August 7th

Musical birthdays today include classical guitarist Sharon Isbin (70), Iron Maiden lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson (68), ex-Bananarama vocalist Jacquie O'Sullivan (66), bluegrass banjo player Alison Brown (64), Kristin Hersh [formerly of Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave] (60), Hatebreed lead singer Jamey Jasta (49), and violinist, producer & performance artist Anomie Bell (46).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Felice Bryant, best remembered as co-author of the Everly Brothers hits 'All I Have to Do Is Dream', 'Bye Bye Love' and 'Wake up, Little Susie' with her husband Boudleaux ~ she was born today in 1925... for founding member of The Platters Herb Reed, born in 1928... for jazz legend Roland Kirk, who would have been 90... for B.J. Thomas [of 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head' fame], who would have been 84... for soul singer Esther Phillips [best remembered for her 1975 hit 'What a Difference a Day Makes'], who passed away today in 1984 aged 48... for classical and jazz harmonica player Larry Adler, who died on this day in 2001... and for Tennessee Two upright bassist and longtime Johnny Cash sideman Marshall Grant, who left us today in 2012. 

Also on August 7: Hank Williams makes his radio debut on 'Louisiana Hayride', broadcast from the Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, LA. He performs 'Move It on over' and 'I Want to Live and Love' (1948)... Johnny Cash marries Vivian Liberto in Memphis. Cash shortly thereafter abandons plans to become an appliance salesman, and instead forms a trio with Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant (1954)... Rock and roll is heard for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show as Bill Haley & His Comets perform 'Rock around the Clock' (1955)... The Quarrymen play their first gig at the Cavern Club, but without Paul McCartney, who is away at Boy Scout summer camp. The Cavern at the time is a jazz club that tolerates skiffle, but when John Lennon launches his bandmates into Hound Dog and Blue Suede Shoes, the manager sends a note to the stage ordering them to 'Knock off the bloody rock and roll!' (1957)... Ike & Tina Turner hit the Billboard Top 40 for the first time with 'Fool in Love' (1960)... Patsy Cline releases her final studio album, Sentimentally Yours (1962)... Herman's Hermits top the US singles charts with 'I'm Henry VIII I Am'. The single receives no release in Britain (1965)... The Goose Lake International Musical Festival opens in Leoni, MI. Over the next three days, some 200,000 fans will hear Jethro Tull, Mountain, Chicago, Bob Seger, John Sebastian, Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Rod Stewart and Brownsville Station... Christine McVie officially joins Fleetwood Mac (1970)... Peter Wolf of the J Geils Band marries Faye Dunaway in Beverly Hills, CA (1974)... The Sex Pistols appear on the cover of Melody Maker for the first time (1976)... Dexy's Midnight Runners are at the top of the UK singles charts with Come on Eileen (1982)... Garth Brooks plays to the largest crowd to date to assemble for a musical event in New York's Central Park. Some 1,000,000 attend the live concert with an estimated 14.6 million also watching live on HBO (1997)... Elvis Presley's peacock jumpsuit sells for $300,000 at a Memphis auction, making it the highest price ever paid for a piece of Elvis memorabilia that went on the block. The white outfit with a plunging V-neck and high collar features  blue-and-gold peacock designs hand-embroidered on the front and back and along the trouser legs (2008).

August 6th

Musical birthdays today include pop/soul session saxophonist Mike Elliott (97), former Chiffons vocalist Judy Craig (80), ex-Timbuk3 frontman Pat MacDonald (74), Randy Debarge (68) and Geri 'Ginger Spice' Haliwell (54).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Velvet Underground producer and manager Andy Warhol, born on this day in 1928... for jazz bassist Charlie Haden, who would have been 90... for guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who would have been 80... for Elliot Smith, who would have been 56... for early jazz great Bix Beiderbecke, who died on this day in 1931 at the age of 28... for Memphis Minnie, who passed away in 1973... and for Rick James, who left us today in 2004 at the age of 56.

