On This Day(In Music )

March 7th: On this Day


1953, Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'She Wears Red Feathers'. The song details a bizarre story of an English banker's love for a hula-hula girl.

1962, The Beatles recorded their first radio appearance, at the Playhouse Theatre, Hulme, Manchester, for the BBC radio program Teenager's Turn - Here We Go'. After a rehearsal, the Beatles put on suits for the first time and, along with the other artists appearing on the program, record the show in front of a teenage audience.

1964, For the first time ever the UK Top Ten Singles Chart was composed entirely of British acts. Cilla Black held the No.1 position with 'Anyone Who Had A Heart.'

1964, The Dave Clark Five made their radio debut on the BBC's 'Saturday Club.'

1965, During a Rolling Stones gig at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England a female fan fell from the circle while the group were playing. The crowd below broke her fall and the girl escaped serious injury just breaking a few teeth.

1966, Mike Millward guitarist from The Fourmost died, aged 23. The Liverpool group who were managed by Brian Epstein had the 1964 UK No.6 single 'A Little Loving'.

1966, Brian Wilson released 'Caroline No' the first solo single by a Beach Boy.

1966, Tina Turner recorded her vocal on the Phil Spector produced 'River Deep Mountain High'. It went on to make No.3 in the UK but only No.88 on the US chart.

1967, Working on their next album The Beatles recorded additional overdubs for 'Lovely Rita', including harmony vocals, effects, and the percussive sound of a piece of toilet paper being blown through a haircomb.

1970, Lee Marvin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Wand'rin Star', taken from the film 'Paint Your Wagon.'

1970, Simon and Garfunkels album 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' started a ten week run at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split-up by the time of release.

1971, Jamacan saxophonist and flautist, Harold McNair died of lung cancer aged 39. Worked with Donovan, Melanie and Ginger Baker's Air Force, and had toured Europe with Quincy Jones.

1973, During a showcase gig at Max's Kansas City, New York, CBS records boss John Hammond suffered a heart attack. The event was to mark the signing of his new act Bruce Springsteen.

1976, Elton John was immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds in London. The first rock star to be so since The Beatles.

1987, The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, 'Licensed To Ill.'

1987, The first five Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help! were released on Compact disc. Capitol Records decided to release the original UK mixes of the Beatles albums, which means that the first four CDs are released in mono. This marks the first time that many of these mono mixes were available in the US.

1988, American female impersonator and actor Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead), died in his sleep of heart failure aged 42. Had the 1984 UK No.16 single 'You think You're a Man.'

1988, British pedal steel guitar player Gordon Huntley died of cancer. Was a member of Matthews Southern Comfort, (UK No.1 single 'Woodstock) and as a session player worked with many acts including Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Pretty Things, Cliff Richard and Fairport Convention.

1991, The readers of Rolling Stone voted George Michael the best male singer and sexiest male artist.

1998, Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Frozen' the singers eighth UK No.1. Taken from her dance-influenced album 'Ray of Light'.

1999, Boyzone scored their fifth UK No. 1 single with 'When The Going Gets Tough'. It was recorded for the Comic Relief charity and had been a No.1 single for Billy Ocean in 1986.

2000, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher won the Best Dressed Man Award from fashion magazine GQ.

2001, The man who discovered Blur, David Balfe won a high court battle to earn £250,000 in back royalties. Balfe had waged a legal battle for over two years to regain the royalties after selling his Food Records label to EMI in 1994.

2002, Former Visage singer Steve Strange was attacked and robbed when on his way to a party in West London. He was robbed of a bracelet given to him by Kylie Minogue and hit over the head resulting in him needing 18 stitches.

2004, The Smiths song 'I Know It's Over' topped a poll of tunes, which people turn to when they are miserable in 'The Songs That Saved Your Life' poll by BBC radio station 6 Music. REM's 'Everybody Hurts' and Radiohead's 'Fake Plastic Trees' also made the Top 10.

2004, Britney Spears scored her fourth UK No.1 single with 'Toxic', won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.

2007, Rhett Hutchence the brother of INXS singer Michael Hutchence defended his decision to sell some of the late star's belongings online saying he needed money to set up home with his new girlfriend. Items in the auction included lyrics, T-shirts and a fax his brother had sent to his then girlfriend Kylie Minogue.

2009, Rapper Coolio was charged with drug possession after being arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. The 45-year-old, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr, was later released on $10,000 (£7,000) bail.


March 7th: Born on this day


1945, Born on this day, Arthur Lee, guitarist, songwriter with US group Love who had the 1966 US No.33 single '7 And 7 Is', and the 1968 UK No.24 album 'Forever Changes'. Lee died on 3rd Aug 2006 in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia.

1945, Born on this day, Chris White, bassist with The Zombies who had the 1964 US No.2 & UK No.12 single 'She's Not There'.

1946, Born on this day, Matthew Fisher from Procol Harum who had the 1967 UK No.1 & US No.5 single 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'.

1946, Born on this day, Peter Wolf, singer with The J Geils Band who had the 1982 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Centrefold'. Wolf was once married to US actress Faye Dunaway.

1952, Born on this day, Ernie Isley, The Isley Brothers who had the 1968 UK No.3 single 'This Old Heart Of Mine' and the 1969 US No.2 single 'It's Your Thing'.

1966, Born on this day, Paul Davis, keyboards with Manchester group Happy Mondays who had the 1990 UK No.5 single 'Step On'.

1973, Born on this day, S'bastien Izambard, singer with Il Divo who had the 2004 UK No.1 self-titled album which was also number one in 13 countries around the world.

1977, Born on this day, Paul Cattermole, singer with UK pop group S Club 7 who had the 1999 UK No.1 single 'Bring It All Back'. Their 2000 UK No.1 album '7' spent over a year on the UK chart.

1982, Born on this day, Kelli Young, singer, with UK group Liberty X who had the 2002 UK No.1 single 'Just A Little'.

March 9th: On this Day


1960, Adam Faith was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Poor Me' The singers second and final No.1. After a string of over 20 hits Faith became an actor and financial journalist.

1963, Tommy Roe, Chris Montez and The Beatles (who were bottom of the bill), appeared at the East Ham Granada in London.

1964, The Beatles filmed the last day of train scenes for the movie A Hard Days Night. During their six days of filming aboard a moving train, The Beatles traveled a total of 2,500 miles on the rails.

1964, Capitol Records releases a song called 'Letter To The Beatles' by The Four Preps. The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he's lost his girlfriend to The Fab Four. On its first day, the record shot to No.85 on the charts and it looked like The Preps were going to have another hit on their hands. Unfortunately they had included a few bars from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' without permission and Capitol was forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit.

1966, The Beach Boys started recording 'God Only Knows'. It became a UK No.2 single in 1966 and the B-side of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' in the US.

1967, The Small Faces, Family and The Strollers all appeared at the Skyline Ballroom, Hull, Yorkshire.

1968, Bob Dylan started a ten-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with his ninth album 'John Wesley Harding'. A US No.2 in the same year.

1970, Having recently changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward made their concert debut at The Roundhouse, London.

1973, Black Sabbath kicked off an 8-date sold out UK tour at Green's Playhouse, Glasgow.

1974, Alvin Stardust was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jealous Mind'. Know as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, it was the singers only UK chart topper.

1975, Actor Telly Savalas was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the David Gates (from Bread) song 'If'. Savalas was currently high in the TV ratings playing the policeman Kojak.

1977, The Jacksons CBS show was aired for the last time on US TV finishing at the bottom of the ratings.

1979, UK band Eddie & The Hot Rods released a new album 'Thriller', featuring special guest Linda McCartney on backing vocals.

1981, Robert Plant played a secret gig at Keele University, England with his new band The Honey Drippers.

1985, Dead Or Alive were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). It was the first No.1 for the production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman who went on to produce over 100 UK Top 40 hits.

1985, Mick Jagger released his solo single 'Just Another Night' a No. 12 hit in the US and No. 32 on the UK charts.

1985, REO Speedwagon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Can't Fight This Feeling', it made No.16 in the UK.

1991, Chris Rea scored his second UK No.1 album with 'Auberge' the follow up to 'The Road To Hell', his 11th LP release.

1991, Mariah Carey started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Someday', her third US No.1 & No.38 hit in the UK.

1991, 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' gave The Clash their only UK No.1 single after the track was used for a Levi's TV advertisement. The track was first released in 1982 from their album Combat Rock album.

