January 1

1953

Country singer Hank Williams, best known for ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, dies aged 29 of a heart attack brought on by drugs and alcohol. Over 20,000 mourners attend his funeral.

1955

Elvis Presley appears at The Eagles Hall in Houston, Texas. He went on to play over 250 shows in 1955.

1960

Johnny Cash plays at San Quentin Prison, San Francisco.

1962

The Beatles audition for Decca Records in London but A&R boss Dick Rowe turns them down.

1964

BBC TV transmits the first Top Of The Pops from an old church hall in Manchester, England. Introduced by DJ Jimmy Savile, acts miming to their latest releases include The Rolling Stones (‘I Wanna Be Your Man’), The Dave Clark Five (‘Glad All Over’), The Hollies (‘Stay’) and The Swinging Blue Jeans (‘Hippy Hippy Shake’). The opening song is Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’. Also featured, on disc and film, are The Beatles (‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’), Freddie & The Dreamers, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Gene Pitney.

1969

Marmalade are at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song ‘Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da’.

1977

Genesis play the first of three nights at the newly renovated Rainbow Theatre in London, where tickets cost £2.50.

The Clash play the opening night at punk’s first real venue, The Roxy Club, in Covent Garden, London.

1984

Alexis Korner dies aged 55 of lung cancer. Known as ’the founding father of British blues’, he was a major force behind the UK 60’s R&B scene, and had hits with CCS, including a version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta-Love’ that became the theme for BBC’s Top Of The Pops.

1989

Nirvana sign a one-year contract with Sub Pop Records.

1990

New American radio station WKRL in Florida play Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’ for 24 hours as a prelude to an all-Zeppelin format.

2002

Welsh singer Shakin’ Stevens spends several hours in police custody after being arrested for drink driving.

2007

Queen beat The Beatles as The Greatest British Band of All Time as voted by UK BBC Radio 2 listeners. They pip the Fab Four in a live contest, trouncing other finalists The Rolling Stones, Oasis and Take That. More than 20,000 vote by e-mail, text and phone.

2009

According to official UK sales figures Duffy’s debut album Rockferry comes top of the year-end chart, with 1.685 million copies sold.

Take That have the second biggest seller with The Circus, Kings of Leon’s Only By The Night is third. X Factor winner Alexandra Burke has the UK’s top-selling single after her version of ‘Hallelujah’ sells 888,000 copies in the last two weeks of the year.

January 2

1969

An entire shipment of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Two Virgins album is seized by authorities in New Jersey due to the nude cover photographs of the couple. The album is eventually housed inside a brown paper outer sleeve for record stores.

Led Zeppelin play the first of four nights at the Whisky A Go-Go, Los Angeles during the band’s first North American tour. Support group is Alice Cooper.

1971

George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass starts a seven week run at No. 1 on the US album chart, making Harrison the first solo Beatle to score a chart-topping LP.

1976

Bad Company, Nazareth, Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance, The Pretty Things and Be-Bop Deluxe all appear at the second day of the Great British Music Festival at London’s Olympia. Tickets cost £3.50.

1979

Sex Pistols’ bass player Sid Vicious goes on trial in New York accused of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen three months earlier.

1980

Larry Williams is found dead from a gunshot wound in his Los Angeles home, aged 45. Best-known for such early rock’n’roll classics as ‘Short Fat Fannie’, ‘Bony Moronie’ and ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dr. Feelgood, Johnny Winter, Little Richard, The Animals, Ritchie Valens and Bill Haley & His Comets were among the artists who covered his songs.

1988

Michael Jackson and Bono share first place in an American poll of The Most Beautiful Lips.

1997

Randy California, guitarist from US group Spirit, is drowned while rescuing his 12-year old son when sucked into a riptide in Hawaii.

2003

50 Cent is arrested by police in New York after his SUV was searched and a loaded .25-calibre handgun and a .45-calibre pistol were found in the vehicle, which had been left in a no-parking zone.

2007

Cristin Keleher, who made headlines in December 1999 by breaking into George Harrison’s Hawaii home, is found dead, aged 34, in California. Police said her body had been found in a car with that of a 48-year-old man, both had gunshot wounds to the head after an apparent murder-suicide.

Gnarls Barkley’s song ‘Crazy’ is confirmed as the biggest selling UK single of 2006, selling over 700,000 copies, being the first to reach No. 1 on downloads alone.

The track held off a challenge from X-Factor winner, Leon Jackson. Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open topped the album chart with estimated sales of 1.5 million, while Take That’s comeback Beautiful World came in just behind. Singles sales had doubled to over 65 million since the download chart was launched in September 2004.

