March 14th

Musical birthdays today include Chicago saxophonist & winds player Walter Parazaider (81), singer-songwriter Jona Lewie (77), country singer Jann Browne (72), ex-Ministry drummer Rey Washam (65), session drummer Michael Bland (57), classical pianist Mei-Ting Sun (45), and Taylor Hanson (43). Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Georg Philipp Telemann, born on this day in 1681... for bandleader Les Brown, born in 1912... For folksinger Lee Hays, born in 1914... for bandleader Les Baxter, born in 1922... for DJ and songwriter [best remembered for 'Sea of Love'] Phil Phillips, born in 1931... for Quincy Jones, born in 1933... for former Ohio Players guitarist Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner, who would have been 82 today... for jazz pianist & film score composer Roy Budd, who would have been 79... for songwriter Jerome 'Doc Pomus' Felder [best remembered as the lyricist to 'Save the Last Dance for Me' and 'This Magic Moment'], who died on this date in 1991... for French chansonnier Alain Bashung, who passed away in 2009... and for country singer Jack Greene, who left us today in 2013. Also on March 14th: Schubert's String Quartet in D, the only chamber work given a public performance in the composer's lifetime, premieres in Vienna (1824)... At the Savoy Theatre in London, Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado is performed for the first time (1885)... At the Met, legendary basso Fyodor Chaliapin gives his final American performance in a production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (1929)... Art Pepper convenes the first of the three sessions that will become the album 'Art Pepper + Eleven'. It will be the only outing of the saxophonist [who also plays clarinet here] as a big band ensemble leader (1959)... For the third night in a row on The Beatles' current UK tour, John Lennon is sidelined with a cold (1963)... The promotional film for 'Lady Madonna' is broadcast on 'Top of the Pops'. The Beatles were actually performing 'Hey Bulldog' when the clip was shot, but the footage was synched with 'Lady Madonna' for release (1968)... In Amsterdam, The Jimi Hendrix Experience tape a live concert for the Dutch TV show 'Fan Club (1969)... Elton John has the № 1 song in America with 'Crocodile Rock' (1973)... Eric Clapton is hospitalised with a bleeding ulcer, causing his upcoming US tour to be cancelled. The guitarist will be back in hospital five weeks from now after a car crash (1981)... Metallica make their live debut at Radio City in Anaheim, CA (1982)... Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such form Bon Jovi (1983)... Joe Jackson releases Body and Soul... Annie Lennox marries Hare Krishna Radha Raman (1984)... R.E.M. play the first of two nights at London's Borderline Club, billing themselves as 'Bingo Hand Job' (1991)... Peter Blake, who designed and photographed the iconic Sgt. Pepper album cover, files suit against EMI Records for more money. Blake accepted £200 for the job in 1967, but is now "cheesed off" that the record company has never offered him any additional royalties or bonuses (2001)... Michael Jackson is blasted by UK veterans for wearing British Army badges and insignia while on trial for child abuse in California. The singer has appeared in court most days with either an Army motif on his breast pocket or an officer's cap badge tied around his neck (2005)... Phil Blake of UK indie outfit Redtrack returns to his career as the bassist with the band after undergoing a pioneering operation to reattach his hand which was hacked to the bone in a machete attack. Blake thought he would never play guitar again after a teenage robber sliced through his arm when he refused to hand over his mobile phone (2010).