1995, Radiohead kicked off a 13 date UK tour to promote their new album 'The Bends'.

1996, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher walked off stage during a gig at the Vernon Valley Gorge ski resort in New Jersey because his hands were too cold to play.

1996, Take That scored their eighth and last UK No.1 single (until re-forming in 2006) with their version of The Bee Gees 1977 song 'How Deep Is Your Love', (originally intended for US singer Yvonne Elliman), and used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever.

1997, Notorious BIG was gunned down and killed as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Born Christopher Wallace the rapper was pronounced dead on arrival at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He was 24 years old.

1997, The Spice Girls went back to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Spice Girls.'

1999, Guitarist Mike Anthony died from a heart attack aged 68. He worked with Harry Nilsson, The 5th Dimension, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

2004, Tom Jones was banned from wearing tight leather pants by his own son and manager Mark Jones. His son said it was time to 'dress his age' as he was in danger of becoming a laughing stock at 63.

2005, 53-year-old Danny Joe Brown, the original lead singer of Molly Hatchet, died from renal failure due to complications from diabetes. Brown was the front man for the band's self-titled album in 1978, which went Platinum.

2007, Brad Delp lead singer of US rock band Boston committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in at his home in the New Hampshire town of Atkinson. Boston had the 1977 UK No.22 single 'More Than A Feeling' and the 1986 US No.1 single 'Amanda.'

2008, Duffy started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK album charts with 'Rockferry' the Welsh singers debut album.

2010, Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison at New York City's Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to gun possession. The charges were linked to his arrest in 2007 when a gun was found on his tour bus. His sentencing came after several delays; the first date was postponed to allow the rapper to have dental work and the second had to be rearranged after a fire broke out in the New York court complex.


March 9th: Born on this day


1934, Born on this day, Lloyd Price, US singer, songwriter, (1959 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Stagger Lee').

1936, Born on this day, Mickey Gilley, US singer, (1980 US No. 22 single 'Stand By Me' from the soundtrack 'Urban Cowboy').

1942, Born on this day, Mark Linday, singer, guitarist with Paul Revere & The Raiders, (1971 US No.1 single with ‘Indian Reservation’ plus 14 other US Top 30 hit singles).

1944, Born on this day, Trevor Burton, The Move, (1969 UK No.1 single 'Blackberry Way').

1945, Born on this day, Robert Calvert, singer, poet, Hawkwind & solo, (1972 UK No.3 single 'Silver Machine'). Calvert died on 14th August 1988.

1945, Born on this day, Ron Wilson, drummer, The Surfaris, (1963 US No.2 & UK No.3 single 'Wipe Out'). Died of a brain anueryism on 7th May 1989.

1945, Born on this day, Robin Trower, guitar, Procol Harum, (1967 UK No.1 single & US No.5 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' & three top 20 solo albums).

1946, Born on this day, Jim Cregan, guitar, Family, Cockney Rebel, (1975 UK No.1 single 'Make Me Smile', Come Up And See Me), also works with Rod Stewart.

1948, Born on this day, Chris Thompson, vocals, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, (1976 UK No.6 single 'Blinded By The Light', a US No.1 in 1977).

1948, Born on this day, Jeffrey Osborne, soul singer, (1984 UK No.11 & US No. 29 single 'On The Wings Of Love').

1949, Born on this day, Jimmy Fadden, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, (1971 US No.9 single 'Mr Bojangles').

1951, Born on this day, Frank Rodriguez, ? & The Mysterians, (1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single 96 Tears). The song was a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990.

1958, Born on this day, Martin Fry, vocals, ABC, (1982 UK No.4 & 1983 US No.18 'The Look Of Love' plus nine other UK Top 40 singles).

1968, Born on this day, Robert Sledge, drums, Ben Folds Five, (1997 UK No.26 single 'Battle Of Who Could Care Less').

1969, Born on this day, Adam Siegel, American rock guitarist and producer. Founding member of the Los Angeles punk band Excel, and subsequently became the lead guitarist for the Suicidal Tendencies side project Infectious Grooves.

1980, Born on this day, Chingy, US rapper, (2003 US No.2 album ‘Jackpot’, 2003 US No.2 & UK No.17 single ‘Right Thurr’).

1987, Born on this day, Lil Bow Wow, (Shad Moss), US rapper, (2001 UK No. 6 single 'Bow Wow, That's My Name').

March 13th: On this Day


1956, RCA Records issued the first album and extended play releases by Elvis Presley.

1958, The Recording Industry Association of America introduced its awards for record sales, (RIAA). The Beatles hold the record for being awarded the most with 76 platinum certifications.

1960, Johnny Preston was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Running Bear', also No.1 in the US.

1964, Billboard reported that sales of Beatles singles currently accounted for 60 percent of the US singles market and The Beatles album Meet the Beatles had reached a record 3.5 million copies sold.

1965, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds due to musical differences with the other band members. Clapton wanted to continue in a blues type vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of their first hit, 'For Your Love'.

1965, The Beatles started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Eight Days A Week', the group's 7th US No.1.

1965, Tom Jones made his first major TV appearance on BBC TVs 'Billy Cotton Band Show.'

1966, Rod Stewart left Steampacket to work as a solo artist.

1966, Pink Floyd appeared for the first time at The Marquee in Wardour Street, London, England.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, six members of Sounds, Inc. recorded the horn parts for The Beatles song 'Good Morning Good Morning' (three saxophones, two trombones, and one french horn).

1971, The Rolling Stones appeared live at Leeds University, England.

1971, Brewer and Shipley entered the US singles chart with 'One Toke Over The Line'. The song, which featured The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia on steel guitar, peaked at No.10 despite being banned by radio stations for its drug references. Brewer and Shipley maintained that the word "toke" meant "token" as in ticket, hence the line "waitin' downtown at the railway station, one toke over the line."

1973, David Cassidy appeared at Bell Vue Kings Hall in Manchester, the first of 10 sold out UK shows.

1975, Tammy Wynette and George Jones divorced after six years of marriage.

1976, The Four Seasons started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'December 1963, (Oh What A Night)', the group's 5th US No.1, also their only UK No.1.

1977, Manhattan Transfer were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Chanson D'amour', the group's only UK No.1. The retro Jazz vocal harmony group had been working in New York gay bars, singing 40s and 50s swing classics.

1977, Iggy Pop and David Bowie kicked off a North American tour at Le Plateau Theatre, Montreal, Canada with Blondie as the opening act.

1985, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure received the best selling a side award at the 30th Ivor Novello Awards for 'Do They Know It's Christmas.'

1987, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1993, Canadian rapper Snow, (Darrin O'Brien), started a 7-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Informer', a No.2 hit in the UK.

1993, Eric Clapton started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Unplugged.'

1993, Lenny Kravitz started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Are You Gonna Go My Way.'

1993, This week's Radio One's UK Top 40 Chart Show was in chaos after Gallup who compiled the chart got 20 of the forty entries wrong.

1994, Mariah Carey started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Music Box.'

1998, English reggae and ska artist Judge Dread (Alex Hughes) died after collapsing as he walked off stage in Canterbury, England. He achieved 10 UK hit singles during the 70's and was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica. Dread has the most banned songs at radio of all time.

1999, Cher started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Believe', making Cher the oldest woman to top the Hot 100 at the age of 53.

2002, Wall Of Voodoo guitarist Marc Moreland died in Paris, France of Kidney failure aged 44. Had the 1983 hit 'Mexican Radio'.

2005, 50 Cent went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Massacre', the US rappers first UK No.1. The album was also a US No.1 spending six weeks at the top of the chart.

2005, McFly were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All About You', their 3rd No.1 and a charity release for Comic Relief.

2006, The Sex Pistols refused to attend their own induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City. Blondie, Herb Alpert and Black Sabbath were all inducted but the Pistols posted a handwritten note on their website, calling the institution "urine in wine", adding "We're not your monkeys, we're not coming. You're not paying attention".

2006, The Kinks came out the top earners for music used in TV adverts in the US, earning them £6m a year. The sixties group were enjoying a resurgence with their music being used to sell washing powder, computers and medicines. Led Zeppelin came in second place with £4m and The Rolling Stones third with £2.3m.

