What Happened Today In Music

June 29th

1961 - Del Shannon

Del Shannon was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Runaway.' His only UK No.1 and the first of 14 UK Top 40 hits.

1964 - The Beatles

Touring Australia The Beatles played two shows at the Festival Hall, Brisbane. Over 8,000 fans had waited until after midnight to greet the group as they landed at Brisbane Airport.

1967 - Keith Richards

Rolling Stone Keith Richards was found guilty of allowing his house to be used for the illegal smoking of cannabis. He was sentenced to one year in jail and a £500 ($850) fine, (prison number 5855). Mick Jagger was also fined £100 ($170) and given three months in jail on drug charges. Jagger and Richards were both released and granted bail of £7,000 the following day.

1968 - Roy Harper

A free concert was held in London's Hyde Park with Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Roy Harper. This afternoon concert was the first free festival to be held in Hyde Park. The concert was held to coincide with the release of Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets.

1968 - Small Faces

The Small Faces started a six week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. A concept album with a round cover designed to look like a tobacco tin. The album featured the hit 'Lazy Sunday.'

1969 - Shorty Long

American soul singer Shorty Long drowned aged 29 after his boat capsized on the Detroit River in Michigan. Had the 1968 US No.8 single 'Here Comes The Judge.' He acted as an MC for many of the Motown Revue shows and tours.

1974 - Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'She', the French singers only UK No.1. At the time it made Aznavour the oldest living male chart-topper in the UK charts (at fifty years old).

1975 - Tim Buckley

American singer songwriter Tim Buckley died of an overdose of heroin and morphine aged 28. Released nine albums including the 1972 release 'Greetings from L.A.' Buckley is the father of singer songwriter Jeff Buckley.

1979 - Lowell George

American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Lowell George died of a heart attack. The Little Feat front man was found dead at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. George joined Zappa's Mothers of Invention as rhythm guitarist in 1968, played guitar on John Cale's 1973 album Paris 1919, Harry Nilsson's Son of Schmilsson album and Jackson Browne's The Pretender.

1984 - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the first leg of his Born in the USA Tour with a three night run at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Springsteen would play a total of 156 shows ending on October 2, 1985 in Los Angeles.

1985 - David Bowie

David Bowie and Mick Jagger recorded a version of the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas 1964 hit 'Dancing In The Street' for the forthcoming Live Aid fundraising event. The single went on to become a No.1 UK hit. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at John F. Kennedy Stadium, until it was realised that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible unless either Bowie or Jagger mimed their contribution, something neither artist was willing to do.

1985 - John Lennon

John Lennon's 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V limousine, with psychedelic paintwork, sold for a record sum of $3,006,385, (£1,768,462) at a Sotheby's auction in New York.

1988 - Lionel Richie

Brenda Richie, the wife of Lionel Richie was arrested in Beverly Hills, California after allegedly hitting the singer and a young woman after she found them in bed together. She was released on $5,000 bail and charges against her were eventually dropped.

1991 - Jason Donovan

Jason Donovan had his third UK No.1 single with 'Any Dream Will Do' a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for the 1968 musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Donovan was playing the lead role in a new London production of the musical.

1994 - Oasis

Oasis made their debut on BBC TV's Top Of The Pops performing their new single 'Shakermaker'.

1999 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson suffered severe bruising after falling over 50 feet when a bridge collapsed during a concert at Munich's Olympic stadium. Jacko was singing 'Earth Song' at the time of the accident.

2000 - Eminem

Eminem's mother went to court claiming defamation of character in a $10 million (£5.8 million) civil suit, after taking exception to the line "My mother smokes more dope than I do" from her son's single 'My Name Is'.

2002 - Rosemary Clooney

American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney died of lung cancer. Had the 1954 UK No.1 single 'This Ole House' appeared in the 1954 movie White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. Her nephew, George Clooney was a pallbearer at her funeral.

2003 - Beyonce

Destiny's Child singer Beyonce started a five week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Dangerously In Love', also a US No.1.

2004 - Courtney Love

Courtney Love was reprimanded by Los Angeles Judge Melissa Jackson for turning up five hours late to a hearing. Love pleaded guilty to a single charge of disorderly conduct and was given a discharge, on condition she paid the victim's medical bills, joins a drug programme and stayed out of trouble.

2007 - Lily Allen

Lily Allen was questioned by police over an alleged assault on a photographer outside a nightclub in London. She was freed on police bail after she was quizzed about an alleged assault on a male photographer in his 40s near the Wardour club in London's Soho in March.

