| 82 | years ago | 1944 | Kinks drummer Mick Avory is born. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | New Orleans' Fats Domino is one of the headliners at the premier of Irvin Feld's Greatest Shows of 1957 in Pittsburgh. He shares the bill with Clyde McPhatter, Chuck Berry, Lavern Baker, Bill Doggett, the Moonglows, the Five Satins, and others. The show travels to almost every part of the country and closes on May 5, 1957. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Jerry Lee Lewis does Great Balls of Fire and Breathless on American Bandstand. That Saturday night, The Dick Clark Show, debuts on ABC-TV. Guests on the new rock 'n' roll TV show include Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, Connie Francis, Chuck Willis, the Royal Teens, and Johnnie Ray. |
| 67 | years ago | 1959 | Ali Campbell of UB40 is born. |
| 66 | years ago | 1960 | Micky Craig of Culture Club is born. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | “U.S. Rocks & Reels from Beatles Invasion--Beatles Begin New British Artist Push,” is the headline of a Billboard Magazine story that goes on to report that “Great Britain hasn't been as influential in American affairs since 1775.” For the first time ever, one act, The Beatles, has five songs in the Billboard Hot 100. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | Sam Cooke announces he'll cut back on performances from eight to two months per year. He wants to concentrate on songwriting and on building his record labels, Sar and Derb. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | Nat “King” Cole dies in Santa Monica, California of complications after lung cancer surgery for lung cancer in Santa Monica. He was 48 years old. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | Sly and the Family Stone's Everyday People tops the pop chart. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | Touch Me by The Doors peaks at #3 on the chart. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | Vickie Jones is arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin during a concert at a Florida club. It was so good, nobody requested a refund. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The Daughters of the American Revolution bans rock concerts at their Washington D.C. auditorium, Constitution Hall. Sly & the Family Stone had arrived five hours late for a gig there, and the crowd damaged the building to the tune of $1,000. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Linda Ronstadt's You're No Good hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Gino Vannelli becomes the first white artist to perform on Soul Train. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | Brandon Boyd of Incubus is born. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Sid Vicious replaces Glen Matlock as the Sex Pistols as their bassist. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is Album of the Year, and the Bee Gees win a Grammy for Best Pop Group and Best Arrangement for Voices for Staying Alive. Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are wins as Record and Song of the Year. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | RCA Records starts distributing releases for A&M Records, until then the country's largest independent label. |
| 42 | years ago | 1984 | Ethel Merman dies at 75 of natural causes. |
| 35 | years ago | 1991 | Kelly Emberg sues Rod Stewart in Los Angeles Superior Court for $25 million in palimony. She cohabitated with Rod from 1985 to 1990. |
| 28 | years ago | 1998 | The Rolling Stones end their Bridges To Babylon North American tour in Las Vegas. They play The Joint, the 1,400 seat theatre inside the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas. Brad Pitt, Leonardo DeCaprio, Johnny Depp, Sting, and Eddie Murphy see the show. “Well this is a fantastic audience. It's got to be the best-dressed audience I've ever seen in my life,” said Mick Jagger during the show. |
| 16 | years ago | 2010 | Disco diva Taylor Dayne and rock band Smash Mouth are among the special guests for the Lundi Gras parade of the Krewe of Orpheus in Uptown New Orleans.. |