April 24th

Musical birthdays today include Shirley MacLaine (90), Barbra Streisand (82), Oak Ridge Boys vocalist Richard Sterban (81), CCR drummer Doug Clifford (79), Véronique Sanson (75), former Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison (73), ex-Night Ranger bassist Jack Blades (70), The Damned co-founder Ray 'Captain Sensible' Burns (70), former Bauhaus bassist David Haskins AKA David J (67), ex-Cure drummer Boris Williams (67), Faith No More bassist Billy Gould (61), Creed bassist Brian Marshall (51), Kelly Clarkson (42), and All-American Rejects lead singer Tyson Ritter (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for soul singer Freddie Scott, who would have been 90 today... for jazzman Joe Henderson, who would have been 87... for former Hughes Corporation vocalist St. Clair Lee, who would have been 80... for bluesman Otis Spann, who died on this date in 1970... for Badfinger frontman Pete Ham, who took his own life today in 1975 at the age of 27... and for R&B singer and former Duke Ellington vocalist Al Hibbler, who left us today in 2001. 

Also on April 24th: Haydn finishes his oratorio Die Jahrezeiten [The Seasons] and conducts the premier himself on the same evening at the Schwarzenberg Palace in Vienna (1801)... Laurens Hammond files for a patent for his electric organ (1934)... Buddy Holly has a posthumous № 1 in the UK with the Paul Anka song 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' (1959)... Bob Dylan makes his first ever paid appearance in a recording studio, contributing harmonica to the song 'Calypso King' on the Harry Belafonte album The Midnight Special... Del Shannon is at № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Runaway' (1961)... Apple Records turn down the chance to sign David Bowie... At 69, Louis Armstrong becomes the oldest man ever to have a British № 1 when 'What a Wonderful World' tops the UK chart (1968)... In Nashville, Bob Dylan begins the recording sessions that will produce the album Self Portrait (1969)...  John Lennon's single 'Woman Is the Nigger of the World' was released in the US. The song peaks at № 57, as numerous American radio stations refuse to play it. Yoko Ono first used the phrase in a magazine interview in 1967, and Lennon later explained that he was making the point that women deserved higher status in society (1972)... RCA release David Bowie's album Diamond Dogs (1974)... Paul and Linda McCartney spend the evening with John Lennon at the latter's apartment in the Dakota in NYC and watch Saturday Night Live on TV. The show's producer Lorne Michaels appears on the air asking The Beatles to turn up and play three songs live. Lennon and McCartney discuss taking a cab to the studio, but decide they are too tired. The evening is the last time that John and Paul see each other (1976)... Ray Charles' 'Georgia on My Mind' is voted the official state song by the Georgia Assembly (1979)... New Order begin recording their first album at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, just outside of Manchester (1981)... The road crew for Roger Waters uncover an unexploded WWII bomb while constructing the set for the forthcoming 'The Wall' concert on Potsdamerplatz in Berlin (1990)... David Bowie marries Somali actress and supermodel Iman in a small private ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland (1992)... Oasis release the single 'Some Might Say', which goes on to give the group their first UK № 1 (1995)... Dixie Chicks launch a publicity campaign to explain their position with regard to the controversy generated by Natalie Maines' statements about the Iraq war. During a prime-time interview with Diane Sawyer, Maines says she remains proud of her original statement. The band also appear naked [with private parts strategically covered] on the current cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine, with slogans such as 'Traitors', 'Saddam's Angels', 'Dixie Sluts', 'Proud Americans', 'Hero', 'Free Speech', and 'Brave' printed on their bodies. The slogans represent the labels, both positive and negative, that have been placed on them in the aftermath of Maines' stand (2003)... Sheryl Crow says that a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment. The singer suggests using 'only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required'. Crow made the comments on her website after touring the US on a biodiesel-powered bus to raise awareness about climate change. Crow has also designed a clothing line with what she called a 'dining sleeve'. The sleeve is detachable and can be replaced with another 'dining sleeve' after the diner has used it to wipe his or her mouth... Sounds True Records release Hudson River Wind Meditations, Lou Reed's final solo album (2007).

