A man pleaded guilty to a charge of murder more than 20 years after the fatal ambush shooting of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay. Jay Bryant, changed his plea to guilty, telling a judge that he helped others get into a building to ambush and kill Jay Mizell, the pioneering rap star. The 2002 shooting sent shock waves through the music industry. The influential act he formed with Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniel, famous for 1980s tracks such as It's Tricky, It's Like That and Aerosmith collaboration Walk This Way, disbanded after his death.

Canadian guitarist and vocalist Tim Bachman died age 71 after battling cancer. He was best known as a member of Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO) and scored the 1974 US No.1 hit 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'. Bachman was one of the four founding members of BTO, a group that have sold nearly 30 million albums worldwide and also featured his brothers Randy (guitar/vocals) and Robbie (drums).

Ed Sheeran sang and played guitar to a New York jury at a civil trial that would decide whether he copied Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On. For roughly an hour, Sheeran described his entire musical career and performed parts of the song in question, 'Thinking Out Loud'. Heirs of Gaye's co-writer were claiming that he stole elements of the chart-topping hit. Sheeran also reportedly told the packed courtroom: "I'm not the world's most talented guitar player." Sheeran later won the case.

American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer Bobby Lewis died aged 95. He is best known for his 1961 hit singles 'Tossin’ and Turnin'' (number 1 for seven weeks on the Billboard chart in the summer of 1961) and 'One Track Mind'.

Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer's hit 'Louie Louie' reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene.

Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell appeared in court after being arrested over a domestic dispute. The arrest came after a caller from the singers' home phoned the emergency services and then hung up. Simon told a Superior Court judge in Norwalk, Connecticut, he had a rare argument with his wife on Saturday night at their home and they were now fine.

Scorpions drummer James Kottak was sentenced to one month in jail in Dubai for offensive behaviour after an incident at Dubai airport on 3 April of this year. He was convicted of insulting Islam, raising his middle finger and being under the influence of alcohol.

Emeli Sande set a new record for the most consecutive weeks on the UK's Official Album Chart top 10 of any debut album. 'Our Version Of Events' was released in February 2012 and went on to become the biggest selling album that year. The album hadn't dropped out of the top 10 since its release and had been in the UK's Official Album Chart for 63 weeks. The 26-year-old singer had overtaken The Beatles who previously held the record.

A TV commercial for insurance featuring Iggy Pop was ruled as misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority. In the advert, the singer was seen exclaiming that he had an insurance policy with Swiftcover but the company did not cover musicians at the time of the ad being shown. Swiftcover had since started to offer policies to musicians and stated that Mr Pop would continue to endorse the company.

Scott Weiland singer with The Stone Temple Pilots was sentenced to 192 hours in county jail for his November 2007 drink driving offence. He was also fined $2000, required to complete an 18-month alcohol programme and was placed on probation for four years.

ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus was accused of avoiding paying 87m Swedish kronor (£6.5m) in taxes on the band's hit songs and musicals. The Swedish government was demanding he repaid the money. Abba sold over 370 million records and he also co-wrote the musical Mamma Mia.

Apple launched the iTunes store, the first widely successful legal music download service. Available only to Mac users, the store let US-based customers download the music they wanted for just 99 cents per song, without subscription fees. Apple also offered groundbreaking personal use rights, including burning songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for personal use and playing songs on up to three Macintosh computers.

Sugababes scored their first UK No.1 single with 'Freak Like Me.' The song was originally by American Adina Howard (1995) and was mixed with the synth line from Gary Numan's 1979 hit 'Are 'Friends' Electric?'.

Paul Atkinson was jailed for three years after being found guilty of stealing more than £25,000 from Rolling Stone Charlie Watts. Atkinson had been the manager of an Arabian stud farm owned by Watts.

A blaze swept through James Brown Enterprises, the office that co-ordinate the superstar's tours. Nobody was injured, but memorabilia and live tapes were destroyed in the blaze. An employee was later arrested charged with arson.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During the unveiling ceremony, which took place only a week after the release of his and the Heartbreakers’ album, Echo, Petty was humble about the accolade, describing it as "pretty unbelievable" and admitting to the assembled crowd, "We used to walk up and down this street and look at the stars and never dreamed we would ever have one."

The tour bus carrying The Clint Boon Experience was involved in a near fatal accident when it was involved in a crash outside Glasgow. Members of the band had to be airlifted to hospital.

Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band debuted at No.1 on the US albums chart, ending the Titanic soundtrack's 16-week run at the top. Fans got a glimpse of the band's darker side with the moody lead single, 'Don't Drink The Water.'

Guns N' Roses leader Axl Rose married Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers Don at Cupid's Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They divorced in January 1991 after a stormy nine months of marriage.

The California State Assembly consumer-protection-committee heard testimony from "experts" who claimed that when 'Stairway To Heaven' was played backward, contained the words: "I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan."

Former T. Rex member Steve Currie was killed in a car crash returning to his home near Vale de Parra, Algarve, Portugal, he was 33 years old. Joined T. Rex (recently renamed from Tyrannosaurus Rex) as bass guitarist in late 1970, also worked as a session player, played on 'Motorbikin' by Chris Spedding.

Marshall Tucker Band bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injuries from a car accident aged 30 in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Caldwell was the original frontman for the Marshall Tucker Band between 1973 and 1980.

