| 90 | years ago | 1936 | The late, great Bobby Darin is born Robert Walden Cassato in the Bronx, New York. |
| 83 | years ago | 1943 | Cream bassist Jack Bruce is born. |
| 74 | years ago | 1952 | David Byrne, vocalist with the Talking Heads, is born. |
| 73 | years ago | 1953 | Red Rider vocalist Tom Cochrane is born. |
| 71 | years ago | 1955 | Bo Diddley's Bo Diddley backed with I'm a Man debuts on the R&B chart. It will go to #2, making it his most successful record. The A side introduces what will be known as the Bo Diddley beat. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | Mercury records releases The Platters, the million-selling group's first album. Although in the next several years it will sell over 50,000 copies, it contains none of their recent hits. |
| 67 | years ago | 1959 | New Orleans native Sidney Bechet, a jazz virtuoso on both the clarinet and the soprano saxophone, dies on his birthday in Paris at the age of sixty-two. |
| 64 | years ago | 1962 | Ian Astbury of The Cult is born, as is C. C. Deville. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | A Billboard article notes “London Records is preparing a giant promotion on behalf of the Rolling Stones, a hot British group which has scored so strongly in Britain with its smash single 'Not Fade Away' and the album 'The Rolling Stones.'” The same issue carries a full page ad from London Records that reads: “WATCH OUT USA...HERE THEY ARE! THE Rolling Stones ! THEY'RE GREAT! THEY'RE OUTRAGEOUS! THEY'RE REBELS! THEY SELL! THEY'RE ENGLAND'S HOTTEST -- BUT HOTTEST -- GROUP!” |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | The Kingsmen, who's Louie Louie was #2 on the pop chart in 1963, enter the Hot 100 for the ninth and last time with a re-released Louie Louie. It's only on the charts for two weeks, going to #97. However, the tune incites controversy over its unintelligible, but assumed obscene lyrics. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | Milli Vanilli’s Fabrice Morvan is born. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | Jeanne Genie the Taylor Franklin dies in a London car accident which also claims Fairport Convention drummer Martin Lamble. Genie the Taylor started designing rock stars' clothes four years earlier. Her clients included: the Lovin' Spoonful, Jefferson Airplane, Donovan, Tiny Tim, the Rascals, Mamas and the Papas, Jimi Hendrix, the Turtles, and Eric Burdon and the Animals. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina's first LP, Sittin' In, goes gold. The two actually got together by accident. Messina was going to produce a solo effort for Loggins, but the two had such a rapport that Messina was persuaded to perform. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Three Dog Night's The Show Must Go On turns out to be the group’s last gold record. The song reaches #4 on the pop chart is also the band's last Top Twenty single. The group had eleven gold records, three of which -- Joy to the World, Mama Told Me Not to Come and Black and White-- hit #1. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | Former Yardbirds lead singer and co-founder of Renaissance Keith Relf is electrocuted. It happens in his West London home where he is found alongside a plugged-in electric guitar by his eight-year-old son. He is pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital. He was 33 years old. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys is born. |
| 38 | years ago | 1988 | Atlantic Records celebrates its 40th anniversary with a star-studded gala at New York's Madison Square Garden. The televised cable show features reunions of Led Zeppelin, the Bee Gees, Rascals, Genesis and Crosby, Stills & Nash. There also are appearances by Wilson Pickett, the Coasters, Foreigner, Yes, and others. |
| 28 | years ago | 1998 | “The Chairman Of The Board,” singer Frank Sinatra dies at age 82 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are among the mourners at the funeral on May 20. |
| 11 | years ago | 2015 | Blues legend B. B. King dies in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas at age 89. |