1957 : Johnnie Ray was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Yes Tonight Josephine’, the US singers third and final UK No.1. Ray became deaf in his right ear at age 13 after an accident during a Boy Scout “blanket toss,” a variation of the trampoline. (Ray later performed wearing a hearing aid).

1958 : Alan Freed, who popularized R&B music by playing it for a white audience, moves from WINS in New York to WABC. Freed put on a lot of concerts featuring the artists he played, and WINS had suspended him over a show in Boston where a riot broke out.

1960 : Bobby Darin plays the Copacabana in New York for the first time.

1962 : Owen Gray’s ‘Twist Baby’ became the first single released on UK based Island Records. The label became home to Free, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Bob Marley and U2.

1962 : Ray Charles started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Don Gibson penned country ballad ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’, also No.1 in the UK.

1963 : The Rolling Stones played two gigs in one day. The first at Studio 51, Ken Colyer Club in Soho, London. The Stones played a regular Sunday afternoon gig at the club from 4 until 6.30 and were billed as Rhythm and Blues with The Rolling Stones. That evening they appeared at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, Surrey.

1964 : During their first US tour, The Rolling Stones made their US TV debut on The Les Crane Show, which was aired at midnight and had viewers phoning in to ask the group questions.

1964 : The first U.S. Rolling Stones concert is held, at the Manning Bowl, a high school in Lynn, Massachusetts.

1966 : The Who kick off a 10-date European tour at the Grona Lund in Stockholm, Sweden.

1964 : Production begins on the movie, Ferry Cross The Mersey, starring Gerry & the Pacemakers and Cilla Black.

1966 : Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Strangers In The Night’, the singers second UK No.1. The song was originally composed by Avo Uvezian as ‘Broken Guitar’ and later under the title ‘Beddy Bye’ as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed.

1966 : Recorded on this day, The Beatles – “I Want To Tell You”

1967 : David Bowie released his debut album, ‘David Bowie’, which failed to make the UK charts.

1972 : Former teen idol Dion performs in a reunion concert with The Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1973 : Electric Light Orchestra begin their first US tour, a 40-date trek in San Diego, CA.

1972 : Released on this day, Pink Floyd – “Obscured By Clouds”

1973 : Paul McCartney had both the No.1 positions on the US charts when ‘Red Rose Speedway’, went to the top of the album chart and ‘My Love’, started a four week run as the No.1 single.

1975 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy

1976 : Paul McCartney and Wings set a new world record when they perform in front of 67,100 fans in Seattle, the largest attendance for an indoor crowd.

1978 : Thin Lizzy released the live double album ‘Live And Dangerous’. It was recorded in Philadelphia, London and Toronto in 1977, during the tours accompanying the albums Johnny The Fox and Bad Reputation.

1979 : Donna Summer started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hot Stuff’, her second US No.1, it made No.11 in the UK.

1981 : Prince made his live British debut at The Lyceum Ballroom, London, (he would not play the UK again for five years).

1984 : Wham! had their first UK No.1 with ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.’ Written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo. Inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Andrew’s parents, originally intended to read “wake me up before you go” but with “up” accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote “go” twice on purpose.

1984 : Aerosmith played at the Capitol Theater in Concord, New Hampshire, the first night on their 59 date North American Back In The Saddle Tour.

1989 : Rolling Stone Bill Wyman secretly married 19-year-old Mandy Smith. Wyman’s 28-year-old son was best man. All other four Stones attended. The marriage lasted 17 months.

1993 : Aerosmith appear at the Landon Arena in Kansas, the first night on their 169 date Get A Grip world tour.

1995 : Stone Roses guitarist John Squire smashed his collarbone in a cycling accident causing the band to pull out of major gigs.

1999 : Junior Braithwaite from Bob Marley and the Wailers was shot dead aged 46. Braithwaite was one of the founders of, and the first lead singer of The Wailers.

2002 : The wedding ring that Paul McCartney had given his fiancée Heather Mills ends up thrown out of the window of the hotel where the couple is staying in Miami. Hotel staff use metal detectors to find the $25,000 ring the next day. Despite the quarrel, Paul and Heather go ahead with the wedding.

2002 : Pop Idol winner Will Young scored his second UK No.1 single with his version of The Doors 1967 classic ‘Light My Fire’.

2003 : A painting of Kylie Minogue wearing gold hot pants caused tempers to fray among drivers in Brighton. Artist Simon Etheridge, put up the almost life-size picture in his own Art Asylum gallery, as part of a Festival and since then motorists had caused regular traffic hold-ups as they stopped to take a second look.

2005 : Franz Ferdinand’s frontman, Alex Kapranos was detained by Russian police after being suspected of being a spy. Kapranos was attempting to board a plane in Moscow when the altercation took place. Travelling under his actual surname, Huntley, Alex was accused of being an MI6 agent who was previously suspected of stealing information on Russian weaponry. Unlucky for Alex that the surname Huntley was also used by actual former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson who did steal secrets in the early 90s. The singer was freed after he pointed out that the Huntley they were so concerned about was 42, 13 years older than him.

2006 : Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway is added to the National Historic Register. The studio opened in 1969 when the musicians from the nearby FAME studios left to do it themselves. Many famous acts, including Paul Simon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Rolling Stones recorded there in the ’70s. It switched hands in 1978 and was eventually abandoned, but in 1999 Noel Webster bought it and reopened the studio.

2008 : American guitarist and singer Bo Diddley (Ellas Otha Bates) died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida aged 79. The legendary singer and performer, was known for his homemade square guitar and his ‘shave and a haircut, two bits’ rhythm, which influenced artists from Buddy Holly to Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and U2.

2009 : Cher sues Universal Music Group on behalf of herself and her late partner Sonny Bono, claiming the label owes them five million in unpaid royalties.