2009

According to official US figures, AC/DC are the biggest album sellers of 2008 with over 3.4 million sold, Lil Wayne was in second place (3.3m), Taylor Swift, third (3.2m), Coldplay, fourth (2.5m) and Metallica, fifth (2.3m).

January 3

1955

Elvis Presley appears in Boonesville, Virginia. The 20 year-old singer was still a regional star, but by the end of ’56 he became a national sensation, playing over 100 concerts, appearing on national television 11 times, and signing a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures.

1964

The Beatles are seen for the first time on US TV when a clip from the BBC documentary The Mersey Sound, showing the group performing ‘She Loves You’, is broadcast on NBC’s The Jack Paar Show.

1967

Having received a US army draft notice, Beach Boy Carl Wilson refuses to be sworn in, saying he is a conscientious objector.

1969

Appearing live on BBC TV’s Happening For Lulu, the Jimi Hendrix Experience stop performing a version of their first single, ‘Hey Joe’ and instead launch into Cream’s ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ as a tribute to the trio who had split a few months earlier.

1973

Bruce Springsteen plays the first of a four-night run at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, opening for comedy rock duo, Travis Shook & The Club Wow.

1976

The Bay City Rollers are at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Saturday Night’. At the height of their American success, the Scottish group signed a deal to promote breakfast cereal.

1979

The Hype (later to be known as U2) appear at McGonagle’s in Dublin, Ireland.

1980

American rhythm and blues singer Amos Milburn, renowned for his drinking songs including ‘Let Me Go Home, Whiskey’ and ‘One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer’, dies aged 52.

1981

David Bowie makes his final appearance as The Elephant Man during a Broadway run in New York City.

1987

Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1992

Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr marries actress Patsy Kensit at Chelsea Registry Office.

2000

Luciano Pavarotti agrees to pay the Italian authorities £1.6 million after losing an appeal against tax evasion charges. It’s reported that the singer is worth £300 million.

2002

Zak Foley, bassist with EMF, dies aged 31. The one-hit-wonders had a 1990 hit with ‘Unbelievable’.

In Your Home magazine, Liam and Noel Gallagher top a readers’ poll of celebrities you would least like to live next to, getting 40% of the ‘Neighbours From Hell’ vote.

January 4

1936

Billboard magazine introduces the first ever-pop music chart that ranks records on national sales; big band violinist Joe Venuti is the first No. 1.

1954

Elvis Presley makes his second visit to the Memphis Recording Service and cuts two songs, ‘Casual Love Affair’ and ‘I’ll Never Stand In Your Way’. Studio boss Sam Phillips asks Presley to leave his phone number.

1965

The Fender guitar company is bought by CBS for $13 million.

1967

The Jimi Hendrix Experience play the first of what would be over 240 gigs during the year when they appear at the Bromel Club, Bromley.

1968

U.C.L.A. announces that music degrees will include studying the music of The Rolling Stones, saying the group has made an important contribution to modern music.

1969

UK weekly Disc & Music Echo reports that The Beatles are to release five new albums; one to be their first ever live album plus four separate LPs, each one the choice of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

1975

Elton John starts a two-week run at No. 1 in the US singles chart with his version of The Beatles’ ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’, featuring John Lennon on guitar and backing vocals.

1976

Former Beatles’ roadie Mal Evans is shot dead by police at his Los Angeles apartment. His girlfriend called the LAPD when she found Evans upset with a rifle in his hand; he pointed the gun at the police who opened fire.

1977

The Sex Pistols shock passengers and airline staff at Heathrow Airport by supposedly spitting and vomiting before boarding a plane to Amsterdam.

1986

Irish singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott, of Thin Lizzy, dies of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. A life-size bronze statue of Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin in 2005.

2001

US rapper Vanilla Ice spends the night in Broward County Jail, Fort Lauderdale after allegedly ripping out some of his wife’s hair. Born Robert Van Winkle, he explains his actions were to prevent her from jumping out of their moving truck’s window. He is released the following morning on $3,500 bail.

Courtney Love files a lawsuit against her alleged stalker claiming that Lesley Barber, the ex-wife of her current boyfriend Jim Barber, drove over her foot. This had forced Love to forfeit her role in a forthcoming film, losing the £200,000 fee that went with it.

2004

Britney Spears has her marriage annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, with childhood friend Jason Alexander. The couple married on Saturday morning, during a night out in Vegas, but immediately Spears’ lawyers filed for an annulment, saying their client "lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage."

