May 27th

Musical birthdays today include composer & academic Thea Musgrave (98), Bruce Cockburn (81), pop singer & former New Seekers vocalist Marty Kristian (79), ex-Jefferson Starship bassist Pete Sears (78), Dee Dee Bridgewater (76), Siouxsie Sioux [neé Susan Ballion] (69), Crowded House frontman Neil Finn (68), Black Crowes keyboardist Eddie Harsch (59), The LOX rapper Jason 'Jadakiss' Phillips (51), OutKast rapper André Benjamin AKA André 3000 (51), and Australian singer-songwriter Michael de Grussa (44). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Julia Ward Howe, author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, born on this day in 1819... for Chilean popular singer Ester Soré, born in 1917...for jazz pianist Ramsay Lewis, born in 1935... for country singer Don Williams, born in 1939... for  Cilla Black, who would have been 83 today... for rapper & former TLC vocalist Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, who would have been 54... for violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who died on this date in 1840... for musical educator W. Otto Meissner [organiser of the first American public high school band in Connersville, IN in 1906], who died in 1967... for Appalachian fiddler Uncle Charlie Osborne, who passed away in 1992... and for Gil Scott-Heron, who left us today in 2012. 

Also on May 27th: Buddy Holly & the Crickets release their debut single 'That'll Be the Day'... Toronto's CHUM-AM 1050 becomes Canada's first radio station to broadcast in an all pop & rock format (1957)... Bob Dylan's breakthrough second  album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is released... Harold Vick records Steppin' out, his first and only album for Blue Note as a leader (1963)... Eleven boys are suspended from a grammar school in Coventry, England for refusing to cut their hair, in emulation of The Rolling Stones (1964)... To celebrate Cilla Black's birthday, her manager Brian Epstein organises illuminated greetings at London's Piccadilly Circus and at sites in Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham (1967)... Declan McManus plays his first live London gig as Elvis Costello... The Sex Pistols single 'God Save The Queen' is released in the UK. Banned by TV and radio, high street shops and pressing plant workers refuse to handle the record. It still manages to sell 200,000 copies in one week and peaks at № 2 on the UK charts behind Rod Stewart's 'I Don't Want to Talk About It'. There have been persistent rumours ~ never confirmed or denied ~ that it was actually the biggest-selling single in the UK at the time, and that the British Phonographic Industry conspired to keep it out of the top spot (1977)... In Tel Aviv, Leonard Bernstein's Halil for Flute & Orchestra is performed for the first time, with the composer conducting and Jean-Pierre Rampal as principal flautist (1981)... The Smiths are at № 1 on the UK independent chart with their debut single 'Hand In Glove.' The band recorded the track after their manager Joe Moss paid £250 for a one-day recording session at Strawberry Studios in Stockport (1983)... Cliff Richard releases his 100th single, 'The Best of Me' (1988)... The Stone Roses play at Spike Island, Widnes, Cheshire to a capacity crowd of 30,000. The event, considered a failure at the time due to sound problems and bad organisation, has become legendary in the UK over the years as a 'Woodstock for the baggy generation' (1990)... The Eagles played their first concert in fourteen years when they do a reunion show in Burbank, CA. The two-and-a-half-hour gig ends with two encores, closing with 'Desperado' (1994)... Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink go to № 1 on the US singles chart with their remake of 'Lady Marmalade.' A hit for LaBelle in 1975, this version is taken from the Baz Luhrmann film 'Moulin Rouge!' (2001)... Robbie Williams comes first in a poll asking British music fans to name the greatest live solo artist in pop & rock history, beating out Elvis, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie in the process. A UK nation-wide survey of 25,000 people saw the former Take That star coming in ahead of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan as well (2005)... The advertising firm of Saatchi & Saatchi are fired by Dr Martens for running an advertising campaign featuring dead rock stars such as Kurt Cobain and Sid Vicious wearing the brand's boots in heaven. David Suddens, the chief executive of Dr Martens parent company Airwear, says that the brand had not commissioned the series of four print ads, stating 'Dr Martens are very sorry for any offence that has been caused by the publication of images showing dead rock icons wearing Dr Martens boots' (2007)... Sir Paul McCartney is awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music by Yale University (2008)... The NME publishes an article reporting that  many musicians are annoyed by fans filming gigs on their smartphones. Jack White and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are both now putting up signs at their concerts asking people to leave their mobiles in their pockets (2013).