March 13th

Musical birthdays today include songwriter Mike Stoller (93), Neil Sedaka (87), soul & gospel singer Candi Staton (86), producer Marshall Chess (84), classical violinist Emmy Verhey (77), U2 bassist Adam Clayton (66), jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard (64), rapper Lonnie 'Common' Lynn (54), and Disturbed lead singer David Draiman (53). Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazzman and songwriter Sammy Kaye, born on this day in 1910... for jazz drummer Roy Haynes, born 100 years ago today... for country singer Jan Howard, born in 1929... for jazz singer 'Scatman' John Larkin, who would have been 84 today... for choral composer and spiritual arranger Moses Hogan, who would have been 69... for reggae & ska musician Alexander 'Judge Dread' Hughes, who died on this date in 1998... for sitar virtuoso Vilayat Khan, who passed away in 2004... and for Grateful Dead soundman, roadie and LSD supplier Owsley 'Bear' Stanley, who left us today in 2011. Also on March 13th: Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor receives its premiere performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist (1845)... Wagner's Tannhäuser is performed in Paris in a version substantially revised from its original 1845 form (1861)... Arnold Schoenberg's opera Moses and Aaron premieres as a broadcast on German radio 3 years after the composer's death (1954)... The Recording Industry Association of America [RIAA] introduces its gold and platinum awards for record sales (1958)... Cannonball Adderley records Know What I Mean?, a collaboration with Bill Evans, at Bell Sound Studios in NYC (1961)... Eric Clapton quits The Yardbirds, citing musical differences... In America, The Beatles' 'Eight Days a Week' goes to № 1(1965)... Rod Stewart leaves the British blues band Steampacket to go solo... Pink Floyd make their first appearance at the Marquee Club in London (1966)... At Abbey Road, six members of Sounds, Inc. add the horn parts to The Beatles' 'Good Morning' (1967)... David Cassidy plays the first of 10 sold out UK shows at the Bell Vue King's Hall in Manchester (1973)... Iggy Pop and David Bowie kick off a joint North American tour at Le Plateau in Montreal with Blondie as their opening act (1977)... Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1987)... Eric Clapton starts a three-week run at № 1 on the US album chart with his Unplugged session for MTV. Topping the UK listings is Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz (1993)... At 53, Cher becomes the oldest woman to score a US № 1 single when 'Believe' tops the chart (1999)... True to form, The Sex Pistols refuse to attend their own induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. While Blondie, Herb Alpert and Black Sabbath all turn up at the Waldorf Astoria hotel to acknowledge the honour, the Pistols post a handwritten note on their website calling the institution 'Urine in wine', adding 'We're not your monkeys. We're not coming. You're not listening'... Rolling Stone reports that The Kinks were last year's top earners among artists whose music was used in American advertising, the group grossing some $11 million (2006)... Michael Jackson refinances his Neverland ranch after being given one week to pay the $25 million he owed on the property or have it foreclosed on and sold at auction (2008).

