English singer-songwriter and musician Tony Hooper died aged 81. He was best known as a founder-member of Strawbs together with Dave Cousins. They scored the 1973 hit 'Part of the Union', which reached No.2 in the UK.

22-year-old X Factor winner Leona Lewis set a British record for the fastest-selling debut album with Spirit. The singer sold more than 375,000 copies in seven days, 12,000 more than the Arctic Monkeys' 2006 release Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. Oasis still had the overall record for the fastest selling British album, selling 813,000 copies in 1997.

A Belgian songwriter won a plagiarism case against Madonna over her 1998 hit single ‘Frozen.’ Salvatore Acquaviva claimed that the song copied one of his recordings, the judge agreed that Madonna's single used four bars of his song ‘Ma Vie Fout L'camp’, which roughly translates as ‘My Life's Getting Nowhere.’

Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, 'Number Ones' was released in the US.

American composer and orchestral arranger Michael Kamen died of a heart attack in London aged 55. Worked with Pink Floyd, Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Rush, Metallica, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush. Kamen co-wrote the Bryan Adams' ballad ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You.’

Britney Spears scored her second US No.1 album with 'Britney.' The album's success made her the first female artist in music history to have her first three studio albums to debut at the No.1 spot. This record however would later be broken by Spears herself with her 4th studio album In the Zone which charted in the same position.

Billy Joel went to No.1 on the US album chart with his sixth studio album, '52nd Street'. His first US No.1 album was also the first commercial album to be released on compact disc (by Sony Music Entertainment) and won Joel the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Bruce Springsteen made his live debut in the UK at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The set list included: Thunder Road, 10th Avenue Freeze-out, Born To Run The 'E' Street Shuffle, Jungleland, 4th of July, Asbury Park, Detroit Medley, For You and Quarter To Three.

Genesis released the double concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel. Genesis promoted the album with their 1974–75 tour across North America and Europe, playing the album in its entirety.

Singer, songwriter Danny Whitten died of a drug overdose aged 29. He was a member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse and writer of 'I Don't Wanna Talk About It', covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose).

Cat Stevens started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Catch Bull At Four'. The title was taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment.

Memphis blues singer and musician Herman 'Junior' Parker died aged 39 during surgery for a brain tumor. Parker was discovered in 1952 by Ike Turner, who signed him to Modern Records. Parker then signed to Sun Records in 1953. There they produced three successful songs including ‘Feelin' Good’ a No.5 on the Billboard R&B charts.

Led Zeppelin III was at No.1 on the UK & US album charts. The original cover and interior gatefold art consisted of a surreal collection of random images. Behind the front cover was a rotatable laminated card disc, covered with more images, including photos of the band members, which showed through holes in the cover. The distinctive cover was based on a suggestion of Jimmy Page's that it should resemble an old-fashioned gardening seed chart. Designed by Richard Drew aka Zacron, the sleeve photographs were taken by fellow Leeds Polytechnic lecturer Martin Salisbury.

The Beatles received silver LP discs for 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles' at a ceremony held at EMI House in London. They also received a silver EP for 'Twist and Shout' and a silver single for 'She Loves You'. The band then attend a cocktail party and a formal lunch in the EMI boardroom with company executives and invited guests. Also on this day, the US NBC news program "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" was the first to air footage (albeit pre-recorded) of The Beatles in concert.

Fats Domino appeared on the US TV Ed Sullivan Show performing 'Blueberry Hill.' Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey. The version by Fats Domino was ranked No.82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Johnny Christ, American bassist, songwriter of Avenged Sevenfold, who had the 2010 US No.1 album Nightmare and the 2013 US No.1 album Hail to the King.

American rapper and singer Fabolous, (John David Jackson), who had the 2009 US No.1 album Loso's Way. On October 10, 2018, he was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey on four felony charges of domestic assault.

British television presenter, former singer, rapper and actor Ant McPartlin. With P.J. & Duncan he had the 1994 UK No. 9 single 'Let's Get Ready To Rhumble'. He is best known for working alongside Declan Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec. McPartlin came to prominence alongside Donnelly, in the children's drama series Byker Grove.

