| 87 | years ago | 1939 | Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, is born in Chicago. |
| 76 | years ago | 1950 | Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | Crypt-kicker Screamin' Jay Hawkins records I Put a Spell on You for Okeh records in New York City. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | The Coasters record Youngblood, written and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Argo Records releases the Monotones' doo wop classic, Book of Love backed with You Never. Rising to the Top Five on both the pop and R&B charts, Book of Love will be the only success for the vocal sextet from Newark, New Jersey, who built their song on the jingle from a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial. |
| 66 | years ago | 1960 | Pat Boone earns a gold LP for Pat's Great Hits. |
| 65 | years ago | 1961 | The Miracles' Shop Around becomes Motown Records' first million-seller. In the following ten years, Miracles hits will account for six of Motown's million sellers. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | The Beatles play two concerts at New York City's Carnegie Hall. The New York Times' review of the second performance credits the 3,000 fans in the audience as giving the show and The Beatles as merely their accompanists. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | NMES reports The Beatles will appear in a film version of Richard Condon's novel A Talent for Loving, a western about a 1,400-mile horse race. This never takes place. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | The Rolling Stones fly to New York to tape an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which is on the next evening. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | A Well Respected Man by the Kinks peaks at #13 on the pop chart. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | The Who's My Generation peaks at only #74 on the pop chart. Nevertheless, it becomes a rock anthem. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | Simon & Garfunkel's Homeward Bound is released. |
| 59 | years ago | 1967 | Fifteen policemen raid Keith Richards place in West Wittering, Sussex, England. The police find various substances of a suspicious native. Arrests are not made until May 10 when Richards and Mick Jagger will be arraigned on drug charges. |
| 58 | years ago | 1968 | Jimi Hendrix returns home to Seattle where he plays for the students of Garfield High School (which he dropped out from) and receives a key to the city. |
| 58 | years ago | 1968 | Singer Chynna Phillips of Wilson-Phillips is born. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies is born. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Yes releases their classic Roundabout which to this day remains a classic rock staple. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Led Zeppelin's Black Dog peaks at #15 on the pop chart. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Stay With Me by the Faces peaks at #17 on the pop chart. The Faces was a virtual supergroup: Ron Wood, who would go on to The Rolling Stones, on guitar; Kenny Jones, who would go on to drum with The Who, on drums; and on vocals, Rod Stewart. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | New York's legendary rock club, The Bottom Line opens in Greenwich Village. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks earns a gold record. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | Deborah Harry, Blondie's vocalist and sex symbol, confirms that she will be making a solo album, her first, with Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers of Chic. |
| 37 | years ago | 1989 | Tiny Tim declares himself a New York City mayoral candidate. |
| 31 | years ago | 1995 | Philip Taylor Kramer, bassist for Iron Butterfly in the 70’s and now working in the computer industry, drives to Los Angeles International Airport to pick up an investor. He spends 45 minutes at the airport but fails to meet the investor. He does make a flurry of cell phone calls, including one to the police during which he says, “I’m going to kill myself.” He’s never heard from again. After a massive search, many news reports, and talk show segments including an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, America's Most Wanted, The Unexplained, Unsolved Mysteries and others, his skeleton is found in 1999 in a car wreck at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California. |
| 9 | years ago | 2017 | Singer Al Jarreau, a multiple Grammy winner known for his smooth voice and scat singing skills on pop, jazz, and R&B songs like We're In This Love Together, dies in Los Angeles. He was 76. |