February 23rd

Musical birthdays today include Poco pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young (78), The Sweet bassist Steve Priest (76), Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford (72), Howard Jones (69), ex-Japan lead singer David Sylvian (66), Queensrÿche guitarist Michael 'The Whip' Wilton (62), former Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna (57), Cardigans guitarist Lars-Olof Johansson (51), Calle 13 lead singer René 'Residente' Joglar (46), and Skylar Grey (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Georg Friedrich Händel, born on this day in 1685... for operatic soprano Régine Crespin, born in 1927... for guitarist Johnny Winter, who would have been 80 today... for former Dolly Dots vocalist Ria Brieffies, who would have been 67... for Starship lead guitarist Mark Abrahamian, who would have been 58... for operatic soprano Nellie Melba, who died on this date in 1931... for composer Edward Elgar, who died in 1934... for organist and composer Herbert Howells, who passed away in 1983... and for former Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein, who left us today in 2003. 

Also on February 23rd: Filming on the Beatles' cinematic follow-up to 'A Hard Day's Night' begins on location in the Bahamas with the working title 'Eight Arms to Hold You' (1965)... After nearly five years of marriage, Priscilla Presley moves out of Elvis' Beverly Hills home and into a two bedroom apartment in Malibu (1973)... AC/DC shoot the video for 'It's A Long Way To The Top, (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)' for the Australian music television program Countdown. It features the band's then-current lineup, along with members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band, on the back of a flat-bed truck travelling on Swanston Street in Melbourne (1976)... David Coverdale's Whitesnake make their live debut at the Sky Bird Club in Nottingham... Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen are arrested in New York for heroin possession (1978)... Stevie Wonder is arrested at an anti-apartheid demonstration outside the South African embassy in Washington, DC. He is released following brief questioning, and after signing autographs for several police officers... The Smiths have the № 1 album in the UK with Meat Is Murder... Sade releases Diamond Life (1985)... All members of Oasis are banned for life from Cathay Pacific Airlines after alleged 'disgusting and abusive behaviour' on a flight from Hong Kong to Perth (1998)... Carlos Santana wins 8 Grammy awards for his album Supernatural, tying the record set by Michael Jackson with Thriller (2000)... The Bee Gees make their final concert appearance at the Love and Hope Ball in Miami, FL (2002)... Norah Jones wins 5 Grammys for the album Come Away with Me (2003)...  London's Abbey Road studios is made a listed building, protecting it from plans to radically alter it. Culture Minister Margaret Hodge listed the studios on the advice of English Heritage, saying it had 'produced some of the very best music in the world'. The Beatles used Abbey Road for 90% of their recordings (2010).