April 23rd

Musical birthdays today include jazz saxophonist & musicologist Vern 'Bunky' Green (88), former King Crimson violinist David Cross (75), ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer Narada Michael Walden (72), Boston lead singer Tommy DeCarlo (59), Rancid lead singer & bassist Matt Freeman (58), ex-Interpol bassist Carlos Dengler (50), and hip-hop artist, DJ & producer Sydney 'Syd tha Kyd' Bennett (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composers Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Dame Ethel Smyth, both born on this day in 1858... for Sergei Prokofiev, born in 1891... for blues pianist Charlie 'Cow Cow' Davenport, born in 1894... for drummer & bandleader Bobby Rosegarden, born in 1924... for Roy Orbison, who would have been 88... for original Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick, who would have been 77... for former Def Leppard co-lead guitarist Steve Clark, who would have been 62... for pianist and former Miles Davis sideman Red Garland, who died on this date in 1984... for songwriter Harold Arlen [best remembered for the soundtrack of 'The Wizard of Oz', including the tune for 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'], who died in 1985... for New York Dolls lead guitarist John 'Johnny Thunders' Genzale, Jr., who died in suspicious circumstances today in 1991 at the age of 39... for former Outsiders frontman Tom King, who passed away in 2011... and for country-rock bassist and Gram Parsons sideman Chris Ethridge, who left us today in 2012.  

Also on April 23rd: The 8-year-old Mozart arrives in London for the first time to continue his musical studies (1764)... Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta Patience, the world's first theatrical production to be lit entirely by electric lights, premieres at the Opera Comique in London (1881)... Elvis opens his first Las Vegas engagement, a 2-week run at the New Frontier Hotel. Presley is not the typical Vegas Strip entertainer of the time and meets with a very cool reception (1956)... John Lennon and Paul McCartney adopt the pseudonym The Nerk Twins for a performance at the Fox & Hounds Pub in Caversham, Berks. (1960)... At the Olatunji Center of African Culture in NYC, John Coltrane plays his final recorded gig (1967)... The Beatles are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Get Back', the group's 16th UK chart-topper. Credited to 'The Beatles with Billy Preston' on the label of the 45 RPM, it was the group's only single that lists another artist. 'Get Back' is also the Beatles' first single release in true stereo in the US (1969)... The Rolling Stones release the album Sticky Fingers. The band's first release on their own label via Atlantic Records, the cover was designed by Andy Warhol, who was paid $15,000 for his efforts. The LP sleeve featured a close-up of a pair of jeans with a working zip. Widely assumed to be that of Mick Jagger, the crotch photographed for the cover was actually that of actor Joe Dallesandro (1971)... Sire Records release The Ramones' eponymous debut album (1976)... Sid Vicious films himself performing his version of 'My Way' for The Sex Pistols' film 'The Great Rock n Roll Swindle' (1978)... David Bowie hits №  1 on the UK album chart with Let's Dance', while the title track sits atop the US singles chart (1983)... On his 52nd birthday, Roy Orbison joins Bruce Springsteen on stage at a concert by the latter in Denver, CO. The audience serenade the 'Pretty Woman composer' with 'Happy Birthday'... 
Whitney Houston breaks a chart record held jointly by The Beatles and The Bee Gees when 'Where Do Broken Hearts Go', becomes her seventh consecutive US № 1 single (1988)... Peter Hodgson of Liverpool finds a tape in his attic containing 16 of The Beatles' earliest recordings made in 1959. The tape includes 'Hello Little Girl', a Lennon-McCartney composition that the Beatles never recorded and Ray Charles' 'Hallelujah, I Love Her So'. The sessions were taped on a reel-to-reel recorder that Hodgson's father had lent to Paul McCartney (1995)...  While out on a drink and drug-fuelled spree, Amy Winehouse hits and head-butts two men. After drinking all day, Amy visits the Good Mixer pub in Camden, London with Babyshambles guitarist Mik Whitnall. Inside she allegedly punches Mustapha el Mounmi in the face after he refuses to give way to her at the pool table. The singer then leaves to visit Bar Tok in the early hours and once inside the establishment shouted "I am a legend! Get these people out, I want to take drugs!" After leaving the bar a good Samaritan tries to get her a cab, but she believes that he is trying to molest her, and allegedly head-butts him in the face (2008)... Bob Dylan releases the album Together through Life  (2009).

