1964 - The Beatles
The Beatles filmed the last day of train scenes for the movie A Hard Day's Night. During their six days of filming aboard a moving train, The Beatles travelled a total of 2,500 miles on the rails.
1964 - The Four Preps
Capitol Records released a song called 'Letter To The Beatles' by The Four Preps. The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he's lost his girlfriend to The Fab Four. On its first day, the record shot to No.85 on the charts and it looked like The Preps were going to have another hit on their hands. Unfortunately they had included a few bars from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' without permission and Capitol was forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit.
1966 - Beach Boys
The Beach Boys started recording the Brian Wilson and Tony Asher penned song 'God Only Knows', which when released in May 1966 was the eighth track on the group's album Pet Sounds. It became a UK No.2 single in 1966 and the B-side of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' when released in the US.
1967 - Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at The Marquee ClubLondon, England. The Marquee club has often been defined as 'the most important venue in the history of pop music', not only for having been the scene of the development of modern music culture in London, but also for having been an essential meeting point for some of the most important artists in rock music.
1968 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan started a ten week run at No.1 on the UK chart with John Wesley Harding. The album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music after three albums of electric rock music and was exceptionally well received by critics, also reaching No.2 on the US charts. The commercial performance was considered remarkable, considering that Dylan had made Columbia Records release the album without much publicity.
1970 - Black Sabbath
Having recently changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward made their concert debut at The Roundhouse, London.
1971 - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin appeared at Leeds University, Leeds, England, during their 'Back To The Clubs' tour. This was the first tour which saw Zeppelin performing 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Black Dog' and 'Going To California.'
1974 - Alvin Stardust
Alvin Stardust was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jealous Mind'. Know as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, it was the singer's only UK chart topper.
1975 - Telly Savalas
Actor Telly Savalas was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the David Gates (from Bread) song 'If'. Savalas was currently high in the TV ratings playing the policeman Kojak.
1981 - Robert Plant
Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant played a secret gig at Keele University, England with his new band The Honey Drippers.
1985 - Dead Or Alive
Dead Or Alive were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). It was the first No.1 for the production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman who went on to produce over 100 UK Top 40 hits.
1985 - Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger released his solo single 'Just Another Night' a No. 12 hit in the US and No. 32 on the UK charts. The track was lifted from his debut solo album, She's the Boss.
1985 - REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Can't Fight This Feeling', it made No.16 in the UK.
1987 - U2
U2 released their fifth studio album The Joshua Tree which features the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', and 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 201 weeks on the UK chart. It topped the charts in over 20 countries and became U2's first US No.1 album.
1991 - Clash
'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' gave The Clash their only UK No.1 single after the track was used for a Levi's TV advertisement. The track was first released in 1982 from their album Combat Rock. The Spanish backing vocals were sung by Joe Strummer and Joe Ely.
1996 - Take That
Take That scored their eighth and last UK No.1 single (until re-forming in 2006) with their version of The Bee Gees 1977 song 'How Deep Is Your Love', (originally intended for US singer Yvonne Elliman), and used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever.
1997 - Notorious BIG
Notorious BIG was gunned down and killed as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Born Christopher Wallace the rapper was pronounced dead on arrival at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He was 24 years old.
2004 - Rust Epique
Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 36. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide No.1 single 'Butterfly'.
2005 - Danny Joe Brown
53-year-old Danny Joe Brown, the original lead singer of Molly Hatchet, died from renal failure due to complications from diabetes. Brown was the front man for the band's self-titled album in 1978, which went Platinum.
2007 - Brad Delp
Brad Delp lead singer of US rock band Boston committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in at his home in the New Hampshire town of Atkinson. He died from the smoke of two charcoal grills he’d lit inside his sealed master bathroom. He was found by police lying on a pillow on his bathroom floor with a note paper-clipped to his shirt which read: "Mr. Brad Delp. I am a lonely soul." Boston had the 1977 UK No.22 single 'More Than A Feeling' and the 1986 US No.1 single 'Amanda.'
2010 - Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison at New York City's Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to gun possession. The charges were linked to his arrest in 2007 when a gun was found on his tour bus. His sentencing came after several delays; the first date was postponed to allow the rapper to have dental work and the second had to be rearranged after a fire broke out in the New York court complex.
2012 - Jerry Lee Lewis
76-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis married for the seventh time when he wed his caregiver Judith Brown. Lewis split from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver, in 2004 after twenty years of marriage. Brown, who was 14 years younger than Lewis, was previously married to the star's cousin Rusty.
2016 - Pop Records
A study by The Journal of Advanced Nursing reported that pop records set a bad example by portraying ageing and old people in a negative light, focusing on dying and physical decline. Researchers trawled the musical archives from the 1930s to the present day for any tracks mentioning old age. The majority, 55 out of 76 songs, focused on 'bad' aspects of ageing. The Beatlesand Elton John featured on the 'negative list', along with Pulp and The Who.