2005

AJ Abdallah, the owner of a Detroit recording studio where Eminem recorded his Slim Shady album, is found shot dead, aged 36. Discovered by a business colleague at the studio, it was thought Abdallah, who lived in an apartment above the studio on Eight Mile Road, the Detroit street that inspired the title of Eminem’s 2002 film 8 Mile, had been dead for at least two days. Police suggest a robbery may also have taken place.

2006

The rustic house near Nashville, Tennessee where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years is bought by Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb. The house went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9m. Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory but unfortunately it burns down on April 10, 2007.

January 5

1967

The Pink Floyd appear at The Marquee Club, London.

1968

Jimi Hendrix is jailed in Stockholm, Sweden on drink charges after destroying his room at the Goteberg Hotel.

1973

Bruce Springsteen releases his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ.

1979

Prince makes his live debut at the Capri Theatre, Minneapolis.

1989

In the Melody Maker Readers Poll, The Mission win Best Band, Best Live Act, Best Single and Best Album; Morrissey - Best Male Singer, Julianne Regan - (from All About Eve) Best Female Singer, and Best New Band is won by The House Of Love. Worst LP goes to Bros with Push.

1997

Sonny Bono is killed in a skiing accident at a resort near Lake Tahoe, aged 62. Bono, formerly half of husband and wife duo Sonny & Cher who scored a 1965 UK and US charttopper with ‘I Got You Babe’, became a US Republican congressman.

1998

Ken Forssi, bassist with cult LA 60’s group, Love, dies of brain cancer aged 55.

2003

Green Day’s lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is arrested on suspicion of drink driving after being stopped in California speeding in a black BMW convertible. He fails a breath test and is taken to Berkeley county jail and later released on $1,053 bail.

2004

Ray Davies is shot in the leg while on holiday in New Orleans. The 59-year-old Kinks singer-songwriter was running after two men who stole his girlfriend’s purse at gunpoint. Davies is admitted to the Medical Centre of Louisiana but his injuries are not considered serious. New Orleans police said one person had been arrested, and police were still searching for the second.

2005

New York group Scissor Sisters have the UK’s best-selling album of 2004 after overtaking Keane’s sales on the last day of the year. Scissor Sisters’ self-titled debut CD sells 1,594,259 copies in 2004 - 582 more than Keane’s Hopes and Fears. Robbie Williams’ Greatest Hits is the year’s third biggest-seller, followed by Maroon 5, Katie Melua and Anastacia.

2008

Josh Groban is at No. 1 on the US album chart with his Christmas album Noel, the best selling US album of 2007 selling over 3.5 million copies in 10 weeks.

January 6

1956

Elvis Presley performs in the gymnasium at Randolph High School, Mississippi; the last time he ever appears in a small auditorium.

1964

The first night of a 14 date ‘Group Scene 1964’ UK tour, featuring The Rolling Stones, The Ronettes, Marty Wilde, The Swinging Blue Jeans and Dave Berry and The Cruisers, plays at the Granada Theatre, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex.

1968

The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour starts an eight week run at No. 1 on the US album chart - the group’s 11th American chart topping LP.

1970

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young make their UK live debut at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1973

Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ (with Mick Jagger on backing vocals) starts a three week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart.

1977

EMI Records drops The Sex Pistols, giving the band £40,000 to release them from their contract.

1980

Georgeanna Gordon, singer with Motown girl group The Marvelettes who had a 1961 US No. 1 with ‘Please Mr. Postman’, dies aged 46.

1987

Eric Clapton starts what will become an annual event by playing six shows at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1997

Two bronze busts worth £50,000 are stolen from the garden at George Harrison’s estate in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Thieves had climbed a 10-foot-wall and cut the figures of two monks from their stone plinths.

2001

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour wins the right to his internet identity after taking legal action to reclaim davidgilmour.com. Andrew Herman had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site.

2006

Ms Dynamite is charged in London with assaulting a police officer and disorderly conduct. She had been arrested after allegedly kicking the door to the Paragon Lounge nightclub and was said to have been abusive towards officers who questioned her. The singer allegedly punched a female officer in the face, bruising her nose, while in custody.

A collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia owned by a council worker is to be auctioned off by a High Court receiver to provide compensation for the local authority. Julie Wall, 46, from Rippon Drive, Sleaford, was jailed for three years last October for embezzling nearly £600,000.

2007

US country-rock steel guitar player ‘Sneaky’ Pete Kleinow, one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers, dies aged 72. He also worked as a session player with John Lennon and Joni Mitchell.