Taken from the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, Blondie's 'Heart Of Glass' was at No.1 on the US chart, the first of their four chart-toppers in the US. Debbie Harry and Chris Stein wrote an early version of 'Heart of Glass', called 'Once I Had a Love', in 1974–75. This original version was inspired by The Hues Corporation's hit disco song 'Rock the Boat'.

The movie FM, about a radio station with a motley collection of DJs, was released in the US. Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffett and REO Speedwagon all appeared in the film. The theme song from the movie Steely Dan's 'FM (No Static at All)' won engineers Al Schmitt and Roger Nichols the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appeared at the Grand Ole Opry at the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, the first time a rock band has played the Opry since The Byrds in 1968.

David Bowie released 'Starman' as a single in the UK, which became his first hit since 1969's 'Space Oddity' three years before. The song was a late addition to the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars included at the insistence of RCA’s Dennis Katz, who heard a demo and loved the track, believing it would make a great single. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien 'Starman'.

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon went to No.1 in the US. The album went on to enjoy a record-breaking 741 discontinuous weeks on the Billboard chart, and has now sold over 45 million copies world-wide. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks there, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006.

British rock band Wishbone Ash released their third album Argus, which is considered a landmark album in the progression of twin-lead guitar harmonisation, later adopted by bands such as Thin Lizzy Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Their most commercially and critically successful album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. The album cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey "Po" Powell of the design company Hipgnosis. The cover prompted Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin to contact Hipgnosis and ask them to design the cover for their 1973 album Houses Of The Holy.

The self-titled, debut album by Chicago Transit Authority was released. For their next album, the group shorten their name to Chicago. The group was later nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year and the album stayed on the Billboard 200 for 171 weeks, beating the previous record for a rock album's longevity of 155 weeks.

The Broadway musical Hair opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City. The show featured the songs 'Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In', 'Good Morning Starshine' and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972.

The Beatles recorded the TV special ‘Around The Beatles’ at Wembley studios England. As well as performing songs they played Act V Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ with John playing the female role of Thisbe, Paul as Pyramus, George as Moonshine and Ringo as Lion. Paul later named his cat Thisbe.

American singer and songwriter Melanie Martinez. She rose to fame in 2012 after appearing on season 3 of the American television talent show The Voice. Her debut studio album Cry Baby peaked at No. 6 on the US chart.

Tom Ogden, English singer and guitarist best known as the frontman of the indie pop band Blossoms. Their self-titled debut studio album peaked at No.1 on the UK chart in Aug 2016. Their albums Foolish Loving Spaces (2020) Ribbon Around the Bomb (2022) and Gary (2024) all peaked at No.1 on the UK charts. The band take their name from The Blossoms public house at the corner of Bramhall Lane and Buxton Road in Stockport, Cheshire, UK.

Bigg Gipp (born Cameron Gipp), US rapper, member of Goodie Mob, features on the US No.1 single ‘Grillz’ by Nelly with Ali & Paul Wall.

American rapper, record producer and professional wrestler, Joseph Frank Bruce known by his stage name Violent J. He is part of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and a co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records.

English singer, Mica Paris, who had the 1988 UK No.7 single, 'My One Temptation'.

Daisy Berkowitz, with American rock band Marilyn Manson who had the 1998 US No.1 album, Mechanical Animals.

Howard Donald, Take That (1995 UK No.1 single 'Back For Good' and seven other UK No.1 singles, 1993 UK No.1 album 'Everything Changes spent 78 weeks on the UK chart). Re-formed without Robbie Williams in 2006 for a sold-out European tour. Topped the UK singles and album charts simultaneously for the first time in their career when the single ‘Patience’ and album Beautiful World both reached No.1 in Dec 2006.

American rapper Todd Anthony Shaw better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort). A pioneer of West Coast hip hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late 1980s. He is one of few acts to have worked with both Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. during the height of their respective careers.

English musician Phil King, best known for being the bassist of Lush. Since 2007, he has been the touring bass player for The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Scottish-born Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. Barnes has achieved 15 solo No.1 albums in Australia, more than any other artist. Additionally, Barnes achieved five more as the lead singer of Cold Chisel, bringing his combined sum to 20 No.1 albums in Australia.

Eddie Jobson, English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers who with Curved Air had the 1971 UK No.4 single 'Back Street Luv'. Jobson has also worked with Roxy Music, Jethro Tull and Frank Zappa.

Kim Gordon, bassist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten.

American musician Chuck Leavell who was a member of the The Allman Brothers Band during the height of their 1970s popularity. He is the longtime keyboardist and musical director with The Rolling Stones and Leavell has also toured and recorded with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour and John Mayer.

American jazz guitarist Steve Khan. He was a member of the R&B band Friends of Distinction and as a session musician, he appeared on albums by Ashford & Simpson, Rupert Holmes, Billy Joel and Steely Dan.

American drummer John Wolters who was a member of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (shortened to Dr. Hook in 1975). They had the 1972 UK No.2 and US No.5 single 'Sylvia's Mother' and in the same year a hit with 'The Cover of Rolling Stone'. Wolters died of liver cancer on 16 June 1997.

American soul singer The Fantastic Johnny C, (Johnny Corley), best known for his 1967 top ten hit ‘Boogaloo Down Broadway'.