Also on August 6th: Chubby Checker appears on American Bandstand to perform The Twist, which will go to № 1 on the Billboard chart within a week (1960)... At CBS Recording Studio A in NYC, Bob Dylan begins the sessions for The Times They Are A-changin' with producer Tom Wilson. The title track will become Dylan's first hit single in the UK, and the album will be the first to feature only the singer's own compositions (1963)... Rod Stewart makes his UK TV debut on ITV's 'The Beat Room' as lead singer of The Hoochie Coochie Men (1964)... The Beatles' album Help! is released in the UK (1965)... At Shea Stadium, Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin and Paul Simon headline the Concert for Peace, held on this date to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1970)... Stevie Wonder is seriously injured when the car he is riding in crashes into a truck on the I-85 Interstate near Winston-Salem, NC. The singer is left in a coma for four days, and will be left without any sense of smell (1973)... Currently on their debut American tour, Abba score their first US top ten hit as 'Waterloo' rises to № 6 (1974)... Stevie Nicks releases her first solo album, Bella Donna, which contains four top 10 US hits (1981)... The film of Pink Floyd's The Wall starring Bob Geldof goes on general release in the US (1982)... Guns N' Roses debut LP Appetite for Destruction completes a 57-week ascent to the top of the Billboard album chart. 3 tracks from the album ~ 'Sweet Child O'Mine', 'Welcome to the Jungle' and 'Paradise City'  will become top 10 singles. The record remains the biggest selling debut album of all time in the US, with Boston's eponymous first release a distant second (1988)... The Ramones play their farewell concert at the Palace in Los Angeles (1996)... Whitney Houston becomes one of the highest paid musicians in the world after signing a new deal with Arista Records said to be worth $100 million (2001)... Willie Nelson joins Bob Dylan for a series of gigs on the latter's 'Never-ending Tour', beginning tonight at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY (2004)... Steven Tyler is airlifted to hospital after falling off the stage during a performance at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. The 61-year-old Aerosmith lead singer fell from a catwalk into the crowd, injuring two fans as well as himself. Approximately 30 minutes after the mishap, guitarist Joe Perry comes out to tell the crowd that the rest of the show has been cancelled (2009).

August 5th

Musical birthdays today include composer Betsy Jolas (100), producer Joe Boyd (84), Rick Derringer (79), former Guess Who guitarist Greg Leskiw (79), Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda (71), Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear [né Georg Ruthenberg] (67), Dave Matthews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin (61), former L7 bassist Jennifer Finch (60), Nada Surf frontman Matthew Caws (59), rapper & DJ Funkmaster Flex [né Aston Taylor, Jr.] (58), Bloodhound Gang bassist Jared Hasselhoff (55), Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave (51), and Dawn Richard (43).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for singer-songwriter Vern Gosdin, born on thisday in 1934... for Dave Clark Five bassist Rick Huxley, who would have been 86... for Dead or Alive lead singer Pete Burns, who would have been 67... f0r Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who would have been 62... for guitarist & Johnny Cash sideman Luther Perkins, who died on this date in 1968... for Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, who passed away in 1992... and for jazz fusion keyboardist George Duke, who left us today in 2013.

