1955 : Elvis Presley’s performance in Jacksonville, Florida is the first Presley show at which a riot ensues. After Elvis tells the audience, “Girls, I’ll see you backstage”, he has some of his clothes ripped off, but escapes unharmed.

1957 : Elvis Presley begins filming his third movie, Jailhouse Rock, in Hollywood.

1957 : Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Rock-A-Billy’, the singers fourth and final UK No.1. The Song gave its name to a music style – a mix of rock and country.

1960 : The juvenile delinquent movie Platinum High School, starring Conway Twitty, opens in New York.

1965 : Elvis Presley’s sixteenth movie, Tickle Me, premieres in Hollywood. It opens nationally two weeks later.

1965 : Recorded on this day, Elvis Presley – “Come Along,” “Beginner’s Luck,” “Down By The Riverside,” “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In,” “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me,” “Shout It Out” for his “Frankie & Johnny” album

1966 : Recorded on this day, The Kinks – “Sunny Afternoon”

1967 : The Monkees second album ‘More Of The Monkees’, went to No.1 on the UK charts. In 1967 only four albums reached No.1; ‘The Sound Of Music’ which spent 17 weeks at No.1, The Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s’, 25 weeks at No.1 and The Monkees first and second albums spent 9 weeks at No.1.

1967 : The Supremes scored their 10th US No.1 single with ‘The Happening’; it made No.6 in the UK. It was the last single to be released as the Supremes, from now on they were known as Diana Ross and the Supremes.

1967 : Nancy and Frank Sinatra’s “Somethin’ Stupid” hits #1.

1968 : John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a series of interviews to help launch Apple Corps in the US.

1969 : Led Zeppelin became the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at The Civic Auditorium, Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser stated: ‘The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better’.

1969 : The Beatles meet at EMI House in London to replicate the cover of their first LP, Please Please Me, now with beards and long hair, for the cover of their next project, Get Back. When that project morphs into Let It Be, the photo is eventually used for the cover of their “blue album,” The Beatles 1967-1970.

1970 : The world premiere of The Beatles film ‘Let It Be’ took place in New York City. The film which was originally planned as a television documentary features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release.

1971 : Recorded on this day, James Brown – “Hot Pants”

1971 : Motown child prodigy Stevie Wonder turns 21, and is by law released from his recording contract and given $1 million of the $30 million he has earned while at the label. Nevertheless, after gaining complete artistic control, Wonder resigns to Tamla.

1971 : Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane crashed her Mercedes into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and was hospitalized.

1971 : Aretha Franklin’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is certified gold.

1974 : Forty-three people were arrested and more than fifty were injured after youths started throwing bottles outside a Jackson Five concert at RFK stadium in Washington DC.

1975 : A radio station in Jacksonville, Florida knocks out the city’s phone service giving away tickets to Elvis Presley’s concert.

1978 : Yvonne Elliman went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Gibb brothers song ‘If I Can’t Have You’. The song was featured in the film ‘Saturday Night Fever’; a No.4 hit in the UK.

1985 : Bruce Springsteen gets married for the first time as he and the model/actress Julianne Phillips tie the knot at a ceremony presided over by Little Richard. The couple divorced in 1989.

1985 : Tipper Gore, who is the wife of Tennessee senator Al Gore, forms the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) with 3 other politically-connected women after listening to the Prince song Darling Nikki. The group pressures the RIAA to establish a ratings system for albums and concerts like there exists in movies, and also to keep offensive album covers out of view in record stores. They end up getting warning stickers on albums with offensive lyrics.

1989 : Bon Jovi went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I’ll Be There For You’, the group’s fourth US No.1, a No.18 hit in the UK.

1989 : Simple Minds went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Street Fighting Years’, their fourth No.1 album. The album featured ‘Mandela Day’, ‘Belfast Child’ and ‘Biko’.

1996 : Oasis became the fastest selling group in UK history after all 330,000 tickets for their summer shows sold out in just nine hours, the tickets for shows at Knebworth and Loch Lomand were priced at £22.50.

2002 : Dionne Warwick was arrested at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana after authorities found 11 joints in a lipstick case in the singer’s hand luggage. The charges were dropped after she completed a drug program and made a contribution to charity.

2003 : Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong pleads guilty to selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet.

2003 : Michael Jackson launched a court case suing Motown Records. Jacko filed the lawsuit in LA, saying he hadn’t been paid royalties due for the music he did with the Jackson Five in the 60s and 70s. The singer also claimed his music has been used in TV ads without his permission.

2006 : Godsmack were at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘IV’ the American heavy metal bands second No.1 album.

2007 : Brian May was under 24-hour security watch after a deranged man announced he was setting off to murder him – then disappeared. Police were hunting for a schizophrenic who left a letter behind at his home blaming the Queen guitarist for his illness. In it the man – said May was an “impostor” and that HE was the real rock star. He signed the letter “Brian May.”

2008 : The US Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Frank Sinatra. The design showed a 1950’s vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a hat.

2008 : The Turtles’ Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, better known as “Flo and Eddie,” sue Capitol Records for allowing Ice Cube to sample the group’s 1972 song “Buzzsaw” for Cube’s 1992 hit “Jackin’ For Beats.”

2011 : “Like A Rolling Stone” was voted as Bob Dylan’s best-ever song by Rolling Stone Magazine, who had asked the opinions of a panel of writers, academics and musicians to compile a poll to mark Dylan’s 70th birthday on 24th May. Like A Rolling Stone, was described by U2’s Bono as ‘a black eye of a pop song’, while Mick Jagger praised the simplicity of Desolation Row. Keith Richards argued that the original 1963 solo version of Girl From The North Country, ranked 30th, was superior to Dylan’s 1969 duet of the same song with Johnny Cash.

2012 : Donald “Duck” Dunn, bassist with Booker T & The MG’s died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. Booker T & The MG’s scored the 1962 US No.3 single ‘Green Onions’, and the 1969 UK No.4 single ‘Time Is Tight’.