January 7

1955

‘Rock Around The Clock’ by Bill Haley & His Comets, enters the UK chart for the first time.

1964

Harmonica player Cyril Davies dies of leukaemia, aged 32. Davies was a driving force in the early 60’s R&B movement, forming Blues Incorporated with Alexis Korner.

1973

David Bowie appears at the City Hall, Newcastle.

1974

Aerosmith play the Michigan Theatre, Detroit, the first date on their 56 concert ‘Get Your Wings’ North American tour.

1980

Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers is found guilty of possession of heroin, cocaine and cannabis. He is fined £300 and sentenced to three months in Pentonville prison.

1981

The Police play the first night of a North American tour at the University of Montreal during their ‘Zenyatta Mondatta’ World Tour.

1993

R.E.M. play a Greenpeace benefit at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, Georgia, for 500 people. The show is recorded on a solar powered mobile recording studio.

1994

Oasis start recording their debut album Definitely Maybe at Monrow studios in South Wales.

2003

The Beatles Book Monthly closes down after 40 years. Publisher Sean O’Mahony, who originally set up the magazine in 1963, explains there was nothing more to say as the former Beatles’ activities had decreased over the years.

2004

Drummer John Guerin, who worked with Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Todd Rundgren and also played on the original title tune for the TV series Hawaii Five-O, dies of pneumonia aged 64.

2006

Paul Gadd (better known as Gary Glitter) is formally charged with committing obscene acts with two girls aged 11 and 12 in Vietnam. prosecutor in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau said the charges would carry prison terms of three to seven years. Glitter had been held since November as he tried to flee the country over child sex allegations.

More than 100 guests, including Lisa-Marie Presley, attend Pink’s wedding to her motocross racer boyfriend Carey Hart on a beach in Costa Rica. Pink proposed to Hart during one of his races in Mammoth Lakes, California, by holding up a sign that read "Will you marry me?" Hart pulled out of the race to say yes.

January 8

1957

Bill Haley & His Comets start the first ever rock & roll tour of Australia, playing two sold-out nights in Sydney.

1966

The Beatles start a six week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with Rubber Soul the group’s seventh US chart topper, which went on to spend 56 weeks on the chart. The group also started a three week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘We Can Work It Out, The Beatles’ 11th US chart-topping single.

1969

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are barred from the exclusive Hotel Crillen in Lima, Peru for wearing ‘op art pants’ and nothing else. They were both asked to leave after refusing to change clothes.

1994

Jamaican reggae/rap (ragga) duo Chaka Demus and Pliers are at No. 1 in the UK with their version of 60s pop standard, ‘Twist And Shout’.

1996

A Los Angeles court finds Robert Hoskins guilty on five counts of stalking, assault and making terrorist threats to Madonna. Hoskins had twice scaled the walls of the singer’s estate and had threatened to cut her throat.

2000

After a tip off to the police a £1 million kidnap plot to snatch Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her baby son, Brooklyn, is foiled. The gang had planned to kidnap the pair when husband David was away playing football.

Christina Aguilera starts a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘What A Girl Wants’, ending Santana’s 12-week run at No. 1 with ‘Smooth’.

2001

A woman who believed that Axl Rose communicated with her via telepathy is arrested for stalking the Guns N’ Roses singer for a second time. Police detain Karen Jane McNeil after she is spotted loitering outside his house.

2004

The estate of George Harrison brings a $10 million legal action against Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital, claiming the doctor coerced Harrison into signing souvenirs. The main allegation is that Lederman pushed the cancer stricken ex-Beatle into signing his son’s guitar and other items for his two daughters. The case was eventually settled out of court with the guitar in question being destroyed.

January 9

1955

Rosemary Clooney is at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mambo Italiano’, the singer’s second chart-topper. The song is banned by all ABC owned stations in the US because it "did not reach standards of good taste."

1963

Drummer Charlie Watts joins The Rolling Stones after leaving Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated.

1973

Mick Jagger is refused a Japanese visa on an account of a 1969 drug conviction, causing The Rolling Stones to cancel a forthcoming tour there.

1979

The Music For UNICEF concert takes place in New York City, featuring Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees, Earth Wind & Fire, Abba and Donna Summer.

1981

Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers from The Specials are both fined £400 after being found guilty of using threatening words during a gig in Cambridge, England.

2000

The chauffeur who drove Puff Daddy and his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez from a night-club after a shooting is reported to be co-operating with prosecutors. Puff Daddy faces up to 15 years in jail for allegedly pulling a gun in a New York club.

