1937 - Bessie Smith

American blues singer Bessie Smith died aged 43 after being involved in a car accident while traveling along Route 61 outside Memphis, Tennessee. Her 1923 song ‘Downhearted Blues’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.

1961 - Bob Dylan

The Greenbriar Boys started a two-week residency at Gerde's Folk Club in New York. The opening act was Bob Dylan.

1964 - Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Oh Pretty Woman'. The title was inspired by Orbison's wife Claudette interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out; when Orbison asked if she was okay for cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected "A pretty woman never needs any money."

1965 - The Who

At the end of a European tour Roger Daltry knocked out Keith Moon resulting in the singer being sacked from The Who. The band were playing two shows in one night in Denmark, when an argument broke about between all four band members. Daltrey was reinstated the following day.

1967 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.

1968 - Brian Jones

Rolling Stone Brian Jones was fined £50 with 100 guineas cost after being found guilty of possession of cannabis.

1969 - The Beatles

The Beatles released Abbey Road in the UK. The final studio recordings from the group featured two George Harrison songs ’Something’ (Harrison's first A-side single), and 'Here Comes The Sun'. In their interviews for The Beatles Anthology, the surviving band members stated that, although none of them ever made the distinction of calling it the "last album", they all felt at the time this would very likely be the final Beatles product and therefore agreed to set aside their differences and "go out on a high note".

1981 - Bruce Dickinson

Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).

1987 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Bad'. Released nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, Bad, went on to become the world's best-selling album having sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide. The album produced five US No.1's, the first album to do so.

1987 - Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Didn't We Almost Have It All'.

1989 - Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney started his world tour at The Drammenshallen, in Drammen, Norway. It was McCartney's first major tour outing in ten years, since Wings UK Tour 1979, and his first appearances in North America in thirteen years.

1995 - AC/DC

AC/DC released Ballbreaker their 12th international studio album. The album which was produced by Rick Rubin, featured the return of former drummer Phil Rudd, who had been fired from the band in 1983 as a result of drinking and drug problems and a fight with founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young.

1996 - Michael Hutchence

Police found drugs hidden in a Smarties tube when they raided the London home of Paula Yates and INXS singer Michael Hutchence. The couple were away in Australia at the time of the raid.

2003 - Robert Palmer

English singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died of a heart attack aged 54 in Paris France. He was a member of Vinegar Joe and Power Station (with Duran Duran members Andy Taylor and John Taylor with drummer and former Chic member Tony Thompson). As a solo artist had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love' and the 1988 hit 'Simply Irresistible'.

2003 - Mariah Carey

A report published on requests by artists to venues of their backstage requirements revealed; Limp Bizkit insisted that all the lamps in their rooms be dimmable while Mariah Carey would only have 'bendy' straws as she will not use straight ones. Van Halen insisted that back-stage celery is trimmed and not peeled. The Red Hot Chili Peppers asked for a meditation room and a selection of aromatherapy candles. Barry Manilow requested that the air temperature in the auditorium be kept at a regular 65 degrees.

2004 - Green Day

Green Day scored their first UK No.1 album with 'American Idiot' the bands seventh release.

2007 - Shakira

A charitable foundation set up by Shakira donated $40 million (£19.6 million) to help victims of natural disasters. The money would go towards repairing damage caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua. A further $5 million (£2.46 million) would be spent on health and education in four Latin American countries.

2008 - Muse

Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard from Muse was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth, England.

2009 - Jay-Z

Jay-Z started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album charts with 'The Blueprint 3', the rappers eleventh studio album.

2016 - YouTube-mp3.org

Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony and several other record labels filed a law suit against the operators of YouTube-mp3.org, a service that allowed its users to remove audio from videos streamed on YouTube. The court action, launched against a German company, alleged that "tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month."

Birthdays

1925 - Marty Robbins

Marty Robbins, US Country singer, (1960 US No.1 & UK No.19 single 'El Paso'). He died on 8th December 1982.

1926 - Julie London

Julie London, US singer, (1956 US No. 9 & UK No. 22 single 'Cry Me A River'). She died on 18th October 2000.

1941 - Joe Bauer

Joe Bauer, drummer, The Youngbloods, died of a brain tumour in 1982. (1969 US No.5 single 'Get Together').

1945 - Bryan Ferry

English singer and songwriter Bryan Ferry, who with Roxy Music scored the hit singles 'Street Life', 'Love is the Drug', 'Dance Away', 'Angel Eyes', 'Jealous Guy' and 'Avalon'. Ferry has recorded many cover versions of other artists' songs, including standards from the Great American Songbook, in albums such as These Foolish Things (1973).

1947 - Lynn Anderson

Multi-award-winning American country music singer, Lynn Anderson, who scored the 1970 US No.3 & 1971 UK No.3 single 'Rose Garden'. Anderson who charted 12 No.1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hits died on July 30th 2015 aged 67.

1948 - Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John, UK singer, actress, (1978 UK & US No.1 single with John Travolta, 'You're The One That I Want', 1981 US No.1 & UK solo No.7 single 'Physical').

1948 - Tiran Porter

Born on this day American bass and guitar player and singer Tiran Porter best known as a member of The Doobie Brothers from 1972 to 1980 and 1987 to 1992. 'Listen to the Music' gave the group their first big hit in 1972.

1951 - Stuart Tosh

Stuart Tosh, Scottish drummer with Pilot who had the 1975 UK No.1 single 'January'. Tosh has also worked with The Alan Parsons Project, 10cc, Camel, and Roger Daltrey.

1954 - Cesar Rosas

Cesar Rosas guitarist from Los Lobos (Spanish for "the Wolves"), who had the 1987 UK & US No.1 single with their cover version of 'La Bamba', which was a 1958 hit for Ritchie Valens and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.

1954 - Craig Chaquico

Craig Chaquico, Jefferson Starship, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us').

1962 - Tracey Thorn

Tracey Thorn, vocals, Everything But The Girl, (1995 UK No.3 & 1996 US No.2 single 'Missing').

1965 - Cindy Herron

Cindy Herron, vocals, En Vogue, (1992 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'My Lovin').

1972 - Shawn Stockman

Shawn Stockman, from American R&B vocal group Boyz II Men, who had the 1992 US & UK No.1 single 'End Of The Road' which set a new record for longevity, staying at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley.

1981 - Christina Milian

Christina Milian, US singer, (2002 UK No. 3 single 'AM To PM').