May 26th

Musical birthdays today include former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit (88), Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson (79), Stevie Nicks (78), Hank Williams, Jr. (78), Alphaville lead singer Marian Gold (72), singer-songwriter Kristina Olsen (69), Lenny Kravitz (62), Chroma Key singer & keyboardist Kevin Moore (59), former Oasis drummer Alan White (54), Lauryn Hill (51), Chimaira lead singer Mark Hunter (49), Microphones frontman Phil Elvrum (48), and The Fray lead singer Isaac Slade (45).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pioneering blues recording artist Mamie Smith, born on this day in 1883... for Al Jolson, born in 1886... for English popular singer George Formby, born in 1904... for composer and instrument inventor Louis 'Moondog' Hardin, born in 1916... for Buena Vista Social Club pianist Rubén González, born in 1919... for Peggy Lee, born in 1920... for Miles Davis, born in 1926... for Levon Helm, who would have been 85... for guitarist & longtime David Bowie sideman Mick Ronson, who would have been 79... for composer Victor Herbert, who died on this date in 1924... for early country star Jimmie Rogers, who died in 1933... for R&B singer Little Willie John, who died in 1968... for original O'Jays vocalist William Powell, who passed away in 1977... and for classical pianist Ruth Laredo, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on May 26th: The first Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival is held on the 20th anniversary of the singer's death. The gathering in Meridian, MS continues to be an annual event (1953)... Marianne Faithful records the Jagger/Richards song 'As Tears Go By', accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass (1964)... The Rolling Stones are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Paint It, Black'. It was originally titled 'Paint It Black' without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca. It is the first № 1 single to feature a sitar... The Beatles record 'Yellow Submarine' at Abbey Road Studios. George Martin, who is recovering from a case of food poisoning, misses the session, which is produced by EMI engineer Geoff Emerick instead. The track features John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water and shouting "Full speed ahead Mister Captain!" (1966)... Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released in Britain... The Mothers of Invention release Absolutely Free, their second studio album (1967)... Pink Floyd, Blonde on Blonde and The Pretty Things are all on the bill at the OZ magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London. OZ was a satirical humour magazine, founded by Richard Neville in 1963 and based in Sydney, Australia. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973 (1968)... John and Yoko begin an eight-day 'bed in' in room 1742 of the hotel La Reine  Elizabeth in Montreal to promote world peace. They record 'Give Peace a Chance' in the room (Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus). The song is credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record (1969)... With Mott the Hoople on the point of splitting up, David Bowie offers the band two of his new songs, 'Suffragette City', which they turn down, and 'All The Young Dudes', which they record. The song will give the group a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic (1972)... The Edgar Winter Group top the US singles chart with 'Frankenstein', the band's only US № 1. The group features ex-McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument around his neck (1973)... On Irish television today: at 4.00, 'Top Cat', 4.30 'Skippy' and at 5.30 a  program called 'Youngline', a series for young people highlighting their interests. Today's show includes a feature on a new pop group now calling themselves U2 (1978)... 'Sunday Girl' gives Blondie their second UK № 1 hit single. The track was taken from the group's 'Parallel Lines', which goes on to become the biggest selling album of the year in Britain (1979)... For the first time ever, the top five positions on the US singles chart are held by female artists : Madonna is at № 1 with 'Vogue', while Heart are at № 2, Sinead O'Connor at № 3, Wilson Phillips at № 4 and Janet Jackson at № 5 (1990)... Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic (1994)... The Rolling Stones play two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amsterdam over two days. Keith Richards will later say that the Paradiso gigs were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and Amy Winehouse (1995)... A fire at the home of Eric Clapton causes over £1.5 million worth of damage. Firemen arrived on the scene to find Clapton braving the blaze to save his collection of guitars (1996)... A US judge ends a bitter two-year court battle over James Brown's estate. Judge Jack Early rules that half of the late singer's assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children in equal shares. Brown's family and widow Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had been squabbling over his fortune since the Godfather of Soul died of heart failure in 2006 (2009)... Willie Nelson appears in public for the first time since cutting his trademark waist-length braids. A spokesman for the legendary entertainer [who refuses to comment] says that he decided to lose his signature hairstyle earlier in the month, but made no announcement of the change (2010).

