Births
1924 Dora Bryan, singer, (1963 UK No.20 single 'All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle').
1934 Earl King, New Orleans Blues guitarist. King died on April 17th 2003 aged 69. He wrote 'Come On, (Let The Good Times Roll').
1934 US sax player King Curtis. Stabbed to death by a vagrant on the front steps of his New York home on 13th August 1971. Worked with John Lennon, played on The Coasters 'Yakety Yak'.
1948 Jimmy Greenspoon, organ, Three Dog Night, (1970 UK No.3 & US No.1 single 'Mamma Told Me Not To Come').
1949 Alan Lancaster, bass, Status Quo, (left in 1984, 1977 UK No.3 single 'Rockin' All Over The World' plus 50 other UK Top 75 singles since 1968).
1949 Stoney Browder, Kid Creole And The Coconuts, (1982 UK No.2 single 'Annie I'm Not Your Daddy').
1959 Brian Travers, sax, UB40, (1983 UK No.1 & 1988 US No.1 single 'Red Red Wine' and over 30 other top 40 hits).
1960 Steve Bronski, Bronski Beat, (1984 UK No.3 single 'Smalltown Boy').
1962 David Bryan, keyboards, Bon Jovi, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'Livin' On A Prayer').
1962 Garth Brooks, country singer, (1991 US No.1 album 'Ropin' The Wind' spent 70 weeks on the US chart, 1994 UK No.13 single 'The Red Strokes.' Biggest selling artist of the 90's with over 60 million sales).
1962 Deborah Bonham, English rock and blues vocalist and the sister of John Bonham, the late drummer for the band Led Zeppelin.
1968 Sully Erna, guitar, vocals, Godsmack, (2003, US No.1 album 'Faceless', 2006 US No.1 album 'IV').
1974 Danny Goffey, drums, Supergrass, (1995 UK No.2 single 'Alright', 1995 UK No.1 album 'I Should Coco' spent 35 weeks on the UK chart).
1974 James Dewitt Yancey, (J Dilla or Jay Dee), hip hop producer and MC. Died on Feb 10th 2006 of a rare blood disease at his home in Los Angeles, California.
1975 Wes Borland, guitar, Limp Bizkit, (2001 UK No.1 single 'Rollin' & US & UK No.1 album 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water').
Deaths
1985 Matt Monro, 60's UK ballad singer died. (1964 UK No.4 & US No.23 single 'Walk Away' plus 10 other UK Top 40 hits).
1999 Songwriter Robert Williams died aged 81. Wrote, 'Route 66' (covered by many acts including The Stones, Chuck Berry, and 'The Girl Can't Help It.'
2000 Big Punisher died of a heart attack, aged 28. The rapper had weighed 318kg (50 stone) when he had the attack.
2000 Robin Scott died aged 79. Scott had launched the UK BBC Radio 1 station in 1967.
2000 Dave Pevertt guitarist with Savoy Brown died from kidney cancer aged 56.
Events
1959 Buddy Holly's funeral was held in Lubbock, TX.
1961 The Jive Five recorded "My True Story".
1963 Appearing at The Manor House, London, The Blues By Six plus The Rolling Stones, tickets 4 shillings, ($0.56c).
1964 Pan Am flight 101 was greeted by over 5,000 Beatles fans as it arrived at New York's JFK airport, bringing The Beatles to the US for the first time and causing riotous scenes as they touched down.
1964 The Beatles arrived in New York to begin their first U.S. tour.
1967 Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees returned to the UK after living in Australia for nine years.
1967 Mike Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees appeared on UK TV's 'Top Of The Pops.'
1969 John and Yoko were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents, (2/6). John was named as Rolling Stone's 'Man Of The Year'.
1969 "This Is Tom Jones" premiered on ABC-TV.
1970 Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull married record company secretary Jennie Franks.
1970 Appearing at Leicester University, England, Deep Purple.
1970 Led Zeppelin scored their first UK No.1 album with 'Led Zeppelin II'. Featuring the US single 'Whole Lotta Love', it went on to stay on the chart for 138 weeks selling over 6 million copies in the US.
1970 One hit wonders Shocking Blue went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Venus', making them the first Dutch act to top the US charts. It made No.8 in the UK; Bananarama took the song to No.8 on the UK chart in 86.
1976 Bob Dylan started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Desire', his second US No.1.
1976 Paul Simon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover', the singers first solo US No.1.
1976 Slim Whitman started a 6-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with his self-titled album.
1979 Stephen Stills became the first rock performer to record on digital equipment in Los Angeles' Record Plant Studio.
1979 The Clash kick off their first American tour at the Berkeley Community Theatre outside San Francisco.
1981 The TV mini-series "Elvis and Me" (based on Priscilla Presley's book) began on ABC.
1981 Kool & The Gang started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Celebration' the groups first No.1 and 8th top 40 hit, a No.7 hit in the UK.
1981 John Lennon was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Woman', his third No.1 in seven weeks.
1986 The Rolling Stones shot the video for "Harlem Shuffle" in New York City.
1987 George Michael and Aretha Franklin were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)'. Written by Simon Climie it gave Aretha her first UK No.1 almost 20 years after her first hit.
1987 Madonna went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Open Your Heart', her 5th US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.
1989 Georgia state representative Billy Randall introduced a bill to make Little Richards 'Tutti Frutti', the state's official rock song.
1994 Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon was forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony for his loud and disruptive behavior. Hoon was later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone.
1995 Tupac Shakur was sentenced to 1 to 4 1/2 years in jail for sexual abuse.
1998 Aqua scored their second UK No.1 single with 'Doctor Jones.'
1999 Blondie went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Maria', giving the group their 6th UK No.1 single, 20 years after their first.
2001 U2 played a secret show at London's Astoria. Stars attending the show included actor John Hurt, Queen's Roger Taylor, Mick Jagger, Bob Geldof, Chris Evans and members of Toploader.
2003 Courtney Love arrived at a benefit concert at London's Old Vic Theatre dressed as Donald Duck. Courtney joined Elton John on stage for a version of 'The Bitch Is Back.'
2004 Queen's single 'We Will Rock You' topped a poll of music fans to find the greatest rock anthem of all time. The 1977 song beat the band's classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' into second place in a survey of 1,000 people carried out for the UCI cinema chain. The poll was carried out to mark the release of new Jack Black comedy 'School of Rock.'
2005 Michael Jackson's Thriller was named the top pop video in a poll of Channel 4 viewers in the UK. The 1983 video, which depicts the singer as a werewolf and a zombie, beat videos by Madonna and Robbie Williams. Animated videos for Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer and A-Ha's Take On Me were in second and third place respectively. 4th was Queen with Bohemian Rhapsody, 5th, Madonna Like a Prayer, 6th, Robbie Williams, Rock DJ, 7th, Michael Jackson, Billie Jean, 8th, The Verve, Bittersweet Symphony, 9th, Madonna Vogue and 10th Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
2006 The Darkness kicked off a 9-date UK tour at Alexandra Palace, London.
2008 Amy Winehouse was told she could not perform at this year's Grammy awards ceremony because her US visa application has been rejected by the embassy in London. The singer was arrested for marijuana possession in Norway last year. Winehouse has been nominated for six Grammy awards ahead of the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday.
