1959 - Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly was buried in Lubbock, Texas. His tombstone reads "Holley", the correct spelling of his given surname and includes pictures of a guitar. On Feb 3rd 1959, after a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered an airplane to travel to his next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and the pilot, an infamous milestone in rock history known as The Day the Music Died.
1959 - Guitar Slim
New Orleans blues guitarist Guitar Slim died of pneumonia aged 32. Born Eddie Jones he is best known for the million-selling song ‘The Things That I Used to Do’. Slim had a major impact on rock and roll and experimented with distorted overtones on the electric guitar a full decade before Jimi Hendrix. He became known for his wild stage act and had an assistant who followed him around the audience with up to 350 feet of cord between his guitar and his amplifier, and occasionally rode on his assistant's shoulders or even took his guitar outside the club, bringing traffic to a stop.
1963 - The Beatles
The first Beatles single 'Please Please Me' was released in the US on the Vee Jay label. Capitol Records, EMI's United States label, were offered the right to release the single in the US, but turned it down. Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago and a friend of Vee-Jay executive Ewart Abner, played the song on the radio from February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles record in the United States.
1964 - The Beatles
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.
1967 - Barry Gibb
Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees returned to the UK after living in Australia for nine years.
1969 - The Doors
Doors singer Jim Morrison was arrested for drunk driving and driving with no license in Los Angeles, California.
1969 - The Who
The Who recorded 'Pinball Wizard' at Morgan Studio's, London, England. The song is one of the band's most famous live songs, being played at almost every Who concert since its debut live performance on 2 May 1969. The track which featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy was released as a single in 1969 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 19 in the US.
1970 - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin scored their first UK No.1 album with Led Zeppelin II. Released in November 1969, and featuring the US No. 4 single 'Whole Lotta Love', it went on to stay on the UK chart for 136 weeks. Also reaching No. 1 in the US, the RIAA in the US has now certified it as having sold over 12 million copies in the US alone.
1970 - Shocking Blue
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.
1973 - The Stooges
The Stooges released their third studio album Raw Power. The album gained a cult following in the years following its release and, like its predecessor (1970s Fun House), is generally considered an influential forerunner of punk rock. Kurt Cobainsaid on numerous times that Raw Power was his favorite album of all time.
1976 - Paul Simon
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.
1979 - Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills became the first rock performer to record on digital equipment in the Los Angeles' Record Plant Studio.
1981 - Kool & The Gang
Kool & The Gang started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Celebration' the group's first No.1 and 8th top 40 hit, a No.7 hit in the UK.
1981 - John Lennon
John Lennon was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Woman', an ode to his wife Yoko Ono. It was Lennon's third No.1 in seven weeks after his death on December 8, 1980.
1985 - Matt Monro
Matt Monro, 60s UK ballad singer died from liver cancer at the Cromwell Hospital, Ealing, London. 1964 UK No.4 & US No.23 single 'Walk Away' plus 10 other UK Top 40 hits including the 1965 hit with his version of The Beatles' 'Yesterday'.
1987 - George Michael
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.
1994 - Blind Melon
Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon was forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony for his loud and disruptive behaviour. Hoon was later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone.
1999 - Blondie
Blondie went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Maria', giving the group their sixth UK No.1 single, 20 years after their first No.1 ‘Heart of Glass.’ At the age of 54, lead singer Debbie Harry became the oldest female to make No.1 in the UK.
2000 - Big Punisher
American rapper Big Punisher (better known by his stage name Big Pun), died of a heart attack, aged 28. The rapper had weighed 318kg (50 stone) when he had the attack. His second album, Yeeeah Baby, completed before his death, was issued as scheduled in April 2000. It peaked at No.3 on the Billboard charts.
2000 - Dave Pevertt
English guitarist and singer Dave Peverett died from kidney cancer aged 56. He had been a member of the English blues rock band Savoy Brown and Foghat who had the Seventies hit singles 'My Babe', and 'Slow Ride'.
2004 - Queen
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
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.
2008 - Amy Winehouse
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.