April 22nd

Musical birthdays today include conductor & musicologist Joshua Rifkin (80), singer-songwriter & radio host Larry Groce (76), Peter Frampton (74), Paul Carrack (73), Pennywise lead guitarist Fletcher Dragge (58), rapper Opio Lindsey (50), System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian (50), Gentlemen East lead guitarist Aaron Fincke (46), Hounds Below frontman Jason Stollsteimer (46), ex-Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns (45), former Sugababes vocalist Amelle Berrabah (40), Dream Street vocalist Matt Ballinger (39), and rapper Richard Baker AKA Machine Gun Kelly (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for violinist & conductor Yehudi Menuhin, born on this day in 1916... for Charles Mingus, born today in 1922... for jazz bassist & composer Paul Chambers, and for Glen Campbell, both of whom would have been 86 today... for film score composer and Neil Young sideman Jack Nitzsche, who would have been 86... for composer Édouard Lalo, who died on this date in 1892... for jazz pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines, who died in 1983... for songwriter Felice Bryant, who passed away in 2003... and for Richie Havens, who left us today in 2014.

Also on April 22nd: Bach is hired as Kapellmeister at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, after two other candidates turned the job down (1723)... At Columbia's 30th St. Studio in NYC, Miles Davis and his ensemble sextet convene for the second and final recording session for Kind of Blue (1959)... The President of Britain's National Federation Of Hairdressers offers a free haircut to The Beatles' chief rivals for № 1 group in the UK pop charts. He says "The Rolling Stones are the worst ~ one of them looks as if he's got a feather duster on his head" (1964)... The Troggs' new single 'Wild Thing' is released in the US... Two dozen local groups appear at a ‘battle of the bands’ gig at the Matawan, NJ Keyport Roller Drome. All acts performed three songs each. The Rogues win first place, second are Sonny & The Starfires, and third place goes to The Castilles, with 16-year-old Bruce Springsteen on lead guitar and vocals. The three winners are given an opportunity to perform at the Roller Drome the following week as part of a major concert headlined by The Crystals (1966)... Deep Purple have the № 1 album in the UK with Machine Head (1972)... Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at the 'One Love Peace Concert' in Jamaica. It is Marley's first public appearance in Jamaica since being wounded in an assassination attempt a year and a half earlier... John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd perform as The Blues Brothers on Saturday Night Live for the first time (1978)... Warner Bros. Records release Around the World in a Day by Prince (1985)... The Dave Matthews Band make their live debut at an Earth Day Festival in Charlottesville, VA (1991)... Destiny's Child go to № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Survivor.' Their second chart topper, they are the first US all-female band to achieve the feat in Britain more than once (2001)... '60s pop singer Tommy Steele reveals that he took Elvis Presley on a secret tour of London in 1958 after Presley struck up a friendship with him. When the rock legend flew into London for a day, Steele tells the Times that he took him round the city, showing him famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Nelson's column. For more than 50 years, fans of the King had believed that the only time he ever set foot in the UK was during a stop-over at Prestwick Airport in Scotland in March 1960 on his way back from US Army service in Germany (2008).