March 12th

Musical birthdays today include composer Dimitri Terzakis (88), Liza Minelli (80), James Taylor (78), Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne (77), Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris (70), Marlon Jackson (69), Venice lead singer Kipp Lennon (66), Blur lead guitarist Graham Coxon (57), Eternal vocalist Kéllé Bryan (51), Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez (48), Pete Doherty (47), singer-songwriter Holly Williams (45), and McFly lead singer Danny Jones (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for one-man band musician Jesse Fuller, born on this day in 1896... for Statler Brothers singer & guitarist Lew DeWitt, who would have been 87 today... for Al Jarreau, who would have been 86... for songwriter [best remembered for 'Old Time Rock 'n' Roll' and 'The Only Way Is up'] and R&B singer George Jackson, who would have been 81... for Pope Gregory I, credited as the inventor of the Gregorian chant, who died on this date in 604... for Elizabethan composer John Bull, who wrote the tune for 'God Save the Queen', and who died today in 1628... for composer Charles-Marie Widor, who passed away in 1937... for Charlie Parker, who died in 1955... for conductor Eugene Ormandy, who died in 1985... for violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, who died in 1999... and for former Dave Brubeck drummer Joe Morello, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on March 12th: Child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin celebrates his 10th birthday by making his public debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, performing Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole in the concertmaster's chair (1926)... The Beatles play the Granada Cinema in Bedford, but John Lennon, suffering from a bad head cold, is unable to perform. Paul then rearranges the group's set so that he and George can sing the parts that John usually contributes (1964)... The Velvet Underground & Nico is released (1967)... The Rolling Stones begin recording 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' at Olympic Studios in London (1968)... Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman are married at the Marylebone registry office and then hold a reception lunch at the Ritz Hotel. Paul then goes back to work at Abbey Road... On the same day, George and Patti are arrested with 120 marijuana joints in their possession (1969)... The Allman Brothers record the first of two shows at the Fillmore East, NYC. The tapes will be the basis of their Fillmore East album, the band's commercial breakthrough (1971)... John Lennon makes tabloid headlines after creating a disturbance at the Troubador Club in Los Angeles. He and Harry Nilsson drunkenly heckle the performance of the Smothers Brothers until the duo's manager objects. The former Beatle then punches him before he and Nilsson are both forcibly shown the door (1974)... The Sex Pistols are involved in a brawl at London's Speakeasy Club with Bob Harris, presenter of BBC 2's 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', with the result that one of the show's engineers needs 14 stitches in his head. Two days later, Harris' solicitors contact Derek Green at A&M, the band's record label. Harris has the same manager as Peter Frampton, one of the label's top acts. Green discusses the matter with the company's two founders, Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert, and the decision is made to cancel the Pistols' contract and halt production of the bands first single, 'God Save The Queen' (1977)... Bow Wow Wow are forced to cancel the opening dates of their UK tour when the Greater London Council state that the group's lead singer, 15-year-old Anna Lwin, will be charged with truancy (1981)... U2 score their first UK № 1 album with War. Meanwhile, Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' sit atop the singles chart (1983)... Rick Astley is at № 1 in both Britain and the USA with 'Never Gonna Give You up' (1988)... R.E.M. release Out of Time (1991)... Oasis play the Le Bateau club in Liverpool before an audience of 20 people (1993)... The RIA publishes the results of a poll of American musicians, critics and fans asked to named the Song of the Century. Judy Garland's 'Over the Rainbow' is the top choice (2001)... Muddy Waters' 34-year-old daughter Rosalind Morganfield surrenders herself to police after a warrant is issued charging her with the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Timothy Jason Harrington during a drug deal (2004)... Hundreds of fans queue at the O2 arena in London as Michael Jackson tickets go on sale to the public. The 50-year-old King of Pop has confirmed he will be playing a 50-date residency at the venue beginning on the 8th of July. Some 360,000 pre-sale tickets have already sold. Organisers say the This Is It tour has become the fastest-selling in history, with 33 seats sold each minute. Prices range from £170 to £10,000, but tickets bought directly from the singer's website cost up to £75. Jackson has said that this will be the last time he performs in the UK (2009)... Bob Dylan is voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, marking the first time a rock musician has been chosen for the honour. Officials in the Academy ~ which recognises music, literature and visual art ~ were unable to decide if Dylan belonged for his words or his music, and instead induct him on an honorary basis like previous new members Meryl Streep, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese (2013).

March 11th

Musical birthdays today include Tejano accordionist Flaco Jimenez (87), former Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel (81), Vanilla Fudge lead singer Mark Stein (79), Golden Earring frontman George Kooymans (78), Bobby McFerrin (76), Nighthawks Orchestra leader Vince Giordano (74), producer Jimmy Iovine (73), Statler Brothers guitarist & singer Jimmy Fortune (71), Nina Hagen (71), Cheryl Lynn (69), ex-Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson (65), producer Andy Sturmer (61), Lisa Loeb (58), Black Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman (52), Good Charlotte frontmen Benji & Joel Madden (47), and ex-Amen and Beat Union drummer Adam Johnson (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Henry Cowell, born on this day in 1897... for Lawrence Welk, born in 1903... for French song & dance man Claude Francois, who died on this date in 1978... for blues harmonica great Sonny Terry, who passed away in 1986... and for singer-songwriter Jack Hardy, who left us today in 2012.

