2024
'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' by Shaboozey was at No.1 on the US singles chart. The song eventually tied with 'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X as the longest-running No.1 song of all time on the Billboard Hot 100 with 19 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart, and the longest by a solo artist. The song also made Shaboozey the first male black artist to chart at No.1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts at the same time. In addition, it spent seven weeks at No.1 on the latter chart, surpassing the record for the longest-running number one debut single previously set by Carrie Underwood's 'Jesus, Take the Wheel'.
2019
Kim Shattuck lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band The Muffs and former
Pixies bassist died after a two-year-long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis age 56.
2019
Barrie Masters, lead singer with the British pub rock band Eddie & The Hot Rods, died age 63. Formed in Canvey Island, Essex in 1975, they were part of the pub rock scene and were best known for their top 10 hit in 1977, 'Do Anything You Wanna Do'.
2017
American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer
Tom Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in cardiac arrest and was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died at 8:40 pm. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later announced that Petty had died accidentally from mixed drug toxicity. He was the lead singer and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, and was also a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. In his career, he sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
2012
British session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan (born James George Tomkins) died at the age of 71. Sullivan started his career in 1959 as a member of Marty Wilde’s band and when Wilde bought Sullivan a Gibson Les Paul guitar, it was allegedly the first in Britain. Sullivan taught future
Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to play guitar, as well as helping Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe on his road to success. He featured on 55 No.1 hits, and worked with
George Harrison,
Frank Zappa, Thunderclap Newman, Love Affair, Long John Baldry, Marmalade and The Tremeloes. During
Jimmy Page's session career, he was known as ‘Little Jim’, to differentiate him from Big Jim.
2009
Mumford & Sons released their debut album 'Sigh No More' in the UK. It peaked at No. 2 on 20 February 2011, in its 72nd week on the chart following its Album of the Year win at the 2011 BRIT Awards. In early 2011, the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US. In the United States, it was the 3rd most digitally-downloaded album of 2011, selling 761,000 copies
2007
Britney Spears was ordered to hand over her two young children to her former husband Kevin Federline by a judge in Los Angeles. The court ruled that Federline would be given custody of Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James, until further notice. Last month Judge Scott Gordon had said Ms Spears showed "a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol." The singer was ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week as part of her child custody dispute with Mr Federline.
2006
British singer, songwriter Katie Melua entered the Guinness Book of Records for playing the deepest underwater concert. This took palce 303 metres below sea level on the Norwegian Statoil's Troll A platform in the North Sea. Melua and her band underwent extensive medical tests and survival training in Norway before the concert. Melua later described achieving the record as "the most surreal gig I have ever done".
2004
Billy Joel married 23-year-old Kate Lee at his Centre Island, New York mansion. Lee, a TV restaurant critic, began dating the singer the previous year. It was the third marriage for Joel. His second wife, Christie Brinkley, attended the union and gave the couple her blessing. On June 17, 2009, Joel and Lee announced their separation.
2003
Police were called to a suspected burglary at the Los Angeles house of Courtney Love's former boyfriend and ex-manager Jim Barber in the early hours. Ms Love was picked up in the street outside and detained - with officers noting "Miss Love's behaviour was consistent with being under the influence of a controlled substance". Shortly after her arrest, Ms Love was taken to hospital with a suspected drug overdose.
2003
A pair of trousers worn in 1984 by the late
Queen star
Freddie Mercury were sold to the Hard Rock Cafe for £4,230 at a Christie's auction of pop memorabilia held in London, England. A wooden sculpture of a cupboard, designed by
John Lennon, claimed the highest price of the day, £28,200. Hundreds of items related to
The Beatles, The
Rolling Stones, and
Jimi Hendrix also went under the hammer at the sale.
2002
Adam Ant escaped a prison sentence after a judge ruled that an incident in which he threatened drinkers with a replica pistol in a London pub was a result of mental illness. The 1980s pop star had been voluntarily having psychiatric treatment since the incident.
2002
Robbie Williams signed the most lucrative British record deal in history when he signed with EMI records for £80m. Asked what he was going to do with money Robbie said, "I'm going to count it all."
2001
Actor Kevin Spacey hosted Come Together: A Night for
John Lennon's Words and Music at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Performers include,
Alanis Morissette, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots and the Dave Mathews Band. The evening was closed with those present singing 'Give Peace A Chance'.
1998
America's singing cowboy Gene Autry died aged 91. During his career, he scored 25 successive Top 10 Country hits. In 1995 it was estimated he was worth $320 million. The only performer to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in all five categories (music, film, TV, radio, and live performance), Autry’s influence was far-reaching. In addition to appearing in 93 films and hosting The Gene Autry Show in the 50s, Autry was a pioneering country artist.
1996
A
Pearl Jam show in Hartford Connecticut ended in a riot when mass fighting broke out among the 30,000 strong crowds.