April 21st

Musical birthdays today include composer & pianist John McCabe (85), Iggy Pop (77), former Family bassist John Weider (77/span>), Patti LuPone (75), Misfits bassist Jerry Only (65), The Cure frontman Robert Smith (65), Spearhead and former Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy leader (58), Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard (54), rapper & producer Adam 'Doseone' Drucker (47), and Rancid drummer Branden Steineckert (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for classical violinist Efrem Zimbalist, born on this day in 1889... for choral composer Randall Thompson, born in 1899... for country singer Ira Louvin, born in 1924... for  jazz guitarist Eddy Christiani, born in 1929... for jazz trombonist Slide Hampton, born in 1931... for Allesandro Moreschi, the last known castrato soprano (and the only one to have been recorded), who died on this date in 1921... for Jordanaires vocalist Neal Matthews, Jr., who died in 2000... and for Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett, who passed away in 2013... and for Prince, who left us today in 2016. Also on April 21st: Against the composer's wishes, a rehearsal for Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks is opened to the public six days before its scheduled premiere. The 12,000 spectators who flock to the performance in Vauxhall Gardens cause a traffic jam on London Bridge (1749)... Leonard Bernstein makes his debut as  conductor, leading the Harvard University Orchestra in his own incidental music for a drama department production of Aristophanes' 'The Birds' (1939)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, McCoy Tyner records The Real McCoy, his first solo album since leaving John Coltrane's quartet... At Abbey Road studios, The Beatles completed the sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The final recordings are a short section of gibberish and noise which will follow 'A Day in the Life', in the run-out groove. They record assorted noises and voices, which engineer Geoff Emerick then cuts up and randomly re-assembles and edits backwards. At John Lennon's suggestion, they also add a high-pitch 15 kilocycle whistle audible only by dogs. This is omitted from the American version of the album (1967)... Janis Joplin makes her UK debut at the Royal Albert Hall, with Yes as her opening act (1969)... Tony Orlando & Dawn hit № 1 in America with 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree' (1973)... Women Against Violence Against Women call for a boycott of all Warner Communications albums because of the promotional campaign for the Rolling Stones' new album Black and Blue. The album is being promoted with a controversial advertising campaign that depicts model Anita Russell, bruised and tied up, under the phrase ‘I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones - and I love it!’ (1976)... Joe Strummer disappears without a trace, causing his bandmates to cancel the upcoming Combat Rock tour. The Clash frontman turns up three weeks later in Paris [where he also completed the city's marathon] living under a bridge. (1982)... Paul McCartney plays in front of 184,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, setting a new world record for the largest crowd to attend a rock concert... Sinead O'Connor is at № 1 in the US and the UK with 'Nothing Compares 2 U'. The single will eventually top the charts in 18 countries worldwide (1990)... Bill Wyman marries for the third time when he ties the knot with 33-year-old fashion designer Suzanne Acosta in Saint Paul de Vence in the south of France (1993)... Peter Buck is charged by police at Heathrow Airport with being drunk and disorderly on an aircraft and with assaulting British airways crew. The R.E.M. guitarist is taken into custody after landing on a flight from Seattle and is questioned by police for 12 hours (2001).

April 20th

Musical birthdays today include conductor and organ virtuoso Christopher Robinson (88), singer-songwriter Johnny Tillotson (86), Silver Bullet Band pianist Craig Frost (75), ex-Dream Theater drummer Mark Portnoy (57), Stephen Marley (51), and rapper Michael 'Killer Mike' Render (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Lionel Hampton, born on this day in 1908... for salsa drummer Tito Puente, born in 1923... for Luther Vandross, who would have been 72 today... for Steve Mariott, who died on this date in 1991... for jazz pianist Andrew Hill, who died in 2007... for Chopper City Boyz rapper Michael 'VL Mike' Allen, who was shot to death on this day in 2008 at the age of 32... for TV on the Radio multi-instrumentalist Gerard Smith, who passed away in 2011... and for guitarist and teacher Bert Weedon, who left us today in 2012.

Also on April 20th: Handel receives a full state funeral at Westminster Abbey (1759)... In NYC, Billie Holiday records 'Strange Fruit' (1939)... Elvis starts  2-month run at № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'All Shook Up' (1957)... Goldband Records in Nashville releases 13-year-old Dolly Parton's first single 'Puppy Love', recorded when she was 11. The record fails to chart (1959)... The Federal Communications Commission formally adopts an FM standard, clearing the way for commercial FM radio broadcasting to begin in the US (1961)... Sun Ra records The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra at RLA Studios in NYC (1965)... During a 12-hour session at Abbey Road, The Beatles get John's 'And Your Bird Can Sing' and George's 'Taxman' in the can (1966)... Deep Purple make their live debut at a gig in Tastrup, Denmark. Currently known as Roundabout, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore suggests just before going on that the band introduce themselves as Deep Purple, named after his grandmother's favourite song [which had been a hit for Peter De Rose], after his grandmother repeatedly asked if they would be performing the tune... Apple Music Ltd. run advertisements soliciting tapes from unknown artists, offering financial grants as part of a deal to release records on the Apple label.  Badfinger, James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax, David Peel and Elephant's Memory will be among those signed up (1968)... Paul McCartney releases his self-titled debut solo album (1970)... 84 year old George Burns, who starred in the movie Oh God! with John Denver, becomes the oldest person to have a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when 'I Wish I Was 18 Again' peaks at No. 49. When asked if he wished he were 18 again, Burns replies "I wish I was 80 again." Before this, his most recent charting record had been a spoken word comedy routine with his wife and partner Gracie Allen in the summer of 1933 (1980)... 'We Are the World' by USA for Africa goes to № 1 in the UK (1985)...  At the age of 92, Vladimir Horowitz returns to his native Russia for the first time in 60 years to give a recital at the Moscow Conservatory (1986)... A record store in Callaway, FL is forced to closed down and a part-time clerk was arrested after selling a copy of the 2 Live Crew album 2 Live Is What We Are to a 14 year old boy. Local officials had deemed the recording obscene because of its suggestive lyrics (1987)... Janet Jackson receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1990)... 'A Concert For Life' takes place at Wembley Stadium as a tribute to Queen singer Freddie Mercury and to raise AIDS awareness. Acts appearing include Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Tony Iommi, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, James Hetfield, George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Robert Plant, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen, and Axl Rose and Slash (1992)... Parlophone Records release Radiohead's debut album Pablo Honey (1993)... Robert Plant appears at Disney's Theatre of the Stars in Orlando, Florida to leave his handprints outside the theatre (2000)... At the London Astoria, a memorial concert for former Small Faces and Humble Pie front man Steve Marriott takes place on the 10th anniversary of his death. On the bill are Peter Frampton, Midge Ure, Chris Farlowe and the current lineup of Humble Pie (2001).

