What Happened Today In Music
May 5th
1956 - Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley scored his first US No.1 single and album when 'Heartbreak Hotel' went to the top of the charts. 'Heartbreak Hotel' became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956. The lyrics were based on a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window.
1962 - West Side Story
The soundtrack to West Side Story went to No.1 on the US album chart. It went on to spend a total of 54 weeks at the No.1 position.
1963 - George Harrison
On a recommendation by George Harrison Dick Rowe Head of A&R at Decca records, (and the man who turned down The Beatles) went to see The Rolling Stones play at Crawdaddy Club, London. The band were signed to the label within a week.
1966 - Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pretty Flamingo'. The recording features future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965. On their Top Of The Pops appearance, singer Paul Jones performed whilst standing on one leg.
1967 - The Kinks
The Kinks released 'Waterloo Sunset' as a single which went on to peak at No.2 on the UK chart. Songwriter and Kinks singer Ray Davies later stated that the song was originally entitled 'Liverpool Sunset', after his love for Liverpool and Merseybeat.
1968 - Stephen Stills
Buffalo Springfield split up. Richie Furay formed Poco and Stephen Stills teamed up with David Crosby and Graham Nash in Crosby Stills & Nash.
1969 - The Beatles
The Beatles single 'Get Back' was released in the US. John Lennon claimed in 1980 that "there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there", claiming that Paul McCartney looked at Yoko Ono in the studio every time he sang "Get back to where you once belonged."
1972 - Gary Davis
Blind blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis died of a heart attack aged 76. His unique finger-picking style influenced many other artists.
1972 - Dr John
The first day of the three day Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England, with Grateful Dead, Dr John, Donovan, The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, Hawkwind, America, Family, Country Joe MacDonald, Wishbone Ash, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Brinsley Schwarz and the Flamin Groovies.
1973 - David Bowie
David Bowie scored his first UK No.1 album when 'Aladdin Sane' started a five-week run at the top, featuring the single 'Drive In Saturday'. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the name of the album is a pun on "A Lad Insane".
1974 - CBGB's
Television appeared at CBGB's in New York City, supported by the Stillettoes (later to become Blondie who were playing their first show at CBGB).
1979 - Peaches and Herb
Peaches and Herb started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Reunited', it made No.4 in the UK.
1983 - Ivor Novello
The Stranglers 'Golden Brown' was named most performed work of 1982 at the 28th Ivor Novello Awards. The single had become a UK hit after the comparatively conservative BBC Radio Two made it 'single of the week', a surprising step considering the band were almost as notorious as Sex Pistols only a few short years before.
1984 - Duran Duran
Duran Duran were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Reflex', the group's second and last No.1. The song which was taken from their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger was also a US No.1.
1984 - Chrissie Hynde
Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr married Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde in a horse drawn carriage in Central Park, New York City. The couple divorced in 1990.
1990 - John Lennon
The John Lennon tribute concert was held at the Pier Head Arena in Merseyside, featuring Lenny Kravitz, Al Green, Joe Cocker, The Christians, Kylie Minogue, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Deacon Blue, Lou Reed, Joe Walsh and Wet Wet Wet.
1995 - Steven Adler
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler was arrested on a felony count of possession of heroin, as well as two misdemeanour drug charges.
1996 - Dolores O'Riordan
Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan received both a public apology and a donation of £7,500 ($12,750) to the Warchild charity from The Sport newspaper after they ran a story claiming she had performed a gig in Hamburg without wearing any underwear.
1996 - Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Evil Empire'. The album's title is taken from the phrase "evil empire", which was used by former US President Ronald Reagan and many conservatives in describing the former Soviet Union. The album won the 1996 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance.
2000 - Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart had a one-hour throat operation at Cedar Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles to remove a growth on his thyroid. The growth turns out to be benign.
2002 - Ted Nugent
Two disc jockeys from Denver's KRFX-FM, Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, stopped a live radio interview with Detroit rocker Ted Nugent after he used derogatory racial terms for Asians and Blacks. The station received dozens of complaints.
2003 - Jennifer Lopez
UK Holiday camp operator Butlins introduced a new system of rhyming slang at bingo halls in an attempt to bring the game up-to-date. Pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Gareth Gates became new catchphrases for the callers, 'Gareth Gates' (8) and 'J-Lo's bum' (71). Other additions include 'stroppy teen' (15) and 'feng shui' (53).
2005 - Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake underwent an operation at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Hospital to remove nodules from his throat.
