| 78 | years ago | 1947 | Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, is born. He dies in 1978. |
| 76 | years ago | 1949 | Rick Springfield is born. |
| 74 | years ago | 1951 | Survivor vocalist Jim Jamison is born. |
| 64 | years ago | 1961 | Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean De Leo is born. |
| 63 | years ago | 1962 | John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell at the Mount Pleasant Registry Office in Liverpool. Paul and George are the only ones there. John is a local celebrity and the couple's hope to keep the marriage quiet is dashed when they were spotted coming out of the registry office. The couple first denied the marriage but later admitted it. Their son Julian is born April 8, 1963. |
| 60 | years ago | 1965 | When hundreds of Rolling Stone fans show up to wait for the group at a BBC TV taping in Manchester, police hose them down. |
| 59 | years ago | 1966 | The Beatles arrive in the Big Apple for their concert at Shea Stadium. Two young female fans of the group threaten to jump from the 22nd floor of the Americana Hotel unless they see the group. Police rescue them and three days later the two are charged with disorderly conduct. |
| 57 | years ago | 1968 | Aretha Franklin's Lady Soul earns a gold LP while the Rascals' People Got to Be Free is awarded a gold 45. |
| 57 | years ago | 1968 | The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Soft Machine play at the New York Rock Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens. |
| 57 | years ago | 1968 | Ringo Starr temporarily quits The Beatles. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | Honky Tonk Women by The Rolling Stones hits #1 on the pop chart. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | The Who's I'm Free peaks at #37 on the chart. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | Blind Faith's self-titled debut album enters the chart. It will eventually hit #1. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | Crosby, Stills and Nash's Marrakesh Express peaks at #28 on the chart, while Chicago's Questions 67 & 68 peaks at #71. |
| 55 | years ago | 1970 | After a gig at the legendary New York club Max's Kansas City, Lou Reed leaves The Velvet Underground, essentially ending the group. |
| 53 | years ago | 1972 | The Looking Glass' Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) hits #1 on the pop chart. |
| 51 | years ago | 1974 | Drummer Max Weinberg joins Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. |
| 50 | years ago | 1975 | Former Free guitarist Paul Kossof's heart stops beating for 35 minutes at London's Northwick Park Hospital. A blood clot in his leg reached his heart which put him in a coma and then his kidneys shut down. He survives it all and goes back to his group, Back Street Crawler. Unfortunately, his health problems do catch up to him and he dies in his sleep on a transatlantic flight the following March. |
| 50 | years ago | 1975 | War's Why Can't We Be Friends? peaks at #6 on the pop chart. |
| 50 | years ago | 1975 | Fleetwood Mac's self-titled LP enters the charts. It's the band's first album with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. |
| 45 | years ago | 1980 | David Bowie tops the British chart for the first time in five years with Ashes To Ashes. |
| 45 | years ago | 1980 | AC/DC's Black In Black LP enters the charts. It's the band's first album with new lead singer Brian Johnson and also their most popular, selling over 10 million. |
| 45 | years ago | 1980 | The Heatwave Festival, a show being billed as the new-wave Woodstock, is held in Ontario, Canada. Acts include The Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and Elvis Costello. |
| 39 | years ago | 1986 | Billy Joel's LP The Bridge enters the album charts. The album featured two Top-Ten hits, Modern Woman and A Matter Of Trust. |
| 35 | years ago | 1990 | Singer Billy Idol begins a tour in Montreal -- this just six months after almost losing his leg in a motorcycle accident. |
| 32 | years ago | 1993 | Duran Duran get a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. |
| 22 | years ago | 2003 | A “Vinyl Record Day” celebration is held for the first time at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. |
| 19 | years ago | 2006 | The Bank of Jamaica finally gets around to selling coins struck by the British Royal Mint to commeorate the 60th anniversary of Bob Marley’s birth, which took place in 2005. 1,000 of the $100 coins were produced. |