2007, Coffee house Starbucks announced the launch of its own music label, saying it would sign both established and new artists. The chain, which had 13,000 stores worldwide, had already released albums under its Hear Music brand, licensing songs from other companies. Starbucks bosses said the label would now become more independent and that music fitted with the firm's identity.

2008, Michael Jackson refinanced his Neverland ranch to save it from being auctioned off, after being told that if he failed to pay $25m (£12.5m) he owed on the California property, it would be auctioned within a week. Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 intending to create a fantasy land for children naming it after an island in the story Peter Pan, where children never grow up.


March 13th: Born on this day


1933, Born on this day, Mike Stoller, (Leiber &), songwriter, and producer for Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Monkees, Cliff Richard.

1939, Born on this day, Neil Sedaka, singer, songwriter, (1959 UK No.3 single 'Oh Carol' plus over 30 US & 14 UK other Top 40 singles, 1962 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do').

1959, Born on this day, Greg Norton, Husker Du, (1987 album 'Warehouse Songs And Stories').

1959, Born on this day, Ronnie Rogers, guitar, T'Pau, (1987 UK No. 1 with 'China In Your Hand, 1987 US No.4 single 'Heart And Soul').

1960, Born on this day, Adam Clayton, bass, U2, (1984 UK No.3 single 'Pride, In The Name Of Love' plus over 25 other UK Top singles, 1987 UK and world wide No.1 album 'The Joshua Tree' spent 156 weeks on the UK chart. Scored five consecutive US No.1 albums from 1987.)

1973, Born on this day, David Draiman, vocals, Disturbed, (2005 US No.1 album 'Ten Thousand Fists').

1979, Born on this day, Toni Lundow, singer, Liberty X, (2002 UK No.1 single 'Just A Little').

March 15th: On this Day


1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker had previously managed the 'Great Parker Pony Circus' with one of the acts being a troupe of dancing chickens.

1955, Ray Charles peaked at No.2 on the US R&B charts with the Atlantic single 'I Got A Woman', widely considered the first song to be labeled "soul" - a blending of R&B and gospel.

1964, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 58-date UK tour at the Invicta Ballroom in Chatham, Kent. Half the dates saw the Stones playing two shows in one evening.

1967, The first session recording George Harrison's new song ‘Within You Without You’ took place at Abbey Road studios, London. George was the only Beatle to perform on this song, which was still called 'Untitled'. Harrison played the swordmandel and tamboura, Natver Soni played tabla, Amrat Gajjar played dilruba, PD Joshi played swordmandel, and an undocumented musician played a droning tamboura.

1969, Cream started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their album 'Goodbye.'

1969, Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Dizzy', also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart.

1969, Janis Joplin was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents, (2/6).

1969, Tyrannosaurus Rex singer Marc Bolan's first book of poetry 'The Warlock Of Love' was published, priced at 12 and 6.

1969, During a Scandinavian tour Led Zeppelin played at the Brondby Pop Club in Norregard. Also on the bill, The Keef Hartley Band, Ham and Swedish band Made In Sweden.

1972, DJ Robert W. Morgan played the Donny Osmond version of 'Puppy Love' for 90 minutes on the radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. LAPD mistakenly raided the station studios after receiving numerous calls from listeners, confused, the officers left without making any arrests.

1973, Roberta Flack was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' and Elton John had the No.1 album with 'Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player'.

1975, Led Zeppelin went to No.1 on the UK chart with the double album 'Physical Graffiti', the first on their own 'Swan Song' label, the album spent six weeks at No.1 on the US chart.

1975, Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Have You Ever Been Mellow', the singers second US No.1.

1975, The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Black Water', the group's first of two US No.1's.

1977, Pink Floyd played the first of six sold-out nights at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England.

1980, One hit wonder Fern Kinney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Together We Are Beautiful.'

1986, Starship went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sara', it reached No.66 in the UK.

1986, The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with 'Manic Monday', a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher, it also made No.2 in the US, held of No.1 by Prince with 'Kiss'.

1989, The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million (£40 million) contract to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history.

1992, The Beastie Boys appeared at The Marquee Club, London, England.

1997, The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Mama', making them the first act ever to have their first 4 singles reach No.1 on the UK chart.

1997, U2 went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Pop', the bands sixth UK No.1 album.

1998, Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with 'Ray Of Light', no other female artist had achieved more than three UK No.1 albums.

1999, Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame by U2's Bono.

2000, Mick Jagger was ordered to increase his child support payments to Brazilian model Luciana Morad from $5,500 (£3,235) a month to $10,000 (£5,888). Mick was asked to confirm that he was the father of her child by the court, while Ms Morad was seeking a $10 million (£3.8 million) settlement. Morad told the court her monthly expenses: $3,500 (£2,065) for a nanny; $2,500£3,000 (£1,670£1,765) for food and $3,350 (£1,970) to rent her place on New York£s Upper West Side.

2000, Sir Paul McCartney confirmed that him and former model Heather Mills had become 'an item'. The couple had met after working on the same charity project.

2002, Will Young, Gareth Gates and the other Top 10 finalists from the TV talent show Pop Idol appeared at Wembley Arena, London, on the opening night of The Pop Idol tour.

2002, Yoko Ono unveiled a seven foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check- in hall of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words 'Above Us Only Skies.'

2004, Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 35. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide No.1 single 'Butterfly'.

2004, George Harrison, Prince, Bob Seger, The Dells, Traffic and ZZ Top were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City.

2005, Former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown was arrested after a fight during a concert in San Francisco after a fan jumped on stage and attacked the singer, who then became involved in a fracas with a security guard. Brown was arrested at his hotel after the show at the Great American Music Hall but released without charge.

2008, Six people were charged with conspiracy to defraud the Isle of Wight Festival by trying to sell fake tickets and wristbands. A police investigation was launched after alleged counterfeit tickets were discovered at last year's event, which was headlined by the Rolling Stones.

2009, Jenkins and West, Tom Jones and Robin Gibb went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Islands In The Stream', the Comic Relief single for
2009, (Jenkins and West were, actors Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon). The Bee Gees song had been a hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1983.

2010, Sony Music announced the biggest recording deal in history with the estate of Michael Jackson worth more than $200m (£133m). The deal involved 10 album projects over seven years including one of previously unreleased material. Sony had sold about 31 million copies of Jackson's albums worldwide since his death on 25 June, 2009.

2010, PRS for Music announced that the royalties that UK songwriters received from online sales were growing faster than the decline from CDs and DVDs. It said UK online revenues for its members rose by 73% to £30.4m in 2009, at the same time, UK revenues from CD or DVD sales were down £8.7m.

2011, Disney Studios scrapped plans for a 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine. The new film which was being developed by Forrest Gump Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis was going to incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film. Budget issues and a cancelled meeting with surviving Beatles' members were cited as reasons for the film's demise.


March 15th: Born on this day


1912, Born on this day, blues guitarist and singer Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins. He died 30th January 1982 aged 70. Major influence on Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.

1922, Born on this day, Eddie Calvert, British solo trumpeter. (1953 UK No.1 'Oh, Mein Papa' and 1955 UK No.1 with 'Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White').

1931, Born on this day, James Mitchell, tenor saxophone, The Memphis Horns. Worked with Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Sam And Dave, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers, Otis Redding. Mitchell died on December 18th 2000.

1932, Born on this day, Arif Mardin, Producer and arranger. Worked with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Wilson Pickett, Average White Band, The Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand and more recently Norah Jones. Mardin died on June 25th 2006.

1940, Born on this day, Phil Lesh, bass, The Grateful Dead, who released over 30 albums including the 1970 UK No.69 and US No.127 album, 'Workingman's Dead').

1941, Born on this day, Mike Love, vocals, The Beach Boys, (1966 UK & US No.1 single 'Good Vibrations', plus over 25 other US & UK Top 40 singles. 1966 classic album 'Pet Sounds').

1942, Born on this day, Hughie Flint, Blues Band, McGuinness Flint, (1970 UK No.2 'When I'm Dead And Gone').

1944, Born on this day, Sly Stone, vocals, guitar, keyboards, Sly and the Family Stone, (1968 UK No.7 & US No.8 single 'Dance To The Music', 1969 US No.1 single 'Everyday People').

1944, Born on this day, David Costell, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, (1965 US No.1 single 'This Diamond Ring' plus 11 other US Top 40 hits).

1946, Born on this day, Howard Scott, War, (1973 US No.2 single 'Cisco Kid', 1976 UK No.12 single 'Low Rider').

