July 23rd

Musical birthdays today include soul singer Madeleine Bell (76), singer-songwriter Tony Joe White (75), former Rascals drummer Dino Danelli (74), Roxy Music sax & woodwinds player Andy Mackay (72), David Essex (71), ex-BTO guitarist Blair Thornton (68), Manhattan Transfer vocalist Janis Siegel (66), operatic mezzo-soprano Susan Graham (58), Depeche Mode guitarist & principal songwriter Martin Gore (57), Slash [né Saul Hudson] (53), former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson (53), producer & former Color Me Badd vocalist Sam Watters (48), Alison Krauss (47), ex-Destiny's Child vocalist Michelle Williams (38), and Sum 41 drummer Steve Jocz (37).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues, born on this day in 1920... for original Rush drummer John Rutsey, who would have been 66 today... for jazz harmonica player Chris Michalek, who would have been 47... for composer Domenico Scarlatti, who died on this date in 1757... for Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux, who was killed in an automobile accident today in 1980 at the age of 32... for bandleader Kay Kyser, who passed away in 1985... for Greek variety singer Aliki Vougiouklaki, who died in 1996... for Motown songwriter & producer Ron Miller, who died in 2007... and for Amy Winehouse, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on July 23rd: Handel begins composing Saul, the first of his oratorios to texts by Charles Jennens, with whom he will collaborate on 'The Messiah' (1738)... Chet Baker completes the sessions that will yield the album marking his debut as a vocalist, the aptly titled Chet Baker Sings (1956)... Frank Sinatra has the № 1 album in the US with Strangers in the Night, which will go on to become the singer's only platinum LP (1966)... The Beatles record 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide except Me and My Monkey' as part of the White Album sessions (1968)... The Rolling Stones have their eighth and final UK № 1 single with 'Honky Tonk Women' (1969)... Jethro Tull release A Passion Play (1973)... John Bonham is charged with assault after a Led Zeppelin concert at the Coliseum in Oakland, CA. Bonham and band manager Peter Grant had the help of one of the band's bodyguard in roughing up a security employee at the venue whom they accused of stealing. After pleading guilty to misdemeanors, the accused settle out of court for two million dollars. The tour will eventually be interrupted and then cancelled following the death of Robert Plant's son (1977)... Paul Young has his first UK № 1 single with his version of Marvin Gaye's 'Wherever I Lay My Hat, (That's My Home.)' The title will be parodied by Super Furry Animals in 1999 with their 1999 song 'Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)... The № 1 album in the US is Synchronicity by The Police, who also kick off the American leg of their 107-date world tour in support of the record with a show at Comiskey Park in Chicago (1983)... In Dallas, TX, Ringo Starr kicks off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles. His backup band includes guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston and Bruce Springsteen's sax man Clarence Clemons (1989)... The International Astronomical Union names an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter after the late Frank Zappa (1994)... Fiona Apple's debut album Tidal is released (1996)... 59 year old Paul McCartney, who lost his first wife Linda to cancer three years ago, becomes engaged to 33 year old Heather Mills, an activist for the disabled. It will be the first marriage for the 33-year-old Mills, a former swimwear model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after she was run down by a police motorcyclist in 1993 (2001)... James Brown announces his separation from his fourth wife using an advertisement featuring the Disney character Goofy. The 70-year-old placed the notice in Variety magazine ~ it features a picture of himself, his wife Tomi Rae and their two-year-old son James Joseph Brown II posing with Goofy at Walt Disney World (2003)... On the afternoon of tonight's concert at First Energy Park in Lakewood, NJ, Bob Dylan is picked up by a young policewoman who received a report of  a man 'acting suspiciously' in the area. The police officer drove up alongside Dylan and asked him his name, but she did not recognise him. When he was unable to produce any identification, Dylan was driven back to his hotel where staff were able to vouch for him. The misunderstanding arose when Dylan was out for a walk in the afternoon while on tour with Willie Nelson; John Cougar Mellencamp was also on the bill for the show at the local baseball stadium (2009)... Beyoncé soldiers through a concert in Montreal after her hair becomes tangled in the blades of a fan. The singer was performing 'Halo' from an audience pit when the incident occurred. She continues to sing her encore while security guards try to extract her from the fan, which is mounted on the edge of the stage (2013).