1935 : The Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess opens at Boston’s Colonial Theatre. While not commercially successful, a revival in 1942 would turn it into one of the longest-running musicals in history.

1954 : Patsy Cline signs a contract with Four Star Music Sales.

1955 : James Dean dies in a car accident at age 24. He would show up in the lyrics to many songs, including Don McLean’s American Pie. The Eagles even released a song called James Dean.

1957 : The Louis Armstrong album Louis Armstrong Plays King Oliver is recorded at Radio Recorders studio in Hollywood, marking the first stereo album recorded in America.

1965 : Donovan made his US television debut on Shindig! along with The Hollies, The Turtles and the Dave Clark Five.

1965 : Elvis Presley meets Tom Jones for the first time, on the set of the King’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style movie. The two become fast friends.

1965 : The Rolling Stones performed at the Gaumont Theatre in Hanley, Staffordshire, UK. Also on the bill were The Moody Blues, The Spencer Davis Group, The End and The Habits. Bill Wyman produced singles and the debut album of The End, for Decca Records.

1967 : The UK’s first National pop radio station, Radio BBC Radio 1, was launched in the UK to take over from the very successful pirate radio stations, which had been forced off-air by the Government. Former pirate DJ Tony Blackburn, from Radio Caroline, was the first presenter on air, with The Move’s Flowers In The Rain the first record to be played.

1967 : Pink Floyd appeared at The Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, England. The Imperial was a regular venue in the North West of England during the 1960s that saw many acts appearing, including The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Cream.

1969 : Christine Hinton the girlfriend of David Crosby was killed in a car crash near San Francisco.

1971 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Maggie May by Rod Stewart

1972 : David Cassidy was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘How Can I Be Sure.’ It was the star from the US TV series the Partridge Family’s first UK No.1. It was originally recorded by The Young Rascals in 1967.

1974 : Police were called to a Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Oyster Cult concert after a fight broke out between two sound engineers. The Skynyrd roadie claimed that the sound had been deliberately turned off during the bands set.

1977 : Mary Ford died from cancer after being in a diabetic coma for 54 days. One-half of the husband-and-wife musical team, Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits; in 1951 alone, they sold six million records.

1978 : John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John had their second UK No.1 from the film ‘Grease’ with ‘Summer Nights.’ Seven weeks at No.1 it became the second best selling single of 1978, beaten by ‘Saturday Night Fever’.

1984 : The music division of Thorn EMI once said to be the greatest recording organisation in the world reported a world-wide loss of almost $5 million during the last six months.

1987 : Roy Orbison’s comeback picks up speed at a Los Angeles concert filmed for the Cinemax special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, and J.D. Souther all perform at the show, which is billed as “Roy Orbison: A Black And White Night” and is filmed in black and white.

1988 : John Lennon is awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine St.

1989 : Bette Midler is awarded $400,000 in a lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company over their use of a soundalike singer in their commercials.

1989 : Neil Young performs Rockin’ In The Free World, on Saturday Night Live.

1991 : Entertainer Liza Minnelli receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Her mother, Judy Garland, has three stars on the famous boulevard.

1992 : US singer Steve Earle was arrested in Nashville after he failed to report for jury service.

1993 : George Harrison and David Crosby lend their voices and cartoon likenesses to the season 5 premiere of The Simpsons in the episode “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet.”

1993 : Kate Pierson from The B-52’s was charged with criminal mischief and trespassing during an anti-fur protest at ‘Vogue’s’ New York City offices.

1995 : Mariah Carey made chart history when she started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Fantasy’, making her the first female act to enter the chart in pole position.

1995 : Simply Red scored their first UK No.1 single when ‘Fairground’ started a four-week run at the top of the charts. It was their 15th UK Top 40 hit.

1997 : Fleetwood Mac’s reunion show at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., grosses a house record of $1,094,520.

1997 : U2 cause controversy during its show in Tel Aviv, Israel, with frontman Bono appealing for the release from imprisonment of nuclear secrets traitor Mordechai Vanunu.

1997 : Randy Travis becomes the first artist to ink a deal with DreamWorks Records Nashville. His signing instantly raises the stock of the new country label.

1998 : Blues guitar prodigy Jonny Lang, rock guitarist Slash, punk rocker Joey Ramone, and Cheap Trickster Rick Nelson are among the musicians who guest-star on The Drew Carey Show. On the program, Carey’s band is looking for a lead guitarist, and a string of axemen audition for the gig – including Ramone, even though he didn’t play guitar in the Ramones.

1999 : Chris de Burgh’s web site was closed down after countless obscene messages were posted on the guestbook. One message consisted entirely of two four-letter words repeated 3500 times.

2003 : An auction of the contents of Sir Elton John’s London home raised more than £1.4 million. An oil painting, entitled Madison Square Park, sold for £67,200, and a 19th Century portrait of Lieutenant George Dyer, painted by James Northcote in 1817, fetched £55,200. Sir Elton sold off the items so he could redecorate his home in a more modern style.

2004 : Mick Jagger held a press conference with Dave Stewart at Essex House in New York City, USA, to promote the soundtrack to the movie Alfie. The re-make of the 1966 film also featured Joss Stone, Sheryl Crow and Nadirah Nadz Seid. The track ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ from the soundtack by Mick Jagger and David A. Stewart won the BFCA Award, Golden Globe, Sierra Award and the World Soundtrack Award.

2006 : Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young are joined by Dave Matthews (The Dave Matthews Band), Steel Pulse, Gov’t Mule, Jerry Lee Lewis, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer for the organization’s 21st anniversary concert at the Tweeter Center in Camden, N.J.

2007 : Country music singer Keith Urban crashed his motorcycle on the way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The 39-year-old, who was not injured, said he was being followed by a photographer when the accident happened near his home in Sydney, Australia.

2010 : After 10 years, the first ever John Lennon museum closes. Located outside of Tokyo, it shuts down because Yoko wants Lennon’s spirit to remain in motion, saying, “If the Museum which houses his spirit never moved, it would be a grave, not a Museum.”

2011 : Pearl Jam wrap up a week long tribute to Pink Floyd on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with a performance of “Mother.”