May 25th

Musical birthdays today include jazz saxophonist Marshall Allen (102), former Family keyboardist John Palmer (83), U.K. Subs lead singer Charlie Harper (82), Tokens vocalist Mitch Margo (79), Scorpions lead singer Klaus Meine (78), former Asleep at the Wheel steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar (70), Paul Weller (68), ex-Megadeath lead guitarist Glen Drover (57), Tha Dogg Pound rapper Delmar 'Daz Dillinger' Arnaud (53), The Fray guitarist Joe King (46), pop singer Neon Hitch (38), and Union J vocalist JJ Hamblett (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early 20th c. recording star Billy Murray, born on this day in 1877... for song & dance man Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, born in 1878... for songwriter Hal David and big band singer Kitty Kallen, both born in 1921... for Beverly Sills, born today in 1929... for reggae singer & producer Sugar Minott, who would have been 68... for composer Gustav Holst, who died on this date in 1934... for blues harp virtuoso Alex Miller AKA Sonny Boy Williamson II, who died in 1965 [According to the Led Zeppelin biography 'Hammer of the Gods', whilst touring the UK in the early '60s, Sonny Boy once set his hotel room on fire by trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator]....for Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell, who died of a drug overdose today in 1996 at the age of 28... for Mars Volta sound technician & vocal operator Jeremy Michael Ward, who died of an overdose today in 2003 at the age of 27... for ska & reggae pioneer Desmond Dekker, who passed away in 2006... for rapper Tero 'Camu Tao' Smith, who died in 2008... and for Bill Haley & His Comets bassist Marshall Lytle, who left us today in 2014. 

Also on May 25th: Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London (1878)... A benefit concert is held at the original Madison Square Garden. Arturo Toscanini conducts a combined NBC Symphony and New York Philharmonic in a performance of music by Wagner, Verdi, and John Philip Sousa. The evening raises $100,000 for the Red Cross; during an intermission auction, NYC mayor Fiorello LaGuardia auctions off Toscanini's baton for $10,000 (1944)... Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' enters the UK singles chart for the first time. It will go on to reach № 1, and by 2009 will be officially classed as the song most frequently played in public places in Britain over the last 75 years (1967)... Simon & Garfunkel score their second US № 1 album with Bookends (1968)... A benefit concert is held for Fairport Convention at The Roundhouse, London to raise money for the families of the band's drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson's girlfriend, clothes designer Jeannie Franklyn, who were both killed in an accident driving back from a gig. Also on the bill are Family, The Pretty Things, Soft Machine and John Peel... At Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, Led Zeppelin and The Who play on the same bill for the only time in their careers, with Zeppelin as the opening act. [On the tickets, their name is misspelt 'Lead Zeppelin'] (1969)... Carole King plays a free concert for an estimated crowd of 100,000 in NYC's Central Park (1973)... Rick Wakeman becomes the first member of Yes to have a № 1 LP outside the group when his Journey to the Centre of the Earth tops the UK album chart (1974)... After seeing The Hype [soon to change their name to U2] play at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin, Paul McGuinness becomes their manager (1978)... Dire Straits have the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with Brothers in Arms. It is one of the first albums to be directed primarily at the CD market, and also one of the first to be recorded on digital rather than on analog equipment (1985)... The earliest known recording of Mick Jagger and Keith Richard, a home tape from 1961 of the duo performing several traditional blues songs, sells at Christies of London for £50,250 (1995)... Bob Dylan is diagnosed as suffering from histoplasmosis pericarditis, a fungal infection of the lungs, and is admitted to hospital, where he will stay for a week. Having just turned 56, Dylan later admitted "I really thought I'd be seeing Elvis soon". After being treated with antibiotics and rest, Bob will be back on the road only 10 weeks later, for 22 American and Canadian shows (1997)... 30 Eminem fans are are injured in a crowd surge at a gig in Washington DC. Five people were taken to hospital, one man having suffered a heart attack (2002)... Madonna cancels three shows in Israel after receiving death threats directed at both her and her children. A spokesperson says she was targeted because she symbolises the West and not because she practises the Jewish Kabbalah faith (2004)... The Sheriff's Office of Alameda Co., CA announce that they are officially closing the stabbing case of Meredith Hunter, the 18-year-old Rolling Stones fan who was killed at the 1969 Altamont free concert. After a renewed two-year inquiry, investigators have dismissed the theory that a second Hell's Angel took part in the stabbing (2005)... Sixties pop star Wayne Fontana is remanded into custody after admitting that he poured petrol over a bailiff's car and set fire to it. The judge admonishes the former lead singer of the Mindbenders for arriving at Derby Crown court dressed as the Lady of Justice. Fontana has to hand over a sword and scales to guards, but is allowed to wear a crown, cape and dark glasses to symbolise his claim that "justice is blind" (2007). 

