April 21st

Musical birthdays today include composer & pianist John McCabe (85), Iggy Pop (77), former Family bassist John Weider (77/span>), Patti LuPone (75), Misfits bassist Jerry Only (65), The Cure frontman Robert Smith (65), Spearhead and former Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy leader (58), Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard (54), rapper & producer Adam 'Doseone' Drucker (47), and Rancid drummer Branden Steineckert (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for classical violinist Efrem Zimbalist, born on this day in 1889... for choral composer Randall Thompson, born in 1899... for country singer Ira Louvin, born in 1924... for  jazz guitarist Eddy Christiani, born in 1929... for jazz trombonist Slide Hampton, born in 1931... for Allesandro Moreschi, the last known castrato soprano (and the only one to have been recorded), who died on this date in 1921... for Jordanaires vocalist Neal Matthews, Jr., who died in 2000... and for Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett, who passed away in 2013... and for Prince, who left us today in 2016. Also on April 21st: Against the composer's wishes, a rehearsal for Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks is opened to the public six days before its scheduled premiere. The 12,000 spectators who flock to the performance in Vauxhall Gardens cause a traffic jam on London Bridge (1749)... Leonard Bernstein makes his debut as  conductor, leading the Harvard University Orchestra in his own incidental music for a drama department production of Aristophanes' 'The Birds' (1939)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, McCoy Tyner records The Real McCoy, his first solo album since leaving John Coltrane's quartet... At Abbey Road studios, The Beatles completed the sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The final recordings are a short section of gibberish and noise which will follow 'A Day in the Life', in the run-out groove. They record assorted noises and voices, which engineer Geoff Emerick then cuts up and randomly re-assembles and edits backwards. At John Lennon's suggestion, they also add a high-pitch 15 kilocycle whistle audible only by dogs. This is omitted from the American version of the album (1967)... Janis Joplin makes her UK debut at the Royal Albert Hall, with Yes as her opening act (1969)... Tony Orlando & Dawn hit № 1 in America with 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree' (1973)... Women Against Violence Against Women call for a boycott of all Warner Communications albums because of the promotional campaign for the Rolling Stones' new album Black and Blue. The album is being promoted with a controversial advertising campaign that depicts model Anita Russell, bruised and tied up, under the phrase ‘I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones - and I love it!’ (1976)... Joe Strummer disappears without a trace, causing his bandmates to cancel the upcoming Combat Rock tour. The Clash frontman turns up three weeks later in Paris [where he also completed the city's marathon] living under a bridge. (1982)... Paul McCartney plays in front of 184,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, setting a new world record for the largest crowd to attend a rock concert... Sinead O'Connor is at № 1 in the US and the UK with 'Nothing Compares 2 U'. The single will eventually top the charts in 18 countries worldwide (1990)... Bill Wyman marries for the third time when he ties the knot with 33-year-old fashion designer Suzanne Acosta in Saint Paul de Vence in the south of France (1993)... Peter Buck is charged by police at Heathrow Airport with being drunk and disorderly on an aircraft and with assaulting British airways crew. The R.E.M. guitarist is taken into custody after landing on a flight from Seattle and is questioned by police for 12 hours (2001).