2002

Irish singer/songwriter David McWilliams dies of a heart attack at his home in Ballycastle, County Antrim, aged 56. McWilliams’ most well-known song, ‘The Days Of Pearly Spencer’, was successfully revived in 1992 by Marc Almond.

2003

Music producer Robert Johnson and partner Larry Moss sell a grand piano once owned by Elvis Presley for $685,000 to Michael Muzio, chairman of the Blue Moon Group, who is planning to take the piano on a casino-sponsored promotional tour and for it to be put on display at a proposed rock museum at Walt Disney World.

2005

Scissor Sisters are at No. 1 on the UK album chart with their self-titled album. The New York act go on to win Best International Album as well as Best International Group and International Breakthrough Act at the 2005 Brit Awards.

2008

Spice Girl Victoria Beckham is named the Worst Dressed Celebrity in an annual list of fashion disasters. Fashion critic Richard Blackwell, who has compiled the poll every year since 1960, said Beckham stepped out in "one skinny-mini monstrosity after another." Amy Winehouse’s trademark beehive and tattoos help earn her second place on the list.

2009

UK singer, turned A&R man, Dave Dee dies at the age of 65, following a three-year battle with cancer. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich had eight top 10 hits, including a UK number one in 1968 with ‘The Legend Of Xanadu’, in which Dee famously cracked a whip. The singer (real name: David Harman) was originally a police officer and, as a cadet, he was called to the scene of the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran in 1960.

January 10

1956

Elvis Presley makes his first recordings for RCA Records at The Methodist Television, Radio & TV Studios in Nashville. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ is one of the songs recorded during this session.

1958

Jerry Lee Lewis is at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Great Balls Of Fire’. Lewis is the only major white rock’n’roll star to play piano rather than guitar.

1963

On his second UK visit in less than a month Bob Dylan plays at the Troubadour Club, London.

1964

The Rolling Stones record their third single, ‘Not Fade Away’ at Regent Sound Studios in London.

1965

John Lennon appears in a prerecorded comedy skit as well as appearing live in the studio, reading from his book In His Own Write in the first episode of the BBC TV show, Not Only… But Also, hosted by Dudley Moore.

1969

George Harrison walks out of The Beatles after disagreements with John Lennon and Paul McCartney during rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios, being filmed for Let It Be. He eventually returns after a series of meetings to discuss The Beatles’ future.

1976

Blues artist Howlin Wolf (Chester Burnett) dies in hospital of cancer, aged 66. The guitarist, singer and harmonica player’s well-known songs included ‘Smokestack Lightning’, ‘Little Red Rooster’ and ‘Spoonful’.

1981

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy starts an eight-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart. ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ is at No. 1 on the US singles chart.

1990

Bon Jovi play the first of seven soldout nights at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on their ‘New Jersey Syndicate’ Tour.

1997

Kenny Pickett, singer with 60’s band The Creation (who had a minor 1966 hit ‘Painter Man’), dies aged 54 of a heart attack.

James Brown receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2001

American guitarist and songwriter and founder member of The Cramps, Bryan Gregory dies after suffering a heart attack aged 46 at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, California.

2003

A haul of 500 Beatles tapes - known as the ‘Get Back’ sessions - that were stolen in the 70s, are retrieved after UK police crack a major bootleg operation in London and Amsterdam. Five men are arrested.

2007

Madame Tussauds unveils its fourth waxwork of Kylie Minogue, making the Australian pop star the most modelled celebrity after the Queen. The model became the first scented waxwork, wearing Minogue’s Darling perfume.

2008

Radiohead top the US album charts with the official release of In Rainbows, originally sold via the internet for a price chosen by fans. The album sells 122,000 copies during its first week on release, giving the band a second US No. 1 following 2000’s Kid A, which sold an initial 207,000 copies.

2009

Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie marries actor Josh Duhamel at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu. Guests include her bandmate Will.i.am and actress Kate Hudson.

April 9

1966

Cliff Richard’s version of ‘Blue Turns To Grey’, a Mick Jagger-Keith Richards composition, reaches No. 15 on the UK charts.

1973

Newly signed to EMI, Queen play a showcase gig for their record label at London’s Marquee Club.

1974

Terry Jacks is at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Seasons In The Sun’, originally written in French by Belgian, Jacques Brel, with English lyrics by Rod McKuen. Jacks became the first Canadian to score a No. 1 since Paul Anka in 1957.

1976

American folk singer and songwriter Phil Ochs hangs himself at his sister’s home in Queens, New York.

1977

Abba top the US singles chart with ‘Dancing Queen’, the group’s seventh US Top 40 hit (and first No. 1) and also a UK No. 1.