1947, Born on this day, Ry Cooder, guitarist, member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, worked with Gordon Lightfoot, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, John Lee Hooker. Solo, 1979 album 'Bop Till You Drop', and 1985 film soundtrack album 'Paris Texas'.

1947, Born on this day, Hernandez Lugo, ? & The Mysterians, (1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single 96 Tears). The song was a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990.

1948, Born on this day, Stephen Nisbett, drums, Steel Pulse, (1978 UK No.35 single 'Prodigal Son').

1955, Born on this day, Dee Snider, Twisted Sister, (1983 UK No.18 single 'I Am, I'm Me', 1984 album 'Stay Hungry').

1962, Born on this day, Steve Coy, Dead Or Alive, (1985 UK No.1 single 'You Spin Me Round, Like A Record').

1962, Born on this day, Terence Trent D'arby, (1988 UK No.2 single 'Sign Your Name' plus 8 other UK Top 40 hits. 1988 US No.1 single 'Wishing Well').

1963, Born on this day, Bret Michaels, Poison, (1988 1989 UK No.13 & US No.1 single 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn').

1964, Born on this day, Rockwell, (Kennedy Gordy), 1984 US No 2 & UK No.6 single, 'Somebody's Watching Me'. Rockwell is the son of Motown records boss Berry Gordy.

1968, Born on this day, Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, (1999 UK No. 10 single 'Every Morning'). Also a TV host on US Show tabloid Extra.

1972, Born on this day, Mark Hoppus, Blink 182, (2000 UK No.2 single 'All The Small Things' 2001 US No.1 album 'Take Off Your...').

1975, Born on this day, Will.i.am, Black Eyed Peas, (2003 US & UK No.1 single 'Where Is The Love').

1977, Born on this day, Joe Bourdon, DJ, Linkin Park, (2002 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'In The End', 2002 US No.2 & 2001 UK No.4 album 'Hybrid Theory').

March 17th: On this Day


1957, Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion from Mrs Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. (£60,295). The 23 room, 10,000 square foot home, on 13.8 acres of land, would be expanded to 17,552 square feet of living space before the king moved in a few weeks later. The original building had at one time been a place of worship, used by the Graceland Christian Church and was named after the builder's daughter, Grace Toof.

1958, The Champs started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Tequila', a No.5 hit in the UK.

1962, The Shadows started an eight week run at No. 1 in the UK with the single 'Wonderful Land' the bands third No.1.

1966, The Walker Brothers had their second UK No.1 with the single 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore', (originally recorded by Frankie Valli).

1967, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave and Booker T and The MG's appeared at London's Finsbury Park Astoria on the first night of a 17-date UK tour.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles finished the recording of 'She's Leaving Home' after adding backing vocals to the track. Harpist Sheila Bromberg who was part of the string section on the track became the first woman to play on a Beatles recording.

1968, The Bee Gees made their US television debut when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1973, Eric Weissberg started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Dueling Banjos.' Taken from the film 'Deliverance.'

1973, Dr Hook's single 'On The Cover Of Rolling Stone peaked at No.6 on the US chart. The single was banned in the UK by the BBC due to the reference of the magazine.

1976, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers appeared at CBGB'S, in New York City.

1978, U2 won £500 ($850) and a chance to audition for CBS Ireland in a talent contest held in Dublin. The Limerick Civic Week Pop '78 Competition was sponsored by The Evening Express and Guinness Harp Lager.

1979, Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Will Survive.' The song was originally released as the B-side to a song first recorded by The Righteous Brothers called 'Substitute.'

1979, The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Spirits Having Flown.'

1982, Samuel George Jr, lead singer of US group The Capitols was killed aged 39 after being stabbed during a family argument. Had the 1966 US No. 7 single 'Cool Jerk.'

1984, Howard Jones scored his first UK No.1 album with his debut release 'Human's Lib'.

1988, During his 137-date Faith World Tour, George Michael played the first of four sold-out nights at Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia

1990, Rick Grech, bass player with Family, Blind Faith and Traffic died of kidney and liver failure.

1997, US singer Jermaine Stewart died of cancer. (1986 UK No.2 single 'We Don't Have To...Take Our Clothes Off'). Also worked with Shalamar, The Temptations and Boy George.

1997, Elvis Presley Enterprises of Memphis, Tennessee, lost its Court of Appeal battle to stop London trader Sid Shaw using the name of 'The King' on his souvenirs. The legal tussle with Mr Shaw, who ran a memorabilia shop called 'Elvisly Yours', had been going on for over 17 years. Speaking after the ruling, Mr Shaw said: "I'm delighted. I've proved that Elvis belongs to all of us - Elvis is part of our history, part of our culture.

2002, Nickelback started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Silver Side Up.'

2002, The Soundtrack album 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart.

2004, The Kinks singer Ray Davies received his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to the music industry.

2005, Justin Hawkins from The Darkness became the centre of the latest hands-on activity at Madame Tussauds in London. His wax double would judge the air guitar skills of visitors who would be invited to play an imaginary guitar with smoke and music pumping out. Hawkins said: "I find the process of air guitaring rather silly. What makes a good air guitarist? Alcohol."

2006, The Smiths turned down a $5m (£2.8m) offer to reform for a music festival. The band who split acrimoniously in 1987, rejected the bid to get back together for this year's Coachella US festival.

2008, Ola Brunkert, the former drummer with the Swedish group Abba, was found dead with his throat cut at his home in Majorca, Spain. Brunkert died after he hit his head against a glass door in the dining room at his home. He was found dead in his garden after trying to seek help. The 62 year old musician had played on every Abba album and had toured with the group.

2010, Alex Chilton singer and guitarist with Big Star died in hospital of heart problems in New Orleans aged 59. As a teenager Chilton had been a member of The Box Tops who had the 1967 hit 'The Letter'.


March 17th: Born on this day


1919, Born on this day, Nat King Cole, singer, (1955 US No.2 single 'A Blossom Fell', 1957 UK No.2 single 'When I Fall In Love' plus over 20 other US & UK Top 40 singles). Father of singer Natalie Cole. Cile died of lung cancer on February 15th 1965.

1941, Born on this day, Clarence Collins, Little Anthony and The Imperials, (1958 US No.4 single 'Tears On My Pillow'), song gave Kylie Minogue a UK No.1 in 1990.

1941, Born on this day, Paul Kantner, guitar, Jefferson Airplane, (1967 US No.18 single 'White Rabbit').

1944, Born on this day, Bob Johnson, guitar, vocals, Steeleye Span, (1975 UK No.5 single 'All Around My Hat').

1944, Born on this day, John Sebastian, The Lovin Spoonful, (1966 UK No.2 single 'Daydream', and 1966 US No.1 single 'Summer in The City'), solo (1976 US No.1 single 'Welcome Back').

1944, Born on this day, Pat Mcauley, Them, (1965 UK No.2 & US No.24 single 'Here Comes The Night').

1946, Born on this day, Harold Brown, War, (1976 UK No.12 & US No.12 single 'Low Rider').

1948, Born on this day, Pat Lloyd, The Equals, (1968 UK No.1 & US No.32 single 'Baby Come Back').

1951, Born on this day, Scott Gorham, guitar, Thin Lizzy, (1973 UK No.6 single 'Whisky In The Jar', 1976 US No.12 single 'The Boys Are Back In Town').

1954, Born on this day, Wally Stocker, The Babys, (1977 US No.13 & UK No.45 single 'Isn't It Time').

1959, Born on this day, Mike Lindup, keyboards, Level 42, (1986 UK No.3 & US No.12 single 'Lessons In Love' plus 19 other top 40 singles).

1962, Born on this day, Clare Grogan, vocals, Altered Images, (1981 UK No.2 single 'Happy Birthday') also an actress, her first film appearance was in the acclaimed film Gregory's Girl, has also appeared in UK soap Eastenders and the comedy Father Ted. Also worked as a VH1 presenter.

1963, Born on this day, Michael Ivins, bass, Flaming Lips, (2002 UK No. 32 single 'Do You Realize').

1967, Born on this day, Billy Corgan, vocals, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, (1995 US No.1 album 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness', 1996 UK No.7 & US No.36 single 'Tonight Tonight').

1972, Born on this day, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Hole, (1995 UK No.16 & US No.58 single 'Doll Parts').