2013 - Robert Plant
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant obtained a temporary restraining order against an overzealous female fan he alleged was a threat to his safety. Plant said that the woman had been harassing him for over three years and believed that they were in a relationship, even though Plant insisted the pair has never met.
2015 - Craig Gruber
American rock bassist Craig Gruber died of prostate cancer in Florida aged 63. He is best known as the original bassist in Rainbow and also played in Elf with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and worked with guitarist Gary Moore.
2016 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones told Donald Trump to stop playing their songs during his presidential campaign. The band issued a statement saying that the US presidential candidate did not have permission to use the band's music. Their 1969 hit 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' had been a particular favourite during his campaign.
May 5th
1937 - Johnnie Taylor
American singer and songwriter Johnnie Taylor, who had the 1976 US No.1 UK No.25 single 'Disco Lady' and was a three-time Grammy-nominated American recording artist. Taylor died of a heart attack in a Texas hospital, on 31st May 2000, shortly after his 62nd birthday.
1942 - Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette, US Country singer, 1968 US No.19 and 1975 UK No.1 single 'Stand By Your Man'. Known as the first lady of country music. Had the 1991 hit with The KLF ‘Justified and Ancient’ which became a No. 1 hit in eighteen countries. She died from cardiac arrhythmia aged 55, on 6th April 1998.
1942 - Jim King
Jim King, saxophone and harmonica with British rock band Family who scored the 1971 UK No.4 single 'In My Own Time' and the 1973 single 'My Friend The Sun'.
1948 - Bill Ward
Bill Ward, drummer with English rock band Black Sabbath who had the 1970 UK No.4 single 'Paranoid'. The bands self-titled album was voted as the best British rock album ever by Kerrang! in 2005.
1950 - Eddy Amoo
Eddy Amoo, from British soul group The Real Thing, who had the 1976 UK No.1 single 'You To Me Are Everything'.
1951 - Rex Goh
Rex Goh, guitarist, for the Australian soft rock band Air Supply who scored the 1980 UK No.11 single 'All Out Of Love' and the 1981 US No.1 single 'The One That You Love'.
1954 - Pete Erskine
Pete Erskine, percussion, with American jazz fusion band of the 1970s and early 1980s Weather Report who had the 1976 single 'Birdland' and the 1977 album Heavy Weather.
1955 - Roddy Radiation
Roddy Radiation, who played lead guitar for The Specials, as well as many rockabilly bands such as the Bonediggers and the Tearjerkers. Byers joined The Specials when the band was called The Coventry Automatics.
1957 - Thereza Bazar
Thereza Bazar, singer, from pop vocal duo Dollar who had the 1981 UK No.4 single 'Mirror Mirror'.
1959 - Ian McCulloch
English singer-songwriter and musician Ian McCulloch, best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen who had the 1983 UK No.8 single 'The Cutter' and the single 'The Killing Moon'. McCulloch a member of the Crucial Three, one of many Liverpool bands that sprung up amongst the regulars who patronised a Liverpool club called Eric's in the late '70s. The other two members were Julian Cope and Pete Wylie who went on to form Wah!.
1959 - Steve Stevens
American guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens. Often referred to as "the fingers of rock", he is best known for being Billy Idol's guitarist, the lead guitar work on 'Top Gun Anthem', and for playing for other artists (most notably Michael Jackson and Vince Neil).
1961 - Sean McLuskey
Sean McLuskey, with British new wave group Jo Boxers, who had the 1983 UK No.3 single 'Boxer Beat'.
1962 - Gary Daly
Gary Daly, singer, with English pop/rock band China Crisis, who had the 1984 UK No.9 single 'Wishful Thinking'.
1962 - Kevin Paul Mooney
Kevin Paul Mooney, bassist from English rock band Adam and the Ants who scored the 1981 UK No.1 single 'Stand And Deliver' and 15 other UK Top 40 singles.
1981 - Craig David
English singer, songwriter, rapper Craig David, who had the 2000 UK No.1 singles, 'Fill Me In' and '7 Days'. His 2000 UK No.1 album 'Born To Do It' spent 50 weeks on the chart. David has been nominated for thirteen Brit Awards.
1988 - Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, (Adele), English soul and jazz singer, (2008 UK No.1 album ‘19’, 2008 UK No.2 single ‘Chasing Pavements’). In 2011 Adele became the first artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the singles chart and the albums chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK, and Adele is the first female in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have three singles in the top 10 at the same time.
1989 - Chris Brown
Chris Brown, American singer, songwriter, and actor who had the 2005 US No.1 with his debut release 'Run It' and the 2007 US No.1 'Kiss Kiss'. In 2009, Brown received media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service.
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