1983

David Bowie is top of the British singles chart (his fourth UK No. 1) with the title track from his latest album Let’s Dance, featuring blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was also Bowie’s first single to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

1988

Dave Prater of ’60s Stax soul duo Sam & Dave is killed in a car accident in Syracuse, Georgia, on the way to his mother’s house in Ocilla. He was 50.

1989

Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, aged 52, announces his forthcoming marriage to 19-year-old Mandy Smith.

1991

Record producer Martin Hannett, who worked with many Manchester acts including The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Magazine as well as U2 and The Psychedelic Furs, dies aged 42 of heart failure.

1997

Songwriter Mae Boren Axton, the mother of country singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, and known as the ‘Queen Mother of Nashville’, writing over 200 songs including a co-credit on Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, dies aged 82 after drowning in the bath at her home in Hendersonville, Tennessee after an apparent heart attack.

2000

At 18 years and 11 months Craig David becomes the youngest UK male solo artist to write and sing a UK No. 1 with ‘Fill Me In’.

2004

After police search his home, James Speedy, 30, from Seattle, Washington, is charged with stalking Avril Lavigne and is later released on $5,000 bail. Speedy had been under investigation since the previous summer for allegedly sending harassing letters and e-mails to the 19-year-old singer.

2007

Country and western singer Tanya Tucker is sued by her manicurist for $300,000 over claims the star’s dog attacked and injured her. Danielle Hobbs stated in court papers that she was bitten at the singer’s Nashville home and also claimed that the alleged attack had left her with painful and disfiguring scars on her leg. Hobbs stated that Tucker’s assistant told her the dogs were "just babies" and said "they will not hurt you".

2009

Bay City Rollers’ manager Tam Paton dies in the bath at his Edinburgh home of a suspected heart attack. The 70-year-old, who had suffered two previous heart attacks and a stroke in recent years, was found dead in his luxury mansion. Paton had made millions through the success of the band in the 70s, but was a far more controversial figure in recent years. He was convicted of sex offences against two boys aged 16 and 17 in 1982, and of drug dealing in 2004 after £26,000 worth of cannabis was found at his home, but was cleared on appeal.

April 10

1956

Nat King Cole is attacked on stage by a group of five racial segregationists during a show at the Municipal Hall in Birmingham, Alabama. The men are arrested by police and Cole returns later that night for a second show.

1962

The Beatles’ original bass player Stuart Sutcliffe dies aged 22 of a brain haemorrhage in an ambulance on the way to hospital. Sutcliffe had left the group to stay in Hamburg, Germany with his girlfriend photographer Astrid Kirchherr and to pursue his art studies.

1965

A British school in Wrexham, North Wales, asks parents to please keep children in school uniform and not to send them to school in "corduroy trousers like the ones worn by The Rolling Stones".

1968

For his 41st single release Cliff Richard achieves his ninth UK No. 1 with ‘Congratulations’, the British entry in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest.

1970

Doors singer Jim Morrison is dragged off stage by keyboardist Ray Manzarek during a concert in Boston, after Morrison asked the audience, ‘Would you like to see my genitals?’ The venue’s management quickly switched off the power. Morrison had been arrested in Miami a year earlier for "lewd and lascivious behavior" during a performance.

Paul McCartney issues a press statement announcing his departure from The Beatles (one week before the release of his first solo album, McCartney). John Lennon, who had kept his much earlier decision to leave The Beatles quiet for business reasons, is furious. When a reporter calls Lennon asking him to comment upon McCartney’s resignation, Lennon says, "Paul hasn’t left. I sacked him."

1976

Peter Frampton is at No. 1 on the US album chart with Frampton Comes Alive, the biggest selling live album in rock history.

UK music weekly Melody Maker reviews a Sex Pistols gig with the words, "I hope we shall hear no more of them."

1984

Nate Nelson, lead vocalist for The Flamingos on their 1959 hit ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, dies of heart disease aged 52, a day after his wife had made a plea to his fans to find a donor heart for her ailing husband.

1985

Madonna kicks off her very first North American tour by playing the first of three nights at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington. The Beastie Boys open for Madonna on the 40-date ‘Virgin’ Tour.

1990

Tom Waits takes Doritos Chips to court for using a Waits ’sound-alike’ on the company’s radio ads. The jury awarded $2.475 million in punitive damages to Waits who commented after the case, "Now, by law, I have what I always felt I had… a distinctive voice."

1994

Over 5,000 fans attend a US public memorial service for Kurt Cobain at Seattle Flag Pavilion.