May 24th

Musical birthdays today include jazzman Archie Shepp (89), Bob Dylan (85), Patti LaBelle (82), session guitarist Waddy Wachtel (79), Blue Öyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard (79), Daniel Amos singer & songwriter Terry Scott Taylor (76), Roseanne Cash (71), Cameo frontman Larry Blackmon (69), Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher (66), Black Crowes lead guitarist Rich Robinson (57), and Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini (50). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for rockabilly pioneer Rusty York and for composer Harold Budd, both of whom would have been 90 today... for rapper Dwight 'Heavy D' Myers, who would have been 57... for bluesman Elmore James, who died on this date in 1963... for Duke Ellington, who passed away today in 1974... for Byrds founding member Gene Clark, who died in 1991... for Wilco co-founder & guitarist Jay Bennett, who died in 2009... for Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, who died of a drug overdose today in 2010 at the age of 38... for Congolese soukous singer Ndombe Opetum, passed away in 2012...and for jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb, who died in 2020... and for Tina Turner, who left us two years ago today.

Also on May 24th: At the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna, Beethoven's Egmont Overture is performed for the first time (1810)... Country pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, now terminally ill with tuberculosis, makes his final recordings in NYC. The 'Yodelin' Brakeman' is so weak that he has to lie down on a cot in the studio in between the takes of 'Mississippi Delta Blues' and 'Years Ago'. He will die two days later in his room at the Taft Hotel (1933)... The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland. The host country have the winning entry with Lys Assia's 'Refrain' (1956)... The Beatles record the first instalment of their own BBC radio program, 'Pop Go the Beatles'. The Fabs' guests for their inaugural show are The Lorne Gibson Trio (1963)... Captain Beefheart, The Buffalo Springfield and The Doors appear on the same bill at the Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA (1966)... The Rolling Stones release the single 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'... The Small Faces release the album Ogdens Gone Nut  (1968)... The Beatles hit № 1 in America with 'Get Back'. The group's only single that credits another artist, ~ the label of the 45 says 'The Beatles with Billy Preston ~ it is also their first release in the US in true stereo (1969)... At the Bath Festival in Somerset, England, Peter Green plays his last gig with Fleetwood Mac (1970)... Genesis fans turning up at the Club Roxy box office in Los Angeles to buy tickets for a forthcoming gig are surprised to find the band members Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford selling the tickets themselves (1980)... The Spice Girls go to № 1 on the Billboard album chart with their debut collection Spice, making them only the third all-female act to do so after the Supremes and The Go-Go's, and the first British girl group (1997)... Queen front man Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991, is honoured on a new set of millennium stamps issued by the Royal Mail. Mercury, who features on the 19p stamp, was a keen philatelist, and his collection was purchased by the Post Office in 1993. The stamp marks his contribution to the Live Aid charity concert in 1985, and causes controversy by showing Queen’s drummer, Roger Taylor, in the background - UK stamps by tradition only carry pictures of living persons who are members of the Royal Family (1999)... Paul McCartney performs live in Russia for the first time when he gives a concert for 20,000 fans on Moscow's Red Square (2003)... Billy Joel is served with a lawsuit filed by his former drummer for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties. Liberty Devitto claims that Joel hasn't paid him proper royalties for 10 years of his work. Devitto was Joel's drummer from 1975 until 2005, when he said he was abruptly sacked from the band. He says: "People get fired, they get severance or insurance for a certain period of time. I didn't even get a phone call. It was cold" (2009).

May 23rd

Musical birthdays today include Irish folk singer Luka Bloom (71), Radiohead drummer Philip Selway (59), session saxophonist Mindi Abair (57), Maroon 5 drummer Matt Flynn (56), Jewel (52), blink-182 drummer Scott Raynor (45), Pipettes vocalist Gwenno Saunders (45), Tristan Prettyman (43), ex-Sugababes vocalist Heidi Range (43), and singer-songwriter & mandolinist Sarah Jarosz (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for song & dance man Scatman Crothers and big band leader Artie Shaw, both born on this day in 1910... for jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton, born in 1921... for Foggy Mountain Boys singer & guitarist Mac Wiseman, born in 1925... for Rosemary Clooney, born in 1928... for electronic music pioneer Robert Moog, born in 1934... for producer & former Chairmen of the Board frontman General Johnson, who would have been 85... for classical pianist Wilhelm Kempff, who died on this date in 1991... for jazz guitarist Joe Pass, who died in 1994... for folk singer & activist Utah Phillips, who passed away in 2008... and for Franco-Egyptian singer-songwriter Georges Moustaki, who left us today in 2014. 