April 19th

Musical birthdays today include rock singer & producer Genya Ravan (84), Alan Price (82), New Seekers vocalist Eve Graham (81), former Turtles guitarist Mark Volman (77), progressive rock & fusion jazz drummer Rod Morgenstein (71), ex-Black Sabbath lead singer Tony Martin (67), operatic soprano Natalie Dessay (59), record company executive Suge Knight (59), singer-songwriter Dar Williams (57), and Canadian folk singer & multi-instrumentalist Fiona MacGillivray (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for philanthropist and musical education patron Augustus D. Juilliard, born on this day in 1836... for jazz guitarist Gene Leis, born in 1920... for British blues pioneer Alexis Korner, born in 1928... for producer & parodist Dickie Goodman, who would have been 90... for Dudley Moore, who would have been 89... for Talking Heads sideman Bernie Worrell, who would have been 80... for hymn composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley, who died on this date in 1876... for pianist and arranger Conrad Leonard, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 104 as the oldest musician then working in Britain. His collaborations had ranged from Cole Porter to Petula Clark, and until the age of 103 he played the piano every Thursday lunchtime at the Plantation Café in Twickenham... for former Men at Work saxophonist Greg Ham, and for Levon Helm, both of whom left us today in 2012. 

Also on April 19th: Gluck's opera Iphigénie en Aulide premieres at the Opéra du Palais Royale in Paris. The work is such a departure from the prevailing style of the day that a near riot breaks out in the hall (1774)... 'National Barn Dance', the first country music radio program, goes on the air at station WLS-AM in Chicago (1924)... Rogers & Hammerstein's 'Carousel' premieres on Broadway (1945)... The FCC authorises regular FM stereo broadcasting beginning on June 1st (1961)... The Beatles single 'Ticket to Ride' is released by Capitol Records in the US. The single's label states that the song is from the upcoming movie 'Eight Arms to Hold You' [the original title for 'Help!'] (1965)... John Lennon, George Harrison and their wives leave the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, India two weeks before their course of study is complete. Ringo and Paul have already gone back to England... CBS Records release Odyssey and Oracle by The Zombies (1968)... L.A. Woman, the Doors' final album with Jim Morrison as lead singer, is released(1971)...  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appear at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. The gig was unadvertised by its promoter, who gambled that word-of-mouth would be enough to fill the 550-seat venue; only 250 people attend. Tickets cost $4.50 and $5.50 in advance (1974)... Blondie are at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Call Me'... Brian Johnson officially joins AC/DC, replacing the late Bon Scott as lead singer... For the first time ever, the top five artists on the Billboard country chart are all female ~ Crystal Gayle is at № 1 with 'it's Like We Never Said Goodbye', with Dottie West, Debbie Boone, Emmylou Harris and Tammy Wynette rounding out the Top 5... R.E.M. play their first gig under their new name at the 11:11 Koffee Club in Athens, GA to 150 people. The show ends at 2 a.m. when police raid the unlicensed venue and close it down (1980)... George Michael goes to № 1 in the UK with 'A Different Corner', the singer's second solo № 1 single. Michael becomes the first solo act ever to top the British chart with his first two releases. It is also the first UK № 1 since 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder to have been written, performed, arranged and produced by the same person... In the USA, Prince has the top song with 'Kiss', and also has his name on the № 2 single, as the author of The Bangles' 'Manic Monday' (1986)... Sonny Bono is inaugurated as the mayor of Palm Springs, CA (1988)... On this week's BBC-TV's 'French and Saunders' comedy show, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Mark King of Level 42 and Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy all appear  in a comedy courthouse sketch, which ends with all of the guitarists jamming together in a jail cell (1990)... The Stone Roses play their first gig in five years at a small club in Oslo, Norway (1995)... Michael Jackson attends an unveiling of a wax statue of himself at the Grevin Museum of Wax in Paris. Jackson provided one of his own outfits to dress the figure (1997)... It is announced that two 30-second television commercials designed to attract vacationing families to Graceland to experience the 'real' Elvis will air nationally in the US starting in April 2006. It is the first time in the history of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. that the company has used TV advertising to promote Graceland tourism (2006)... A week after Roman Catholic Church officials published an article in the Vatican's 'L'Osservatore Romano' newspaper that said they forgive John Lennon's remarks about The Beatles being "bigger than Jesus", Ringo Starr rejects their forgiveness. The newspaper's editors had written, 'The Beatles said they were bigger than Jesus and put out mysterious messages that were possibly even Satanic... (but) what would Pop music be like without them?" Ringo, unimpressed, replies "Didn't the Vatican say we were Satanic or possibly Satanic? And they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican have got more to talk about than the Beatles" (2010).