Also on August 5th: Doris Day has the № 1 single in the UK with 'Qué Sera, Sera', which was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's recent film 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (1956)... American Bandstand with host Dick Clark first airs on ABC-TV... Patsy Cline's self-titled debut album is released (1957)... The Beach Boys record 'When I Grow up to Be a Man' (1964)... The Beatles release Revolver in the UK (1966)... Pink Floyd release their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)... George Harrison has his new Moog synthesiser delivered to  the studio where The Beatles are putting the finishing touches to the Abbey Road album. Today he adds overdubs to 'Because' (1969)... Aerosmith are signed to Columbia Records after label head Clive Davis sees them perform at Max's Kansas City in NYC (1972)... Drummer Sandy West and guitarist Joan Jett form The Runaways, the first ever all-female hard rock group, after being introduced by Kim Fowley (1975)... NBC-TV airs 'The Beach Boys: It's OK', the groups' 15th anniversary special (1976)... The Police lead off the Mont de Marsan Punk Festival in SW France; following them on the bill are The Clash, The Damned, The Rich Kids, Electric Cellar and and Asphalt Jungle (1977)... The Rolling Stones go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Miss You' (1978)... David Crosby is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Texas for cocaine possession and various weapons charges. The former Byrd slept through most of his trial (1983)... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band play the first of ten sold out nights at the Meadowlands to mark the return home of the Born in the USA world tour (1984)... It is reported that the BBC music show Top of the Pops has hit rock bottom ~ only two and a half million viewers watched the most recent broadcast of the program. In its heyday, the show attracted nearly 18 million viewers weekly (1996)... Police are called to Gary Glitter's west London home after a crowd gathers outside and starts to shout abuse. The former pop star, now under a cloud of controversy over allegations of child molestation and abuse, is back in the UK to tend to business affairs before heading abroad again (2000)... 'Like a Rolling Stone' tops a poll of rock and film stars to find the music, movies, TV shows and books that changed the world. Bob Dylan's 1965 single beat Elvis' 'Heartbreak Hotel' to second place in the survey done by Uncut Magazine. Sir Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Robert Downey, Jr., Keith Richards and Lou Reed were among those polled (2005)... A 53-year-old who claims that he is secretly engaged to Miley Cyrus is charged with stalking the singer. Mark McLeod was arrested after trying to contact the former Hannah Montana actress on a film set near Savannah, GA. McLeod claims that he met Cyrus 18 months earlier. He told police that the singer's father, country star Billy Ray Cyrus, approved of their relationship, and that she had been sending him secret messages encoded in the dialogue of her TV show (2009).

August 4th

Musical birthdays today include Tangerine Dream keyboardist Klaus Schulze (78), former Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie (67), Flock of Seagulls lead guitarist Paul Reynolds (63), jazz drummer & Herbie Hancock sidewoman Terri Lyne Carrington (60), singer-songwriter Eva Amaral (53), R&B singer Marques Houston (52), and former Trivium drummer Nick Augusto (39).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Louis Armstrong, born in this day in 1901... for film score composer David Raksin, born in 1912... for guitarist & Oscar Peterson sideman Herb Ellis, born in 1921... for Bread bassist Larry Knechtel, who would have been 84 today... for Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby, who would have been 66... for country singer Lee Hazlewood, who died on this date in 2007... for bluesman Johnnie Bassett, who passed away in 2012... and for Pere Ubu bassist Tim Wright, who left us today in 2013.

Also on August 4th: Mozart marries Constanze Weber at St. Stephen's church in Vienna (1782)... Jimmie Rogers arrives in Bristol, TN and records two tracks ~ 'Sleep Baby Sleep' and 'The Soldier's Sweetheart' ~ in an afternoon session for Ralph Peer in a studio that the producer has set up in a furniture store at 408 State St. (1927)... Johnny Cash completes recording his debut album, Johnny Cash and His Hot & Blue Guitar. It will be the first LP released on Sun Records (1957)... Billboard Magazine expands its singles chart and calls it the 'Hot Hundred' ~ the first № 1 on the new listing is Ricky Nelson's 'Poor Little Fool' (1958)... The Rolling Stones play their first Saturday show at the Ealing Jazz Club in west London ~ it will be a regular gig for them for the next 22 weeks (1962)... The Beatles appear at the Queen's Theatre in Blackpool. Since the crowds around the theatre have blocked every entrance, The Beatles have to go through a construction area, up and cross some scaffolding to the roof of the building, and then be lowered through a trap door (1963)... Bob Dylan has his final recording session for Highway 61 Revisited, laying down satisfactory versions of 'Desolation Row' and 'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' (1965)... A female Monkees fan stows away on the band's plane as it takes them from Minneapolis to St. Louis. The girl's father threatens to bring charges for transporting a minor across state lines (1967)... Robert Plant and his wife are both badly injured when the hire car that he is driving spins off the road and crashes on the Greek island of Rhodes. Plant shatters both his left ankle and elbow, and will not be fully fit for the best part of two years. A forthcoming US tour has to be cancelled (1975)... A benefit concert is organised in Inglewood, CA by the remaining members of Little Feat to raise money for the family of their longtime leader Lowell George, who died in June. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris also perform (1979)... John Lennon goes into the Record Plant in NYC to begin recording what will prove to be his final album, Double Fantasy (1980)... Prince goes to the top of the US album chart with Purple Rain ~ the record will remain at № 1 for the next six months (1984)... Janet Jackson collapses on stage during a concert in St. Louis, the result of an ear infection that has become septic... Mariah Carey's debut single 'Vision of Love' is the № 1 song in America (1990)... Much of Amsterdam is left saying 'I want my MTV' after the channel switches off its feed to some 500,000 homes in the Dutch city. The move is made after network provider A2000 demands that MTV share its previously separate channel with two other operators and pay for distribution (1998)... Ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart marries fashion photographer Anouska Fisz on a private yacht off Sardinia. Guests include Mick Jagger, Elton John, the members of Oasis, and ex-musical partner Annie Lennox (2001)... Bruce Springsteen has the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with The Rising (2002).

