1957 : 16 year-old UK singer Cliff Richard, still known by his real name, Harry Webb, joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.

1960 : Former chicken plucker Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” goes to #1 while the original version by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters reaches its peak chart position of #28. Checker’s version of the song would top the charts again in 1962.

1960 : Hank Ballard and The Midnighters had the honor of being the first group to have three songs in the US Top 100 at the same time. ‘Finger Poppin’ Time,’ ‘Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go’ and ‘The Twist’ all made the Top 30. Ballard refused to perform ‘The Twist’ on a highly rated US TV show, so Chubby Checker picked it up at the insistence of Dick Clark, and Checker’s version of the song was number 1 this week in 1960.

1963 : Ann-Margret lends her voice to an episode of The Flintstones, where she appears as “Ann-Margrock.”

1969 : Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their only UK No.1 single with ‘Bad Moon Rising’ a US No.2 hit. Also on this day the group started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Green River.’

1969 : Child (featuring Bruce Springsteen) played the first of two nights at the Free University, Richmond, Virginia.

1970 : The first UK Glastonbury Festival took place featuring Marc Bolan, Ian Anderson, Keith Christmas, Quintessence, Amazing Blondel and Sam Apple Pie.

1970 : Diana Ross started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’. The singers first solo No.1 since leaving The Supremes, a No.6 in the UK.

1971 : The Jackson 5’s Goin’ Back To Indiana TV special airs on ABC

1973 : Country rock singer, songwriter 26-year-old Gram Parsons, formerly of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, died under mysterious conditions in Joshua Tree, California. His death was attributed to heart failure but later was officially announced as a drug overdose. His coffin was stolen by two of his associates, manager Phil Kaufman and Michael Martin, a former roadie for The Byrds, and was taken to Cap Rock in the California desert, where it was set alight, in accordance to Parson’s wishes. The two were later arrested by police.

1974 : Eric Clapton received a gold record for his cover of the Bob Marley written song I Shot The Sheriff

1979 : The No Nukes concert was held at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Performers included Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, Poco, Tom Petty, Carly Simon, James Taylor and Bruce Springsteen.

1981 : Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a concert in New York’s Central Park. Over 400,000 fans attend the show. The performance was recorded for a record and video release.

1981 : The Rolling Stones album ‘Tattoo You’ started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US chart, the band’s ninth US No.1.

1984 : At a whistle-stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, campaigning president Ronald Reagan praised singer Bruce Springsteen, saying in part: “America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts; it rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about.” This leads to widespread criticism in the press, since Springsteen’s recent hit “Born In The U.S.A.” was in fact a bitter cry of outrage at how poorly the United States treats its veterans, which Reagan had apparently mistaken for a straight-forward patriotic anthem – an easy mistake to make if you listen to the chorus only and not the lyrics.

1985 : Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testify at a senate hearing where the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) is arguing for a ratings system on music. The musicians make the case that this is censorship, but the PMRC wins a victory and warning labels are ordered on album containing explicit lyrics.

1990 : Eddie Vedder is selected as lead vocalist of what will become Pearl Jam after Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready hear his demo tape where he added vocals to three instrumental tracks the band had recorded.

1991 : Michael Jackson is a guest voice on The Simpsons, where he plays a mental patient Homer befriends named Leon Kompowski.

1992 : The Shamen started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Ebeneezer Goode’. One of the most controversial UK chart toppers due to its perceived subliminal endorsement of recreational drug use. The song was initially banned by the BBC.

1992 : Radiohead filmed the video for their new single ‘Creep’ during a show at the Venue, in Oxford, England.

1993 : Pearl Jam released their second studio album Vs. The album set the record for the most copies of an album sold in its first week, a record it held for five years, despite the fact that the group declined to produce music videos for any of the album’s singles.

1993 : Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas is robbed at gunpoint outside a West Hollywood restaurant.

1996 : George Benson gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1997 : The VH1 show Storytellers airs live for the first time in an episode featuring Elton John from the House of Blues in New Orleans.

1999 : Edward Cobb died of Leukemia aged 61. Singer songwriter & producer, member of The Four Preps (1958 US No.3 & UK No. 2 single ‘Big Man’), wrote ‘Tainted Love’ a hit for Soft Cell in 1981.

2002 : James Brown was being sued by his own daughters for more than £650,000 of song royalties they said they were owed. Deanna Brown Thomas and Dr Yamma Brown Lumar, a Texas physician, said Brown had withheld royalties on 25 co-written songs because of a family grudge. The lawsuit claimed that Brown had held a grudge against his daughters since 1998, when Ms Thomas had her father committed to a psychiatric hospital to be treated for addiction to painkillers.

2003 : No one is injured when a chartered plane carrying Dixie Chicks clips a building at Glasgow Airport. The group is en route from Dublin for a concert at Glasgow’s Exhibition and Conference Center. The show goes on as planned.

2003 : A week after his death at the age of 71, country legend Johnny Cash is bestowed with artist, song and album of the year awards at the Americana Music Awards ceremony in Nashville. Cash wins song of the year for his cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt and album of the Year for American IV: The Man Comes Around, the fourth in a series produced by Rick Rubin.

2003 : Police were investigating reports that Paul McCartney scuffled with a photographer when the singer went to see magician David Blaine, who was in a plastic box dangling over the River Thames. The London Evening Standard said one of its photographers had clashed with McCartney resulting in a scuffle.

2003 : Phish bass player Mike Gordon is cleared of child endangerment charges stemming from a backstage encounter with a 9-year-old girl at a Grateful Dead concert. Gordan and the girl’s parents agreed that it was an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”(in other words they were paid off pretty good…SICK F**K!!)

2004 : Canadian singer Celine Dion extended her Las Vegas show for another year. Dion was reportedly being paid $100m for the original three-year run of five 90-minute concerts a week.

2005 : Research published by Guinness World Records showed that Status Quo have had more hit singles than any other band in UK chart history. The band had scored 61 chart successes, dating from ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ in 1968 to ‘You’ll Come Around’ in 2004. Queen came second with 52 hits, with the Rolling Stones and UB40 with 51 hits each.

2008 : American drummer Earl Palmer died. Worked with The Beach Boys, Little Richard (‘Tutti Frutti’), Frank Sinatra, Ike And Tina Turner (‘River Deep, Mountain High’), The Monkees, Fats Domino (‘I’m Walkin’), Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, The Righteous Brothers (‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’), and Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Buckley, Little Feat and Elvis Costello.

2008 : Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM are seriously injured in a jet crash that killed four people. The plane hurtled off the end of a runway in South Carolina when a tire blew, engulfing the plane in flames. DJ AM died of an accidental drug overdose less than a year later.

2008 : George Michael was arrested in a public toilet in the Hampstead Heath area of London for possession of Class A and C drugs. He was taken to a local police station and cautioned for controlled substance possession.

2010 : John Lennon’s son Julian told the press that he has ended his long-running feud with his half-brother Sean and his step-mother Yoko Ono, which started after the former Beatle was murdered in December, 1980. The trio battled in court for a share of the singer’s estate, but Julian now said “Things are good between us. Whenever I’m in New York, we all get together.”

2012 : The Dave Matthews Band sees their album Away From the World debut at #1 on the Billboard albums charts. This continues the band’s unbroken winning streak of six #1 albums on the Billboard 200.

2012 : Fiona Apple is arrested when her tour bus is stopped in the West Texas town of Sierra Blanca, the same place where Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg were previously busted. Border patrol agents find 4 grams of hash on the bus, which Apple says is hers. She spends a night in jail before being released on bail.