2019Psychedelic-music legend and frontman for the 13th Floor Elevators, Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson passes away at 71 years old in his home in Austin, Texas.
2016Alicia Keys announces that she will no longer wear makeup.More
2007Rob Grill, lead singer of The Grass Roots, is arrested for illegal possession of prescription painkillers at his home in Mount Dora, Florida.
2005Strawberry Field (no s), the Liverpool orphanage which inspired The Beatles' famous song, is closed by the Salvation Army after almost seventy years.
2004Rock guitarist Robert Quine, known for collaborations with Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Tom Waits, commits suicide by heroin overdose at age 61.
200350 Cent's second single, "21 Questions," tops the chart for the first of four weeks. Featuring Nate Dogg on the chorus, the song explores 50's romantic side, as he asks a girl if she would be there for him through thick and thin.
2000Soul singer Johnnie Taylor dies of a heart attack at age 66.
1998Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) announces that she is leaving Spice Girls, releasing a statement saying: "Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I'm sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best... PS, I'll be back." Halliwell was planning to leave the group in September at the end of their world tour, but grows frustrated and leaves early. The group continues as a quartet, but splits up in 2000. In 2007, they reunite with Halliwell back on board.
1996Bass singer Elsbeary Hobbs (of The Drifters) dies from throat and lung cancer in Manhattan, New York at age 59.
1993Jon Bon Jovi's wife, Dorothea Hurley, gives birth to their first child, a daughter named Stephanie Rose.
1991Azealia Banks is born in New York City.
1985The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) sends its first letter to the RIAA requesting a ratings system for albums and concerts. The group is led by Tipper Gore, the wife of Senator Al Gore, so the record industry takes it seriously, and cuts back on their metal budgets. The end result is warning stickers on albums containing offensive lyrics.
1983After a break in which David Byrne and Jerry Harrison release solo albums and Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth form Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads return with their fifth album, Speaking In Tongues. It contains their biggest hit, "Burning Down The House."
1980Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley is born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
1980The disco group Lipps, Inc. goes to #1 in America with "Funkytown," a tribute to New York City.
1976Tom Waits begins a two-week stint performing at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho, London, England. The club is run by Pete King, and the experience inspires Waits to write "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening with Pete King)."
1975Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" hits #1 in America.
1974Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown album is certified Gold.
1971Badfinger record "Day After Day."
1968While recording vocals for "Revolution," John Lennon does some improvised ranting that is later used in the head-scratching "Revolution 9."
1967Big Brother & the Holding Company film a scene in the Richard Lester movie Petulia.
1965Steve White (drummer for The Style Council) is born in Southwark, London, England.
1964Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. is born in Harlem, New York City.
1964The family-friendly Dave Clark Five go on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing "Glad All Over." They're a hit with the host, who has them on 18 more times.
1962Pop singer Corey Hart is born in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
1961Chuck Berry opens the Berryland amusement park, complete with guitar-shaped swimming pool, in Wentzville, Missouri, outside of St. Louis.
1954Vicki Sue Robinson ("Turn The Beat Around") is born in New York.
1952Karl Bartos (of Kraftwerk) is born in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
1947Junior Campbell (of Marmalade) is born William Campbell Jr. in Glasgow, Scotland.
1940Augie Meyers (of the Sir Douglas Quintet) is born in San Antonio, Texas.