Also on March 11th: Franz Josef Haydn conducts the premiere of his 92nd Symphony in London, also the composer's first appearance on a British concert stage (1792)... In Berlin, a 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducts the first performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion in nearly 80 years. The concert is a great success, and is credited with sparking the Bach revival, the composer having fallen into complete obscurity since his death in 1750 (1829)... Verdi's 'Rigoletto' premieres at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice (1851)... The NY Metropolitan Opera performs its first [and to date only] opera composed by a woman, Ethel Smyth's 'Der Wald' (1903)... As the filming of 'A Hard Day's Night' continues, The Beatles spend the day shooting the 'I Should Have Known Better' sequence on a soundstage at Twickenham Studios made to look a train guard's cage (1964)... Tom Jones hits № 1 in the UK for the first time with 'It's Not Unusual' (1965)... This week's edition of the ITV show 'Ready Steady Go' is devoted entirely to the music of James Brown (1966)... The Beatles' publisher Dick James reports that 450 versions of 'Yesterday' have now been recorded (1967)... The 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' single goes gold in the US exactly 3 months after Otis Redding's death (1968)... Crosby, Stills & Nash win a Grammy for best New Artist. On the same day, the album Deja Vu, with Neil Young now on board as well, is released (1970)... Jim Morrison arrives in Paris and checks into the Hotel George V. He will stay there for a week before moving into what will prove to be his final digs at 17, rue Beautreillis in the Marais quarter (1971)... Neil Young's Harvest tops the album charts in both the US and Britain (1972)... Kate Bush's debut single 'Wuthering Heights' begins a 4-week run at № 1 on the UK charts. Bush had had to contend with the insistence of EMI Records that 'James and the Cold Gun' be the lead single from her first album A Kick Inside (1978)... Oasis record their first demos at The Real People's Studio in Liverpool (1993)... Jarvis Cocker walks free from Kensington police station after prosecutors drop charges against the Pulp lead singer for his 'stage invasion' during Michael Jackson's performance at the Brit Awards on the 19th of February (1996)... The front door of Ozzy Osbourne's childhood home in Birmingham goes up for sale because the present owner of the house is tired of fans defacing it. Ali Mubarrat, who now resides in the house in Lodge Road, Aston, says that over the years it has become a destination of pilgrimage, and that he is going to auction the original door off on eBay, the proceeds to be given to charity (2005)... Madonna is inducted into the US Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame by Justin Timberlake. In her acceptance speech, the 49-year-old pop diva thanks her detractors, including "...those who said I couldn't sing, that I was a one-hit wonder." Leonard Cohen, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five follow her into the Hall tonight (2008).

March 10th

Musical birthdays today include bluegrass musician & Nashville session player Norman Blake (88), Jan & Dean co-founder Dean Torrance (86), former Boston lead guitarist Tom Scholz (79), Jayhawks frontman Gary Louris (71), jazz & popular singer Jeanie Bryson (67), ex-Belly bassist Gail Greenwood (66), Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament (63), producer Rick Rubin (63), Neneh Cherry (62), Edie Brickell (60), Rival Schools frontman Walter Schreifels (57), Ashes of Ares lead singer Matthew Barlow (56), Breaking Benjamin frontman Benjamin Burnley (48), and Carrie Underwood (43). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Mozart opera librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, born on this day in 1749... for composer & violin virtuoso Pablo de Saraste, born in 1844... for composer Arthur Honegger, born in 1892... for jazz pioneer Bix Beiderbecke, born in 1903... for composer & pianist Muzio Clementi, who died on this date in 1832... for Andy Gibb, who passed away in 1988... for Molly Hatchet original lead singer Danny Joe Brown, who died in 2005... for operatic soprano Anna Moffo, who died in 2006... and for Keith Emerson, who left us today in 2016...

