmons, guitar, vocals, The Doobie Brothers, (1979, US No.1 single 'What A Fool Believes', 1993 UK No.7 single 'Long Train Runnin').
1950 Bill Cunningham, bass, piano, The Box Tops, (1967 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'The Letter').
1953 Robin Zander, vocals, Cheap Trick, (1979 UK No.29 & US No.17 single 'I Want You To Want Me', 1988 US No.1 single 'The Flame').
1959 Earl Falconer, bass, UB40, (1983 UK No.1 & US 1988 US No.1 single 'Red Red Wine' and over 30 other Top 40 hits).
1974 Kita, drummer, Lordi. Became Finland's first ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' won the contest held in Athens in 2006.
1975 Nicholas Harmer, bass guitar, Death Cab for Cutie.
Deaths
1978 Terry Kath (Chicago) died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a pistol he didn't know was loaded. He was 32 years old.
1990 Allen Collins from Lynyrd Skynyrd died of pneumonia after being ill for several months. Collins had survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed two other band members.
1997 Associates singer, songwriter, Billy MacKenzie committed suicide, aged 39.
1998 US soul singer Johnny Funches from The Dells died. 1968 US No.10 single 'Stay In My Corner'.
Events
1941 Artie Shaw and his orchestra recorded "Moonglow."
1956 Rock 'n' Roll fans in Cleveland aged under 18 were banned from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult), after Ohio Police introduced a law dating back to 1931.
1965 'Downtown' made Petula Clark the first UK female singer to have a No.1 on the US singles chart since Vera Lynn in 1952. A No.2 hit in the UK.
1969 Working at Apple studios in London, The Beatles (with Billy Preston on keyboards) recorded ten takes of 'Get Back.'
1971 Steel Mill played their final show when they appeared at the Upstage Club, Asbury Park, New Jersey. Singer Bruce Springsteen formed new bands during the rest of the year known under such names as the Bruce Springsteen Jam, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, and finally the Bruce Springsteen Band.
1971 George Harrison became the first solo Beatle to have a No.1 when 'My Sweet Lord' went to the top of the UK single charts. The song stayed at No.1 for five weeks.
1971 Dawn started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Knock Three Times', the groups first No.1, also an UK No.1.
1974 Alvin Stardust made his first live appearance since changing his name from Shane Fenton.
1976 The *** Pistols played at Watford College, Watford, England.
1977 Patti Smith broke her vertebra when she fell off the stage at a gig in Tampa, Florida.
1978 Adam And The Ants made their radio debut on Radio 1s John Peel Show.
1978 Vic Ames (Ames Brothers) died in an auto accident.
1979 Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) and his wife Marilyn were divorced.
1980 Appearing at the Liverpool Philharmonic, England, Marvin Gaye, with Edwin Starr as support.
1980 Prince's single "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" was released.
1986 The first annual induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was held in New York City.
1986 Ray Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City.
1988 Johnny Hates Jazz went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut LP 'Turn Back The Clock'.
1988 Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Way You Make Me Feel' a No.3 hit in the UK.
1988 Tiffany started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Tiffany.
1988 Johnny Hates Jazz went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut LP 'Turn Back The Clock'.
1988 Nirvana recorded a 10-song demo with Seattle producer Jack Endino. Sub Pop records boss Jonathan Poneman hears the tape and offers to put out a Nirvana single.
1989 James Brown was sentenced in Georgia to 6 years in jail in connection with a police chase through two states.
1990 David Bowie announced his forthcoming and final world tour, 'Sound And Vision' 1990, during which he will invite each local audience to decide on a 'greatest hits' running order, organised through local radio stations.
1993 Genesis went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Live-The Way We Walk Volume II'.
1994 Take That went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Everything Changes'.
1994 Rage Against The Machine headlined the Rock For Choice benefit at The Palladium, Hollywood, California. Also appearing: Screaming Trees, Eddie Vedder, Mary's Danish, 7 Year Bitch and Green Apple Quick Step.
1995 Courtney Love appeared in Australian court on charges of abusing a flight attendant. She admitted to responding with an obscenity when a Quantas flight attendant told her to take her feet down from the airplane cabin wall. Love's sentence was one month of good behavior.
1996 The City Council in Johnson City, TN, withdrew their permission for White Zombie to hold a show there.
1997 The movie "Spice World" was released in the United States.
2000 Britney Spears went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Born To Make You Happy', the singers second UK No.1.
2000 Santana started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Supernatural', the album spent a total of nine weeks at No.1 during this year.
2001 An English coroner criticised the rap singer Eminem's lyrics as depressing during an inquest into the death of a schoolboy who threw himself in front of a train. The 17-year old boy had printed out the lyrics to Eminem's track 'Rock Bottom' before his death.
2001 Mark Oliver was found guilty by a London court of stealing luggage belonging to Victoria Beckham from Heathrow Airport. Police issued a list of the L23,000 worth of clothes, which included 14 pairs of shoes, and a mini-skirt worth L2,000.
2002 EMI announced that it would pay Mariah Carey $28 million to end their association which was planned to last for several albums estimated at $100 million.
2003 R Kelly was arrested on new child pornography charges. The singer was detained in Miami after police said digital *** pictures were discovered at his home in Florida last June. The singer was already facing 21 charges relating to producing child pornography and appearing in a video having *** with an underage girl. He was charged with a further 12 counts of possession of child pornography.
2005 One of the biggest charity concerts since Live Aid raised Ł1.25 million ($2 million) for victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia. The concert held at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff featured Eric Clapton, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Charlotte Church, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Feeder, Craig David and Liberty X, who appeared before 60,000 fans at the sold-out concert.
2005 Former Happy Mondays dancer Bez, won the Ł50,000 Celebrity Big Brother prize, after gaining 54% of the final viewer vote. The "Madchester" pop legend danced his way to becoming the sixth member of the indie-dance band in the late-1980s after playing maracas with them.
