1955 : Buddy & Bob (Buddy Holly) opened for Elvis Presley at the ‘Big D Jamboree’, held at Lubbock’s Cotton Club, Texas. Nashville talent scout Eddie Crandall was in audience and arranged for Holly to audition and record demos for the Decca US label.

1959 : Recorded on this day, Jim Reeves – “He’ll Have To Go”

1960 : The Beatles (minus Pete Best) and two members of Rory Storm’s Hurricanes (Ringo Starr and Lou Walters) recorded a version of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ in a Hamburg recording studio. The track which was cut onto a 78-rpm disc marked the first session that included John, Paul, George, and Ringo together.

1964 : British singer Screaming Lord Sutch runs for the English parliament.

1965 : Jimi Hendrix signs his first recording contract. The 3-year deal with PPX productions gives him one dollar plus one percent of his royalties on his records. The deal causes major legal issues in the years to come.

1966 : Pink Floyd (who were paid £15 for the gig), The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel band all appeared at the launch for the International Times (which became the first and longest running British hippy paper), at London’s Roundhouse. Beatle Paul McCartney attended the event in Arabian dress. The flyers for the evening stated: ‘Bring your own poison, bring flowers & gass (sic), filled balloons’. Admission was 10 shillings (50p) on the door.

1966 : The Four Tops started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Reach Out And I’ll Be There’. The group’s second US No.1 and their first No.1 in the UK.

1967 : The first Sacramento Pop Festival took place which featured Spirit, Jefferson Airplane, Nutty Gritty Dirt Band, Strawberry Alarm Clock and Sunshine Company.

1968 : The New Yardbirds make their first performance under their new name Led Zeppelin at a gig at Surrey University, England.

1968 : The Supremes guest star on Bing Crosby’s ABC-TV special.

1971 : Rick Nelson (formerly Ricky) is invited to perform at the Seventh Annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival Show, an oldies concert held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Debuting some of his newer, country-rock material with his Stone Canyon Band, Nelson is booed by the audience; the experience so unnerves the former teen idol that he goes home and pens a song about the experience, puckishly entitled Garden Party. Ironically, in 1972 it will become his first US Top Ten hit since 1963’s “For You.”

1972 : Lieutenant Pigeon were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mouldy Old Dough.’ Keyboard player Rob Woodward had his mum play piano on the single, making them the only mother and son act to score a UK No.1. The song was recorded in the front room of their semi-detached house.

1973 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Angie by The Rolling Stones.

1973 : Keith Richards was found guilty of trafficking cannabis by a Court in Nice, France. The Rolling Stone was given a one-year suspended sentence and a 5,000 franc fine. He was also banned from entering France for two years.

1973 : Having experienced respiratory problems for the past four days,Elvis Presley is admitted for two weeks to Memphis’ Baptist Memorial Hospital with what is termed “pneumonia.” Dr. George Nichopoulos, Elvis’ personal physician, discovers his patient’s addiction to Demerol.

1976 : Ike & Tina Turner officially dissolve their musical partnership.

1977 : Debby Boone started a 10 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Light Up My Life’, the longest stay at the top since Guy Mitchell’s ‘Singing The Blues. A No.48 hit in the UK.

1979 : Abba played their first concert in North America when they appeared in Vancouver, Canada.

1980 : For the first time ever, London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios auctions off thousands of dollars of equipment, including some used on Beatles recordings.

1988 : Bon Jovi started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fourth release, ‘New Jersey.’ The album produced five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album.

1988 : UB40 went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of the Neil Diamond song ‘Red Red Wine’, also a No.1 hit in the UK.

1992 : Madonna holds a “Sex” party to promote her upcoming book Sex. Held at Industria Superstudio in Manhattan, Madonna shows up dressed like Little Bo Peep and carrying a stuffed lamb.

1995 : Paul and Linda McCartney were the guest voices on Fox-TV’s The Simpsons in an episode called “Lisa the Vegetarian”, Paul explains that if you play “Maybe I’m Amazed” backwards, you’ll hear a recipe for lentil soup.. Macca’s stipulation for appearing was that Lisa’s decision to become a vegetarian would be a permanent character change, to which producer David Mirkin agreed.

1996 : Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was charged with assault for attacking a cameraman who was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside an L.A. club. After pleading no contest, Lee was sentenced to four months in prison.

1997 : Michael Jackson played the last date on the HIStory Tour at King’s Park Rugby Stadium, Durban, South Africa. During the tour, Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, visiting 5 continents and 35 countries.

2000 : Dave Edmunds had a triple heart bypass operation. The 56 year-old Welsh rocker had the operation at LA’s Cedars Sinai Hospital.

2000 : Radiohead went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Kid A’, the group’s fourth album became the first Radiohead release to debut at No.1 in the US.

2000 : U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Beautiful Day’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’.

2003 : Mike Smith, the former lead singer of The Dave Clark Five suffered a fall at his home in Spain that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Smith died of pneumonia on February 28th, 2008, less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

2006 : The final concert is performed at the famous and celebrated Manhattan music club CBGB, courtesy of Patti Smith. The club closes after an extended dispute between club owner Hilly Kristal and the Bowery Residents Committee, which tried to charge Kristal $19,000 in alleged back rent. New York commerce, over the protest of tearful rock fans who hoped to have the building preserved as a historical landmark, is heedless of the sentimental value as a men’s clothing store moves in and throws out practically everything associated with the former music club.

2007 : Filming begins on The Day The Music Died: The Untold Story of the Big Bopper movie.

2007 : Britney Spears visited a Los Angeles police station to be photographed and fingerprinted ahead of her hit-and-run court case. The 25-year-old singer spent about 30 minutes at the station after a judge ordered her to submit to the procedures. Ms Spears was charged last month for allegedly crashing into a parked car while driving without a valid license.

2008 : Jon Bon Jovi became the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCain’s US presidential campaign. The Bon Jovi song, ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’, was used during rallies held by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne had all asked Mr McCain to stop using their tracks in his presidential bid. Bon Jovi, a Democrat supporter, threw a $30,000 (£17,000) per person, fund-raising dinner for Democratic candidate Barack Obama at his New Jersey home in September.