1995
Oasis released their second album '(What's The Story), Morning Glory', which entered the UK chart at No.1. In addition to featuring such genre-defining hits as 'Wonderwall,' 'Champagne Supernova,' and 'Don’t Look Back in Anger,' the Britpop classic became the UK’s highest-selling album of the decade and the second-longest charting album on the UK charts. With more than 22 million copies sold worldwide, it also remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.
1995
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and
Kylie Minogue released the duet 'Where the Wild Roses Grow'. The song later won 1996 ARIA Awards: 'Single of the Year', 'Song of the Year' and 'Best Pop Release'.
1983
Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler was at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Jim Steinman written and produced track 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. It made her the only Welsh artist to score a US No.1.
1982
Peter Gabriel and Steve Hacket joined their former band mates in
Genesis for a one-time benefit performance at The Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England to help raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD project (World of Music, Arts and Dance).
1982
Dire Straits started a four-week run at No.1 on UK album charts with Love Over Gold. The album, which has just five tracks, featured two singles: 'Private Investigations', which reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart, and 'Industrial Disease', which reached No. 9 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. 'Telegraph Road' is the album’s opening track and, at over 14 minutes, its longest.
1982
John Mellencamp (then performing as John Cougar) started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Jack and Diane', his first US No.1 became a No.25 hit in the UK. In 2014, Mellencamp revealed that the song was originally about an interracial couple, where Jack was African American and not a football star, but the record company persuaded him to change it.
1982
Musical Youth were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pass The Dutchie'. The group were made up of Birmingham school boys, aged 11-16. The song was a cover of The Mighty Diamonds song called 'Pass The Kutchie', a slang term for a cannabis smoking pipe, but the word was changed to avoid the song being banned for it's drug reference.
1981
The Police went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Ghost In The Machine, the band's third No.1 LP. The album produced the highly successful singles 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', 'Invisible Sun', and 'Spirits in the Material World'. Much of the material on the album was inspired by Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist Arthur Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine. Koestler said he was "slightly tickled" by the homage.
1980
Leaveil Degree from the soul group The Whispers started a two-year prison sentence in Boron California for his part in diamond robbery.
1977
The body of
Elvis Presley and his mother Gladys were moved from the cemetery where they were buried to Graceland's after an unsuccessful attempt was made to body snatch the coffin.
1971
Rod Stewart started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Maggie May / Reason To Believe', his first solo No.1. Stewart's album Every Picture Tells A Story also started a four-week run on this day at No.1 on the UK and US chart. 'Maggie May' was recorded in just two takes in one session. Drummer Micky Waller often arrived at recording sessions with the expectation that a drum kit would be provided and, for 'Maggie May', it was – except that no cymbals could be found. The cymbal crashes had to be overdubbed separately some days later.
1970
Pink Floyd released their fifth, and first UK No.1 album Atom Heart Mother in the UK. The original album cover shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text, nor any other clue as to what might be on the record. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol's famous ‘cow wallpaper,’ has said that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar, England and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow's owner identified her name as ‘Lulubelle III’.
1967
All six members of the
Grateful Dead were busted by California narcotics agents for possession of marijuana at the groups' 710 Ashbury Street House in San Francisco, California.
1965
The McCoys were at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hang On Sloopy’ (No.5 in the UK when released on Andrew Oldham’s new Immediate label). The song was first released by The Vibrations and called ‘My Girl Sloopy’.
1961
Phil Spector and partner Lester Sill released the first single on their new label Philles, The Crystals’, ‘Oh Yeah Maybe Baby.’ A little over a year later, they had a No.1 hit with ‘He’s a Rebel,’ and soon after, ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ and ‘Then He Kissed Me.’
1960
'Stay' by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs entered the US chart on its way to No.1. At just 1:37, it becomes the shortest US chart topper in Rock and Roll history.
1988
American musician Brittany Howard, best known as lead vocalist and guitarist of Alabama Shakes and Thunderbitch. Their second record, Sound & Color, released in 2015 debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, and won four Grammy Awards.
1974
Canadian rock singer-songwriter Sam Roberts. His debut EP The Inhuman Condition, reached the Canadian charts in 2002. Roberts has been nominated, together with his band, for fifteen Juno Awards, winning six, including Artist of the Year twice (2004 and 2009) and Album of the Year once (2004).
1973
Lene G Nystrom, from Danish eurodance group Aqua, who scored the 1997 UK No.1 single 'Barbie Girl', a song that topped the charts worldwide. The group sold an estimated 33 million albums and singles, making them the most profitable Danish band ever.
1971
Jim Root, American musician, songwriter and guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist for the American heavy metal band Slipknot and the former lead guitarist for the American alternative metal band Stone Sour.
1971
American pop singer Tiffany. Her 1987 cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells song 'I Think We're Alone Now' spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Outside of music, Tiffany posed nude in Playboy and has guest-starred on several reality television shows.
