| 82 | years ago | 1944 | Roger Daltrey of The Who is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | Rock and Rollin' With Fats Domino, his first long-playing album, is released on the Imperial label. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | Chess Records releases Chuck Berry's School Days. Also, Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat Song (Day-O) debuts in U.K. where it will make it to #3. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | Petula Clark's first U.S. hit, Downtown is awarded a gold record. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | In Liverpool, over 100 youths barricade themselves inside the recently closed Cavern Club, where The Beatles began. They are upset about the club closing due to bankruptcy and at the same time keep the police out of the club. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | At Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, Jim Morrison of the Doors is arrested for allegedly exposing his penis during the show. Morrison is officially charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent behavior, open profanity, and public drunkenness. He is found guilty in March 1970 of indecent exposure and profanity. His sentence totaling eight months hard labor and a $500 fine, is on appeal when Morrison dies in Paris in 1971. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | The Eagles begin to record their first album in London. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | The New York Joffrey Ballet gives its first performance of its Deuce Coupe Ballet, which is set entirely to Beach Boys music. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Winners of the 17th annual Grammy Awards for 1974 are announced during ceremonies at the Hollywood Palladium. Olivia Newton John wins Record of the Year for I Honestly Love You (which also earns her Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). Album of the Year is Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale (he wins Best Male Pop Vocal Performance). Song of the Year is The Way We Were. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | In Santa Monica, California, Sara Lowndes Dylan files for divorce from her husband of eleven years, Bob Dylan. The divorce is granted in June and she is given custody of their 5 kids and possession of their million-dollar home. Sara was the subject of such songs as Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Lay Lady Lay, and Sara. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Manfred Mann gets their first gold record for Blinded by the Light, one of the several Bruce Springsteen songs covered by the group. The song hit #1 last month, 13 years after Mann's first #1 song, Do Wah Diddy Diddy. |
| 46 | years ago | 1980 | New York rock poet and singer Patti Smith marries veteran Detroit underground rocker and one-time MC5 member Fred “Sonic” Smith in Detroit. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | Sean Woolstenhulme of Lifehouse is born. |
| 44 | years ago | 1982 | Swan Song Records releases the soundtrack of the film Death Wish II, written and produced by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. It's Page's first solo LP. |
| 43 | years ago | 1983 | New Orleans' power rock trio Zebra opens for Aerosmith at the Nassau Coliseum near New York. A newspaper review says, “With the capacity crowd's response to Zebra's electrifying performance so overwhelming, Steven Tyler and company declined to take the stage for an hour and a half in order to allow everyone to simmer down. Unfortunately for them, the delaying tactic backfired … When the headliners eventually did appear, a renewed chorus of Zebra cheers greeted them.” Zebra would release its first album later that month. |
| 31 | years ago | 1995 | The 1994 Grammy winners are announced. Sheryl Crow wins Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Song for All I Wanna Do while Tony Bennett's Unplugged LP wins Best Album. |
| 31 | years ago | 1995 | R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry has to leave the stage during a Switzerland concert after having a brain aneurysm. |
| 21 | years ago | 2005 | Heather Mills McCartney, Beatle Paul's wife, and Rick Wakeman of Yes campaign this week in Brussels, Belgium for a ban on cat and dog fur in the European Union. |
| 21 | years ago | 2005 | Queen Elizabeth II meets four of Britain's most famous guitarists and asks them: “And what do you do?” Brian May of Queen, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton are guests at the Buckingham Palace party to honor the British music industry. Other guests include Cahrlotte Church, Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey, Roger Daltry of The Who, and Phil Collins. |