2013 - Wilko Johnson
Music venues and fans criticised "heartless" touts and agencies selling tickets for guitarist Wilko Johnson's farewell tour at inflated prices. The former Dr Feelgood guitarist, was suffering from terminal cancer and was playing a series of farewell dates in February and March. Originally tickets sold for £20, but were now being offered online at prices of £225.
2015 - Joe B. Mauldin
American bass player, songwriter, Joe B. Mauldin died aged 74. He was best known as the bassist for the early rock and roll group The Crickets and later became a recording engineer at Gold Star Studios, the Los Angeles studio which became the "hit factory" for Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and other major 1960s rock performers.
Birthdays
1924 - Dora Bryan
Dora Bryan, English actress and singer who had the 1963 UK No.20 single 'All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle'. She died on 23 July 2014.
1934 - Earl King
Earl King, New Orleans Blues guitarist. He wrote 'Come On, (Let The Good Times Roll'), covered by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. King died on April 17th 2003 from diabetes-related complications aged 69.
1934 - King Curtis
US sax player King Curtis who was stabbed to death by a vagrant on the front steps of his New York home on 13th August 1971. Curtis worked with John Lennon and had played on The Coasters hit 'Yakety Yak'.
1948 - Jimmy Greenspoon
Jimmy Greenspoon, organist with Three Dog Night, who had the 1970 UK No.3 & US No.1 single with a cover of the Randy Newman song 'Mama Told Me Not To Come'. The band scored 21 Billboard Top 40 hits (with three hitting No.1) between 1969 and 1975. He died on March 11 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67.
1949 - Alan Lancaster
Alan Lancaster, bassist with English group Status Quo. He left the band in 1984. The group have had over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock band, including 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' in 1967, 'Whatever You Want' in 1979 and 'In the Army Now' in 2010. Twenty-two of these reached the Top 10 in the UK. In July 1985 the band opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with 'Rockin' All Over the World'.
1953 - Bruce Gaitsch
American guitarist, composer, and producer Bruce Gaitsch best known for working Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, and Agnetha Fältskog. Gaitsch co-wrote the Madonna song 'La Isla Bonita', an 1987 international No.1 hit single from her third studio album True Blue.
1959 - Brian Travers
Brian Travers, saxophonist with UB40, who had the 1983 UK No.1 & 1988 US No.1 single 'Red Red Wine' and over 30 other top 40 hits.
1960 - Steve Bronski
Steve Bronski, from English group Bronski Beat who had the 1984 UK No.3 single 'Smalltown Boy'.
1962 - David Bryan
David Bryan, keyboards with Bon Jovi who had the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'Livin' On A Prayer'. Bryan is also the writer of the successful Broadway musical Memphis.
1962 - Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks, US country singer, who had the 1991 US No.1 album 'Ropin' The Wind' which spent 70 weeks on the US chart, and the 1994 UK No.13 single 'The Red Strokes.' Brooks is the biggest selling artist of the 90s with over 60 million sales.
1962 - Deborah Bonham
Deborah Bonham, English rock and blues vocalist and the sister of John Bonham the late drummer for the band Led Zeppelin.
1968 - Sully Erna
Sully Erna, guitar, vocals, Godsmack, who had the 2003, US No.1 album 'Faceless', 2006 US No.1 album 'IV'.
1974 - J Dilla
James Dewitt Yancey, (J Dilla or Jay Dee), hip hop producer and MC. He died on Feb 10th 2006 of a rare blood disease at his home in Los Angeles, California.
1974 - Danny Goffey
Danny Goffey, drummer with English group Supergrass who had the 1995 UK No.2 single 'Alright', and the 1995 UK No.1 album I Should Coco which spent 35 weeks on the UK chart.
1975 - Wes Borland
Wes Borland, guitarist with Limp Bizkit, who had the 2001 UK No.1 single 'Rollin' & US & UK No.1 album 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water'.
1983 - Sam Martin
Sam Martin, American musician, singer, songwriter. He rose to fame in 2014 for not only writing, but being a featured artist on David Guetta's No.1 singles ‘Lovers on the Sun’ and ‘Dangerous’.
