June 15th

Musical birthdays today include jazz drummer Tony Oxley (85), ex-Spencer Davis Group bassist Muff Winwood (80), former Slade frontman Neville 'Noddy' Holder (77), ex-Aphrodite's Child lead singer Demis Roussos (77), Air Supply singer & drummer Russell Hitchcock (74), Kansas lead singer Steve Walsh (72), cellist Raphael Wallfisch (70), Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis (66), singer-songwriter Vicki Genfan (64), Ice Cube [né O'Shea Jackson] (54), former Boston drummer Jeff Neal (54), Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody (47), Good Charlotte guitarist & keyboardist Billy Martin (42), Laura Imbruglia (40), and ex-Girls Aloud vocalist Nadine Coyle (38).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Edvard Grieg, born on this day in 1843... for jazz pianist Erroll Garner, born in 1921... for Waylon Jennings, who would have been 85 today... for Harry Nilsson, who would have been 81... for French rock icon Johnny Hallyday [né Jean-Philippe Smet], who would have been 80... for jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, who died on this date in 1968... for Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff, who died of a drug overdose on this day in 1994 at the age of 27... and for Ella Fitzgerald, who left us today in 1996. 

Also on June 15th: Britain's first teenage all-music TV show Oh Boy!, premieres. Each week the show will feature resident artists plus a selection of special guests. The residents will include Cliff Richard and the Shadows, and among the guests will be Billy Fury, Tony Sheridan, Shirley Bassey and Lonnie Donegan, with occasional US stars such as The Inkspots, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee (1958)... Kyu Sakamoto starts a three week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Sukiyaki', the first and still only Japanese language song to do so... The Sound of Music closes on Broadway after 1,443 performances (1963)... Bob Dylan and sidemen go into Columbia Studio A in NYC to begin working on 'Like a Rolling Stone'. The session will yield no usable takes, however... The Rolling Stones kick off an 8-date mini-European tour at The Odeon Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, with The Hollies as their opening act (1965)... The Sex Pistols record their first demos at Majestic Studios in Clapham, London, before playing a gig at the 100 Club (1976)... The Pistols hold a party on a boat as it sails down the River Thames. The band perform 'Anarchy in the UK' outside The Houses Of Parliament, resulting in members of the party being arrested for disturbing the peace when the boat docks later that day (1977)... Columbia Records release Bob Dylan's Street-Legal. On tour in Europe in support of the album, Dylan plays the first of six sold out nights at Earl's Court in London (1978)... Duran Duran's eponymous debut album is released (1981)... Dire Straits have the № 1 album in the US with Brothers in Arms (1985)... U2 and Sting headline a concert at the Meadowlands celebrating the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International (1986)... During Bruce Springsteen's stay in Rome during the Tunnel of Love world tour, a tabloid photographer takes a shot of the Boss in his bathing suit sharing an intimate moment poolside with his backing singer Patti Scialfa. The picture confirms the rumours that Bruce and Patti are having an affair (1988)... Nirvana's debut album 'Bleach' is released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster saying 'Bleach Your Works', urging drug users to bleach their needles. Kurt Cobain would later claim that most of the lyrics on the album were written the night before recording while he was feeling "pissed off", and that he did not regard them highly (1989)... 
A copy of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band signed by the four Beatles and George Martin sells at auction in London for £34,00 (2002)... Coldplay go directly to № 1 on the US album chart with their third album X&Y, having already achieved the same success in the UK. The last time a British artist had a simultaneous US and UK number one was in November 2000 with 1, a compilation of hits by The Beatles. The last studio album to reach № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic was Radiohead's Kid A in October 2000. X&Y will go on to top over 30 national charts worldwide (2005)... A case against a man accused of threatening Elton John's life is withdrawn just hours before his trial was due to begin. Neal Horsley had responded to Elton's suggestion that Jesus Christ was gay in a Parade magazine interview by posting an online response entitled 'Why Elton John Must Die'. After being held in an Atlanta, GA jail since March, Horsley hears his case dismissed by Fulton Co. Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams on the grounds that his actions do not warrant criminal charges (2010).