2001

Eminem is given two years probation and fined $2,500 and $5,000 costs after admitting carrying a concealed weapon. The charges followed an incident outside a club in Warren, Michigan the previous June when Eminem ’pistol whipped’ John Guerra after he saw him kissing his wife.

2003

American singer Little Eva dies aged 59 in Kinston, North Carolina. Eva was working as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin who asked her to record the song they’d just written. ‘The Loco-Motion’ - a 1962 US No. 1 & UK No. 2 single - was also an American No. 1 for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 and a hit for Kylie Minogue in 1988 (US No. 3 and UK No. 2).

2005

The final episode of The Osbournes is aired on MTV in the UK. During its three year run, the show reached a peak audience of eight million. Ozzy was at a loss to explain its popularity, saying, “I suppose Americans get a kick out of watching a crazy Brit family like us make complete fools of ourselves every week.”

2006

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay singer Chris Martin announce they have named their second child, a boy, Moses Martin. The couple also had a daughter named Apple.

April 11

1956

Travelling from Amarillo to Nashville, the plane that Elvis Presley is a passenger on develops engine trouble and is forced to make an emergency landing. The incident creates a fear of flying for Presley.

1961

Bob Dylan plays his first live gig in New York City at Gerde’s Folk City, opening for John Lee Hooker.

1965

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Kinks and others perform at the New Musical Express poll winners concert, at London’s Wembley Empire Pool, England.

1967

During an 18-date European tour The Rolling Stones play two shows at the Olympia Theatre in Paris.

1970

While in Germany Peter Green quits Fleetwood Mac but agrees to finish the band’s current European tour to avoid breach of contract.

1977

Alice Cooper plays to an audience of 40,000 in Sydney, Australia, the largest crowd to attend a rock concert in the country’s history to date. After the show Cooper is placed under house arrest at his hotel until posting a bond for $59,632 - the amount a promoter claimed to have paid Cooper for a 1975 Australia tour he never fulfilled. The two settled when it was found that the promoter did not meet his part of the agreement either.

1981

Hall & Oates start a three week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Kiss On My List’, the duo’s second American chart-topper.

1988

Cher wins an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Moonstruck.

1991

Paula Abdul holds a press conference in Hollywood to deny allegations that backing vocalist Yvete Marine had sung non-credited lead parts on Abdul’s Forever Your Girl album.

1992

Pearl Jam appear on US TV show Saturday Night Live from New York City.

1994

Oasis release their first single ‘Supersonic’ which peaks at No. 31 on the UK charts.

2001

At a charity auction, Robbie Williams raises £165,000 in funds for his old school in Stoke to build a performing arts block. The items sold were the singer’s personal possessions, including a toilet from a stage show, a Union Jack bikini, Tiger’s head briefs, a Millennium jet pack and the handwritten lyrics to ‘Angels’ which sold for £27,000.

2006

Proof (real name Deshaun Holton), a member of Eminem’s rap collective D12, is killed in a Detroit nightclub shooting after an argument broke out at the CCC nightclub on Eight Mile Road, made famous in Eminem’s autobiographical film 8 Mile. Holton was a longtime friend of Eminem and was the rapper’s best man at his wedding in January of this year.

April 12

1954

Bill Haley & His Comets record ‘Rock Around The Clock’ at Pythian Temple studios in New York City. Written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers, the song was first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae & His Knights. Considered by many to be the song that put rock ’n’ roll on the map around the world, Haley’s version was used over the opening titles of the film Blackboard Jungle and went on to become a worldwide No. 1 and the biggest selling pop single with sales of over 25 million.

1957

The ‘King of Skiffle’ Lonnie Donegan is at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Cumberland Gap’.

1963

Bob Dylan performs his first major solo concert at the Town Hall, New York City.

1966

Jan Berry, of Jan & Dean, is almost killed when he crashes his Porsche into a parked truck a short distance from Dead Man’s Curve in Los Angeles. Partially paralysed and suffering brain damage, Berry was able to walk again after extensive therapy.

1967

Mick Jagger is punched in the face by an airport official during a row at Le Bourget Airport in Paris. Jagger loses his temper after the Stones entourage was being searched for drugs, resulting in them missing their flight.

1973

The film That’ll Be The Day, featuring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and Billy Fury, from a screenplay written by Ray Connolly, premieres in London.

1975

David Bowie announces his second career retirement, saying, "I’ve rocked my roll. It’s a boring dead end, there will be no more rock’n’roll records from me."