1973, Born on this day, Caroline Corr, drums, vocals, The Corrs, (1998 UK No.3 single 'What Can I Do'. 'Talk On Corners' was the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the UK chart).

1975, Born on this day, Justin Hawkins, vocals, The Darkness. (2003 UK No.2 single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, 2003 UK No.1 album ‘Permission To Land’).

1976, Born on this day, Stephen Gately, vocals, Boyzone, (1996 UK No.1 single 'Words' plus 15 other Top 5 singles and 4 UK No.1 albums. Solo 2000 UK No.3 single 'New Beginning / Bright Eyes'). Died of natural causes on 10th Oct 2009.

March 19th: On this Day


1958, Big Records released 'Our Song' by a teenage duo from Queens, New York, Tom and Jerry. The duo will become famous in the '60s under their real names, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

1958, During his only UK tour, Buddy Holly played two shows at the Regal Cinema in Hull, Yorkshire. Also on the bill, Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters, Des O'Conner, The Montanas, Ronnie Keene & His Orchestra.

1964, Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Little Children.' The group's second No.1.

1964, UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presented The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel.

1965, The Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said of the appeal, "The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theater."

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played two shows at The Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Canada.

1969, During a UK tour, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Top Rank Club in Cardiff, Wales.

1971, T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hot Love.' The group's first of four UK No.1's spent six weeks at the top of the charts.

1974, Jefferson Airplane re-named the group and became Jefferson Starship. The new line-up included Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, drummer Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Cragi Chaquico and Papa John Creach.

1975, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Tickets cost $7.50 in advance.

1976, Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Kossof had a long history of drug abuse. Free had the 1970 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'All Right Now'. His first band was Black Cat Bones alongside drummer Simon Kirke, (later of Free), formed Back Street Crawler after leaving Free.

1978, Billy Joel made his UK live debut at London's Dury Lane Theatre.

1979, Elton John appeared at the Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland. Tickets £5.00

1981, The J Geils Band were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Centrefold', Roxy Music had the UK No.1 single with 'Jealous Guy.'

1982, Ozzy Osbourne's rhythm guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed. After driving much of the night, the band had stopped near a small airstrip. The tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, talked the band's keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza, the joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood on another flight and attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus. The left wing clipped the bus, which sent the plane spiraling into a nearby house and bursting into flames. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records.

1994, Dutch instrumental duo Doop were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Doop', their only hit, making them One-hit Wonders.

1995, Bruce Springsteen started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his 'Greatest Hits.'

1996, The second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured 'Real Love', a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon's. The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home, it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

1999, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played the second night at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, New Jersey as warm up dates for their forthcoming Reunion Tracks tour.

2001, Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home was broken into. The intruder left obscene notes on the walls, stole the singer's computer and Hi Fi and had thrown milk and Ribena fruit drink on the walls. They also stole a necklace that used to belong to actress Liz Taylor.

2005, 50 Cent became the first solo artist to have three singles in the US Top 5. 'Candy Shop' was at No.1 with 'How We Do' by The Game, (a member of his G-Unit group) at No.4 and 'Disco Inferno' at No.5.

2006, Orson were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'No Tomorrow', the California band's only UK chart topper.

2006, Shakira was set to become the first pop star to release a single only in the form of a mobile download. The singers forthcoming release 'Hips Don't Lie' would not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but would be available to phone users connected to Verizon.

2007, US soul singer Luther Ingram died from a heart attack at the age of 69. Ingram scored the 1972 US No.2 hit '(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right' and wrote the Staple Singers' hit 'Respect Yourself'.

2009, Eighties pop fan Justine Thompson was ordered to pay more than £1,040 for repeatedly playing The Cure’s 'Boys Don’t Cry' at full blast. Thompson aged 31, had also belted out 'Geno' by Dexy’s Midnight Runners and The Smiths 'This Charming Man' so loudly it shook flats around her home in Brighton, a court heard. City magistrates found her guilty of ignoring a noise abatement notice.


March 19th: Born on this day


1946, Born on this day, Paul Atkinson, guitar, The Zombies, (1964 US No.2 & UK No.12 single 'She's Not There'). He later became an A&R executive, working for Columbia and RCA, discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn. Atkinson died on 1st April 2004 aged 58.

1946, Born on this day, Ruth Pointer, The Pointer Sisters, (1981 US No.2 single, 'Slow Hand', 1984 UK No.2 single 'Automatic').

1952, Born on this day, Derek Longmuir, Bay City Rollers, (1975 UK No.1 single 'Bye Bye Baby' plus 11 other UK Top 20 singles', 1976 US No.1 single 'Saturday Night').

1953, Born on this day, Ricky Wilson, guitarist, The B-52's, (1990 UK No.2 & US No.3 single 'Love Shack'). Wilson died on October 12th 1985 of AIDs.

1953, Born on this day, Billy Sheehan, bass guitarist, Mr. Big, (1992 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'To Be With You'). Also worked with Steve Vai and David Lee Roth.

1955, Born on this day, Actor and singer Bruce Willis, (1987 UK No.2 single 'Under The Boardwalk').

1959, Born on this day, Terry Hall, vocals, Specials, (1981 UK No.1 single 'Ghost Town'). Then formed Fun Boy Three, (1982 UK No.4 single 'It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It' with Bananarama). And Colour Field, (1985 UK No.12 single 'Thinking Of You') Hall was also a member of Vegas.

1971, Born on this day, Jack Bessant, bass, Reef, (1996 UK No. 6 single ‘Place Your Hands’, 1997 UK No.1 album ‘Glow).

1983, Born on this day, Carrie Marie Underwood, American pop country music singer, winner of the fourth season of American Idol. Her debut album 'Some Hearts' is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history.

March 21st: On this Day


1956, Elvis Presley appeared at the 4,000 seated YMCA Gymnasium in Lexington, North Carolina. Also on the bill, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, featuring June Carter, Rod Brasfield, Hal and Ginger. Tickets cost $1 for general admission and $1.50 for reserved seats.

1961, The Beatles played their first ever evening show at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, supporting The Swinging Bluegenes, (later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans).

1965, After 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at No.1 with 'She Loves You'.

1965, The Who appeared at the Trade Union Hall, Watford, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead played the first of seven nights at the Academy of Music in New York City, New York.

1973, The BBC banned all teenybopper acts appearing on UK TV show, 'Top Of The Pops' after a riot following a David Cassidy performance.

1976, Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room in Rochester, New York.

1978, Dire Straits played at The Marquee Club in London, England. Tickets priced at 70p.

1980, Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers was sent to Pentonville Prison after losing his appeal against a drugs conviction.

1981, REO Speedwagon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Keep On Loving You', the group's first top 40 hit and first No.1, a No.7 hit in the UK.

1984, Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono in memory of her late husband was opened.

1985, Bruce Springsteen kicked off the second leg of his Born in the USA world tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.

1987, Club Nouveau started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bill Withers 'Lean On Me', a No.3 hit in the UK.

1987, U2 scored their third UK No.1 album with 'The Joshua Tree', featuring the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', & 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US No.1.

1991, Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson's disease. He started mass producing solid body electric guitars in the late 40s and when he sold his guitar company in
1965, sales were in excess of $40 million a year.

1992, Former nude model Vanessa Williams started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Save The Best To Last', a No.3 hit in the UK.

1994, Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song 'Streets of Philadelphia.'

1996, John Squire guitarist with The Stone Roses quit the band. He broke the news to the other three members over the phone.

1997, Snoop Doggy Dog was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 (£588) for a firearms violation after a handgun was found in his car when he was stopped for a traffic violation.

1998, Run-DMC VS Jason Nevins started a six week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's Like That.' The Run-DMC track was from 1983 and was remixed by Jason Nevins, a US DJ and producer.

1999, Irish girl group B*Witched scored their fourth consecutive UK No.1 single with 'Blame It On The Weatherman.' The girls set a new chart record with their first four singles all entering the chart at No.1.

1999, Blur went to No.1 on the UK album chart with '13', the bands fourth consecutive No.1 and making them only the third act to have four No.1's in the 90's, Simply Red and REM being the other two.

2000, Kurt Cobain and Happy Monday's singer Shaun Ryder both beat older stars such as Keith Richards and Keith Moon in a league of rock 'n' roll excess compiled by UK music weekly Melody Maker. Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson all featured in the Top 10.

2001, Eminem was ordered to pay $476,000 (£280,000) as part of his divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kim. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the US mansion and they would share custody of their five-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.

