| 72 | years ago | 1954 | Chris Difford of Squeeze is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | The man who later will be known as Soul Brother #1, James Brown, has his first chart entry when Please, Please, Please debuts on the R&B chart. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Stuart Adamson of Big Country is born. |
| 65 | years ago | 1961 | Bob Dylan makes his New York City stage debut at Gerde's Folk City, a small Greenwich Village club, opening for bluesman John Lee Hooker. |
| 63 | years ago | 1963 | Parlophone releases From Me to You backed with Thank You Girl. The Beatles third single, it will be their first to hit #1 in the U.K. Neither side will be released in the U.S. until a year later. Vee Jay will pair From Me to You (#41) with Please Please Me (#3) and Thank You Girl (#35) with Do You Want to Know a Secret (#2). |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | Both The Beatles and Rolling Stones perform at the New Musical Express poll winners' concert. Also performing are Freddie and the Dreamers, the Animals, Kinks, Searchers, Seekers, Herman's Hermits, Moody Blues, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Donovan, Them, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, and Tom Jones. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | NBC broadcasts the last episode of Hullabaloo which features Paul Anka, Lesley Gore, Peter and Gordon, and the Cyrkle. The show started in January 1965, a year after ABC came up with Shindig! |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Paul McCartney announces a “temporary break with The Beatles,” citing “personal differences” and adding that he will no longer record with John Lennon. His actions are linked to disapproval of Yoko Ono and of Beatles financial advisor Allen Klein. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Peter Green, founding member of Fleetwood Mac, announces he will leave the band on May 25 to devote himself to “what God would have me do.” |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Nice organist Keith Emerson and ex-King Crimson bass player Greg Lake are reportedly checking out drummers for a new trio in London. With the addition of Carl Palmer, they'll become art-rock supergroup Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The Beatles Let It Be single hits #1 on the chart and will stay there for 2 weeks. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Dylan Keefe of Marcy Playground is born. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | After doing a show for 40,000 in Sydney, Australia, Alice Cooper is placed under house arrest at his hotel until he posts a bond for $59,632. It's the sum a local promoter claims to have paid Cooper for an 1975 Australia tour he never made. The two settle when it is found that the promoter did not fulfill his part of the agreement either. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | Van Halen lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen weds Valerie Bertinelli, costar of the 1980's television hit, One Day at a Time. |
| 43 | years ago | 1983 | Dave Prater of Sam & Dave is killed in an automobile accident. |
| 36 | years ago | 1990 | Elton John and Michael Jackson are among those who attend the funeral of teen-age AIDS victim Ryan White. |
| 20 | years ago | 2006 | A magazine interview released today says Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have moved back to Los Angeles to patch up their rocky marriage. |
| 14 | years ago | 2012 | The Historic New Orleans Collection hosts a book-release party. Journalist, folklorist, musician, and producer Ben Sandmel signs copies of his new book entitled Ernie K-Doe: The R & B Emperor of New Orleans. Another signing party is held four days later at Octavia Books in New Orleans. |
| 9 | years ago | 2017 | John Warren Geils Jr., the artist known professionally as J. Geils who gave his name to the 1980s rock group he founded, The J. Geils Band, is found dead in his Groton, Mass., home. He was 71. |