During a North American tour, Pink Floyd play the first of two nights at The Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

1982

David Crosby is arrested when police find him preparing cocaine backstage in his dressing room before a show at Cardi’s nightclub in Dallas.

1986

Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle marries actor Morgan Mason, the son of James Mason.

1989

Two DJs on Los Angeles station KLOS ask "whatever happened to David Cassidy?" The singer calls the station up and the presenters invite him onto their show. Cassidy plays three songs live on air and is subsequently signed by a new record label.

1990

The Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre announces that Asteroids 4147-4150, would be named Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr after the four members of The Beatles.

1995

Two weeks after her death, George W. Bush (then the governor of Texas) declares this date "Selena Day" in Texas. Selena, a Mexican American singer, was murdered by the president of her fan club on 31 March.

1997

While on a UK tour, Fun Lovin’ Criminals drummer Stephen Borovini receives a police caution after he was arrested on suspicion of making obscene phone calls to women working in gyms in the Leeds area.

2005

Mariah Carey releases The Emancipation Of Mimi, which enters the US chart at No. 1, going six times platinum in less than a year, subsequently becoming the most successful album of 2005.

2008

Day 26, the winners of US TV show Making The Band, are at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with their self-titled debut.

April 13

1965

The Beatles record the song ‘Help!’ during an evening recording session at EMI Studios in London.

1967

Nancy and Frank Sinatra are at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Somethin’ Stupid’, making them the only father and daughter duo to have a chart-topping single.

1970

Genesis appear at the Friars club, Aylesbury, England.

1971

The Rolling Stones release ‘Brown Sugar’, the first record on their own label, Rolling Stones Records, which introduces the infamous tongue and lips logo.

1974

Paul McCartney & Wings’ Band On The Run album is at No. 1 on the US album charts - McCartney’s third American chart-topping album, which goes on to sell over six million copies worldwide.

1979

Five days into Van Halen’s latest tour, David Lee Roth collapses from exhaustion on stage at Spokane Coliseum in Washington.

1993

The first ‘Aerosmith Day’ is observed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after the band is given its very own holiday.

2003

Madonna strikes back at websites who are offering illegal downloads of her new album, American Life, by flooding file-sharing networks with decoy files. When the files are opened the voice of Madonna asks, "What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" The album had been kept under tight wraps to avoid piracy, with promotional copies being held back from journalists until just before the official release.

2007

Julian Lennon sells a "significant" stake of his share in the songs his father wrote to US music publishing company Primary Wave. The firm would now receive royalty payments when any Lennon compositions were sold on CD, performed live or played on the radio. The company, who were about to market Julian’s new music project, declined to reveal how much the deal was worth but Chief Executive Larry Mestel described it as a "passive" revenue stream that remained under the effective control of Sony/ATV, who owned the majority of the Beatles publishing copyrights

2008

Producer and drummer Clifford Davies, who had worked with Ted Nugent, is found dead aged 59 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home in Atlanta. It was reported that Davies was "extremely distraught" over outstanding medical bills.

2009

Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ is the most played song in public places in the past 75 years, according to a chart compiled for BBC Radio 2. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was at number two followed by ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ by The Everly Brothers, Wet Wet Wet’s 1994 hit, ‘Love Is All Around’ and Bryan Adams’ 1991 hit ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.’

April 14

1964

The King Bees (featuring a young David Bowie, then David Jones) play at a wedding reception at The Jack Of Clubs in London.

1967

Polydor Records release The Bee Gees’ ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’ with a promotional slogan announcing "The most significant talent since The Beatles". The record becomes a Top 20 hit in the UK and US.

1968

Phil Spector marries Ronettes singer and protege Veronica Bennett. The couple divorced in 1973 with Bennett citing several instances of alleged cruelty.

1969

The Beatles’ recording of ‘The Ballad Of John and Yoko’ takes place with just two members, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Paul plays bass, drums and piano with John on guitars and lead vocals. The song is banned from many radio stations as being blasphemous and on some stations the word ‘Christ’ was edited to avoid the ban.

1970

Creedence Clearwater Revival make their live UK debut when playing the first of two nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

1971

The Illinois Crime Commission issues a list of ’drug-oriented records’ including ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum and The Beatles’ ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’.

1973

Led Zeppelin start a two-week run on the top of the UK album chart with Houses Of The Holy, also a No. 1 in the US. The young girl featured on the cover of the album, climbing naked up Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, is Samantha Gates who was six at the time of the photo shoot.

1978

Joy Division play at the ‘Stiff Test-Chiswick Challenge’, at Raffters in Manchester. Future managers Rob Gretton and then journalist Tony Wilson see the band for the first time.

1994