ΣΑΝ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ-21 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ

1956, Elvis Presley appeared at the 4,000 seated YMCA Gymnasium in Lexington, North Carolina. Also on the bill, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, featuring June Carter, Rod Brasfield, Hal and Ginger. Tickets cost $1 for general admission and $1.50 for reserved seats.

1961, The Beatles played their first ever evening show at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, supporting The Swinging Bluegenes, (later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans).

1965, After 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at No.1 with 'She Loves You'.

1965, The Who appeared at the Trade Union Hall, Watford, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead played the first of seven nights at the Academy of Music in New York City, New York.

1973, The BBC banned all teenybopper acts appearing on UK TV show, 'Top Of The Pops' after a riot following a David Cassidy performance.

1976, Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room in Rochester, New York.

1978, Dire Straits played at The Marquee Club in London, England. Tickets priced at 70p.

1980, Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers was sent to Pentonville Prison after losing his appeal against a drugs conviction.

1981, REO Speedwagon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Keep On Loving You', the group's first top 40 hit and first No.1, a No.7 hit in the UK.

1984, Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono in memory of her late husband was opened.

1985, Bruce Springsteen kicked off the second leg of his Born in the USA world tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.

1987, Club Nouveau started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bill Withers 'Lean On Me', a No.3 hit in the UK.

1987, U2 scored their third UK No.1 album with 'The Joshua Tree', featuring the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', & 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US No.1.

1991, Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson's disease. He started mass producing solid body electric guitars in the late 40s and when he sold his guitar company in 1965, sales were in excess of $40 million a year.

1992, Former nude model Vanessa Williams started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Save The Best To Last', a No.3 hit in the UK.

1994, Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song 'Streets of Philadelphia.'

1996, John Squire guitarist with The Stone Roses quit the band. He broke the news to the other three members over the phone.

1997, Snoop Doggy Dog was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 (£588) for a firearms violation after a handgun was found in his car when he was stopped for a traffic violation.

1998, Run-DMC VS Jason Nevins started a six week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's Like That.' The Run-DMC track was from 1983 and was remixed by Jason Nevins, a US DJ and producer.

1999, Irish girl group B*Witched scored their fourth consecutive UK No.1 single with 'Blame It On The Weatherman.' The girls set a new chart record with their first four singles all entering the chart at No.1.

1999, Blur went to No.1 on the UK album chart with '13', the bands fourth consecutive No.1 and making them only the third act to have four No.1's in the 90's, Simply Red and REM being the other two.

2000, Kurt Cobain and Happy Monday's singer Shaun Ryder both beat older stars such as Keith Richards and Keith Moon in a league of rock 'n' roll excess compiled by UK music weekly Melody Maker. Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson all featured in the Top 10.

2001, Eminem was ordered to pay $476,000 (£280,000) as part of his divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kim. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the US mansion and they would share custody of their five-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.

2001, Michael Jackson's interior decorator told The Times newspaper that the singer kept 17 life size dolls, adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company.'

2001, A survey revealed that the music of older, established bands was being distributed illegally over the internet much more than that of their younger, chart-topping counterparts. Queen had the highest number of bootleg websites, with 12,225.

2004, George Michael scored his fifth UK No.1 album with 'Patience'.

2004, Usher feat L'll Jon started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Yeah.' Also a US No.1. Released as the lead single from Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions.

2004, Ozzy Osbourne was named the nation's favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll as the face people want to represent them to alien life. The poll of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote, Simon Cowell, came last on the list, with just three per cent of the vote, A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: "As the world waits desperately for signs of alien life, we decided to ask our users who they thought was best suited for this most auspicious of roles. Ozzy is a great choice but I'm not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language."

2006, Three South African women whose father, Solomon Linda, wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ in 1939, won a six-year court battle that gave them 25 per cent of all past and future royalties from the song. Linda who was a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company when he wrote the song, received virtually nothing for his work and died in 1962 with $25 in his bank account. The song had been recorded by Pete Seeger (as ‘Wimoweh’), The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Karl Denver and R.E.M. and was featured in the Disney film The Lion King. It was estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone.

2008, A five-year legal row over the use of the Beach Boys' name was settled by two former members of the group. Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band and sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed Beach Boys act. Mr Jardine's lawyer said "a friendly settlement" had been reached that allowed them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band.’

2009, U2 went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'No Line on the Horizon', the bands twelfth studio album.

March 21st: Born on this day

1940, Born on this day, Solomon Burke, US singer, the king of rock & soul, (1961 US No.24 single 'Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms', 1963 US No.1 R&B hit, 'Got To Get You Off My Mind').

1941, Born on this day, John Boylan, American producer and songwriter. Worked with Rick Nelson, the Association, the Dillards. He also managed Linda Ronstadt and introduced her to a then unknown group of musicians who went on to become her backing band in 1971, and later became the Eagles.

1943, Born on this day, Viv Stanshall, vocals, ukulele, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, (1968 UK No.5 single 'I'm The Urban Spaceman'). Stanshall died on March 5th 1995 in a house fire.

1945, Born on this day, Rosemary Stone, vocals, piano, Sly and The Family Stone, (1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.15 single 'Family Affair').

1946, Born on this day, Ray Dorset, singer, guitarist, songwriter, Mungo Jerry, (1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'In The Summertime').

1950, Born on this day, Roger Hodgson, guitar, Supertramp, (1979 US No.6 & UK No.7 single 'The Logical Song').

1951, Born on this day, Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba').

1951, Born on this day, Russell Thompkins Jr, vocals, The Stylistics, (1975 US No.1 single 'You Make Me Feel Brand New', 1975 UK No.1 single 'Can't Give You Anything But My Love' plus 15 other UK top 40 singles).

1953, Born on this day, Robert Johnson, KC and the Sunshine Band, (1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up').

1956, Born on this day, Guy Chadwick, guitar, vocals, House Of Love, (1990 UK No.20 single ‘Shine On’).

1957, Born on this day, John Reddington, King Kurt, (1983 UK No.36 single 'Destination Zululand').

1958, Born on this day, Jonathan Norton, drummer/percussionist/vocalist worked with Eels, Lisa Germano, Tracy Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Michael Penn, Aimee Mann and Lucinda Williams.

1967, Born on this day, Jonas Berggren, guitar, keyboards, Ace Of Base, (1993 UK No.1 single 'All That She Wants', 1994 US No.1 single 'The Sign').

1967, Born on this day, Keith Palmer, vocals, Prodigy, (1996 UK No.1 & US No. 30 single 'Firestarter'. 1997 UK & US No.1 album 'The Fat Of The Land').

1967, Born on this day, Sean Dickson, The Soup Dragons, (1990 UK No.5 single 'I'm Free').

1977, Born on this day, Mark Hamilton, Ash, (1995 UK No.11 single 'Girl From Mars').

1980, Born on this day, Deryck 'Bizzy D' Whibley, guitar, vocals, Sum 41, (2001 UK No 13 single 'In Too Deep').