Matt Knight, from British alternative rock band, Toploader who had the 2000 UK No.7 single with of 'Dancing In The Moonlight', a cover of the French-American rock group King Harvest. Their debut album, Onka's Big Moka, sold over one million units and peaked in the top five of the UK Albums Chart, where it remained for six months; it earned them four nominations at the 2001 Brit Awards.

English pop singer Kim Wilde (the eldest child of 1950s rock and roller Marty Wilde), who had the 1981 UK No.2 single 'Kids In America' and the 1987 US No.1 single with a reworked version of the Supremes' song 'You Keep Me Hanging On'. Between 1981 and 1996, she had 25 singles that charted within the Top 50 of the UK singles chart. She branched into an alternative career as a landscape gardener, which has included presenting gardening shows on the BBC and Channel 4. In 2005, she won a Gold award for her courtyard garden at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show.

Laura Lynch, American country musician and songwriter, a founding member of the all-woman country music band the Dixie Chicks. They scored the 1999 US No.1 album Wide Open Space. By July 2020, with 33 million certified albums sold and sales of 27.9 million albums in the US, the Chicks had become the best-selling all-woman band and best-selling country group. Lynch died in a traffic collision on 22 December 2023 near El Paso, Texas, at the age of 65.

Charles Williams, singer with American disco and funk group KC and the Sunshine Band who had the 1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', and the 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up'.

English musician, singer, and songwriter John Parr, best known for his 1985 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'St Elmo's Fire'. He has written and performed 10 major motion picture theme songs, including the themes for Three Men and a Baby and The Running Man. Parr was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'St. Elmo's Fire' in 1985.

American guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who founded the all-female hard rock/glam metal band Vixen. Several singles released by the band from 1988 to 1990 reached the Billboard Hot 100, including the Top 40 singles 'Edge of a Broken Heart' at No. 26, and 'Cryin'' at No. 22. Kuehnemund died in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at age 59, on October 10, 2013, after a nine-month-long battle with cancer.

Cuban-American hard rock/heavy metal bassist Rudy Sarzo, who worked with Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again'). He has also worked with Dio, Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne.

Herman Rarebell, from German rock band Scorpions. Their 1990 power ballad Wind of Change topped the European charts and was a No.4 hit in the US. The Scorpions hold the record for the best-selling single by a German artist and band.

Michael Carabello one of three percussionists in the Latin rock group Santana between 1968 and 1971, during the recording of their first three albums, Santana, Abraxas and Santana III.

Irish musician Con Clusky. As a member of the Harmonichords, he appeared on Hughie Green's Opportunity Knocks on Radio Luxembourg and on The Ed Sullivan Show St. Patrick's Day special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), in which they played 'Danny Boy'. In 1960, they changed their name to the Bachelors at the suggestion of Dick Rowe, A&R at Decca Records, who reportedly recommended the name "because that's the kind of boy a girl likes". They scored many hits including (1963); "Diane", "I Believe" (1964), "Ramona" and "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" (1964). Cluskey died on 8 April 2022, aged 86.

American singer and songwriter Hank Ballard. He was the lead vocalist of the Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He later wrote and originally recorded (in 1959) 'The Twist' which was notably covered a year later by Chubby Checker, this second version spreading the popularity of the dance. He died on 2 March 2003, age 75 of throat cancer in his Los Angeles home.

American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Don Cherry, (the father of Neneh and Eagle Eye Cherry). Beginning in the late 1950s, he had a long tenure performing in the bands of saxophonist Ornette Coleman, including on the pioneering free jazz albums The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) and Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1961). Cherry died on 19th October 1995.

American lyricist, songwriter, and singer Johnny Mercer. He became a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs. He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but also composed music and was a popular singer who recorded his own as well as others' songs from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. Mercer's songs were among the most successful hits of the time, including 'Moon River', 'Days of Wine and Roses', 'Autumn Leaves', and 'Hooray for Hollywood'. He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received 19 Oscar nominations and won 4 Best Original Song Oscars. Mercer died on June 25, 1976, aged 66, from an inoperable brain tumour.