2012 - Stone Roses

Photographers were planning to boycott the forthcoming Stone Roses reunion concerts in Manchester in a dispute over the use of their images. They claimed a contract issued by the band was unfair as it expected them to surrender all rights to their pictures. The National Union of Journalists was also supporting the boycott.

2016 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie filed for divorce from her fourth husband, Michael Lockwood, just months after the couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary last January. Lisa Marie had previously been wed to Danny Keough from 1988 until 1994, Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1999 and to actor Nicolas Cage from 2002 to 2004.

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2019 - Steven Adler

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler was taken to hospital after stabbing himself. The musician, who was sacked from the rock group in 1990 over drink and drug issues, was taken to a Los Angeles hospital after paramedics were called to his home for what was reported to be a self-inflicted injury. 

2020 - Benny Mardones 

American singer and songwriter Benny Mardones died age 73. He scored the hit single 'Into the Night,' which hit the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice, in 1980 and again in 1989.

2021 - John Lawton

British rock and blues vocalist John Lawton died unexpectedly age 74. He was best known for his work with Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep and the Les Humphries Singers.

Born Today In Music

June 29th

1940 - Alan Klein 

Alan Klein, English singer-songwriter and musician. He worked with producer Joe Meek and many acts recorded his songs including, Joe Brown, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Bachelors and Marty Wilde. In 1966 he went on tour as lead vocalist of The New Vaudeville Band who had the 1966 US No.1 hit 'Winchester Cathedral'. 

1943 - Roger Spear

Roger Spear, multi-instrumentalist with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. He wrote some of their wittiest songs such as ‘Shirt’, ‘Tubas in the Moonlight’ and ‘Trouser Press’. The Bonzos came to the public attention through a 1968 ITV comedy show, Do Not Adjust Your Set.

1945 - Little Eva

Little Eva, US singer. She was babysitting for Carole King and Gerry Goffin who asked her to record a song they had written. It gave her the 1962 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'The Loco-Motion'. She died on April 10th 2003.

1947 - Eric Wrixon

Eric Wrixon, musician with the Northern Irish band Them who had the 1965 UK hits 'Baby, Please Don't Go' and 'Here Comes The Night' with Van Morrison on lead vocals. Morrison quit the band in 1966 and went on to a successful career as a solo artist. He was also a founding member of Thin Lizzy. He died on 13 July 2015 aged 68.

1948 - Lincoln Gordon

Derv and Lincoln Gordon from the British pop, R&B and rock group The Equals who had the 1968 UK No.1 & US No.32 single 'Baby Come Back' written by Eddy Grant.

1948 - Ian Paice

Ian Paice, English musician, best known as the drummer of Deep Purple. He has been the band's only constant member since its foundation. They scored the 1970 UK No.2 single 'Black Night' and the 1973 US No. 4 single 'Smoke On The Water'. Paice has also worked with Whitesnake and Gary Moore.

1953 - Colin Hay

Colin Hay, Scottish Australian musician with Men At Work, (1983 UK and US No.1 single 'Down Under').

1957 - Robert Forster

Australian singer-songwriter Robert Forster who co-founded The Go-Betweens who had the 1988 hit 'Streets of Your Town'. Now a solo artist and author.

1961 - Greg Hetson

American guitarist Greg Hetson best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore punk bands Redd Kross, Circle Jerks and Bad Religion.

1964 - Stedman Pearson

Stedman Pearson, singer, from British pop/R&B group 5 Star who had the 1986 UK No.3 single 'System Addict', plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles. They won the 1987 Brit Award for Best British Group

1977 - Sam Bailey

Sam Bailey, singer, known for winning the tenth series of The X Factor in 2013. Her 2013 single ‘Skyscraper’ was the Christmas No.1 on the UK Chart. 

1978 - Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger, singer, Eden's Crush, who had the 2001 US No.8 single 'Get Over Yourself'. The Pussycat Dolls, who scored the 2005, US No.2 & UK No.1 with their debut single ‘Don't Cha’ featuring Busta Rhymes. The Pussycat Dolls became only the fourth ever girl band to enter the UK charts at No.1 with their debut single. (The other’s being the Spice Girls, B*Witched and Girls Aloud).

1978 - Sam Farrar

Sam Farrar American musician, producer and bassist with Phantom Planet, as well as a touring member of Maroon 5. His father, John Farrar, was a member of The Shadows.

1979 - Richard Breen

Richard Breen, with English boy band Five who had the 1998 UK No.2 single 'Everybody Get Up' and the 1999 UK No.1 single 'Keep On Movin'.

1983 - Aundrea Fimbres

Aundrea Fimbres, American singer with Danity Kane. They became the first female group in Billboard history to have their first two albums open at the top of the charts.