Also on March 10: Mozart premieres his own Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major at the Burgtheater in Vienna (1785)... Members of the Met company perform excerpts and famous arias for a broadcast by NBC flagship station W2XBS at Rockefeller Center, the first time anywhere that opera is shown on television (1940)... RCA Records take out a half page ad in Billboard Magazine claiming that Elvis is 'The new singing rage' (1956)... A teenage duo from Queens, NY calling themselves Tom and Jerry have their first single, 'Our Song', released by Big Records. The pair will become better known in the following decade under their real names of Simon and Garfunkel (1957)... Ornette Coleman, along with Don Cherry and other sidemen, complete the recording of Tomorrow Is the Question! at Contemporary Studios in L.A. (1959)... Miles Davis finishes Sketches of Spain at Columbia's 30th St. Studios in NYC (1960)... Simon & Garfunkel record the original version of 'Sounds of Silence' accompanied only by Paul Simon's acoustic guitar (1964)... Bob Dylan wraps up the recording of Blonde in Blonde in Nashville, completing 'Obviously Five Believers', 'I Want You' and 'Rainy Day Women #12 & 35' ~ the latter two destined to be hit singles ~ in a marathon all-night session (1966)... At 7 AM, on an improvised trestle table set up outside Buckingham Palace, The Sex Pistols sign with A&M Records. The contract will last 6 days (1977)... The Buzzcocks release their debut studio album, Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978)... Gloria Gaynor goes to № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with 'I Will Survive' (1979)... Alanis Morissette takes home five Juno Awards, including Best Album of the Year for Jagged Little Pill (1996)... Chrissie Hynde is arrested at a midtown Manhattan branch of the Gap for leading a protest against the company's alleged used of 'illegally and cruelly slaughtered' cows in its leather products (2000)... Johnny Cash is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville to undergo treatment for pneumonia... During a Dixie Chicks concert in London, lead singer Natalie Maines says that the band are "...ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas" (2003)... As his trial for child abuse continues, Michael Jackson arrives in court in Santa Monica, CA an hour late and dressed in hospital pyjamas after being treated for a back injury (2005)... Tickets for a one-off gig by Sir Paul McCartney in Las Vegas sell out 7 seconds after becoming available online. The former Beatle is booked to perform at the opening of the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on the 19th of April ~ tickets are $750 each (2009).

March 9th

Musical birthdays today include John Cale (84), former Paul Revere & the Raiders frontman Mark Lindsay (84), Robin Trower (81), former Family bassist Jim Cregan (80), Manfred Mann guitarist Chris Thompson (78), ABC lead singer Martin Fry (68), ex-Big Country & Runrig keyboardist Pete Wishart (64), Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty (60), Ben Folds Five bassist Robert Sledge (58), and Thirty Seconds to Mars drummer Shannon Leto (56). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for hymn composer Phoebe Knapp [best remembered for 'Blessed Assurance'], born on this day in 1839... for composer Samuel Barber, born in 1910... for  Ornette Coleman, born in 1930... for  jazz & pop singer Keely Smith, born in 1932.. for Llloyd ' Mr. Personality' Price, born in 1935... for country singer Mickey Gilley, who would have been 90... for former Hawkwind frontman Robert Calvert, who would have been 80... for swing singer & bandleader Bob Crosby, who died on this date in 1993... for Chris 'Biggie Smalls' Wallace, who was shot to death on this day in 1997 at the age of 24... and for former Boston lead singer Brad Delp, who took his own life today in 2007 at the age of 55.