Also on May 23rd: Beethoven's only opera Fidelio premieres at the Kärntertor Theatre in Vienna (1814)... At the Park Theater in NYC, Don Giovanni is performed in America for the first time, with Mozart's librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte in attendance (1826)... Shuffle along, the first all-black musical in the US, opens on Broadway (1921)... The Everly Brothers hit № 1 in the US with 'Cathy's Clown' (1960)... John Coltrane & sidemen convene for the first of the Africa/Brass sessions (1961)... Roy Orbison and the Beatles kick off a joint tour of the UK in Nottingham (1963)... Ella Fitzgerald becomes the first artist to have a hit with a cover of a Beatles' song when her version of 'Can't Buy Me Love' enters the British Top 40 (1964)... The Who release their rock opera Tommy (1969)... Jefferson Airplane are prevented from giving a free concert in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco authorities having recently passed a resolution banning electric instruments in public. The group will later write the song ‘We Built this City’ in response to the incident (1973)... George Harrison announces the launch of his own label, Dark Horse Records (1974)... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band launch their 117-date Darkness on the Edge of Town tour with a show in Buffalo, NY (1978)... Tom Petty files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move is partly the result of a dispute with Petty’s record label, which was recently purchased by MCA (1979)... The UK Musicians Union moved a resolution to ban synthesizers and drum rhythm machines from sessions and live concerts fearing that their use would put musicians out of work (1982)... Photographer Michael Lavine takes what will be the publicity shots for Nirvana’s Nevermind album at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles. The idea for the front cover shot of the baby swimming was adopted after Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies, and was taken by Kirk Weddle. Several babies were used; five-month old Spencer Eldon’s photo came out best (1991)...   Hanson notch a sellout in less than 20 minutes in the Detroit market for a June 29 show at the Pine Knob Amphitheater (1998)... The musical ‘Up for Grabs’ opens at London’s Wyndham Theatre featuring Madonna in the lead role. The first night crowd complains that the singer is lacking in vocal power, and that they have to strain to hear her lines (2002)...  King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden presents the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, recognising them as “great pioneers” of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group Abba, who named it after his record label, Polar Records previous winners include Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and producer Quincy Jones (2006). 

May 22nd

Musical birthdays today include former Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist Calvin Simon (84), Elton John collaborator Bernie Taupin (76), Specials keyboardist & songwriter Jerry Dammers (71), Icehouse frontman Iva Davies (71), Morrissey (67), Type O Negative lead guitarist Kenny Hickey (), producer & former MK Ultra lead singer John Vanderslice (59), R&B singer and producer Donell Jones (53), and Project Dirty lead singer Rhett Fisher (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Richard Wagner, born on this day in 1813... for Original Dixieland Jass band trombonist Eddie Edwards, born in 1891... for Sun Ra, born in 1914... for Persian classical musician Jalil Shahnaz, born in 1921... for chansonnier Charles Aznavour, born in 1924... for jazz trumpeter Kenny Ball, born in 1930... for jazz multi-instrumentalist John Grimaldi, who would have been 70... for former Eleven keyboardist & singer Natasha Schneider, who would have been 70... and for classical pianist Steven DeGroote, who left us today in 1989. 

Also on May 22nd: On his 59th birthday, Wagner lays the cornerstone of his Festival Theatre Hall in Bayreuth (1872)... In Milan, Verdi conducts the premiere performance of his Requiem (1874)... In Hibbing, MN, Robert Allen Zimmerman, the future Bob Dylan, has his bar mitzvah at the Agudath Achim synagogue, even though he will not be 13 for another two days (1954)... Jerry Lee Lewis arrives in London to begin a UK tour. He and his new 14-year-old bride are besieged by reporters at Heathrow Airport (1958)... Ornette Coleman and sidemen record The Shape of Jazz to Come at Radio Recorders studio in Los Angeles (1959)... Frank Zappa opens his 'Studio Z' in Cucamonga, CA (1963)... The Beatles have the № 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Ticket to Ride' (1965)... Percy Sledge goes to № 1 in the US with 'When a Man Loves a Woman' (1966)... Florence Ballard makes what will prove to be her last public appearance with The Supremes, as they perform 'The Happening' on the Tonight Show (1967)... Frank Sinatra performs with a full orchestra at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum as a fundraiser for US presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey (1968)... Paul McCartney & Wings top the Billboard singles chart with 'Silly Love Songs' (1976)... Nearly 30 years after the 'payola' law destroyed the career of DJ Alan Freed, it is finally used to convict someone in the record industry: promo man Ralph Tashjian is found guilty of distributing cocaine and money to radio stations to get more airplay for, among others, Bruce Springsteen (1989)... Fleetwood Mac reunite with their classic late-70s lineup for the first time in a decade, performing the first of two specials for the show MTV Unplugged. The experience convinces the group to tour together again (1997)... At the ASCAP Pop Music Awards, Steely Dan receive the lifetime songwriting achievement Founders Award (2000)... White Stripes drummer Meg White marries Jackson Smith, tying the knot in a small ceremony at ex-husband and bandmate Jack White’s Nashville home (2009).

