| 101 | years ago | 1925 | Songwriter Felice Bryant is born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She co-wrote hit songs with husband Boudleaux Bryant, including The Everly Brothers' All I Have to Do Is Dream and Bye Bye Love. |
| 100 | years ago | 1926 | Voice actor/recording artist Stan Freberg is born in Pasadena, California. |
| 98 | years ago | 1928 | The Platters’ Herb Reed is born. |
| 90 | years ago | 1936 | Charles Pope of The Tams is born in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 87 | years ago | 1939 | Pop singer Ron Holden is born in Seattle, Washington. He'll have a 1960 hit with Love You So. |
| 84 | years ago | 1942 | B. J. Thomas is born. |
| 81 | years ago | 1945 | Kerry Chater of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap is born. |
| 77 | years ago | 1949 | Carlo Novi of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes is born. |
| 74 | years ago | 1952 | Andy Fraser, bassist with Free, is born. |
| 72 | years ago | 1954 | Sh-Boom by The Crew Cuts becomes the fastest-moving record to make an appearance on the music charts. Sh-Boom made it to the Top Ten in only three weeks. It took Elvis and The Beatles to repeat this feat on a regular basis. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | Paul Anka makes his TV debut on American Bandstand. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | The Quarry Men make their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club without Paul McCartney, who was away on a Scout trip. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson is born. |
| 66 | years ago | 1960 | Jacquie O'Sullivan of Bananarama is born in Hendon, London, England. |
| 63 | years ago | 1963 | The original beach movie, Beach Party, debuts. The film stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Music is provided by Dick Dale & the Del Tones. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | TIME Magazine reviews The Beatles' movie Hard Days Night. The headline reads “Beatles Blow It” and advises readers to “avoid this film at all costs.” Life Magazine writes “some Marx Brothers surrealism.” A week later, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner reviews the performances as “amusing and engaging.” |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | Songwriter and musician Ian Dench of EMF is born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | The Beatles' Help! LP hits #1. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | Herman's Hermits hit #1 on the U. S. singles chart with I'm Henry VIII, I Am. It was only released in the U.S. Singer from the group Peter Noone once interviewed Elvis Presley for U. K. music paper New Musical Express. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | The Turtles' remake of Bob Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe is released. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | Dave Clark Five lead singer Mike Smith breaks two ribs when he is pulled off the stage by overzealous fans during a show in Chicago. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | Kristin Hersh, lead singer for Throwing Muses, is born in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Christine McVie joins Fleetwood Mac as the group's first female member. McVie is married at the time to founding member and bass player John McVie. She eventually divorces John and quits touring with the group in 1991. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention record Just Another Band from L.A. at U.C.L.A. It's the last Zappa album to include former Turtles Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The two leave to record on their own as Flo and Eddie. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | The Bee Gees attain their first of seven #1 records in America. It's How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? From here, the group turns to Barry Gibb's falsetto and a disco beat which will jump start their careers. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | The film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar is released, based on the 1971 Broadway rock opera of the same name. Jesus is apparently a tenor. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band and actresss Faye Dunaway are married in a Beverly Hills courtroom. They are back in court five years later for a divorce. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | The Rolling Stones receive a gold album for Made in the Shade. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | Elton John and Kiki Dee begin a four-week run at #1 on the U. S. singles chart with Don't Go Breaking My Heart, giving Elton his sixth U. S. #1. It was also Elton’s first U. K. #1 single. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | U. K. music weekly Melody Maker gives The Sex Pistols their first front cover. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | Led Zeppelin plays their last show in the U. K. at Knebworth Park. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | One of the successes of the year is Rickie Lee Jones. Her debut album goes platinum and kicks out a Top Five hit, Chuck E's in Love. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | At a Marshall Tucker Band show in Long Beach, CA, a fan steals a car and drives it through two banks of metal exit doors and one concrete wall. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | “Wolverton Mountain Day” is declared in Arkansas. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | The animated sci-fi film Heavy Metal is released. Although it shares its name with the Hard-Rock genre, the film isn't intended to have anything to do with music, but instead is an anthology of various stories from the comic magazine Heavy Metal. Almost as an afterthought, an all-star soundtrack is added, featuring songs by Sammy Hagar, Devo, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Black Sabbath, to name a few. While the film does only mediocre at the box office and is scratched by critics for being deeply flawed, it becomes a cult classic for many years based mostly on its soundtrack. |
| 44 | years ago | 1982 | Fleetwood Mac starts a five-week run at #1 on the U. S. album chart with Mirage. It’s the band’s third U.S. #1. Elsewhere, Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners starts a four-week run at #1 on the U. K. singles chart. |
| 40 | years ago | 1986 | An L.A. judge throws out a lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne. The lawsuit had been filed by the parents of a teenager who committed suicide while listening to Ozzy's song, Suicide Solution. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | Lindsey Buckingham quits Fleetwood Mac. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | Back to the Beach opens at theatres around the country. The film reunites Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, who play middle-aged parents with rebellious kids, kids like Frankie and Annette had played in their Bikini Beach movies in the 1960s. |
| 35 | years ago | 1991 | Charges of assault and property damage are filed against Guns 'n' Roses lead singer Axl Rose in connection with a riot during a show in St. Louis. |
| 35 | years ago | 1991 | Paul Simon gives a free concert in Central Park, much as he had in 1981 with partner Art Garfunkel. The performance eventually becomes the album Paul Simon's Concert In The Park. |
| 30 | years ago | 1996 | A federal appeals court overturns the ruling that original Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers members Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago co-wrote the group's biggest hit, 1955's Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, ruling that copyright claims must be filed within three years of the song's publication. |
| 24 | years ago | 2002 | Three members of Oasis are injured when the taxi in whuch they are travelling is involved in a crash during a tour in Indianapolis. Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell, and Jay Darlington are all taken to a hospital and treated for cuts and bruises. |
| 24 | years ago | 2002 | Yes gets a day in their honor in the city of Philadelphia. |
| 23 | years ago | 2003 | The Osmonds receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
| 20 | years ago | 2006 | Barry Manilow cancels some dates at the Las Vegas Hilton while doctors attempt to repair torn cartilage in his hip. |
| 19 | years ago | 2007 | The Isley Brothers' Ron Isley begins serving a 37-month sentence for tax evasion. His request for a reduced sentence because of his health issues doesn't fly with a judge who calls him a “serial tax avoider.” The IRS claimed that Isley failed to pay $3.1 million in taxes. |
| 18 | years ago | 2008 | The Police wrap up their reunion tour at New York's Madison Square Garden. Their first tour since 1986, it lasts 151 shows and finishes as the third highest-grossing of all time. |
| 17 | years ago | 2009 | Green Day rocks the New Orleans Arena for two-and-a-half hours. |
| 15 | years ago | 2011 | Big Boi of OutKast is arrested in Miami on drug charges when police find Ecstasy and Viagra in baggage with his name on it. |
| 14 | years ago | 2012 | Madonna plays a concert in Moscow during which she expresses support for the group Pussy Riot, who have been jailed for performing their song Mother Of God, Putin's Run in a Moscow cathederal. |