Also on March 9th: Violin virtuoso Nicolo Paganini makes his Paris debut, with Liszt and Meyerbeer in the audience (1831)... Miles Davis convenes the third and last of the sessions that produce Birth of the Cool (1959)... The Beatles finish filming the train sequences in 'A Hard Day's Night'. Over the last six days, the Fab Four have travelled
 some 2,500 miles on Britain's rail network... Capitol Records release a song called 'Letter To The Beatles' by The Four Preps. The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he's lost his girlfriend to the Fabs. On its first day, the record shoots to № 85 on the charts and it looks like The Preps are going to have another hit on their hands. Unfortunately they included a few bars from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' without permission, and Capitol are forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit (1964)... The Beach Boys begin recording 'God Only Knows' (1966)... Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding goes to № 1 on the UK album chart, beginning a 10-week run at the top (1968)...  Having recently discarded the band name Earth, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward make their concert debut as Black Sabbath at the Roundhouse, London (1970)... Asylum Records release the album Byrds, a reunion of the group's 5 original members organized by David Geffen's label (1973)... Telly Savalas of 'Kojak' fame has the № 1 single in Britain with his cover of the Bread hit 'If' (1975)... The Jacksons' CBS variety show airs for the last time (1977)... Robert Plant plays an unpublicised show at Keele University in the UK with his new band The Honeydrippers (1981)... Mick Jagger releases his solo single 'Just Another Night'... REO Speedwagon are at the top of the US charts with 'Can't Fight This Feeling' (1985)... U2 release The Joshua Tree (1987)... Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher walks offstage during a concert at the Vernon Valley Gorge ski resort in New Jersey saying that his hands are too cold to play (1996)... Tom Jones announces that he has been banned from wearing skin-tight leather trousers on stage by his son and manager Mark. The younger Jones supposedly told his father that at 63, it was time for him to "start dressing his age" (2004)... Lil' Wayne is sentenced to a year on Rikers Island after pleading guilty to gun possession (2010).

March 8th

Musical birthdays today include jazz pianist Dick Hyman (99), former Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz (81), ex-Eagles bassist Randy Meisner and Three Dog Night guitarist Mike Allsup (79), Bucks Fizz vocalist Cheryl Baker (72), Gary Numan (68), Supergrass lead singer Gareth 'Gaz' Coombes (50), Keane frontman Tom Chaplin (47), and OK Go guitarist Andy Ross (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, born on this day in 1714... for folk singer Richard Fariña, who would have been 89 today... for Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, who would have been 67... for composer Hector Berlioz, who died on this date in 1869... for Grateful Dead founding member Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan, who died today in 1973... for jazz singer Billy Eckstine, who passed away in 1993... and for former Hues Corporation vocalist St. Clair Lee and original Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, both of whom died in 2011... and George Martin, who left us today in 2017. 

Also on March 8th: Handel's oratorio Jephtha premieres in London (1752)... The London Philharmonic Society gives its first concert (1813)... David Bowie makes his TV debut on the BBC pop music program 'Gadzooks! It's All Happening' as lead singer of The Manish Boys, who perform their recent single 'I Pity the Fool'... Columbia Records releases Bob Dylan's single 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', while Capitol release The Beach Boys' album Today! (1965)... Lulu becomes the first western female pop singer to perform behind the Iron Curtain, opening for The Hollies at a gig in Poznan, Poland... Dylan returns to Nashville, interrupting his world tour to finish Blonde on Blonde. The productive first day includes the definitive version of 'Just like a Woman' (1966)... At the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, Cream record the live tracks that will appear on the album Wheels of Fire (1968)... Steve Marriott announces his departure from The Small Faces. In the coming days, remaining members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagen and Kenny Jones will join forces with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart and carry on as The Faces (1969)... Paul McCartney is arrested for growing cannabis on his Campbelltown, Scotland farm. A local magistrate is unconvinced by Macca's claim that the seeds were given to him by fans and that he planted them with no idea of what they would yield, and fines the Wings leader £100 (1973)... Bad Company kick off their first UK tour with a show at the Newcastle Town Hall (1974)... Olivia Newton-John has the № 1 single in the US with 'Have You Ever Been Mellow?' (1975)... Diana Ross has her first UK № 1 in 15 years with 'Chain Reaction', which was written and produced by the Bee Gees, who also provided background vocals (1986)... Cher 'wins' Worst Dressed Female Star and Worst Video of the year for 'If I Could Turn Back Time' at the annual Rolling Stone awards (1990)... The Chinese Ministry of Culture issues a stern statement of rebuke to Björk after the Icelandic star yelled "Tibet! Tibet" following a performance of her song 'Declare Independence' at a concert in Shanghai. The spokesman for the Ministry says that the singer will permanently banned from China if she repeats her actions (2008).