August 3rd

Musical birthdays today include drummer Jimmy Nicol (86), Shirelles vocalist Beverly Lee (84), ex-Byrds bassist John York (79), Alan Parson Project saxophonist Ian Bairnson (72), Spear of Destiny guitarist Kirk Brandon (69), session drummer Martin Atkins (66), Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker [né Leon Drucker] (64), Metallica lead singer James Hetfield (62), Deftones lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter (56), Salt-n-Pepa rapper DJ Spindarella [née Deidra Roper] (56), Bleeding Through lead singer Brandan Schiepatti (45), and Shiny Toy Guns vocalist Carah Faye Charnow (41).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for trumpeter & bandleader Les Elgart, born on this day in 1917... for Tony Bennett, born in 1926... for Broadway musical lyricist & producer Richard Adler, born in 1921... for soul singer Syreeta Wright, who would have been 79 today... for South African reggae singer Lucky Dube, who would have been 61... and for Love frontman Arthur Lee and operatic soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, both of whom left us today in 2006.

Also on August 3rd: The La Scala opera house in Milan is inaugurated with a performance of Antonio Salieri's Europa Riconosciuta [Europe Rewarded] (1778)... The French National Revolutionary Convention creates the Conservatoire de Paris (1795)... 23-year-old Maria Callas makes her debut in Ponchielli's La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona (1947)... The Beatles play their final show at the Cavern Club. Paid £5 for their first appearance at the venue in 1958, they receive £300 today... The Beach Boys release 'Surfer Girl', Brian Wilson's first song for the group as both writer and producer (1963)... The Rolling Stones go into RCA Studios in Los Angeles to begin nine days of sessions that will produce the Their Satanic Majesties Request album. Today's work will be devoted almost entirely to 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?'... The repercussions of John Lennon's 'bigger than Jesus' remark continue to spread, as the South African government ban the airplay of Beatles records (1966)... The two-day Newport Pop Festival in Costa Mesa, CA gets under way. Among the acts on the bill are Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, The Chambers Brothers, Country Joe and the Fish, The Electric Flag, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf, and Tiny Tim. Over 100,000 fans attend (1968)... Carl Wilson is indicted in federal court in Los Angeles for taking an unauthorised leave of absence from his job as a hospital orderly, which the Beach Boy was doing as alternative civil service in order to avoid the military draft (1969)... Paul McCartney announces the formation of his new band Wings, which will include wife Linda on keyboards, and guitarist Denny Laine (1971)... In another unusual double bill, Bruce Springsteen opens for Anne Murray at the Schaefer Festival in NYC. It is also the final show that drummer Ernest 'Boom' Carter and pianist David Sancious play with the E Street Band... Bad Company go to № 1 on the US album chart with their self-titled debut. The band are made up of former members of Free [Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke], Mott the Hoople [Mick Ralphs], and King Crimson [Boz Burrell] (1974)... Madonna scores her first UK № 1 single with 'Into the Groove' from the soundtrack to the film 'Desperately Seeking Susan'... Topping the chart in the US are Tears for Fears with 'Shout' (1985)... The UK tabloid News of the World prints an exclusive interview with 16-year-old model Mandy Smith in which she reveals that she has been having an affair with Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman ~ now 52 ~ for the last two and a half years (1986)... To celebrate the release of their eponymous debut album, Metallica hold a playback party at Madison Square Garden. Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana are among those in attendance (1991)... Los Del Rio start a 14-week run at № 1 in the US with 'Macarena' (1996)... After an absence of 37 years, Bob Dylan returns to the Newport Folk Festival ~ now known as the 'Apple and Eve Newport Folk Festival' ~ where, after donning a wig and false beard, he plays a two-hour, 19-song set (2002)... Queen guitarist Brian May hands in his astronomy PhD thesis 36 years after abandoning it in order to join the band. Dr. May recently carried out observational research in Tenerife, where he studied the formation of 'zodiacal clouds' (2007).