May 21st

Musical birthdays today include British folksinger Martin Carthy (85), Ronald Isley (85), original Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine (84), session guitarist Bill Champlin (79), Leo Sayer (78), guitarist Marc Ribot (72), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch (71), My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields (63), Forgetters frontman Blake Schwarzenbach (59), Mob Deep rapper Kejuan 'Havoc' Muchita (52), CKY frontman Deron Miller (50), ex-Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier (50), Suburban Legends guitarist Brian Klemm (44), former Sugababes vocalist Mutya Buena (41), and Honor Society drummer Alexander Noyes (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for radio bandleader Horace Heidt, born on this day in 1901... for Fats Waller, born in 1904... for jazz bassist Tommy Bryant, boen in 1930... for Atomic Rooster organist Vincent Crane, who would have been 83... for Chris 'The Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace, who would have been 54... for Russian pianist and popular singer Alexander Vertinsky, who died on this date in 1957... for big band singer Vaughn Monroe, who died in 1973... for studio musician & producer Paul Delph, who passed away in 1996... and for former Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder, jazz trombonist Frank Comstock, and TV & film score composer Bob Thompson, all of whom left us today in 2014. 

Also on May 21st: The Mendelssohn Glee Club, the oldest surviving independent musical group in the United States after the New York Philharmonic, is founded in NYC (1876)... The Castiles, with Bruce Springsteen on vocals, appear at Freehold Regional High School in New Jersey. They are performing at their own school for the first time ~ all five members of the band are juniors at Freehold HS (1966)... Jimi Hendrix signs with Warner Brothers' Reprise Records, the label on which the three Experience albums will be released (1967)... Atlantic Records release the CSN&Y single 'Ohio', Neil Young's reaction to the Kent State shootings on the 4th of this month (1970)... Motown records release Marvin Gaye's album What's Going on (1971)... Two would-be concert promoters are arrested by police in Dover, DE on fraud charges in connection with selling mail order tickets for a forthcoming 'Elten John' show. The alternative spelling of the singer's stage name proves to be the giveaway as police take away over $12,000 in cheques (1974)... Stevie Wonder hits № 1 in the US with the single 'Sir Duke' (1977)... In Moscow, Elton John plays the opening date of a 10-show campaign in the USSR, making him the first western pop star to headline a solo tour in the Evil Empire (1979)... Joe Strummer is arrested at a particularly tempestuous Clash gig in Hamburg, Germany after smashing his guitar over the head of a member of the audience; he is released after an alcohol & drug test prove negative (1980)... David Bowie goes to № 1 on the US & UK singles chart with 'Let's Dance', featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar. It is Bowie's first single to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic (1983)... Mariah Carey hits back at Eminem's threats to sample the mushy voicemail messages she left on his mobile. Carey described the rapper as 'a little girl', saying it's "like dealing with a girlfriend in 7th grade, and he shouldn't do it because it'll get him in a bit of trouble with my lawyers" (2003)... Lou Pearlman, the impresario who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, is sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on charges involving a decades-long scam that swindled thousands of investors out of their life savings. Many victims were Pearlman's relatives, friends, and retirees who lost everything (2008)... Bono has emergency spinal surgery after suffering an injury whilst preparing for upcoming tour dates. The 50-year-old singer is treated at a specialist neurosurgery clinic in Munich and is expected to stay there for a number of days (2010)... Bob Dylan comes out on top as both the most inspirational individual for poets and the dream collaborative partner in a survey carried out by The Foyle Poetry Society. The extensive survey questioned poets asking which musician and which genre of music most inspired their writing. The young people, aged between 11 and 17 and from countries throughout the world, also voted for Regina Spektor, David Bowie, Florence and the Machine, Leonard Cohen, Morrissey and Pete Doherty (2011).