April 18th

Musical birthdays today include session pianist and former Elvis sideman Glen Hardin (85), Manfred Mann flautist Mike Vickers (84), Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen (63), Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini (61), former Happy Mondays drummer Mike 'Bez' Berry (60), ex-Everclear drummer Greg Eklund (54), Onyx rapper Fredro Starr (53), Creed lead guitarist Mark Tremonti (50), Broadway musical performer Reeve Carney (41), and The Wanted vocalist Nathan Sykes (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for conductor Leopold Stokowski, born on this day in 1882... for jazz pianist Eurreal 'Little Brother' Montgomery, born in 1906... for guitarist Tony Mottola, born in 1918... for bluesman Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, born in 1924... for original Jefferson Airplane drummer Skip Spence, who would have been 78 today... for Material Issue frontman Jim Ellison, who would have been 60... for Milton Brown, 'The Father of Western Swing', who died on this date in 1936... for producer and Chic bassist Bernard Edwards, who died in 1996... for Dick Clark, who passed away in 2012... and for former Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson, and graphic artist Storm Thorgerson [best remembered for designing the album cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon], both of whom left us today in 2014. 

Also on April 18th: The Beatles appear on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show, playing ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and also participating in sketches with hosts Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The Fab Four also hold the UK and US № 1
position on this day with 'Can't Buy Me Love (1964)... At Carnegie Hall, Marian Anderson gives her final public performance (1965)... Bob Dylan arrives at the Sydney Airport to begin the Australian leg of his current world tour, and is greeted by a curious local press corps. However, the journalists seem unable to cope with Dylan's surreal responses to their questions (Q: "Would you say there is a general theme to your songs?" A: "They're all either about bowling or the Second Coming"), and the press conference rapidly grinds to a halt (1966)...  Fontana Records release The Pretty Things' album Emotions (1967)... Bruce Springsteen's current band Steel Mill play a gig in the Central Gym at Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ. Admission is $2.00 (1970)... Michael Jackson undergoes surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial (1984)... On the first leg of the Joshua Tree tour, U2 begin a 5-night run at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena (1987)... Oasis drummer Tony McCarrol is told over the phone that he has being sacked from the group. McCarrol sues the Manchester group for millions in unpaid royalties and in 1996 Oasis agree to pay him a one-off sum of £550,000 (1995)... Eamon hits № 1 in the UK with 'Fuck It, (I Don't Want You Back)', his debut single. The song also earns a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for 'Most expletives in a № 1 song', with 33 (2004)... An original 1963 mono copy of the Beatles‘ Please Please Me album, signed by the Fab Four, sells on an eBay auction for nearly $25,000. Paul McCartney and John Lennon both signed their names with 'love' in royal blue ink, whereas George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed their names in midnight blue. The autographs were signed in May of the year of release (2012).