2020 - Keith Olsen
American record producer Keith Olsen died age 74. He worked with many artists including Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Foreigner, Scorpions, Magnum, Journey, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Joe Walsh, and Eric Burdon & the Animals.
Birthdays
1930 - Ornette Coleman
American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer Ornette Coleman. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Coleman died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 85 in New York City on June 11, 2015.
1934 - Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price, US singer, songwriter who had the 1959 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Stagger Lee' and the 1959 million-selling hit, 'Personality'. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
1936 - Mickey Gilley
Mickey Gilley, US singer, (1980 US No. 22 single 'Stand By Me' from the soundtrack 'Urban Cowboy').
1942 - John Cale
Welsh singer, songwriter and record producer, John Cale who was a founding member of the American rock band Velvet Underground, who released the 1968 single 'White Light, White Heat', and the classic 1967 album Velvet Underground And Nico 'peeled banana' album. He produced the first albums of the Stooges, the Modern Lovers, Patti Smith, Squeeze, and Happy Mondays.
1942 - Mark Lindsay
Mark Lindsay, singer, guitarist with Paul Revere & The Raiders, (1971 US No.1 single with ‘Indian Reservation’ plus 14 other US Top 30 hit singles).
1944 - Trevor Burton
English guitarist Trevor Burton a founding member of The Move who scored the 1969 UK No.1 single 'Blackberry Way'. He later teamed up with Steve Gibbons who fronted the long-established Birmingham group The Uglys and was also a member of the Birmingham supergroup Balls and then fronted The Trevor Burton Band.
1945 - Robert Calvert
Robert Calvert, singer, poet, Hawkwind & solo, (1972 UK No.3 single 'Silver Machine'). Calvert died on 14th August 1988.
1945 - Ron Wilson
Ron Wilson, drummer, The Surfaris, (1963 US No.2 & UK No.3 single 'Wipe Out'). Died of a brain anueryism on 7th May 1989.
1945 - Robin Trower
English rock guitarist and vocalist Robin Trower who with Procol Harum, had the 1967 UK No.1 single & US No.5 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'. He formed the Robin Trower Band in 1973 and has since released over 20 albums.
1946 - Jim Cregan
Jim Cregan, guitarist who worked with Family and Cockney Rebel, who scored the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Make Me Smile', Come Up And See Me. He also worked with Rod Stewart.
1948 - Chris Thompson
Chris Thompson, singer with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, who had the 1976 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Blinded By The Light'.
1948 - Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Osborne, soul singer, (1984 UK No.11 & US No. 29 single 'On The Wings Of Love').
1949 - Jimmy Fadden
Jimmy Fadden, from American country rock band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who scored the 1971 US No.9 single 'Mr Bojangles'.
1951 - Frank Rodriguez
Frank Rodriguez, ? & The Mysterians, (1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single 96 Tears). The song was a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990.
1958 - Martin Fry
Martin Fry, singer with English pop band ABC who as part of the New Romantic movement had the 1982 UK No.4 & 1983 US No.18 'The Look Of Love'. Their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon of Love, was a UK No.1 and they achieved ten UK and five US Top 40 hit singles between 1981 and 1990.
1968 - Robert Sledge
Robert Sledge, bassist from American alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five. Their single 'Brick' from the 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.
1969 - Adam Siegel
Adam Siegel, American rock guitarist and producer. Founding member of the Los Angeles punk band Excel, and subsequently became the lead guitarist for the Suicidal Tendencies side project Infectious Grooves.
1970 - Shannon Leto
Shannon Leto, American musician, 30 Seconds to Mars. Their 2018 album America peaked at No.2 on the US chart and No.4 in the UK.
1980 - Chingy
Chingy, US rapper, (2003 US No.2 album ‘Jackpot’, 2003 US No.2 & UK No.17 single ‘Right Thurr’).
1985 - Wretch 32
Jermaine Sinclair, better known by his stage name Wretch 32 who scored three UK top-five charting songs from his 2011 debut album Black and White.
1987 - Lil Bow Wow
Bow Wow, (Shad Moss), US rapper who had the 2001 UK No. 6 single 'Bow Wow, That's My Name' and the US No.3 single 'Like You'. He appeared in the 2002 film All About the Benjamins, and played a supporting role in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006.
1993 - Suga
Suga (Min Yoon-gi), South Korean singer, songwriter, with the boy band BTS. They became the first Korean act to top the US Billboard chart with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). BTS also became the fastest group since The Beatles to earn four US No.1 albums, doing so in less than two years. They became the first Asian act to chart a No.1 song in the US since Kyu Sakamoto with ‘Sukiyaki’ (1963).