1969
English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Badly Drawn Boy, (Damon Gough). He had the 2002 UK No.9 single 'You Were Right', and the 2002 UK No. 10 album, Have You Fed The Fish.
1967
American singer-songwriter Gillian Welch who performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. In 2020, Welch and Rawlings released All the Good Times (Are Past & Gone), which won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. In 2024, Welch and Rawlings released Woodland, which would win the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album, currently making Welch and Rawlings the only duo to win the award more than once.
1962
Norwegian musician Sigtryggur Baldursson, who was the drummer with the Icelandic alternative rock band The Sugarcubes. The Sugarcubes' debut album, Life's Too Good (1988), was an unexpected international success and produced their signature song 'Birthday'. It is credited as the first Icelandic album to have a worldwide impact and influenced Icelandic popular music.
1961
American pop singer and songwriter Robbie Nevil. He had five Billboard top 40 hits, including his songs 'C'est la Vie' (No.2, 1986), 'Dominoes' (No.14, 1987), and 'Wot's It to Ya' (No.10, 1987). He went on to work on Disney projects, including The Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, and Hannah Montana as well as writing and producing other acts such as Babyface, Jessica Simpson, Destiny's Child.
1960
Al Connelly from the Canadian rock band Glass Tiger who had the 1986 No.1 in Canada and US No.2 hit in the United States with 'Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone'. (The song features backing vocals by fellow Canadian Bryan Adams). Glass Tiger received five Canadian music industry Juno Awards as well as being nominated Best New Artist at the 1986 Grammy Awards.
1956
American R&B singer Freddie Jackson. He began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are 'Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)' (1985), 'Have You Ever Loved Somebody' (1986) and 'Jam Tonight' (1986).
1955
Phil Oakey singer, songwriter with The Human League. Formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US No.1 hit 'Don't You Want Me'. The Human League has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
1952
English guitarist and singer-songwriter John Otway. He had the 1977 UK No.27 single 'Really Free', with Wild Willy Barrett and the 2002 UK No.7 single 'Bunsen Burner'. On 2 April 2022, Otway played his 5,000th career gig, which, as a milestone event, was held at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, UK.
1951
English singer, songwriter and musician
Sting (Gordon Sumner), who with
The Police, had the 1983 UK & US No.1 single 'Every Breath You Take', plus 4 other UK No.1 singles. Their second album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979), became the first of four consecutive No.1 studio albums in the UK. As a solo artists the 1990 UK No.15 single 'Englishman In New York' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles. As a solo musician and a member of The Police, he received 16 Grammy Awards and has sold over 100 million records.
1950
English guitarist, bassist and songwriter Mike Rutherford, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band
Genesis, who had the 1986 US No.1 single 'Invisible Touch', the 1992 UK No.7 single 'I Can't Dance' and six UK No.1 albums. In 1985, he formed Mike And The Mechanics, who had the 1989 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'The Living Years', which earned Rutherford an Ivor Novello Award.
1949
American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist Richard Hell. He was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers, after which he formed Richard Hell & the Voidoids, who had the 1977 album Blank Generation. Its title track was named "One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock" by music writers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hell had a non-speaking cameo role as
Madonna's murdered boyfriend in the 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan.
1945
American singer-songwriter and guitarist Don McLean. Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail", he is best known for his 1971 US & 1972 UK No.1 single 'American Pie', a song inspired by the death of
Buddy Holly. His other hit singles include 'Vincent', (a tribute to the 19th-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh), as well as a cover of Roy Orbison's 'Crying'.
1941
American musician, Ron Meagher best known as the bassist of the rock band The Beau Brummels who had the 1965 US No.8 single 'Just A Little.'
1939
Lolly Vegas, guitarist and singer with Redbone, who had the 1971 UK No.2 & US No.21 single 'The Witch Queen Of New Orleans' and the 1974 US No. 4 hit single, 'Come and Get Your Love.' Redbone are accredited in the NY Smithsonian as the first Native American rock/Cajun group to have a No.1 single in the United States and internationally.
Jimi Hendrix stated that Lolly Vegas was his favorite guitar player and biggest influence in music. He died of cancer on 4 March 2010.
1938
American blues, rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist Nick Gravenites best known for his work with Electric Flag (as their lead singer),
Janis Joplin and Mike Bloomfield. He wrote several songs for Joplin, including 'Work Me, Lord' produced the pop hit 'One Toke Over the Line' for Brewer & Shipley and the album Right Place, Wrong Time for Otis Rush, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award. He died in Santa Rosa, California on 18 September 2024, at the age of 85.
1933
Canadian singer David Somerville best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of The Diamonds, a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. The Diamonds' biggest hits were 1957's 'Little Darlin'' (written by Maurice Williams) and 'The Stroll' (1957). Somerville died of pancreatic cancer on July 14, 2015, at the age of 81.