2001, Michael Jackson's interior decorator told The Times newspaper that the singer kept 17 life size dolls, adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company.'

2004, George Michael scored his fifth UK No.1 album with 'Patience'.

2004, Usher feat L'll Jon started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Yeah.' Also a US No.1. Released as the lead single from Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions.

2004, Ozzy Osbourne was named the nation's favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll as the face people want to represent them to alien life. The poll of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote, Simon Cowell, came last on the list, with just three per cent of the vote, A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: "As the world waits desperately for signs of alien life, we decided to ask our users who they thought was best suited for this most auspicious of roles. Ozzy is a great choice but I'm not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language."

2006, Three South African women whose father, Solomon Linda, wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ in 1939, won a six-year court battle that gave them 25 per cent of all past and future royalties from the song. Linda who was a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company when he wrote the song, received virtually nothing for his work and died in 1962 with $25 in his bank account. The song had been recorded by Pete Seeger (as ‘Wimoweh’), The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Karl Denver and R.E.M. and was featured in the Disney film The Lion King. It was estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone.

2008, A five-year legal row over the use of the Beach Boys' name was settled by two former members of the group. Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band and sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed Beach Boys act. Mr Jardine's lawyer said "a friendly settlement" had been reached that allowed them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band.’

2009, U2 went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'No Line on the Horizon', the bands twelfth studio album.


March 21st: Born on this day


1940, Born on this day, Solomon Burke, US singer, the king of rock & soul, (1961 US No.24 single 'Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms', 1963 US No.1 R&B hit, 'Got To Get You Off My Mind').

1941, Born on this day, John Boylan, American producer and songwriter. Worked with Rick Nelson, the Association, the Dillards. He also managed Linda Ronstadt and introduced her to a then unknown group of musicians who went on to become her backing band in 1971, and later became the Eagles.

1943, Born on this day, Viv Stanshall, vocals, ukulele, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, (1968 UK No.5 single 'I'm The Urban Spaceman'). Stanshall died on March 5th 1995 in a house fire.

1945, Born on this day, Rosemary Stone, vocals, piano, Sly and The Family Stone, (1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.15 single 'Family Affair').

1946, Born on this day, Ray Dorset, singer, guitarist, songwriter, Mungo Jerry, (1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'In The Summertime').

1950, Born on this day, Roger Hodgson, guitar, Supertramp, (1979 US No.6 & UK No.7 single 'The Logical Song').

1951, Born on this day, Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba').

1951, Born on this day, Russell Thompkins Jr, vocals, The Stylistics, (1975 US No.1 single 'You Make Me Feel Brand New', 1975 UK No.1 single 'Can't Give You Anything But My Love' plus 15 other UK top 40 singles).

1953, Born on this day, Robert Johnson, KC and the Sunshine Band, (1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up').

1956, Born on this day, Guy Chadwick, guitar, vocals, House Of Love, (1990 UK No.20 single ‘Shine On’).

1957, Born on this day, John Reddington, King Kurt, (1983 UK No.36 single 'Destination Zululand').

1958, Born on this day, Jonathan Norton, drummer/percussionist/vocalist worked with Eels, Lisa Germano, Tracy Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Michael Penn, Aimee Mann and Lucinda Williams.

1967, Born on this day, Jonas Berggren, guitar, keyboards, Ace Of Base, (1993 UK No.1 single 'All That She Wants', 1994 US No.1 single 'The Sign').

1967, Born on this day, Keith Palmer, vocals, Prodigy, (1996 UK No.1 & US No. 30 single 'Firestarter'. 1997 UK & US No.1 album 'The Fat Of The Land').

1967, Born on this day, Sean Dickson, The Soup Dragons, (1990 UK No.5 single 'I'm Free').

1977, Born on this day, Mark Hamilton, Ash, (1995 UK No.11 single 'Girl From Mars').

1980, Born on this day, Deryck 'Bizzy D' Whibley, guitar, vocals, Sum 41, (2001 UK No 13 single 'In Too Deep').

March 26th: On this Day


1956, Kay Starr was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Rock And Roll Waltz.' The song is told from the point-of-view of a teenager who comes home early from a date, and catches her parents attempting to dance to one of her rock and roll records.

1961, The Beatles performed at the Casbah Coffee Club, West Derby, Liverpool, their last performance before traveling to Hamburg, West Germany, for their second visit.

1965, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage during a Rolling Stones show in Denmark. Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes.

1969, Marvin Gaye was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, with 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'. The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.

1970, Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary pleaded guilty to 'taking immoral liberties' with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months in jail. Just days earlier, the trio had won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for their album, 'Peter, Paul and Mommy'.

1976, One-man blues band Duster Bennett was killed in a car accident.
1970 album 'Smiling Like I'm Happy.' Worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B.B. King.

1976, Anita Pallenberg the girlfriend of Rolling Stone Keith Richards gave birth to a baby boy, Tara, (he died ten weeks later from pneumonia).

1977, Hall and Oates started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rich Girl', the duo's first US No.1, not a hit in the UK.

1980, The Police became the first Western pop group to play in Bombay, India for over ten years when they played a one off gig in the city.

1983, Duran Duran went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Is There Something I Should Know'. Their first No.1 and their eighth single release. The group were on a US promotional trip on this day, where they were greeted by 5,000 screaming fans at an in-store appearance in New York City.

1983, Tears For Fears scored their first UK No.1 album with 'The Hurting.'

1985, Radio stations in South Africa banned all of Stevie Wonders records after he dedicated the Oscar he had won the night before at The Academy Awards to Nelson Mandela.

1988, British reggae band Aswad were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Don't Turn Around.' Ace of Base scored a US No.1 hit in 1994 with their version of the Diane Warren song.

1988, Michael Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Man In The Mirror', a No.21 hit in the UK.

1988, Morrissey went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo LP 'Viva Hate.'

1994, Soundgarden entered the US album chart at No.1 with 'Superunknown'.

1995, Rapper producer, and record executive Eazy-E (Eric Lynn Wright) died of AIDS in Los Angeles aged 31. Formed Ruthless Records, worked with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.

2000, Melanie C scored her first solo UK No.1 single with 'Never Be The Same Again' with Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes from TLC. She replaced her former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell from the top of the charts.

2000, Phil Collins won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song with 'You'll Be In My Heart' from the Disney animated feature 'Tarzan.'

2000, Santana started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Supernatural.'

2001, The toy figure of Eminem was facing a ban from UK shops. Woolworth's and Hamleys were refusing to stock the dolls. Psychologists warned parents who buy the dolls for children will be inadvertently giving their approval to bad language.

2002, Randy Castillo drummer with the Ozzy Osbourne band died of cancer aged 51. Worked with Osbourne during the 1980s and early 1990s. Also worked with Lita Ford and Motley Crue.

2003, Kelly Rowland postponed her European tour because of the war in Iraq. The dates were due to start in the UK on 13 April.

2004, Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, died at the age of 62, after being in poor health sustained in a 1966 car crash. Had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.26 single 'Surf City', (co written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson). At the height of their fame, Jan and Dean hosted and performed at The T.A.M.I. Show, the film also featured The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

2005, Australian drummer Paul Hester died aged 46, after he "attempted suicide" and died from strangulation after being found hanged in a park in Melbourne. He had been a member of Crowded House, Split Enz and Largest Living Things. After leaving Crowded House in 1994 Hester appeared on many TV and radio shows in Australia.

2006, Readers of Total Guitar magazine voted the guitar solo by Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' as the greatest guitar solo of all time. The 1971 track was voted ahead of tracks by Van Halen, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and The Eagles. On the 20th anniversary of the original release of the song, it was announced via US radio sources that the song had logged up an estimated 2,874,000 radio plays - back to back, that would run for 44 years solid.

2006, U2's The Edge donated his favourite guitar a 1975 Gibson Les Paul to a charity he co-founded to replace instruments lost or destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit the US.

2006, Journey South went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their self-titled album. Journey South were made up of brothers Carl and Andy Pemberton who were the third place runners up on the 2005 X Factor TV show.

2008, The Los Angeles Times apologised for claiming rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was involved in a 1994 shooting of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur. The LA Times, which published the original story on its website, initially said its claims were based on FBI records, witness accounts and other unnamed sources. The apology followed a claim that the newspaper was conned by a prisoner who doctored the documents used.