August 2nd

Musical birthdays today include ex-Amen Corner guitarist Andy Fairweather Low (77), former Gong guitarist Steve Hillage (75), ex-Rainbow lead singer Joe Lynn Turner (75), DJ & psychobilly singer Mojo Nixon [né Neil McMillan, Jr.] (69), former Jesus Lizard lead singer David Yow (66), ex-The La's lead singer Lee Mavers (64), Battles drummer John Stanier (58), and pop singer Nayer Regalado (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer & conductor Arthur Bliss, born on this day in 1891... for Québecois singer-songwriter Félix Leclerc and bluesman Big Walter Price, both born in 1914... for jazzman Roy Crimmins, born in 1929... for country singer Hank Cochran, who would have been 90 today... for Garth Hudson, who would have been 89.. for Shirelles vocalist Doris Coley, who would have been 85... for Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi, who would have been 82... for Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas, who would have been 65... for Enrico Caruso, who died on this date in 1921... for The Association bassist Brian Cole, who died of a drug overdose on this day in 1972 at the age of 29... for Motown house band bassist James Jamerson, who died from complications of alcoholism on this day in 1983 at the age of 47... for chansonnier Michel Berger, who passed away in 1992... for Fela Kuti, who died in 1997... and for operatic soprano Marguerite Piazza, who left us today in 2012. 

Also on August 2nd: The first festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music is held in Salzburg, Austria; chamber works by Berg, Bartok and Schoenberg are on the programme (1926)... Ralph Peer, a talent scout and A&R man with Victor Records in NYC, arrives in Bristol, VA to begin recording local musicians. Over the next 10 days, he will blanket local villages and hamlets with posters and flyers inviting anyone interested to come and audition for him at the studio he has set up. Among his discoveries are The Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers, who will become the first country superstars (1927)... Touring with Clyde McPhatter, The Cadillacs, Edna McGriff, and Otis Rush, Buddy Holly & the Crickets appear the Howard Theater in Washington, DC. With 'That'll Be the Day' sitting at № 2 on the charts, this is the band's first major US tour (1957)... At the US District Court in NYC, Robert Allen Zimmerman legally becomes Bob Dylan. He has already signed his first publishing deal with Witmark Music earlier in the summer under his adopted name (1962)... The Beatles play a show at the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth. Among the opening acts are a 'new and unknown London group' called The Kinks (1964).,.. The Doors score their second US № 1 single with 'Hello I Love You' (1968)... As a guest on this week's edition of The Johnny Cash Show on ABC, Merle Haggard performs his own 'The Fugitive' and a version of Jimmie Rogers' 'Hard Times No More' before joining Cash for  duet on 'Sing Me back Home' (1969)... The Mamas and the Papas file a lawsuit against their record label ABC-Dunhill for over a million dollars in unpaid royalties (1973)... The Clash release their single 'Bank Robber' in the US ~ it was previously available as an import only. The band's label CBS resisted releasing the record on the grounds that it was 'not commercial enough' (1980)... Rick James is arrested in Los Angeles on charges of assault with  deadly weapon, aggravated mayhem and torture and forcible oral copulation, according to accusations made by his girlfriend Tanya Hijazi. The singer is released on $1 million bail (1991)... The Liverpool music store Rushworth and Dreaper close down after 150 years of trading. The store became famous for supplying The Beatles and other Merseyside groups with their instruments (2000)... New Orleans International Airport is renamed Louis Armstrong Airport (2001).

