Births
1941 Brian Holland, Holland/Dozier/Holland, producer, songwriter, wrote for Motown, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Four Tops, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Freda Payne, Chairmen Of The Board.
1942 Glyn Johns, UK producer, worked with Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Beatles, ('Let It Be' sessions), Joan Armatrading, Midnight Oil, The Eagles, The Faces and Led Zeppelin.
1944 Denny Zager, singer, Zager and Evans, (1969 US & UK No.1 single 'In The Year 2525').
1944 Mick Avory, drums, The Kinks, (1964 UK No.1 & US No.7 'You Really Got Me', 1967 UK No.2 single 'Waterloo Sunset' plus 19 other UK Top 40 singles).
1945 John Helliwell, sax, Supertramp, (1979 UK No.7 & US No.6 single 'The Logical Song').
1947 David Brown, bass, Santana, (1977 UK No.11 single 'She's Not There').
1952 Melissa Manchester, US singer, songwriter, (1975 US No.6 single 'Midnight Blue').
1959 Ali Campbell, vocals, UB40, (1983 UK No.1 & 1988 US No.1 single 'Red Red Wine' and over 30 other Top 40 hit singles) & solo (1995 UK No.5 single 'That Look In Your Eye').
1960 Mikey Craig, bass, Culture Club, (1983 UK No.1 & 1984 US No.12 single 'Karma Chameleon' plus 7 other UK Top 10 singles').
1962 Mike and David Miliner, The Pasadenas, (1992 UK No.4 single 'I'm Doing Fine Now').
1974 Stuart Richardson, bassist, Lostprophets, (2004 UK No.8 single 'Last Train Home', 2006 UK No.1 album 'Liberation Transmission').
1974 Tomi Petteri Putaansuu, Mr. Lordi, lead vocalist Lordi. Became Finland's first ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' won the contest held in Athens in 2006.
1976 Brandon Boyd, Incubus, (2001 US No.9 & UK No.40 single, 'Drive', 2004 US No.2 and UK No.6 album 'A Crow Left of the Murder', 2006 US No.1 album 'Light Grenades').
1976 Ronnie Vannucci Jr, drummer, The Killers, (2005 UK No.1 with their debut album 'Hot Fuss').
1980 Olivia Theresa Longott, US R&B singer, member of G-Unit, (2005 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'Candy Shop' with 50 Cent).
Deaths
1965 Nat "King" Cole died of complications following surgery for lung cancer at the age of 48.
1968 US blues harmonica player Little Walter died from injuries incurred in a street fight. First harmonica player to amplify his harp giving it a distorted echoing sound.
1981 Mike Bloomfield, guitarist, died of a drug overdose. Member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag. Played on Dylan's album 'Highway 61 Revisited.'
Events
1941 Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded "Take the "A" Train" for the first time.
1954 Big Joe Turner recorded the original "Shake, Rattle & Roll".
1958 "The Dick Clark Show" debuted on ABC-TV. Connie Francis, Pat Boone and Jerry Lee Lewis were the first performers to appear on the show.
1961 The Marcels recorded "Blue Moon".
1961 Singer Jackie Wilson was left with a stomach wound after Juanita Jones a female fan went to his New York apartment demanding to see him. Jone's gun went off as he tried to disarm her.
1964 The Dave Clark Five appeared on the UK TV show 'Thank Your Lucky Stars.'
1964 The Beatles released the single "Eight Days a Week" and the album "Meet The Beatles." The album stayed at No.1 for eleven weeks.
1964 Sam Cooke announced that he was cutting back on live performances to concentrate on songwriting and building his record labels.
1967 The first laws concerning anti-bootlegging were enacted.
1967 The band Chicago formed.
1968 The Lennons and Harrisons arrived in India to study meditation with the Maharishi, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr arrived four days later. Ringo returned before the others comparing the experience to be like a Butlins holiday camp.
1969 Singer Vickie Jones was arrested on fraud charges for impersonating Aretha Franklin in concert at Fort Myers, Florida. No-one in the audience had asked for their money back.
1969 Sly and the Family Stone started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Everyday People', their first No.1.
1969 'Diana Ross and The Supremes Join The Temptations' started a four week run at No.1 on the UK album chart.
1969 A Florida woman was arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin during a concert at a club.
1975 Linda Ronstadt went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You're No Good', the singers only solo chart topper out of 12 other top 40 hits. Also today Ronstadt went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Heart Like A Wheel.'
1975 Gino Vannelli became the first white artist to perform on "Soul Train."
1976 Bette Midler bailed seven members of her entourage out of jail. They were arrested on cocaine and marijuana possession charges.
1977 Glen Matlock was fired as bass player from The Sex Pistols, being replaced by Sid Vicious. Matlock rejoined in the 90's when the Pistol's reformed.
1985 During a UK tour The Boomtown Rats appeared at The Gaumont, Ipswich, England.
1986 Sade started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Promise.'
1986 Whitney Houston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'How Will I Know', it made No.5 in the UK.
1988 After singer Jo Elliot had referred to El Paso as 'the place with all those greasy Mexicans' Def Leppard were forced to cancel a concert in El Paso, after they received threats that the gig would be disrupted.
1991 Kelly Emberg the ex-girlfriend of Rod Stewart filed a $25 million palimony suit in Los Angeles.
1992 The Ivory Coast village of Krinjabo named Michael Jackson "King of the Sanwis."
1995 Metallica began recording their sixth album "Load."
1996 It was reported that Take That were the UK's biggest single selling artists with sales over 3.9.million.
1997 Texas went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'White On Blonde.'
1997 U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Discoteque', the bands third UK number 1 single.
1998 The Tokyo area phone system went down due to high activity attributable to people trying to reserve tickets for an upcoming Glay concert.
1999 "Rolling Stones Day" was declared in Minnesota.
2000 Sting pulled-out of a concert in Vienna in protest at the inclusion of Jorg Haider's far right freedom party in Austria's new government. Lou Reed had also cancelled shows in the country.
2002 Kerrang! Magazine overtook the New Musical Express for the first time to become the best selling UK weekly music publication. It claimed new bands such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park had given them a new teenage audience.
2002 The movie "Cross Roads," starring Britney Spears, opened in theaters.
2004 Norah Jones scored her second UK No.1 album with 'Feels Like Home.'
2004 Kenny Chesney was at No.1 on the US album chart with 'When The Sun Comes Down.'
2004 Twista was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Slow Jamz.' He was known for being the fastest rapper in the world.
2004 Sam and Mark went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song 'With A Little Help From My Friends.' The song had also been a hit for Joe Cocker and Wet Wet Wet.
2006 Winners at this year's Brit Awards included, James Blunt who won British male solo artist, British female solo artist went to KT Tunstall. Coldplay won Best British album for X&Y and Best British single for 'Speed of Sound.' Kaiser Chiefs won Best British group and Best British Live Act, British urban act went to Lemar, British breakthrough act was Arctic Monkeys, International breakthrough act was won by Jack Johnson. International male solo artist was Kanye West with Madonna winning International female solo artist. Green Day won International group and Best International album with American Idiot and Outstanding contribution to music went to Paul Weller.
2008 A flat once rented by the Beatles in London went up for sale for Ł1.75m. The band shared the three-bedroom top floor property in Green Street, Mayfair in the autumn of 1963. A publicity photo of the Fab Four peering over a banister, used as the cover for the December 1963 edition of The Beatles Book, was taken at the top of the property's communal stairwell.
2008 Activision announced that "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" would be released in June 2008.