March 26th: Born on this day


1917, Born on this day, Rufus Thomas, singer, (1963 US No.10 single with ‘Walking The Dog’ and a 1970 UK No.18 & US No.28 single with ‘Do The Funky Chicken’). Thomas died on December 15th 2001.

1944, Born on this day, Diana Ross, (Diane Earle), singer, The Supremes, singer, (1964 UK & US No.1 single 'Baby Love' plus over 20 other US & UK Top 40 hits). Solo (1980 US No.1 single 'Upside Down, 1986 UK No.1 single 'Chain Reaction').

1948, Born on this day, Richard Tandy, keyboards, vocals, Electric Light Orchestra, (1979 UK No.3 & US No. 4 single 'Don't Bring Me Down' plus 26 other top 40 UK hits).

1948, Born on this day, Steven Tyler, vocals, Aerosmith, (1989 UK No.13 single 'Love In An Elevator', 1989 album 'Pump' spent 53 weeks on the US charts, 1993 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Get A Grip', 1998 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing').

1949, Born on this day, Fran Sheehan, bass, Boston, (1977 UK No.22 single 'More Than A Feeling', 1986 US No.1 single 'Amanda').

1950, Born on this day, Teddy Pendergrass, soul singer, (1978 US No.25 single 'Close The Door', 1994 UK No.35 single 'The More I Get The More I Want'). One time member of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. Died on 13th Jan 2010 at the age of 59 following a difficult recovery from colon cancer surgery.

1953, Born on this day, William Lyall, keyboards, Pilot, (1975 UK No.1 single 'January'). Also worked with Sheena Easton and The Bay City Rollers. Lyall died in 1989.

1955, Born on this day, Martin Price, 808 State, (1989 UK No.10 single 'Pacific State').

1957, Born on this day, Paul Morley, Art Of Noise, (1988 UK No.5 single with Tom Jones, 'Kiss'), music journalist.

1968, Born on this day, James Jonas Iha, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, (1995 US No.1 album 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness', 1996 UK No.7 single 'Tonight Tonight').

1968, Born on this day, Kenny Chesney, US country singer, songwriter, (2002 US No.1 album ‘No Shoes, No Shirt’, 2005 US No.1 album 'Be As You Are'). Married Bridget Jones and Chicago actress Renee Zellweger in May 2005.

1971, Born on this day, John Hendy, East 17, (1994 UK No.1 single 'Stay Another Day', plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).

1981, Born on this day, Jay Sean, British producer, 2009 US No.1 single 'Down' with Lil Wayne.

March 28th: On this Day


1957, Elvis Presley appeared live at The Chicago International Theatre.

1958, Buddy Holly kicked off the first night of a 43 date tour at Brooklyn Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. The Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show also featured Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, The Diamonds, Billy Ford, Danny & The Juniors, The Chantels, Larry Williams, Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Pastels, Jo-Ann Campbell and Ed Townsend. On most days the acts played two shows.

1964, Madame Tussauds, London unveiled the wax works images of The Beatles, the first pop stars to be honoured.

1964, Radio Caroline started broadcasting from the former Danish ferry 'Fredericia' in the North Sea off the coast of England.

1967, Working on session for the new Beatles album Sgt Pepper at Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon recorded his lead vocal for ‘Good Morning Good Morning’, and Paul McCartney added a lead guitar solo to the track. Lennon had decided he wanted to end the song with animal sound effects, and asked that they be sequenced in such a way that each successive animal was capable of scaring or eating the preceding one.

1970, Simon and Garfunkel were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', the duo's only UK No.1. Only Art Garfunkel sang on the track.

1974, Delta blues singer and guitarist Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup died of a stroke at the age of 69. He wrote 'That's All Right (Mama)' covered by Elvis Presley and 'My Baby Left Me'.

1974, During a UK tour, Queen appeared at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

1976, Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt and Alan Lancaster from Status Quo were arrested after an incident at Vienna Airport, all three were released on bail.

1976, Genesis began their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel left the band, appearing in Buffalo, New York, with Phil Collins taking over as lead singer.

1977, During a UK tour, Pink Floyd played the first of four sold out nights at New Bingley Hall, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford.

1977, Kiss played the first of five sold-out nights on their Alive II world Tour at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

1981, Blondie started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rapture', the group's fourth US No.1, a No.5 hit in the UK.

1981, Elton John's version of The Beatles 'I Saw Her Standing There' was released as a tribute to John Lennon.

1982, David Crosby was arrested after crashing his car on the San Diego Highway. Police also found cocaine and a pistol in the Crosby Stills & Nash stars car. When the police asked Crosby why he carried the gun, his reply was, "John Lennon."

1987, Mel and Kim were at No.1 on the UK singles chart 'Respectable', giving the production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman their second UK No.1.

1992, Over a $100,000 (£58,800) worth of damage was caused at The Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, California, when Ozzy Osbourne invited the first two rows of the audience on stage. Several others took up the offer and the band was forced to exit the stage.

1992, During a North American tour Pearl Jam appeared at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago with Smashing Pumpkins as the support act.

1995, Singer Jimmy McShane died of Aids. He had the 1985 UK No.3 single and European hit 'Tarzan Boy with Italian dance outfit Baltimora.

1995, Country singer Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts announced they were separating after 21 months of marriage.

1999, French act Mr Oizo went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Flat Beat.' The tune was used in a Levis jeans ad.

2000, Jimmy Page accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages from a magazine which claimed he had caused or contributed to the death of his Led Zeppelin bandmate John Bonham. Page's solicitor, Norman Chapman, told High Court Judge Mr Justice Morland that the feature in Ministry magazine printed in 1999 claimed Page was more concerned with keeping vomit off his bed than saving his friend's life, and that he stood over him wearing Satanist robes and performing a useless spell.

2001, The artist formerly known as both Puffy and Puff Daddy said in an interview on MTV he now wanted to be known as P. Diddy. In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply "Diddy."

2001, It was reported that singer songwriter James Taylor and his wife Caroline Smedvig were expecting twin boys, carried by a surrogate mother who was a family friend.

2004, Usher was at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Confessions', his second UK No.1 album.

2005, After playing a warm-up date the night before at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, U2 kicked off their Vertigo tour at the iPay One Center in San Diego, California. The 131 date world tour would see the band playing in North America, Europe, South America and Japan. By the time it finished, the Vertigo Tour had sold 4,619,021 tickets, grossing $389 million; the second-highest figure ever for a world tour.

2006, Tina Brown the sister-in-law of Whitney Houston sold pictures taken in her bathroom to the National Enquirer claiming Whitney Houston had been taking crack cocaine. The pictures showed drug paraphernalia including a crack-smoking pipe, rolling papers, cocaine-caked spoons and cigarette ends strewn across the surface tops of the bathroom.

2009, Kelly Clarkson started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'All I Ever Wanted', the singer's fourth studio album.


March 28th: Born on this day


1941, Born on this day, Charlie McCoy, Area Code 615, 1970 theme for UK BBC TV Music show 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', 'Stone Fox Chase.'

1945, Born on this day, Chuck Portz, The Turtles, (1967 US No.1 single 'Happy Together', 1967 UK No.4 single 'She'd Rather Be With Me').

1948, Born on this day, John Evans, Jethro Tull, (1969 UK No.3 & US No.11 single 'Living In The Past').

1948, Born on this day, Milan Williams, keyboards, brass, guitar, The Commodores, (1978 UK & US No.1 single 'Three Times A Lady').

1949, Born on this day, Sally Carr, Middle Of The Road, (1971 UK No.1 single 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep').

1954, Born on this day, Reba McEntire, country singer, sold over 30 million albums during her career. 2009 US No.1 album 'Keep On Loving You', her 26th studio album.

1962, Born on this day, Geo Grimes, Danny Wilson, (1988 UK No.3 single 'Mary's Prayer').

1965, Born on this day, Steve Turner, guitar, Mudhoney, (1991 UK No.60 single 'Let It Slide').

1969, Born on this day, Cheryl James (Salt) Salt-n-Pepa, (1991 UK No.2 single 'Let's Talk About Sex').

1969, Born on this day, James Atkin, EMF, (1990 UK No.3 & 1991 US No.1 single 'Unbelievable').

1976, Born on this day, Dave Keuning, guitarist, The Killers, (2005 UK No.1 with their debut album 'Hot Fuss').