August 1st

Musical birthdays today include folksinger Ramblin' Jack Elliott (95), BTO guitarist Tim Bachman (75), bluesman Robert Cray (73), singer-songwriter & producer Michael Penn (68), Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott (65), rapper Chuck D [né Carlton Ridenhour] (66), rapper Professor Griff [né Richard Griffin] (66), rapper Coolio [né Artis Ivey Jr.] (63), Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz (62), Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan (58), and Dhani Harrison (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Francis Scott Key, author of the Star-Spangled Banner, born on this day in 1779... for film score composer Walter Scharf, born in 1910... for  operatic bass-baritone Theo Adam, born in 1924... for Jerry Garcia, who would have been 84 today... for King Crimson and Bad Company bassist Boz Burrell, who would have been 80... for James Gang & Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin, who would have been 76... for 10,000 Maniacs guitarist Rob Buck, who would have been 67... for classical pianist John Ogdon, who died on this date in 1989... for classical pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who passed away in 1997... and for Irish folksinger Tommy Makem, who left us today in 2007. 

Also on August 1st: John Phillip Sousa is voluntarily discharged from the United States Marine Corps in order to form his own band (1892)... Antonin Dvořák completes his New World Symphony whilst on a visit to a Czech immigrant settlement in Spillville, Iowa (1893)... Aretha Franklin goes into a studio in Detroit to record 'Every Day I Sing the Blues', her first secular track (1960)... The first issue of 'Beatles Monthly' is published. A magazine devoted to the group, it will publish 77 issues before folding in 1969, and at its peak will have 350,000 subscribers (1963)... Billboard Magazine publishes an article on the comeback of the harmonica in pop and rock music, citing the contributions of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder (1964)... Jethro Tull release the album Stand Up... The three day Atlantic City Pop Festival opens at a racetrack in the New Jersey resort city. On the bill are BB King, Janis Joplin, Santana, Three Dog Night, Dr. John, Procol Harum, Arthur Brown, Iron Butterfly, CCR, Little Richard, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, The Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat and Joni Mitchell (1969)... Nicolas Roeg's film 'Performance', with Mick Jagger in his big screen acting debut, has its world premiere in London (1970)... George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh takes place at Madison Square Garden in NYC... The Sonny & Cher Show debuts on CBS-TV (1971)... With Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott celebrating his 21st birthday, the band make their US debut opening for AC/DC in NYC (1980)... MTV is launched, and plays The Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star' as its first offering... Rick Springfield has the № 1 single in the US with 'Jesse's Girl' (1981)...Los Lobos are at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with their version of the Ritchie Valens classic 'La Bamba'... MTV Europe is launched. The first video played is Dire Straits' 'Money for Nothing', containing the appropriate line 'I want my MTV' (1987)... Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley announce that they were married nearly three months ago in a small private ceremony in the Dominican Republic (1994)... A new book entitled 'Show the Girl the Door' written by a former tour manager is published, disclosing the demands of female acts on tour: Shania Twain travels with a specially trained sniffer dog to detect bombs. Jennifer Lopez likes for her dressing room to be entirely white, including carpets, flowers and furniture. Cher has high security rooms for her wigs. Janet Jackson has an ear, eye, nose & throat specialist and a registered nurse on standby. Britney Spears insists on bowls of Gummi Bears ~ red and green only ~ backstage at all times (2002)... Prince kicks off a series of 21 sold out UK shows at London's O2 arena. Tickets for the event cost £31.21, the same figure used by the singer to name his album. Prince, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, has announced that after the current run of shows is over, he is planning to take time out to study the Bible (2007)... The British government file suit to try to stop Kelly Clarkson from taking a turquoise and gold ring once owned by Jane Austen out of the country. The one time American Idol winner bought the jewellry at auction lst year for £150,000, but Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has applied for a temporary export bar, saying he wants the 'national treasure to be saved for posterity' (2013).