1986, Born on this day, Lady Gaga, (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) American singer, songwriter. 2008 single US & UK No.1 single 'Just Dance', 2008 single 'Poker Face', reached number one in twenty countries.

March 29th: On this Day


1963, The Shadows had their fifth and final UK No.1 single with 'Foot Tapper.'

1964, The first night of a UK tour kicked of at The Coventry Theatre with The Hollies, the Dave Clark Five, The Kinks and The Mojos.

1966, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger was injured during a gig in Marseilles after a fan threw a chair at the stage, Jagger required eight stitches in the cut.

1966, Fans mobbed the Walker Brothers as they entered a hotel in Cheshire resulting in two of the group being concussed. The group were in the UK for a tour and TV appearances.

1967, During a European tour The Rolling Stones appeared at the Bremen-Stadthalle in Germany. Also on the tour, The Easybeats and The Creation.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios The Beatles finished recording ‘Good Morning Good Morning’. They then started work on a new song ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’, (originally titled ‘Bad Finger Boogie’), recording 10 takes of the rhythm track, then Ringo overdub a double-tracked lead vocal.

1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Black Sabbath, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Curved Air, J.J. Jackson's Dilemma, Shy Limbs, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Sunflower Brass Band and Toe Fat all appeared at the London Free Easter Festival in Bethnal Green, London, England.

1969, Blood Sweat & Tears went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self- titled album.

1973, Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show got their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine after their hit, 'The Cover of Rolling Stone' reached No. 6 on the US singles chart. According to members of the group, they really did buy five copies for their mothers, just like the song said.

1975, Labelle went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Lady Marmalade', the group's only No.1. British act All Saints had an UK No.1 with the song in 1998.

1975, Led Zeppelin saw all six of their albums in the US Top 100 chart in the same week, alongside their latest album Physical Graffiti at No.1. Physical Graffiti has now been certified 16 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 16 million copies.

1976, During a European tour Neil Young started a three night run at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Tickets cost £1-4 ($1.70-$6.80).

1978, David Bowie kicked off his Low / Heroes 77-date World Tour at San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

1979, After attending a Dire Straits show during their residency at the Roxy in Los Angeles, Bob Dylan asked Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on the sessions for his next album. Slow Train Coming was the album, recorded in Muscle Shoals in May of 1979, with Jerry Wexler producing. Dylan had first heard Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler when his assistant Arthur Rosato played him the single 'Sultans of Swing'.

1980, Mantovani, (Annunzio Paolo Mantovan), Orchestra leader died aged 74. Born in Italy his family moved to England in 1912, where he studied at Trinity College of Music in London. He recorded over 50 albums for Decca records, including Song from Moulin Rouge and Cara Mia, both reached No. 1 in the UK. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released over 40 albums with 27 reaching the Top 40 and 11 the Top Ten. His biggest success was with the album Film Encores, which made it to No. 1 in 1957.

1980, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon album spent its 303rd week on the US album chart, beating the record set by Carole King's 1971 #1 album Tapestry. The album remained in the US Billboard charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in chart history. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006.

1981, Shakin' Stevens was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Rosemary Clooney hit 'This Ole House', the Welsh singers first of four UK No.1's.

1983, At the end of their 29 date 'War' UK tour, U2 appeared at Hammersmith Palais in London.

1985, Jeanine Deckers, The Singing Nun, died aged 52 after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact with a friend. Her 1963 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Dominique' sold over 1.5 million copies, winning a Grammy Award for the year's best Gospel song. Deckers wrote about her financial difficulties in a suicide note, and in a great irony, the very day of her suicide and unknown to her, the Belgian association that collects royalties for songwriters awarded her $300,000 (571,658 Belgian francs).

1986, Austrian singer Falco started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rock Me Amadeus', also a No.1 in the UK. Falco became the first German speaking artist to achieve a No.1 on the US charts.

1986, Cliff Richard and The Young Ones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Living Doll.' In aid of Comic Relief, a re-recording of his 1959 No.1, with the cast of the TV show 'The Young Ones'.

1996, Two former members of the 1950's group, The Teddy Bears filed suit in Los Angeles, California, against producer Phil Spector and several labels. Carol Connors and Marshall Lieb alleged they had not received royalties from re-issues of their 1958 No.1 one hit 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'.

1999, The David Bowie Internet Radio Network broadcast its first show for Rolling Stone Radio. The show was Bowie's favourite songs with Bowie introducing each track.

2000, Phil Collins took out a high court action against two former members of Earth, Wind And Fire. Collins claimed his company had overpaid the musicians by £50,000 ($85,000) in royalties on tracks including 'Sussudio' and 'Easy Lover'.

2001, The man who hid in a cathedral organ to try to video the baptism of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's son Rocco, was fined a £1,000. He admitted disorderly conduct at Dornoch court in Sutherland.

2001, Brian Wilson was honored in a three hour tribute at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Guest performances included Billy Joe, Paul Simon, The Go-Gos and the trio of Carly Simon, David Crosby and Jimmy Webb. Also singing Beach Boy songs were Ann and Nancy Wilson, Elton John and Aimee Mann. Brian Wilson himself joined the fun when he took the stage for the final three songs, 'Barbara Ann', 'Surfin' U.S.A.' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun'.

2004, A court in Lithuania sentenced French rock star Bertrand Cantat, lead singer with Noir Desir to eight years in prison for killing his actress girlfriend during a fight. Cantat was convicted of fatally beating Marie Trintignant in a Vilnius hotel room in 2003. Cantat had admitted killing Ms Trintignant but said it was an accident.

2005, Neil Young was treated for a brain aneurysm at a hospital in New York. Doctors expected the 59 year old to make a full recovery. The aneurysm was discovered when Young's vision became blurred after the induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.

2007, U2 singer Bono accepted an honorary knighthood at a ceremony in Dublin. Fellow band members The Edge and Adam Clayton joined the frontman's wife and four children at the British ambassador David Reddaway's official residence. The rock star and campaigner, 46, was not entitled to be called "Sir" because he is not a British citizen. The U2 singer's new title is Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).

2007, ‘Umbrella’, by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z was released in the US. The track went on to reach No.1 in various countries, including the US. A No.1 in the UK for 10 consecutive weeks making it the longest running No.1 single since Wet Wet Wet's ‘Love Is All Around’ in 1994, and the longest running No.1 by a female artist since Whitney Houston's ‘I Will Always Love You.’

2011, A website that illegally sold Beatles songs online for 25 cents each agreed to pay record companies almost $1m (£625,000) to settle a legal case. BlueBeat.com, based in the US, streamed and sold music by The Beatles, Coldplay and others until it was sued in 2009. In the few days before it was forced to shut down, it had distributed more than 67,000 Beatles tracks.


March 29th: Born on this day


1942, Born on this day, Eden Kane, singer, (1961 UK No.1 'Well I Ask You', brother of Peter Sarsted).

1943, Born on this day, Chad Allan, Guess Who, (1970 US No.1 & UK No.19 single 'American Woman').

1943, Born on this day, Evangelos Papathanassiou, (Vangelis) 1981 UK No.12 & 1982 US No.1 single 'Chariots Of Fire.'

1945, Born on this day, Speedy Keen, drums, vocals, Thunderclap Newman, (1969 UK No.1 & US No.37 single 'Something In The Air'). Keen died of heart failure on 21 March 2002.

1946, Born on this day, Terry Jacks, singer, songwriter, (1974 UK & US No.1 single 'Seasons In The Sun'), also a UK No.1 hit for Westlife in 1999.

1947, Born on this day, Bobby Kimball, vocals, Toto, (1983 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Africa').

1949, Born on this day, Dave Greenfield, The Stranglers, keyboards, (1986 UK No.2 single 'Golden Brown' and over 20 over other UK Top 40 singles).

1949, Born on this day, Michael Brecker, Brecker Brothers, (1978 UK No.34 single 'East River').

1956, Born on this day, Patty Donahue, singer, The Waitresses, (1982 UK No.45 single 'Christmas Wrapping'). Died of lung cancer 6th December 1996.

1959, Born on this day, Perry Farrell, Jane's Addiction, (1991 UK No.34 single 'Been Caught Stealing', 1990 US No. 19 album 'Ritual De Lo Habitual'), Porno For Pyros, (1993 US No.3 & UK No.3 self-titled album). Conceived US 'Lollapalooza' tours.